Blind cricket commentator

You'd think it would be impossible to commentate if you're blind wouldn't you, but apparently not. Zimbabwean, Dean du Plessis, is able to commentate without sight....

England doubles...

I enjoyed this list of England doubles by Betfair featured on The Cricket Watcher's Journal...can't help feeling that some players have been slightly flattered and others unfairly castigated!

Same English cricket schedule next year!

Oh dear, I did say that I had little confidence - things are staying the same next year. Sad that apparently Sussex's own Chairman seems to think that last year's schedule with the limitless Twenty20 cricket and no Championship cricket at the peak of the summer is best.

I got such poor value from my Sussex membership last summer as I couldn't go to games the whole season, and the main window I had was the Twenty20 window. I went to one or two games but they're meaningless until it gets to a knockout stage so I didn't go back (not to mention the annoying blaring music, inance comments over the loud speaker, etc). I certainly won't be considering a Sussex membership next year.

Warne to return

Shane Warne may be backing Ricky Ponting to lead Australia in The Ashes but I loved this post on The Roar suggesting Warne should come back and captain the side himself! After 4 years out of international cricket even a legend like Warne may struggle with that.

As a Pom it's great to see Australia struggling before The Ashes and it can only benefit England that Ponting's captaincy is being called into question and they're losing repeatedly to India....

Warne backs Ricky

Even though I think Ricky Ponting is a pretty poor captain, it amazes me that there should be any discussion about whether he is the right man to lead Australia into The Ashes. Of course he is. You can't change the captain now and expect it not to have a negative impact....and Clarke isn't exactly nipping at Ponting's heals suggesting he'd be better.

Shane Warne has used his own blog to tell us that Ricky is best to lead despite his shortcomings in the India Tests and once again I find it difficult to disagree. It's worrying agreeing with Warne this much....

Restructuring of English cricket

It needs to happen, but I can't say I'm feeling confident that these ECB discussions will end up with a sensible outcome....

Geoff Miller - professional speaker

Attending the Sussex League dinner on Friday, the highlight was the speech of Geoff Miller, who had the audience laughing. One player at the table next to me commented that he was more like a stand up comedian than a Chairman of Selectors, so definitely worth listening to if you get the opportunity.

What award was Steyning up for? We were winners of the inaugural Fair Play award of course!

Sammy takes over West Indies captaincy

It's difficult to underplay the difficulty that Darren Sammy will have bringing unity to the West Indies side after being asked to takeover the captaincy by the WICB from Chris Gayle. With various players, including Gayle and Bravo, not accepting contracts from the Board, there are bound to be cliques opening up and Sammy can't claim to be in consideration for a slot in a World XI in the way that Gayle can.

Let's hope for the sake of West Indies cricket that Gayle is totally supportive of Sammy - if his previous protestations that he wasn't that fussed about the captaincy were true, then he should be.

KP needs some Steyning advice

Kevin Pieterson's efforts to gain some form ahead of the Ashes don't seem to be going too well. Last week he could only manage 36 in the Dolphin's draw against the Warriors and today he has succumed to a 2nd ball duck against the Titans. Perhaps he should seek some advice from former Steyning wicketkeeper Daryn Smit who's recent form for the Dolphins has seen him score 47, 101 and 56* in his last three first class innings.

Bangladesh going in the right direction

Unhappy for New Zealand perhaps, but it's difficult for cricket fans around the world not to feel happy when lesser teams start to challenge the established ones. And for Bangladesh to win the 5 match ODI series against New Zealand after just 3 matches is certainly a superb result for them, worthy of Prime Ministerial praise.

People are always surprised when Shakib Al-Hassan is mentioned as one of the world's best all-rounders but his hundred in the 3rd match was his 5th in ODIs and there's many top order England batsman who will be jealous of that stat - that's the equal of Collingwood and Strauss in less matches. And Collingwood and Strauss can't also boast of being the 2nd best ODI bowler in the world, as the ICC rankings say that Shakib is.

