A new life

Nine days ago a became a father for the first time. A momentous life changing event. An event which provokes alot of questions. What kind of father will I be? Will I be able to provide the guidance required for this little man to develop into a grounded, responsible adult? Will he follow in dad's footsteps and develop an obsessional interest in cricket? Of course I would love for this to be the case, but he may pursue other interests, in which case, I would of course support him. If he does turn to cricket what sort of player will he be? A swashbuckling wicketkeeper/opening batsman, a hostile fast bowler? A dour run accumulator (like his dad)? A wily legspinner? I will support any endeavor he chooses.........as long as he is not an off spinner.

conratulations aan de Nederlandse nationale team cricket

I have been wearing orange all day in honour of the achievements of The Netherlands cricket team.

Tactical errors by England...

Yes, we didn't bat well in the second half of the innings. And Stuart Broad seemed to use all his brain up when bowling each ball of the final over, meaning that when the ball came back to him he lost any sense of intelligence and missed the various chances to take a wicket (and therefore save a vital run). As an England supporter I can't help looking back on the "wide" given against Broad earlier which seemed incredibly harsh....on such harsh calls to close games hinge.

But the biggest tactical error by England was not using Foster as an attacking weapon behind the stumps. He's good enough to stand up to any of the bowlers, and the fact that he didn't must have been discussed and agreed. But, apart from the very early overs, it's wrong for 3 reasons - 1) we lose the option of stumpings, 2) he's not at the stumps for run out chances, and 3) as in the last over there is the chance to run a bye off what should be a dot ball.

When Foster decided not to stand up for the final ball of the innings (he seemed to want to but appeared to be told not to, implying that England were happy to go to the super over if the scores ended level as they were happy to accept one bye) it again cost England. Had he been up at the stumps Broad could have flicked the ball to him risk free and worst case for England, the game would have gone to the super over. Best case, they would have won by one run. I hope the idiot in the England camp (Collingwood as he's captain?) who came up with the bright idea of taking away one of our key fielding "attackers" recognises what an error they made and that it's put right against Pakistan on Sunday.

Symonds out

Symonds has been sent home so Australia will be weaker now in Twenty20 as well as Tests, but did they have to take that action? We'll never know without a full report of his behaviour, but what is public at the moment doesn't seem to warrant sending home. It appears he went for a few drinks while watching an Aussie rugby league match without telling the team management.

Why do they have to tell the management where they are at all times? That would drive me insane!

Not great timing !

From the start I've been a huge fan of Twenty20 cricket and have been to matches all over the South East. Not for me the notion that it's not 'proper cricket', indeed I'd argue that what we play at the weekend is proper cricket rather than what the moneyed guys get involved with (although I love that too).
The trouble is that on the threshold of a 20/20 World Cup I've just realised that I'm bored with it all and hanker for the subtlety of the longer games and judging by the numbers attending matches over the last fortnight I'm not alone.
Well, at least the football seasons finished,isn't it ?

Mongoose

I cannot believe that nobody has brought this up!

What a brilliant idea except that, if I have read it right, a decent yorker should account for the batsman. On the basis that a bat was never big enough or wide enough for me a more compact one would have been counter-productive?

Any thoughts?

New Cricinfo

That was a shock opening Cricinfo to find it all changed - no problem with that but I really don't want to be patronised by some illiterate nerd telling me not to be afraid of change.

'As Nietzsche said, love is more afraid of change than destruction. But to that, let's add this one from the Buddha: Everything changes; without change, nothing remains' Eh?

Aussie selectors

I think they got it wrong leaving out Symonds for the infinitely less talented Watson and MacDonald, but the Aussie selectors certainly can't come in for too much criticism over the last decade or more as Australia have dominated world cricket. Perhaps that's why they don't yet have a full time Chairman of Selectors, but that looks like it will be put right soon according to this Aussie article.

View on the IPL from South Africa

I don't think it can be doubted that the IPL was a success, but there are the odd words of warning in articles like this one from South Africa.

I also saw another report that talked about "the odd bit of cricket in amongst the adverts" which doesn't bode well. If Modi doesn't listen and has his dollar sign blinkers on, the IPL will crash in the same way as the world economy. Perhaps not next year, or the year after, but eventually. It will be interesting to see if he's in it for short-term gain or is building something for the long-term.

