I've picked ten county men to watch, which I'll be posting. I begin - perhaps more in hope than expectation - with Simon Jones.
Though he has had almost as many attempted comebacks as George Best, Jones is still only 32 and – until his next injury, at least – can still produce terrific spells. That much he proved with some outstanding bowling for Hampshire in the Caribbean Twenty20 tournament. With yorkers, well disguised slower balls and more pace than one would expect considering his injury record, he took 12 wickets at ten apiece, prompting dreams he could again represent England – most likely as a strike bowler in the shorter formats.
Showing posts with label Simon Jones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Simon Jones. Show all posts
Thursday, 7 April 2011
Friday, 9 January 2009
England's Ashes ladder
With the 2009 Ashes only six months away, who can expect to play a part for England? Each player has been ranked according to who is most likely to play in the series, from most likely to 25th.
1) Andrew Strauss
The new skipper has returned to form and England will be after some stability at last.
2) Andrew Flintoff
The obvious caveat is injury. But he has responded leaner and fitter since his comeback. His bowling, at least, is as good as ever.
3) Alastair Cook
Indicative of the malaise in the England side, even number three is not quite a certainty. But he did well against the West Indies before and, having invested so much time, England are very unlikely to dump him prior to the Ashes.
4) Kevin Pietersen
Pietersen, surely, would not miss this for the world. But if he plays the IPL instead of the West Indies home series, he might just have to.
5) Matt Prior
May appear a little high for someone whose current Test stint has lasted just two games, but Prior is a fine batsman, vital with England seemingly favouring the five-man attack that served them so well in 2005. Whether they are right to remains another matter.
6) Stuart Broad
A man averaging 45 with the ball in Tests should not be this high. But, with doubts over so many bowlers, his excellent batting makes his selection very likely for the balance of the side.
7) Paul Collingwood
Forever fighting for his place, but Collingwood has hit two hundreds in his last four Tests. His grit is such that England would like him to play, but worrys over his troubesome shoulder - and batting technique - linger.
8) Steve Harmison
Conditional upon him reproducing something like his Durham form in the West Indies. But on his day Harmie the attributes to strike fear into batsmen. Despite his disastrous last Ashes, Australis would probably sooner face James Anderson.
9) Graeme Swann
Monty Panesar's decline is becoming increasingly worrying. The feisty Swann will not be intimidated by the Aussies, should enjoy bowling to their left-handers (who will form at least three of their top six) and will certainly outdo Panesar in his batting and fielding contributions.
10) Ian Bell
Like it or not, Bell has an excellent chance of playing next summer. For all his undeniable class, averages of 25 against Australia - and 19 in his last ten Test innings - suggest England would be better looking elsewhere.
11) James Anderson
It isn't always exactly clear why, but Anderson has played the last 11 Tests. Where swing is expected to play a part then, barring a huge loss of form, he will probably feature.
12) Owais Shah
The perennial drinks-carrier has established himself as England's second best ODI batsman (after Pietersen) but has played just one Test in the three years following his 88 on debut in Mumbai. Not lacking in self-belief and in the form of his life, England must now hand him a run in the side. May, however, live to rue the ODIs coming after, rather than before, the Tests.
13) Monty Panesar
Will be close to selection, if he is not actually in the final XI. If only he could regain his joie de vivre and appear more comfortable thinking on his feet.
14) Simon Jones
Why does a man who has not played for England in almost four years feature so highly? Frankly, it's hard to see which other quicks possess more of a threat. Took 42 wickets at 18 last summer and should have played the Second Test against South Africa, Jones need only have a few good first-class games before the calls from for his inclusion. The king of reverse-swing will not play all five Tests, but, fitness - as ever - permitting, has a very good chance of playing a couple of games. Temptation to pick him will be mighty strong.
15) Ryan Sidebottom
It seems incredible to think now, but in 2008 Sidebottom claimed 47 Test wickets (mainly Kiwi) at just 20 apiece. Has since been ravaged by injuries, however, and has not featured since limping through the Edgbaston Test. But will do everything in his power to come back.
16) Michael Vaughan
Not recalled for the West Indies tour but if he can finally get some runs for Yorkshire he will become, at least, first reserve in the event of a top-three injury or critical loss of form. One last crack at the Aussies and into the sunset?
17) Adil Rashid
As long as he continues his impressive progress, he has a good chance of making an appearance, especially at The Oval and especially if England are struggling.
18) Amjad Khan
A late call-up for the India tour, Khan can generate reverse-swing and has a fine first-class pedigree. Could be finding favour at just the right time.
19) Tim Ambrose
Still the second choice Test keeper, apparently, though no one is quite sure why. But few would fancy his chances of scoring runs next summer. James Foster, in particular, would feel aggrieved if Ambrose is preferred.
20) Ravi Bopara
So far the hype has nowhere near lived up to the international performances. But he remains a talented player and his ODI appearances should keep him in the frame.
21) Robert Key
Passed over for the England captaincy, Key had a bad season for Kent last year at the worst possible time. But he is nonetheless a fine player - England could do much worse.
22) Kabir Ali
Has been in superb form for several seasons - but didn't even make the Lions squad. A far better bowler than when he last played for England - but just doesn't seem to tick the selectorial boxes. Perhaps the new regime will see differently.
23) Matthew Hoggard
It's not going to happen - and an average of 39.72 in his last 13 Tests says why. But a Test at Headingley will keep him hoping.
24) Chris Tremlett
Has seemingly vanished completely from view, and worries about his fitness and temperament have put his impressive series against India three summers ago to the back of everyone's mind.
25) Mark Ramprakash
'Failed' in only averaging 60 last season; a two-match disciplinary suspension hardly helps his case either. But with England's chronic problems at number three his would be an intriguing selection. The romantics should not be hopeful, however.
Bubbling under
Batsmen: Joe Denly, Samit Patel, Eoin Morgan
Keepers: James Foster, Steven Davies
Bowlers: Mark Davies, Sajid Mahmood, Darren Pattinson, Liam Plunkett
Compiling this list, it is striking how few players truly inspire confidence. The fast bowling area is particularly problematic. And I should add that I have been trying to read the selectors' minds - this is what I think their list would look like, not what my list would be.
1) Andrew Strauss
The new skipper has returned to form and England will be after some stability at last.
2) Andrew Flintoff
The obvious caveat is injury. But he has responded leaner and fitter since his comeback. His bowling, at least, is as good as ever.
3) Alastair Cook
Indicative of the malaise in the England side, even number three is not quite a certainty. But he did well against the West Indies before and, having invested so much time, England are very unlikely to dump him prior to the Ashes.
4) Kevin Pietersen
Pietersen, surely, would not miss this for the world. But if he plays the IPL instead of the West Indies home series, he might just have to.
5) Matt Prior
May appear a little high for someone whose current Test stint has lasted just two games, but Prior is a fine batsman, vital with England seemingly favouring the five-man attack that served them so well in 2005. Whether they are right to remains another matter.
6) Stuart Broad
A man averaging 45 with the ball in Tests should not be this high. But, with doubts over so many bowlers, his excellent batting makes his selection very likely for the balance of the side.
7) Paul Collingwood
Forever fighting for his place, but Collingwood has hit two hundreds in his last four Tests. His grit is such that England would like him to play, but worrys over his troubesome shoulder - and batting technique - linger.
8) Steve Harmison
Conditional upon him reproducing something like his Durham form in the West Indies. But on his day Harmie the attributes to strike fear into batsmen. Despite his disastrous last Ashes, Australis would probably sooner face James Anderson.
9) Graeme Swann
Monty Panesar's decline is becoming increasingly worrying. The feisty Swann will not be intimidated by the Aussies, should enjoy bowling to their left-handers (who will form at least three of their top six) and will certainly outdo Panesar in his batting and fielding contributions.
10) Ian Bell
Like it or not, Bell has an excellent chance of playing next summer. For all his undeniable class, averages of 25 against Australia - and 19 in his last ten Test innings - suggest England would be better looking elsewhere.
11) James Anderson
It isn't always exactly clear why, but Anderson has played the last 11 Tests. Where swing is expected to play a part then, barring a huge loss of form, he will probably feature.
12) Owais Shah
The perennial drinks-carrier has established himself as England's second best ODI batsman (after Pietersen) but has played just one Test in the three years following his 88 on debut in Mumbai. Not lacking in self-belief and in the form of his life, England must now hand him a run in the side. May, however, live to rue the ODIs coming after, rather than before, the Tests.
13) Monty Panesar
Will be close to selection, if he is not actually in the final XI. If only he could regain his joie de vivre and appear more comfortable thinking on his feet.
14) Simon Jones
Why does a man who has not played for England in almost four years feature so highly? Frankly, it's hard to see which other quicks possess more of a threat. Took 42 wickets at 18 last summer and should have played the Second Test against South Africa, Jones need only have a few good first-class games before the calls from for his inclusion. The king of reverse-swing will not play all five Tests, but, fitness - as ever - permitting, has a very good chance of playing a couple of games. Temptation to pick him will be mighty strong.
15) Ryan Sidebottom
It seems incredible to think now, but in 2008 Sidebottom claimed 47 Test wickets (mainly Kiwi) at just 20 apiece. Has since been ravaged by injuries, however, and has not featured since limping through the Edgbaston Test. But will do everything in his power to come back.
16) Michael Vaughan
Not recalled for the West Indies tour but if he can finally get some runs for Yorkshire he will become, at least, first reserve in the event of a top-three injury or critical loss of form. One last crack at the Aussies and into the sunset?
17) Adil Rashid
As long as he continues his impressive progress, he has a good chance of making an appearance, especially at The Oval and especially if England are struggling.
18) Amjad Khan
A late call-up for the India tour, Khan can generate reverse-swing and has a fine first-class pedigree. Could be finding favour at just the right time.
19) Tim Ambrose
Still the second choice Test keeper, apparently, though no one is quite sure why. But few would fancy his chances of scoring runs next summer. James Foster, in particular, would feel aggrieved if Ambrose is preferred.
20) Ravi Bopara
So far the hype has nowhere near lived up to the international performances. But he remains a talented player and his ODI appearances should keep him in the frame.
21) Robert Key
Passed over for the England captaincy, Key had a bad season for Kent last year at the worst possible time. But he is nonetheless a fine player - England could do much worse.
22) Kabir Ali
Has been in superb form for several seasons - but didn't even make the Lions squad. A far better bowler than when he last played for England - but just doesn't seem to tick the selectorial boxes. Perhaps the new regime will see differently.
23) Matthew Hoggard
It's not going to happen - and an average of 39.72 in his last 13 Tests says why. But a Test at Headingley will keep him hoping.
24) Chris Tremlett
Has seemingly vanished completely from view, and worries about his fitness and temperament have put his impressive series against India three summers ago to the back of everyone's mind.
25) Mark Ramprakash
'Failed' in only averaging 60 last season; a two-match disciplinary suspension hardly helps his case either. But with England's chronic problems at number three his would be an intriguing selection. The romantics should not be hopeful, however.
Bubbling under
Batsmen: Joe Denly, Samit Patel, Eoin Morgan
Keepers: James Foster, Steven Davies
Bowlers: Mark Davies, Sajid Mahmood, Darren Pattinson, Liam Plunkett
Compiling this list, it is striking how few players truly inspire confidence. The fast bowling area is particularly problematic. And I should add that I have been trying to read the selectors' minds - this is what I think their list would look like, not what my list would be.
Monday, 29 September 2008
2008 Season Review: Worcestershire
Continuing our season reviews, here is an assesment of Worcestershire's campaign.
Championship Division Two – 2nd; (2nd)
Friends Provident Trophy – 3rd, South West Conference; (Group Stage)
Twenty20 Cup – 5th, Mid/West/Wales Division; (Group Stage)
Pro40 Division One – 7th (4th)
Worcestershire began the 2008 season with high hopes of regaining their division one status in the county championship, as well as cementing their place as one the most consistent one day teams in the country.
Boosted by high profile winter signing Simon Jones, as well as the promise of young talents such as Darryl Mitchell, Stephen Moore and Steve Davies being nurtured by the more mature Kabir, Hick and Smith it looked as though the season held real promise.
At the beginning of the campaign Worcestershire found themselves with an Aussie leading the attack, as surprisingly Simon Jones was injured! Steve Magoffin came with a good pedigree from Western Australia, and was filling in for the internationally committed Fidel Edwards. Magoffin bowled manfully, for long spells throughout the start of the season and when he left mid season it was with a respectable 23 wickets at 32.
However, the real early season column inches were being filled by the other two seamers, Kabir and Simon Jones. It was almost a certainty that one or the other would take a five wicket haul every innings, and before injury curtailed Jones’ season he had taken a staggering 42 wickets at just 18.
The other star performer of the early season was Stephen Moore. The first man to reach 500 championship runs (in a really poor season for batsmen all over the country) Moore finished the season with 1288 first class runs at 54 with 5 hundreds. He finally signed a new deal with the club during the season and is now firmly established as one of the finest openers in the country.
As well as Worcestershire’s solid start to the championship campaign there was a more than reasonable attempt at the Friends Provident Trophy. Although the value of this trophy seems to be rated higher than the Pro40 league, it is unlikely that any Worcestershire player would complain too strongly if this early season farce was scrapped. With too many games affected by the weather, this is simply a distraction and a further congestant to the fixture calendar that the players don’t need. With too many dead overs in the middle the game lasts too long and doesn’t make for attractive viewing.
In terms of other domestic one day competitions Worcestershire flattered to deceive again in the T20 cup, and despite possessing such potential stars as Solanki, Hick and Ali Worcestershire just can’t seem to get to grips with twenty over cricket. Again, Hick was the clubs highest run scorer in the competition and this is just one area in which the club will struggle to replace the great man.
Strangely, although having to contest a place in the end of season play off in the Pro40, this was probably the clubs most successful one day competition. It certainly was for one young man, who after an impressive season in championship cricket (698 runs at 38) had a blistering finish to the season in the Pro40. Steve Davies scored 491 runs at 82 in Pro40 and if another good season follows next year an England call up surely cant be too far away.
