Our second man to watch is new Glamoragn skipper Alviro Petersen.
Glamorgan played a high price indeed for his signing. After his appointment, ex-skipper Jamie Dalrymple left the club, director of cricket Matt Maynard resigned and his son, promising young batsman Tom, followed out the door. Even without the winter upheaval, Petersen already faced a tough challenge – joining a new club as captain is notoriously difficult. The best way to stabilise matters will be to make runs. Petersen, who scored a century on his Test debut in India last year, should bring solidity to Glamorgan’s top-order, and will probably bat at three.
Thursday, 7 April 2011
County men to watch - Simon Jones
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.
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.
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
2011 Season Preview - Yorkshire
2010 in a Nutshell
Favourites to go down at the beginning of the season, Yorkshire nearly ended up winning the Championship, being one of three teams still in contention on the final day of the season. The capitulation to Kent when trying to push for a positive result cost in the end, but third place was a good return on the year with a young home-grown (ish) team
On the batting front, it was a standout season for Adam Lyth. Promoted to opener, he scored 1500 runs to beat Rudolph to the top of the averages. Anthony McGrath also topped 1000 runs, while Jonathan Bairstow, in his first full season, and captain Andrew Gale also got close, despite Gale missing matches to captain England Lions.
Adil Rashid topped the bowling list as well as averaging 45 with the bat. Less heralded were Steve Patterson and Oliver Hannon Dalby who took their chances and plenty of wickets while Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad were away with England.
In the One Day competitions, getting to a semi-final in the Clydesdale Bank trophy was almost exclusively down to Rudolph, who scored 755 at nearly 95 opening the batting. He will be missed this year. The less said about the 20:20 campaign the better.
2011 Prospects
Jacques Rudolph has gone, while Ryan Sidebottom has come back. This obviously strengthens the bowling considerably while weakening the batting. It also means that there is likely to be an all Yorkshire team this season. Joe Root or Joe Sayers (hopefully now fully recovered from illness and injury) are likely to be those to benefit from the additional batting place. However, with Lyth and Gale looking at the vacant place in England’s middle order, the likes of McGrath and Bairstow will also need to step up to the plate to make up the missing runs.
The return of Sidebottom could mean a pace attack of Sidebottom, Bresnan and Shahzad. In reality Bres in particular will not be seen much in Yorkshire this season following his excellent winter with England, which may give a chance to the promising Moin Ashraf. The spin attack also looks strong with Adil Rashid looking for force his way back into England reckoning, with David Wainwright and Azeem Rafiq as back up.
Likely team
I’d go with
Joe Root, Adam Lyth, Anthony McGrath, Andrew Gale, Jonathan Bairstow (wk), Adil Rashid, Tim Bresnan/ Steve Patterson, Ajmal Shahzad, David Wainwright, Ryan Sidebottom, Oliver Hannon-Dalby
With Joe Sayers and Moin Ashraf in waiting.
Key Man
With the return of Ryan, Adil Rashid’s runs may be more critical than his wickets this season. However, in the absence of Bresnan, Rashid is the critical part of this team with bat and ball. A standout season could see the Pennant return to Headingly and England working out how they can play him and Swann in the same team.
Rising Star
Over the last three years, Andrew Gale, Adam Lyth and Jonathan Bairstow have established themselves as highly promising batsmen. This year, it is the turn of Joe Root.
Coach and Captain
Same as last year, with Martyn Moxon and Andrew Gale. Gale won a lot of plaudits for his captaincy as well as his batting last year. He's a strong contender for Paul Collingwood's spot in England's middle order and it's not beyond the realms of possiblity that he could be England's next captain.
Prediction
Yorkshire, Durham, Somerset and Nottinghamshire will be the top 4 in the Championship in some order. I don’t expect any excitement in the shorter form of the game though!
Favourites to go down at the beginning of the season, Yorkshire nearly ended up winning the Championship, being one of three teams still in contention on the final day of the season. The capitulation to Kent when trying to push for a positive result cost in the end, but third place was a good return on the year with a young home-grown (ish) team
On the batting front, it was a standout season for Adam Lyth. Promoted to opener, he scored 1500 runs to beat Rudolph to the top of the averages. Anthony McGrath also topped 1000 runs, while Jonathan Bairstow, in his first full season, and captain Andrew Gale also got close, despite Gale missing matches to captain England Lions.
Adil Rashid topped the bowling list as well as averaging 45 with the bat. Less heralded were Steve Patterson and Oliver Hannon Dalby who took their chances and plenty of wickets while Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad were away with England.