12 man cricket...

...is never a good thing, but allowing Australia to play 12 men against Sussex seems fine to me. But when they play the Lions that needs to be a proper match.

Potential furore averted....

May the best team win

I'm not the only one questioning whether the best team won the IPL it seems....

The impossible scheduling dream

Given that the best time to play cricket varies around the world, it's going to be very difficult to schedule a natural spot for the IPL. And the ICC don't want to be seen to concede to one request for the IPL, and then find they've set a precedent. So the England Players' Union are now worried about the potential problems.

Their best tactic would be to lobby the ECB to create the space for players to play IPL in May rather than Tests, and at the expense of County appearances, as was suggested on Cricket Burble some time ago. By not doing that, England have made the matter worse, with Modi now reportedly considering a 2nd tournament each year because he's now not worried about whether he clashes with international cricket or not.

Aussie WAG issue won't go away

It seems that the WAG issue rumbles on in Australia with Michael Slater the latest to question their policy of inviting WAGs to their pre-tour camp and for the start of the tour. The article suggests that only half of the WAGs were able to make the camp anyway and that's probably the biggest problem for administrators - players' other halves don't always have the same aspirations for their own career. Some may wish to support their husband on tour, but others may have their own career to worry about. And of course, some will have school age children, some won't.

So one rule for all is never going to work....

Aussies worried about WAG issues

It seems the Aussies are still worrying about what impact WAGs will have on The Ashes tour. It's one of those issues that will never go away and seems to often get the blame when anything goes wrong. And it seems to be far more of an issue in Australia where it would appear that cricketing wives are celebrities after they get married, even if they weren't before.

It reminds me of the Ryder Cup golf and the parade of American models who seem to accompany the American golfers. Fortunately the Ashes can only be won in the pitch....

Oh, and the picture above is of Mitchell Johnson's girlfriend, Jessica Bratich, suffering her "wardrobe malfunction" at the windy Allan Border medal function.

Gilchrist takes Deccan to the IPL final

Once again Adam Gilchrist has spoilt a game of cricket, much like he did in the 2007 World Cup final, and won it almost single-handedly! The fastest IPL 50, although he slowed down to only sit 6th in the strike rate list, and a total of 85 off 35 balls.

It's of course great to see such brilliant performances, but as a Delhi supporter I would feel short-changed. They've come top of the league stage and a freak performance sees them out of the tournament. That's the very thing that I (and I know there are a few others like me although we're the minority!) hate about football. The best team doesn't always win. I've Burbled before about wanting the best team to win every time and I still believe that's the ideal.

I'd like to see a best of 3 played in Twenty20 semi-finals and finals and 50 over finals of importance. I doubt many would agree, but it would see the best team win more often, and it would also see more money brought in. That normally is the clincher....

Pakistan board give too much information...

I'm not sure I'd want my board announcing to the press that I had genital warts!

Why was he out ?

There was a famous incident in the MCC Bicentenary match described here:

http://content.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/399152.html.

But Gooch wasn't attempting a run so why was he given out ?

We all know that it FEELS as if he should be out but I'm not sure.

England get good news on Symonds

Time will of course tell, and no doubt he'll win The Ashes single-handedly, but I've always felt than Shane Watson was in that group of cricketers that are not quite good enough at either batting or bowling for Test cricket (an average of under 20 with the bat and over 35 with the ball would tend to support that argument). And, of course, he's the one person in world sport who can give Jonny Wilkinson a run for his money for number of injuries.

So his reaction to being picked seems a little strange. First, how does he feel about being selected ahead of Symonds (who averages more than double with the bat, and just slightly less with the ball)? "Good" apparently. Don't they do media training in Australia? And just to ensure that there are hard feelings he continues, "...of recent times he hasn't helped himself in regards to what he's been doing and I've just got to make the most of the opportunity that's presented itself." All true but seeming to miss the point that Symonds hasn't been ruled out of playing again and the two of them need to get on as they may well play in the same side in the not so distant future.

