Cricket Burble

Where is Samit Patel?

2012-02-01T18:27:00.003Z

When the England squad was announced for the Pakistan series I commented on one of the many cricket sites that I read that I would have taken Samit Patel, either instead of Bopara or a pace bowler, giving England the opportunity to match Pakistan's 3 spinners if they wanted to. With speculation mounting that Morgan will be dropped, it seems Bopara is near certain to play but talented though he is, I don't feel any more confident in him than Morgan. Personally I'd stick with Morgan and tell him to look to be aggressive. It looks like they might both play now anyway, as Bell is ill.

Interesting that most of the pieces that refer to Morgan being likely to be dropped use Pietersen as the headline when surely the headline should be about Morgan? This piece on Cricinfo is an example - titled Pietersen low on runs and time...then suggesting Morgan will be dropped and Pietersen won't. Pietersen pulls in reader interest like no other clearly.

It will be interesting to see how England's batting line up, sans Samit Patel, fares - I can't say I'm feeling confident!

Encouraging signs from Jos Buttler

2012-02-01T18:23:00.002Z

Another century, this time in a losing cause for England Lions, for Jos Buttler. That comes after a 56 ball 102 before that too.

Surely IPL monies will be coming his way in 2013....

Way ahead of themselves on TMS

2012-01-27T11:24:00.003Z

Blofeld and Boycott's commentary is verging on the ridiculous. Pakistan are only 4 down and have 2 specialist batsmen in....they only need a lead of 100 to have a reasonable chance. As they're professional commentators they've watched England implode against spin in the sub-continent before, but they seem to have conveniently forgotten England's past history. This match isn't the foregone conclusion Blofeld and Boycott would have you believe.

England are doing brilliantly but there's a long way to go yet. Fingers crossed.

Why do we say that ?

2012-01-26T11:08:00.001Z

Yesterday Stuart Broad executed a perfect long barrier at mid on to field the ball. The commentator said what we'd possibly all say - " he got everything behind that".
But surely what he did was get everything in front of it !

Playing cricket with a hangover

2012-01-22T12:59:00.002Z

It's rare that I do these days, but back in the day one of the things I've always liked about cricket is that it's much easier to play with a hangover (compared with say, rugby)! And I've never found it's impacted on my performance....in fact it feels like it's the other way round, particularly when batting, but that might be wishful thinking.

So I enjoyed reading about Gary Sobers hundred at Lords made when hungover and after no sleep in 1973. That takes it to another level, the no sleep thing. A pretty super-human effort.

Aussie pitches

2012-01-22T09:36:00.004Z

I've watched a fair bit of Australian cricket this English winter as I've been up loads in the early hours. There's no doubt that Australia have some quality seam bowlers coming up the ranks. James Pattinson has a touch of the Stuart Broad's about him (i.e. a good bowler, but unpleasant on the field), Pat Cummins was man-of-the-match on debut before his injury, Ben Hilfenhaus is back to near his best as he was before the last Ashes, Ryan Harris is as good as ever when fit, Siddle has proven he can move the ball as well as just being a good honest trier, and Mitchell Starc is, for my money, the most scatter-gun of them all, but he's proven against India he can bowl viscious wicket taking balls a la Mitchell Johnson (occassionally).

So the bowlers are definitely on the up, but there's also been another contributor to all the seam-bowling success - the wickets. There was something a little substandard about the wickets in Perth for the last Test against India and in Hobart where Australia lost by 7 runs to New Zealand. Strange - normally Australian wickets are up there with the very best in the world - pretty flat, but with enough in them for the quality bowler.

In Perth the match started with largish cracks in the wicket and on day 1 the ball was moving off the seam when it hit the cracks at the angle you'd expect the ball to deviate from a leg-spinner. So it's not surprising that there was a bit of concern at the "pitch party" on the WACA strip just 12 hours before the start of play, primarily from the visiting Indians.

I can't imagine there was any damage done - the wicket was going to be dodgy anyway - but why did anyone think it was ok to have so many people wandering around and sitting on the Perth wicket just before the game, with beer in hand? The groundsman has been quick to defend it, but it seems very strange behaviour to me....but more importantly, the groundsman needs to defend the big cracks that were evident.

Hopefully Cricket Australia is on the case to ensure the wickets in Australia get back to normal, whether there's a pitch party involved or not!

What do they know of cricket, who only cricket know?

2012-01-18T07:39:00.001Z

" For much of my life I have rushed about in a great whirl of activity, feeling very busy but not always making much progress. There is a certain comfort in frantic activity. When in doubt, do something that looks important, even if it's only the manic use of a mobile telephone which has, for millions, become a comfort blanket".
John Barclay from Life beyond the Airing Cupboard.
How true! Think I'll have a gentle day today.

Effective alarm clock

2012-01-18T07:36:00.002Z

In bed, half past six in the morning earphones in, hoping that I haven't woken my wife and listening to England's bowlers toiling. Just one more over..................
Oh! Henry Blofeld - might as well get up, now.

Nice to hear.......

2012-01-17T12:18:00.002Z

.......... that Messrs. Gower and Willis agree with me about elbows and doosras and also agree that the logic that says that if other countries have players who do it we should teach it to our own kids is horrifying.
And this is not about the 15 degrees 'law'. Try bending your elbow at right angles i.e. 90 degrees then reduce that angle by 50% and the reduce that to a third and your arm is practically straight - not the angle that produces doosras.

Ponting's getting on a bit...

2012-01-11T08:17:00.000Z

...as you can see here.

My new hero suffers

2011-12-29T11:29:00.003Z

So Ed Cowan comes into the Test side at last and is given out caught behind when he didn't hit it and LBW when ball-tracker showed that it was missing. I expect he's wondering why he bothered.

On the other hand Hussey (three times) and Ponting (once) survived because the umpires review system was not available - a major contribution to Australia's win.
Statistics are supposed to show that use of the review system increases accuracy of decisions from 95% to 97% - how they prove that I've no idea but Cowan's experience seems to be a fairly strong contra. But India don't want to use it because it's not perfect (I can't think of anything that is) and so it's not used in their Test matches. But there seems to me to be no reason why you shouldn't allow their opponents access to it even if India don't have such access in the same match and I bet that would bring them round quickly.

Almost groinal

2011-12-29T11:27:00.002Z

Great new word coined by a commentator when a batsman got hit full on the box last night !

The "sodukku" ball....

2011-12-28T06:38:00.004Z

Being up half the night with the kids has advantages at this time of year because the Boxing Day test in Australia has proved to be an exciting one. And I'll remember the shot Tendulkar played to the first ball after tea yesterday for a long time (a contemptuous upper cut over the slips for 6).

I've also learnt about a new ball that Ashwin bowls - the sudoku - at least that's how Channel 9 have been spelling it. Apparently the word should actually be "sodukku" rather than sudoku, whick means snapping of the fingers in Tamil (சொடுக்கு). It's kind of a doosra from the front of the hand, with the longest finger flicking the ball out with slight leg to off rotation, but it doesn't turn a great deal. It might need Jack Iverson style skill and finger strength to be able to bowl it, but there are those that think it's impossible to bowl a doosra without chucking it - for them the sodukku is the legitimate way for an off-spinner to turn the ball away from the right-hander.

It looks like tomorrow has the potential to be a thrilling day of Test cricket once again....and not just in the Australia v India match.....Sri Lanka have the South African's under a lot of pressure too. 2011 has certainly been a vintage year for edge of your seat Test cricket. It seems to come from the fact that all international sides are flawed in some way at the moment so there's a lot of sides playing to a similar standard. And there have been some exceptional new bowlers in 2011 too, from Ravi Ashwin to Pat Cummins to James Pattinson to Vernon Philander and the most recent Marchant de Lange taking 7 wickets for South Africa.

A new hero

2011-12-25T09:13:00.002Z

Well if Peter Roebuck's diary of a cricket season is among the best 10 cricket books ever written Ed Cowan's must be too because it's better. Hope he scores a pile of runs in the boxing day test match.
References to Moneyballs ( don't think I'll watch the film - in my mind's eye the hero Bean has to be ugly or at least weird looking and he's played by a pretty-boy actor) and to 'Foxy' Fowler's season-diary ( where he's expecting to break into Test cricket but has a car crash season which leads to his relationship breaking up ) makes for familiar territory.
Somehow it also reminded me that I received my first ever cricket book 50 years ago today - Jim Laker's Australian Tour of 1961. I'll need to re-read that one next, if only for the passages describing the first tied Test and Tom Graveney's gardening leave when he moved from Gloucestershire to Worcestershire.

Happy Christmas.

The phenomenon works again

2011-12-22T11:40:00.002Z

It seems that the strange law that saw Peter Roebuck's book's price increase when he died also works in happier circumstances. On Amazon I see that diarist Ed Cowan's 'In the firing line' has gone up from £10.95 to £17.51 following his selection for the Boxing Day Test but you can get it on Kindle for only £3.60 ( not sure whether that's gone up too).

I also find it amusing that listed just below is a book called Scotland's Cricketers including Rahul Dravid, Vasbert Drakes, Desmond Haynes and Ed Cowan - it seems that selection helps you sell other peoples' books for them as well.

D'Oliveira thoughts on the size of Indian backsides....and cricket in general

2011-12-01T16:57:00.004Z

When Peter Roebuck died Mark Davis sought out one of his books to read and I have to admit that the passing away of Basil D'Oliveira made me reach up for an autobiography of his sitting in my cricket library (alright, alright, it's just one shelf!). It's an early book, written in early 1968 before the uproar about his inclusion in the England team to tour South Africa and tells of the way he got into the English professional game and his thoughts on cricket in general.

There are some interesting observations in there. He laments the lack of Indian fast bowlers:

"Indians....are small in stature. They just haven't got the framework for the quick stuff. Big backsides are essential for fast bowling, yet you would have to strap three Indian players together to make a rump to compare with Fred Trueman's."

And yet some of what he said seems contradictory, to me at least:

The Indian and Pakistani teams "were very friendly teams and a pleasure to play against. Unfortunately that is not much of a recommendation for Test cricket. It might be cynical, but I think a connection exists between behaviour on the field and the balance of power. The teams without much chance smile at you and make you welcome at the wicket. Those that expect to win bruise you and smile later - when it is all over."

