Afridi Pakistan's only hope

Pakistan desperately need something special from Afridi and he's certainly started well - 4,4,2,6,6. 22 off 5 balls - not bad. I hope for the spectators sake he can keep going!

Dravid is human...

Rahul Dravid was brought down to earth yesterday having drawn level with Don Bradman on 29 centuries, as the second new ball proved troublesome. A ball from Shahadat Hossain broke his cheekbone or jaw (depending on which report you read!)and Dravid is now in doubt for the February South Africa series. That's huge, as India will be wanting to prove that they are the number 1 Test side in the world.

And of course in the same game, Tendulkar reached 90 international hundreds - an even 45 in Tests and 45 in ODIs. Now that's pretty special and there's no doubt that India's first choice top 7 is one of the best ever, if not the best ever.

Broad, Swann and Anderson - a quality tail

I recently wrote about how England should be able to feel comfortable with their batting line up given that they're playing 7 batsmen and 2 allrounders. Of course they were soon bowled out twice for less than 200!

But Cricinfo's numbers game has presented the stats the demonstrate just how strong England's tail has become, especially compared to their recent history. On top of 9 batsmen or allrounders, Anderson has averaged nearly 17 since the start of 2008, and Onions averages 32 balls for each of his dismissals. (When Sidebottom came in for the 4th Test v South Africa, I somehow didn't feel comfortable with Anderson losing his number 10 spot and now there's some statistical justification for that - that average of nearly 17 in the last 2 years is superior to Sidebottom's career batting average).

John Howard to be put forward for ICC top job?

Although his cricketing skill has been widely ridiculed (not that it matters for the role), it seems that John Howard, the former Australian Prime Minister, is going to be put forward by Cricket Australia for the role of Deputy Chairman of the ICC. That possible course of action doesn't seem to be getting a ringing endorsement in the media, so it will be interesting to see if Mr Howard really does get put forward.

IPL auction - Shakib misses out again

I think I've put the mockers on Shakib Al-Hassan. Last year I thought he'd be snapped up for the IPL and he wasn't. This year it was surely a certainty after he's performed brilliantly in a largely losing Bangladesh side all year and was picked in the World Test XI and chosen as TWC's Test Player of the Year. Today, he emphasised the fact that he's a true allrounder by running out Rahul Dravid. But again he was ignored by the IPL franchises!

I am at a complete loss, and he's not the only one. Shahid Afridi - who would surely make any World XI in Twenty20 didn't attract a bid. It appears the IPL franchise owners have money, and in Shilpa's case beauty (I know, unnecessary image of her!), but not cricketing brain...

A "Daryl Harper moment"

It really is getting bad for Mr Harper when a wrong decision in last night's Manchester City v Manchester United football match was described as a "Daryl Harper moment" by commentator Mark Lawrenson. He used the term to describe an incident when goalkeeper Shay Given was said to have carried the ball over his goal line and therefore given away a corner, but replays showed that it was only his legs that were over the line, not the whole ball.

The farce of the UDRS rollout continues....and Daryl Harper's infamy continues....

Keeping wicket and goal similar?

I'd not really thought about the similarities in shot stopping when goalkeeping in football and wicketkeeping, but now that I do, after the Charlton goalkeeper Rob Elliott announced his desire to train Geraint Jones, there are some similarities. As an inspirational session, or few sessions, to relieve the boredom of monotonous training I can see some potential merits - I'm not sure Elliott can expect a long-term role with Kent though.

Watch the IPL on YouTube

This article is a little out in terms of cricketing facts, suggesting that Swann and Trott will be playing in the 2010 IPL, but it also says that YouTube will show the IPL games.

Some of the England players didn't have a hope - Anthony McGrath for example!! - but interesting that only Eion Morgan made the grade.

If I have time I'll be watching YouTube....

More of the same...

I'll keep it brief as I'm sure you know what I'm going to say:

1. I don't understand why you'd risk a poor reaction to a change in the way a game is run by not utilising all the technology available.

2. I don't know how the ICC can get it quite so badly wrong when rolling out the use of even a limited amount of technology - attempting to do it without testing their approach comprehensively at a lower level.

3. I don't know how the people responsible for the balls ups aren't resigning immediately in embarrassment. Far from it - they don't even recognise there's a problem!