However, despite all of the seemingly endless one day games Worcestershire marched on in the championship and in an amazing spell won four out of five championship matches, three by ten wickets and the other by an innings. This really was the spell when promotion was clinched for the club.Eventually the club stumbled over the line, hampered by injuries to key players (including, unsurprisingly Jones) and eventually lost the title to rivals Warwickshire.
Funnily enough, this was not the biggest event of the final few weeks of the season. A fairly innocuous 14 made at Kidderminster, ironically the ground where he first came into English cricket, saw the end of the greatest career in the modern game. Graeme Ashley Hick was forced to retire before the end of the season and there is nothing to said really apart from thanks Graeme, and enjoy your retirement because we have certainly enjoyed watching you over the last twenty-odd years. A staggering 64000 runs in all cricket make him the highest run scorer ever, and although he is humble about his achievements now – that is the way of the man – I am sure one day he will look back and allow his chest to swell just a little with pride about his career at New Road.
So, to the future. Who replaces the great man, and who do Worcestershire need to bring in to survive in the now ultra competitive division one. The batting has looked vulnerable, and Moore will need a couple of new recruits around him to take the pressure off. Spin bowling has been lacking as Gareth Batty’s powers have waned over the last couple of years and the seam department still looks light on the ground, especially with the possibility of Simon Jones breaking down at any moment.
Player of the season:
Tough to choose between Kabir (59 wickets @ 18.74) or Moore (1288 runs @ 53.66). The fact that Moore carried the batting on his own on more than one occasion gives him the edge.
Most disappointing player:
Fidel Edwards for not turning up would be the easiest to say, but probably Gareth Batty. 393 runs @ 28 and 25 wickets @ 38 makes pretty poor reading and this is possibly an area for Steve Rhodes to look at. However, he has been bowling on a soggy New Road pitch and may profit from drier grounds such as Hove, Trent Bridge and Taunton.
Highlight:
Back to back 10 wicket wins in the middle of that purple patch in July confirmed the club were headed for promotion.
Lowlight:
Difficult to pick one on the playing side, but it would probably be the retirement of the greatest Worcestershire batsman ever. However the club choose to honour him will be fitting, but not only is he one of the greatest cricketers of the modern era, he is a terrific human being, too. A sad loss to our game.
If you're interested in writing a season review for your county, please email it cricketingworld@hotmail.com
Championship Division Two – 2nd; (2nd)
Friends Provident Trophy – 3rd, South West Conference; (Group Stage)
Twenty20 Cup – 5th, Mid/West/Wales Division; (Group Stage)
Pro40 Division One – 7th (4th)
Worcestershire began the 2008 season with high hopes of regaining their division one status in the county championship, as well as cementing their place as one the most consistent one day teams in the country.
Boosted by high profile winter signing Simon Jones, as well as the promise of young talents such as Darryl Mitchell, Stephen Moore and Steve Davies being nurtured by the more mature Kabir, Hick and Smith it looked as though the season held real promise.
At the beginning of the campaign Worcestershire found themselves with an Aussie leading the attack, as surprisingly Simon Jones was injured! Steve Magoffin came with a good pedigree from Western Australia, and was filling in for the internationally committed Fidel Edwards. Magoffin bowled manfully, for long spells throughout the start of the season and when he left mid season it was with a respectable 23 wickets at 32.
However, the real early season column inches were being filled by the other two seamers, Kabir and Simon Jones. It was almost a certainty that one or the other would take a five wicket haul every innings, and before injury curtailed Jones’ season he had taken a staggering 42 wickets at just 18.
The other star performer of the early season was Stephen Moore. The first man to reach 500 championship runs (in a really poor season for batsmen all over the country) Moore finished the season with 1288 first class runs at 54 with 5 hundreds. He finally signed a new deal with the club during the season and is now firmly established as one of the finest openers in the country.
As well as Worcestershire’s solid start to the championship campaign there was a more than reasonable attempt at the Friends Provident Trophy. Although the value of this trophy seems to be rated higher than the Pro40 league, it is unlikely that any Worcestershire player would complain too strongly if this early season farce was scrapped. With too many games affected by the weather, this is simply a distraction and a further congestant to the fixture calendar that the players don’t need. With too many dead overs in the middle the game lasts too long and doesn’t make for attractive viewing.
In terms of other domestic one day competitions Worcestershire flattered to deceive again in the T20 cup, and despite possessing such potential stars as Solanki, Hick and Ali Worcestershire just can’t seem to get to grips with twenty over cricket. Again, Hick was the clubs highest run scorer in the competition and this is just one area in which the club will struggle to replace the great man.
Strangely, although having to contest a place in the end of season play off in the Pro40, this was probably the clubs most successful one day competition. It certainly was for one young man, who after an impressive season in championship cricket (698 runs at 38) had a blistering finish to the season in the Pro40. Steve Davies scored 491 runs at 82 in Pro40 and if another good season follows next year an England call up surely cant be too far away.
However, despite all of the seemingly endless one day games Worcestershire marched on in the championship and in an amazing spell won four out of five championship matches, three by ten wickets and the other by an innings. This really was the spell when promotion was clinched for the club.Eventually the club stumbled over the line, hampered by injuries to key players (including, unsurprisingly Jones) and eventually lost the title to rivals Warwickshire.
Funnily enough, this was not the biggest event of the final few weeks of the season. A fairly innocuous 14 made at Kidderminster, ironically the ground where he first came into English cricket, saw the end of the greatest career in the modern game. Graeme Ashley Hick was forced to retire before the end of the season and there is nothing to said really apart from thanks Graeme, and enjoy your retirement because we have certainly enjoyed watching you over the last twenty-odd years. A staggering 64000 runs in all cricket make him the highest run scorer ever, and although he is humble about his achievements now – that is the way of the man – I am sure one day he will look back and allow his chest to swell just a little with pride about his career at New Road.
So, to the future. Who replaces the great man, and who do Worcestershire need to bring in to survive in the now ultra competitive division one. The batting has looked vulnerable, and Moore will need a couple of new recruits around him to take the pressure off. Spin bowling has been lacking as Gareth Batty’s powers have waned over the last couple of years and the seam department still looks light on the ground, especially with the possibility of Simon Jones breaking down at any moment.
Player of the season:
Tough to choose between Kabir (59 wickets @ 18.74) or Moore (1288 runs @ 53.66). The fact that Moore carried the batting on his own on more than one occasion gives him the edge.
Most disappointing player:
Fidel Edwards for not turning up would be the easiest to say, but probably Gareth Batty. 393 runs @ 28 and 25 wickets @ 38 makes pretty poor reading and this is possibly an area for Steve Rhodes to look at. However, he has been bowling on a soggy New Road pitch and may profit from drier grounds such as Hove, Trent Bridge and Taunton.
Highlight:
Back to back 10 wicket wins in the middle of that purple patch in July confirmed the club were headed for promotion.
Lowlight:
Difficult to pick one on the playing side, but it would probably be the retirement of the greatest Worcestershire batsman ever. However the club choose to honour him will be fitting, but not only is he one of the greatest cricketers of the modern era, he is a terrific human being, too. A sad loss to our game.
If you're interested in writing a season review for your county, please email it cricketingworld@hotmail.com
Tuesday, 5 August 2008
Why so boring?
Kevin Pietersen's appointment as England captain in all three forms of the game stole the headlines, and rightly so - there was nothing else to talk about. For, while many believe there are profound problems within the set-up, the selectors were incredibly cautious in their squad for The Oval. There was only one change, with Ravi Bopara coming in, and even that was an enforced one.
There will be ample to discuss, as we witness Pietersen's first game as full-time captain. It promises to be nothing but intriguing. Given his lack of captaincy experience, there are so many intangibles that it is hard to make predictions over how he will do, although I am optimistic he will go some way towards reinvigorating the side, imbuing team-mates with vivacity and positivity and leading from the front, even if my first choice would have been Rob Key.
But what is truly astonishing is England's selectors still seem stubbornly in denial over England's problems. This was a golden opportunity to try out the plethora of players challenging for a spot, answer (at least partially) some fundamental selectorial questions and shake up a side that has been struggling for far too long.
My side for The Oval would have been as follows:
Cook
Key
Bell
Pietersen
Collingwood
Prior
Flintoff
Broad
Swann
Harmison
Jones
(With Shah in the squad as reserve batsman. Ideally I would try him instead of Collingwood, but that would be one change too many.)
While I would, in any case, fancy this side to defeat the eleven who played in the last Test, even if they played and lost England would gain much from the match in terms of learning about fringe players.
One Test, especially a dead rubber, cannot tell you about a player's long-term durability at Test level, of course, but it is a start. With a radical shake-up to the side England would be beter able to answer a number of pressing questions, such as
Is Rob Key a beter bet as opener than Andrew Strauss? Given Key's impressive form over the last few seasons and Strauss's lack of a century against anyone other than a depleted New Zealand for two years, I suspect yes.
Can Ian Bell make the number three position his own? He has never made a century there, but he deserves to be given an extended run in what should be his natural position, starting from this Test.
Is Matt Prior a sufficiently good batsman to bat at six? And, more to the point, how much has his keeping improved in the last eight months? At least Prior's correct selection in the limited-overs squad will provide some clues to answering these questions.
Is Graeme Swann's all-round package of more value to England than Monty Panesar's? Averages of 41 with the bat and 25 with the ball in Division One, aided by his fine ODI performances, suggest this could now be the case.
Is Steve Harmison back to his best? Can he be a consistent threat at Test level? England must select him for the 4th Test, and see if Pietersen can help bring the best out of him.
Is Simon Jones good - and fit - enough to thrive in Tests once more? Most suspect the answer to the first question is an emphatic 'yes' but would answer in the negative to the second question. But, in a five-man attack, Jones could bowl, say, four four-over spells a day, being used as a strike-bowler, along with Flintoff. England utilising these two in such a capacity could help both to take 20 wickets and to keep them fit until at least the 2009 Ashes. Of more immediate significance, England will surely want to play five bowlers in India.
As it is, England will learn very little from this Test, save for a little about Pietersen's captaincy skills. It represents a depressing missed opportunity. In the big picture, it doesn't really matter how much England lose this series by. The answers to the above questions, however, are fundamental to how England can improve, but, typically and infuriatingly of the current set-up, too many will remain unasked.
There will be ample to discuss, as we witness Pietersen's first game as full-time captain. It promises to be nothing but intriguing. Given his lack of captaincy experience, there are so many intangibles that it is hard to make predictions over how he will do, although I am optimistic he will go some way towards reinvigorating the side, imbuing team-mates with vivacity and positivity and leading from the front, even if my first choice would have been Rob Key.
But what is truly astonishing is England's selectors still seem stubbornly in denial over England's problems. This was a golden opportunity to try out the plethora of players challenging for a spot, answer (at least partially) some fundamental selectorial questions and shake up a side that has been struggling for far too long.
My side for The Oval would have been as follows:
Cook
Key
Bell
Pietersen
Collingwood
Prior
Flintoff
Broad
Swann
Harmison
Jones
(With Shah in the squad as reserve batsman. Ideally I would try him instead of Collingwood, but that would be one change too many.)
While I would, in any case, fancy this side to defeat the eleven who played in the last Test, even if they played and lost England would gain much from the match in terms of learning about fringe players.
One Test, especially a dead rubber, cannot tell you about a player's long-term durability at Test level, of course, but it is a start. With a radical shake-up to the side England would be beter able to answer a number of pressing questions, such as
Is Rob Key a beter bet as opener than Andrew Strauss? Given Key's impressive form over the last few seasons and Strauss's lack of a century against anyone other than a depleted New Zealand for two years, I suspect yes.
Can Ian Bell make the number three position his own? He has never made a century there, but he deserves to be given an extended run in what should be his natural position, starting from this Test.
Is Matt Prior a sufficiently good batsman to bat at six? And, more to the point, how much has his keeping improved in the last eight months? At least Prior's correct selection in the limited-overs squad will provide some clues to answering these questions.
Is Graeme Swann's all-round package of more value to England than Monty Panesar's? Averages of 41 with the bat and 25 with the ball in Division One, aided by his fine ODI performances, suggest this could now be the case.
Is Steve Harmison back to his best? Can he be a consistent threat at Test level? England must select him for the 4th Test, and see if Pietersen can help bring the best out of him.
Is Simon Jones good - and fit - enough to thrive in Tests once more? Most suspect the answer to the first question is an emphatic 'yes' but would answer in the negative to the second question. But, in a five-man attack, Jones could bowl, say, four four-over spells a day, being used as a strike-bowler, along with Flintoff. England utilising these two in such a capacity could help both to take 20 wickets and to keep them fit until at least the 2009 Ashes. Of more immediate significance, England will surely want to play five bowlers in India.
As it is, England will learn very little from this Test, save for a little about Pietersen's captaincy skills. It represents a depressing missed opportunity. In the big picture, it doesn't really matter how much England lose this series by. The answers to the above questions, however, are fundamental to how England can improve, but, typically and infuriatingly of the current set-up, too many will remain unasked.
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
Team England; Consistently Confused
In what can only be described as a bizarre twenty-four hours, Darren Pattinson somehow found himself in the England Test starting XI on Friday of last week. From being consistently stupid to just plain stupid could be one way of describing the situation. Consistency had been the word of the moment whilst England were just about beating New Zealand in two series. Unfortunately consistency had nothing to do with those victories, the limited skill of the opposition played the major role. Whilst players like Paul Collingwood and Tim Ambrose were contributing nothing, they were nevertheless assured of their places and were it not for the return of Andrew Flintoff, Collingwood would undoubtedly still be playing today despite series averages of 32.83 (India (h)), 33.00(Sri Lanka (a)), 40.66 (New Zealand (a)), 10.66 (New Zealand (h)) and 7.00 (South Africa (h)) which is plainly not good enough (cumulative 30.71, HS 66). Michael Vaughan though tells us that the whole squad are disappointed that Collingwood is not in the XI, perhaps because they now fear for their own places given their own dwindling averages. Consistency must be applied, but needs to take into account form.
