More Ramblings

One can only dream

Since his first couple of games of the season Marcus Trescothick has come to live and so have Somerset. 978 runs before the end of May with an average of 81.5; if you take out the first two games of the season he has scored an astonishing 930 runs @ 116.25.

One has to wonder if he was still available for England duty what would have happened. In his time he was a good England player; no better, no worse. He was capable in test cricket occasionally of match winning centuries made at good pace (Oval 2003, Johannesburg 2005) but also of mediocrity against the best of Australia (1013 runs @ 33.76 with no hundreds). 

In ODI cricket he was a very good player and has been desperately missed in recent years. Powerful and destructive but also capable of going onto make a decisive score from the top of the order, if England had had the use of him in recent years they may well have been a leading light in ODI cricket instead of an also ran. 

It is not inconceivable that England could have named an ODI team with the talent of Trescothick(35), Pietersen(30), Morgan(24) and Flintoff(33) for the 2011 CWC. Of course this is fanciful and injury and illness led to only one participating during the CWC, but it is a whimsical thought of what could have been possible had things gone a different route.

Rashid's Nightmare 

Adil Rashid seems to have taken the opposite approach to Trescothick, starting brilliantly against Worcestershire and since then falling away dramatically, so much so that the BBC Leeds commentary team were discussing possibly dropping Rashid. 28 wickets @ 30.53 is not a terrible haul early in the season when wickets aren’t particularly favourable but if we take his figures against Worcestershire away it paints a different picture, 17 wickets @ 48.94. Couple the bowling with his batting average of 19.18 and this really hasn’t been a great season so far. Credit has to be given to the England setup for not giving into the clamour to select Rashid as at present he is still way too inconsistent.

Typical KP bull#$%^ but droppable?

I’m no great fan of Kevin Pietersen, I think he is a bit of a moron who talks a load of bullshit. His recent quote about how he would average 70 if he batted for himself rather than for his team is fanciful. This is obviously bullshit, we’ve seen time and again that he doesn’t have the patience or mental resilience to bat like Jonathan Trott. On days three and four of the latest test match Sri Lanka tried to bore Trott out by bowling wide of the off stump and into the rough outside his leg stump, Trott ploughed on all day never relenting. You can hardly imagine Pietersen just letting the ball go all day and scoring the runs in the manner of Trott. There is no doubt that Pietersen is brilliantly talented, on a whole different level to any of the England batsmen but he just doesn’t have the mental capability to play in a similar manner to Trott or Cook. He has to dominate, he gets bored batting if he’s not hitting boundaries.

His form in recent years has been depressingly inconsistent and he now seems to have a massive mental block against slow left armers. Despite all of this I for one would not drop him. To drop him you need a suitable replacement that can do a better job. Who would you prefer walking to the wicket, Ravi Bopara or Kevin Pietersen? I can’t imagine any team in the world preferring to face Pietersen than Bopara. For all Pietersen’s current faults he is still the most capable person of destroying an attack and changing the momentum of a match. To replace him someone needs to do something outstanding in county cricket and no-one (Marcus Trescothick apart) deserves his place. Bopara has done OK but nothing special; he needs to do something special to displace someone of the quality of Pietersen.

Eoin Morgan and the IPL

Eoin Morgan returned from the IPL only on Saturday, but yesterday on the first day of his English summer cracked the Sri Lankan bowlers all around the park. If rumour is to be believed England have already decided on the formation of their squad for the first test with Morgan to miss out with Bopara the chosen replacement. I think this is the right decision; Bopara gives England another bowling option and has had a solid month of county cricket under his belt.

The notion put forward by some members of the press that Morgan is some kind of mercenary is bit harsh considering he is hardly some rogue player going against the establishment. If he is then there is a lengthy list of other English players that should also bear the brunt of criticism.

The list of English players put forward to the IPL auction was long and strange. The fact that Morgan was the only player bought (injuries, Shah and Lumb apart) and has played is hardly his fault. He has hardly gone against the regime. The following players put themselves forward for the IPL and have at some time represented England:-  

Ajmal Shahzad, Chris Tremlett, Graham Swann, Ian Bell, James Anderson, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright, Joe Denly, Matt Prior, Michael Yardy, Monty Panesar, Ravi Bopara, Ryan Sidebottam,Saj Mahmood,Samit Patel,Tim Bresnan,Usman Afzaal, Owais Shah, Michael Lumb and Dimitri Mascarenhas.

Plus other luminaries of such calibre of Adrian Shankar, Simon Cook, Wes Durston and others who aren’t even well known players in their own counties let alone country. In all 30+ English players put their names forward to the IPL auction. Only 7 players were picked up by teams, 4 of which (Broad, Collingwood, Pietersen, Mascarenhas) would later pull out with injuries.