But he also seemed to think that tailenders should not be bounced - here's a passage relating to Derek Underwood being hit in the mouth:

"Just before the Trent Bridge Test ended, Charlie Griffith hit Derek Underwood, England's number eleven batsman, in the mouth with a bouncer. I had just got out so I only know the dressing-room end of the incident, but it looked nasty.

None of our chaps had any time for it. Not many of theirs had either, from what I could make out afterwards. The game was as good as over and England were down the drain. There was no tension about. No need for desperation. I can't think what made Charlie do it.

The point is that Underwood is not a recognised batsman. I know he had shared a stand with me for the last wicket in the first innings (of 65), but that was almost a freak performance. His main quality as a batsman is courage. He stands in front of his stumps to the fastest bowler. But he has little in the way of technical equipment. With some people you know instinctively that they won't be able to defend themselves against this type of attack. Underwood is one of them. Because he should never have been given the bouncer. He is not capable of defending himself. That made it unfair.

Underwood was a special case. I am not arguing generally for tail-enders under this so-called gentleman's agreement whereby they don't get anything short bowled at them. That's a rediculous business. If a man can bat and he is causing trouble, then he is entitled to be given the bouncer - no matter whether he is number one or number eleven. There are plenty of fast bowlers who have been around county cricket for years and haven't been on the receiving end of more than half a dozen bouncers.

They make a lot of noise when they are. Everybody has heard them. They threaten retaliation to the bowler who has done it, they swear to bring war to his team-mates. For years they have been getting their quota of runs by sticking the front leg up the wicket before the ball is bowled knowing that under the so-called fast bowlers' pact it won't be short. They deserve to be frightened every now and again just to know how other men feel when they are cheerfully letting go two or three bouncers an over.

In the final reckoning everything must depend on whether the batsman is capable of defending himself."

Interestingly, Underwood received a written apology from Charlie Griffith. I guess things were a little different in the days before helmets as you had the ability to seriously injure someone or even kill them, but Underwood had clearly shown he could hang around with his part in the 1st innings 10th wicket partnership of 65 - why shouldn't he receive a bouncer? Especially as "those that expect to win bruise you and smile later". These days of course all the protective gear means that there's no reluctance to bounce anyone, and nor should there be.

Interesting though the book is, it's hardly a revalation. But tucked inside the front cover were lots of old press clippings and many of them relate to the controversy over D'Oliveira's selecting for South Africa so they were a really interesting read. Thank goodness the days of aparthied in South Africa are over.

Parents getting involved in pro sport

2011-12-01T15:22:00.003Z

There's loads of them from Lewis Hamilton's father going everywhere with him to the father of Venus and Serena Williams. But the fact that Yuvraj had his mother tell the media what was wrong with him still made me smile - clearly his lung complaint has stopped Yuvraj from speaking or releasing statements on his own behalf. Hopefully his mother has him tucked up in bed with a mug of chicken soup.

And in another sport I see that Emmanuel Harinordoquy's father has got involved in a club game in France. Harinoroquy Senior went on to the pitch and tried to strike one of his son's opponents (although he missed) before being tackled to the ground by the opposition's fly-half. Fly-halves don't often get in the way of marauding number 8s, but apparently 61 year-old members of the public are more to their liking! It reminds me of Andrew Symonds taking out a streaker.

Of course, it can get worse than your mother having to tell the media about your ailments. Shoaib Akhtar had to put up with the Pakistan Cricket Board going public with his genital warts!

Imperfect light

2011-12-01T15:10:00.003Z

Once again, after the first 4 days of the 2nd Test of South Africa v Australia all saw the players leave the field due to imperfect light, the first day of the Australia v New Zealand series began with the players coming off in imperfect light. Not bad light, but imperfect light. Michael Clarke was arguing to stay on despite New Zealand having two set batsmen at the crease.

The final day of the South Africa match was completed because there was a result on the cards so clearly the conditions weren't dangerous or the umpires would have had no option but to take the players off again? So point 1 on my list to better market Championship and Test cricket is to take the players off only when it's dangerous. It should be a once a season occurrence rather than near daily....

More Tests could happen quite easily...couldn't it?

2011-12-01T09:57:00.003Z

I've openly wondered in comments on a couple of cricket sites why it is that there's the obsession with playing lots of ODIs - the reasons are normally assumed to be financial but I couldn't understand why that would be. Surely there's economies of scale repeating the same staffing and organisational things 5 days in a row compared to 5 separate days, and in the UK it's the Tests that people are more interested in?

No one seemed able to answer my question as to why ODIs got better financial returns and there's a good reason for that - they don't. Giles Clarke seems to think that the proliferation of ODIs comes from England's poor 2007 World Cup and the demand to play more ODI cricket. Well Duncan Fletcher (who always pushed for more ODI cricket) has gone now.

My solution would be 3 match ODI series only with at least one extra Test each summer. For one day practice the England players can also play for their Counties if they feel they need more than the international ODIs to hone their skills. And Twenty20? Just the one match against each touring side if absolutely necessary.

I can't see that it's the fixture list that impacts England's chances at World Cups. It's about having several weeks together in the lead up to World Cups without thinking about other formats, playing practice matches as necessary in the country the World Cup will be played in during that period.

So without the financials to worry about, please can we change the English schedule to have a greater focus on Test cricket?

Plans for English cricket

2011-12-01T09:25:00.002Z

Interesting to see CMJ's views that he's passed on to David Morgan who has reviewed how English competitions and fixtures are structured. I like the idea of scheduling matches to start on set days, as they used to. CMJ wants Championship matches to start on a Sunday, and one dayers to be played every Saturday. I'm up for that although, as he's noted, TV would pay less for this type of scheduling where they don't have cricket every day. It seems like a price worth paying to me.

Not sure about Twenty20 - CMJ would like matches scheduled every Friday night so there is a home match fortnightly. To reduce the amount of the season where the players (and spectators) have to think about 3 formats, I think I'd go for Thursday and Friday nights consecutively. It'll be over quicker which, to be honest, is my main consideration. Twenty20 just gets in the way of the County Championship which should be the main focus for players, if not the casual spectator who likes Twenty20, or the County Financial Directors.

The main thing I like about CMJ's proposals is the on-going Championship cricket throughout the summer. It can't be right that at the height of summer Championship cricket stops to make way for Twenty20. If there is Championship cricket throughout the summer, Counties may tempt back some of those that have given up County membership in protest at the lack of 4-day cricket for a large chunk of the season. Perhaps the Counties can have their cake and eat it?

The only thing I'd be critical of in CMJ's thoughts is this meaningless sentence: "Championship and Test cricket to be innovatively and actively marketed." Andrew Strauss said something similar when asked about how Test cricket could be promoted. As CMJ says "one should always be prepared to offer an alternative when criticising" so I'll have a think about how to market the County and Test game. It'll be slightly more specific than "innovatively and actively marketed"!

Andy Flower cloning required

2011-11-30T22:32:00.003Z

Andy Flower is rightly be lauded for the way he's brought a disfunctional England team together and got some great results leading to England being the number 1 Test nation in the world. Recently he dominated the UK Coaching Awards.

But he can't be everywhere. He's got a full time job managing England and the ECB are always looking to lighten his load wherever possible given the large number of fixtures across the 3 formats England have to play. So why is his name being linked to an audit the English RFU want to undertake into their elite rugby department? He's got a full time job so surely he's not available?

Samaraweera's Test average

2011-11-30T13:47:00.002Z

Wow. I knew that Samaraweera's Test average was hovering over 50, but I didn't realise that his form over recent years had been quite so good - he averages a fraction under 70 since 2008. And yet, he's stuggling to get a look in for Sri Lanka because of his age - just over 35. Another example of insane selection - why are people so obsessed about age?

"It wasn't the highest quality of cricket"

2011-11-30T13:09:00.003Z

The Cricinfo report on the India v West Indies ODI yesterday suggests that "it wasn't the highest quality of cricket". I didn't watch the whole thing but the last portion of the match from when India were 6 down was worse than that. Very ordinary field placing from Sammy, who gifted India runs with a deep set field at a time all the Indian batsmen were doing was looking to knock risk-free singles given an asking rate of not much more than 3 an over.

Having said that, Sharma almost through his wicket away with a slog when he was seeing India home, only for Darren Bravo to either not see the skied ball at 3rd man, or perhaps just not been keen to dive forwards for the ball in case of injury. Ashwin showed that his poor running wasn't just a Test match issue, this time moving far too late when Sharma was running to the danger end and calling Ashwin through for a relatively easy 2nd run.

Duncan Fletcher has some work to do with Ashwin's out cricket - in his autobiography he lamented how certain England cricketers weren't taught the basics bu their Counties (I always assumed, rightly or wrongly, he was referring to Northants and Panesar) and he must feel the same about Ashwin. With Ashwin doing well his coach and mentor of course came forward to take the praise, but Sunil Subramaniam clearly didn't worry about out cricket during his sessions with Ashwin. Fletcher will no doubt be on the case.

With India desperately trying to throw the match away, West Indies returned the compliment with Sammy bowling a wide long-hop to India's number 10 Varun Aaron (which he hit for 4). And to make their task harder for himself, Aaron turned down a single off the 5th ball of the 47th over on the basis that he wanted to face the 48th over. Dim-witted tactics from both sides.

Poor cricket, but edge of the seat stuff. I imagine Fletcher is amazed at the impact he could have on some of the Indian players who've joined the side after the World Cup. Unlike England though, India's reserves can still beat West Indies....just.

Quality over from Shakib

2011-11-30T12:46:00.002Z

Back in the ranks after being stripped of the captaincy, Shakib Al-Hassan bowled a fantastic over 8 overs into Bangladesh's Twenty20 with Pakistan. His end economy rate of 6 an over doesn't look amazing, although good, but the way he bowled a wicket maiden to a relatively set batsman in Hafeez was fantastic. A turning wicket yes, but he bamboozled Hafeez throughout the over by pitching the ball on middle and leg and passing the outside edge time and time again. Then final ball of the over he bowled the arm ball and bowled him.

A fantastic exhibition of how to bowl in any format!

