Dining like a Lord

Another weekend, another formal dinner for a delegation of Cricket Burblers. A draining but necessary consequence of the glitz and glamour of the Burble lifestyle, you doubtless suspect. It's true that the constant whirlwind of film premieres, backstage passes and celebrity after-parties takes its toll after a while (and that night on Beefy's yacht with Rod Hull, Ronnie Irani and the missing Duran Duran album will live long in the memory). But Friday's dinner in the Long Room at Lords was particularly special.

The occasion was the annual black-tie dinner of the Old Merchant Taylors' Society, and guests were greeted by the words 'Lords welcomes the Old Merchant Taylors Society' on the digital screens around the ground (perhaps the closest an OMT has come to featuring on the Lords scoreboard recently). The evening commenced with a tour of the pavilion and ground, taking in the home dressing room, the Ashes urn and the new media centre. After a pre-prandial glass of champagne a fine four-course dinner was served in the historic Long Room overlooking the pitch. An entertaining after-dinner speech was made by the former MCC secretary, Roger Knight.

Some photos of the evening are below.

The home dressing room and batting honours board:

The media centre:


















The Ashes Urn (for the benefit of our Australian readership!):


















The Long Room:














Helpful instructions on the doors:

Another view on Tendulkar

I'm a big fan of Tendulkar, but I'm also a fan of cutting through the crap and looking at relevant/fair stats. So this article from Australia that claims to use stats to show why Tendulkar is over-rated interested me. You can make up your own mind on the relative merits of Tendulkar v the likes of Ponting, Dravid, Kallis, Jayawardene and Sangakkara.

It does seem that India needs to look at their wickets if they want to make Test cricket more of a contest between bat and ball - as they pile on a huge score again v Sri Lanka (they're currently 600-4) it's interesting to note that all of India's top 4 average 50 or more. Sehwag averages 50, Dravid 53, Gambhir 54 and Tendulkar 55.

I think Tendulkar would make my world team.

Another football injury

No, not in the England team! This time it's Dilshan who's broken his nose while playing football during the Sri Lankan warm up. They don't say who played the Owais Shah role....

ECB get the rough end of the stick

I can't quite work out how the ECB are so involved in the legal dramas between the ICL and the BCCI. The BCCI may have a case to answer for restraint of trade, but the ECB simply reacted to a set of events in the most commercially attractive way they could. As I've said before on Cricket Burble, I'm no legal expert(!), but surely there's no case for the ECB to answer until after the BCCI have been proved guilty, if that were even to happen?

Oh dear Cricinfo!

An entirely predictable headline on Cricinfo!

Cricinfo poll results....

Following Ben's post, Cricinfo have run a poll on the issue of moving The Ashes back to terrestrial TV in England - the results are pretty conclusive!

ICC to move back to England?

This report suggests that there is a proposal on the table to bring the ICC offices back to London from Dubai. It must be so disruptive to keep moving offices and they've now gone from Lord's to Monaco to Dubai in recent years. Let's hope that any such move from Dubai is their last for a while and they can concentrate on cricketing matters moving forward....

Cricket on terrestrial TV

The news that Ashes cricket will return to terrestrial TV for the next home series is fantastic news for English cricket fans without a Sky subscription (as well as the unwilling, that group includes people in nursing homes, children etc) who have been deprived the chance to watch live cricket on terrestrial in the UK since summer 2005.

It’s a fact that in that time, the UK has been the ONLY major cricket nation to offer its citizens NO free live test match cricket.

But how much of this decision has been driven by Rupert Murdoch/News International’s decision to abandon its support for the Government and back The Conservatives instead? And if the Tories win next years election, will we see this decision quietly dropped?

Channel 4’s viewing figures for 2005 peaked at 10 million for a 2-1 Ashes victory, while this year’s 2-1 win saw a peak of only 2 million tune in. Back in 2005, the England cricket team were sponsored by Vodafone, who used terrestrial TV as a way to reach millions of potential customers. As soon as that reach was diminished, the sponsors left, leaving the ECB totally dependent on the Sky money.

Nobody disputes that Sky’s cricket coverage is excellent – but inaccessibility remains the main problem. The ECB can fund all the “grass roots” initiatives it likes, but if kids don’t see the next Freddie Flintoff on their TV screens they will inevitably bleed away to other sports and distractions. Besides, the ECB’s definition of “grass roots” seems to mostly encompass the major cricket clubs at the top of the club pyramid – quite how much money gets to the roots is disputable.

