Balance is much talked about when it comes to selecting cricket teams, I’m usually an advocate of a simple process of picking your best six batsmen, wicketkeeper and four bowlers and asking them to do the jobs they’re paid for. But with Matt Prior returning home, to keep nappies and bottles rather than wickets, and Flintoff succumbing inevitably to injury the selectors are left with some serious thinking to find the right combination to win the fourth test.
When Flintoff was ruled out the obvious solution was to move Prior up the order to number six and bring an the extra bowler, but now with Prior unavailable (why the modern trend dictates that highly rewarded, massively privileged and responsible sportsmen always return home in these situations beats me) it’s just not a viable option to bat Ambrose at six in a test match which means bringing in an additional batsman and relying on four bowlers to take the twenty West Indian wickets needed to win the game.
While neither Freddie or Prior could command a place in the test line up on their batting alone, they are both close to the genuine article as all-rounders, which gave the line up that all important balance. Without both of them the onus is going to have to lie with the bowlers to pick up the slack.
It does leave a couple of questions though:
Which four bowlers are best equipped to take on the challenge?
Assuming fitness for all Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann have inked their names in after the performances in the last test, on top of that I’d go with Anderson, and have Sidebottom in to replace Harmison due to his left arm variety, heart, and ability to get through more overs at a tighter run rate.
Who bats at number six?
I think the ever-cautious selectors will go for Bell (who at least has a much better record down the order than at three), but I’d have Bopara in like a shot and give him the chance to go out there and prove himself. I can’t for the life of me see how Ian Bell can have changed as a batsman, or a person in the week since he wasn’t considered good enough for the Antigua test.
The only other solution I can see is more aggressive and risky, so wouldn’t even be considered by those in charge, but how about asking Stuart Broad to bat at six and deliver on the promise he’s already shown with the bat. In his short career to date he’s displayed the character to rise to a challenge, and it just might be the making of him. That would allow England to pick five bowlers and go all out for the win. Worth a punt?
Tuesday 24 February 2009
Friday 20 February 2009
Negative attitude hurts England
Fantastic test match, and all credit to the obdurate West Indies batting, especially numbers ten and eleven at the end, but no two ways about it this is a game that England should have won. That they didn’t is largely due to a concerning lack of aggressive intent when they had their opponent on the ropes.
With Harmison off colour and Flintoff crocked I don’t have any argument with the decision not to enforce the follow on, but the way they went about setting a target for the West Indies portrayed a distinct lack of killer instinct. Two hundred and eighty runs ahead on first innings the situation called for a dominant batting performance to take advantage of a demoralised West Indian side, and offer as much time as possible to win the game.
Sending in Jimmy Anderson as night watchman on the third evening sent off all the wrong signals, suddenly it was a about protecting the position we’d worked, not trying to exploit it. When the game called for quick runs on the fourth morning, Anderson scored 20 from 53 balls in 70 minutes, alongside the equally stoical Alastair Cook. With Strauss obviously set on a five hundred lead Owais Shah in for the same period as Ando would have allowed us to declare a good half hour earlier.
If we really needed a night watchman then surely a more positive move would have been to send in say Graeme Swann or Stuart Broad, players who would have been able to push on in the morning and play a few attacking shots against the Windies opening bowlers.
Following a similar passive batting performance in India where England allowed the momentum of the game at Chennai to shift on the fourth day leading in Sehwag’s match winning performance, it’s a trend that needs to be addressed.
All said though there were some real pluses from the match. Broad looks to be growing into a genuine test match performer at just the right time, Owais Shah brings more belief and momentum to the batting line up, and Swann picked up where he left off in India and must have established himself as the number one spinner for the foreseeable future. Sidebottom in for the uninspiring Harmison at Barbabos and fingers crossed Fred pulls through.
With Harmison off colour and Flintoff crocked I don’t have any argument with the decision not to enforce the follow on, but the way they went about setting a target for the West Indies portrayed a distinct lack of killer instinct. Two hundred and eighty runs ahead on first innings the situation called for a dominant batting performance to take advantage of a demoralised West Indian side, and offer as much time as possible to win the game.
Sending in Jimmy Anderson as night watchman on the third evening sent off all the wrong signals, suddenly it was a about protecting the position we’d worked, not trying to exploit it. When the game called for quick runs on the fourth morning, Anderson scored 20 from 53 balls in 70 minutes, alongside the equally stoical Alastair Cook. With Strauss obviously set on a five hundred lead Owais Shah in for the same period as Ando would have allowed us to declare a good half hour earlier.
If we really needed a night watchman then surely a more positive move would have been to send in say Graeme Swann or Stuart Broad, players who would have been able to push on in the morning and play a few attacking shots against the Windies opening bowlers.
Following a similar passive batting performance in India where England allowed the momentum of the game at Chennai to shift on the fourth day leading in Sehwag’s match winning performance, it’s a trend that needs to be addressed.