In the One Day competitions, getting to a semi-final in the Clydesdale Bank trophy was almost exclusively down to Rudolph, who scored 755 at nearly 95 opening the batting. He will be missed this year. The less said about the 20:20 campaign the better.
2011 Prospects
Jacques Rudolph has gone, while Ryan Sidebottom has come back. This obviously strengthens the bowling considerably while weakening the batting. It also means that there is likely to be an all Yorkshire team this season. Joe Root or Joe Sayers (hopefully now fully recovered from illness and injury) are likely to be those to benefit from the additional batting place. However, with Lyth and Gale looking at the vacant place in England’s middle order, the likes of McGrath and Bairstow will also need to step up to the plate to make up the missing runs.
The return of Sidebottom could mean a pace attack of Sidebottom, Bresnan and Shahzad. In reality Bres in particular will not be seen much in Yorkshire this season following his excellent winter with England, which may give a chance to the promising Moin Ashraf. The spin attack also looks strong with Adil Rashid looking for force his way back into England reckoning, with David Wainwright and Azeem Rafiq as back up.
Likely team
I’d go with
Joe Root, Adam Lyth, Anthony McGrath, Andrew Gale, Jonathan Bairstow (wk), Adil Rashid, Tim Bresnan/ Steve Patterson, Ajmal Shahzad, David Wainwright, Ryan Sidebottom, Oliver Hannon-Dalby
With Joe Sayers and Moin Ashraf in waiting.
Key Man
With the return of Ryan, Adil Rashid’s runs may be more critical than his wickets this season. However, in the absence of Bresnan, Rashid is the critical part of this team with bat and ball. A standout season could see the Pennant return to Headingly and England working out how they can play him and Swann in the same team.
Rising Star
Over the last three years, Andrew Gale, Adam Lyth and Jonathan Bairstow have established themselves as highly promising batsmen. This year, it is the turn of Joe Root.
Coach and Captain
Same as last year, with Martyn Moxon and Andrew Gale. Gale won a lot of plaudits for his captaincy as well as his batting last year. He's a strong contender for Paul Collingwood's spot in England's middle order and it's not beyond the realms of possiblity that he could be England's next captain.
Prediction
Yorkshire, Durham, Somerset and Nottinghamshire will be the top 4 in the Championship in some order. I don’t expect any excitement in the shorter form of the game though!
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Petition - Keep the world in the World Cup
In my outrage at the ICC's decision to (a) limit the next World Cup to 10 teams (meaning Bangladesh and Zimbabwe will be ensured of nine games each) and (b) make the tournament a closed shop - even though Ireland are ranked above Zimbabwe - I have made a petition.
Please sign it here - and spread the word if you can.
Please sign it here - and spread the word if you can.
World Cup 2011 Dream Team
Ignoring for a moment the controversy about the ICC's quite outrageous decision to exclude the minnows from the 2015 World Cup, here is a team of the tournament.
Sachin Tendulkar
An inevitable pick. Tendulkar batted as well as he did in the 1996 World Cup, when he was top scorer. He was 18 runs off being so in 2011, and his centuries against England and South Africa were both magisterial, showing how devastating orthodox batting can still be in ODIs. It’s unlikely he will play in 2015 – but not completely preposterous either.
Tillakaretne Dilshan
Though there was barely a Dilscoop in sight, Dilshan consistently got Sri Lanka off to brilliant starts, scoring two centuries and a disciplined 73 in the semi-final. No one scored more runs than his 500, and there were also eight wickets with his canny offspin, including a spectacular caught-and-bowled in the final.
Jonathan Trott
Certainly not a fashionable selection, but Trott was simply the most consistent batsman in the tournament. In six of his seven innings he managed at least 47, unobtrusively accumulating at the formidable average of 60. To those who deride him for being too slow, it’s worth pointing out that Trott’s strike rate was 80, eight more than those of Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis.
Kumar Sangakkara
Sangakkara averaged 93 with the bat; always a model of calm at the crease, his off-drive is one of the finest sights in cricket today. He also kept well and captained intelligently, utilising his spinners to suffocate England and New Zealand in the quarter and semi-finals, and would have hugely deserved to be a World Cup winner.
AB de Villiers
It was de Villiers’ run out in the quarter-final that had everyone mentioning South Africa’s history of chokes. He batted so serenely all tournament, able to change tempo at will, that all looked well with him at the crease. De Villiers hit two centuries and a 39-ball 52 in the win against India, combining finesse with six-hitting ability, as well as fielding with his trademark vivacity and athleticism.
