2008 Season Preview: Warwickshire

Continuing our county previews, here is an assessment of Warwickshire's chances in 2008.

2007 in a Nutshell:
The season began impressively enough, with an early 12-match unbeaten streak in all competitions, with locum overseas player Dale Steyn most impressive. However, when he left the side began a steep downward curve. Despite getting to the semis of the FP Trophy, their season was amongst the worst in their history, with relegation in the Championship and Pro40 alike.

2008 Prospects
A hectic winter under Director of Cricket Ashley Giles will hopefully lead to rewards. Alex Loudon, he of the 'doosra' and a solitary England appearance, retired aged just 27, to take up a career in the city, while Adam Shantry headed to Glamorgan. Giles has reshaped the bowling attack but there are big question marks over each of Boyd Rankin, overseas man Monde Zondeki and veteran leg-spinner Ian Salisbury, who was surprisingly awarded a two-year contract. The best signing of all may just be Allan Donald as bowling coach. Overall, the feeling is Warwickshire may lack the penetration and consistency of runs to win promotion in the Championship. In the one-day game, it could prove a similar story: Tim Ambrose was their best one-day batsman last year, but he will surely miss the vast majority of games.

Batting:
Warwickshire's batting let them down too frequently last season, despite the admirable efforts of Darren Maddy. However, in Division Two the axis of Maddy, Johnathan Trott and Jim Troughton should prove prolific. Trott and Troughton have both had fleeting international careers, but have much to do to get near adding to their caps. While Troughton did well enough last campaign, Trott, in between his slightly baffling England appearances, averaged less than 20 in the Championship. The openers, Mike Powell and Ian Westwood, should also have some success. But a man who has a huge job on his hands is the unretired Tony Frost, who returns to keep wicket while Ambrose continues his international career. The hardest thing will be to come close to replacing Ambrose's runs.

Bowling:
Monde Zondeki is best remembered to Englishmen for a tenacious debut half-century at Headingley in 2003. He is an intriguing pick as overseas player; a brilliant start could lead to an irritating call-up to the South Africa touring squad once more, though he should stay until the end of the season. Donald could have a tremendous influence on him. Likewise Rankin, who starred in the World Cup, but suffered with injuries and, according to some, attitude, for Derbyshire last year. There are a series of other quicks - Tahir, James Anyon, Lee Daggett and Neil Carter - who have all produced the occasional fine performance, while there is also highly-rated Scottish quick Calum MacLeod. But one of them has to step up and claim 50 Championship wickets this season. With the uncertainties over the seam attack, expect the spinners to have large workloads. Ian Salisbury had a dire final season at Surrey, but was a key factor in their promotion in 2006. Ant Botha's Derbyshire first-class averages - 28 with the bat; 36 with the ball - suggests he is little more than a journeyman.

Probable side:
Championship
Westwood
Powell (Bell)
Maddy (c)
Trott
Troughton
Botha
Frost (wk) (Ambrose)
Salisbury
Zondeki
Tahir
Rankin

One-day
Carter
Maddy (c)
Trott
Troughton
Powell (Bell)
Botha
Frost (wk) (Ambrose)
Salisbury
Zondeki
Tahir
Rankin (Anyon)

Twenty20
Carter
Jayasuriya
Maddy (c)
Trott
Troughton
Botha
Frost (wk) (Ambrose)
Salisbury
Anyon
Tahir
Rankin

Warwickshire will probably line up with two spinners in the majority of games, as both Botha and Salisbury are handy batsmen. Their strength lies in the middle-order trio of Darren Maddy, Johnathan Trott and Jim Troughton. Sanath Jayasuriya will add an explosive dimension to the Twenty20 side - but his uber-canny left-arm spin could prove equally significant.

Key Man:
Skipper Darren Maddy could not be faulted for his efforts last season. He is invaluable in all three forms of the game, contributing runs, wickets, with his canny bowling, and fine fielding. His partnership with Jayasuriya in the Twenty20 Cup, may be the Bears best chance of silverware.

Rising Star:
His star rather waned last season, but many eyes will be on 6ft7in Boyd Rankin in his first season for Warwickshire. He possesses tremendous bounce, good pace and consistency when all is going well, and was terrific against Pakistan, South Africa and England in the World Cup. At 23, he now needs to develop the stamina to perform over a full season, for the good of both Warwickshire and Irish cricket. There were complaints over his attitude at Derbyshire - if he does not heed Allan Donald's advice however, he will only have himself to blame.