Strauss is best off losing the toss?

A witty article all about how Strauss is good at winning the toss, but when he does his results are actually worse. Perhaps poor old Kirsty Perrin, who I posted about in December as she had lost 30 tosses in a row, didn't need to worry after all!

I still really like the idea of having some kind of auction at the toss as John Wright Burbled last year - doubt it will ever catch on but it seems like the best solution to taking out the luck of the coin toss.

Ranji trophy - stunning game, stunning catch

All of India have been glued to the exciting Ranji trophy final between Karnataka and Mumbai which Mumbai managed to win by 6 runs. I can't help feeling sorry for Manish Pandey who not only scored 144 in Karnataka's 2nd innings, but also took this truly stunning catch. The catch isn't the only remarkable bit - check out the volume of sun cream he's managed to put on his face!

Sidebottom for Onions seems strange

Graeme Onions hasn't bowled that well on this tour as his average of 45 demonsrates, but it was still a massive surprise that Ryan Sidebottom was preferred for the vital 4th Test in South Africa.

At the start of the series I would have played 6 batsmen rather than 7, leaving Bell out, and played Sidebottom and Onions, but that time has passed and Ian Bell has had a good series. Onions hasn't blown the South Africans away but it must have been a very marginal 50/50 call between Sidebottom and Onions. So for me, team unity and consistency of selection should have won the day, just as it does with batsmen.

That still applies even if Sidebottom takes loads....England certainly need him to!!

Taxing the BCCI

The interesting thing about this article that says the BCCI will now pay tax, is the fact they thought they could get away with "charitable" status!!

The future of cricket?

Daniel Vettori shows how it's done. Play match in NZ, fly in to Sydney....help win game for your team...fly back no NZ, play another game.

Easy!

Few thoughts on the Newlands Test

1) How is Daryl Harper still employed as an international umpire?

2) Noted in a previous post, AB De Villiers is no saint when it comes to cheating.

3) Graeme Smith declared too late. Surprisingly, not a lot has been said of the timing of his declaration, which I find odd, as England were never going to chase anything above 350 runs and with an extra 20 or so overs, Smith would have had a third new ball at his bowlers' disposal.

4) Of the fifth bowler options available for England at Cape Town, why is Trott being chosen ahead of Pietersen, who I feel should bowl more, and Bell,who isn't a bad medium pacer but seems to be forgotten amongst the part-time bowler options?

England's Ashes hopes...

A long way to go I know, but interesting to see what the Aussie view on England is at the moment...

Test stats over last decade

If your a bit of cricketing stato like myself, you'll like this top-level analysis of the Tests stats in the "noughties" compared to the previous decade.

England middle order - well played Ian Bell

Having predicted that it would be Anderson, Trott and Collingwood that would have to save the game, Ian Bell's innings was a revelation. Good on him - hopefully he can become England's version of Damien Martyn as I've Burbled before and come back all the better for a break (all be it a much shorter break). It was great to escape with a draw but as always there's room for improvement and Flower has already called for Bell to go on from here.

What I think England need to look at is how they lose wickets in clumps - with 7 batsmen and 2 all rounders they shouldn't be collapsing in the way that they did whatever the match situation, and it's certainly not the first time. It all seemed so easy until Collingwood's wicket, and what was interesting listening to TMS was the almost reverential praise from Duncan Fletcher to Collingwood. Praphrasing he said he's always positive, a great member of the dressing room, doggedly determined, very thoughtful and tactically aware, and would make a great coach. Michael Vaughan is a mate of his but made similar comments about how crucial he was to England's middle order, and Andy Flower has also praised him. In fact what Bell no doubt won't be happy about is the fact that all the TMS commentators thought it was vital Collingwood stayed with Bell to "talk him through" despite the fact Bell has played 50+ Tests.

Interesting. It's pretty clear that Collingwood has total respect in and around the England changing room and yet he's seen as an also-ran by most of the watching public. As a Collingwood fan, I'm very pleased that his place appears a lot more secure than I thought.

De Villiers hardly integrity personified

Whether there was any intent to change the condition of the ball from James Anderson or Stuart Broad seems to be open to question, but AB de Villiers is keen to suggest they've done wrong.