A workable solution in future could be for Sky to offer some (or all) of its test match portfolio on a free-to-air digital channel – it could launch Sky Sports News 2 and show live cricket there. It would get the same ratings that Channel 4 used to and it would enable Sky and the ECB to sell serious advertising (ie Vodafone) – hell, it might even increase Sky subscriptions as viewers came back to cricket. But my guess is that Sky will be confident of retaining its monopoly on live test match cricket, and the rest of us will have to muddle on with 45-minute doses of Mark Nicholas until the series DVD is released

Symonds back for Queensland

Injuries have hit Queensland and Andrew Symonds is back in for their next one-dayer in Australia. It will be interesting to see what happens if he plays a great innings or takes match-changing wickets....

Questions from the first P20 match

Why did so many S A fielders wear watches - why would they ever need to know the time?
What is that logo on their sleeves that looks like a flag or a giraffe's head ?
Why did the umpires miss so many no balls - overstepping (as opposed to their offspinners srilankan elbow) ?
Why did they use goalposts (Nasser said they'd been literally moved) ?
Why did the players need to waste time consulting D/L sheets when the par at the end of the next over is on the scoreboard ?

Hoggard faces daunting captaincy challenge

This is post number 1001 on Cricket Burble by the way!

I worry for Matthew Hoggard's prospects after taking on the Leicestershire captaincy. Not only is there not a lot to work with after they struggled so badly last year, but I also wonder if he'll under bowl himself. Time will tell, but since I saw him putting his arm round Flintoff to console his captain and have a quiet word with him to pep him up in Adelaide in 2006, I've always wondered how Hoggard would do as skipper.

He can't do worse than last year so I suppose....

'Spect

I think that's how the youngsters say it these days....respect has to go to Australia for winning away against India with their second team - quite an incredible display given the circumstances. And as a result they rightfully hold on to number 1 in the ODI rankings.

I must admit that given Australia's record in dead rubbers, and the fact that India will be hurting and want to take a little revenge in the final match, I'm sorely tempted to put some money on India to win the final match...

10th wicket pair almost pull off shock for Pakistan

Sadly, for Pakistan fans, Mohammad Aamer and and Saeed Ajmal just came up short in the final over against New Zealand. So near to glory, and yet so far.

Sri Lanka's Travelling Woes

I read today that Sri Lanka are yet to win a single test match in India, South Africa or Australia. They are currently ranked 2nd in the ICC Test rankings.

This is not a criticism of the ranking system. No system is perfect and they all have their limitations. Just an interesting quirk that the team ranked No. 2 has failed to win a single match in their history at one third of their away venues.

Nelson

With the sad demise of David Shepherd there has been much in the press about Nelson and why it's called that - we all know.
But I've never seen any explanation about why it's unlucky beyond my own theory that it looks like 3 stumps without bails and that's clearly unlucky for the batting side - and, as we all know, it's a game for batsman.
I think, however there was a bit of ammunition for this theory in a letter to The Times today from a chap (must be quite old) who says that when he was doing hand writtem tenpin bowling scores he was taught to always put a hat on the digits if 111 because without it was unlucky. His 'hat' would have been a straight line - like bails .

436 - not bad for a 12 year-old

This innings in India relegates Sachin Tendulkar to 10th in the all time top scorers in this Indian schoolboys competition. So there's a pretty decent chance that you'll hear about Sarfaraz Khan again in a few years time....

The Ireland problem....

Ireland have made their intention to become a full member of the ICC clear, but the tricky thing to work out is how they will ever make the step up if England keep taking their best players. If anyone is truly world class they're going to get snapped up, so if you start from the point that Ireland will at best be an England 2nd XI then they're already struggling.

I don't have the answer, but that's a tricky one to solve....

An amazing innings....

....but still on the losing side. Glad I had Tendulkar as my double scorer in fantasy cricket!

BCCI selling sponsorship rights

It'll be interesting to see what exorbitant sum the BCCI end up selling the sponsorship rights to the Indian team for. It may be a recession, but I'd be surprised if they have much of a problem - if they don't have some resistance to the price they have of course priced it too low!

By the way, 1 crore = about £150k.

Tendulkar nears latest milestone...

In Thursday's 5th match of what's been a pretty absorbing series between India and Australia, the likelihood is that Sachin Tendulkar will pass 17,000 runs in ODIs. That's pretty special.

In case you're in any doubt just how special that is, here's the top 3 ODI run scorers:

Tendulkar: 16,993 runs at an average of 44.25 in 434 matches, hitting 44 centuries.
Jayasuriya: 13,377 runs at 32.54 in 441 matches, with 28 centuries.
Ponting: 12,241 runs at 43.25 in only 328 matches, also with 28 centuries.