Captain and Coach:
Alongside Giles and Donald will be Dougie Brown, as the rather pretentiously-titled 'elite player coach'. The spectre of the mid-90s glory days looms large. Maddy will have rather more realistic goals during what is a time of 'transition' for Warwickshire.

Click on '2008 county preview' to view the previews for the other 17 counties.

Just jobs for the boys?

The news that Geoff Miller has been appointed National Selector is, in truth, pretty underwhelming. Miller and David Graveney, the outgoing Chairman of Selectors, have both had their jobs tinkered with a little, creating the suspicion of the new roles created by the Schofield Report merely being 'jobs for the boys'.

The two part-time selectors, James Whittaker and Ashley Giles, come as something of a surprise. Whittaker has had a distinguished involvement with cricket and may be able to provide a slightly 'fresh' perspective. Giles has been chosen for his proximity to the game, having played his last Test only 13 months ago, which in theory makes good sense. However, there are a few potential problems with his appointment. Will his role as Warwickshire's Director of Cricket create scope for a conflict of interest? And, perhaps more significantly, is he too close to the side? An amiable man who is particularly close to the skipper Michael Vaughan, will Giles have the gumption to advocate the dropping of an Ashes 2005 team-mate?

After the appointments of Mike Gatting and Hugh Morris in other roles created by the Schofield report, England look to have assembled a fairly sound team to help them avert their slump. Graveney did a reasonable job but, after 11 years and with many believing him to be too easily influenced by Ian Botham, the time is right for a change, although the decision to retain him in some capacity smacks of indecision and a lack of ruthlessness. It is also a great shame that, owing to the extra money and comfort provided by jobs in the media, Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain, two strong-willed men who should be at the forefront of England's attempts to close the gap on Australia, are nowhere to be seen. Competing with other countries is hard enough; but competing with Sky is near-impossible.

Who is England's second best spinner?

With a winter tour to Sri Lanka looming large, who are the candidates to join Monty Panesar on the plane?

Adil Rashid
After taking 6-67 on debut to bowl Yorkshire to victory, Adil Rashid was catapulted into the spotlight as England’s next great spinning hope. When it became apparent that he also possessed significant batting aptitude (he often bats at six for his county), people began talking of a “Spintoff”, capable of both taking five-fers with his leg-spin and scoring Test hundreds. The hype has since died down a little, especially after a mauling at the hands of Tendulkar for England Lions, but Rashid has continued to play a big role in Yorkshire’s championship push, while earning praise from even Shane Warne. He seems certain to play for England one day; but, at this stage, would he be better off with the A team?

Chris Schofield
Schofield’s selection in England’s preliminary Twenty20 World Cup squad was viewed as an enormous surprise, but it should not have been. In the domestic competition, he bowled with guile, accuracy, nerve and variation, with his quicker ball proving particularly effective, to claim 17 wickets at just nine. But, though very good in all one-day cricket this season, Schofield proved less effective in first-class cricket. If he is to eventually earn an England Test recall, it will only be after establishing himself in the limited overs side.

Jamie Dalrymple
Dalrymple fared well initially for England in ODIs, after making his first appearance last summer, scoring two excellent 50s and bowling his off-spin with immense control, and almost made his Test debut at Sydney this year. However, since then, he has regressed alarmingly, losing his one-day place after not doing enough with either bat or ball, and enduring an awful start to this first-class season. His temperament was certainly impressive; but it seems doubtful in the extreme he could worry good Test batsmen.

Gareth Batty
Batty has played seven Tests and ODIs but, though he has batted with great guts, especially against Muralitharan, his off-spin has never remotely come close to being threatening, as Brian Lara illustrated en route to his Test record score of 400. He is just 29, and has a feisty, combative temperament in the Paul Collingwood mould, yet, with his performances for Worcestershire unspectacular, England will surely opt to look elsewhere.

Ian Blackwell
In 2005/06, Blackwell bowled his left-arm spin tremendously in the sub-continent, and was comfortably England’s best one-day bowler of the winter; but injury prevented him cementing his position in the side thereafter. However, for all his one-day guile, Blackwell has rarely been effective with the ball in county cricket, and was unthreatening in his only Test. His batting has proved mightily effective in the first-class game – he averages 38 – yet he has batted woefully in his 34 ODIs. Additionally, his less-than-enthusiastic approach to fitness will also count against him.