The dangers of(to) cricket

2011-11-27T16:23:00.003Z

This is quite alarming when one thinks of the precedent that it could set:-

LYMINGTON SPORTS GROUND - LYMINGTON CC STATEMENT
Lymington Cricket Club was founded in 1807 and has been based at its current location at the Sports Ground off Southampton Road for 175 years where we are tenants of Lymington & Pennington Town Council. The ground was originally used solely by the cricket club.The club plays in the ecb Southern Electric Premier League, has four adult teams, six junior teams and its coaches participate in the Chance to Shine charity scheme to promote the game in local schools within our community.The Sports Ground is shared seasonally by the Cricket Club and Lymington Town Football Club. For decades the council has maintained the Sports Ground with their work being supported by volunteers and members of both clubs to achieve one of the finest sports ground and cricket wickets in southern England.On Wednesday 30th November 2011, councillors from Lymington & Pennington Town Council will be voting to move Lymington Cricket Club from the Sports Ground to Woodside Park. The stated reason for the move is a Health & Safety issue caused by the potential injury risk from cricket balls entering the adjoining Lymington Tennis Club. We estimate that a handful of balls have landed on the tennis courts in the last three years while tennis players are using the courts. In common with virtually every other cricket club in the country, we acknowledge there might be a risk of injury if the boundary adjoins other public space facilities. In 175 years there is no record of anybody being hurt by flying cricket balls. Lymington & Pennington Town Council has proposed that a new facility consisting of two new pitches and a new pavilion will be built solely for Lymington Cricket Club at Woodside Park. The Committee of Lymington Cricket Club are resisting the move for the following reasons:•The risk of injury can be minimised by erecting netting between the cricket pitch and tennis courts during the cricket season.•Woodside Park is also a public space. The potential risk of injury to the public is likely to be the same as at the Sports Ground.•The Woodside Park proposal is in its infancy: there are no detailed plans or costings and no consultation has been held between either Woodside Park users or Lymington Cricket Club.•From first hand knowledge, Lymington Cricket Club know the cost of developing a new facility is likely to be in excess of £1 million. How will this be funded?•New cricket grounds take a long time to mature, and we believe that it will take many years to bring the Woodside pitch up to the same standard as that at the Sports Ground. If we are prevented from playing at the Sports Ground, Lymington Cricket Club will not have a venue for First XI cricket in the Southern Premier League or Second XI cricket in Hampshire County Division 1 and so will be relegated from both leagues.Sports and public facilities adjoin each other all over the country. Lymington Cricket Club is not an exception and should not be treated as one. Ceasing to use the Sports Ground will do our club irreparable damage and yet the simple remedy of erecting netting in the area adjoining the two clubs is being met with opposition.Please support our opposition to the council’s proposal online by writing to Lymington & Pennington Town Council, Town Council Offices, Town Hall, Avenue Road, Lymington, Hampshire SO41 9ZG.

India v West Indies observations

2011-11-26T12:48:00.003Z

Couple of things that I noticed in the final India v West Indies Test...

7 minute drinks break seemed to be the norm and sitting/lying down - surely terribly body language from the fielding side no matter how hot it is (both sides were guilty)! 7 minutes - a session is only 2 hours! India may be thinking that if they'd got up a little quicker they may have had another over or two to win the match on the final day.

West Indies were right not to declare on the second evening. Loads of rubbish talked by some of the commentators (and of course Cork in the studio). The only reason to declare would have been if they thought they'd got more than India would score in two innings - less than 600 on an easy batting wicket with India's line up was never going to meet that criteria. And in India there is often a big mismatch between 1st innings scores and 2nd innings scores (and so it proved again).

There's this strange obsession with declaring on the 2nd evening to show "attacking intent" (remember England's declaration in Adelaide in 2006?). What can be more attacking than getting a huge score so you don't need to bat again, and then setting very attacking fields. If you've scored at 4+ an over and are 600+ on the second evening then consider it. If not, then don't consider it unless the weather conditions give the bowling side a big advantage - taking that to the extreme was Justin Langer back in 2007 for Somerset declaring at 50 for 8!

Time for a rethink on declaration strategy I think - the evening of the second day is a nice aim but will often not be possible or desirable. And remember, by declaring outside of a natural break you lose the overs for the change over and that isn't ideal if you're in a dominant and likely winning position....I could go on!

India left one run short

2011-11-26T11:49:00.003Z

Having gone into day 5 with little chance of a win, India set themselves up for a relatively easy win and then managed to contrive a draw with the scores equal. Ashwin played a blinder in the match overall, but his lack of agility cost him towards the end of the match as twos were turned into ones and - although he was highly unlikely to make the 2 needed to win the match off the final ball - his laborious running and turning left him three quarters of the length of the wicket short.

After 10 wickets for the Indian spinners in the West Indies 2nd innings and a typical Sehwag start, the match was there for India to win without over-exerting themselves but set batsmen kept getting themselves out. Sehwag, Dravid and Laxman will all feel they threw their wickets away. That left Dhoni with Kambli and he looked to be playing his usual nerveless knock to see his team to victory. But he was caught low at extra cover leaving a lot of pressure on Kambli. Again, he looked like - with Ashwin - he was soaking it up and would see India over the line, but for the second time in the game he threw his wicket away having scored a half century top edging to short third man.

By himself with the tail, Ashwin couldn't quite get India over the line despite great help from West Indies. A throw well wide of the keeper from Sammy towards the end not only conceded an extra run but allowed Ashwin to retain the strike. And with 3 to win off 3 balls, Aaron played the ball to mid off, ran, and should have been run out easily but for a fumble my Marlon Samuels. Ashwin then blocked the punultimate ball and could only score a single of the final delivery after hitting the ball to long on.

So not exactly quality cricket, but another nail biting Test. There seems to be growing support for Tests to be properly supported by the boards - I see that Haroon Lorgat seems to be taking no responsibility for the fact ODIs and Twenty20 have been prioritised over Tests (seems a bit of an abdication of responsibility?). And Graeme Swann would love to see the end of ODIs leaving two formats of cricket, which I've long been a fan of.

Time will tell if Tests have a resurgence, but last ball finishes can only help.

Cricketer's instincts

2011-11-25T08:59:00.002Z

I think the last time that I played bingo was in the 1960s ( it was all the rage then) when my father took me to watch a match between Guinness (his employers) and a publican's side in Reading. Playing that day was Tim Tremlett's grandfather ( a county player) and I remember also being impressed in the clubhouse afterwards by a player's Lonnie Donegan impressions.
Anyway local pub quiz on Wednesday ( about mid table but we won it a fortnight ago, thanks) and just before the last round a bingo session ( clearly that's where the organiser makes his cash) and I won. What to call out in the excitement? Sadly and instinctively I went with 'howzat!!'.

Marston's and their cricket sponsorship

2011-11-22T13:11:00.003Z

I now go out of my way to buy Marston's. Well ok, not quite out of my way, but when I stop at One Stop by Shoreham-by-sea station on a Friday night before walking home (thrilling life I lead), I always pick Pedigree if they're on the chilled shelves. There's normally Old Speckled Hen and Old Peculier too, but I pick Marston's Pedigree because I love how they support my favourite sport cricket.

The video that I just blogged about (which is currently on the Marston's Pedigree homepage) was not a high quality production, but nor did it need to be to appeal to me - a bitter loving cricket fan. Easy brand building which has had the desired impact on me as I always choose Marston's whenever I have the choice now. But possibly more importantly, here I am blogging about Marston's, advocating drinking Pedigree, without any push from them to do so.

Now they just need far more influential people than me to do the same to make an excellent sponsorship campaign a truly sensational one. Marston's - you might be out of sector, but the company I work for can help with that!

Strauss on his team mates

2011-11-22T12:36:00.004Z

A huge amount was made of Graeme Swann's comments about Kevin Pietersen's lack of leadership credentials in his recently released autobiography, and yet any tensions that those words caused were never apparent to any external observer. Perhaps the England team have found that happy blend of honesty and even taking the mickey out of each other that allows sides to build up fantastic morale?

It's a near impossible thing to get right because it's rare that all players can give as good as they get, so invariably "banter" between team mates is something that is enjoyed rather more by some than by others. And if the team aren't careful, one or two players all too easily become the target for the majority of "banter", leaving them feeling a little ostracised.

Interesting then to hear Andrew Strauss - in relatively unguarded mood - make a few comments about his team mates and Chairman of Selectors, tongue in cheek. The whole video is about an hour and twenty minutes so here's a few of his comments I thought were interesting....

Simon Hughes asked Dusty Miller about how Strauss had come to be captain of England and Miller explained how he originally didn't see Strauss as a one day player and he thought at the time England needed the same captain for ODIs and Tests. His view that Strauss couldn't play ODIs changed and that opened things up for Strauss to become captain. Strauss' view (paraphrased): "What Dusty's is really trying to say is that after the Kevin Pietersen / Peter Moores fallout, there weren't many other options".

Simon Hughes also asked if Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott were really as boring as it appeared. Answer, "yes"! Strauss then clarified when asked if Trott participated in the changing room banter or if he was a loner....no, he's not a loner, "but don't let anyone tell you he's a normal bloke because he isn't". Apparently Trott has a habit of walking off to the next tee on the golf course before his opponent has finished the previous hole as he's so wrapped up in his own game, so it's not just batting where he's self-obsessed.

And what of the team comedian Graeme Swann? Strauss likens him to a Mars bar - the first one tastes great and the first time you meet Graeme Swann it's a very enjoyable experience. By the 15th Mars bar you're feeling sick, and continually spending time with Swann makes you feel that way too apparently.

Nice to know the England captain feels comfortable ribbing his team mates a little without fear of admonishment.

Thrilling Test cricket

2011-11-21T16:30:00.003Z

I'm not necessarily suggesting the standard of the cricket was that high, although I don't think it was bad, but the South Africa v Australia 2nd Test at The Wanderers was a classic. Patrick Cummins, an 18 year-old on debut for Australia, must be pinching himself after taking 6 for in South Africa's 2nd innings and then clinching the win with a crucial nerveless 13 not out off 15 balls.

This match comes off the back of a quickfire 1st Test where South Africa suffered the ignominy of being bowled out for 96, only to then bowl out Australia for less than half that (even allowing them a final wicket partnership of 26) and winning by 8 wickets.