I look forward to hearing Symonds' thoughts when Watson goes down injured in the first warm up game (which would be true to form) and he's called in. As you can tell, I think Australia have made a mistake with their selection and Symonds English experience would have come in very handy. Not to mention his world-class performances when he last had an extended run in the side. But that can only play into England's hands, so let's applaud the selection!

Although Watson's comments made me cringe Chairman of Selectors, Andrew Hilditch, made me almost fall off my chair. Apparently Watson "is capable of batting anywhere in the top six". In Twenty20 or ODIs perhaps. In a Test in England with the ball swinging around, higher than 6 is exceedingly risky (some would say 7 or 8) and as an England supporter I'd love to see it.

Canvassing the opinion of a cricket-mad Aussie in our office, she was of the opinion that Australia should play their best side and it was the job of Ponting and the management team to man-manage Symonds and get the most out of him and the team. It somehow seems a dereliction of duty to leave him behind under the pretence that he's not good enough to even get a place in the squad.

Aussie Dave - what do you lot that live upside down make of it?

Lewis gets a stinker of a delivery

This isn't meant to be a political blog, but surely 13 years for Chris Lewis and his partner in crime is too long? After all, murderers can get away with less than 10 years in practice, can't they? And leading judges often seem to call for shorter sentences. I'm not condoning Lewis' actions as he's clearly broken an important law, but 13 years? For this one-off offence 4-6 years seems more appropriate.

I await the barrage of abuse from conservatives out there who believe he should be locked up and the key thrown away!

Slow bowling follow throughs

I've never really given much thought to my follow through except when I'm bowling rubbish, in which case I try and remind myself to follow through properly. Someone had a camera on Saturday it seems and I was struck by my follow through. It almost looks like I'm a pace bowler the way I follow through. Or so I thought anyway...




Note open mouth, ready to shout "catch it"!


....but that was before I saw this photo of our left-arm spinner's follow through. Blimey - foot above head and he bowls slow. What flexibility! I'm not sure I could have done that aged 10, let alone now. Perhaps if I did that I might turn the ball....

The reverse reverse sweep

It seems that Eoin Morgan has caused a stir with the way he tried to revert back to a "normal" shot having set himself for a reverse sweep the other day - it's been termed a "reverse reverse sweep"! Anyone fancy trying it on Saturday?

Umpires in helmets?

It would seem that umpires have been giving helmets consideration given that the ball is being hit back at them so hard they are struggling to take evasive action in time.

I wonder which traditionalists would like worse - umpires in protective equipment or video umpiring to avoid the issue altogether? On that note it seems this Ashes series will not be subject to referrals. England should be happy with that - more wrong decisions gives the weaker team a greater chance of victory (dare I say, as in 2005).

Painful catch creates "moob"

This week saw a rather rotund pinch-hitting opener hit his 3rd ball at me at mid-on. He had left his first ball and hit his second ball for 6 over my head, so I was expecting the ball to come my way. But a combination of strength and a bat that was the heaviest I've ever picked up meant that the ball came "at speed". I know I'm getting old but even at mid-on I couldn't get my hands up in time and the only way I could catch it was to clamp the ball to my chest after it hit me!

Immediate result: caught and out.

End result: much pain and a "moob" as the swelling around my left nipple where the ball hit me is huge! For the moment I could really do with a one cup bra for my moob but I'm going without in the hope that it reduces in size soon! No, photos won't be uploaded....

Match result: a draw as we couldn't get the last batsman out and they held out 9 wickets down....very frustrating. You can see the scorecard here (for some reason the number of balls I faced isn't shown, but it was 14 for 24 runs as we pushed towards a declaration - had to get that in!).

England go for a brace of gingers....

Yes, England have gone for the ginger twosome of Ian Bell and Ryan Sidebottom to bolster their squad for the next test at seam-friendly Chester-le-Street. Not sure if they are really ginger? It's a fact. Or at least it's been researched on Cricket Burble before and we found that the majority thought Bell was a ginge.

It seems that Paul Collingwood doesn't quite have enough ginge in there for the team quota. It occurs to me that England could do worse than bring in Glenn Chapple at some point too....or even Steve Kirby, and if one of the openers goes down then Joe Gatting has emerged down at Sussex and not only has a hint of ginge (I think - you decide), but also has a famous relative and averages 152 in first-class cricket. Now we need Flintoff to get fit and for Gareth Batty to be chosen as England's number 2 spinner rather than Panesar....