Nevertheless, the message of consistency indeed vanished for this particular test match, well for the bowlers anyway, but then that always seems to have been the case with the England side of late. Batsmen have all the time in the world, bowlers do not. Darren Pattinson was on Thursday afternoon called up as a replacement for James Anderson should he not be fit for the game. Chris Tremlett, who has been following both the Test and ODI squad around all summer, was already on standby in case Ryan Sidebottom came up short on Friday morning. Friday morning came and Anderson was fit, but Sidebottom was not, in you step… Darren! Utter madness! Whilst the Australian roof tiler, albeit raised for six years in England, has had a good county season with Nottinghamshire so far, he has played just 13 first class games and only 6 of them this season in England. He doesn’t even play his cricket at Headingley, the location of the second test.
I have no problem with the fact that he is a self-confessed Aussie through and through, but the usual pattern is that you are born abroad, move to England, confess your love for the motherland and qualify, rather than move away for two decades, immerse yourself in the culture of another country, then come back for a summer and strike lucky. That may sound harsh, but strike lucky is exactly what Pattinson has done. A quick glance at the first class bowling averages for this season will reveal that Matthew Hoggard (22 at 24.31), Simon Jones (32 at 16.03), Steve Harmison (40 at 23.10) and Jon Lewis (20 at 24.85) are right up there with England’s newest addition who has taken 29 at 20.86. These are proven international and domestic performers who for various reasons were sent back to county cricket to prove their fitness and their form. Not one of those can be accused of not having done that. All of the above, bar Harmison, are swing bowlers. Surely one of them should have been given the chance instead of Pattinson if swing was what England were truly after, rather than shock and awe. Even the likes of Sajid Mahmood, Liam Plunkett, Kabir Ali, and Tim Bresnan must be wondering what the hell is going on.
As for poor old Chris Tremlett, what can you say. If Anderson had been injured Pattinson would have played, if Sidebottom had been injured (which he was) Pattinson would have played. They were the two injury doubts from the end of the first test, so what was the point in dragging Tremlett around the country if he was never going to get a look in? I know that Moores as a Sussex man doesn’t like Hampshire but come on, the guy is missing out on form boosting cricket and is being consistently dealt mental setbacks! To make matters worse it was Morne Morkel, exactly the Tremlett type of bowler, who did best in this test match.
The batting woes were the most apparent problem however. Michael Vaughan has averaged 29.52 since the tour to Sri Lanka. His series averages are 35.83 (Sri Lanka (a)), 20.50 (New Zealand (a)), 50.00 (New Zealand (h)) and 11.00 (South Africa (h)). He is forever searching for form it seems and for every good series he has had recently he seems to have had two bad, which can not be sustained forever. His captaincy may be a major positive of his presence, but he needs to score the runs consistently as well. Alistair Cook seems to have forgotten what a hundred is meanwhile. The last four times that he has passed fifty he has been out before reaching 61. Given that he offered very little against the Australians last time round, England must be getting twitchy about how he will fair against them come this time next year. The current top three looks very samey and pretty weak. Tim Ambrose meanwhile is surely on the brink. It is quite comical to think that if you are out of form you should be stuck higher up the order, in a more pressurised position, against a newer ball. He has averaged just 18.78 in 9 test innings since making his maiden test hundred in his second test in New Zealand. His career average is 27.16 and falling after eleven test innings. Even worse, in ODI’s he has averaged 2.50 in five innings and one of those was a not out! Add in the fumbles and is this really the man to take England forward? You would have to say that England in attempting to find a balance between batting ability and keeping ability have found neither and indeed now have the worst of both worlds.
England’s problems are back to the fore it would seem and they need to act fast. If they are going to persist with a five man attack then quite simply Matt Prior has to play at number six. Otherwise the team looks unbalanced and bottom heavy. Only by playing four bowlers can England afford to play the best wicket keeper at number eight, which means either of Chris Read or James Foster. However, given Read’s little trip to the ICL over the close season I doubt India would welcome his inclusion come this winter’s tour. Foster seems to tick more of the boxes in terms of what England are looking for in their keeper, a batsman who can bat low down the order in limited overs cricket and a glove man who can snaffle all of the chances which come his way in test matches and who can offer a score with the bat. Prior on the other hand is not going to take all of those catches, but he will offer the chance to play five bowlers without embarrassment. What England need to decide is if they want less chances, but more takes, or more chances and less takes, I’m glad I don’t have to make that call.
Let’s end on a positive note however and the continued improvement of James Anderson in test match cricket. It will be Stuart Broad and Ryan Sidebottom who will be jittery about the next England team selection, with support growing for Jones and Harmison, but given recent events anything could happen.
Nevertheless, the message of consistency indeed vanished for this particular test match, well for the bowlers anyway, but then that always seems to have been the case with the England side of late. Batsmen have all the time in the world, bowlers do not. Darren Pattinson was on Thursday afternoon called up as a replacement for James Anderson should he not be fit for the game. Chris Tremlett, who has been following both the Test and ODI squad around all summer, was already on standby in case Ryan Sidebottom came up short on Friday morning. Friday morning came and Anderson was fit, but Sidebottom was not, in you step… Darren! Utter madness! Whilst the Australian roof tiler, albeit raised for six years in England, has had a good county season with Nottinghamshire so far, he has played just 13 first class games and only 6 of them this season in England. He doesn’t even play his cricket at Headingley, the location of the second test.
I have no problem with the fact that he is a self-confessed Aussie through and through, but the usual pattern is that you are born abroad, move to England, confess your love for the motherland and qualify, rather than move away for two decades, immerse yourself in the culture of another country, then come back for a summer and strike lucky. That may sound harsh, but strike lucky is exactly what Pattinson has done. A quick glance at the first class bowling averages for this season will reveal that Matthew Hoggard (22 at 24.31), Simon Jones (32 at 16.03), Steve Harmison (40 at 23.10) and Jon Lewis (20 at 24.85) are right up there with England’s newest addition who has taken 29 at 20.86. These are proven international and domestic performers who for various reasons were sent back to county cricket to prove their fitness and their form. Not one of those can be accused of not having done that. All of the above, bar Harmison, are swing bowlers. Surely one of them should have been given the chance instead of Pattinson if swing was what England were truly after, rather than shock and awe. Even the likes of Sajid Mahmood, Liam Plunkett, Kabir Ali, and Tim Bresnan must be wondering what the hell is going on.
As for poor old Chris Tremlett, what can you say. If Anderson had been injured Pattinson would have played, if Sidebottom had been injured (which he was) Pattinson would have played. They were the two injury doubts from the end of the first test, so what was the point in dragging Tremlett around the country if he was never going to get a look in? I know that Moores as a Sussex man doesn’t like Hampshire but come on, the guy is missing out on form boosting cricket and is being consistently dealt mental setbacks! To make matters worse it was Morne Morkel, exactly the Tremlett type of bowler, who did best in this test match.
The batting woes were the most apparent problem however. Michael Vaughan has averaged 29.52 since the tour to Sri Lanka. His series averages are 35.83 (Sri Lanka (a)), 20.50 (New Zealand (a)), 50.00 (New Zealand (h)) and 11.00 (South Africa (h)). He is forever searching for form it seems and for every good series he has had recently he seems to have had two bad, which can not be sustained forever. His captaincy may be a major positive of his presence, but he needs to score the runs consistently as well. Alistair Cook seems to have forgotten what a hundred is meanwhile. The last four times that he has passed fifty he has been out before reaching 61. Given that he offered very little against the Australians last time round, England must be getting twitchy about how he will fair against them come this time next year. The current top three looks very samey and pretty weak. Tim Ambrose meanwhile is surely on the brink. It is quite comical to think that if you are out of form you should be stuck higher up the order, in a more pressurised position, against a newer ball. He has averaged just 18.78 in 9 test innings since making his maiden test hundred in his second test in New Zealand. His career average is 27.16 and falling after eleven test innings. Even worse, in ODI’s he has averaged 2.50 in five innings and one of those was a not out! Add in the fumbles and is this really the man to take England forward? You would have to say that England in attempting to find a balance between batting ability and keeping ability have found neither and indeed now have the worst of both worlds.
England’s problems are back to the fore it would seem and they need to act fast. If they are going to persist with a five man attack then quite simply Matt Prior has to play at number six. Otherwise the team looks unbalanced and bottom heavy. Only by playing four bowlers can England afford to play the best wicket keeper at number eight, which means either of Chris Read or James Foster. However, given Read’s little trip to the ICL over the close season I doubt India would welcome his inclusion come this winter’s tour. Foster seems to tick more of the boxes in terms of what England are looking for in their keeper, a batsman who can bat low down the order in limited overs cricket and a glove man who can snaffle all of the chances which come his way in test matches and who can offer a score with the bat. Prior on the other hand is not going to take all of those catches, but he will offer the chance to play five bowlers without embarrassment. What England need to decide is if they want less chances, but more takes, or more chances and less takes, I’m glad I don’t have to make that call.
Let’s end on a positive note however and the continued improvement of James Anderson in test match cricket. It will be Stuart Broad and Ryan Sidebottom who will be jittery about the next England team selection, with support growing for Jones and Harmison, but given recent events anything could happen.
Monday, 21 July 2008
Time for Jones and Harmison?
As many had feared they would be in the first Test, England were comprehensively outplayed here. Once again, England avoided picking their strongest side. For those frustrated with the innate caution in their recent selection, the decision to select Darren Pattinson, out of nowhere, was utterly incongruous.
Pattinson did certainly not disgrace himself, and outbowled Stuart Broad. However, this will probably prove to be his sole Test, for he lacks pace, does too little with the ball and, while accurate, is not metronomic. England would have been better off selecting the in-form Simon Jones or Steve Harmison, both of whom have proved they possess the ability to get out the best batsmen, whilst Chris Tremlett, who performed so admirably against India last summer, must be bewildered as to why England seem so willing to pick him in squads, but so reluctant to pick him in the starting XI.
So the pressing question is: how can England take 20 South African wickets?
Andrew Flintoff should certainly help, and his parsimony with the ball allied to a good second- innings knock, were a reasonably satisfactory return. But, while he is probably amongst England's best four bowlers, the problem of where he should bat persists. Michael Vaughan says seven, with good reason: but Tim Ambrose is emphatically not a Test number six. The problem is compounded by Stuart Broad - while he soon could be, his bowling average after eight Tests is 49. For all his all-round promise, can England afford a man whose bowling is neither overly threatening nor consistently economical?
So the call must go out to Messrs Jones and Harmison. Jones has been back to near his best this campaign: his combination of speed and prodigious reverse swing cannot be ignored now he has gone a considerable way to allaying those inevitable fitness doubts. With Harmison, the problem has always perceived to be mental rather than physical. However, this may just be a case of journalistic over-simplification.
The disappointments of Harmison's performances over the last four years for England, with the odd exception, are well-known. Yet his failures have so often been characterised by a lack of preparation time - think of the South Africa tour in 2004/05; the '06/07 Ashes tour; and even his last Test match in New Zealand. He is a rhythmical bowler, and he has emphatically found that this season. He is the leading wicket-taker in the Championship, with 40 wickets, and has even proved frugal in limited-overs games and Twenty20. He appears confident in himself, having bowled impressively for several months. England cannot afford to ignore his pace, bounce and hostility any longer - especially in light of Morne Morkel's impressive showings - for all the fears over his waywardness.
There is also Ryan Sidebottom, England's best bowler in the last 12 months but seemingly a little jaded. Given his performances have been less impressive of late and he had to sit out the current Test through injury, England should not recall him before he produces some impressive displays for Notts.
The issue is further clouded by the fact none of Jones, Harmison, Anderson and Sidebottom are Test number eights - and are probably not even good nines - which is a major problem given the hopelessness of Monty Panesar's batting. Panesar has been disappointing this series, but England would be loathe to ditch the one clear superiority they enjoy over South Africa.
So there is much for England's selectors to consider in the bowling department. The picture is equally grim elsewhere, with the top three all provoking question marks - Strauss has scored two Test centuries in two years, both against New Zealand; Cook has scored one century in 27 innings and there are increasing doubts over his leaden-footed technique; whilst Vaughan has struggled against Dale Steyn and seems increasingly - and worryingly - vulnerable early on. Tim Ambrose, meanwhile, should be ditched now, especially if England wish to continue with five bowlers, as they probably should. Matt Prior, with reluctance given his keeping displays when in an England shirt, should be granted an extended run at number six.
All is not yet lost for England in this series. But the problems that have been apparent for some time have now come to a head. For six days solid, England have won barely a session - and it will take something special to stem the flow.
Pattinson did certainly not disgrace himself, and outbowled Stuart Broad. However, this will probably prove to be his sole Test, for he lacks pace, does too little with the ball and, while accurate, is not metronomic. England would have been better off selecting the in-form Simon Jones or Steve Harmison, both of whom have proved they possess the ability to get out the best batsmen, whilst Chris Tremlett, who performed so admirably against India last summer, must be bewildered as to why England seem so willing to pick him in squads, but so reluctant to pick him in the starting XI.
So the pressing question is: how can England take 20 South African wickets?
Andrew Flintoff should certainly help, and his parsimony with the ball allied to a good second- innings knock, were a reasonably satisfactory return. But, while he is probably amongst England's best four bowlers, the problem of where he should bat persists. Michael Vaughan says seven, with good reason: but Tim Ambrose is emphatically not a Test number six. The problem is compounded by Stuart Broad - while he soon could be, his bowling average after eight Tests is 49. For all his all-round promise, can England afford a man whose bowling is neither overly threatening nor consistently economical?
So the call must go out to Messrs Jones and Harmison. Jones has been back to near his best this campaign: his combination of speed and prodigious reverse swing cannot be ignored now he has gone a considerable way to allaying those inevitable fitness doubts. With Harmison, the problem has always perceived to be mental rather than physical. However, this may just be a case of journalistic over-simplification.
The disappointments of Harmison's performances over the last four years for England, with the odd exception, are well-known. Yet his failures have so often been characterised by a lack of preparation time - think of the South Africa tour in 2004/05; the '06/07 Ashes tour; and even his last Test match in New Zealand. He is a rhythmical bowler, and he has emphatically found that this season. He is the leading wicket-taker in the Championship, with 40 wickets, and has even proved frugal in limited-overs games and Twenty20. He appears confident in himself, having bowled impressively for several months. England cannot afford to ignore his pace, bounce and hostility any longer - especially in light of Morne Morkel's impressive showings - for all the fears over his waywardness.