Whether they did or they didn't, I'd just like to remind Cricket Burble readers that this is the AB de Villiers who claimed a slip catch during South Africa's last trip to these shores which bounced a long way in front of him...it wasn't a half-volley, it bounced miles in front of him. He knew that and still claimed it so he is hardly integrity personified.

England's possible heros

No, I'm not suggesting they can win it after the last hour yesterday (although before that I was thinking that if they could get through the 2nd new ball only 4 wickets down or less, they had a decent chance).

No, now it's about dour defence. So I'm going for 3 key players, and sadly we'll know in the morning session how they're doing as they are the current pair, plus Collingwood. Yes, if Anderson can play out an hour or more of the morning session, I think it could have a big psychological impact on the game, and Trott and Collingwood are the key batsmen given the match situation.

An an Englishman, I have my fingers crossed but I can't say I'm hopeful!

England's last decade

Andrew Miller's article on Cricinfo looking back at English cricket's last decade makes an interesting read.

Some very valid points - Vaughan managed to make an average team into a good and at time very good team by managing to win the really close games. But for all their press coverage leading to iconic status, England's "greats" (Pietersen and Flintoff) aren't really up there with the best in the world statistically - compare Pietersen who now averages less than 50 with Ponting, Sangakkara or Tendulkar for example.

There's two big criticisms of the ECB - 1. Not utilising their first mover advantage on Twenty20 and 2. Not dealing with the County cricket issue. They're both valid criticisms but the problems of County cricket simply will not go away until there are less professional cricketers in the UK and it's going to take a brave Chairman to tackle that thorny issue. A look at the way Wales handled their reduction in top rugby clubs - which was vociferously opposed by many but ultimately very successful - would perhaps give good context to learn from.

It will be interesting to see where England get to over the coming decade. More mid-table mediocrity and the same failing County Cricket structure would be my guess....

Ponting gets out of jail

Quite amazingly, Australia came back from over 200 down in the 1st innings to beat Pakistan at the SCG - an incredible come back in anyone's book. The Aussie side can relax knowing they've got themselves out of jail, but some of Ponting's comments seem a little bizarre! In an article on Cricinfo titled "Ponting's toss decision vindicated" there are a couple of paragraphs that make strange reading:

Ponting was heavily criticised from the first day for his decision to bat on a juicy surface that set up Australia's fall for 127. By the end his logic was satisfyingly sound. "I backed us at the start of the game to make more runs in the first innings than what I thought Pakistan could make in the last innings," he said. "As it turns out we got 120-odd and bowled them out for 139 in the last innings of the game."

At one stage during his post-mortem a relaxed Ponting teasingly asked all those in the press conference who had doubted his decision to raise their hands. All the Australian journalists' arms went up. "I feel better now," he said. He smiled, knowing that when it comes to Australia's Test team he knows best. "It comes down to results and we've got a great result here," he said. "So I look like a genius where I didn't a couple of days ago."

Que? His logic is anything but sound and he certainly doesn't look like a genius! You don't bat first because you think you might just score more than the opposition will get in the last innings! He's trying to retrofit an idiotic decision to demonstrate some kind of thought process. It's a bit like Haroon Lorgat the other day - just admit you got it wrong and move on. The other thought that occurs to me is that this really was a battle of two terrible captains - Ponting versus Yousuf whose captaincy was apparently "bizarre" - i.e. very defensive when Pakistan needed 2 wickets to wrap up the Australian 2nd innings.

On another note, well batted Mr Cricket.

This is Bell's chance

This is it! Ian Bell's chance to build on his start at making runs under real pressure when he did well in the 1st innings of the Oval Test against Australia. If he can help pull England out of the brown stuff here then he'll be able to keep his doubters quiet for a while....

Cricket Burble dismay at Lorgat interview on DRS

I learnt 2 things from listening to Jonathan Agnew talk to Haroon Lorgat during the lunch interval on day 1 of England's Test v South Africa:

1. The UDRS now seems to be termed the DRS! Someone must have decided that the word "umpire" might give the impression that the umpires were under review.

2. Haroon Lorgat seems to be in denial about the success of the DRS. He thinks that all the problems are simply part of a process of change. He seems to give no consideration to the point that the ICC could have handled things differently and the whole thing could have been considerably smoother. One of the hardest things in the workplace is working with those that really do believe they have nothing to learn - those that recognise their errors are always stronger. So it scares me that Lorgat can be so one eyed....