Yuvraj Singh
It’s remarkable to think he was dropped less than a year ago, seen as unfit and unfocused. Yuvraj was deservedly named man of the tournament. With the bat, he was explosive yet possessed a calm it has often lacked, as a tournament average of 90 proved. As India’s fifth bowler, he was terrific, bowling his left-arm spin with control to claim 15 wickets.
MS Dhoni (wicket-keeper, captain)
Dhoni’s nerveless 91* was one of the greatest innings ever seen in a World Cup final. While he played big shots, these were done with selectivity and an absence of risk. Winning the man of the match award in the final was reward for leading India superbly throughout, shuffling his bowling intelligently and being more willing than most skippers to keep slips in during the middle overs.s
Shahid Afridi
No one knows quite was happened to the batting but as a pure spin-bowler Afridi was the tournament’s best. His top spinners were consistently hard to dominate, while he surprised batsman with quicker balls and occasional googlies. In total he claimed 21 wickets at fewer than 13 apiece. He also proved a good leader of Pakistan, with players seeming to genuinely enjoy playing under him.
Tim Southee
Few expected New Zealand to make the semi-finals; that they did was in large part down to Southee, who provided the wicket-taking threat his side have lacked since Shane Bond’s retirement. With good pace, late swing and a useful bouncer, Southee claimed 18 wickets. The 2015 tournament will be in New Zealand; Southee will be 26 then and should cause great damage.
Zaheer Khan
India were nothing like as formidable with the ball as with the bat, making Zaheer’s performance critical. He rose to the challenge magnificently, bowling with subtle variations – including a bare-knuckle slower ball that dismissed Mike Hussey – and great skill from both over and round the wicket. Zaheer relished bowling during powerplays, and his match-turning yorker to Andrew Strauss was a contender for ball of the tournament.
Dale Steyn
Steyn’s spell to transform the game against India – five wickets for four runs in 2.4 overs – was the product of one of the game’s most lethal Yorkers, which were lethal throughout the tournament. He is also a thinking bowler – more so than he sometimes gets credit for – and used slower balls and bouncers with selectivity to thrive on the subcontinental tracks. Steyn’s twelve wickets cost just 16 apiece, with a parsimonious economy rate (4.15) too.
Twelfth man: Ray Price
A surprising pick, but Price was outstanding for Zimbabwe, going for just 3.44 runs an over during the six games, as well as claiming nine wickets. His guile means he is well-suited to bowling his left-arm spin during the powerplays, as was illustrated with 2/21 against Pakistan. Price’s facial expressions after deliveries also never failed to provide humour.
See how it compares with our XI of the last World Cup.
Sachin Tendulkar
An inevitable pick. Tendulkar batted as well as he did in the 1996 World Cup, when he was top scorer. He was 18 runs off being so in 2011, and his centuries against England and South Africa were both magisterial, showing how devastating orthodox batting can still be in ODIs. It’s unlikely he will play in 2015 – but not completely preposterous either.
Tillakaretne Dilshan
Though there was barely a Dilscoop in sight, Dilshan consistently got Sri Lanka off to brilliant starts, scoring two centuries and a disciplined 73 in the semi-final. No one scored more runs than his 500, and there were also eight wickets with his canny offspin, including a spectacular caught-and-bowled in the final.
Jonathan Trott
Certainly not a fashionable selection, but Trott was simply the most consistent batsman in the tournament. In six of his seven innings he managed at least 47, unobtrusively accumulating at the formidable average of 60. To those who deride him for being too slow, it’s worth pointing out that Trott’s strike rate was 80, eight more than those of Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis.
Kumar Sangakkara
Sangakkara averaged 93 with the bat; always a model of calm at the crease, his off-drive is one of the finest sights in cricket today. He also kept well and captained intelligently, utilising his spinners to suffocate England and New Zealand in the quarter and semi-finals, and would have hugely deserved to be a World Cup winner.
AB de Villiers
It was de Villiers’ run out in the quarter-final that had everyone mentioning South Africa’s history of chokes. He batted so serenely all tournament, able to change tempo at will, that all looked well with him at the crease. De Villiers hit two centuries and a 39-ball 52 in the win against India, combining finesse with six-hitting ability, as well as fielding with his trademark vivacity and athleticism.