Ravi Bopara’s name is also listed, Bopara later turned down an offer to play at the IPL but he did initially put his name forward. I have no problem with that – the money they make in the IPL is disproportionately high to anything else they are going to earn in their life as a cricketer and most would be stupid to turn down such an opportunity. It was later after initially not been picked up at the auction that he rejected an offer to play in the IPL.  This was a wise and opportunistic choice for a couple of reasons:-

·         given the recent retirement of Paul Collingwood a space had opened up in the England middle order

·         and secondly the man in possession so to speak of the backup batting spot, namely Eoin Morgan, had already signed up for the IPL and was going to miss a sustained spell at the start of the English season.

Sometimes luck or fate if you like can play a huge part in a career. If Morgan had broken his finger in the world cup rather than the ODI series in Australia he surely would have missed the IPL and had had plenty of match practice in English conditions. It’s up to Bopara now to make the most of this opportunity that is likely to be thrust upon him.

In conclusion Bopara should get the no.6 spot because he's had a good start to the season and is used to English conditions but Morgan should not be chastised for his choice to play in the IPL

Weekly Ramblings

Runners? – The ICC are currently looking at implementing a policy that runners are not allowed in all forms of international cricket. I can see why they are thinking of such a change; there has been for some time misuse of this rule, especially in ODI cricket. On numerous occasions batsmen who are simply tired or have cramp have been allowed to have a runner. This is simply wrong – if their body is not conditioned sufficiently enough to last an innings that that is entirely their own fault.

A proposal that would get rid of this misuse of the rule was if you banned runners in ODI and T20 cricket but continued to allow it in test cricket. If someone is properly injured in ODI cricket this is unfortunate but the game only lasts at most 100 overs and teams should be able to recover from the loss of one batsman if they only have to bat 50 overs. Test cricket is entirely different; there is far less chance of a batsmen calling for a runner when tired because simply you’re rarely doing enough constant running between the wickets to be tired, for this reason the rule in test cricket is rarely if ever misused. So why get rid of the rule in test cricket? Whereas in ODI cricket losing a player injured is not an insurmountable position in test cricket it can be critical especially early in the match so why hinder them more by not allowing a runner for a genuine injury.

Edgbaston Wicket - The wicket at Edgbaston this past week has come under considerable scrutiny and the belief is that if there had been a bowling attack of quality rather than the injury hit Warwickshire attack and the ageing Worcestershire attack then the game would have been over after two days. Erratic bounce and the two paced wicket has led to a folly of injured and disgruntled batsmen and as a result Warwickshire been deducted 8 points (they are in the process of a spurious appeal, apparently not happy with the investigation rather than the result – they should just be happy not to have gained the full 24 point deduction for an unfit pitch to my mind). 

Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell haven’t exactly been enjoying the return to county cricket and I assume it’s been a bit of a culture shock playing back to back games at Edgbaston after their ashes proliferation of runs. I just hope by the time I go to Edgbaston for the eagerly awaited England V India test match in August the wicket has settled down and the ground restructuring finished, otherwise the game may not last long and the ECB bigwigs may not be so keen to return to Edgbaston in the future which will be a shame.

Stuart Broad – I have to admit I have a mancrush on Stuart Broad. I adore his cricket skills and his attitude on the cricket pitch and to now I have never questioned his place in the England team but now with the first test fast approaching I am beginning to have a few concerns. In fact Broad’s test career is entirely ordinary averaging 35 with the ball and has been the least successful of the bowlers in the last year.

 

His last year has been stop start; rested from the Bangladesh home tests, injured early in the ashes and world cup and has never had an extended spell in the team. He also came into the test team early and as such has had little time to develop his bowling skills. In his absence in the ashes, England found more than capable replacements and possibly more talented bowlers at present. Chris Tremlett seems to be in the form of his life and seems to be a better model of Broad; aware of what length to bowl at different times, able to take wickets with the new ball and scare batsmen with the lift he gets from the pitch. Tim Bresnan took his chance just as well showing good skills moving the ball just enough to dismiss batsmen with new and old ball and showing exemplary control. Potentially both are better bowlers at current than Broad and deserve on the back of their ashes performances to start the summer ahead of Broad.

The problem for Broad is he doesn’t swing the new ball and isn’t a prominent swinger of the old ball which especially in English conditions really narrows down his options for taking wickets. Unlike Tremlett he is not quite sure of the exact role he should be playing, pulled one way by the captain and the opposite by others.