And outside of this series the recent Zimbabwe v New Zealand match where Zimbabwe threatened a fantastic win on the final day before falling 34 runs short was another thriller.

So great games but still a small audience at the ground at today's final day in South Africa....one to consider. Simon Hughes has recently pondered how to support Test cricket to ensure it's place at the top of the cricketing pile. Hughes mentions bad light as an issue, and that should be point 1 on any agenda to increase the crowds at Tests. Having come off early for bad light every day of the match (despite floodlights being available), the umpires were left in a tricky situation today because the Test was reaching a thrilling conclusion, so the game was completed in darker conditions then they'd come off in on previous days (according the commentators). So clearly conditions weren't dangerous to the players then, or they would have had to come off no matter what the match situation was?

Let's start with the basic step of getting the light issue right and go from there....the matches are certainly offering great entertainment for those that watch them on TV or at the ground.

Poor and poorer from Dominic Cork

2011-11-20T10:29:00.004Z

The downside of Dominic Cork retiring is that he'll have more time to spend being a pundit. Take this exchange from yesterday as he commented on the intriguing second Test between South Africa and Australia (paraphrasing):

Cork: (with South Africa now in a good position following an Amla/deVilliers partnership) "Perhaps they can look at bringing Prince to 5 and dropping de Villiers to 6 to get the balance in their batting right"

Ian Ward: "They seem to be doing alright with the order they've got"

Cork: "I just think they may want Prince up one and a stroke player like de Villiers at 6 in England this summer. But then again Prince hasn't been in the runs lately and is under pressure for his place. And the batting order they have now is pretty much perfect."

Thanks Dominic. Another incisive comment.

And then talking through Mitchell Johnson's troubles with the ball he came up with another corker (geddit?). After showing how Johnson is working to get his wrist behind the delivery now, Cork suggested that (again paraphrased) "the in-swinger to the right-hander is the hardest ball for a left-armer like Johnson to bowl and he's showing signs he's rediscovering it".

Really Dominic - the inswinger to the right-hander is the hardest ball to bowl for a left-armer? Not the outswinger to the right-hander that I've only ever seen Wasim Akram bowl consistently well in my lifetime?

I think it's save to assume that Cork's captaincy at Hampshire was built around man-management and motivation rather than tactical nous. How useful for a pro pundit.

Aussies new and old guard

2011-11-19T12:33:00.004Z

As always, there's speculation about the retirement or a clamour for dropping of elder players when they're not performing. And Ricky Ponting's not performing - no doubt about it. There's been plenty of pieces like this one on All Out Cricket by Reverse Sweep's David Green that push the point that the current Test v South Africa needs to be Ponting's last. Another on Cricinfo suggests it's "Time for Ponting to Walk".

But equally, even the detractors recognise that the prolonged slumps of the likes of the great Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, along with Mike Hussey, have all ended with run gluts. Who is to say that Ponting won't help Australia to a glorious win batting in the 4th innings at the Wanderers v South Africa tomorrow? Personally I think Ponting has more Test cricket in him and without anyone obvious to come in to replace him, I'd expect him to be given at least another series (at home) to regain his form. Not only is he a class fielder, but opposition team's fear him in a way they don't fear David Warner or Usman Khawaja.

What about Gautam Ghambir - do you see him as at risk of being dropped and slipping into Test match obscurity? No, I doubt it. And yet Ponting and Ghambir's recent records are very similar as this piece points out. Ponting deserves an extended period playing under Clarke.

On the other side of the coin, Pat Cummins looks a fantastic prospect. Sky keep replaying the ball that hit Kallis' gloves shortly before he then fenced at one outside off stump and was caught at first slip...it was a good ball, but Cummins will probably admit that the ball lept from short of a length at Kallis' chest. Quite rightly, Kallis didn't expect the ball to bounce that much. But nonetheless, the 18 year-old Cummins took the wicket of a true great of the game and it will surely one of several hundreds by the time his career ends, if he can stay injury free.

If Australia have a batsman as good as Cummins is a bowler in the wings, then they should drop the weakest batsman. If that's Ponting, then that's Ponting. But for now they don't so it will be interesting to see if the chat about Ponting's form becomes a self-fulfilling proficy, or if he comes through and dominates again as Hussey did very recently.

The Australian's and journalists piling the pressure on their best batsman since Bradman seem to have very short memories.

Peter Roebuck - constant soul searcher and loner

2011-11-19T11:41:00.005Z

I can't say that I was a particular fan of Peter Roebuck, although I do think that any professional cricket journalist who challenges the meandering "leadership" of the ICC consistently can only help improve cricket administration. No bad thing that he was happy to challenge the status quo and apparent norms.

Sadly I think there's more to come out about Roebuck's personal life but what we do know is that a 26 year-old Zimbabwean Itai Gondo has alleged a sexual assault and that, after questioning from South African police, he threw himself out of his 6th floor hotel room rather than face the allegation. Having been found guilty in 2001 of common assault after caning three 19 year-old South African's he was coaching in 1999, Roebuck received a suspended sentence, so this wasn't the first related allegation. Caning was one thing, but one of the men, Henk Lendique, has reported that Roebuck was keen to see his bare buttocks after the caning and that on a different occasion he encroached on his "personal space".

Many have pointed to Roebuck's fall out with Ian Botham as an example of his intransigence. Botham describes Roebuck as "a very strange person" in the piece in The Cricketer this month - perhaps a more charitable view and one that seems to be shared by several (like Cricinfo's podcast, or Gideon Haigh's view on World Cricket Watch) is that he was a loner.

It would appear that he was somewhat troubled, but despite that, he wrote the foreword to David Frith's By His Own Hand in 1991 (later republished as Silence of the Heart with a foreword by Mike Brearley after Frith and Roebuck fell out) - a book highlighting the increased propensity for cricketers to commit suicide. As reported in this piece on Livemint, Roebuck wrote “Cricketers are supposed to be simple, even gung-ho, in sexual matters as in everything else. Yet cricket—and most cricketers—has its dark secrets, its skeletons." Sadly he also finished his foreword with the words "Some people have predicted a gloomy end for this writer. It will not be so.’’

With a tunnel-focus on cricket, even Botham must be sad that those words have turned out to be incorrect. However, with allegations of sexual assault still outstanding, it's possible that Itai Gondo isn't.

Wow! That didn't take long

2011-11-14T10:35:00.004Z

Sad to note the demise of Peter Roebuck who always seemed to me to have a unique place in cricket history as well as a unique personality. I found that I'd not read his famous 'It never Rains' said to be one of the top ten books in cricket history, so had a look online for a copy. All I could find was a hardback at Amazon for £75.62 and a paperback at £59.95 !

Thai cricket

2011-11-09T06:35:00.001Z

An interesting tale about the evolution of Thai cricket....which involves ignoring democratic votes it appears.

More Test cricket please

2011-11-08T15:31:00.003Z

I'm pretty sure that my name won't be the last from followers of Cricket Burble to sign this electronic petition requesting 4 Tests v South Africa next year rather than 3. No chance of it happening but something I'd support nonetheless!

'It's not cricket'

2011-11-07T17:34:00.005Z

Amid all the anxiety and hand-wringing I find it easy to spot the articles written by non-cricketers. They're the ones that use that hackneyed phrase - those who understand even a little of the game's history would know better. There have always been problems with shady characters and more often than not there's a bet involved somewhere. As we all know we have Laws as opposed to Rules and it was suggested to me recently that that was to ensure legal compliance in the face of big wagers - I'm not sure about that but it's clear that without patrons and sponsors we'd not have the game we do now.

And as for those who suggest that since the phrase can't be applied any more we're all going to the proverbial in the watsit, there's no hope.

Health and Safety

2011-11-07T17:28:00.004Z

I read recently that boundaries are brought in for T/20 and limited over matches for Health and Safety reasons. Now I may be being a little slow here but ..................whose safety and whose health ?

A bit of a lottery...

2011-10-29T09:59:00.004+01:00

...when there's no UDRS. In Sri Lanka's crucial second innings against Pakistan, Sangakkarra looked incredibly unlucky to be given our LBW, and then Angelo Mathews was plumb not playing a shot but not given....

Scotland "star" "did a Reggie Perrin"!!

2011-10-29T09:53:00.003+01:00

Intrigue abounds in the case of ex-Scotland player Asim Butt who apparently died while in Pakistan aged 42 in 2009. His wife can't find any record of his death and certainly can't get hold of a death certificate.

Also intriguing that he was a Pakistani national at all times and was never considered "Scottish". I always assumed you'd have to have dual nationality at least to play for an international side?

What does the drubbing in India mean for the future?

2011-10-26T18:59:00.005+01:00

Never good to lose 5-0 but doing it in a meaningless series a long way before the next World Cup is probably the best time. In some way's it's probably no bad thing - even if the England team themselves weren't getting ahead of themselves, the English media certainly were. England have some talent coming through it appears, but the Twenty20 loss to West Indies and this series demonstrate that there's a way to go.

So what's been learnt from this series? There seem to be some players that aren't quite there yet. England have sent players away from Test cricket to go and find form again, and it's worked with the likes of Strauss and Bell. I think they need to do the same with a few of the ODI team that played this series. Who are the prime candidates for a bit of a regroup in County cricket?

Jade Dernbach - I know many say that if you lose faith in him then the investment in him to date is lost. But frankly he's not proven good enough. Let him play international Twenty20 and learn in the lowest form of cricket and then if and when he's proven a world beater in that arena, give him another try in ODI cricket.

Jonny Bairstow - I don't want to say I told you so, but I told you so! He may be good enough at some point as an international batsman but making his first full series an away one against Indian spinners was always a throw of the dice too far. And he should never have batted above Samit Patel. He could get a chance with the gloves though depending on where England go with....

Craig Kieswetter - I think he'll come good but his mistakes behind the stumps in this series, not to mention a less than inspiring batting performance, means that he needs to go back to Somerset for a bit. For now, internationally, he's a Twenty20 specialist.

Ravi Bopara - I'm saddened to say I think he needs to go back to County cricket (again). He has serious talent and his bowling is handy but despite seeming to come on last English summer, he couldn't produce an innings of substance. He may well get another opportunity but I wouldn't make it England's next series.

