An Ashes Exchange Of Views – Part 1 – Dmitri Asks, Dennis Answers

LordCanisLupus39 Comments

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As part of this blog’s build up to the Ashes, I got in touch with perennial doubter of all things English, a pox on our establishment, the itch we cannot scratch, but once I’d finished talking to myself (again) I wrote to Dennis of Dennis Does Cricket (in)fame(y) to exchange some questions in the run-up to the Ashes. In Part 1, I have Dennis’s views on 10 questions I posed, with an open-ended bit at the end.

So, here goes chaps. Dennis speaks. Feel free to comment.

1. Last time we met, it was 5-0. Ask a lot of England fans a few months ago and we’d have predicted the same (with some caveats for the weather). What do Aussies think the score will be?

Before I answer this, let’s address your caveat. Don’t you find it amazing that the English created a sport that is reliant on the weather?

In Australia, we think Hobart is a cold and wet place. The next land you hit going south is Antarctica. 16% of Australia’s rain fall sin Tasmania.

But as it turns out, the UK is closer to the North Pole than Tasmania is to the South Pole.

Anyhow, I digress.

I would suggest that Australians are still rather optimistic about the Ashes result. England couldn’t beat the West Indies. Hell, you even lost a Test to them. How does that happen? You couldn’t win the Test series against New Zealand at home. Last year you lost to Sri Lanka at home. You did beat India, but who doesn’t when they are on the road? I almost forgot that you let Ishant Sharma bounce you out with an old ball at Lord’s.

So, given that and given you have a horrible captain and given your Test side hasn’t had the positive change like the ODI side and given the fact that Australia hasn’t lost a Test for two years and given man for man, England probably don’t win even one spot, Australia will win the Ashes easily.

4-0. Nah, stuff it. 5-0.

2. Are you persuaded by the new vibe coming from England of “positive” cricket? Lots of us were surprised in the New Zealand test series by a change in attitude. You buying it?

In the ODI space, yes.

But let’s look at the Test space. In both the West Indies and New Zealand series, England were 1-0 up. Then this so called ‘positive’ cricket vibe suddenly drained away and they lost the final Test.

That’s two chokes in a row. The South African culture is strong in the ECB.

So no, in the Test space, I don’t buy it. Cook is not a leader who creates positive vibes. Bell is out of form. Ballance has been found out. Broad is struggling. Moeen may not last until the third Test before being dropped.

There is no positive vibe when half the team is scared of losing their place in the side. I know this because I watched Australia pre-Boof.

3. I read that you didn’t think Ryan Harris should make the team? England fans palpitate at the very mention of his name. Is he really not going to play?

My detailed thoughts are documented in this article: http://dennisdoescricket.com/ryan-harris-isnt-in-australias-best-xi/

If you remove the emotive element, I can’t see how Harris plays in the First Test. The other three amigos just bowled Australia to a World Cup win and tore up the West Indies.

You don’t split up a winning formula. Harris hasn’t bowled competitively since the New Year’s Day Test in Sydney.

However, every time I watch this video, I second guess this stance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrdNjB9urZE (Available, it seems, only to Australian viewers)

4. In 2013 we were hearing big things about James Pattinson. Now we are hearing big things about Josh Hazlewood. Should we take them seriously?

James was coming along swimmingly until he got injured. Don’t judge him on his brother’s efforts for England.

Unfortunately for James, the list of available fast bowlers in Australia is longer than the English tail.

Johnson, Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins, Pattinson, Harris, Bird, Siddle……and so on.

Hazlewood is the real deal. He is like Peter Siddle from the last series, but just 10 kph faster, gets more bounce and with Glenn McGrath’s lines.

Hazlewood is the reason why I don’t see an easy way for Harris to walk straight back in to the team.

5. Is Steve Smith lucky or great?

You don’t get to the number one ranked Test batsmen in the world by being simply lucky. In fact, his ranking points exceed anything Brian Lara achieved.

However, that doesn’t make him great, but he is well on the way. So is Joe Root and Kane Williamson.

In 2013, I wrote that if Smith gave up the leg spin and focused on his batting, he could become the next Steve Waugh. That won’t happen now as Smith is Australia’s number 3, rather than hiding at 4 or 5 like Waugh did and Root does now.

This Ashes should see Smith as the leading run maker. His form is that good. His technique ensures it is hard to bog him down. He plays spin brilliantly. He has cross bat shots. He can skamper quick singles.