There is also Ryan Sidebottom, England's best bowler in the last 12 months but seemingly a little jaded. Given his performances have been less impressive of late and he had to sit out the current Test through injury, England should not recall him before he produces some impressive displays for Notts.
The issue is further clouded by the fact none of Jones, Harmison, Anderson and Sidebottom are Test number eights - and are probably not even good nines - which is a major problem given the hopelessness of Monty Panesar's batting. Panesar has been disappointing this series, but England would be loathe to ditch the one clear superiority they enjoy over South Africa.
So there is much for England's selectors to consider in the bowling department. The picture is equally grim elsewhere, with the top three all provoking question marks - Strauss has scored two Test centuries in two years, both against New Zealand; Cook has scored one century in 27 innings and there are increasing doubts over his leaden-footed technique; whilst Vaughan has struggled against Dale Steyn and seems increasingly - and worryingly - vulnerable early on. Tim Ambrose, meanwhile, should be ditched now, especially if England wish to continue with five bowlers, as they probably should. Matt Prior, with reluctance given his keeping displays when in an England shirt, should be granted an extended run at number six.
All is not yet lost for England in this series. But the problems that have been apparent for some time have now come to a head. For six days solid, England have won barely a session - and it will take something special to stem the flow.
Sunday, 6 July 2008
Crunch time for England
England's series with South Africa is an enticing prospect. The clash is undoubtedly the most eagerly anticipated on these shores since the 2005 Ashes, even if it is a great shame it has been reduced to four Tests. And, for several members of the home side - not just Kevin Pietersen, who will be relishing his first Tests against the land of his birth - it promises to be a career-defining series. By the end of this summer England must know the side they want to take the field for the 2009 Ashes.
Two series victories over New Zealand, during which England showed impressive resolve to extract themselves from positions of difficulty they should never really have encountered, raised more questions than answers. Of the batsmen, only Andrew Strauss enhanced his reputation. Even he is still yet to prove his return to form is durable, whilst the positions in the side of Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood appeared desperately grim after ending the home New Zealand series with a duck apiece. All the signs suggest Bell should be ditched temporarily and Collingwood for good, yet, with depressing predictability, England will play an unchanged side for the sixth consecutive Test (for sure, Chris Tremlett is only in the squad to make up the numbers). If England's selectors are trying to create a sense of calm confidence in the side, they are fooling no one.
The wicket-keeper debate, after the briefest of hiatuses following Tim Ambrose's hundred in his second Test, is again reaching vitriolic levels. Matt Prior is the only one of the keepers whose batting is good enough to bat in the top six of the Test side, as shown both by his impressive record over 10 Tests - averaging in excess of 40 - and an astounding run of batting form this season. He averages 62 in Division One, with the highlight of three centuries being a simply astounding 133* out of 212 against Durham. Yet England would probably be wise to be very careful his keeping has improved sufficiently before recalling him to the side. The only other credible alternative to Ambrose is Chris Read, a terrific keeper and averaging 49 in Division One this season. People will question whether he will ever be an adequate number seven, but he has had only four Tests in the last four years. Only in the last two did he struggle - and that against Australia after being very publicly dumped by his coach Duncan Fletcher.
Ambrose, it should not be forgotten, scored a vital 67 in the last Test. But in the one-dayers his performance was embarrassing with bat and gloves alike. Above all, there are huge questions over whether he can score runs against a side with a battery of outstanding quicks who will be sure not to feed his favourite cut shot. England's selectors must be proactive and ditch Ambrose if he looks out of his depth in the first Test.
With the ball, there is no pressing case, based on the last two series, to drop anyone. But few would suggest the seam attack of Sidebottom, Broad and Anderson is truly the best England can muster. Anderson may be the right selection for Lord's, where he has a good record, but ultimately he is virtually certain to be profligate, given his enduring inconsistency. England cannot afford a bowler who is so often a liability.
This is also a big test for Broad, who has impressed more with his classy number eight batting than bowling in his six Tests to date. South Africa would sooner face those two bowlers than any of Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and Simon Jones, even if one can understand why all three have been omitted. But a pace attack of Sidebottom, Jones and either Flintoff or Harmison would have real venom. Jones, with 26 wickets at 11 in first-class cricket this season, should have been unleashed for the First Test. Harmison, with 29 Division One scalps at 23, is displaying welcome signs of a return to form and, for all his inconsistency, he is a bowler the tourists would not relish facing.
So there is much for England's side to prove as they prepare to face an imposing South African team who, whilst not invincible, rightly start as favourites. If, as on their last three tours, South Africa triumph at Lord's, then it will be time the selectors earned their corn. Because, if England fall 1-0 behind, the bewildering faith in a side who have been so unimpressive of late will look very suspect indeed.
Here is what an ‘SOS’ side picked with England trailing in the series could look like:
Strauss
Cook
Vaughan
Pietersen
Shah
Prior
Flintoff
Broad
Sidebottom
Jones
Panesar
Food for selectorial thought, certainly.
Two series victories over New Zealand, during which England showed impressive resolve to extract themselves from positions of difficulty they should never really have encountered, raised more questions than answers. Of the batsmen, only Andrew Strauss enhanced his reputation. Even he is still yet to prove his return to form is durable, whilst the positions in the side of Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood appeared desperately grim after ending the home New Zealand series with a duck apiece. All the signs suggest Bell should be ditched temporarily and Collingwood for good, yet, with depressing predictability, England will play an unchanged side for the sixth consecutive Test (for sure, Chris Tremlett is only in the squad to make up the numbers). If England's selectors are trying to create a sense of calm confidence in the side, they are fooling no one.
The wicket-keeper debate, after the briefest of hiatuses following Tim Ambrose's hundred in his second Test, is again reaching vitriolic levels. Matt Prior is the only one of the keepers whose batting is good enough to bat in the top six of the Test side, as shown both by his impressive record over 10 Tests - averaging in excess of 40 - and an astounding run of batting form this season. He averages 62 in Division One, with the highlight of three centuries being a simply astounding 133* out of 212 against Durham. Yet England would probably be wise to be very careful his keeping has improved sufficiently before recalling him to the side. The only other credible alternative to Ambrose is Chris Read, a terrific keeper and averaging 49 in Division One this season. People will question whether he will ever be an adequate number seven, but he has had only four Tests in the last four years. Only in the last two did he struggle - and that against Australia after being very publicly dumped by his coach Duncan Fletcher.
Ambrose, it should not be forgotten, scored a vital 67 in the last Test. But in the one-dayers his performance was embarrassing with bat and gloves alike. Above all, there are huge questions over whether he can score runs against a side with a battery of outstanding quicks who will be sure not to feed his favourite cut shot. England's selectors must be proactive and ditch Ambrose if he looks out of his depth in the first Test.
With the ball, there is no pressing case, based on the last two series, to drop anyone. But few would suggest the seam attack of Sidebottom, Broad and Anderson is truly the best England can muster. Anderson may be the right selection for Lord's, where he has a good record, but ultimately he is virtually certain to be profligate, given his enduring inconsistency. England cannot afford a bowler who is so often a liability.
This is also a big test for Broad, who has impressed more with his classy number eight batting than bowling in his six Tests to date. South Africa would sooner face those two bowlers than any of Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and Simon Jones, even if one can understand why all three have been omitted. But a pace attack of Sidebottom, Jones and either Flintoff or Harmison would have real venom. Jones, with 26 wickets at 11 in first-class cricket this season, should have been unleashed for the First Test. Harmison, with 29 Division One scalps at 23, is displaying welcome signs of a return to form and, for all his inconsistency, he is a bowler the tourists would not relish facing.
So there is much for England's side to prove as they prepare to face an imposing South African team who, whilst not invincible, rightly start as favourites. If, as on their last three tours, South Africa triumph at Lord's, then it will be time the selectors earned their corn. Because, if England fall 1-0 behind, the bewildering faith in a side who have been so unimpressive of late will look very suspect indeed.
Here is what an ‘SOS’ side picked with England trailing in the series could look like:
Strauss
Cook
Vaughan
Pietersen
Shah
Prior
Flintoff
Broad
Sidebottom
Jones
Panesar
Food for selectorial thought, certainly.
Monday, 19 May 2008
Championship Review - Week 5
The most meaningless game for English cricket takes place in Division 2 while in Division 1, Notts are beginning to open a gap at the top and Yorkshire put in the sort of performance to give my Sunday team a run for their money.
Division 1
Starting with the early pace-setters, Nottinghamshire as they hosted Lancashire without their England opening bowling pair of Sidebottom and Broad. One of the replacements, though, Darren Pattinson, took six wickets as Lancs made just 113, Stuart Law and Steven Croft scoring most of those in a 5th wicket stand of 85. In reply, Notts salvaged a batting point and a decent first innings lead with 202 before Lancs scored 233 second time round, Charlie Shreck taking 5-fer. Needing just 147 to win, Saj Mahmood took three early wickets, but a century stand between Mark Wagh and Adam Voges gives Notts a healthy lead at the top of the Championship.
Taunton looked to have rediscovered some of its characteristics from last season as Somerset racked up 557 for 8, James Hildredth getting a hundred while Neil Edwards was run out for 99. In reply Sussex managed just 202, despite Michael Yardy and Carl Hopkinson putting on a hundred for the 2nd wicket. Yardy and Hopkinson did exactly the same during the follow on before a Murray Goodwin ton led the Champions to safety. Sussex have started the season poorly, but they did last year as well.
Performing worse than Sussex were Yorkshire, who allowed Durham to reach 406 in their first innings, largely due to 184 from Michael Di Venuto with Tim Bresnan taking four wickets. Yorkshire’s total of 194 was something of a recovery, from 50 for 6, with Adil Rashid and Bresnan putting on 85 for the 6th wicket, Rashid making 70 and Graham Onions taking 5 wickets. Durham batted again, declaring on 205 for 6, setting Yorkshire an unlikely 417 to win. In an agonising finish, they ended up just 295 runs short, scoring an abject 122 and losing Matthew Hoggard to a broken thumb.
A much tighter finish happened at the Rose Bowl where all eyes were on Mark Ramprakash and his quest for his 100th 100. Surrey batted first and Ramps could make just 17 as Surrey made 278. Chris Tremlett took 5-fer to put his name in the frame for the 2nd test, although the back spasms wich kept him out of the rest of the match probably put paid to that. Hampshire replied with 227, despite a century partnership between the Michaels Brown and Lumb. Surrey declared on 229 to set Hants a target of 281 to win in 75 overs. Brown’s 94 gave the home team hope, but with Saqlain taking 5 wickets, Hants were holding on for a draw at the end, finishing on 247 for 8.
Division 2
The Kolpakshire derby took place at Grace Road, with Leicestershire scoring 527 in their first innings, Jacques du Toit scoring a ton, while Nicky Boje took four wickets for Northamptonshire. The weather intervened so Northants could only manage 302 for 3 in reply before the end of the match. However, with only nine Englishmen playing in the match, the interest outside of the counties focussed on the Kolpak regulations.
Glamorgan have deliberately gone against the Kolpak route and are putting their trust in their youngsters, a policy that is beginning to pay off. Having restricted Derbyshire to 289, the Welshmen scored 384 in their first innings, with centuries for 23 year old Gareth Reed and 37 year old David Hemp, Charl Langeveldt taking 5 wickets. Derbyshire struggled second time round, but dogged resistance from Dan Birch (43 from 136 balls) and Karl Klokker (19 from 88 balls) and poor weather meant Glamorgan weren’t able to claim the victory.
Finally to New Road where Worcestershire had Gloucestershire in all sorts of trouble at 85 for 5. However, centuries for Chris Taylor and Stephen Snell in a stand of 222 took Gloucester to 444, Simon Jones taking 5 wickets and bowling 24 overs without getting injured. In reply Worcester also had the poor start, but without the recovery, they made just 214. Batting again, they reached 194 for 3 before the game fizzled out into a draw. Stephen Moore scored 84 of these and he is the first batsman to 500 runs this season.
England Player watch
Matt Prior failed for the first time this season with 1 while Luke Wright only managed 3 more. Michael Carberry scored 8 runs, albeit in two innings. Adil Rashid top scored for Yorkshire with 70, and is currently looking like his batting is his strongest suit.
Bowling-wise, the injury to Matthew Hoggard means that there is a chance for someone to get into the next England squad. Chris Tremlett bowled well, but there are doubts about his fitness due to his back spasms. Talking of crocks, Simon Jones took five wickets, but it is far too early to think about throwing him back into the mix. Graham Onions and Charlie Shreck both took 5-fer, while Tim Bresnan is currently the highest rated English player by the PCA ratings. He took 6 wickets and scored 78 runs in Yorkshire’s abject performance at Durham.
Player of the week
Lots of good performances this week, with Tim Bresnan’s virtually solo resistance for Yorkshire, Michael Di Venuto's big hundred in the same game, Gareth Rees’s fluent hundred for Glamorgan and Simon Jones’s five-fer all worthy of a mention. However, for setting Nottinghamshire off on their victory in the absence of Broad and Sidebottom with six wickets, the player of the week is Darren Pattinson.
Division 1
Starting with the early pace-setters, Nottinghamshire as they hosted Lancashire without their England opening bowling pair of Sidebottom and Broad. One of the replacements, though, Darren Pattinson, took six wickets as Lancs made just 113, Stuart Law and Steven Croft scoring most of those in a 5th wicket stand of 85. In reply, Notts salvaged a batting point and a decent first innings lead with 202 before Lancs scored 233 second time round, Charlie Shreck taking 5-fer. Needing just 147 to win, Saj Mahmood took three early wickets, but a century stand between Mark Wagh and Adam Voges gives Notts a healthy lead at the top of the Championship.
Taunton looked to have rediscovered some of its characteristics from last season as Somerset racked up 557 for 8, James Hildredth getting a hundred while Neil Edwards was run out for 99. In reply Sussex managed just 202, despite Michael Yardy and Carl Hopkinson putting on a hundred for the 2nd wicket. Yardy and Hopkinson did exactly the same during the follow on before a Murray Goodwin ton led the Champions to safety. Sussex have started the season poorly, but they did last year as well.