So what does that mean for the rest of the England side? I'd like to see them put faith in Pietersen to open and Patel to bat 6 (I've given up on Collingwood being considered, although wouldn't it have been handy to have a class fielder who could bat and bowl out in India instead of the middle order we put out?!). Finn was a real success story (although he still needs to bowl more yorkers at the death) so he's pushing for a place in the bowling attack, (presumably) occupying positions 8-11 in the order.

So Cook, Pietersen, Trott, Bell, Morgan, Patel, AN Other, 3 seamers and Swann. The question is who keeps and bats 7 or 8 depending on whether Bresnan is playing and is considered better than them. I say that because the best keepers in England could well bat below Bresnan, but they're unlikely to be picked. They may feel they want to go with Bairstow as he can clear the ropes, although I think Prior must be thinking he will get another opportunity....time will tell.

Have we reached overload?

2011-10-26T15:45:00.003+01:00

For a long time now I have wondered exactly where cricket is going when we hear that there are now a considerable number of games with attendances that are low compared with a few years ago.

There is a lot of talk about whether there is just too much cricket for either the cricketer or the general public to take in. I can remember playing 9 days consecutive cricket when I was a lot younger and fitter and I was concerned as to how indifferent I became about playing every day and I deny that it was anything to do with too much alcohol or too little sleep.

The main point is that some cricketers hardly get a break and Dhoni can be excused for a poor run in England after five years of non-stop cricket. At least we have got him back into form!

One sign that I have noticed is the enduring perception of Test cricket as the major form with the one day stuff being seen as a bit of a sideshow. Can anybody really suggest that for English people anything matters as much as an Ashes series?

I have gone on but I have become thoroughly disinterested in one day cricket and the last ODI series in India has not been one that I have followed. I have even less interest in the IPL as I see it as a pointless circus with money as the only driving force.

Is my feeling unique amongst burblers or do I have a problem??!!

Billy's antics

2011-10-25T09:09:00.002+01:00

Personally I've got no concerns about Billy Bowden's eccentric signals and love the fact he celebrated New Zealand's rugby win in style!

A good news financial story from County cricket

2011-10-23T16:28:00.002+01:00

Leicestershire are well in profit for the year...a rare good news story that's come about partly because of their Twenty20 success which won't happen every year, but great news none the less.

A sad day

2011-10-23T16:20:00.003+01:00

It's a sad day when you flick the channel away from England to SA v Australia in an attempt to watch a match that's a proper contest! Let's hope the England team are learning while they're losing and it strengthens them moving forwards.

Someone will have to explain to me how anyone would pick Borthwick ahead of Swann...perhaps Swann is feeling the ramifications of his tell all autobiography which he must have realised wasn't going to go down well with Flower?

Ed Smith as a commentator

2011-10-20T12:05:00.002+01:00

Just listened to Ed Smith on TMS commentating on the India v England game. Quality. Not overly sensational, but clearly enthusiastic about the game. Not too know it all, but speaks with authority. Not someone who bangs on about how brilliant he was in his playing career, but gives insight about how the players are feeling based on his past experiences when appropriate.

More please.

5ives cricket

2011-10-19T21:48:00.003+01:00

Interesting couple of pieces here about how ODI cricket is suffering and what to do about it.

First, read this one about the empty seats at the Champions League and the India v England ODIs...worrying given that India has such a huge base of supporters and immense passion for the game. We're normally told that it's Test cricket the Indian fans don't like, but it appears that apathy is spreading to the shorter forms of the game.

Then read this piece about a proposed 5ives version of ODI cricket. It would be a big change to the game and will therefore inevitably mean that there would be quite a backlash, at least initially. But I wonder if it could be a goer....the piece certainly seems very positive and has various ex-pros talking positively about it.

It seems that something has to give. I can't see 50 over cricket continuing forever in it's current form and I think the ICC missed an opportunity to make the 2011 World Cup the last. Without considering financial implications, ending 50 over cricket entirely would seem sensible - returning to two formats of the game - but I doubt that would satisfy the money men. So an alternative to 50 over cricket to follow on from the 2015 World Cup is needed.....I wonder if 5ives could be it?

Bell v Bairstow

2011-10-14T15:08:00.005+01:00

I'd have gone with Bell 5 and Bopara 6 myself. Bairstow may well be the next big thing, but a hundred against a second string local attack and 40odd doesn't make him better than Ian Bell in my book, who is probably England's best player of spin. But at least it's one ginge in and one out....don't want to over do the quota!

Who'd have thought it....me defending Ian Bell! Now watch Bairstow score a match winning hundred....

Two balls in ODIs

2011-10-10T07:57:00.003+01:00

Interesting to see the view points on two new balls....I'd expect the ball to swing differently from each end due to the wind, shape of the stands etc, but this piece seems to suggest that when one ball was used the ball swung the same amount both ends. It's just something else to get used to, no big deal.

For England, I think it assures James Anderson's ODI future. Along with Dale Steyn he's the best new ball bowler in the world and he'll be able to bowl with a new ball for longer, looking to take wickets.

Champions League Highlights and Lowlights

2011-10-06T07:57:00.004+01:00

Some great batting recently in the Champions League, particularly from David Warner. Personally I have no problem with the likes of Warner and Pietersen playing left and right handed....bowlers don't have to tell the batsmen which way they want to spin or swing the ball, so why should a batsman who is capable of batting either way advertise what he intends to do in advance?

There's also been some good bowling - Alfonso Thomas' death bowling for Somerset in their last match was great to watch. Apart from odd eye-catching performances though, in general the standard of the cricket has been pretty poor overall I would say, particularly some of the bowling and fielding, which only adds weight to those that argue Twenty20 is "dumming down" cricket.

What isn't in doubt is how much the players want to win. Alfonso Thomas said that of all the competitions they entered this year, the Champions League is the one they want to win, and if you look at Virat Kohli, his eyes are nearly popping out of his head. He played a great innings yesterday, but I find it hard to believe that he can be thinking with a cool head when so hyped up. Gavaskar asked yesterday "if there was a better 21 year-old batsman in the world" and I agree he's extremely talented, but I'm not sure Twenty20 is going to help him realise that talent....certainly not in Test cricket anyway.

Who knows what impact Twenty20 will have on player skills long-term, but I do worry that basic cricket skills are being lost which will reduce the quality of Test cricket and therefore the audience for it.

A sad tale...

2011-10-06T07:54:00.001+01:00

...not only because the player that had to be held down clearly has some issues, but also because of the way the league reacted in relation to the umpires that had to call the game of....

Kambli in second comedy retirement

2011-10-02T10:10:00.003+01:00

In case you missed it Vinod Kambli retired from first class cricket last week. That's 2 years on from when he retired from international cricket, which itself was 4 years after he last played first class cricket and 14 years after his last Test. Does he think anyone cares? Sad really for a man rated in one statistical analysis as the 19th best batsman ever in Test cricket....

"Horror show" is about right

2011-09-26T16:38:00.002+01:00

Before Sunday's Twenty20 against West Indies I read this piece on King Cricket that rang true - it was all about how some of England's youngsters were being rated very highly with little proof of their credentials. I have to say that I agreed with the sentiment.

So it really grated when the commentators just assumed England would chase 114 yesterday - I certainly didn't feel the same given England had no experience in their batting line up. To lose though they did have to put in a terrible batting performance, which is what they duly did - rightly termed a "horror show" by Swann.

It's never nice to watch England lose but I think it will help in the long run - Swann only bowling 2 overs and Bresnan not coming back for the last over instead of Bopara gave the impression of a little bit of arrogance. 4 run outs is clearly disasterous. And the shots from Stokes and Bairstow were ill judged. Not to mention Bresnan seemingly picking out the fielder at long-off to give catching practice too. So just the 3 wickets that were the result of good bowling (and I'm being charitable to Kieswetter)....

Perhaps England still have a bit of work to do. Hopefully the loss will help in the mid and long-term.

New ritual

2011-09-16T08:42:00.002+01:00

Watch James Taylor and Jacques du Toit celebrate a boundary. Fist bump, bat tap, fist bump. They'll all be doing it soon !

http://www.middlesexccc.com/news-detail.asp?NewsID=2387

Strange behaviour

2011-09-12T09:07:00.002+01:00

Apparently when you bat you're supposed to make mental notes of the abilities of the fielders around you as part of the planning process for a long innings ( I say apparently, for obvious reasons).
Well a batsman we met last week took this aspect of his game very seriously - I think he might have been traumatised by a run out in his early career - he called out the information as he went from end to end. So we'd hear 'left handed throw' or 'underarm throw' as he went. Curious and surely an opportunity to fox him with a couple of misfields.

If you buy a house next to a cricket pitch...

2011-09-08T13:44:00.002+01:00

....you have to expect balls in your back garden. So while I might agree with the overall point of this piece about a woman being arrested for her complaints after one too many cricket balls landed in her back garden, it's actually great to see an over-reaction on this issue as it may mean that others desist!!

You need your head read if you buy a house next to a cricket pitch and then complain about balls being hit into your garden or house - even a 5 year-old can work out that there is an inherent danger in the local geography. In this case, judging from her gated huge house entrance, it seems Maria Chaippini really does have more money than sense.

At Durrants (the old home of OMTs), as many readers of this blog will testify, local residents complained about balls being hit into their back gardens until they realised the alternative was loads of houses and no nice green field backing on to their garden. Amazing how their views changed so quickly when they realised that.

So tough luck Maria - get used to the cricket balls in your back garden or sell up. If only every cricket match involved a couple of off-duty police officers to arrest people like Maria, the world would be a better place.

Anderson under bowled?

2011-09-06T21:33:00.004+01:00

Is there any reason why Anderson isn't getting his full quota of overs these days? I noticed that he looked unlucky not to have bowled 10 overs in the match on Saturday when more expensive bowlers bowled their full quota, but it's always dangerous looking at the stats like that because you don't know who bowled the powerplay overs. I know Dernbach and, to a lesser extent, Bresnan have been identified as England's death bowlers but if that's the case I'd like to see Anderson bowl all his overs at the start of the innings unless he's having an off-day.