Difficult to blame Warne for his criticism of Ponting's captaincy

I've got every sympathy with Shane Warne's tweeted complaints about Ricky Ponting's fields yesterday. I didn't watch it ball by ball but watching an hour of highlights there were some crazy fields set to all the bowlers (i.e. no slips early on when you need 10 wickets?), but the fields for Hauritz really did take the biscuit. How can you possibly have no saving one fielders on the off side?

Ponting's defence? Apparently all the fields Hauritz bowled to were requested by Hauritz himself. That's a complete non-defence - if that's the case then there's little point having a captain Ricky....you're meant to over-rule your bowlers as necessary because you're (in theory) tactically superior!

I do have a tinge of sympathy for Ponting because how anyone is meant to set fields to bowlers like Johnson bowling both sides of the wicket, I'm not quite sure. But there is certainly a lot he could do to help himself - sensible fields and bowling your best bowler (Hilfenhaus) for more than 7 overs might help a bit....

Another tense day in India

As in the first Test, the final day of the 2nd India v Australia Test looks like it could well be a thriller. And what comes next? 3 meaningless ODIs. The days of 5 or more matches in a Test series might be gone, but with the India v Australia Test series proving so exciting, isn't it a pity that a 3rd Test isn't being played rather than the ODIs. The crowd would then get to see Tendulkar bat, because the result would matter, rather than Shikhar Dhawan.

Tendulkar 6 away from true greatness

Tendulkar's hundred (which he converted to a double this morning) was his 94th international hundred. A hundred first class hundreds is something rare, but a hundred international hundreds really would be something very special if he can get there.

Indian running between the wickets

I watched much of the final session today and there were a few things to note. First Ponting started to Sehwag with a field of slip, gully, third man, deep point, extra cover, mid on, short leg, leg gully, fine leg. What a field to go with when you've put 478 on the board in the first innings! It meant that the occasional good balls on off stump tended to be fended away for one to cover, while wider balls were dispatched. One short ball was put just wide and over the 3rd man for 6 by Sehwag.

But Australia clearly had a plan and Sehwag was occasionally troubled by balls into his ribs. And eventually he tried to tuck into a slower ball bouncer from Hilfenhaus. The crowd went wild but the ball came down just inside the boundary at deep square, exactly where Mitchell Johnson was standing to take an easy catch.

30 off 28 for Sehwag then and perhaps vindication for Ponting's tactics, although I have to say they seem very strange to me. But one aspect of Sehwag's innings worried me - his running. It was truly appalling and while he's never been a great runner, I've not noticed him being so poor before. As some of you on Facebook noticed, I recently selected him in my all-time XI which was a very marginal call and his running may even make me rethink!

Gavaskar on commentary was talking nonsense when he twice criticised Vijay's running. When you're batting with Sehwag, rotating the strike is ideal and someone coming back into the team can't be expected to turn down singles because his better known opening partner isn't switched on. Twice Vijay pushed defensively into the covers for regulation singles and twice Sehwag was nearly caught short. Once the Australian's hit and Sehwag was considered in as the video frames couldn't quite show where his bat was when the bails first came off - far to close for comfort but if he'd been backing up and lunged in as all cricketers at club and pro level do, he'd have been past the stumps. And then he would have been out had the second Aussie throw hit, as he seemed too lazy to sprint past the stumps - as the ball whistled across the stumps he was slowing up so as to not go far past the stumps.

India's out cricket has often been criticised, but I'm not sure how they'll improve with the likes of the much respected Gavaskar suggesting that Vijay was at fault for risking Sehwag's wicket. Sehwag simply needed to wake up a bit. While regulation singles are being turned down and the likes of Gavaskar are being kept happy, India may well lose those tight matches. I hope Vijay isn't unnerved by those near-misses.

Tomorrow morning he'll be batting with Tendulkar who was the first person to go past 14,000 Test runs during his 44 not out. There's only one person Indian's would be even more annoyed about being run out then Sehwag, and that's the little master himself. Fingers crossed that it isn't a run out that splits the two up tomorrow morning!