Graeme Swann
Swann played a solitary ODI seven years ago, but disappointed the management team with a number of off-field indiscretions. However, at 28, he is now a much more mature cricketer – and person - and has benefited from a move to Notts, whom he helped to win the 2005 championship. In his years in the international wilderness, Swann’s off-spin gained more consistency, while his capacity to generate marked turn is not in doubt. Moreover, he is also an elegant batsman who could certainly make a good Test number eight, and has opened to great effect in the one-day game.

Gareth Keedy
Keedy can consider himself very unfortunate not to have played a Test; perhaps only his status as a batting rabbit has prevented him. He took 132 first-class wickets in 2003 and ’04, and must have pushed Giles close, but, at 32, he now looks highly unlikely to play. With England being loathe to play two left-arm spinners of limited batting ability, his best chance of selection would be in the event of a injury to Monty Panesar.

Ashley Giles
Giles, an important team man during England’s 2004-05 run of success, has suffered terribly with injuries since, and himself admits he may never play professional cricket again. He was totally ineffectual in his only two Tests since, in Australia, where he infamously dropped Ricky Ponting. At 34, and having not played all season, it seems unlikely in the extreme he will play for his country again.

The Verdict
A lot depends on the candidates' form for the remainder of the campaign but, if I had to pick a squad now, I would take Schofield for the ODIs and Swann and Rashid for the Tests.

The Tuesday Lunchtime View - Time for Ashley?

The tour is over. The team are on their way back with unexpected silverware and the world cup is just around the corner. All over the internet, armchair selectors are choosing the fifteen strong men and true who will finally win the World Cup for England. And it probably says a great deal abou the success of the last week that there is a general concensus towards the current squad.

There will be discussions about whether Vaughan is fit enough, the form of Strauss and where Pietersen fits back in (although those last two points may well sort themselves out). However, it is likely to be the make up of the bowling attack that will determine how successful we are over the next six weeks.

Traditionally, when one thinks of the West Indies, one remembers the fast bowling greats: Marshall, Holding, Garner, Roberts etc. However, on England's last tour of the Carribean, the most successful bowler on either side was Chris Gayle, in terms of wickets taken, average and economy.

This is not a one-off phenomenom. More and more in one day cricket we are seeing the benefits of taking the pace off the ball. In amongst Paul Collingwood's vital runs and sparkling fielding over the last week has been some pretty miserly bowling. Likewise, Monty Panesar has been able to exert pressure and reign in the Australian batsmen, normally after a pretty brisk start off Plunkett and Mahmood.

Collingwood, Flintoff and Panesar are now firmly established in the England team, but do we need two more fast bowlers, or would we be better off putting our faith in a slow bowler with good control and ideally a useful batsman and fielder to boot?

In short, it is time to bring back Ashley Giles into the bowling attack and play with 2-3 spinners, including Jamie Dalrymple.

My World Cup team is therefore:

Vaughan
Joyce
Bell
Pietersen
Collingwood
Flintoff
Dalrymple
Giles
Nixon
Panesar
Anderson

with Strauss, Bopara, Plunkett and Lewis as reserves

Control and penetration patently lacking

Post-mortem (2): England’s bowling

The unrelenting threat of England’s four-pronged seam attack in 2005 was probably the decisive factor in their series win; indeed, Australia never passed 400. This time, however, they have pulverised the English attack in four of their five innings, averaging almost 60 runs per wicket.

It all started so ominously with Steve Harmison’s horrendous opening ball landing at the feet of his skipper. Like Phil Defreitas’ opening delivery in the ‘94/95 series, it revealed much about English anxiety. Harmison finally came good, bowling with hostility and consistency, at Perth; but, by then, England were 2-0 down and defeat was inevitable. Harmison, who has now retired from ODIs, is remarkably unpredictable and mentally frail for one who was once ranked the world’s finest fast bowler. If he fares poorly in the next two Tests, then his place will come under enormous scrutiny, especially if Simon Jones returns.

The most damning indictment of Harmison came when Andrew Flintoff opted to give the new-ball to the out-of-form James Anderson ahead of him. Anderson’s selection for the first two games was largely down to his terrific bowling during England’s Test win in India last March, but he was never able to bowl accurately, let alone penetratingly. One of the reasons for his initial selection ahead of Sajid Mahmood was seen as being his superior consistency, yet his economy rate is an appalling 4.78 an over. Once the golden boy of English cricket, Anderson has to develop consistency of line and length and threat on docile services.