His get out shot at the moment is either the pull shot bottom edged on to middle stump or the run out. England should set plans for both of these possible eventualities.

6. Who is commentating on this series for the Australian viewers. Will James Brayshaw be anywhere near it?

I’m not sure, except to say that Channel Nine are bringing over their own crew, rather than relying on Sky.

I think this is a poor outcome for Australian cricket fans.

The positive is that we get to see every match live on Free To Air television. No need for a Sky subscription in this part of the world. Remember that argument that there is no market for Test cricket on terrestial TV? The ECB are selling you a lemon.

7. Our older core of Broad, Anderson and Cook get a ton of stick from you. Which one of them do you fear might do you the most damage in this series?

None of them.

Anderson will take his 4 wickets a match. 2 or 3 of them will be lower order batsmen. This is not a prediction based on guesswork. It is based on historical fact and statistics. That makes him no better than Peter Siddle. Do England [rate] the banana eater?

Broad has the ability to take a quick 2 or 3 wickets with the new ball because he attacks, but his control is gone. Watching him bowl against New Zealand and the West Indies, he was way too short.

Cook will make a century somewhere, but I’d be surprised if he averages over 35 this series. The bowling attack is just too strong and Australia love to attack the opposing skipper. We will be given no free space to settle.

8. We’re all a bit keen on Joe Root at the moment who is in brilliant form. What’s your view on what you’ve seen?

I love him. Australia love him. He shows grit and attacks the game. He is mouthy in the field. He shows no fear.

The Root v Smith battle will be amazing.

9. Two of your older players are question marks. Shane Watson seems nailed on, am I right? And is Brad Haddin’s lack of form terminal or will he get it back playing against us again?

Both should be under strong scrutiny.

Watson looks much better at number 6 rather than at 1,2 or 3. However, even at number 6, he doesn’t produce like he should. This is especially evident when the contenders for his spot are Mitch Marsh (lost his place due to injury), James Faulkner (the last decent all rounder to play an Ashes Test for Australia in the UK but lost his place due to injury), Moises Henriques (not available due to injury) and Glenn Maxwell (will get another chance at some stage).

The other option is that Australia back their three quicks and Lyon, and then play a proper number 6 batsman. That would mean that Shaun Marsh and Voges both play. Perhaps a batting order or Warner, Rogers, Smith, Marsh, Clarke, Voges, Haddin.

Haddin was the saviour the last time we visited your Britain of Greatness. How pompous is that name?

In the last 12 Test matches, Nathan Lyon has averaged more with the bat than Haddin. That said, Haddin’s keeping is as good as anyone in the world at the moment. That is worth a wicket or two an innings, possibly off-setting any potential batting losses.

The understudy keeper is a guy named Neville. No, that’s his surname. His First Class batting average is 44. He is also much better with the gloves than say Buttler, Bairstow or Billings.

10. Give us a name that might surprise us from the Aussie party – I think I know who it might be – and one you think might give you some grief from England.

Nathan Lyon is the guy. This unassuming ex-Adelaide Oval groundsman will play the role that Graeme Swann played for you last time we met in the Northern Hemisphere.

He has slowed down his pace, allowing for more flight and drift. He creates more chances than even the quicks. He gets bounce. He gets great turn. His arm ball is brilliant. He is the best number 11 in the world.

Lyon will spin Australia to at least two wins on Day 4 or 5.

The person Australia would fear most is probably Rashid, but he won’t play until the ECB drop Moeen Ali. That won’t happen until after the series is lost.

Ben Stokes is probably good for a quick 80 somewhere and a 4 fer

11. Finally – Open House. What’s on your mind DDC with this series?

To be honest, I’m mostly looking forward to re-aquainting myself with the English cricket fans via social media and my site. Most are very knowledgeable about the game and I have made many friends due to being active during the previous few Ashes.

In a cricketing sense, seeing how Mitch Johnson goes this time around will be interesting. Does he still scare the bejesus out of you guys? He should.

I fear Australia’s batting depth may not be as strong as some imagine. I sense Warner is in for a shocker and Clarke is on his last legs. Add Haddin and Watson to that mix, and we have a potential problem. However, I could be completely wrong. Remember what Warner did on his last tour to South Africa? Yes, he got his girlfriend pregnant, but he also stood up when under the most immense pressure.