Performing worse than Sussex were Yorkshire, who allowed Durham to reach 406 in their first innings, largely due to 184 from Michael Di Venuto with Tim Bresnan taking four wickets. Yorkshire’s total of 194 was something of a recovery, from 50 for 6, with Adil Rashid and Bresnan putting on 85 for the 6th wicket, Rashid making 70 and Graham Onions taking 5 wickets. Durham batted again, declaring on 205 for 6, setting Yorkshire an unlikely 417 to win. In an agonising finish, they ended up just 295 runs short, scoring an abject 122 and losing Matthew Hoggard to a broken thumb.
A much tighter finish happened at the Rose Bowl where all eyes were on Mark Ramprakash and his quest for his 100th 100. Surrey batted first and Ramps could make just 17 as Surrey made 278. Chris Tremlett took 5-fer to put his name in the frame for the 2nd test, although the back spasms wich kept him out of the rest of the match probably put paid to that. Hampshire replied with 227, despite a century partnership between the Michaels Brown and Lumb. Surrey declared on 229 to set Hants a target of 281 to win in 75 overs. Brown’s 94 gave the home team hope, but with Saqlain taking 5 wickets, Hants were holding on for a draw at the end, finishing on 247 for 8.
Division 2
The Kolpakshire derby took place at Grace Road, with Leicestershire scoring 527 in their first innings, Jacques du Toit scoring a ton, while Nicky Boje took four wickets for Northamptonshire. The weather intervened so Northants could only manage 302 for 3 in reply before the end of the match. However, with only nine Englishmen playing in the match, the interest outside of the counties focussed on the Kolpak regulations.
Glamorgan have deliberately gone against the Kolpak route and are putting their trust in their youngsters, a policy that is beginning to pay off. Having restricted Derbyshire to 289, the Welshmen scored 384 in their first innings, with centuries for 23 year old Gareth Reed and 37 year old David Hemp, Charl Langeveldt taking 5 wickets. Derbyshire struggled second time round, but dogged resistance from Dan Birch (43 from 136 balls) and Karl Klokker (19 from 88 balls) and poor weather meant Glamorgan weren’t able to claim the victory.
Finally to New Road where Worcestershire had Gloucestershire in all sorts of trouble at 85 for 5. However, centuries for Chris Taylor and Stephen Snell in a stand of 222 took Gloucester to 444, Simon Jones taking 5 wickets and bowling 24 overs without getting injured. In reply Worcester also had the poor start, but without the recovery, they made just 214. Batting again, they reached 194 for 3 before the game fizzled out into a draw. Stephen Moore scored 84 of these and he is the first batsman to 500 runs this season.
England Player watch
Matt Prior failed for the first time this season with 1 while Luke Wright only managed 3 more. Michael Carberry scored 8 runs, albeit in two innings. Adil Rashid top scored for Yorkshire with 70, and is currently looking like his batting is his strongest suit.
Bowling-wise, the injury to Matthew Hoggard means that there is a chance for someone to get into the next England squad. Chris Tremlett bowled well, but there are doubts about his fitness due to his back spasms. Talking of crocks, Simon Jones took five wickets, but it is far too early to think about throwing him back into the mix. Graham Onions and Charlie Shreck both took 5-fer, while Tim Bresnan is currently the highest rated English player by the PCA ratings. He took 6 wickets and scored 78 runs in Yorkshire’s abject performance at Durham.
Player of the week
Lots of good performances this week, with Tim Bresnan’s virtually solo resistance for Yorkshire, Michael Di Venuto's big hundred in the same game, Gareth Rees’s fluent hundred for Glamorgan and Simon Jones’s five-fer all worthy of a mention. However, for setting Nottinghamshire off on their victory in the absence of Broad and Sidebottom with six wickets, the player of the week is Darren Pattinson.
Monday, 14 April 2008
My Five to Watch
Here in my first year as a cricket blogger I am going to pick five players from the county scene and tell you to watch out for them season. I am not going to look just at young players, but perhaps the older players who have not shone yet – or maybe even an old pro, who may have the season of a career. As my interest is generally in the domestic game, I am going to stick to that.
1) Rikki Clarke (Derbys) – having been essentially a fringe player at Surrey for a few years, Clarke finally looked to have pushed into the first XI last season, however, he ended up playing only 10 championship matches. Having finally accepted his medium pace bowling is never going to be a threat, he appears to be concentrating on his batting. However, an average of only 23 was not good enough to keep him at Surrey – and the revolution that is Derbyshire quickly snapped him up. I see a fruitful season ahead for him, named as captain and likely to have no issues over selection, this could be a big season for the perennial underachiever.
2) Steven Finn (Middx) – perhaps a predictable one this, but you just cannot ignore a 6’ 8” fast bowler! Having already played 5 first class matches and boasting a highly impressive bowling average of 20.50 (16 wickets) this could be a big season for the young Londoner. He probably won’t be in the first XI at the start of the season, but expect to see his name around, and he is my pick to emulate JAR Harris of Glamorgan as young player of the year.
3) Of all of the new signings this winter, one has hardly managed to bat any eyelids at all – but could indeed be one of the shrewdest acquisitions of them all. William Porterfield has finally made the step into county cricket and I would not be surprised to see him finish near the top of the batting averages come September. Boasting a highly impressive set of averages – ODI – 59.92 (how many England players can say that); first class – 47.13 – he certainly has pedigree. I really admire Gloucestershire for taking this gamble and it is one I fully expect to pay off – especially look out for him in the one day competitions.
4) James Tredwell (Kent) – I saw Tredwell in a T20 game at Notts last season and his economic 4 overs really impressed me. The off spinner, who can also bat more than a bit, took 36 wickets at 35 last season, and I can see this getting better as he gains more experience. Never mentioned in the same breath as the words ‘England’ and ‘No. 8’, Tredwell will keep plugging away this season – do not be surprised to see him top 50 wickets this season.
5) Finally, and predictably enough, I have to include a Worcestershire player, and I am going to go for Simon Jones. This is a really big year for ‘Jonah’. He has made the break from his home county, and perhaps the break will do him the world of good. He has wintered well and if he stays fit all season he will be pushing the 75 wicket mark on a relatively new, green track at New Road. That is a heck of an ‘if’ though and it is without doubt a risk from a county that is already in some serious financial problems after the floods of 2007. All of that said however, England play the first Ashes test of 2009 at Sophia Gardens. . . incentive if ever there was any. . .
1) Rikki Clarke (Derbys) – having been essentially a fringe player at Surrey for a few years, Clarke finally looked to have pushed into the first XI last season, however, he ended up playing only 10 championship matches. Having finally accepted his medium pace bowling is never going to be a threat, he appears to be concentrating on his batting. However, an average of only 23 was not good enough to keep him at Surrey – and the revolution that is Derbyshire quickly snapped him up. I see a fruitful season ahead for him, named as captain and likely to have no issues over selection, this could be a big season for the perennial underachiever.
2) Steven Finn (Middx) – perhaps a predictable one this, but you just cannot ignore a 6’ 8” fast bowler! Having already played 5 first class matches and boasting a highly impressive bowling average of 20.50 (16 wickets) this could be a big season for the young Londoner. He probably won’t be in the first XI at the start of the season, but expect to see his name around, and he is my pick to emulate JAR Harris of Glamorgan as young player of the year.
3) Of all of the new signings this winter, one has hardly managed to bat any eyelids at all – but could indeed be one of the shrewdest acquisitions of them all. William Porterfield has finally made the step into county cricket and I would not be surprised to see him finish near the top of the batting averages come September. Boasting a highly impressive set of averages – ODI – 59.92 (how many England players can say that); first class – 47.13 – he certainly has pedigree. I really admire Gloucestershire for taking this gamble and it is one I fully expect to pay off – especially look out for him in the one day competitions.
4) James Tredwell (Kent) – I saw Tredwell in a T20 game at Notts last season and his economic 4 overs really impressed me. The off spinner, who can also bat more than a bit, took 36 wickets at 35 last season, and I can see this getting better as he gains more experience. Never mentioned in the same breath as the words ‘England’ and ‘No. 8’, Tredwell will keep plugging away this season – do not be surprised to see him top 50 wickets this season.
5) Finally, and predictably enough, I have to include a Worcestershire player, and I am going to go for Simon Jones. This is a really big year for ‘Jonah’. He has made the break from his home county, and perhaps the break will do him the world of good. He has wintered well and if he stays fit all season he will be pushing the 75 wicket mark on a relatively new, green track at New Road. That is a heck of an ‘if’ though and it is without doubt a risk from a county that is already in some serious financial problems after the floods of 2007. All of that said however, England play the first Ashes test of 2009 at Sophia Gardens. . . incentive if ever there was any. . .
Sunday, 2 September 2007
What now for Simon Jones?
There's an interesting piece on Simon Jones by his former country skipper Steve James in today's Torygraph. Jones, of course, has endured a depressingly truncated season, taking just five wickets in all competitions - and one for 293 in four championship matches.
Many quicks have had some of their best years after 28 (Jones' current age); yet, given the multitude of injuries the Welshman has suffered, it seems possible he will never be a threat again, even at county level. He has lost much of his pace, and, understandably, his runup suggests a man fearful of yet another injury.
With his central contract soon to end, it will be interesting to see where Jones sees his future. According to James, Hampshire is a possible destination. In truth, leaving Glamorgan may be a wise choice: they have been the scene for so many of his ill-fated comebacks that a change of scene could only help. And Shane Warne could have the effect of reinvigorating the man who, fleetingly, was able to deliver reverse-swing at 90mph, and excelled in the 2005 Ashes and the 2-1 victory in South Africa the previous winter.
Yet, either way, it seems highly unlikely Jones will play for his country again. He will need a full season of county action before he can even be considered a candidate; and, equally, England's fast-bowling ranks are bursting as it is. What it will require is tremendous strength of character - and a good deal of luck. Simon Jones returned, spectacularly, from one career-threathening injuy; doing it twice appears, alas, to be proving beyond him.
Many quicks have had some of their best years after 28 (Jones' current age); yet, given the multitude of injuries the Welshman has suffered, it seems possible he will never be a threat again, even at county level. He has lost much of his pace, and, understandably, his runup suggests a man fearful of yet another injury.
With his central contract soon to end, it will be interesting to see where Jones sees his future. According to James, Hampshire is a possible destination. In truth, leaving Glamorgan may be a wise choice: they have been the scene for so many of his ill-fated comebacks that a change of scene could only help. And Shane Warne could have the effect of reinvigorating the man who, fleetingly, was able to deliver reverse-swing at 90mph, and excelled in the 2005 Ashes and the 2-1 victory in South Africa the previous winter.
Yet, either way, it seems highly unlikely Jones will play for his country again. He will need a full season of county action before he can even be considered a candidate; and, equally, England's fast-bowling ranks are bursting as it is. What it will require is tremendous strength of character - and a good deal of luck. Simon Jones returned, spectacularly, from one career-threathening injuy; doing it twice appears, alas, to be proving beyond him.
Sunday, 3 June 2007
Test star outings in the FP Trophy
If ever a day exemplified the new 'County friendly' era of Peter Moores, then it was surely Sunday 3rd June. With Alistair Cook, Paul Collingwood and Michael Vaughan, amongst others, all having run outs in their county colours (literally), there were plenty of rare sights for local members to enjoy.
Rare sight
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Simon Jones gets hit for 6 over extra cover by Kevin Pietersen.
But there can have been few rarer sightings than that seen at St Helen's, Swansea, as not only did Hampshire field Australians Shane Warne and Stuart Clark, but there were workouts for Ashes heroes, and good friends, Kevin Pietersen and Simon Jones.
Even more remarkable is that they both batted and bowled against each other, and here's the evidence.
Rare sight
Simon Jones gets hit for 6 over extra cover by Kevin Pietersen.Rarer sight
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Kevin Pietersen's off break gets lifted for 6 out onto the Mumbles Road by Simon Jones
Of more importance is the long term recovery of Simon Jones (above) who bowled unchanged through a 10 over spell, seeming to indicate that last week's 'knee scare' was merely precautionary.
Sunday, 20 May 2007
Record breaking teenager outshines returning Ashes hero
Seventeen year old James Harris (below) must think that professional cricket is an easy game.
As he ponders his forthcoming AS level examinations at Gorseinon College near Swansea (that's right, he's a year away from A levels), the young right arm Glamorgan seamer may be wondering why he's bothering. A twelve wicket match haul against Gloucestershire in only his second county championship game has set the grapevine buzzing and sets the record for the youngest player to take ten wickets in a Championship match.
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James Harris finds the outside edge again during a highly impressive display against Gloucestershire at Bristol.Often bowling in partnership with Harris was returning Ashes hero, Simon Jones MBE. After toiling through 37 wicket less overs, he may have been tempted to ask Harris for some tips. In fairness to Jones, luck was not on his side as a series of hostile deliveries were either fended or edged safely.
As Glamorgan fruitlessly pressed for victory on the final day, captain David Hemp increasingly turned to Harris to break a partnership and the youngster, who has captained England for his age group, usually obliged. His approach to the wicket is reminiscent of Neil Foster, formerly of Essex and England, but his natural movement is through the air and away from the bat.
County dressing rooms will be discussing how batsmen have to learn to play him very late, which is easier said than done when a leg stump ball then passes your outside edge.
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Simon Jones, bowling in the Championship for the first time since April 2006.
But what of Jones? Known as 'Horse' in the Glamorgan dressing room (I think it's due to his speed, but it may be more 'Carry On' than that!), 'SiJo' generated good pace once properly warmed up and during several hostile spells was genuinely unfortunate not to get a wicket.
That's the good news. Slightly more concerning is an ambling, stuttering run up during which he never really breaks into a full stride. Whether this is deliberate caution after such dreadful injuries, or a more concerted effort to get more control I don't know. What I do know is that he is someway off a Test recall, and I estimate that even the First test versus India may be a little optimistic.
Jones is now scheduled to miss the first of Glamorgan's three Championship games at Swansea, play the second, and then miss the third, all at the ECB's bequest of course. What is of interest is whether they see Jones as part of the One Day International plans. I've never viewed him as such. His limited overs record with Glamorgan is poor, but it may be a sensible way for England to ease him back into the International fold.