Yuvraj Singh
It’s remarkable to think he was dropped less than a year ago, seen as unfit and unfocused. Yuvraj was deservedly named man of the tournament. With the bat, he was explosive yet possessed a calm it has often lacked, as a tournament average of 90 proved. As India’s fifth bowler, he was terrific, bowling his left-arm spin with control to claim 15 wickets.
MS Dhoni (wicket-keeper, captain)
Dhoni’s nerveless 91* was one of the greatest innings ever seen in a World Cup final. While he played big shots, these were done with selectivity and an absence of risk. Winning the man of the match award in the final was reward for leading India superbly throughout, shuffling his bowling intelligently and being more willing than most skippers to keep slips in during the middle overs.s
Shahid Afridi
No one knows quite was happened to the batting but as a pure spin-bowler Afridi was the tournament’s best. His top spinners were consistently hard to dominate, while he surprised batsman with quicker balls and occasional googlies. In total he claimed 21 wickets at fewer than 13 apiece. He also proved a good leader of Pakistan, with players seeming to genuinely enjoy playing under him.
Tim Southee
Few expected New Zealand to make the semi-finals; that they did was in large part down to Southee, who provided the wicket-taking threat his side have lacked since Shane Bond’s retirement. With good pace, late swing and a useful bouncer, Southee claimed 18 wickets. The 2015 tournament will be in New Zealand; Southee will be 26 then and should cause great damage.
Zaheer Khan
India were nothing like as formidable with the ball as with the bat, making Zaheer’s performance critical. He rose to the challenge magnificently, bowling with subtle variations – including a bare-knuckle slower ball that dismissed Mike Hussey – and great skill from both over and round the wicket. Zaheer relished bowling during powerplays, and his match-turning yorker to Andrew Strauss was a contender for ball of the tournament.
Dale Steyn
Steyn’s spell to transform the game against India – five wickets for four runs in 2.4 overs – was the product of one of the game’s most lethal Yorkers, which were lethal throughout the tournament. He is also a thinking bowler – more so than he sometimes gets credit for – and used slower balls and bouncers with selectivity to thrive on the subcontinental tracks. Steyn’s twelve wickets cost just 16 apiece, with a parsimonious economy rate (4.15) too.
Twelfth man: Ray Price
A surprising pick, but Price was outstanding for Zimbabwe, going for just 3.44 runs an over during the six games, as well as claiming nine wickets. His guile means he is well-suited to bowling his left-arm spin during the powerplays, as was illustrated with 2/21 against Pakistan. Price’s facial expressions after deliveries also never failed to provide humour.
See how it compares with our XI of the last World Cup.
Helping out the ICC – and boy do they need it
Tim has covered the main points that are wrong with the ICC’s decision to restrict the number of teams in the next World Cup. I would only point out additionally that the next World Cup is in effect a closed tournament. There is no scope for anyone to qualify and in my mind is not a genuine world tournament.
However, where the ICC have got something right is that the tournament needed changing. The tournament goes on for far too long, there are still too many games and until something more positive is done to help the likes of Kenya and Canada, too many of the games involving the Associate teams were non-contests. Given the current spirit of “We’re all in this together”, here is my format for the next World Cup.
Number of teams: 12
The eight quarter finalists from the 2011 tournament qualify automatically. The other four have to compete against other interested nations to qualify. In future years, nine teams will qualify from the previous tournament Teams to be split into two groups of 6 playing round robin. The top four teams go into quarter finals. The other two teams go into a play off.
Two games per day. This gives 15 days for the first round of matches, but allows for 3 weekends of play.
The two play off matches between teams 5 and 6 in each group come before the quarter finals, filling the off days.
One quarter final per day(Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday). Play off final for a place in the next World Cup on the following Tuesday
Semi finals Wednesday and Thursday
Final on the Sunday
This gives us a tournament in four weeks, gives the best teams the best chance of winning the tournament but also gives the developing teams something to play for all the way through the tournament. More importantly, it means that the World Cup is not a closed shop for the established teams, but other countries get the chance to play on the biggest stage.
However, where the ICC have got something right is that the tournament needed changing. The tournament goes on for far too long, there are still too many games and until something more positive is done to help the likes of Kenya and Canada, too many of the games involving the Associate teams were non-contests. Given the current spirit of “We’re all in this together”, here is my format for the next World Cup.
Number of teams: 12
The eight quarter finalists from the 2011 tournament qualify automatically. The other four have to compete against other interested nations to qualify. In future years, nine teams will qualify from the previous tournament Teams to be split into two groups of 6 playing round robin. The top four teams go into quarter finals. The other two teams go into a play off.