Broad akin to Andrew Flintoff is so much more than the averages he possesses. He is the snarl at the opposing batsmen after a four through the slips; the growl at his own fielder after a lapse in the field; and the unrelenting sprint to the crease regardless of the in match situation. Broad is the guy England go to when in trouble, willing to bowl to the exact instructions of the captain and put his body on the line for the good of the team. He is also a more than fine batsman with a test match hundred to his name made in tough match conditions. More than anything he is a competitor, ready for the battle and ready to shed blood for his country.

One out of Bresnan, Broad or Tremlett is likely going to miss out on the first test of the summer and in honesty none of them deserve that fate given how they have performed and I am glad I am not the one telling the unlucky one the news. It will probably be Bresnan to miss out, but Broad will be sure to feel a good deal of pressure this summer from the troop of quality seamers rallying behind him and with the added pressure of T20 captaincy this could be a big summer for Stuart Broad.

Early Season Progress Report

Were nearly a month into the season so far and it’s time to have a look at how the players I predicted big things of have been performing.

Chesney Hughes – Hasn’t had the greatest start to the season, struggling on the early season wickets to make a big score. The interesting thing has been Derbyshire use of his slow left arm bowling. Last season he was rarely used but it has obviously developed and he has even opened the bowling in the cb40 and is  their leading wicket taker. (191 runs @ 27.28, 3 wickets @ 61; 84 runs @21, 7 wickets @17.42)

Scott Borthwick – A so so start to the season.  Has picked up cheap wickets whilst not bowling particularly often and contributed some runs without making a big contribution with the bat. (152runs @ 21.71, 16 wickets @23.12; 0 runs @1 innings, 5 overs @ 28 runs)

Ben Stokes – One brilliant game but countered by a run of other low scores. Some people have been talking him up as a possible ODI player this season but at the moment he still looks a bit too much of a biffer in the Ian Blackwell mould without the technique for international cricket but is still only 19. (292 runs @ 42.28,10 wickets @27.80; 115 runs @38.33, 3 wickets@ 8.66)

James Harris – A good start to the season, plenty of wickets and for that matter runs and is the leading light in the Glamorgan set up. Has started playing more one day cricket probably as a way of breaking into the England line up which in the past he was generally rested from. (126 runs @31.50, 13 wickets at 27.07; 7 wickets @15.42, 37 runs)

Danny Briggs – A solid start to the year in both forms of the game. Has done nothing outstanding but has been reliable taking plenty of wickets on not the most responsive of wickets. Unfortunately he is a real rabbit with the bat (18 wickets @ 34.11; 3 wickets @ 26.66)

James Vince - Not much to speak off until this past week where he scored a big hundred. Goes almost under the radar these days, is solid and conventional, and needs to score more runs consistently if he wants to be noticed. (277 runs@ 46.16; 45 runs @22.5) 

Nathan Buck- A rather poor start to the season and has been overshadowed by others. Has been slightly unlucky but still hasn’t taken proper advantage of the early season wickets and maybe having a hangover from his breakthrough season last year. (9 wickets @41.11; 4 wickets @ 37)

 James Taylor - A good start to the season, although his figures are slightly misleading as he scored a double ton against Loughborough MCCU. Nonetheless  he has started the CB40 season well which although his game is more suited to the 4 day game maybe a way into the England setup. (493 runs @ 61.62; 283 runs @ 70.75)

Greg Smith – A difficult start to the season, he managed to find time during his university studies to garner a couple of games for Leicestershire, an appreciation of how highly Leicestershire rate him but struggled to combine the two and has returned to university for his final term.  (37 runs@9.25) 

Steve Finn – After being initially rested he has easily returned to first class cricket looking a class apart from the majority. His batting continues to improve and he may make a capable no.9 yet.  (61 runs @15.51, 16 wickets @18.81; 1 wicket @ 33)

Luke Fletcher - A very consistent start to the season for Fletcher playing every game and being the mainstay of the injury prone Nottinghamshire attack. Never destructive but he is consistently taking wickets and is looking trimmer than in previous years, which points to a good future in county cricket. (27 wickets @23.37; 2 wickets @ 65)

Alex Hales- Has impressed many with his early season form but unfortunately fracture his jaw this week which will put him back. Looks a class apart from the rest of the Nottinghamshire batting in tough conditions and hits the ball as sweetly as any on the county circuit. The written press have finally picked up on Hales and he seems to have a few followers which can do his chances of England selection no harm once he returns from injury. (355 runs @35.5; 139 runs @69.5)