In the first match, Trott bowled overs 32 and 34 when England desperately needed a wicket and Anderson was left with an over of his quota left. Today Anderson bowled just 3 overs for 11 as Dernbach and Bresnan bowled 5 and 4 respectively, and went for 1o an over. I wasn't watching or listening but any clues as to why Anderson didn't bowl at least 4 overs, if not 5?

BCCI thwart Indian minister on transparency....for now

2011-09-04T09:22:00.004+01:00

While I've been otherwise engaged, the Indian minister Ajay Maken has had his Sports Bill voted out that would have enforced a certain level of transparency amongst Indian sporting bodies including the BCCI. It of course created quite a few headlines in India and it now seems that the bill will be amended in an attempt to push it through.

Overall, it seems a good thing to expect greater transparency (and therefore increase the likelihood of good practice) by sporting bodies. But I can't help feeling that there are a few specifics that seem very strange. If it is correct that the government want to enforce retirements at 70 and stipulate a percentage of ex-players, or even allow themselves a say in selection(!!!) as I saw in one report, then this is clearly going way too far.

One of my pet hates (as readers of Cricket Burble probably know) is the emphasis on giving ex-cricketers jobs instead of running Counties and National Cricket Boards like the businesses they are. So any attempt to have more or less ex-players seems crazy to me - why not interview people on their suitability for the business-based role? If you're going to stipulate anything in terms of experience (which I wouldn't) then ten years+ of business experience wouldn't go amiss. An understanding of sport (ideally cricket) is of course required, but that is very much secondary to the business expertise required.

The business focus can be taken too far as Alan Hamer has shown in his mis-handling of Glamorgan. The assumption when Alviro Petersen was signed was that there was a long-term strategy in place but it appears not as Glamorgan are now trying to work out who their captain will be next year - either home grown pros or Marcus North of Australia it seems. Hamer's actions have actually left Glamorgan in a worse place than they were a year ago and shows what happens when business people push for unrealistic instant success football-style. They've fared badly in 40 and 20 over cricket and are in the bottom half of division 2 rather than being promoted which looked likely at the end of last season. Whatever amount of money Glamorgan make this year (or loss), it would have been better had there been a more gradual change to playing staff, captain and coach with a long-term vision in mind.

It will be interesting to see whether an amended Sports Bill makes it through India's parliament, but whether in India, England or anywhere else, the less the better in terms of enforced percentages of ex-players, enforced retirement ages, etc - just assess people on merit against each other and may the best man or woman win and take the sport forwards.

Two new arrivals

2011-09-03T07:54:00.008+01:00

You might have noticed a distinct lack of posts just recently and there is a pretty good reason - I've become a dad. You might think this is not a cricket related post, but I'll refer back to this when the girls are teaming up in an England Women's cricket team in years to come! (They were born 1st September so they'll be the very oldest in their year.)

The girls came extremely early but they're getting the very best of care at the Trevor Mann High Dependency Unit in Brighton. They've done well in the first 48 hours so fingers crossed that continues. Michelle is up and about and recovering pretty well.

Abbie Sarah

Tia Charlotte

Dubious Decisions

2011-09-02T17:08:00.003+01:00

Did anyone notice that Dhoni took the ball in front of the stumps when he stumped Pietersen the other night in the T20 game?

On dubious decisions, it seems to me that the position over LBW decisions is getting more bizarre. Not for the first time this season a batsman was given not out for one that would have missed off and leg and hit middle about half way up. Also, there have been several occasions when Sky commentators complain that a batsman was given not out because it would have clipped the stumps, or so hawkeye tells us. I am not a good enough mathematician to work out how many fractions of one degree this is but it is an incredibly small margin.

My plea is that either the technology should be used to the full or not at all. If none is used then Sky should only be able to show the game in real time, a bit like it used to be all those years ago.

Younger, younger and younger again...

2011-08-23T07:09:00.002+01:00

You're probably getting sick of me saying how young the Steyning 1st XI is, but surely this is some kind of record for a league 1st team - if it isn't it should be! On Saturday, we fielded a side where 36 out of 47 overs were bowled by under 19s and 6 wickets were taken by 14 year-olds.

Sam Grant, 15 - 14 overs, Mike Brown, 19 - 5 overs, David Croshaw, 14 - 6 overs, Lawrence Green, 14 - 11 overs.

Incredible really. And Lawrence Green is a leg-spinner who bowled with fielders all round the bat at all times and still only went at less than 4 an over.

England deliberately scuffing the pitch?

2011-08-23T07:01:00.002+01:00

I wasn't able to watch or listen to England wrapping up a 4-0 series win yesterday, but having got the first wicket it looks like England dominated (again). To think, prior to the series I was upset that the battle for number 1 Test nation wasnt' a 5 match series - in the end it all seemed very easy for England.

But one thing seemingly glossed over in victory worried me - did I read that Strauss was officially warned about his players continually walking on the pitch? If that is true, that sounds extremely worrying. Nothing Afridi-esque I assume or it would be far more important than the one line of coverage it seems to be getting....

Contrast - just like the old days

2011-08-22T10:01:00.003+01:00

The advent and proliferation of league cricket has meant that we no longer, or rarely, play the one team village sides we used to, but we got a lovely reminder on Sunday. Looked as if we had enough to run a an extra side and, as the old man who's been to most local grounds I got an e-mail on Thursday - did I know Old Berkeley CC? I didn't but, since their ground directions referred to a pub 50 yards away and the pub got a good write up on beer in the evening, we agreed it was a good fixture and I suddenly became available.

So Sunday, I got there first and found the pub - barely touched for 30 years, but that's not always a good thing, and met the publican and his mate who told me that about 50 years ago Captain Courage (of Brewery fame) gave them the land and they (the publican and his mate) laid it out and created the ground. I was also involved in conversations about rabbit hutches and ferret boxes but baulked a bit at his answer to a request for food from another customer 'doesn't your wife know how to cook?' - that was called 'common sense'.

At the ground we found that both teams had been a bit optimistic and it ended up as 9.5 v 8. The half player was theirs - the big house that had been Captain Courage's included a son down from Eton who was inveigled into playing, which involved sitting on a deck chair between the house and the ground until his (brief but unlucky) innings and then returning to it until he had to come over and explain to his team mates that he couldn't field as he had a train to catch.

The house was straight behind the bowlers arm and closer than the similarly placed one at Mill Hill Village. 'Has anyone ever broken a window?' 'No, but someone once hit the heliocopter parked in front of it - stupid place to park a helicopter'.

We lost but it didn't seem to matter much and it was all back to Horace's (the publican who'd bought it from Aylesbury Brewery Company, soon after building the cricket ground).

And I was the last to leave since I had to have a bowl in the net in the pub garden.

Paparazzi action yesterday...

2011-08-15T13:16:00.002+01:00

...at The Cricketer Cup final...

Edgbaston goes £29m into debt to fund ground development

2011-08-15T13:10:00.002+01:00

Interesting to see just how far Warwickshire have had to go to ensure there is the realistic prospect of international cricket at Edgbaston long-term. £29m into debt in fact.

I haven't been to the ground since the building work but certainly the old ground beat Lord's and The Oval for comfort with room for people to walk through the aisles, rather than everyone having to stand to allow others to squeeze past. The only slight downside compared to London grounds is the walk to/from the station (as getting a cab is near impossible, especially on the way back), but I certainly hope Edgbaston remains as a Test venue.

Looks can be deceptive

2011-08-15T09:36:00.003+01:00

A few years ago we played a side which included a player with, apparently, freshly inked arms who spent a large part of his team's fielding session ensuring that his short sleeves were pulled up to his shoulders so that we could see the artwork. He'd also changed his name by deed poll to something quite aggressive. Now I've nothing against tattoos per se and I'm quite happy for people to call themselves what they like but I'm afraid I was amused by his antics with his sleeves and I know that my team mates were equally amused.

Well we played against this chap on saturday and he's now the skipper - he batted for a long time and we later had a spell when we were trying to save a draw and he was bowling. Amusing friendly banter all the way through both sessions and we shared a beer together afterwards and what a nice bloke!

So 1. looks can be deceptive and / or 2. cricket brings out the best in people.

Anagrams

2011-08-15T09:33:00.003+01:00

I'm told that someone 'phoned in to TMS on friday to point out that A Mishra and I Sharma, bowling in tandem at the time, have names that are anagrams of each other and to ask whether the occurence was unique. Does anyone know whether they were able to find another example?

Contrast

2011-08-15T09:29:00.003+01:00

On the front page of yesterday's Telegraph Sport were two headlines :-
1. 'On top of the world' about England beating India at cricket
2.Wenger accuses Barton of cheating - Arsenal manager furious over Gervinho red card but Newcastle midfielder says referee was right.

Whilst I like it as a sport and have kicked a few big round balls in my time I hate the start of the football season.

Malvern cruise to Cricketer Cup final win

2011-08-14T20:29:00.004+01:00

Old Malvernian's won the Cricketer Cup final today at Shenley against Old Etonian's by a big margin - larger than the one that OMTs' lost to Malvern by in the semi. Old Etonian's 141 all out, Old Malvernian's 145 - 4 with 17 overs to spare.

Next year's draw was also made - the final will be replayed in the 1st round next year! And OMTs have been drawn against Old Alleynian's (Dulwich)....

Moaning about the U19 over limits (again!)

2011-08-14T08:51:00.004+01:00

It does my head in as a skipper. We've got two 19 year-olds who love bowling and hate the fact that they have to end their spells after 7 overs of slow-medium bowling (the keeper stands up for both of them). They're without doubt not even vaguely tired but they have to come off. One of them opened the bowling and had 4 for 27 so had to give up the chance of a 5 for. The other came on first change and had 3 for 6 from his 7 overs of slow medium. You can view the scorecard here.

Fortunately it looks like we're going to get through this period without losing them to non-cricket related activities on a Saturday as next year they'll be able to bowl normal spells of unlimited length. But one of them in particular moans all the time about not being able to bowl longer spells - it can't be good for cricket that keen youngsters are kept from maximising their role in adult sides.

As a skipper it creates farcical situations - when selecting we have to consider how many "unlimited" bowlers we have as it can become very problematical if all your seamers are subject to the 7 over maximum rule. And when in the field I have to consider giving batsmen in the top 5 of the opposition 1, just so our one strike bowler, who is 15, gets to bowl at the opposition's best batsmen before he has to come off.