All said though there were some real pluses from the match. Broad looks to be growing into a genuine test match performer at just the right time, Owais Shah brings more belief and momentum to the batting line up, and Swann picked up where he left off in India and must have established himself as the number one spinner for the foreseeable future. Sidebottom in for the uninspiring Harmison at Barbabos and fingers crossed Fred pulls through.
Wednesday 18 February 2009
Giles Clarke needs to be challenged
Giles Clarke is the King Midas of English cricket, although instead of gold, everything he touches turns to a great steaming pile of crap. Sir Allen Stanford’s arrest for alleged fraud reflects badly on how quickly and wholeheartedly the English game jumped into bed with the Texan billionaire.
From the tacky start, landing in a helicopter at Lords with $20m dollars in a Perspex case, through to the underwhelming Stanford series the whole arrangement has been unseemly and slightly desperate right from the start, and serious questions need to be asked about the ECB and the position of the newly reappointed Giles Clarke.
I’ve just seen David Gower on Sky Sports saying how it’s just not good enough to go into these things with the ‘best intentions’, but outcomes and consequences have to be evaluated. After all, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Most of all though it’s West Indies cricket, and the West Indian people that will lose the most. Stanford made a long term commitment to Windies cricket and was/is a huge employer in the region. Where that leaves plans for development, contracts and cricketing infrastructure in the Caribbean is beyond my understanding, but one thing’s for sure it’s not going to be good news.
Away from politics, really pleased to see Swanny take 5 for yesterday, I thought he bowled excellently with a nice loop, and drift. After outbowling Panesar in India and now this performance he’ll be in p1 for the forthcoming games against West Indies and forward towards the ashes.
From the tacky start, landing in a helicopter at Lords with $20m dollars in a Perspex case, through to the underwhelming Stanford series the whole arrangement has been unseemly and slightly desperate right from the start, and serious questions need to be asked about the ECB and the position of the newly reappointed Giles Clarke.
I’ve just seen David Gower on Sky Sports saying how it’s just not good enough to go into these things with the ‘best intentions’, but outcomes and consequences have to be evaluated. After all, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Most of all though it’s West Indies cricket, and the West Indian people that will lose the most. Stanford made a long term commitment to Windies cricket and was/is a huge employer in the region. Where that leaves plans for development, contracts and cricketing infrastructure in the Caribbean is beyond my understanding, but one thing’s for sure it’s not going to be good news.
Away from politics, really pleased to see Swanny take 5 for yesterday, I thought he bowled excellently with a nice loop, and drift. After outbowling Panesar in India and now this performance he’ll be in p1 for the forthcoming games against West Indies and forward towards the ashes.
Sunday 15 February 2009
Catches win matches
You've got to check out this catch by Nottinghamshire's Adam Voges to effectively win the 20/20 between NZ and Australia today.
Sensational.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8VkcqgCR6M
Sensational.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8VkcqgCR6M
Saturday 14 February 2009
Life's a beach for the cricket fans
During the last couple of winters teams of illustrious ex-pros have competed in a beach cricket tournament across Australia, good fun cricket with lots of banter, and no small quantity of lager consumed. Today international beach cricket descended on the Test Match arena in farcical scenes.
Firstly it’s clear that the right decision was made in the end, and it’s good news that some kind of game has been salvaged by introducing an extra test at the traditional St John’s Recreational Ground in Antigua (although it remains to be seen what kind of condition that’s in).
But let’s be clear this is a day of shame for West Indian cricket, far greater than the shame England felt being bowled out for 51 last weekend. This is a different kind of let down all together, by abject failures of the Antiguan officials, groundstaff, and the match referee.
In this day and age, to not be able to produce a pitch that can be played one, one that can be realistically not expected to cause injury to the participants is disgraceful. For no-one to realise, or at least act on it until after the game had started is arguably even worse.
For crying out loud, the date for this test has been in the calendar for near on a year, in the weeks and months leading up to the game, surely someone could have said, “hang on a minute guys, we might have a bit of a problem here…” Instead, somewhat appropriately, everyone seems to have buried their head in the sand and hoped somehow it would all turn out ok in the end. It didn’t.
And then, with concerns growing the match referee Alan Hurst yesterday inspected the pitch and declared it not satisfactory, but playable, well that’s a joke too. It was patently unplayable to sound surprised that the bowler’s run ups were not fit for purpose is a dereliction of duty. He actually came out and said that they couldn’t know how the bowlers run up would perform until the morning of the match. Seriously, how difficult is to ask someone to run up to the stumps a couple of times to see whether it’s like running through Skegness beach? (albeit without the washed up contraception and empty beer cans).
