Australia squad

 

Australia's Ashes squad has widely been applauded as about as good as they could have selected.   I'd agree, although I think it raises a lot of questions about the selection policies of the last 2 years because they've gone for youth at every turn before having to go to Chris Rogers and back to Brad Haddin.   They would have been in a far better position if they'd gone for Rogers far earlier and not had their daliance with Wade, so their current selection would appear to be an admittal of previous failings.

 

Australia's seam bowlers are their strength and it's interesting to hear the various views.   Some even jokingly suggesting Australia pick 9 bowlers, plus Clarke and Haddin, given the batting weaknesses!   But it's interesting to see how little attention Jackson Bird is getting - if he's fully fit I think he's going to be a real handful in English conditions.

 

For a full overview on the Australian squad Cricinfo offered some interesting video discussion.

Important research

According to The Publican Morning Advertiser - the pub world's weekly bible - people watching cricket in pubs consume on average 2.6 pints. I think I might be having someone else'e share!

Gayle slow with his 175 off 66

An amazing bout of sustained hitting it certainly was, but Chris Gayle was unable to hit six sixes in a row in his amazing IPL innings.

 

Jordan Clark hit six sixes though, for Lancashire 2nd XI.   Good going - he has matched what has been done 4 times in first class cricket.

 

It seems batsmen are finding it easier and easier to hit sixes and bowlers everywhere of course argue that the bats have got far better, but equally they seem to keep bowling length.   If you watch Gayle's innings, there's very few good (in the context of Twenty20) balls that he's hitting for six - they're nearly all length balls.   Yes, Malinga gets it wrong sometimes, but why don't more people bowl to hit the toes, a la Malinga.   If he gets it wrong he can be expensive, but more often than not he keeps even the best batsmen under control, as he did in the final over he bowled yesterday that cost 3 (one of them a leg bye) and allowed his team Mumbai to win in a tight match.

 

New Zealand cricket

I can't quite work out what's going on over in New Zealand at the moment - rather than leaving the captaincy dispute as something in the past and moving on, Brendon McCullum seems to want to be threatening legal action on order to get an apology from John Parker.   Parker seems to be a former NZ Test cricketer who wants more representation on NZ cricket board from ex players and is lobbying for that with the support of others.   Those others have, for the most part, been a little reluctant to come out of the woodwork and they're even less likely to raise their hands now that McCullum has shown he may go legal.

 

I can't say I agree with Parker - some ex-playing credentials may be good on the Board, but far more important than that is the business and change management skills required to run such a multi-faceted business.   If some of the ex-players have that experience then great - they're ideally qualified.   Many of them won't have though, and giving jobs to the boys upon retirement has been the downfall of many professional cricket teams/boards.

 

Perhaps more worrying for the Kiwi public though is the fact that the captaincy saga has not been put to rest yet.   It's debatable whether McCullum will get much of a positive from his action and many question why he's taken it.   Let's hope they can all learn to play nicely together soon....

No comparison

Looks exciting Germany v Botswana, last ball tie, but I think that the next time anyone suggests that England have too many foreign born players it might be worth mentioning Bismark's descendants here:-

 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/wcldiv7-2013/engine/current/match/624633.html

 

I'm available for any European country that wants to give me an international cap.

 

Sensational IPL start but I still find it hard to get excited...

Some pretty sensational games at the start of the IPL - a super over today in which 20 played 15.   And yesterday Dhoni almost got Chennai over the line but for Keiron Pollard reaching to his absolute maximum height at deep midwicket to stop a six that would have left 6 needed off 5 in the final over.

 

The downside is that I don't care who wins.   They're a spectacle in themselves to an extent but will the IPL ever truly catch on in England - I'm not sure it can unless you actually support a particular side.   That's why over the coming weeks all the games will blend into one....

The price of a full set of original Wisdens

 

Last weekend I went for a few beers with someone who had a full set of Wisdens (but some without the original covers) and he suggested that the set was worth £50k-£60k.   This piece on the BBC last week suggests that a full set of intact originals should be insured for £350k.

 

Expensive things these Wisdens!

Alec Stewart's Test XI of the year

 

Don't think I've got any complaints about Alec Stewart's Test XI of the year.   I'd possibly replace Ashwin with Herath, but that's a minor quibble.   Any obvious wrong exclusions?

Badgers delay season start for Rickmansworth CC

 

It seems unlikely that the season would have started on schedule anyway given the weather, but badgers have ensured that's the case at Rickmansworth Cricket Club, just down the road from where I used to play in Croxley Green!