C’mon Aussie C’mon!!!!

——————————————————————————————————–

My huge thanks to Dennis for participating in this exercise. We cooked it up on Saturday morning, and we threw ourselves into it. He’ll be re-linking this on his site, and my answers to his questions will be going up soon – http://dennisdoescricket.com/ , and no doubt we’ll be discussing the series during the next few weeks. Catch him on Twitter too @DennisCricket_ or his podcast, Can’t Bowl, Can’t Throw – the latest edition of which has Mr Roland Butcher’s Hook himself, Mr David Oram, to listen to.

I’ll just steer him on the Great Britain thing….

The classical writer, Ptolemy, referred to the larger island as great Britain (megale Britannia) and to Ireland as little Britain (mikra Brettania) in his work, Almagest (147–148 AD).[23] In his later work, Geography (c. 150 AD), he gave these islands the names[24] Alwion[sic], Iwernia, and Mona (the Isle of Man), suggesting these may have been native names of the individual islands not known to him at the time of writing Almagest.[25] The name Albion appears to have fallen out of use sometime after the Roman conquest of Great Britain, after which Britain became the more commonplace name for the island called Great Britain.[18]

So To The Ashes

LordCanisLupus43 Comments

On 8th July, weather permitting of course, the Ashes will commence. The venue for the first match is the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff, host of the opening salvo in 2009, and famous for England wriggling off the hook to draw the match. In the run-up to the 1st Test, and if we can keep the momentum, hopefully beyond that, we (Vian and I)would like to make the blog even more interactive than it is now.

I know the Ashes are being milked to death, but there is still that energy behind it that even the clowns running the game can’t kill. They’ll have a damn good go, though.

I’ve been trailing some of the stuff already, including a mutual Q&A session with Dennis Freedman of Dennis Does Cricket fame. He’s suitably “honest” in his appraisal of the series coming up.

I’d also be interested if any of you would like to be on an “Ashes Panel” before and after each match to answer some questions posed by your genial hosts. I’ll also do some personal stuff on Ashes matches I’ve attended, or watched on TV.

We may not like the fact it is 18 months since the last series, but the blog is here to cover cricket, and that’s what we need to do.

By way of a starter, and we’ve done this before on a previous blog, I have five questions for you to answer to (re) introduce yourselves to the braying public that populate our comments section. No compulsion, but it would be great if you could fill this in:

1. Commenter Name / Location (we have some odd ones register on our location page)
2. What brought you here, and what keeps you here?
3. Be honest – what would you like to see more of (no promises but it is interesting)
4. Your unsung Ashes here of days gone by? If not into the Ashes, your unsung cricketing hero.
5. Your Ashes series prediction.

If you’d like to appear on the forum e-mail me at dmitriold@hotmail.co.uk . Would love it if you could take part, as I think it would stimulate huge debate, which is what both TLG and I want, believe it or not.

Have a great day everyone.

Debating The Data Later

LordCanisLupus62 Comments

The first interview granted by Peter Moores was to George Dobell on Cricinfo. The text of it you would have read by now (well most of you would have). This piece is written on the tablet, with not so much ability to cross-refer and post links. I have limited time and ability with the tools at my disposal to do a thorough job. But I thought I should post some initial reactions.

“Peter Moores, the head coach at Lancashire should succeed Andy Flower, of that I have no doubt. Were I Paul Downton, I would scan the list of contenders – some self-promoted, others having hats thrown into the ring by third parties – and then I would get in touch with the man who is not only arguably the most accomplished coach in the county system but one of the best in the world, whose skill deserves to be on the international stage” – Mike Selvey (12 Feb 2014)

“I have to accept that my time as England coach has gone. But Iam frustrated. The portrayal of me as a coach in the media is just wrong. If people said “I don’t rate you as a coach” then fine. But when it’s not what you are, it’s really frustrating.” – Peter Moores (interview with George Dobell) (22 June 2015)