To conclude, let's go back to Harris. He is a talent. Glamorgan signed him on professional terms shortly after his sixteenth birthday, keen to ward off the attentions of Warwickshire amongst others. His future is bright for his county and hopefully for England - indeed Glamorgan may be struggling now but solid foundations are in place both on and off the field.
But for now it's back to the books for Harris. He misses Wednesday's game versus Middlesex due to examinations, a pity, as it's at St Helen's, Swansea, where friends and family could come to watch his progress.
There's plenty of time for cricket though. Remember the name.
Sunday, 15 April 2007
England's One Day Headache
England have patently struggled so far at this World Cup and generally in One Day cricket since the end of 2005 at least. We now examine some of the key problems for England and what can be done to resolve them by the summer's end.
Aggressive Opener:
Marcus Trescothick has the ability to take the game to opposition sides at the top of the order in both forms of the game, but it is his ability to plunder the powerplay overs that England have especially missed to date. With no Tresco, there have been no blistering and imposing starts, no centuries from the top, no senior player to turn to and a missing pair of ever-reliable slip catching hands. Once Trescothick is under way he is incredibly hard to stop (just ask Devon!) and his ability against spin makes him a fantastic all round player, capable of pulverising opposition attacks ala Jayasuriya. In his void there has been no reliable replacement. Mal Loye was tried, but in relative terms failed and following that there was no time to find another chosen one. Andrew Strauss, Michael Vaughan and Ed Joyce, for all their qualities, fall into another bracket entirely. Will Jefferson and Michael Carberry are two openers who will look to press their claims further this summer.
Strike Bowler:
Australia have Brett Lee and now Shaun Tait, New Zealand have Shane Bond, Sri Lanka Lasith Malinga. Without Simon Jones England are missing that go to strike bowler, the magical one who is capable of getting a wicket at any stage of the innings, especially during the middle overs, when the ball is starting to show signs of reverse swing. In 2005 Jones was being groomed as the replacement for Darren Gough and how badly they have missed a man who can fill those boots. Without that special strike bowler England have struggled to turn games around, or finish the job. For all the qualities England’s other bowlers have, without Jones and the retired Stephen Harmison, England are, as Michael Vaughan himself stated, a “squeezing attack.”
The Pietersen, Flintoff quandary:
Pietersen bats too low, Freddie too high. It is as simple as that. As the best player in the side KP should be batting at number three, where he can make full use of the fielding restrictions and bat for the nigh on maximum amount of time. We don’t see Ricky Ponting or Jaques Kallis batting at four. It is a point I continue to dwell on though! Flintoff meanwhile has averaged a woeful 22 since the start of the India series one year ago and on that basis would be better suited to playing at seven. The Freddie to open debate is a dangerous one, lest we all forget his failings at number three at the ICC Champions Trophy, just six months ago, against a new ball. His skills are best suited to the last ten overs and that is when he should make his thunderous entrance, not whilst the spinners are on, with quick singles and nurdling required. Flexiblity in the batting order is not though something which England seem to understand however.
Issue for the future:
The wicket keeping situation is still one that will rouse curious debate throughout the nation and indeed world. Whilst Paul Nixon has impressed many with his commitment and desire, at 36 he can not be considered the future, nor groomed for the next Ashes series, ICC Champions Trophy, or World Cup. It is also questionable as to whether he has the technique to survive at Test level. With Chris Read and Geraint Jones seemingly failed men of yesterday now, there are two main contenders for the role and those two players resided within the academy squad over the winter. They are of course Matt Prior and Steven Davies, the young wicket keepers currently playing in the county season curtain raiser at Lords.
Simplistically stated, Prior is seen as the better and more explosive batsman of the two, whilst Davies is seen to have more potential with the gloves and a Gilchristean resemblance (he is left handed!). Prior has already tasted international cricket, albeit on the subcontinent and in positions varying from opener, to number three, to number five. He plays his best cricket for Sussex at six though and should be looked at as a serious contender for the lower order of the one day side at least, given Davies’ younger years. Davies is probably the long-term heir apparent, but may be too fresh to throw in immediately. James Foster is of course another option, but his exclusion from the academy squad would seem to signal that he is further down the pecking order in the race to become England’s first undisputed wicket keeper since Alec Stewart retired.
The line-up:
With Tresothick and Pietersen in the top three, England would be a powerful side to be feared once again. Both are capable of huge innings at fast rates, whilst Ian Bell is a player who would look to accumulate and bat more cautiously, allowing others to bat around him. With a lower order of Flintoff and the aggressive wicket keeper, England would be well placed to also attack those final overs. That leaves us the middle order trio whose jobs would be to milk the middle overs and wristly flick the ball in to gaps, turning ones in to twos and running the opposition ragged. Paul Collingwood is brilliant at this and is also one of the best finishers in the game, but is slightly suspect against serious pace around offstump early on in his innings. Ravinder Bopara meanwhile has shown us that he too could be a brilliant finisher and innovative gap finder, but he is still young. Both are probably suited to coming in against spin, so numbers five and six seem appropriate.
A number four is thus required, someone capable of playing against both pace and spin. Andrew Strauss may seem an obvious choice and he could yet prove to be the answer, he did after all start his promising international career there. However, Owais Shah showed in India, during a crucial innings of 88, that he is a fantastic player of spin, capable of wristy stroke play that many fine players would drool over. As a regular first class number three and one day opener he also has the technique against pace. He has long been a fine domestic one day and Twenty20 player and has really kicked on in the longer form of the game over the past two seasons as well. Given just a paltry three matches at number three in India during yet another woeful one day series for England, he has since dropped back into the abyss, though he lined up for the MCC vs Sussex at Lords on Friday. Rumours abound that Fletcher does not like him much, John Emburey claims his face does not fit. Only such reasoning can explain his exclusion to date. Maybe if Fletcher departs this summer, Shah may finally make the step up.
England’s best one day line-up undoubtedly looks a lot like this, can England get them fit and gel them together by the end of the summer though, in time for the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa?:
Marcus Trescothick
Ian Bell
Kevin Pietersen
Owais Shah
Paul Collingwood (c)
Ravinder Bopara
Andrew Flintoff
Matt Prior/ Steven Davies/ Paul Nixon (wk)
Simon Jones
Monty Panesar
James Anderson
12th Man: Ashley Giles/ Liam Plunkett
Chris Pallett
Aggressive Opener:
Marcus Trescothick has the ability to take the game to opposition sides at the top of the order in both forms of the game, but it is his ability to plunder the powerplay overs that England have especially missed to date. With no Tresco, there have been no blistering and imposing starts, no centuries from the top, no senior player to turn to and a missing pair of ever-reliable slip catching hands. Once Trescothick is under way he is incredibly hard to stop (just ask Devon!) and his ability against spin makes him a fantastic all round player, capable of pulverising opposition attacks ala Jayasuriya. In his void there has been no reliable replacement. Mal Loye was tried, but in relative terms failed and following that there was no time to find another chosen one. Andrew Strauss, Michael Vaughan and Ed Joyce, for all their qualities, fall into another bracket entirely. Will Jefferson and Michael Carberry are two openers who will look to press their claims further this summer.
Strike Bowler:
Australia have Brett Lee and now Shaun Tait, New Zealand have Shane Bond, Sri Lanka Lasith Malinga. Without Simon Jones England are missing that go to strike bowler, the magical one who is capable of getting a wicket at any stage of the innings, especially during the middle overs, when the ball is starting to show signs of reverse swing. In 2005 Jones was being groomed as the replacement for Darren Gough and how badly they have missed a man who can fill those boots. Without that special strike bowler England have struggled to turn games around, or finish the job. For all the qualities England’s other bowlers have, without Jones and the retired Stephen Harmison, England are, as Michael Vaughan himself stated, a “squeezing attack.”
The Pietersen, Flintoff quandary:
Pietersen bats too low, Freddie too high. It is as simple as that. As the best player in the side KP should be batting at number three, where he can make full use of the fielding restrictions and bat for the nigh on maximum amount of time. We don’t see Ricky Ponting or Jaques Kallis batting at four. It is a point I continue to dwell on though! Flintoff meanwhile has averaged a woeful 22 since the start of the India series one year ago and on that basis would be better suited to playing at seven. The Freddie to open debate is a dangerous one, lest we all forget his failings at number three at the ICC Champions Trophy, just six months ago, against a new ball. His skills are best suited to the last ten overs and that is when he should make his thunderous entrance, not whilst the spinners are on, with quick singles and nurdling required. Flexiblity in the batting order is not though something which England seem to understand however.
Issue for the future:
The wicket keeping situation is still one that will rouse curious debate throughout the nation and indeed world. Whilst Paul Nixon has impressed many with his commitment and desire, at 36 he can not be considered the future, nor groomed for the next Ashes series, ICC Champions Trophy, or World Cup. It is also questionable as to whether he has the technique to survive at Test level. With Chris Read and Geraint Jones seemingly failed men of yesterday now, there are two main contenders for the role and those two players resided within the academy squad over the winter. They are of course Matt Prior and Steven Davies, the young wicket keepers currently playing in the county season curtain raiser at Lords.
Simplistically stated, Prior is seen as the better and more explosive batsman of the two, whilst Davies is seen to have more potential with the gloves and a Gilchristean resemblance (he is left handed!). Prior has already tasted international cricket, albeit on the subcontinent and in positions varying from opener, to number three, to number five. He plays his best cricket for Sussex at six though and should be looked at as a serious contender for the lower order of the one day side at least, given Davies’ younger years. Davies is probably the long-term heir apparent, but may be too fresh to throw in immediately. James Foster is of course another option, but his exclusion from the academy squad would seem to signal that he is further down the pecking order in the race to become England’s first undisputed wicket keeper since Alec Stewart retired.
The line-up:
With Tresothick and Pietersen in the top three, England would be a powerful side to be feared once again. Both are capable of huge innings at fast rates, whilst Ian Bell is a player who would look to accumulate and bat more cautiously, allowing others to bat around him. With a lower order of Flintoff and the aggressive wicket keeper, England would be well placed to also attack those final overs. That leaves us the middle order trio whose jobs would be to milk the middle overs and wristly flick the ball in to gaps, turning ones in to twos and running the opposition ragged. Paul Collingwood is brilliant at this and is also one of the best finishers in the game, but is slightly suspect against serious pace around offstump early on in his innings. Ravinder Bopara meanwhile has shown us that he too could be a brilliant finisher and innovative gap finder, but he is still young. Both are probably suited to coming in against spin, so numbers five and six seem appropriate.
A number four is thus required, someone capable of playing against both pace and spin. Andrew Strauss may seem an obvious choice and he could yet prove to be the answer, he did after all start his promising international career there. However, Owais Shah showed in India, during a crucial innings of 88, that he is a fantastic player of spin, capable of wristy stroke play that many fine players would drool over. As a regular first class number three and one day opener he also has the technique against pace. He has long been a fine domestic one day and Twenty20 player and has really kicked on in the longer form of the game over the past two seasons as well. Given just a paltry three matches at number three in India during yet another woeful one day series for England, he has since dropped back into the abyss, though he lined up for the MCC vs Sussex at Lords on Friday. Rumours abound that Fletcher does not like him much, John Emburey claims his face does not fit. Only such reasoning can explain his exclusion to date. Maybe if Fletcher departs this summer, Shah may finally make the step up.
England’s best one day line-up undoubtedly looks a lot like this, can England get them fit and gel them together by the end of the summer though, in time for the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa?:
Marcus Trescothick
Ian Bell
Kevin Pietersen
Owais Shah
Paul Collingwood (c)
Ravinder Bopara
Andrew Flintoff
Matt Prior/ Steven Davies/ Paul Nixon (wk)
Simon Jones
Monty Panesar
James Anderson
12th Man: Ashley Giles/ Liam Plunkett
Chris Pallett
Simon Jones
As the 2007 county season approaches, we will be compiling a list of six men to watch; not necessarily the finest players, but those with particularly significant and interesting seasons ahead.
Simon Jones (Glamorgan)
Everyone knows how good Simon Jones is. He can touch 90mph, he has fire and aggression; and he is a masterful exponent of reverse swing. In the 2005 Ashes, he took 18 wickets at just 21, following on from 15 at 26 in South Africa the previous winter.
The problem is that, at 28, he has still only played 18 Tests. A bowler of his skills is deserving of more than fleeting brilliance; but, alas, he has suffered a number of terrible injuries in his career. Jones revealed the strength of his character by returning better than ever after his horrific injury at The Gabba four years ago; now, after 20 months out of the England side, he must do it all again.
It is no coincidence that England’s form has worsened since. A number of bowlers have been tried in Jones’ place but none have, as yet, really convinced. Sajid Mahmood’s intermittent ability to induce reverse swing has been compared to Jones, but he lacks any semblance of control and too often lacks venom.
England need Jones back in their side, for the variety, dynamism and proven quality. They will watch his progress with Glamorgan with much interest, but will also be aware of the folly of rushing him back too soon. Initial signs have been encouraging; if Jones can work himself back to peak condition, England may well recall him for their second Test series of the summer.
2007 Glamorgan Preview
Simon Jones (Glamorgan)
Everyone knows how good Simon Jones is. He can touch 90mph, he has fire and aggression; and he is a masterful exponent of reverse swing. In the 2005 Ashes, he took 18 wickets at just 21, following on from 15 at 26 in South Africa the previous winter.
The problem is that, at 28, he has still only played 18 Tests. A bowler of his skills is deserving of more than fleeting brilliance; but, alas, he has suffered a number of terrible injuries in his career. Jones revealed the strength of his character by returning better than ever after his horrific injury at The Gabba four years ago; now, after 20 months out of the England side, he must do it all again.
It is no coincidence that England’s form has worsened since. A number of bowlers have been tried in Jones’ place but none have, as yet, really convinced. Sajid Mahmood’s intermittent ability to induce reverse swing has been compared to Jones, but he lacks any semblance of control and too often lacks venom.
England need Jones back in their side, for the variety, dynamism and proven quality. They will watch his progress with Glamorgan with much interest, but will also be aware of the folly of rushing him back too soon. Initial signs have been encouraging; if Jones can work himself back to peak condition, England may well recall him for their second Test series of the summer.