The spectacular win in Jamaica will have given cricket in the region a huge boost, inspiring enthusiasm and belief in equal measures, for this to happen so soon after is a crying shame for all involved, players and spectators alike.
There’s a great tradition of beach cricket in the West Indies, it’s a pity it couldn’t stay on one of Antigua’s 365 natural beaches and out of the Sir Viv Richards stadium.
Firstly it’s clear that the right decision was made in the end, and it’s good news that some kind of game has been salvaged by introducing an extra test at the traditional St John’s Recreational Ground in Antigua (although it remains to be seen what kind of condition that’s in).
But let’s be clear this is a day of shame for West Indian cricket, far greater than the shame England felt being bowled out for 51 last weekend. This is a different kind of let down all together, by abject failures of the Antiguan officials, groundstaff, and the match referee.
In this day and age, to not be able to produce a pitch that can be played one, one that can be realistically not expected to cause injury to the participants is disgraceful. For no-one to realise, or at least act on it until after the game had started is arguably even worse.
For crying out loud, the date for this test has been in the calendar for near on a year, in the weeks and months leading up to the game, surely someone could have said, “hang on a minute guys, we might have a bit of a problem here…” Instead, somewhat appropriately, everyone seems to have buried their head in the sand and hoped somehow it would all turn out ok in the end. It didn’t.
And then, with concerns growing the match referee Alan Hurst yesterday inspected the pitch and declared it not satisfactory, but playable, well that’s a joke too. It was patently unplayable to sound surprised that the bowler’s run ups were not fit for purpose is a dereliction of duty. He actually came out and said that they couldn’t know how the bowlers run up would perform until the morning of the match. Seriously, how difficult is to ask someone to run up to the stumps a couple of times to see whether it’s like running through Skegness beach? (albeit without the washed up contraception and empty beer cans).
The spectacular win in Jamaica will have given cricket in the region a huge boost, inspiring enthusiasm and belief in equal measures, for this to happen so soon after is a crying shame for all involved, players and spectators alike.
There’s a great tradition of beach cricket in the West Indies, it’s a pity it couldn’t stay on one of Antigua’s 365 natural beaches and out of the Sir Viv Richards stadium.
Tuesday 10 February 2009
Sunday 8 February 2009
England Spineless, but celebrate a great performance
Even as an England fan it would be pretty churlish to begrudge the West Indies sensational victory yesterday. Coming from a generation founded in West Indian world domination I fully subscribe to the notion that cricket needs a strong Windies team to bring a unique flavour and atmosphere to the game.
Whilst it might not be a full blown renaissance just yet, I hope this result leads to improved attendances and passion for the remainder of the series. Best of all, the rout was inspired by a genuinely masterful spell of traditional West Indian fast bowling, full, quick, accurate and skilful - Taylor lived up the past exploits of Marshall, Ambrose, Holding et al. Whilst it’s all well and good having a 6 foot 7” West Indian bowling off spin of all things, there’s nothing like a Caribbean quickie with his tail up.
On the question of where this humiliation leaves England it might not be all bad. Such was the abject nature of the performance there can simply be no question of just retaining the status quo. Maybe this is just what we need to facilitate a proper shake up of personnel and attitude.
The game was up as soon as Pietersen’s off stump was sent spiralling towards the boundary edge by Taylor, with the rest of this timid, insipid batting line up offering nothing. I’ll happily join the bandwagon clambering for Bell’s exclusion. If not now, then never. Finally we’ll see Owais Shah in for the next test in what I expect will be the only change to the batting order given the squad that Strauss has to pick from. Shah at least will bring a bit of bite and personality to the line up, although he might not be the natural number three that we need long term.
So the rest will probably get another chance to right the wrong from Sabina Park, although Collingwood will have to consider himself very lucky that there’s no-one else in the tour party to take his place. On the verge of being dropped, expect another ugly, gritty innings to cement his place in the side again for another five games!
The worst thing about the performance was the attitude of top line batsmen, who never looked to have any confidence, authority or presence at the crease. The ball wasn’t bouncing alarmingly, or threatening the batsmen physically making the gutless performance all the more alarming. New captain Andrew Strauss has a huge challenge on his hands to lead a turnaround in attitude before the second test. And he must start with his own form.
The bowlers can’t take so much of the blame, although Panesar will find himself under pressure again having been comprehensively out bowled by Benn and Swann may come into the side to bolster the lower order batting as well. For me Harmison gets one final (absolutely final) chance to prove he can resurrect his international career.
Whilst it might not be a full blown renaissance just yet, I hope this result leads to improved attendances and passion for the remainder of the series. Best of all, the rout was inspired by a genuinely masterful spell of traditional West Indian fast bowling, full, quick, accurate and skilful - Taylor lived up the past exploits of Marshall, Ambrose, Holding et al. Whilst it’s all well and good having a 6 foot 7” West Indian bowling off spin of all things, there’s nothing like a Caribbean quickie with his tail up.