George Dobell’s interview is fascinating, but I found it frustrating. Peter Moores, despite grave reservations from this parish and others was allowed to have a go at a job he failed in before. The portrayal of him as a coach hasn’t really changed and it has little to do with his use or otherwise of data. That’s a point he is zeroing in on the BBC for and he is abjectly wrong to do so. He’s using it is as a fig leaf. I don’t really care that Nathan Leamon nearly went home because he wasn’t being used enough (that sounds an interesting conversation, me being a former scorer and all that), or over the slip or otherwise about looking at the data. Peter Moores first obstacle was that he had failed before. Ordinary rebuilding would not have done, it had to be better. His second problem is that he is English, and I find it hard to believe a man from these isles can be a long-term successful coach. His third problem was that he was English and did not play international cricket. Lots of egos had to be checked at the door for that to work, and given what we are reading from those not in that inner sanctum, those egos ran amok. Fourthly, he accepted the job with the strings attached, and although tied to Downton through that infamous “best coach of his generation” statement, it was his acceptance of the KP ban that immediately set a good number of people against his appointment.

None of us are denying he’s a good bloke who treated his players with great respect and attention. Try going to a job interview though and say that I should get the job even if results err on the disappointing side, I blew the World Cup, but the players like me. It’s a results business, and it’s a perception business. Moores is not, in my eyes, hooked to the data quote, but to, as one person said to me “an alarming inability to get his point across”. No-one I know perceives Peter Moores as robotic, something he thinks he’s thought of. Many believe he’s a management speak man, a safe company appointment, a man not to ruffle feathers. Most of us, when he was appointed, when Selvey was blowing smoke up his arse, thought “er, wow. That’s an interesting one. He was a failure. Good luck with that.” I’ll bet a number of senior pros thought the same.

Interesting to in this interview are the copious mentions of the BBC apologising for the “data/later” issue, but nothing about Sky saying it (other than George’s mention) and the later role Sky (and one member of their team in particular who, if not the conduit, has a fair number of fingers pointing at him as being so) had in the disgrace that was the handling of his dismissal. No, it seemed, from my purely guesswork point of view that Moores refusal to speak about his dismissal by the ECB is either (a) the ECB showing their usual sensitivity and not allowing it and/or (b) Peter Moores wish to work for them again. Yet again, another dismissal, another cock-up by the ECB, shrouded in secrecy and mistrust. Yeah, just a bunch of KP fanboys, us.

Peter Moores, in my view, gave the authorities the chance to sack him because of the World Cup. When Strauss moved in as supremo, it was clear that the rumours of Jazzer not rating him were true. Strauss then took the decision to fire him because he wanted one man in the job, but at ODI level, Moores was hopeless. Whether Strauss fit the reason to sack Moores, or Moores was going to be sacked due to it seems the point. It had, in my view, naff all to do with Moores’ perception or otherwise. Attacking the BBC is a fig leaf. A comfort blanket.

I didn’t go in hard on Moores. He did what we’d probably all do if we were him and in the position he was in. He was Downton’s appointment and that never helped. But don’t mythologise him. I love the bit where “he made Swann England’s number one spinner”. Well yes, just. Swann played the role inhabited by Blackwell, Dawson, Udal, Swann and Tredwell, as being the second spinner selected on a tour – Swann behind Monty. Unlike the others he out-performed Monty. But let’s not go mad about it, eh? Moores being credited for Joe Root also seems a little odd. Sure, he’s come on a bundle in the recent tests, but let’s see him up against top notch stuff this summer?

Moores is a genuinely decent guy who had a bad thing happen to him. His interview is not the worst of its type, but leave off the I deserved longer schtick. You may well get the plaudits later on in life, but for now, the ODI team’s performance without you at the helm speaks volumes, Peter. It’s pretty damning. It may not have been all your fault, but you cannot be surprised.

Read George Dobell’s interview on cricinfo. Link to follow later.

The Ashes 2015: A review

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So there we have it, the Ashes are done, the teams are exhausted and now it’s time to look back on the series.

The series got off to a bad start when the Australian team were held at border control at the Severn Bridge on the M4.  Protesting that “but we’re in England, right mate?” only seemed to make things worse, as Darren Lehmann asked the High Commissioner to issue a formal protest over the visa charge of £6.50 per head.  David Warner was seen looking baffled as explanations about the difference between England and the United Kingdom were made, and matters weren’t helped when Alex Salmond somehow got hold of Darren Lehmann’s mobile number.  Steve Smith was briefly detained due to an unfortunate mix up where they found his name on a watchlist, being released only when it became apparent he really did know nothing about rugby.