2007 Glamorgan Preview
Saturday, 7 April 2007
2007 Season Preview: Glamorgan
2006 in a Nutshell:
Next to bottom in Division 2 of the Championship with only victories over Gloucestershire and Derbyshire to cheer about. Overseas players James Franklyn and Australian opener Mark Cosgrove (below) underachieved, with left armer Franklyn rarely seeming to be 100% fit or willing to give 100%. Cosgrove’s explosive early season batting tailed off.
Mark Cosgrove batting versus Ireland early season 2006
A solitary victory over Ireland (what ever happened to them?) in the 50 over group was followed up with a Twenty 20 campaign which started brightly but drizzled out under the Sophia Gardens lights against Gloucestershire. Relegation in the pro 40 was a ‘kick in the teeth’ for the Champions of 2002 and 2004. A tie at home to Durham, caused by Robert Croft failing to run in his bat like every schoolboy should, meant that the last day of the season was spent getting humiliated by Hampshire at the Rose Bowl in the Pro 40 play off live on Sky.
Even the most fervent Welshman was glad to see the back of Glamorgan's 2006 season.
2007 Prospects
Glamorgan face a season of much travel as Sophia Gardens is redeveloped
Home games are scheduled for Swansea, Colwyn Bay, Abergavenny, Ebbw Vale and Cresselly in Pembrokeshire (get the sat nav out Surrey fans!)
It is difficult, even for the most optimistic fan, to see anything other than another season of treading water. Seven years of financial losses have meant that the club has no choice but to go down the international cricket road, but that means short term pain before long term gain.
In Division 2 of the Championship, it is difficult to see Glamorgan being near the two promotion spots. Mid table is the best that can be hoped for with batting heavily reliant on David Hemp, Mike Powell and Jimmy Maher. The bowling resources are plentiful but, once Simon Jones is back in the England fold, it is hard to see enough new ball penetration.
The club’s days as ‘white ball’ specialists seem a lot longer than three years ago, but last year’s limited overs failures need to be rectified. On their day, Glamorgan are still an effective one day unit, and could well press for promotion from the Pro 40 Division 2, but being in the semi final spots of the Friends Provident South Division is unlikely.
Twenty 20 may give the club its best chance of brighter days in mid summer. A Leicestershire style ‘team of no stars’, with fast scoring batsman and sprightly fielders, may well be supplemented by a short term overseas signing. Officially, the club are still putting a financial package together to bring over New Zealander Brendan McCullum, who proved such a hit last season.
Batting:
It is difficult, even for the most optimistic fan, to see anything other than another season of treading water. Seven years of financial losses have meant that the club has no choice but to go down the international cricket road, but that means short term pain before long term gain.
In Division 2 of the Championship, it is difficult to see Glamorgan being near the two promotion spots. Mid table is the best that can be hoped for with batting heavily reliant on David Hemp, Mike Powell and Jimmy Maher. The bowling resources are plentiful but, once Simon Jones is back in the England fold, it is hard to see enough new ball penetration.
The club’s days as ‘white ball’ specialists seem a lot longer than three years ago, but last year’s limited overs failures need to be rectified. On their day, Glamorgan are still an effective one day unit, and could well press for promotion from the Pro 40 Division 2, but being in the semi final spots of the Friends Provident South Division is unlikely.
Twenty 20 may give the club its best chance of brighter days in mid summer. A Leicestershire style ‘team of no stars’, with fast scoring batsman and sprightly fielders, may well be supplemented by a short term overseas signing. Officially, the club are still putting a financial package together to bring over New Zealander Brendan McCullum, who proved such a hit last season.
Batting:
A gloomy Welsh winter contemplating an absence of overseas players for Glamorgan, was turned on its head in early Spring with the news that a generous benefactor (Dr James Hull) was prepared to put up a sizeable sum to bring Australian left hander Jimmy Maher back to the club following a spell at Durham. It transpires that a meeting in a Sydney hotel between the said benefactor, Glamorgan chairman Paul Russell and England assistant coach Matthew Maynard, proved to be the significant event with former Glamorgan hero Maynard stressing the need for a club to have an ‘overseas’ to lift standards.
With Maher unavailable until mid May, a curious sequence of events sees Matthew Elliott (below) return to the club for the first month of the season. In a cricket version of chaos theory, Pakistan’s early exit from the World Cup meant than Younis Khan was available full time for Yorkshire and, hence, they had no room for Elliott. Step forward the daffodil!
Matthew Elliott drives through the covers
for Glamorgan at the Rose Bowl in 2005
With one Australian opening the batting all year, the bulk of the remaining runs will need to come from skipper David Hemp and Mike Powell. On his day Powell is a class act, as exemplified by back to back double centuries in last year’s scorching July heat.
Of the rest, pint sized opener Dan Cherry really needs to nail down a place and can be grateful for some good scores at the tail end of 2006 for a contract extension.
Nicky Peng, recruited from Durham, is in the last year of a two year contract. He looks classy at the crease, but needs a big year, and an improvement on a career batting average of under 24, if he is to continue in the professional game.
Bulky all rounder Ryan Watkins shows much with both bat and ball but will need to prove his worth with at least one facet of his game if he is to fulfill much promise. Much the same can be said of Richard Grant – both in size and ability.
Bowling:
Simon Jones’s return in a pre season friendly at Hove on April 2nd covered more column inches than a whole round of championship matches in some newspapers. Nonetheless, it was a sight for sore Glamorgan and England eyes, and everyone, especially those who witnessed his last breakdown early in 2006, will be keeping everything crossed for him.
Numerically, the club’s seam bowling resources look healthy. Alex Wharf has recovered from injury, and youngsters Huw Waters and James Harris have much promise. Adam Harrison has proved injury prone and needs a good season’s bowling, whilst his older brother David is an effective performer with new ball. Unfortunately, he has come back from an MCC tour of New Zealand with a back injury.
Seasoned spin twins, Robert Croft and left armer Dean Cosker, will be expected to twirl away for many overs. Croft is still probably the best orthodox off spinner in the domestic game and need 52 wickets for a career first class haul of 1,000. Barring injury, he may well achieve this in 2007.
In summary, the bowling seems plentiful but often lacks penetration, and it seems as though the club may, should resources allow, go for an overseas bowler later in the season to supplement the attack, as opposed to another batting option.
Numerically, the club’s seam bowling resources look healthy. Alex Wharf has recovered from injury, and youngsters Huw Waters and James Harris have much promise. Adam Harrison has proved injury prone and needs a good season’s bowling, whilst his older brother David is an effective performer with new ball. Unfortunately, he has come back from an MCC tour of New Zealand with a back injury.
Seasoned spin twins, Robert Croft and left armer Dean Cosker, will be expected to twirl away for many overs. Croft is still probably the best orthodox off spinner in the domestic game and need 52 wickets for a career first class haul of 1,000. Barring injury, he may well achieve this in 2007.
In summary, the bowling seems plentiful but often lacks penetration, and it seems as though the club may, should resources allow, go for an overseas bowler later in the season to supplement the attack, as opposed to another batting option.
Probable Championship side:
Matthew Elliott / Jimmy Maher
Dan Cherry
David Hemp (capt)
Mike Powell
Nicky Peng
Ryan Watkins
Mark Wallace
Robert Croft
Alex Wharf
Simon Jones
David Harrison
That leaves Ben Wright to push Peng hard for a middle order place, with Grant and Mike O’Shea needing to take every opportunity. Bowling wise, left arm spinner Dean Cosker will play more as the season goes on, with the likes of seamers Huw Waters, Adam Harrison and James Harris all likely to feature in preference to journeyman Andrew Davies once injuries and, hopefully for England’s sake, a Test Match recall for Simon Jones happens.
Key Man:
Probably, David Hemp (below). With his Bermudan World Cup exploits now documented for the autobiography, he will need to use all of his experience in his first full year as captain, and that of the seasoned Maher and Croft, to get the best out of several young, talented, but ultimately unproven, cricketers. Furthermore, as the most naturally gifted of the home grown batsman, 1,000 championship runs from the No.3 spot is a minimum.
David Hemp at Taunton in 2006.He will need to spend plenty of time at the crease in 2007.
Rising Star:
Last year’s prediction of Huw Waters was spot on. Although lacking a yard in pace, Glamorgan have, at last, found a natural successor to Steve Watkin, as shown by a super ‘five-for’ against Somerset in August.
This year, I’m plumping for middle order, right handed batsman Ben Wright. I witnessed a classy 68 not out for England under 19s against their Indian counterparts at Cardiff last July, and Ben followed this up with a 72 on Championship debut versus Gloucestershire in September.
Captain and Coach:
David Hemp took over the reigns towards the end of the 2006 season after veteran off spinner Robert Croft felt as though he could take the side no further.
Hemp led the side to a fine victory over West Indies A at Ebbw Vale as deputy for Croft, but, that apart, is largely unproven as a leader. In a sense, he was the default selection as the ‘next most senior’ home based player. Likely to be a calmer influence than Croft (he’s more Michael Vaughan than Nasser Hussain), the younger members of the squad should relish the opportunity to take more responsibility.
Coaching wise, Glamorgan have opted for promotion from within, probably for financial reasons as much as anything else.
John Derrick’s association with club has ended after nearly twenty years as player, coach, and, last year’s poisoned chalice, Director of Cricket. The post has been discontinued after one year, with Adrian Shaw, wicket keeper in the 1997 Championship season, taking over as first team coach. Former England seamer, stalwart Steve Watkin takes over as Performance Director.
Hemp led the side to a fine victory over West Indies A at Ebbw Vale as deputy for Croft, but, that apart, is largely unproven as a leader. In a sense, he was the default selection as the ‘next most senior’ home based player. Likely to be a calmer influence than Croft (he’s more Michael Vaughan than Nasser Hussain), the younger members of the squad should relish the opportunity to take more responsibility.
Coaching wise, Glamorgan have opted for promotion from within, probably for financial reasons as much as anything else.
John Derrick’s association with club has ended after nearly twenty years as player, coach, and, last year’s poisoned chalice, Director of Cricket. The post has been discontinued after one year, with Adrian Shaw, wicket keeper in the 1997 Championship season, taking over as first team coach. Former England seamer, stalwart Steve Watkin takes over as Performance Director.
Postscript (9th April 2007)
Simon Jones (below) continued his pre season rehabilitation against Worcestershire at New Road on Easter Monday. In the same game, 'rising star' Ben Wright (see above) hit a superb 86 not out.
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Simon Jones 'on his way back', bowling for Glamorgan on Easter Monday 2007
Wednesday, 20 December 2006
Normal service has been resumed!
Well ladies and gentleman, that as they say was that! Having held the Ashes for the shortest time in the history of the series England should rightly be dejected and disappointed with the manner of their defeat. On the other hand however, everybody must take their hats off to Australia after one of the most ruthless and focused performances in the history of cricket.
The debate about selection will no doubt rage on for a good while yet, but now is the time to be honest. Even with our best side it is doubtful if England had the ability to beat Australia on their own soil. Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Stuart Clark and of course Shane Warne have been absolutely marvellous. Whilst there have been weaknesses in this Australian team the performances of these men have made it very questionable as to whether or not England ever had a chance, even with their best eleven on the field.
Ponting has captained superbly, nobody knows how to get Hussey out, whilst Warne and Clark have known precisely how to get England’s batsman out. When the promising performances of Michael Clarke are thrown into the ring, along with the contributions of the untameable Adam Gilchrist, resilient Glenn McGrath, attritional Justin Langer and dominating Matthew Hayden, you really can see why this team are ranked as the number one side in the world and by some margin.
The sad truth of the matter is that of six Australian innings, during which some sixty wickets were up for grabs, England have only taken thirty-nine. When batting they have failed to pass two hundred and fifty on three occasions, twice in the first innings. That simply is not good enough to win Test matches and even with Monty Panesar in the side the consistent bowling threat has just not been available from both ends, as on the Australian side.
Of all the England players the only one who has performed on a consistently comparable scale is Kevin Pietersen. Still though the talismanic player has received criticism for getting out for seventy when batting with number ten at the crease. This attitude must stop now. This man has been playing test match cricket for just eighteen months. He is still a relative baby compared to the likes of Ponting, Warne and McGrath, yet he has done his best to carry England.
Pietersen is currently rated as the seventh highest England Test batsman of all time. He is still only 26 and averages 52.50 from forty Test innings, during which he has scored six hundreds and nine fifties. He has played with common sense and grace in Australia and has not tried to hit every ball out of the ground as many wrongly feared. This man is no “Boom Boom” Afiridi, he is pure and consistent class.
Injuries did indeed hamper England of course. Michael Vaughan’s captaincy, Simon Jones’ reverse swing and Andrew Flintoff’s all round displays were the key reasons behind England’s success just sixteen months ago. In the current series we have lost all three of those trump cards, with the former two out of the side through injury and Flintoff overburdened, possibly unfit and perhaps overrated. The current England Captain has suffered a collapse of batting form and even his bowling has appeared laboured, with little consistent pressure available at the opposite end.
As a selector, Flintoff appears to have had the overriding vote to start with and I remain certain that Fletcher selected him, rather than Strauss as Captain, as much for his appreciation of Geraint Jones than anything else. The England management will tell you that hindsight is a wonderful thing, yet for the majority of us the team selection was wrong from day one.
Ashley Giles, who, as one of the nicest guys in cricket, does not deserve the current illness which faces his wife at this supposedly joyous time of year, should never have been selected above Monty Panesar, who had performed so admirably to become the world’s “leading finger spinner.”
Geraint Jones’ selection was more expected and indeed slightly more justifiable given the assumed advantages of his batting on pitches upon which he grew up on. His glove work has been reasonable, not exceptional, but his batting has been atrocious. His England career is surely now all but over.
Chris Read can consider himself slightly unfortunate to be dropped, especially in favour of Jones, but it still remains doubtful as to whether the man who averaged just 27.41 in the LVCC1 could have scored the mega runs which England required, what with the horrendous form of their number six.
A dismal Champions Trophy performance, during which he was dismissed by an out of sorts McGrath, was poor with the gloves and racked up scores of 2, 0 and 4, helped to explain his axing. Whilst he scored runs against Pakistan it must be taken into account that that was against a Pakistani attack missing their three premier strike bowlers, Shoaib Aktar, Mohammed Asif and Shabbir Ahmed.