North holds Aussie batting together

I don't know how to feel about Marcus North scoring a hundred in the 2nd Test against India. There's no doubt he was struggling a bit but as always the extreme opinions were laughable - it's as if most of Australia are baying for his blood. I'm not close enough to Australian domestic cricket to know if he's in the top 3 middle order batsman who can bat 4-6 for the national side, but what I can say is that any batsman who averages a hundred every 3 Tests or so (and has a 96 to his name too) clearly has something, no matter how poor a starter he is.

I'm not sure I'd back those Aussies who are desperate for Steve Smith to come into the side, but if he is to come in, batting 6 and being the 5th bowler is an option. Playing him as your one specialist spinner simply isn't an option yet - he's not that good a bowler. But it's interesting to see how things go in cycles - without the immense depth of talent in Australia that made selection relatively easy in the 90s and early 2000s, the same issues emerge on the other side of the world as happen here when England's international depth is limited. Players are fast-tracked into the side before they are ready in desperation, and there is constant debate about the make up of the side.

North may be no world-beater but the days that Australia could play 6 batsman who'd all have a good chance of playing in a World Test XI are over. And much as I'd like Australia to change their side to give England a better chance of retaining The Ashes, North's century is likely to ensure that they maintain consistency and therefore maximise their chances of success. Good on him for coming through the pressure of immense scrutiny and making his highest Test score.

(I should add that prior to the India series I was backing North to start The Ashes too, if Australia wanted to maximise their chances of success - it's not an opinion that's come after his hundred today!)

Ashes defection may hurt England (a little bit!)

I imagine that England will ensure that they use contracts that don't allow coaches to coach other national sides in the next series England play against them, following the attempt by one of England's batting coaches, Dene Hills, to help Australia in their attempts to win back The Ashes. It may put some off coaching England at all, but they'll need to weigh it up and decide on the best policy.

Having said that, the technical flaws the England players have are all well known so I can't see that there will be much of a practical advantage from Hills helping the Australians, but it will be a little unsettling for the England batsman nonetheless.

There's no legislating for idiots...

I've written before about how leadership is about doing things before everyone is calling for them to happen and all the market research backs the potential action. Sometimes even good leaders get decisions wrong because there is a risk attached to being visionary. Management is risk free and is about responding to what everyone is calling for already and making it happen. Successful leaders get paid more than managers for obvious reasons.

I'm not quite sure what you call the BCCI. Laggards is one word. Or idiots is another. They have not only proved themselves incapable leaders on the UDRS issue, but also poor managers, given that they're still putting off the inevitable by not using the UDRS in their up coming New Zealand series even after error-ridden umpiring in their recent Australia Test. When they finally get round to it, which they inevitably will, they will have lost even more credibility. Indian cricket supporters might consider that the BCCI staff wages should be dropped to be comparable with others that can't lead or manage....

Laxman guides India to dramatic win

I realised India must have won as Cricinfo isn't accessible at the moment - the whole of India must be on there. A one wicket win with the last wicket partnership making 11.

Ponting's bowling selection

Ponting has opened himself up to potential criticism by using Watson and North in tandem with India needing 20odd and just 2 wickets needed. If it works he'll be a brilliant captain, if it doesn't it looks a stange piece of captaincy....

A great day 5 in prospect in India

An amazing fourth day in the India v Australia Test has set up an intriguing final day with Australia probably favourites. India will be gutted that Sehwag couldn't get going in the second innings as one session from him would have seen the game virtually won. But India still have the Little Master there and some decent batting to come.

Whatever the result, it just goes to show how you can never write off Australia. They key is partnerships and one decent one from India tomorrow morning should see them home but nerves will jangle and Australia will become huge favourites if Tendulkar goes early.

More proof of the requirement for technology

My usual complaint when a game's result is potentially changed because technology hasn't been used. Ireland lost off the final ball of the match v Zimbabwe but following a review of the video footage, the umpires have had to apologise for their warnings over switch hitting to one of the Ireland batsman, and were proven to have made a crucial mistake in not giving a run out off the penultimate ball of the match.

Both Ireland and Zimbabwe will never know what the real result would have been....