Swann and Broad in top 5 Test all rounders

This is presumably the first time for a very long time that England have had two all rounders in the top 5 according to the ICC rankings. With a keeper that's capable averaging 40+ too, England really shouldn't have so many worries about their batting order as they used to (whether they play 6 or 7 batsmen), but no doubt that will lead to 100 all out soon...!

Ponting the most successful captain ever

Despite being named as the worst behaved Australian player over the last 20 years, Ricky Ponting can give himself a pat on the back for having just taken over as the most successful captain of all time with 42 Test wins. Overall he's won 93 Tests which is truly incredible - when he makes it to 100 that really will be something special...

Taking guard

As this post about taking guard references, Jonathan Trott has really wound the South Africans up. It would be interesting to know if it's ever been an issue in County cricket.

For OMT readers of Cricket Burble, the article about taking guard made me think of a certain Tony MacDonald-Barker and his idiosyncrasies!

Overturning borderline referrals

It worked in England's favour today, but I can't say I felt comfortable with the way that both Smith and de Villiers were given out LBW today. The video replay showed that the ball would have just clipped the stumps on both occassions, so effectively the bowler is given the benefit of the doubt rather than the batsman. The reason they were given out was that the on field umpire had already given the decision and as he couldn't be proved definitely wrong, the decision stood.

Had the on field umpire given those decisions not out, and England referred them, they would have had to be given not out after video replays, as clipping the stumps is not enough to say conclusively that a not out decision would have been wrong.

Two alternative decisions for the very same ball based on the on-field umpire's original decision seems entirely flawed to me and it demonstrates that the ultimate goal has to be no "referrals" - just a review of all close decisions using the technology available, with the umpire holding up play if necessary.

7 batsmen

I'm not entirely against picking 7 batsmen but I generally subscribe to the "if your top 6 batsmen can't make runs, why should the 7th?" school of thinking. Hopefully Ian Bell will prove that thinking entirely wrong and make runs if England are in trouble at 50-4.

What I perhaps think is missing in the current thinking is consideration of the quality of the bowlers when it comes to batting. Yes - if your batsmen 8 downwards are McGrath, Muralitharan, Ntini, Martin - you may want to consider a 7th batsmen. If your batsmen from 8 downwards are Swann, Sidebottom, Anderson, Onions then you might consider a 7th batsman a luxury as they can all hold a bat with the exception of Onions.

[Confused? Prior is picked as a batsmen - he's not England's best keeper (although he's improving) - he's picked on the basis he can average 40+ in Test cricket.]

A wish for 2010

I think the ICC will realise that you can't have a situation where decisions are shown to be out or not out, but can't be challenged as teams have run out of challenges. Yes, they've been slow to roll out the use of technology to aid umpires and done it badly, but I have full confidence that even they will identify this area for a change during 2010.

We'll see come this time next year if that proves correct!

Australia's conversion joke

Ok, its now getting beyond a joke. In three tests and one day this summer Australian batsmen have scored 18 half centuries without registering a single century. A large proportion of these scores have been in the 90s and 80s. Its obviously becoming a bit of a mental barrier as well as Shane Watson freely admitted after play today.
The two worst culprits are the openers Watson and Katich. Between them they have passed 80 on seven occasions without going on to three figures and today we saw Watson run out in comical fashion for 93 and Katich top edge a cut/guide (a shot he plays with ease normally) straight to gully for 98. Here's a quick break down of the scores:
Watson 96, 89 and 93
Katich 92, 80, 99 and 98
Ponting 55 and 57
Hussey 66 and 82
North 79 and 68
Hauritz 50*
Clarke 71, 61*
Haddin 55* and 88

International Team of the Decade

It's that time of year again. Here's who I've gone for....controversial no doubt! I'm sure Aussies will be aghast that Sangakkara gets in ahead of Gilchrist, but they've both had very tricky bowlers to keep to, and Sangakkara averages far more than Gilchrist. Waugh only played until 2004 but I needed a captain (Warne was also in the mix) and someone who could offer the 6th bowling option if necessary.