 

I can only imagine the grumbling from the groundsman....

A first?

I understand from a report by someone who was there that, although it might not have been recorded as such, play in yesterdays Northants v Middlesex friendly was stopped at tea time - 'cold stopped play'!

 

Not too sure about this MVP calculations

 

Obviously as a Middlesex member I'm happy to see Steve Finn at the top of the winter's MVP calculations, since I'm already resigned to see little of him on the county circuit this year, but Prior only two from bottom suggests that there is a flaw quite apart from the fact that he should be in all three squads.

 

Calculations and tables are here :-

http://www.middlesexccc.com/articles/2013-04-03/finn-scoops-the-fti-most-valuable-player-award-for-the-winter

Never too old for themed birthday cakes!

Loving this photo of ex (or very lazy) Cricket-Burbler Dave McCabe's 30th birthday cake....even down the the ginger hair...

 

 

I haven't checked the image rights but hopefully nothing to pay!

Brilliant

  

http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2013/03/26/somerset-village-cricket-team-banned-for-enjoying-itself-too-much/

 

England struggles and Australia's capitulation

 

I've started to feel about this England cricket team like I did about the rugby team in 2002 - even when they're losing I keep thinking they'll fight back!   But for Cook getting out last night I would have been confidently predicting they'd bat day 5 out, but now I'm more than a little concerned!   Is it too much to hope for a Cardiff-esque 10th wicket stand between Anderson and Panesar?   I hope not!

 

So with that backdrop, it feels a little bit rash to criticise the Aussies, but I'm English so it's essentially my job (as it is there's to criticise us Poms).   So what is going on with their batting line up?   Only Warner (just) averages over 40 other than Michael Clarke.   It really is one of the weakest Australian batting line ups to have played in a couple of generations.  

 

Interesting then the way Australia handled (or mishandled) the older guys reaching the end of their career last year.   And that's not just the Australian selectors, it's the Australian public who were right on the backs of Ponting and Haddin prematurely.   It should never have been about whether they were as good as they once were - they didn't need to be.   As long as they were in the best Australian XI they should have been encouraged to carry on playing.

 

Ponting dominating Australia's domestic cricket this season with an average of nearly 90 is interesting.   And Haddin also had a dominant year.   Can Australia really say that they have a stronger XI without Ponting?   For one thing it's unlikely that their team ethic would have slipped with him there and Clarke wouldn't have found himself so entirely alone.

 

There's even been rumours of Hussey coming back for The Ashes, such is the current disaster.   Good luck getting that top 7 ship shape in the next few months Australia - even if England bat like they have in the 3rd NZ Test they'll still be big favourites....

Right timing

Not the worst part of the Women's World Cup was the TMS commentary that went with it and in particular the quirky Charles Dagnall. Obviously desperately keen on the sport, funny, knowledgeable and with an attitude and vocabulary that would seem at home in dressing rooms from very minor club third XIs to county level I think he'd be ideal for the gaps that already sadly exist in the main TMS team or the additional gaps that I'd create - surely we've had enough of Blowers, haven't we ?

I was there

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGQ6vCCPAbw

Just like those cardboard beer carriers

 It's the simple ideas that make people fortunes and you always think " why didn't I think of that ?". Those cardboard thingys for carrying 4 beer plastics at a time are brilliant, simple and a great advertising opportunity but you always wonder....................

Now there's a website https://extracover.cc/  which finds you players when you're short or a match when you haven't made the cut. Brilliant ! But why didn't I think of it?

It would also mean that a famous slow left arm bowler of senior years known to many of us now has a reason to become computer-literate. He might never retire !

County players not allowed to practice in India

 

Interesting to see this piece saying that the BCCI don't want County players practicing in India.   At first glance it seems very over-controlling but we do always have the debate every Ashes summer in England about whether Australian batsmen should be allowed to play for Counties in the early season to get used to conditions.

 

India's loss of tourism/income will be Sri Lanka's gain by the sounds of it, as Yorkshire are going there instead.   The BCCI won't worry about that as they're rolling in cash (and I assume it wouldn't be their income anyway, although I wouldn't put it past them to charge hotels etc commission on international cricket team visits), but they may might have slightly less to roll in when the Indian tax authorities catch up with them.