A sad end for an unmatchable club cricket venue

Aldworth CC were OMTCC's final opponents ever at Durrants (where Michelle and I got married) on Saturday and it was an occasion that was pretty sad, despite everyone's best attempts to put a brave face on it. How can there be any circumstances under which beautiful grounds like Durrants can be built over for housing? It's going to leave me with a dislike for Barratts for the rest of my life.

On the day OMTs batted first and scored 156-7 declared (Richard Winkle 46*) and my contribution was a quick 12 or so as we ended the innings. Aldworth were stunned by a Sohan Modi hatrick early in their innings but fought back well, with David Pollock (former OMTCC 1st XI skipper guesting for Aldworth) scoring 41, and ending up on 148-7. Honours even and we're looking forward to the rematch at Aldworth's ground next to The Bell next year on Thames Tour.

The final wicket at Durrants off the penultimate ball of the match was Aldworth's skipper, Julian Sankey, caught by me, bowled by Cricket Burbler Mark Davis. A nice personal symmetry given that Julian Sankey used to play at Durrants and gave me my first bowl in adult cricket at Durrants for the 3rd XI....not quite sure exactly when but he thinks it was 1986 which would have made me 8 years old. It could well have been the year after!

Although tinged with sadness, it was a great day and the players could almost not bear to leave with David Pollock taking the honour of the last round purchased at the player's bar, served - as ever - by Frank Coles.

Fond (and some occasionally drunken and not so fond!) memories...

A little bit of cockiness can go a long way...

At the PCA player of the year awards Eoin Morgan won ODI player of the summer and when collecting his award was asked by Nasser Hussain "Are you as cool as you make out, or are there some butterflies going on within?"

Morgan's reply: "No, I'm as cool as I make out."

Nice!

Monty and Tremlett have nipped into the Ashes squad ahead of Shahzad and Tredwell. And Adil Rashid isn't even in the Performance squad. I can only assume they forgot him like the ICC did when considering Graeme Swann for the world player of the year!

Your thoughts?

No no Sidebo

I'm a bit gutted Ryan Sidebottom has retired from international cricket. The first issue is that winning sides have a good quota of red-heads. And then there's the fact that he's only 32 and it's a matter of national duty to continue while you're required - no country needs a Shane Bond (who can't be arsed to do the tough preparation needed for the 2011 World Cup) or a Shahid Afridi who can't be arsed to practice his defensive strokes and represent Pakistan in Test cricket. Third is the fact that it was only a few months ago that he helped England win their first international tournament. And it's less than 5 months until the next international tournament, the World Cup, which doesn't clash with the IPL so it's not a money thing.

Very confusing. If one of England's ODI seamers gets injured there is no tried and trusted replacement now so their World Cup squad will be weaker given Sidebo's absence. The only thought I had was that the strange selection of Shahzad in the squad for the Pakistan ODIs upset Sidebo and he's retired out of protest? And on that note, perhaps now that he'll be the only stroppy child in the side, Broad might grow up a bit, so their could be a small upside!

But despite his hypocritical abuse-hurling at the likes of Matt Prior, Sidebo was still exactly what England need - a wholehearted cricketer who couldn't have given more for the country. That's why I'm gutted about the timing of his retirement given the World Cup around the corner.

London to Brisbane by bike

This guy looks worthy of a bit of extra promotion from Cricket Burble - 25,000km from London to Brisbane by bike to get to The Ashes in aid of charity. The two charities are British Neurological Research Trust and Lord's Taverners so get involved if you want to....

James Anderson coming out of his shell

Nasser Hussain famously said that he struggled to get a word out of James Anderson in the England changing room, but it appears that he's now Mr Confident. He's leading England's bowling attack, and he's getting his kit off. Not content with this starkers shot advertising Hugo Boss, he's now going to appear nude on the front of gay magazine Attitude to assert the rights of gay men in cricket to come out. I can't imagine Graeme Swann congratulating him on that without a hint of sarcasm!!