Jos Buttler- Has really struggled in the 4 day game so far but has continued his extraordinary one day form with runs at a very quick pace. Is unorthodox and willing to try different things, which is something of a premium on the county circuit. (142 runs @ 23.66; 134 runs in 3 innings for no dismissal)

James Hildreth – Has had a pretty horrid start to the season and has already been runout twice in the 4 day game. Hildreth will really be cursing himself knowing a good start to the season could have catapulted him into the England setup; this setback will have to be stopped quickly or he may be known as a one season wonder and flat track bully. (141 runs @20.14; 47 runs @23.5)

Jade Dernbach – Rested/injured for the first few weeks of the season Dernbach has eased into the season putting in some good performances. Has plenty of variation in his bowling and sometimes suffers through almost trying too much when playing. Surely will get a look in with the England ODI side if his good CB40 form continues. (9 wickets @28.11; 6 wickets @15.33)

Jason Roy – Initially not selected but has forced his way into the side as a makeshift opener in the four day game by scoring runs in the seconds and CB40. Has scored a couple of powerful fifties and looks brilliantly talented, highlighted by the fact that Chris Adams has nicknamed him ‘KP2’. Still looks very raw at this time but an exciting prospect. (81 runs @40.5; 148 runs @49.33)

Rory Hamilton Brown – Has had an average start to the season and seems to have reined himself in somewhat with the bat. Last season he seemed to be ultra aggressive in all forms of the game but it looks like he has tried to become more solid over the offseason which, until now, has proved a moderate success. (219 runs @ 31.28; 59 runs @19.66)

Ben Brown – Has had a pretty awful start to the season, playing solely as a batsman he has one fifty to his name but a string of other low scores including 4 ducks. Every young player is going to go through spells like this; hopefully he can come out of this form dip a better player. (92 runs @11.5)

Chris Woakes – Consistently very good Woakes has started the season in brilliant form taking plenty of wickets and scoring a pile of runs. Ashley Giles has been heard to say that he has added an extra yard of pace over the winter, which should do his chances of England recognition no harm at all. (262 runs @52.4, 24 wickets @ 18.54; 69 runs @69 5 wickets @35.20)

Jonathon Bairstow – Impressive early season form in a team which has struggled for runs he capped it off with his maiden first class (double) hundred. His keeping continues to be a touch ragged but he seems good enough to play as a batsman alone at county level, we’ll have to wait a bit before finding out at international level. (345 runs @69; 37 runs @12.33)

Adil Rashid – A brilliant first game of the season with figures of 11-114 but since then he seems to be back to his erratic best, bowling well some days and not so the next. Still inconsistent and has not started the season well with the bat. Still has the most ardent of supporters who question at every turn why he is not in the England team and praise his good performances but he does put in a fair amount of average performances but he does have time on his side. (67 runs @11.16, 18 wickets @21.44; 61 runs in 3 innings, 7 wickets @ 15.28)

Red = County Championship figures

Blue = CB 40 figures

The race for number 6

It would seem with the retirement from test cricket of Paul Collingwood this winter there is a spot available in the England line up for one lucky batsmen, probably batting at no.6. Who will occupy this spot is unclear as yet, but here are the options.

Eoin Morgan – The seemingly likeliest of the candidates, a regular in the ODI side and the replacement last summer when Ian Bell was injured in the test team. Neither proved or disproved the notion that he was a test batsman during his spell in the team, scoring one brilliant hundred but struggling the rest of the time. Is currently at the IPL and has played all the games so far but has batted at 5 or 6 and hasn’t had much opportunity. Will only play one county championship game before the first test team is named and I don’t see how England can select him for the first game. The England structure are known for their loyalty to players, and pre ashes he was the clear choice as the reserve batsman but with his lack of recent first class action and average record it would be unfair on the other candidates to select Morgan.

Ravi Bopara – In direct contrast to Morgan, Bopara turned down a last minute offer from the IPL in favour of first class practice from the start of the season in the county championship. Bopara spent the winter in various locations away from the England set up, primarily playing first class cricket in South Africa having a solid but not outstanding winter. He has returned to the county game and as yet hasn’t found form. England clearly are not convinced over Bopara, he has already been in and out of one day and test teams and seems inconsistent but is widely spoken of as the most talented batsmen on the circuit. Bopara, like Collingwood, has the advantage of bowling useful medium pacers and is especially useful in English conditions and this maybe the reason he gets the nod over the other candidates.

James Hildreth - One really good year is all it’s taken to thrust Hildreth into the forefront of the England selector’s minds. Hildreth spent the winter away with the England performance and Lions squad, captaining the latter and continued to score a heavy load of runs.  Technically correct and a fluent scorer Hildreth seems to have all the skills required to play at a higher level. Unfortunately for himself and Somerset he has not started the season well, and whereas a good start to the season could have pushed him into the England reckoning, a poor start will set him back a bit and the selection may go to one of the more experienced players. 