It's a crazy situation to be in and I've got a simple solution - keep the maximum overs per day but lose the maximum per spell. A maximum number of overs per spell surely increases the chances of injury as players have to warm up 2 or 3 times and if a bowler is tired the skipper will take them off anyway as they'll be costing the team runs. That would ensure that young bowlers really enjoy playing a full part in adult cricket. It seems particularly unfair on bowlers - no-one hauls our U16 opening batsman, who leads the league runs, off after he's scored 50 - he's allowed to bat all day....

CMJ: "there will be some good players there"

2011-08-12T12:03:00.003+01:00

Just heard CMJ discussing the Cricketer Cup final on Sunday between Old Etonians and Old Malvernians. "There will be some good players there," he said "including Alex Loudon who's scored a couple of hundreds". Probably just as well OMTs lost in the semi if CMJ expects "good players" although I suppose the definition of "good" varies! I suspect that CMJ's definition of good is good by professional standards....

Needless to say, when it was mentioned that Alex Loudon's girlfriend may well be watching, Boycott had no idea who Pippa Middleton is. She's not a cricketer so she doesn't exist in Boycott world.

A combined England/Australia XI

2011-08-12T09:23:00.003+01:00

Amazing to see how the tables have turned so quickly - as one of the commenter's points out, perhaps only one Englishman would have got in the Australian side in 2006. 5 years later and the consensus is that only Watson (for Morgan) would get into England's side....

Vaseline get involved with Hot Spot debate

2011-08-12T09:20:00.002+01:00

Vaseline in India have tried to take advantage of the debate about whether it can be used to cheat Hot Spot in their latest Indian advertising....

Spanish footballers striking

2011-08-12T09:15:00.003+01:00

Last summer something Alastair Cook said got exagerated and quoted out of context, and there was talk about England cricketers striking. That wasn't really going to happen though. Apparently, Spanish footballers are striking though - some people don't know how lucky they are. If they aren't paid when a club goes into administration so be it....the vast majority are already millionaires.

England tactics to set batsmen with tailenders

2011-08-11T10:20:00.003+01:00

I didn't watch any of yesterday's play but I hear that when Dhoni was out England had 8 players round the boundary and Strauss at slip, where he was caught. Dhoni had a wild swish so was presumably trying to clear the rope and came unstuck. I'm torn - I hate the idea of having everyone round the boundary with the opposition in so much trouble, but perhaps Dhoni didn't have the patience to score the occassional boundary, the odd 2 and a 1 of the 5th ball to farm the strike for a bit.....in which case, good tactics.

Difficult to criticise when it works but having everyone round the boundary feels very wrong somehow! Any thoughts...?

Shastri and Gavaskar BCCI employees

2011-08-08T21:15:00.006+01:00

There seems some genuine surprise at the fact that Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar are paid by the BCCI for some of their commentary work. I don't think it's that surprising given, as ex-India spinner Maninder Singh has said "It's symptomatic of what the country is going through. There are scams, corruption in every sphere of life and cricket is no different." If you've ever been to India you'll recognise and understand that sentiment.

Surprising or not, I do think the amount they're paid is obscene. 3.6 crore, which I believe is £4,896,000 [this is actually 10 times too much - see comments!]. It doesn't seem a justifiable amount for an annual salary for any role, but certainly not cricket commentary. So the assumption I find it hard to avoid considering is that they must be being paid that much to ensure that they say exactly what the BCCI would like them to say - it would be interesting to hear what other explanation there is for that much money being paid for an ordinary commentary role?

Interesting to see that Shastri's intransigence around the UDRS, echoing that of the BCCI, is now being called into question. His little spat with Nasser Hussain made me laugh - first Hussain references the fact he has played 96 Tests as a reason why he's allowed to voice an opinion about the BCCI....surely it's the fact that he is a commentator and his role is, as Geoff Boycott isn't shy of reminding us, to comment. Who cares how many Tests he has or hasn't played?

And then Shastri's retort...."India has every right to take it or not". Erm, not really - ever heard of democracy Ravi? The ICC members should be putting it to a blind vote and then implementing the UDRS. One of the reasons the BCCI gave for not implementing the UDRS a while back was that it cost too much. Perhaps a bit of a cut back on paying back-handers to commentators fellas, and then you wouldn't just be able to pay for the technology for India's home series, you'd be able to pay for the low-income nations to use it too. Now that really would be fantastic leadership of the game of cricket.

Disecting India's performance

2011-08-01T18:28:00.004+01:00

Where do I begin?

1) Poor preparation - the wrong balance between rest and play for the West Indies series

2) Lack of warm-up fixtures for the rested players

3) Inconsistent selection - where was Murali Vijay, a like-for-like (almost) replacement for Sehwag, who would have taken the attack to England and possibly force them to change their initial bowling plans.

Where was Virat Kohli? He had a good tour of the West Indies but was jettisoned for Yuvraj Singh, a nothing bowler, a flat track bully of a batsman and a shadow of his old fielding self (before injuries).

4) Poor bowling - if the pitch is not doing anything and if the ball is not doing anything then you dry up the runs by bowling a consistent line outside off-stump and force the batsmen to make the mistake. This is something that England and South Africa have done, and something that India should have yesterday.

5) Abject field placings - that said consistent bowling needs the captain to set the right field. Dhoni not having a third-man for a large part of the innings gave England far too many cheap runs. Not having an orthodox fine leg didn't help either as the bowlers sprayed it. Also even for part-time spinners, you need to have an attacking field to create mistakes, yesterday it was like being at a dairy with all the milking that was going on.

That's just a few areas for development. The last two can be remedied for Edgbaston, but I'm not holding my breath that they will.

Bresnan is a proper allrounder

2011-08-01T12:27:00.003+01:00

There were a few rumblings that Broad should bat above Bresnan after Broad scored runs in the first innings at Tent Bridge, following his runs in the 2nd innings at Lords. But there's no way that should be the case. Bresnan bats like a batsman, Broad bats like a bowler - he can play some fantastic shots but there's a lot that goes arial and he always gives the bowler a chance. So the likelihood is that he'll struggle to score runs consistently.

Bresnan approaches his batting more seriously and gives himself the best chance of consistent success, so unless Broad changes his approach, Bresnan should always bat above him.

I also disagree with the commentators about the (possible) declaration. I would have done what Strauss did and bat to a lead of 500 - if you argue that it's a world record score and if India win they deserve it, similarly you can make the opposite argument that 5 sessions should be more than enough for England to bowl them out and if India save the game they deserve it. As always though, any discussion about the declaration is irrelevant until we see the fields that Strauss sets - I hope he's more attacking than on the final day at Lords.

Dumb-ass cricket

2011-07-31T15:48:00.003+01:00

Dumb-ass cricket from Ian Bell (unless Asad Rauf called over which I find unlikely), which hopefully won't take away from a superb innings because he really did bat fantastically well until that brain freeze.

Betting odds tell you what's happening

2011-07-29T17:44:00.002+01:00

If you follow the cricket via Cricinfo or the BBC waiting to see updates to the scoreboard when you're working as I do, you expect to notice when a wicket falls. But I had the strange experience twice today of hearing that a wicket had fallen from my colleague next to me. Having been a pro gambler for 6 months, he's on top of all things betting and it turns out that the odds change after a wicket well before the scorecards get updated.

So as Morgan was starting his innings he said to me "Another wicket's fallen" to which I told him that his information was out of date...the fourth wicket had gone down just before that. But as it turned out, he was right - Morgan was out third ball....the Cricinfo scorecard caught up about 30 seconds later. The same happened again when Bresnan was out - my colleague noticed the odds change and told me a wicket must have fallen. Sure enough I found out it had shortly afterwards.

That's a whole new experience for me....following events on the cricket pitch via the betting odds!

Cricketer Cup semi-final scorecard / match report

2011-07-27T06:19:00.003+01:00

For those that haven't seen the scorecard / match report from the Old Malvernians v OMT match, they're here:

Scorecard
Match report

Lack of conversation

2011-07-26T08:38:00.002+01:00

We all know that one of the principal reasons for playing cricket is to spend time before, during and after with your pals, but it hadn't occurred to me how important the between over conversations are until we had a weird recent match. Because the pavilion had also been booked for a playschool it was decided to play an away fixture with all the bowling from one end with the kiddies safe behind long stop ( in theory and, as it turned out, in fact).
Very disorienting - you usually don't move very far between overs, if at all and you certainly don't go past anyone to exchange a brief bon mot and it must be particularly tedious for normally loquacious keepers, particularly if there's no slip to chat to. The skipper also can't say 'next over that end' but, on the plus side, I was able to confuse a team-mate at a precious wicket-having-fallen- conversation opportunity - 'I don't think they've got the overs right - if we started that end it must be an odd number'.
At least I didn't bowl at the wrong end as I did the previous year - not wrong, you understand for tactical reasons, but for the safety of a house which suffered broken windows in 2010 !

Prior is not the best keeper/batsman in the world!

2011-07-26T06:18:00.003+01:00

He's batted fantastically in the last Test, no doubt about it and he was a key ingredient in England's win. But even some knowledgable journalists have been suggesting he's the best keeper/batsman in the world which is clearly insane. Kumar Sangakkara averages 56 batting against the newish ball predominantly, versus Prior's 45 coming in at 7. And don't tell me Prior is the better keeper and still has a claim - even if you think he might just be superior, a difference in average of 11 is huge. No-one (I don't think?) would even suggest that Prior is the best keeper in England, good glove man though he has become.

As Simon Hughes says here, Prior's great skill is the tempo he gets his runs at and he's a huge asset. But let's keep a sense of reality...

Getting out of the way of the ball

2011-07-25T14:47:00.003+01:00

Listening to the TMS commentary and Cook has just got hit fielding at silly point. On the backside as he turned around. Why do players do that? Gambhir got hit on the elbow doing that yesterday.

I've fielded close in quite a lot and I try not to turn at all. It of course takes a bit of nerve not to flinch but whatever you do you're just as likely to get hit and I'd prefer to be watching the batsman in case the ball isn't middled and you can react.