Ian Bell in form, Ijaz Butt out of form

Apart from punching the air after hitting boundaries before the end of the game on Saturday, it sound like Ian Bell's innings was pure quality and given the form he's in, it seems inevitable that he should be brought back into England's ODI side. So who makes way? If Bell plays, it looks like they need one from three in Collingwood, Bopara and Wright. They'll be reluctant to drop Collingwood given his fielding and (strangely) they seem to have more confidence in his bowling than Bopara and Wright's. But Wright played a handy little knock in the last match while his team mates fell at the other end. It'll be interesting to see which way they go, but the great news is that England have a squad with depth for next year's ODI World Cup.

Sadly it was inevitable that people might question England's surrender at The Oval given their collapse from a seemingly comfortable position. But for it to be the Chairman of the PCB, Ijaz Butt, and a public statement that England threw the game is somewhat worrying. His position has been called into question many times but knowing how to conduct himself as a public figure is surely a prerequisite for the job, so for cricket's sanity to return, he needs to go. And that remains the case even if the unthinkable happens and England are found to have thrown the game.

Comedy end to the season!

First Nottinghamshire had to halt their crucial match because of sun. Now Somerset look like they'll be leaving early tomorrow. Honestly....if I was a Somerset player I'd pay for my own travel to Lords overnight - what's going on?!?

My Somerset-supporting father-in-law (who has been listening to each day's play) will not be very happy if the cider boys miss out because they have to catch a plane...

Aussie WAG cricket "face"

Shane Watson's other half, Lee Furlong, will be promoting the game in Australia....apparently as a move to engage women and children. I can't imagine she's going to put off too many men either...!

All down to the last round of matches...

No-one but the fairly obsessive cricket fans would know that the County Championship is coming to an exciting conclusion from the lack of coverage in the media, but it looks like being a cliff-hanger after Yorkshire's victory over Nottinghamshire. Somerset will also feel they can nick it with just 2 points seperating them and Notts. Let's hope it comes down to the last session of the last day of the season....

Shah scores send off hundred

I wonder if there are any second thoughts at Middlesex about the way they've treated Owais Shah after he scored a hundred today in his last match?

Audiences down - can't think why that might be!

Stephen Brenkley asks today "where have all the fans gone?" and manages to get through the article without the words "recession" or "global economic downturn" which is quite amazing. Audiences are declining almost everywhere including the apparently inelastic football (down 8%) and - on the other side of the world - American football (down 5%). Assessing tbe baseline drop that would be expected given the economy should be the obvious starting point for the ECB's post season research, but such is my lack of confidence, no-one can be 100% sure they will start their review in this very obvious way!

Age is no defence

I find it strange that everyone is calling for leniency on Mohammad Aamer because he's 18. I am of course gutted that if found guilty, we won't see his amazing bowling skills for several years (as I am with Asif), but 18 is comfortably old enough to be criminally responsible. The only mitigating factors can be blackmail, coercion from others etc. However, the ICC do apparently protect young grown men and his age will mean that he'll get a lesser ban than an older grown man would do for the same crime, if found guilty.

I realise I'm probably in a minority, but that's just wrong. Next we'll say a 30 year-old should be treated more leniently than a 40 year-old because the poor inexperienced 30 year-old doesn't have the life skills to avoid a life of crime. Having reached the age of criminal responsibility, all sentences should be the same. If that is a concept that people struggle with, it means the age of criminal responsibility is wrong.

Next IPL will go on and on and on and on

We knew that the IPL was going to be longer this year, but having endured one of the most dreary Twenty20 competitions in history over this English summer, ruining the best part of the year for Championship cricket, cricket fans will now have to choose if they can be bothered following the IPL next year. It starts a few days after the 2011 World Cup final and will include an extra 14 matches.

I'm a massive cricket fan and I can't get up for this - like last year if someone can shake me awake for the semis I'll take an interest from that point. It will be interesting to see if, by focusing on the Indian market that seem to be able to take as much cricket as they're fed, the rest of the world end up being turned off and the IPL becomes just another domestic tournament.

Economist calls cricket authorities into question

Amongst a pretty general article about the spo-fixing scandal at The Economist, they've hit on something that could come out of the current betting scandal - a shake up is required of the way the game is run. OK, so it's a particularly one-sided view, but there is an element of truth in their grand statement:

"This blight is a syptom of cricket's mismanagement. Most national boards are manned by unaccountable, often incompetent and overly politicised administrators, ill-fitted to a game that generates billions of dollars. The supremo of its governing body, the International Cricket Council, should have no time to spare for this task. He is Sharad Pawar, India's Agriculture Minister."