On the question of where this humiliation leaves England it might not be all bad. Such was the abject nature of the performance there can simply be no question of just retaining the status quo. Maybe this is just what we need to facilitate a proper shake up of personnel and attitude.
The game was up as soon as Pietersen’s off stump was sent spiralling towards the boundary edge by Taylor, with the rest of this timid, insipid batting line up offering nothing. I’ll happily join the bandwagon clambering for Bell’s exclusion. If not now, then never. Finally we’ll see Owais Shah in for the next test in what I expect will be the only change to the batting order given the squad that Strauss has to pick from. Shah at least will bring a bit of bite and personality to the line up, although he might not be the natural number three that we need long term.
So the rest will probably get another chance to right the wrong from Sabina Park, although Collingwood will have to consider himself very lucky that there’s no-one else in the tour party to take his place. On the verge of being dropped, expect another ugly, gritty innings to cement his place in the side again for another five games!
The worst thing about the performance was the attitude of top line batsmen, who never looked to have any confidence, authority or presence at the crease. The ball wasn’t bouncing alarmingly, or threatening the batsmen physically making the gutless performance all the more alarming. New captain Andrew Strauss has a huge challenge on his hands to lead a turnaround in attitude before the second test. And he must start with his own form.
The bowlers can’t take so much of the blame, although Panesar will find himself under pressure again having been comprehensively out bowled by Benn and Swann may come into the side to bolster the lower order batting as well. For me Harmison gets one final (absolutely final) chance to prove he can resurrect his international career.
Tuesday 3 February 2009
The Smart Money on England vs. West Indies
I think England will squeeze home in the test series, probably by two tests to one. The Windies have enough match winners to gain one test victory, but not the consistency to repeat the performances. The odds on an England series victory at 8-15 don’t offer any value though.
I’ll be looking closer at the value in the individual performances. Kevin Pietersen is 5-2 to be the top England run scorer in the first innings, which looks pretty generous given KPs belligerence and propensity to rise to the big occasion, I reckon a Pietersen hundred in the first innings is all but nailed on. I’ll also be sticking to the ex-captain as England’s top run man for the entire series at 2-1, which isn’t long, but is pretty much buying money in my eyes.
The bowling is a little more interesting , at the moment I’m not quite sure which way the selectors are going with the pace attack, Flintoff is favourite for top series wicket taker but for all his excellence he just doesn’t quite take the number of wickets he should. I’ be tempted to go with Sidebottom at fives, but I’d need to be convinced about his fitness – even if he’s ready for the first test I’m not sure he’ll last the full tour. Instead I might have a small interest in Monty Panesar at 6-1, he seems to have started the tour pretty well and the Windies traditionally struggle against tweakers.
As for the West Indies, Chanderpaul is absolutely nailed on to be their top series run scorer, but no-one’s going to get rich too quickly at 6-4, maybe a cheeky punt on Gayle to be the top first innings run scorer at 4-1, he was in fine form through the tour of New Zealand, and the hope is that the tail won’t last long enough to hang around with Chanderpaul if he gets stuck in.
All odds on Paddy Power; http://www.paddypower.com/bet?action=go_type&category=SPORTS&disp_cat_id=&ev_class_id=31&ev_type_id=11055&ev_oc_grp_ids=47830&bir_index=
I’ll be looking closer at the value in the individual performances. Kevin Pietersen is 5-2 to be the top England run scorer in the first innings, which looks pretty generous given KPs belligerence and propensity to rise to the big occasion, I reckon a Pietersen hundred in the first innings is all but nailed on. I’ll also be sticking to the ex-captain as England’s top run man for the entire series at 2-1, which isn’t long, but is pretty much buying money in my eyes.
The bowling is a little more interesting , at the moment I’m not quite sure which way the selectors are going with the pace attack, Flintoff is favourite for top series wicket taker but for all his excellence he just doesn’t quite take the number of wickets he should. I’ be tempted to go with Sidebottom at fives, but I’d need to be convinced about his fitness – even if he’s ready for the first test I’m not sure he’ll last the full tour. Instead I might have a small interest in Monty Panesar at 6-1, he seems to have started the tour pretty well and the Windies traditionally struggle against tweakers.
As for the West Indies, Chanderpaul is absolutely nailed on to be their top series run scorer, but no-one’s going to get rich too quickly at 6-4, maybe a cheeky punt on Gayle to be the top first innings run scorer at 4-1, he was in fine form through the tour of New Zealand, and the hope is that the tail won’t last long enough to hang around with Chanderpaul if he gets stuck in.
All odds on Paddy Power; http://www.paddypower.com/bet?action=go_type&category=SPORTS&disp_cat_id=&ev_class_id=31&ev_type_id=11055&ev_oc_grp_ids=47830&bir_index=
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)