I also had real problems trying to think of a bowler to open with Glenn McGrath - testament to the dearth of quality fast bowling in the "noughties". For a bit more spice, and because he bowled left-arm and could create rough for the spinners, I wanted to pick Wasim Akram, but given that he finished in 2003 and averaged 10 less with the bat than Shaun Pollock, I went for Pollock. Not the fastest, even in his prime, but worthy of a place in the team, at least for me.

Matthew Hayden
Virender Sehwag
Rahul Dravid
Jacques Kallis
Sachin Tendulkar
Steve Waugh (captain)
Kumar Sangakkara
Shaun Pollock
Shane Warne
Glenn McGrath
Mattiah Muralitharan

The unlucky ones? For me the unluckiest are Lara, Jayawardene and Gilchrist. Lara, and Dravid are different types of players but Dravid shaded it on the basis of longevity. And Dravid is a true number 3 which allows Kallis more time to recover from bowling as necessary.

Go on then. Who have I forgotten?

England Performance Squad

I notice England effectively had a 2nd XI (I'm not sure if they are still there) called the England Performance Squad in South Africa during the early stages of the tour. They were able to move players back and forward between this squad and the offical England squad in the event of injuries etc.

I must say this idea makes a hell of alot of sense and I can't believe its not common practice for major tours. When Australia tour England, India or South Africa, Australia A (Australia's rather rediculous name for its 2nd XI) should concurrently tour the same country. There are two obvious benefits of this: 1. Fringe players from the main squad can be released to get some meaningful match practice, rather than endless net sessions, thus keeping them in form in the case they do get the call-up. 2. In the event of an injury in the main squad, a replacement can be drafted in from the A team and be not only match fit, but already exposed to the conditions of wherever it is they are playing. This is far better than flying someone in from Australia where they would have either been playing in completely different conditions, or in the middle of an off-season. It also eliminates the problem of jet-lag.

It seems so obvious.

The future of cricket on screen....

......is safe. Much talk as ever about how the lack of cricket on terrestrial television means that the youngsters are not given the chance to see it and get attracted to it. Talking to a friend last night I learnt that we are missing the point - his 7 year old son is learning all about variation in bowling and even how to set a field on his Wii.

Well I reckon that that is the way forward - how many 7 year olds would learn how to set a field from a TV?

Incidentally I understand that Australia are 300-7 against hs bowling and that of his father and that it almost takes the same ammount of time as the real thing.

Happy Christmas -I'm off the the ski slopes. Will I run into Dave McCabe and Angus (or should I say Adrian) Fraser ?

England women go to India without Colvin

Both Claire Taylor and Holly Colvin are missing England Women's tour to India and both a big absentees, but given Indian conditions, the loss of Colvin could well be the greater. As world number 1, the Indian tour looks like a potential banana skin - fingers crossed they can break their duck there.

Match fixing film on the way

I'll let you decide whether you think match fixing played a part in the 2007 World Cup - the guy that's making this film obviously did.

Why aren't they using all the technology available?

"Strauss had steadfastly (and correctly) refused to be drawn on three earlier occasions, but his resolve cracked twice in quick succession - first when Anderson ducked an inswinger off an inside-edge and into Kallis's pads, and then when Swann and Prior were convinced that de Villiers had under-edged an attempted slog-sweep. With no HotSpot available to the third umpire, however, that decision was never likely to be overturned, and Strauss was rightly left kicking himself afterwards."

I've no idea if it was out, but why was there no HotSpot available?

Winning the toss is vital

Cricket Burble readers will know that I'm not a fan of luck playing too large a role in determining the result. Many say that things all even up so not to worry about it, but this poor women's captain in Australia would probably beg to differ having lost 30 tosses in a row!

Who's Remfy ?

And why is Strauss using his thigh pad? (photo in today's Times has him with a thighpad clearly marked with that name).

UDRS suddenly in favour....

An interesting current result to the Cricinfo poll. I don't think there would have been this much support for the UDRS 6 months ago....

O'Brien to settle down at Middlesex

Good luck to him for putting his family first, but how frustrating it must be for Ian O'Brien that as soon as he cements a place in the New Zealand Test team at the age of 33, he then has to retire from international cricket so he can settle down with his family. Apparently he's spent just 9 months of 2 and a half years of marriage with his wife, so you can understand his reasoning!