Perhaps not exactly how I would have put it, but a sentiment I can't help but agree entirely with.

What is it about Twitter?

Why do players seem to lose all common sense when using Twitter? I can only assume they use it when drunk from the messages that are attributed to certain players. There's plenty but here's just a few:

Philip Hughes
Tim Bresnan
Azeem Rafeeq
Kevin Pietersen
And now, Dimitri Mascarenas

Come on people, get a grip.

Congratulations to OMTs...

...who managed to put right last year's relegation by bouncing straight back up to Div 4 of the TVL. And with Jonny Walter scoring a hundred, and Adam Uttley taking 5 wickets there will have been two people buying the beer on Saturday night!

Steyning can look back on some near misses and a season that petered out in the end despite a good win on Saturday, but if we can bolster the side with an overseas player next year, we'll be there or there abouts....

Lack of convictions from tabloid stings

As some previous comments have pointed out, the record of tabloids for securing convictions rather than just headlines isn't great, as The Guardian has pointed out this week. That is one of the reasons why I believe they should leave it to the police - the public interest is best served by convictions rather than attention-grabbing headlines and photos. And here's another less conclusive case where Grobbelaar, Fashunu and Segars were accused of match fixing football matches in the 90s - they got off but The Sun was found not guilty of libel against Grobbelaar on appeal.

Leave it to the pros, journos.

Sri Lanka seek to hush media

It seems that the British media aren't making allegations about cricketers at the moment, based on this press release by Sri Lanka Cricket.

Church Cup Winners - Lichfield Diocese

Centuries ago, people used to get in serious trouble for skiving off church to play cricket, but these days cricket is not just played, but encouraged! Lichfield Diocese won the 60th Church Times Cricket Cup.

Innocent until proven guilty?

Obviously not a concept the ICC agree with if reports are accurate that they have asked Pakistan not to include the 3 players under suspicion (Kamran Akmal seems to have been ruled out of wrong-doing for now). This despite the PCB rightly asserting that the players are innocent until proven guilty and therefore only withdrawing them under duress.

Poor management at Middlesex

I've often argued that the ICC seem to be just about capable of managing cricket, but incapable of leading it - one of a few reasons why the game only stumbles forwards rather than leaping. If the reports that Owais Shah found out that he was being released by Middlesex through a friend are accurate, it appears that Middlesex can't even manage, let alone lead. That's disgraceful when someone has worked their way up the youth County teams and into the 1st XI for a decade.

I presume he'll find somewhere else and be successful for a few years yet (if he is fit), and I can see the rationale from Middlesex, but it still leaves a horribly sour taste in the mouth in relation to how even very good players can be treated by Counties.

Out to a World Cup winner...

Playing for a Steyning XI against the President's XI on Monday I was asked to open the batting and was just getting going when this guy I'd been introduced to before we walked on the pitch as "Giles" came on to bowl. Giles Hayward seemed a bit "tommy trundle" to me so after playing an over I tried to hit him over the top and got caught at mid-on. "Good bowler" isn't he, someone said. I thought it was more batsman error, but apparently Giles was man-of-the-match for England Under 19s when they won the World Cup in 99 as this article from back in 2004 reveals (written pre Shah and Swann playing Test cricket!).

It's not every day you get out to a World Cup winner....

Pakistani wages

The low wages paid to Pakistani cricketers has been put forward as one reason that the players were tempted to allegedly take money in return for spot fixing elements of matches. Yes, they are paid a huge amount compared to the vast majority Pakistanis, but it must be galling seeing your close neighbours in India earning their much higher wages. And no doubt Pakistani cricketers spend a fair bit of time away from home observing the higher living standards of other cricketing countries.

So I thought this article was interesting looking at wages, and strategies around wages for companies. It also gives an insight into reasons why football and banking wages have escalated. A solution to the wage imbalance around world cricket? I'll have to think on there, but if you have any suggestions put them forward!