On our day we could have 4 ginger's minimum. Somehow I don't think it will win us The Ashes but if a ginger bias is what it takes to stop Harmison and Mahmood from getting recalls, then all's well that ends well.

IPL argument leads to tragic death

It seems that the IPL is not only the cause of prison hunger strikes in India, but sadly an argument between a father and son over watching the IPL on television has led to a death. It appears that the father stabbed his son to death for wanting to watch the IPL late at night, rather than letting his father sleep.

If only the IPL hadn't had to be moved from India to South Africa....

Panama Women's Cricket Team

The Panama women's cricket team have been receiving some unwanted attention on the internet recently according to this article.

I'll leave you to decide if the pictures have been doctored!

England's best seam bowlers

Although Graham Onions has burst onto the scene in this Test, poor old Bresnan only got a handful of overs and couldn't make an impression. I'm not sure he's quite up to the job, as I mentioned pre-Test, but I still feel sorry for him that he didn't get more of a chance against a weak batting line up.

But if you start to consider who should replace Bresnan if you wanted to play England's best seamers, the choice is immense...something that was pointed out in this post on King Cricket. I have to say, I totally agree with them.

Serendipity on the internet

You know how it is- you're working away and suddenly remember that the first ball is due at Lord's in half an hour. So you have a quick look on cricinfo to get you in the mood and you find there's a small piece about when Roger Harper ran out Graham Gooch (was it really 22 years ago ?), so you look at the scorecard and note that the England wicket keeper was Bruce French and that he had a TFC game - down to bat 11, didn't get in and got no stumpings or catches. So you look up his stats and see that he's in an article about unusual injuries, which gets you to Chris Old.

And then it gets interesting - he's got a blog site which appears to be in Latin but this A level student reckons it's a bluff just using random words but I'd love to know and that he's got a restaurant near Falmouth which is where I'm going on holiday next week - I'll have to take my dictionary and look him up !

The address is http://www.chrisold.co.uk/cricket/blogRoll.php?id=6

China aim to play Tests by 2020

Good to see some ambition from China. After Afghanistan's move up the rankings, I suppose nothing is impossible!

Pet Hate

Why do international cricketers insist on shying at the stumps when the batsman is comfortably in his ground. They then stand around looking hard done by when the ball ricochets of the stumps and goes for four overthrows. DON'T THROW IT!!! Good fielding involves many aspects - reflexes, athleticism, agility, balance, good hands, accurate throwing. Having a sense of where the batsmen are is a very under-rated skill. This involves having an idea which end to throw, but also when to throw, and when to hang on to the bloody ball. I have to say Michael Clarke is a prime offender here, but there are many others. I just don't understand it! The worst possible outcome is that you hit your target and risk giving away runs!End rant.

James Foster gets Twenty20 keeper place

Very pleased to see Foster make it. I think he's worth a wicket per innings standing up to the stumps for all 20 overs.

Langer anger?

I can't imagine how angry Justin Langer, the Somerset captain, must be. According to the report, he was right to put Durham in but his bowlers and fielders let him down, 7 catches going down as Durham racked up a big score.

And then when they finally bat Somerset crumbed for 69 with Langer 35 not out batting at 3. I wouldn't like to know the mood in the Somerset changing room....

England selection - bold but risky

So it's Bopara, Bresnan and Onions in, with no place for Bell, Shah or Vaughan. In many ways it's a bold move from the selectors trying to move forward and I'm not against Bopara playing as I think, ultimately, he'll be quality. I hope he has the temperament to bat at 3 in Tests, unlike Bell (so far). But it is a gamble and the selectors will get feedback - positive or negative - at the end of the summer based on results.

As you know, I would have picked Vaughan. Out last night for a curry with my Steyning team mates the general consensus was that Vaughan is the most feared by oppositions - often a near perfect guide to who should be selected. But Bopara offers the possibility of Pietersen-style talent to take the game away from the opposition, so if Vaughan was to miss out I'm glad it was to Bopara.