I can see why O'Brien might have appealed to Gus Fraser - a hard-working trier who'll give his all. And who could play as a UK player if he gets residency. Good luck to him.

Benson retires / the UDRS

Rumours seem to abound that, rather than retiring due to ill-health, Mark Benson - the umpire from my home town of Shoreham-by-sea - is retiring at least partly because he is unhappy with the Umpire Decision Review System. One of his decisions - to give Chanderpaul not out caught behind - in the current Australia/West Indies Test was overturned on the basis of some inconclusive TV evidence by Asad Rauf so you can understand his annoyance. But it does sound like he has had a few health issues for a while so it sounds like suggestions that he's retiring because of the UDRS are exaggerated.

Benson was the umpire when the first non-run-out decision was overturned using technology - his decision to give Dilshan out was over-turned and the batsman went on to score a hundred. Ironically, the most recent Test that Dilshan played - the 3rd Test v India involved him being given out when he wasn't in both innings and, with no video replay to turn to, contributed to India winning by an innings. Dilshan scored 125 without really being out but had both his innings cut short.

Predicatably there is a lot of scrutiny on the UDRS and some of Tony Cozier's comments about the failings in the system are issues that the ICC need to deal with - in particular the ability of umpires to use the technology. But the key point to remember is that video reviews have been most criticised when used badly by the umpires! We'll never be able to stop human-error altogether, but we can reduce it, using technology.

As someone who can't understand why people wouldn't advocate anything that gives greater accuracy in decision making, it was interesting to read the comments below Cozier's article. All of a sudden from the UDRS being loathed, there seems to be a lot of support for the UDRS amongst readers on Cricinfo. It's inevitable so we need to get used to it - those that are unhappy need to throw their criticism at the ICC for the way they've rolled it out....not the system itself.

India at number 1

If, as looks extremely likely, India take the number 1 spot in the Test rankings then good luck to them - I completely disagree with the article claiming that they aren't worthy of the number 1 spot in The Times. It's neither the Sri Lankan or Indian players fault that their boards don't organise more home Tests, and they have done well in the games they have played.

If you look at India's batting line up it's surely one of the best ever - 6 of the top 7 are or will be batting or all-rounder greats of the game, and Yuvraj Singh is hardly bad as the 7th. As always it seems that everyone is desperate for this group to retire but with all their elder batsman playing brilliantly, why wish the end of a truly amazing era?

And their bowling attack competes well given the dearth of decent bowling around the world at the moment, so there's no doubt they compete well there. Perhaps a bit of credit where credit's due Simon Wilde?

Left handers are best

According to an article in The Times today, left-handers perform better:

"Research by Sky Sport’s scorer and statistician Benedict Bermange reveals that left-handed batsmen have not only been steadily on the rise – more than 30 percent of all Test cricketers now bat left-handed – but they are increasingly outperforming right-handers. The last decade in which left-handed batsmen averaged less than right-handers was the 1950s, since when left-handers have been ahead by 5.3 runs per innings (1960s), 2.9 (1970s), 4.0 (1980s), 5.2 (1990s) and 7.9 (2000s)."

I think it's a little late to turn around and bat left-handed now. But for parents with young kids it's not too late....

Sehwag is a freak

I posted the other day about the averages of India's top order. Sehwag averages 50 then at a strike rate of 80. His latest (as yet unfinished) innings of 284 off 239 balls is freakish. To score at Twenty20 pace over such a long period is not normal and the assumption is that he'll lose his wicket tomorrow morning. But if he lasts until lunch he'll be near the World Record.

Normally I'd want to watch the highlights of the innings, but when Sehwag's batting highlights seem to mean every ball!

Looks familiar

I see that Gauteng used 10 bowlers in the England Performance sides team's innings and that the best figures were returned by the 5th and 7th changes.

India's home of cricket to host 3rd Test v Sri Lanka

Although some of my generation have not lived to see a Test at the Brabourne Stadium at the Cricket Club of India, it is deemed to be the spiritual home of Indian cricket. And that spiritual home has got one more chance to host a Test due to the Wakhede stadium being improved for the 2011 World Cup.

It's all set up perfectly for India - they can go to number 1 in the Test rankings if they beat Sri Lanka at the Brabourne....