Matt Prior- Currently in the team batting at 7, England may make the shock decision of playing 5 bowlers and moving Prior one up the order. Prior currently averages 42.96 in test cricket, a number more than proficient for a number six batsman if the 7-10 batsmen are capable. The most likely scenario if this was to happen would be to either Bresnan or Rashid bat 7, Broad 8, Swann 9, Tremlett 10 and Anderson 11. This would obviously give England more options with the ball if the wicket was flat, and would still bat deep enough to contribute if the top order failed. This tactic would deeply rely on the top order being in form, unfortunately with the lack of match practice due to the prolonged rest the England batsmen have rightly been taking they are unlikely to have had enough batting practice to make this tactic work at the start of the summer.

Verdict:
 

A tough decision made all the more difficult by the start of season faced by each of the candidates. Personally I think there is no way they can select Eoin Morgan; he will be going into the first test on the back of no preseason in English conditions and one county game to add to his technical weaknesses brought on from overexposure to one day cricket and up to now average first class career. I can’t see England going down the 5 man bowling attack either given they went on one of the more gruelling tours this winter and won successfully with a four man attack, this would also be dependent on the form of top 6 batsmen and they’re not going to have much time in county cricket to adjust to English conditions before the first test so this would be a risky option.

This leaves two options in my mind, James Hildreth and Ravi Bopara. If Hildreth had had a good start to the county season he would have been my pick, Bopara also hasn’t had a good start to the season. Bopara has had already a number of chances and has failed in general, Hildreth is untested and as England are at the start of their supposed two year cycle between ashes it may be seen a good time to test the water with an untried player. I’d go with Bopara I think. He has spent this winter playing first class cricket and he has turned down the IPL in a bid to make the test squad, he also offers useful medium pace bowling which has been underused so far by England. I think you have to give him the 7 tests of the summer and if he fails once again and continues to infuriate the staff then drop him permanently but I think he has won the right for first chance at the spot.

Revised verdict: 

Since I wrote this piece Bopara has shown good form scoring a match winning hundred and I would now be surprised if England didn’t select Bopara for the first test of the summer.

Round 4

Middlesex, Northants, and Lancashire only teams left unbeaten

Middlesex are 5 wins out of 5 games, 3 in the county championship and 2 in the 40:40; Northants have one win and 2 draws in the CC and 2 wins in the 40:40; and Lancashire narrowly missed out on making it 3 victories out of 3 in the CC and have won their sole 40:40 game. It’s a tremendous start to the season by all 3 of these counties as not a lot was expected in general of them. It’s an indication of the team ethic of these teams that so far none of them have had a star performer, it’s been a team effort with everybody contributing and all credit must go to these three clubs for their positive start to the season.

The curious case of Kervezee and Ali

Worcestershire have two very talented young batsmen in Alexei Kervezee and Moen Ali, yet neither made my 21 names to follow list. I thought hard about both of these players and could easily have selected both of them on the list. Kervezee this week scored a brilliant hundred albeit in an eventual losing cause and was selected for the Netherlands at the 2011 world cup. I had been really looking forward to watching Kervezee play in the world cup having coming off a good county season and knowing him to be a highly attractive batsmen to watch who had aspirations of playing for England. Unfortunately for him he had a really poor world cup and seemed to be outclassed scoring 81 runs @ 13.5 and by the end being demoted to the middle order from his initial opening spot.

Moen Ali was another last year that had a good season as Worcestershire attained promotion, Ali is an attractive and elegant Left handed middle order batsmen who is known for his driving, although is known to be potentially a touch too loose outside the offstump. I’d have thought with his useful offspin and slip catching ability combined with his batting potential he would have made an England Lions squad last winter but he was left to his own devices.

Both are exciting, highly talented, young cricketers and it will be interesting to see how they cope with first division bowling attacks and the burden of providing lots of runs in a team that is going to struggle.

Trescothick’s triumphant return to form

It was hardly coincidental that Somerset’s first victory of the season coincided with Marcus Trescothick’s return to form this past week. Trescothick’s mammoth 227 was the foundation on which Somerset based their victory and it’s likely to have provided a massive boost to everyone around the club in what had been a torturous start to the season. Whether this is the start of a challenge for the championship or the weaknesses that have been exposed in the early part of the season are too much to overcome is yet to be seen but I personally am glad Trescothick has returned to form as he is one of the players on the county circuit who is generally a cut above the rest and a pleasure to watch