So it was a petulant team who finally arrived at the Holiday Inn, Cardiff. An annoyed Mitchell Johnson went off to check the pitch only to return after 10 minutes complaining that while very big, the ground was the wrong shape for cricket.  Given such a start to the series, the ECB felt it appropriate to mend some fences, and sent their best diplomat, Giles Clarke, around to smooth things over.  Rumours that Tony Abbott subsequently approached the USA about buying Trident can now be safely dismissed as untrue and entirely unrelated.

The morning of the first Test dawned bright and sunny, catching out Stuart Broad, who assumed the first day would be rained off and turned up late.  A capacity crowd of at least 750 were in the ground eagerly anticipating the toss.  It’s probably after this point that England fans noticed things starting to go wrong.

Certainly being 65-6 at lunch wasn’t in the plan, though journalists were quick to highlight how brilliantly Cooky batted for his 14 runs.  Indeed, Stephen Brenkley received a British Press Award for his 3,000 word treatise on how he played and missed “with aplomb”.  Straussy wrecked any chance of a Pullitzer by calling the committee “c****s” (except in the Guardian, where they printed it in full – Selvey saying it was the “moment of the series”) for their outrageous decision to exclude it from consideration on the grounds of not being American.

Joe Root was exceptionally careless to be timed out, and his protest that he was waiting for that tall South African bloke to go in at four cut little ice with the critics.  England did at least improve a little after lunch, with Jos Buttler skilfully marshalling the tail before being left high and dry on 2 not out.

As would be seen throughout the summer, England were far from out of it.  With hindsight, making Anderson bowl from both ends all day probably didn’t help his longevity in the series, but it wasn’t until Edgbaston that the umpires had to step in claiming that crawling to the crease on hands and knees was slowing the over rate down too much.

Yet with Australia teetering on 372-5, Stuart Broad spoke to the team at length during tea, berating his colleagues for failing to follow the plan.  Thereafter things went much better, as Brad Haddin was in all sorts of trouble to the short ball, finally being put out his misery for a mere 137 with 19 sixes.

With an uphill battle to save the game, Cooky strode to the middle.  A dazzling array of plays and misses and edges through the slips led to criticism that Michael Clarke had failed to learn the lessons of 2013.  Mike Gatting on Radio Five took one look at the wagon wheel of the innings and concluded it was ten past one and went for lunch, wondering why he had such a craving for marshmallow covered in chocolate.

England fought valiantly, and nearly got away with the draw.  Anderson and Wood were left with a mere 193 overs to survive and got 4 balls into that before Wood was wrongly given out lbw off his fetlock – Stuart Broad having blown the reviews claiming that his leg stump wasn’t on the ground at all.

It was a chastened team at the presentation, Trevor Bayliss being seen muttering to himself while reaching for a pack of Benson and Hedges.  Cooky spoke well about not executing their skills, learning from the game and taking the positives – particularly Stephen Brenkley, who he felt was the right kind of journalist with the right kind of newspaper.

In the Sky Sports studio, Atherton confused Shane Warne by saying that England were losing to win, although Warne’s response was sadly edited out by the ECB Media Compliance Committee producer before anyone could see it.

Media reaction was swift and merciless.  Mike Selvey wrote that the main problem was that Adil Rashid was causing discontent in the camp by scoring an unbeaten century and taking 23 wickets for Yorkshire on the same day, while Paul Newman wrote that Kevin Pietersen’s “morning, lovely day” tweet had divided the dressing room, with born and bred Lancastrian Jos Buttler taking particular exception – his reply of “It is, isn’t it” being scanned for underlying hatred.

And so the second Test approached.  With four days between matches, Andy Flower intervened, sending Jimmy Anderson on a walk from John O’Groats to Lands End as a warm up.  It certainly had an effect, and England were an entirely different side. After an unfortunate injury in the warm up, where Ian Bell was shot with a champagne cork from a local miner on his day off, England had to make a late replacement.  A mystery player known only as Kay PeesorryQueueoopsmadeamistake was firstly drafted in, before Director Comma Cricket Andrew “Straussy” Strauss leapt up from his sedan chair, saying the accent was a bit iffy.

Winning the toss, Australia were soon in trouble.  David Warner was arrested for starting a fight with some of the schoolchildren present, his defence that he thought it was Joe Root sledging him not being accepted by the local magistrate.  Anderson ripped through the top order, using the conditions to good effect as the ball rolled down the slope.  Numerous swipes in vain saw the batsmen bowled time and again, while Shane Watson was lbw.