There is no man better for him to ask advice on improving these facets of his game than Matthew Hoggard, who suffered a miserable time down under four years ago but has responded with greater discipline and new tricks – such as, crucially, being able to swing the ball both ways. His 7-109 at Adelaide was testament to his improvement over this period, and surely proves he is currently England’s finest seamer.

A year ago, that title was Andrew Flintoff’s. He has been hampered by an ankle injury, it would appear, yet has still bowled almost as much as is normally the case. Although wholehearted, he has lacked a certain threat. If 2005 was Flintoff’s crowing glory, 2006, in spite – or maybe because of – him being made captain, has been a disaster. He averages just under 30 with the bat but, more alarmingly, 37 with the ball, figures that barely justify his place in the side.

His Lancashire colleague Mahmood has understandably let his frustration at being continually over-looked in the last Test be known. Is his skipper’s lack of faith such that he could justify giving him just two overs from the first 73 in Australia’s innings? If so, why was he playing? Mahmood has the raw attributes necessary to be a superb bowler, but, while his Test economy rate stands at 3.79 an over, he is too much of a gamble.

Monty Panesar, apparently, was too much of a gamble too, which is why Ashley Giles appeared in the first two Tests. Predictably ineffectual, he also failed with the bat on the sole occasion his contribution was significant and dropped Ricky Ponting en route to a match-turning century, before learning of his wife’s illness. It’s all gone horribly wrong for Giles, a fighter and genuinely amiable team man. If truth be known, it is unlikely he will play Test cricket again.

But Monty Panesar will, thankfully, play both Tests and ODIs, such is the impression he made at Perth, where he took five wickets in the first innings and bowled better than figures of 3-145 in the second suggest. His loop, turn and calm when being attacked mean his place in the side is now beyond doubt. England’s seam attack was never going to be as effective as in 2005 but, had they selected Panesar form the start, they would at least have offered a genuine wicket-taking threat with spin.

Panesar highlights the lunacy of Giles’s selection

Monty Panesar was, incredibly, dropped from the England side for the first two Ashes Tests. While he was away he was prematurely lauded as England’s saviour. Remarkably, though, his endeavours on his first day of Ashes cricket more than merited the hype.

Ashley Giles deserves enormous credit for his generous applause after each of Panesar’s dismissals. But the fact remains that it is scandalous he was ever selected on this tour. Giles has experience, spirit and is what Duncan Fletcher would call a ‘multi-dimensional cricketer’. He is the sort of player always described as “doing a job” and one of his virtues is deemed to be that “he won’t let anyone down”. His mediocre, though generally tidy, bowling had a place when England’s pace attack was at its peak, and he contributed well with the bat and in the gully. But his efforts were put into perspective by Panesar’s efforts, while Giles is currently not even fully fit.

Giles’ batting has improved to the extent that he has averaged 24 over his last 15 Tests. This is testament to his invaluable contributions from number eight, though, tellingly, he has only passed 32 twice in his last 26 innings. He almost invariably contributes, but very rarely makes a huge impact with the bat. His fielding has regressed as his injuries and age take their toil; but, most significantly of all, his bowling is a shadow of its former self. In his last 13 Tests, his bowling has yielded just 23 wickets at 63. Any argument over the Warwickshire player’s merits must end there.

What Panesar brings to the side, beside considerable turn, flight, bounce and pace, is an infectious enthusiasm for the game. His misdemeanours in the field must be tolerated; he is certainly progressing both here and with the bat; more pertinently, his mere presence appears to lift morale in a manner which solid, dependable Giles cannot.

Panesar has impressed greatly in his ability to cope with onslaughts. Ricky Ponting promised Australia’s batsmen would attack him. The end result was Panesar was considerably more expensive – 3.83 an over against a Test economy rate prior to this game of 2.58 – but recorded better overall figures than anyone dared to dream. The passage of spell in which Andrew Symonds attacked Panesar was enthralling; was I alone in being confident throughout of England’s cult hero coming through?

Taking five wickets on the opening day of a Test match is a phenomenal achievement for any spinner. For a man who was risibly England’s second-choice spinner when the series began to do so merely highlights the folly of the selection policy that saw him omitted from the first two Tests. We can only wonder what might have been.

History will rank Giles’ selection over the Luton-born spinner on a par with Nasser Hussain’s decision to insert Australia at Brisbane four years ago. But we can only live in the present; England, thanks to Panesar and the excellent Steve Harmison, have responded impressively to the Adelaide fiasco and edged the first day.

Tagged with: Monty Panesar, Ashley Giles