Believe it or not, over the years Indian's have at various times called for the Little Master to be dropped from ODIs - personally I'd like to see him play at least until the 2011 World Cup....

Wow!

Look at this !

http://www.mousebreaker.com/games/ashes2asheszombiecricket/playgame

Stopping beach cricket in Chennai...

....the thought of it! Not suprisingly, the cricketers (i.e. every man below 50) aren't particularly happy about the police trying to crack down on cricket on Marina Beach, Chennai (Madras), to allow joggers and walkers safe passage.

Dhoni's batting position

There's a lot of debate about where MS Dhoni should bat in India but for me number 5 looks spot on, despite the fact that his record at 3 and 4 is even better than at 5. The Indians are in the fortunate position of having a quality top 4 and they're right to leave it as is unless in exceptional circumstances.

It's also interesting to see a couple of England players up there with the best ODI number 5s in the world - Flintoff and Collingwood. They've used a batting index that multiplies average and strike rate, which leaves Flintoff as 2nd behind Dhoni as an ODI number 5 and Collingwood in 5th place.

Ponting and reading of pitches

We all get the reading of pitches wrong from time to time, but Ricky Ponting has the unfortunate knack of doing it publicly and often. His view was that 220 would be a good score in the 3rd ODI against India, and his batsmen seemed to work towards that perfectly. Unfortunately it wasn't good enough as India ambled to victory by 6 wickets!

Incidentally, I'm not sure if there's any truth in it, but this article claims that the groundsman sabbotaged Australia's training plans - if true, something that's inexcusable.

The series is hotting up so happy viewing those with Sky!

Movember

This week's Sport has the top 9 sporting moustaches (page 8) and it features 3 cricketers - David Boon, Merv Hughes and Richard Ellison.

Surely there's more cricketing challengers? Richard Hadlee springs to mind...

Just what you need...

...when you've changed clubs. My wife met someone who has suggested that "Steyning Cricket Club has been responsible for many a relationship breakdown"!! Having been there a year I can't see any evidence for that!

Moises Henriques

Moises Henriques stats for New South Wales in one day cricket:

20 Matches, 242 runs at 18.62, highest score 43*. 18 wickets at 39.22, economy rate 5.41.

Why is this man playing for Australia?? I know stats don't tell the whole story, but I've seen nothing to suggest he's ready for international crciket. Moises has been playing first class cricket for a few seasons now, and was given the "next big thing" tag very early. He may well turn out to be an excellent cricketer, but until he's proven himself at domestic level he shouldn't be selected to represent his country.

Tendulkar's failing...

No, not on the cricket pitch and, yes, one of the grainiest pictures ever! It's from when we visited Tendulkar's back in 2007 during our time in India....it appears that Tendulkar's could be either shutting or reopening as a nightclub. Can't say I'm surprised - it seemed very average when we went!

Interesting to see that restaurants and bars seem to be all the rage with the Indian cricketers - Flintoff's bar anyone?

Fiery Fred real ale on it's way

Skipton's Copper Dragon brewers will be creating a real ale in honour of Fred Trueman next year....the beer launches early next year alongside a bronze statue of Fiery Fred.

Sod the statue - having a beer brewed in your honour is of course the ultimate!

Wisden Cricketer Test player of the year

It seemed that no-one agreed with me that Shakib Al-Hassan was going to be a world star....well not outside of Bangladesh anyway....so it's a vindication of sorts that he's won the Wisden Cricketer Test player of the year!

How he hasn't got an IPL contract still baffles me, given he does so well in a losing team, but I assume that will be put right prior to next year's tournament.

Moles under pressure in NZ

Andy Moles is under a lot of pressure in New Zealand, despite the fact that they surprisingly made it through to the final of the recent Champions Trophy. It would seem that senior players think that Vettori is having to take on too much and isn't properly supported. I wonder what Shane Warne would think of that, given that he has always seemed to see coaches as bag carriers!

For me, it looks like a classic business mistake - don't set out roles/responsibilities and expectations in advance and hope that it all works out. It never does. That's why using ex-players has a limited advantage - the ideal would be to have someone who understands playing at the highest level, and has the business skills to make it work.

Given what's in the press now, surely it's only a matter of time before Moles has to resign....

Hick and Hignell collect honours

Two ex-first class cricketers received honours from the Queen yesterday - an MBE for Graeme Hick and a CBE for Alastair Hignell. I hadn't appreciated that Hick had played the most games ever and, refreshingly, he's not trying to pretend that he'd be happy if anyone broke that record!

Gayle hit for six by Usain Bolt

It seems that 100m world record holder and olympic champion Usain Bolt can hold a bat....and is even better with the ball.