After such a troubled and controversial start, relations between the teams improved thankfully, Ryan Harris crouching low, putting an arm around James Anderson, adjusting his oxygen tank for him and offering him full use of his knees. Alastair Cook then picked up a suspended ban for not completing the 90 overs in the day as an hour’s delay ensued with the crowd helping the two bowlers back to their feet.

With England feeling in the ascendant, they went on the attack with the bat.  Ben Stokes destroyed the Australian bowling, pinging them to all parts for 260 not out – though quite rightly the press focused on Cook’s admittedly fine 84.  Their partnership of 260 was a sight to behold. England’s dominant position was enforced as the tail wagged, and Jos Buttler reached the heights of getting to 4* before the innings closed.

Darren Lehmann, clearly unimpressed with Australia’s efforts, called for a traditional Aussie approach, and certainly Warner’s day release from custody attached to a ball and chain indicated his words had gone home.  Despite the enormous first innings deficit, they attacked.  There was a slight hiatus when Warner hit the ball attached to him into the pavilion by mistake, but since it landed in Giles Clarke’s champagne George Dobell was seen to laugh so hard he had to be taken to hospital.  In his absence, Jarrod Kimber simply added 350 to the Australian score on Cricinfo.  Peter Moores rang up the ECB Sky pointing out that the data didn’t add up, but unfortunately no-one there could remember who he was, and so Australia got away with it.  Malcolm Conn was the first to react tweeting “That’s for Bodyline, you filthy pommie bastards” before writing an article titled “No offence”.

With England set 200 to win, Cooky decided to get out his inner funk.  Graham Gooch had pointed out that he was far more vulnerable to getting out if he batted, and so taking that on board, reversed the batting order.  Channel 5’s highlights included a 24 minute section of Simon Hughes in the tactics truck moaning with pleasure at the genius of the idea.   England scraped home, mostly thanks to Anderson’s 99.  It got tense towards the end as Australia fought back, but fortunately Jos Buttler stood firm, finishing 6 not out as wickets tumbled around him.  The captain scored the winning run, and was promptly knighted by a grateful public.

With the series so finely poised, it was a great shame that the next two Tests were washed out.  No refunds were given to spectators, as it was considered that highlights of the 2005 series on the big screen were now to be assumed as being part of play.  Some complaints were made that the series as shown was incomplete, but the ECB’s PR department pointed out that the last day of the Oval Test had been sadly cancelled in 2005 and they’d not missed anything.

For the denouement there were a few debates to be had in selection.  Mitchell Johnson had made himself unavailable after Brian May had called him up for the forthcoming Queen comeback tour, but Lehmann had rubbished criticism of the timing by stating that Australia had endless stocks of interchangeable Mitches and the side wouldn’t be affected. With England wondering about their batting line up, the selectors were seen in discussions long into the night.  A conclusion was reached when Straussy Strauss was seen carrying a trowel and smiling as plaintive Afrikaans cries were heard behind a bricked up wall.   England had one other question mark over their side, as Wood unfortunately fell at the fourth fence at Haydock two days before the game, but having been given a clean bill of health by England assistant physio Jimmy Herriot he took his place in the stalls for the start.

Alastair Cook scored a fine hundred, causing Aggers to squeak for an hour on air, so overcome was he.  Pope Francis resigned, David Cameron announced to a hushed Parliament that he was giving way to a much better man, with a much better family, and the US Congress passed what became known at the Cooky-wooky Act allowing foreign born Gods people to stand for the Presidency.  Perhaps the greatest tribute of all came from Geoffrey Boycott who stated to a shocked nation that he was nearly as good as his granny.

England were certainly confident having scored over 400 (Jos Buttler 8*) but Australia weren’t out of it by any means.  Chris Rodgers had escaped from the McCarthy and Stone sheltered accommodation where he was staying, and set about clearing the deficit.  There was one flare up when he accidentally trod on the umpires toes going for a second run, and Stuart Broad squared up to him asking if he was having a go at him.  Rodgers quietly pointed out that it wasn’t the square leg umpire and calm descended, but it was an awkward moment.

A mid innings collapse (Shane Watson, lbw 0) left Australia with a small deficit, and England were back in to bat.  A hush descended on the ground, punctuated only by the occasional South African accented “let me out” heard in the direction of the OCS Stand.  Cooky-wooky-woo-wah headed out to the middle and as one, they all rose and sang the oratorio from Handel’s Messiah – fortunately the ECB had been prepared and issued all spectators with lyric sheets as part of the Conditions of Ground Admittance.