Two games per day. This gives 15 days for the first round of matches, but allows for 3 weekends of play.
The two play off matches between teams 5 and 6 in each group come before the quarter finals, filling the off days.
One quarter final per day(Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday). Play off final for a place in the next World Cup on the following Tuesday
Semi finals Wednesday and Thursday
Final on the Sunday
This gives us a tournament in four weeks, gives the best teams the best chance of winning the tournament but also gives the developing teams something to play for all the way through the tournament. More importantly, it means that the World Cup is not a closed shop for the established teams, but other countries get the chance to play on the biggest stage.
Oh ICC, what have you done?
So two days after the end of an enthralling World Cup, what do we get? The decision to limit the 2015 World Cup to ten teams and, moreover, give no opportunity whatsoever for other sides to qualify is staggering in its closed-mindedness. It suggests the ICC is nothing less than a cartel motivated solely by money. Which is probably about right.
There is simply no justification for the decision. Cricket should be allowed to grow in the countries that have shown progress - none more so than Ireland. Imagine, if you will, how well Ireland could have done with their best player - Eoin Morgan - not taken away from them by England?
Instead, the associates have effectively been told they are wasting their time trying to improve in the longer formats of the game. The message from the ICC is that they should stick to Twenty20 - made into a 16-team tournament in the most futile of gestures. Just when Ireland and a few others - most notably Afghanistan (who would have qualified for this tournament had the qualification process not been concluded two years ago, and almost certainly given a better representation of the minnows than Kenya and Canada, another mistake on the ICC's part)- seemed on the cusp of genuine progress, they have been told it's all a waste of time.
Instead we will witness a 10-team round robin, which will actually be more shorn of drama than this World Cup. Unless they improve a great deal, we will have to witness Bangladesh, ZImbabwe and even the West Indies being continually thrashed. A different format with more teams would actually have reduced the number of games between the best and those outside the top eight.
Today is indeed a dark day for the game, just as the Irish are proclaiming. As an interesting aside, I'd be fascinated to see the TV ratings for the games this tournament. Fans love underdogs and upsets, and I'd wager that Ireland's victory over England, as well as the Netherlands' game with England, pulled in significantly more than, say, New Zealand's game against Zimbabwe. It may actually be that, in limiting the tournament to ten and creating no scope for any sort of fairytale qualification (such as Afghanistan's to the last World Twenty20) the ICC are actually reducing the commercial value of their product - and how apt that would be.
William Porterfield was right when he said the 2015 tournament will now be nothing more than a "glorified Champions Trophy". It will be much the poorer for that.
Tell the ICC what you think - email enquiries@icc-cricket.com or complain on their twitter account. The Cricket With Balls campaign against the decision can be found here.
There is simply no justification for the decision. Cricket should be allowed to grow in the countries that have shown progress - none more so than Ireland. Imagine, if you will, how well Ireland could have done with their best player - Eoin Morgan - not taken away from them by England?
Instead, the associates have effectively been told they are wasting their time trying to improve in the longer formats of the game. The message from the ICC is that they should stick to Twenty20 - made into a 16-team tournament in the most futile of gestures. Just when Ireland and a few others - most notably Afghanistan (who would have qualified for this tournament had the qualification process not been concluded two years ago, and almost certainly given a better representation of the minnows than Kenya and Canada, another mistake on the ICC's part)- seemed on the cusp of genuine progress, they have been told it's all a waste of time.
Instead we will witness a 10-team round robin, which will actually be more shorn of drama than this World Cup. Unless they improve a great deal, we will have to witness Bangladesh, ZImbabwe and even the West Indies being continually thrashed. A different format with more teams would actually have reduced the number of games between the best and those outside the top eight.
Today is indeed a dark day for the game, just as the Irish are proclaiming. As an interesting aside, I'd be fascinated to see the TV ratings for the games this tournament. Fans love underdogs and upsets, and I'd wager that Ireland's victory over England, as well as the Netherlands' game with England, pulled in significantly more than, say, New Zealand's game against Zimbabwe. It may actually be that, in limiting the tournament to ten and creating no scope for any sort of fairytale qualification (such as Afghanistan's to the last World Twenty20) the ICC are actually reducing the commercial value of their product - and how apt that would be.
William Porterfield was right when he said the 2015 tournament will now be nothing more than a "glorified Champions Trophy". It will be much the poorer for that.
Tell the ICC what you think - email enquiries@icc-cricket.com or complain on their twitter account. The Cricket With Balls campaign against the decision can be found here.
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