His performances in the ODI series against Pakistan also did little to help his cause as he ended with scores of 0, 30, 21no and 4. What I am saying here is not that Jones should have played, but that maybe it was not Read who should have taken his place and should do so now. For the last year I have wanted to see somebody else given a chance. There is no shortage of talent with Matthew Prior and Steven Davies currently working with the academy squad.
Prior averaged 46.70 in first class cricket last season as Sussex lifted the championship. Surely he is deserving of a chance. The young prodigy Davies, who has already been hyped up unfairly as the next Adam Gilchrist is a splendid glove man. Beyond these two James Foster and Phil Mustard continue to go dutifully about their business in county cricket. One can only imagine how depressing it must be to be continually discounted because of this nonsensical tug of war between Jones and Read, which has only served to detract attention from the splendid performances of some of England’s future wicket keeping talent. If none of the aforementioned are considered along with Read it will be a sad loss for English cricket.
Of England’s batsman Alastair Cook has proved himself, but Ian Bell is still working his way there and as such looks unsuited to such a crucial position as number three in the batting line up. When Vaughan returns I hope he comes back as an opener where he has played his best cricket for England. Cook dropping down to three provides England with such a calming and stabilising presence, whilst Bell could move down in to the middle order, where he played so brilliantly against Pakistan, racking up three consecutive hundreds.
The aggression of Vaughan and Trescothick has been missing from England’s opening three and with it back England will look a more dominating side. Pietersen has played fantastic cricket at five, but maybe if he came in at four once more we would see some bigger scores from the man who is equally adept at playing pace and spin bowling, with aggression. Bell has a fantastic temperament ala Graham Thorpe and looks very good against spin. I believe that he could anchor the side at five and dropping him down the order removes some of the pressure on the man and importantly gets him away from the new ball, against which he can look suspect.
If Flintoff is to continue to play as a number six, there must be a rapid improvement. His streaky innings on the final day at Perth seemed merely to confirm that he can no longer be considered worthy of a place on batting alone. With that being the case he should not be batting in the top six. His career Test average is equal to that of Shaun Pollock, standing at 32.00. Pollock is a fantastic bowling all rounder who bats at number eight, as is Flintoff. Flintoff is no Jaques Kallis with the bat and similarly Kallis is no Flintoff with the ball. England must recognise this fallibility at number six and rectify it.
Pushed down to seven Flintoff could afford to play his aggressive innings ala Gilchrist, without the pressure of knowing that big runs are expected of him every time he goes out to bat. The question of who bats at six now becomes tricky though. If England want to maintain a five man attack without Flintoff in the top six, then they must select Prior, who is capable of scoring major runs at six. He is the best batsman of all the wicket keeping options.
This may be something that England have to spend a lot of time thinking about given their inability to take twenty wickets in a match at present. This would still give England a very long tail though, with Hoggard, Harmison, Jones and Panesar to follow, but hopefully the top seven batsman would be up to scoring the required runs. Stephen Harmison’s position can not be safe though. Of his five wickets at Perth two were McGrath and Clark, numbers ten and eleven. He is still not the bowler he was in early 2004 and has no consistency whatsoever.
Stuart Broad must now come into serious consideration as a replacement. Hyped up yet again, as the next McGrath, the Leicestershire pace man has the potential to be a great bowler and what’s more he is a consistent line and length bowler, with bounce, a bowler England currently lack. The son of former England opener Chris Broad, he can also bat and would solve the current number eight problem, with his inclusion going some way to shortening England's tail. With Simon Jones an almost certain returnee because of his ability to swing the ball both ways, that may jeopardise Matthew Hoggard’s position in a four man attack, although it would be harsh to drop England’s best bowler on tour so far, currently ranked sixth by the ICC. If that were to happen though it would open the door for the best wicket keeper, perhaps Chris Read or Steven Davies to bat at eight, with another batsman coming in at six.
That man would surely have to be Paul Collingwood. His two hundred shows that he has class and concentration. His ninety-two showed us he has guts. Unfortunately these two innings also demonstrated that whilst he can score on a flat deck, he is troubled by seam bowling outside his off stump on result pitches and this has proved to be his undoing so far in his international career. For this reason I do not believe that he should bat at four and at best should come in at five. He is though a talented player and worthy of a slot if England want to bat down to six, although he must watch out for the flamboyant Irishman, Ed Joyce, coming over the horizon, along with Marcus Trescothick. The experiences of fellow double centurions Brad Hodge, Jason Gillespie and Rob Key demonstrate that a cricketer is never safe and rightly so.
England must consider the above issues carefully and adapt the make up of their side for the future. Ultimately, England must focus on ending the batting collapses and consistently taking twenty wickets, if they want to become the best side in the world. At present they can’t do either against the undisputed leader of world cricket. It has been a lesson in ruthlessness and class that the Australian’s have dealt out and unfortunately it looks set to continue for the next two months. In time for the next domestic season, England must make some changes to their strategy and start building for the future. They must select a side for the summer which can bring England success in the next Ashes series in just two and a half years time.
Andrew Strauss (vc)
Michael Vaughan (c)
Alastair Cook
Kevin Pietersen
Ian Bell
Matthew Prior (wk) (Paul Collingwood)
Andrew Flintoff
Stuart Broad
Matthew Hoggard (Steven Davies/ Chris Read)
Monty Panesar
Simon Jones
Chris Pallett
The debate about selection will no doubt rage on for a good while yet, but now is the time to be honest. Even with our best side it is doubtful if England had the ability to beat Australia on their own soil. Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Stuart Clark and of course Shane Warne have been absolutely marvellous. Whilst there have been weaknesses in this Australian team the performances of these men have made it very questionable as to whether or not England ever had a chance, even with their best eleven on the field.
Ponting has captained superbly, nobody knows how to get Hussey out, whilst Warne and Clark have known precisely how to get England’s batsman out. When the promising performances of Michael Clarke are thrown into the ring, along with the contributions of the untameable Adam Gilchrist, resilient Glenn McGrath, attritional Justin Langer and dominating Matthew Hayden, you really can see why this team are ranked as the number one side in the world and by some margin.
The sad truth of the matter is that of six Australian innings, during which some sixty wickets were up for grabs, England have only taken thirty-nine. When batting they have failed to pass two hundred and fifty on three occasions, twice in the first innings. That simply is not good enough to win Test matches and even with Monty Panesar in the side the consistent bowling threat has just not been available from both ends, as on the Australian side.
Of all the England players the only one who has performed on a consistently comparable scale is Kevin Pietersen. Still though the talismanic player has received criticism for getting out for seventy when batting with number ten at the crease. This attitude must stop now. This man has been playing test match cricket for just eighteen months. He is still a relative baby compared to the likes of Ponting, Warne and McGrath, yet he has done his best to carry England.
Pietersen is currently rated as the seventh highest England Test batsman of all time. He is still only 26 and averages 52.50 from forty Test innings, during which he has scored six hundreds and nine fifties. He has played with common sense and grace in Australia and has not tried to hit every ball out of the ground as many wrongly feared. This man is no “Boom Boom” Afiridi, he is pure and consistent class.
Injuries did indeed hamper England of course. Michael Vaughan’s captaincy, Simon Jones’ reverse swing and Andrew Flintoff’s all round displays were the key reasons behind England’s success just sixteen months ago. In the current series we have lost all three of those trump cards, with the former two out of the side through injury and Flintoff overburdened, possibly unfit and perhaps overrated. The current England Captain has suffered a collapse of batting form and even his bowling has appeared laboured, with little consistent pressure available at the opposite end.
As a selector, Flintoff appears to have had the overriding vote to start with and I remain certain that Fletcher selected him, rather than Strauss as Captain, as much for his appreciation of Geraint Jones than anything else. The England management will tell you that hindsight is a wonderful thing, yet for the majority of us the team selection was wrong from day one.
Ashley Giles, who, as one of the nicest guys in cricket, does not deserve the current illness which faces his wife at this supposedly joyous time of year, should never have been selected above Monty Panesar, who had performed so admirably to become the world’s “leading finger spinner.”
Geraint Jones’ selection was more expected and indeed slightly more justifiable given the assumed advantages of his batting on pitches upon which he grew up on. His glove work has been reasonable, not exceptional, but his batting has been atrocious. His England career is surely now all but over.
Chris Read can consider himself slightly unfortunate to be dropped, especially in favour of Jones, but it still remains doubtful as to whether the man who averaged just 27.41 in the LVCC1 could have scored the mega runs which England required, what with the horrendous form of their number six.
A dismal Champions Trophy performance, during which he was dismissed by an out of sorts McGrath, was poor with the gloves and racked up scores of 2, 0 and 4, helped to explain his axing. Whilst he scored runs against Pakistan it must be taken into account that that was against a Pakistani attack missing their three premier strike bowlers, Shoaib Aktar, Mohammed Asif and Shabbir Ahmed.
His performances in the ODI series against Pakistan also did little to help his cause as he ended with scores of 0, 30, 21no and 4. What I am saying here is not that Jones should have played, but that maybe it was not Read who should have taken his place and should do so now. For the last year I have wanted to see somebody else given a chance. There is no shortage of talent with Matthew Prior and Steven Davies currently working with the academy squad.
Prior averaged 46.70 in first class cricket last season as Sussex lifted the championship. Surely he is deserving of a chance. The young prodigy Davies, who has already been hyped up unfairly as the next Adam Gilchrist is a splendid glove man. Beyond these two James Foster and Phil Mustard continue to go dutifully about their business in county cricket. One can only imagine how depressing it must be to be continually discounted because of this nonsensical tug of war between Jones and Read, which has only served to detract attention from the splendid performances of some of England’s future wicket keeping talent. If none of the aforementioned are considered along with Read it will be a sad loss for English cricket.
Of England’s batsman Alastair Cook has proved himself, but Ian Bell is still working his way there and as such looks unsuited to such a crucial position as number three in the batting line up. When Vaughan returns I hope he comes back as an opener where he has played his best cricket for England. Cook dropping down to three provides England with such a calming and stabilising presence, whilst Bell could move down in to the middle order, where he played so brilliantly against Pakistan, racking up three consecutive hundreds.
The aggression of Vaughan and Trescothick has been missing from England’s opening three and with it back England will look a more dominating side. Pietersen has played fantastic cricket at five, but maybe if he came in at four once more we would see some bigger scores from the man who is equally adept at playing pace and spin bowling, with aggression. Bell has a fantastic temperament ala Graham Thorpe and looks very good against spin. I believe that he could anchor the side at five and dropping him down the order removes some of the pressure on the man and importantly gets him away from the new ball, against which he can look suspect.
If Flintoff is to continue to play as a number six, there must be a rapid improvement. His streaky innings on the final day at Perth seemed merely to confirm that he can no longer be considered worthy of a place on batting alone. With that being the case he should not be batting in the top six. His career Test average is equal to that of Shaun Pollock, standing at 32.00. Pollock is a fantastic bowling all rounder who bats at number eight, as is Flintoff. Flintoff is no Jaques Kallis with the bat and similarly Kallis is no Flintoff with the ball. England must recognise this fallibility at number six and rectify it.
Pushed down to seven Flintoff could afford to play his aggressive innings ala Gilchrist, without the pressure of knowing that big runs are expected of him every time he goes out to bat. The question of who bats at six now becomes tricky though. If England want to maintain a five man attack without Flintoff in the top six, then they must select Prior, who is capable of scoring major runs at six. He is the best batsman of all the wicket keeping options.
This may be something that England have to spend a lot of time thinking about given their inability to take twenty wickets in a match at present. This would still give England a very long tail though, with Hoggard, Harmison, Jones and Panesar to follow, but hopefully the top seven batsman would be up to scoring the required runs. Stephen Harmison’s position can not be safe though. Of his five wickets at Perth two were McGrath and Clark, numbers ten and eleven. He is still not the bowler he was in early 2004 and has no consistency whatsoever.
Stuart Broad must now come into serious consideration as a replacement. Hyped up yet again, as the next McGrath, the Leicestershire pace man has the potential to be a great bowler and what’s more he is a consistent line and length bowler, with bounce, a bowler England currently lack. The son of former England opener Chris Broad, he can also bat and would solve the current number eight problem, with his inclusion going some way to shortening England's tail. With Simon Jones an almost certain returnee because of his ability to swing the ball both ways, that may jeopardise Matthew Hoggard’s position in a four man attack, although it would be harsh to drop England’s best bowler on tour so far, currently ranked sixth by the ICC. If that were to happen though it would open the door for the best wicket keeper, perhaps Chris Read or Steven Davies to bat at eight, with another batsman coming in at six.
That man would surely have to be Paul Collingwood. His two hundred shows that he has class and concentration. His ninety-two showed us he has guts. Unfortunately these two innings also demonstrated that whilst he can score on a flat deck, he is troubled by seam bowling outside his off stump on result pitches and this has proved to be his undoing so far in his international career. For this reason I do not believe that he should bat at four and at best should come in at five. He is though a talented player and worthy of a slot if England want to bat down to six, although he must watch out for the flamboyant Irishman, Ed Joyce, coming over the horizon, along with Marcus Trescothick. The experiences of fellow double centurions Brad Hodge, Jason Gillespie and Rob Key demonstrate that a cricketer is never safe and rightly so.
England must consider the above issues carefully and adapt the make up of their side for the future. Ultimately, England must focus on ending the batting collapses and consistently taking twenty wickets, if they want to become the best side in the world. At present they can’t do either against the undisputed leader of world cricket. It has been a lesson in ruthlessness and class that the Australian’s have dealt out and unfortunately it looks set to continue for the next two months. In time for the next domestic season, England must make some changes to their strategy and start building for the future. They must select a side for the summer which can bring England success in the next Ashes series in just two and a half years time.
Andrew Strauss (vc)
Michael Vaughan (c)
Alastair Cook
Kevin Pietersen
Ian Bell
Matthew Prior (wk) (Paul Collingwood)
Andrew Flintoff
Stuart Broad
Matthew Hoggard (Steven Davies/ Chris Read)
Monty Panesar
Simon Jones
Chris Pallett
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