It's always good seeing sporting celebs playing cricket as it pushes the sport to wider audiences, but I'm not sure how much club cricket a footballer (like Gary Lineker of old) or rugby player (like Rob Andrew did) might play these days in the UK. Presumably none given the risk of injury and the fact that their season lasts 10 months. A pity....

Tresco issues

I haven't read Marcus Trescothick's autobiography, but I'm still struggling to understand what the issue is. Originally it seemed to be stress caused by being away from home away from loved ones. Then when Trescothick ruled himself out of playing for England at The Oval this summer, he suggested that he'd had nightmares about the prospect of playing.

This time a plan for him to stay in Dubai and commute in to India for each game (suggesting that it's not just being away from home, its the nature of the location) fell through, but the alternative plan of taking his wife was hatched. Unfortunately it didn't work.

Of course it's impossible to know what he's going through, but am I the only one who's wondering if he needs to push on through? India isn't everyone's cup of tea - it can be relentless and can best be described as "an assault on the senses", but at the end of the day you can retreat to a five star hotel with your wife. Is it really that bad?

I know, I know, I'm a heartless git.

The grass isn't always greener

Despite playing a vital role in keeping Yorkshire in the 1st Division, Matthew Hoggard seems to have found himself discarded. Just one month ago he was taking a crucial hatrick when Yorkshire could have gone down, and he was Yorkshire's leading wicket-taker. Talk about ungrateful.

Given that he's a quality bowler who doesn't seem to break down much, he's perfect for County cricket and Yorkshire's (and England's) loss will be someone elses gain. Once again, administrators thinking that the grass is always greener...

I'd be extremely happy if Yorkshire went down next season as a result!

Australia retain Hilditch

Despite the strange selections that many saw as contributing to Australia losing the Ashes, Andrew Hilditch seems to have retained his job. Hilditch wasn't the selector on duty for The Oval, but I'm still quite surprised he's survived....

I don't half miss Bumble

I think I've burbled before about how I find it difficult to get excited about T20 unless I care about the result so I've adopted both Somerset and Sussex over the last few days. Judging by the crowds, however, it seems that the locals haven't and what a miserable competition it looks and, judging by their expressions, the players aren't enjoying it either - too much money at stake, I guess.

But the worst thing is the commentary, based as it is on stating the bl**ding obvious and constant repetitions and embarrassing conversations with 'miked-up' players and umpires.

'Great shot!!!!!' 'Oh! He's out' - says it all really.

Wow ! Six initials.

Uda Walawwe Mahim Bandaralage Chanaka Asanka Welegedara - makes Chaminda Vaas look anonymous.

Oram to quit Tests?

Get ready for lots of articles about how all-rounders can't cope given the current cricketing schedule, after Jacob Oram looks set to follow Andrew Flintoff into Test retirement.

Some people will always be more unlucky with injuries than others, and it's difficult to say whether the lure of IPL money is impacting on Oram of Flintoff's decision. I await Geoff Boycott, or someone similar, coming out and telling international cricketers that these days they are a bunch of jessies....

Worst feeling in cricket?

Aussie Dave suggests in his comment about Younis Khan's drop that dropping a simple catch is the worst feeling in cricket. For me, anything that happens when fielding, generally, doesn't worry me as much as batting because you get another chance. My top 3 worst feelings in cricket:

Worst: Playing a stupid shot when chasing a total, getting yourself out unnecessarily so that you put a potential win at risk. It's all the worse because the ball the bowler bowled is not a good one - you've got yourself out. (I did this at Ifield this year - fortunately we won anyway.)

2. Getting given out caught behind when you haven't hit it (and if you're a walker).

3. Not being able to persuade the person you need to bowl to bowl at the death in a crucial relegation game, and losing by one wicket, possibly as a result.

Champions League viewing figures

It seems that viewing figures for the Champions League are a little down on expectations. It's early days and viewing figures can be expected to go up, but the money men will be watching closely with their fingers crossed....

Luke Wright

I know I'm meant to be a fan of his these days, as Luke Wright comes from my home county of Sussex. But I find myself struggling with England's selection of Wright in the Test squad - I hope (and trust!) that he proves me wrong.

If you were picking a top 7 batsmen in Test cricket would he be in with even a tiny shout? No.

If you were looking for a bowler who plays an equal part in a 5 man bowling attack, would you consider picking him? No.

So the sum of two ordinary parts, don't equal a very satisfactory whole I reckon. And if you need some relatively ropey bowling to give the main four bowlers a rest, you already have Collingwood or, when Pietersen plays, Pietersen. Give him a chance by all means against Bangladesh, but not when it matters....please?