I'm told by people that have been professionally coached on this that the advice is to simply hunch down facing the batsman if you're at short-leg, and jump up if you're at silly point (as the ball is likely to go low on the off-side, but may go at any height on the leg-side), but not sure I totally agree with that. Any move that takes your eye off the ball or just moves your eyes, makes it less likely you'll catch a chance.

All good things....

2011-07-25T11:05:00.003+01:00

....must come to an end and the 2011 OMT Cricketer Cup run came to an end yesterday at Old Malvernians. More details in another post (or you can check the OMT Cricketer Cup blog), but interesting things I learnt from playing against a team with 7 ex-first class or minor county cricketers:

David Nash called "one" when it went to the boundary but he and his partner were pushing for two all along and got it easily (the "one" call being purely so that the fielder doesn't charge in as they assume that the batsmen don't want more than one).

Their wicket-keeper, who doesn't have representative honours, kept calling "no run" loudly whenever the batsman hit it for a potential single. It momentarily made me and others hesitate at the non-strikers end thinking it was the striking batsman who'd called no run, so you could call it cricket-smart or unsporting depending on your view point, but it worked.

Gutted to lose obviously, but the small upside personally was getting David Nash and Mark Hardinges out.

You never stop learning

2011-07-21T09:39:00.003+01:00

So we're sitting watching our colleagues bat and someone says, of a fielder 'oh, he's made the mistake of chatting to the square leg umpire'.
'What's wrong with that ?' I ask. Well, I'm told, if the umpire moves back and the fielder chooses to continue the conversation he's likely to move back with the umpire and he's no longer saving one. It had never occurred to me but in the next match I decided to test the theory during my own umpiring stint and wow! it works. I had a quick bowler by me who was happy to tell me his life story including cricketing achievements and I'm pretty sure he'd have followed me to the pub if I'd gone there. He certainly moved back 10 yards or so as I did so. Brilliant - try it yourselves.

Interesting lead up to the 1st Test...

2011-07-20T13:17:00.002+01:00

We've all been embarrassed by our parents occasionally, but Harbajan's mum's intervention after Dhoni took part in an advert for a competing whisky brand must take some beating!

Annual Brakspears intake over

2011-07-18T07:39:00.009+01:00

Another year, another enjoyable Thames Tour. Here's a few selected photos....none of actual cricket of course! Tour record was played 6, won 3, tied 1, lost 2. I am to blame for the tie as I was captaining that game...a one run win was the ideal but I was a bit over-generous in the way I tossed the ball up in the final over! No matches lost to bad weather so all good....

Preparing for the Aldworth game at The Bell. Allan (front left) had clearly just swallowed a wasp.

John Walter holding court. Dave McCabe has clearly heard this anecdote before.

4 of the team relax at Aldworth having racked up the huge total of 92, preparing themselves to bowl Aldworth out.

Once again Mark Davis took the wicket of Tim Vines on Wednesday against Peppard. Tim forces a smile for the annual photo.

The team look on at Goring as Jon Vallerius and Guy Edwards knock off the winning runs.

Mark Davis wrapped in the OMT flag.

OMTs move into the Cricketer Cup semi-final

2011-07-11T22:35:00.003+01:00

Yes, I know it's scarcely credible but somehow the OMT Cricketer Cup run continues and we now play last year's winners, Old Malvernians in the semi-final following Sunday's win against Felsted.

Still trying to work out who will be playing for them but ex-Middlesex player David Nash is likely to be playing judging from this photo after last year's final as are Mark Hardinges and Oliver Griffiths.

Should be interesting - the match is Sunday 24th July away at Malvern starting at 11:30. As in previous games, you can keep up to date every few overs by checking the blog that is updated during the match. You can still see the updates from the previous matches which sadly include a short video of yours truly giving his views on the match at the half-way stage on Sunday....

2 high profile retirements in the women's game

2011-07-11T22:27:00.004+01:00

Aimee Watkins, the New Zealand Women's Captain, retired last week at the age of just 28. It would be interesting to know what she's up to next given her early retirement.

At a more apt age for retirement (although only 2 years older than me!), England's Claire Taylor has also retired. Back in 2009 she was the first female Wisden Player of the Year and she's been critical to England's middle order for over a decade, but fortunately her retirement coincides with Lydia Greenway's excellent form that saw her named England Women's Player of the Year.

How did we win in 2008?

2011-07-08T12:36:00.003+01:00

As a long suffering member I'm very aware that prior to the start of this season Middlesex were statistically the worst side in T20 county cricket (wins as a percentage of games played) and now with 2 wins in 13 I can't bring myself to do the maths.

So that gorgeous day in 2008 when after playing in an win at a beautiful ground I got back to my local in time to see MCCC's famous victory surrounded by fairly gracious Surrey-supporting mates seems surreal. In other circumstances you might even wonder if a leather jacket were involved (but certainly not here).

So I checked and of the 11 that won less than 3 years ago only 4 are still with us (one on England duty, one injured, one lent to another county and one rested). And one played against us last night and one has joined us from the beaten finalists.

So no reason to expect the 2008 and 2011 sides to have anything in common - I suspect that there is more of a merrygoround in cricket than there is in the game with a bigger ball for those with short attention spans.

P S I see from the same Wisden that Adam Rossington, now of Middlesex had a wonderful year for Mill Hill School.

PPS at least Pinky the Panther won the mascot race last night. Middlesex till we die wants to give him the player of the month award ( I met some of them yesterday at a pub near the ground) http://www.cricketnetwork.co.uk/main/s66.htm

More on player discipline...

2011-07-08T07:24:00.003+01:00

My County Sussex have been quick to do exactly as I suggested counties would do following the James Foster ban and have demonstrated to all that they take discipline seriously by issuing a statement about how they are disciplining Murray Goodwin. You'll note that there is no actual punishment for Goodwin though - just a verbal ticking off for now.

Interesting view from Derek Pringle yesterday too. He hopes that the push for greater player discipline may bring the umpire back to the centre of the game. Which got me thinking....has the crass implementation of the UDRS by the ICC and national boards led to a loss of respect for umpires? I certainly don't think it can help that players get to review decisions rather than umpires having sole discretion on when to use technology.

And Pringle also raises drinking with umpires after the close of play. That's something that has dropped off in club cricket too in my experience, although I do sometimes share a pint with an umpire or both of them.

Pints or not, it appears that under my watch Steyning won't be retaining the Sussex League fair play award, but I'm at a loss as to what I could have done differently to achieve a 10 out of 10!

Captains and player discipline

2011-07-06T14:43:00.002+01:00

The other day I commented on CMJ's piece worrying about a deterioration in player discipline. As I wrote on Cricket Burble a while ago, I don't feel it's fair to saddle the captain with all player discipline issues and I'd like to see umpires challenging individual players that say things out of earshot of the captain.

So interesting then to see that James Foster has been banned for 2 games for persistent discipline issues at Essex. He's guilty of a big breach of discipline himself - the CMJ piece says that he had a slanging match with the umpires in front of TV cameras. But this ban comes as a result of 5 Essex disciplinary issues in the last 12 months - not the specific Foster case.

"The regulations make it absolutely clear that the captains are responsible for discipline on the field and ensuring no repetition occurs."

That is what they say, yes. However, it's simply not possible for a captain to ensure that no repetition occurs - the only way that can be done is through non-selection of the likes of Stuart Broad. All the other counties will now presumably put in place procedures that demonstrate they've taken action whenever a player is reported by an umpire, so they can demonstrate that they've tried to do something to avoid a repeat. But that doesn't really address the issue that the captain could be the best captain in the history of the game, but they still can't totally stop individual ill-discipline.

I'd like to see individual fines and penalties increased, and if the captain is deemed to have encouraged ill-discipline they might receive an even greater fine than the individual in question. While Foster's individual actions have demonstrated that he has set a very poor example, I fear for the precedent penalising the captain for the ill-discpline of his/her players sets. What might it lead to? Use your most dispendable player as captain for the toss and admin potentially?

As a captain in club cricket, I support the umpires wherever possible and do what I can to prevent ill-discipline. But I also know that it's impossible to ensure no repetition occurs. So why have regulations that aren't humanly possible to achieve?

Special from Suppiah

2011-07-06T14:35:00.003+01:00

6 for 5 doesn't seem a bad return for Somerset's Arul Suppiah!

The Cowdrey lecture

2011-07-05T17:15:00.004+01:00

It's a long listen of an hour, but you can listen to Kumar Sangakkara's Cowdrey lecture and apparently it's captivating (not that I've had the time to listen myself yet!).

Can't win.

2011-07-05T16:52:00.004+01:00

So in today's papers Angelo Mathews , or whoever was instructing him, got flack for engineering it so that his partner Dinesh Chandimal got to 100 before their side ran out of target runs. Do you remember how much criticism Atherton got for declaring on Hick on 98* and Thorpe got for not engineering it so that Alex Tudor got to his nightwatchman's 100 ?

Oriental confusion

2011-07-04T12:45:00.004+01:00

So you go into bat and seek help from either your new partner ( obviously now the senior partner) or the defeated batsmsan ( why, since he's obviously not succeeded). What you want to know is whether you need to worry about the ball outside your off stump cutting back to take your poles out or the one missing leg that's going to do for you. Last week I had this conversation and was told 'he's bowling chinamen' and it was then that I realised that this was an expression I didn't understand. We all know that the books say it's a left arm bowlers equivalent of a googly but what does that actually mean - which way does it pretend to be going to turn ( only relevant if you can pick up the arm 20 odd yards away) and which way will it actually turn? And how come some players e.g. Denis Compton were said to bowl googlies and chinamen.

No secrets on the internet

2011-07-04T12:40:00.003+01:00

I see that Owais Shah has gone from being the 64th best ODI batsman in the world to be the 61st without playing in one - that's real class.
I also see that a Hertfordshire age group side won a game by -1 run. That's another useful trick.

Steyning win back Cup...

2011-07-01T09:05:00.003+01:00

We play for a Cup annually against Horsham and they've been holding it since 2003, so it was nice to win the Cup back yesterday. Doubly nice because we came back from the dead when they were 164-2 chasing 244 and well ahead of the rate required, and trebly nice because at a crucial point in the match one of their guys didn't walk for a caught behind and it's good when cheats don't prosper!

And after my TFC in the Cricketer Cup for OMTs, it was also nice to play a leading role...