I'm pleased they went for Onions. He's unproven but worth the risk - he's far more consistent than Harmison. Where I disagree is Bresnan.....that's not to say he can't be a success but what exactly is his role? He's not as good a batsman as Broad leaving Broad to step up to 7, but I fear the England management see a player who averages less than 27 in first-class cricket batting at 7. Neither Broad or Bresnan should bat above 8 yet, but as one of them will have to, I think Broad shades it. The real question is about Bresnan's bowling? He's started the season well undoubtedly, but a first-class bowling average of 31+ indicates that he's not fit to lace Hoggard's boots (he averages less than 27 in first-class cricket and less than Bresnan's first-class average in Tests at 30.5).

I fear that Bresnan got picked because he can hold a bat, rather than consideration of the best 4 seam bowlers in England, irrespective of their batting abilities. And I have a sneaking suspicion who West Indies and Australia would least like to face of the two - it's not Bresnan! And 2 unproven bowlers is a greater risk than 1, on top of already playing Bopara at 3. The selectors are hitting the gamble button and I hope they get the plaudits if they're successful, but also the criticism if they aren't.

Aussies get home

The third ODI between Pakistan and Australia was an interesting game. The Aussies did their usual trick of getting off to a good start only to completely freeze up at the sight of a tweaker. They ended up crawling to total of 7/198 which looked well below par. Pakistan then did exactly the same thing only in far more spectactular fashion. They seemed to be cruising reaching 0/95 in the 23rd over. They proceeded to implode as only Pakistan can do to be bowled out for 171 in the 48th. As a parochial Aussie I'm happy to be leading the series, though I have to say the standard of cricket has left alot to be desired.

Ian Salisbury - worst Test bowler ever!

The "It Figures" blog is something that people like me often find really interesting but I doubt that Ian Salisbury will enjoy reading this - he is statistically the worst ever specialist Test bowler it would seem. It seems to reflect England's obsession with leg-spin at the time, following Warne's success, and the career of Chris Schofield is another impacted by that obsession. Fortunately for Schofield, he didn't play enough Tests to qualify for this analysis.

Note the "worst team ever", minus a keeper, at the bottom of the post, is captained by Mike Brearley, who in a separate piece of It Figures analysis was deemed to be the best England captain after personal performance had been taken out. of the equation.

England selections soon to be made

The 3 England squads are just about to be announced to it was good timing for Vaughan that he scored 80odd for Yorkshire today in their one-dayer. As this piece by Steve James suggests, it would still be a bit of a leap of faith for the selectors to pick him, but James would go for him I'm pleased to say. Of course, the injury to Flintoff allows the selectors to cover all bases and include Vaughan, Bell and Bopara in the squad if they want to, allowing them a little more time to assess their options.

The Twenty20 captain is also to be announced and it seems that it's going to be Collingwood. That sits comfortably with the set up at the moment - safe, workman-like, Collingwood is cut from the same cloth as Flower and Strauss. The more daring appointment would have been Mascarenas who has been a great success in the IPL, along with Bopara, but conservatism is the way to go in the aftermath of KP.

Set up for Vaughan

The suggestion seems to be that Yorkshire can't win this, so it would be a nice game for Vaughan to score a hundred and win the game! Remember, he starts on 24 not out in his quest for an England place after a wrong decision in the 1st innings! And the state of the Warwickshire game means that Bell is unlikely to get another innings prior to the England squad announcement.

Incidentally, it doesn't sound great for Adil Rashid when the match report says "The legspinner, like most of the Yorkshire bowlers, was inaccurate at the start of his spell, and Andrew Gale at short leg must have felt in danger as one long hop followed another and he did receive one powerful hit on the body, but bravely picked himself up and carried on."

Fingers crossed for the weather tomorrow, both in Durham for the Yorkshire game, and in Steyning for my game!

Cricket net etiquette

Indoor cricket nets are over for another year, for most teams atleast. Discussing nets etiquette with fellow Cricket Burbler Dave McCabe, I decided that there are certain things that a man needs to do to get noticed in competitive nets. By competitive I mean nets where one or two people are observing and your chances of selection rest on how you perform in those nets.