Pubs at cricket grounds

 

The lovely picture we all have in our heads of a cricket green next to a pub is rarer than you'd think. The famous one is at Tilford - the Barley Mow and if you see a picture in a paper or magazine it's usually that one. Most burblers know the Red Lion at Woodcote and, stretching visibility a little the Bell at Aldworth.Several also know the Six Bells at Warborough and The Case is Altered at Eastcote.
In fact Eastcote is special ( in addition to its excellent teas - worth it for the stuffing we always seem to get on the pitch) in that it has two pubs. the other is the recently re-opened Woodman. But you can't see both pubs from any position on the ground, nor either from the other.

Yesterday I found the best option. Meopham in Kent has two inter-visible pubs, both good too. The Cricketers and The King's Arms.

Is Meopham unique ?

Something Completely Different at Twenty20 this year

 

Perhaps "Something Completely Different" will mean something completely different to last year - i.e. no scantilly clad 16 year-old girls (who look under 16) dancing between me and the pitch, no idiot trying to generate enthusiasm over the loud speaker, and no blaring music every time a boundary is hit!

 

Somehow I doubt it.   Something Completely Different will mean exactly the same over-sensationalism best watched from home on mute.

Will England finally drop Jade Dernbach?

 Sounds like it wasn't a great toss to lose, but England were never quite in the 4th ODI out in India.   I couldn't hear the commentary but Sharma looked unlucky to be given out so the margin could have been far greater, even though many will (wrongly) point to the fact that Raina was caught at slip and then recalled when Finn knocked the stumps over at the bowler's end in his delivery stride (again) as crucial.   [Clearly it's a nonsense to recall a batsman, or to chalk off their four, if the bails come off at the bowler's end - no player ever notices it until the umpire tells them it's happened, but that's been covered at length here and elsewhere before].

I've got one plea for the England management, which is consistent with all supporters and journalists from what I can gather.   Please drop Jade Dernbach.   Once again he was expensive - don't be fooled by the fact he got Dhoni out....it was a long hop which Dhoni kindly placed into the hands of backward point.   As I mentioned in the comments on King Cricket, why does Dernbach have to bowl so much (or at all) at the start of the innings if he does play?   His only skill is death bowling, so why use him early on?   He bowled 7 of his 10 overs before the powerplay came in over 36, so why have him in the side?

Record beer snake!

 

Sri Lanka might have been peeved that they didn't get to complete a series victory in Sydney yesterday, as were many of the fans I'm sure, but some seemed to find a way of entertaining themselves.   By creating a properly huge beer snake!

Mixed feelings watching Australia bat

It's confusing watching Australia bat with book-hero Ed Cowan opening with  Middlesex-heroes Hughes and Warner but there wil be no second thoughts when it comes to the summer and The Ashes. Can Australia find another opener begining with Co..... to make a complete set with Cook and Compton, assuming that Cowan's running between the wickets hasn't cost him his place? Would he be the first batsman dropped from a Test side for that failing?

 

Wade at 6 and Johnson at 7 for Australia

Should there be 4 seamers in Australia's best team?   Interesting to see that Australia will go with Matthew Wade at 6 and Mitchell Johnson at 7 versus Sri Lanka tomorrow.   With a tour to India coming up, it's an interesting tactic and one that suggests more than half a thought towards the summer's Ashes.   This piece was interesting on the Australian site The Roar, suggesting that Maxwell should be considered ahead of Lyon long-term, so I'm surprised that Australia haven't used the dead 3rd Sri Lanka Test to try out either Kawaja or Maxwell in their top 7.

 

As I noted two days ago, from an Australian point of view I fear for them trying to find the right team in time for The Ashes without Mike Hussey, especially if Michael Clarke struggles with fitness.

RIP CMJ

I'm never going to do justice to CMJ's life in cricket but fortunately he's written his memoirs that will allow you to catch up on all that.   But his passing away is very sad for any cricket lover in the UK, and when listening to TMS pre-Xmas I frequently wondered how he was doing and whether he'd be back on TMS again....sadly not.

 

He'll be greatly missed - I can't say I agree with all his thinking because he was (softly) anti-technology, and when I asked him about his thoughts on the 50 over game being marginalised by Twenty20 and potentially ending as a format at some point, he didn't think that would be the case.   I remain convinced 50 over cricket will die at some point, but time will tell.   That opinion was given by CMJ when he came to Steyning to promote his book "Top 100 Cricketers of All Time" - again, promote would be too strong a word for it...he simply came to talk about the book and sign copies for anyone that wanted him to.

With Tony Greig also passing away over Xmas, that's two big names in cricket commentary gone for 2013 and cricket will be far worse off for that.   CMJ had strong well thought out views, but was also capable of getting along with people with diametrically opposed views, and as such emitted a real sense of calm on the radio, and authority in writing.   He'll be much missed by many.