When Dave and I attended Cricketer Cup nets - you remember, the competition in which I went for 44 off 2 overs last year! - we were both keen for the captain and other selectors to see our skills so that we'd be selected. I did my bit by getting out to the part-time bowling of the skipper a few times, thus no doubt putting my selection in even greater doubt.

Dave on the other hand played well, in particular enducing an edge from one of the new potential star players who have joined the squad this year. But the problem with nets is that an edge or enducing an uppish shot off a slower ball gain no credit. Even an LBW rarely gains any creidt. No, in nets, the key to success as a bowler is to bowl people. Only that noise of the stumps falling over attracts any attention ensuring that the coach and manager register your success.

I've never really desired selection enough, but if my life depended on it any LBW shout in the nets would be shouted just as if I were outdoors. And any uppish shot would require a loud "ooh, catch"....and of course, an edge would be followed by me running down the wicket screaming "got him"!

Only by acting like an idiot do bowlers get any credit for their non-bowled dismissals during nets. I wonder if the skipper or manager noticed that Dave had the new opener caught behind?

Vaughan v Bell - the update

Vaughan wasn't even out!!! You know how I feel about the role of luck....he could have been in line for a hundred or more and that poor umpiring could cost him years of playing for England. Interesting that the headline on the big screen at Victoria as I waited for my train said "Vaughan struggles for Yorkshire". In fact his 24 included 5 fours so I don't think he exactly stuggled and the report of his innings suggests he was fluent, plus the fact he wasn't actually out. Small details!

I have to say, I would personally consider Samit Patel for the number 3 Test birth. I'd pick Vaughan every time, but Patel has the advantage that he seems to bowl well in tandem with Swann and if we pick him we can have 4 seamers and two spinners or even play 7 batsmen (including Prior) and 3 seamers.

Bell v Vaughan

Bell 29.

Vaughan 24.

Inevitable heatwave

No-one likes as smart alec but sitting here with the sun streaming in I can't help but remember what I said on 25 March ! Hope it lasts until our first match on Sunday.

Who is fake IPL player?

Hadn't heard about this until I read this article about "Fake IPL player".

Take a look at the Fake IPL player blog.

Nottinghamshire batting order

Interesting that Nottinghamshire bat Swann (County average of 26) ahead of Broad (Test average 29), and Ealham (County average of 31) behind both of them. I would suggest that Swann is the weakest batsman of the three?

It doesn't seem to matter much as they racked up over 500, with Chris Read who seems too weak a batsman to bat at 7 for England, scoring 125 from number 6, higher than all 3 of those mentioned above.

The recurring issues of WAGs

There's never a right answer to how to deal with wives and girlfriends when so much of an international (or even domestic) cricketer's life is spent away from home. But it's interesting to see that the Aussies are taking the issue seriously.

I realise that there are those that suggest that "back in the old days" this wasn't an issue, but that was back in the days when excellence in sport wasn't approached so scientifically. These days, anything that could give even 0.01% greater chance of winning needs to be investigated and optimised.

My particular view on this is that the old "no WAGs" on tour rule is rediculous - there can be no other career other than team sport where employees are owned 24 hours a day to such an extent that they can be denied the right to see their loved ones out of work hours. So the more flexible they can make things to ensure each player is at his best, the better.

This comes just days after Matthew Hoggard admitted that relationship issues were partly to blame for his (relatively) poor performance in the first Test in New Zealand before he was dropped. With his wife suffering from depression and post-natal depression, and a small son at home, Hoggard told Vaughan during that Test "Vaughany, I think I'm going cuckoo, I'm doing a Tres". Given the background it's not surprising that Hoggard struggled in that match, but it's perhaps even more surprising that the England selectors cast him adrift so mercilessly. Not only a case of poor selection, but poor empathy for a man who deserved far more from his employers.

Incidentally, don't we still have a requirement for a quality swing bowler this summer as 4th seamer alongside Flintoff, Anderson and Broad? We know the Aussies can't play swing bowling. If Sidebottom isn't fit or bowling well, I know who I'd pick....and even if he is, Hoggard should still be well in contention - why he was discarded altogether is almost impossible to fathom.