Ben Stokes was the star of the innings, having sneaked out to bat when no one was looking.  Paul Downton – special guest of the ECB – was overheard to say that this bloke looked rather good, and why hadn’t he been around when he was MD?  Giles Clarke was equally confused, having seen no reference of Cockermouth in the Independent Schools List.  Joe Root gave valuable support, making Boycott declare unilateral independence for Yorkshire during the tea break, while Jos Buttler’s quickfire 9 not out added to the swelling total.

With Australia set 300 to win, the game and the series was in the balance.  All was going well for the visitors, with England’s bowlers unable to take a single wicket.  Fortunately for them, Shane Watson ran out 6 batting partners and burst into tears in the middle.  With the tension building, Australia 9 down and with victory only a hit away, there came that moment.  And we all know what happened then.

@BlueEarthMngmnt

Contusion

LordCanisLupus22 Comments

The one thing you get from me on this blog is how I feel. I see this as not only a cricket journal, following some of the threads others don’t, and trying to get the issues out in the open, but also how it interacts with my daily life. I’m a lot stronger in my mentality than I was this time last year, but have several moments, one of which resulted in me closing down the old blog and starting a new one. I may never go into why that happened in writing on here, but suffice to say I got spooked a little by other events to people quite close to me. Just because I’m paranoid, it doesn’t mean they ain’t out to get me.

I also get on my high horse about injustice to people or matters I care about. I care about English cricket, as I’ve been a fan for life, and yes, I loved watching KP bat. If that makes me a “KP Fanboy” then so be it. All those that do call me that, let me ask how you feel about the Ashes 2005 now, you unreconstructed hypocrites? Wish it had never happened? Wish we’d been skittled out for 150 and drawn the series? I saw an injustice in the singling out of KP for the Ashes failure in 2013/14, the fact that he performed less worse than others, and then the lack of insight or need to know, and importantly tell, why it happened. Blow by longread blow. Someone will make a fortune when they do.

Why all this, again, now? It started last night on Twitter. It’s a dangerous medium at the best of times, but also very rewarding. I have several rules of engagement.

1. I do not troll journalists. I just do not. I may ask them questions, or joke with them, but I do not tweet who I criticise. Some contact me, some I feel able to contact behind the scenes. Some of them, believe it or not, I like. They may even like me, I don’t know. But I am honest.
2. I do not control, nor would I have the affront to, those of you who comment on here. If some of you want to wind up a journo or two, then I can’t stop you. Those that want to read this stuff know where it is. Those who don’t, won’t.
3. I will not have people misrepresent me or my position, or even what I write, without attempting to correct it. Neil Harris acted like an arse last night and I called him on it. It was a factual rebuttal where I called his position at varying times “over-reaching” and “nonsense”. I won’t block him on Twitter, because I don’t do that (I didn’t block the one who threatened to mutilate me and my dog) but in turns I was branded a “sad individual”, “a KP fanboy” someone with “bile” “keep trolling journalists” – hilariously at one point after saying “and you decided to get a rugby journalist involved because…” the individual concerned said he wasn’t accusing me of anything. When it was pointed out to him the piece was on statistical analysis (from Steve James book) he had to even pipe down on the Anti-Cook brigade twaddle. I will defend myself, and this blog, to anyone. It turned to “do I know the person who did” which was shifting his goalposts, and it wasn’t worth another second of my time. Still, Steve is clear now, because Pam’s told him all about us.
4. I will discuss with anyone on DM on Twitter, on my e-mail (dmitriold@hotmail.co.uk) or on here anything. I’m open to criticism, but I will, nearly always respond.
5.I have four Twitter presences. DmitriOld is the main one. LordCanisLupus was set up when I was spooked, and is used only to link posts on another Twitter feed. I don’t check it very often. The third is OutsideCricket where Vian and I publicise posts on here. The fourth is a secret, I never tweet from it, and I use it to get around the fools who block me. I am open about pretty much all I do except the last one. Vian also has just two Twitter identities – his @blueearthmanagement handle and the Outside Cricket one with me. So, Pam, close down your Twitter to all but your close acolytes if you are that worried that I read you.
6. I use an alias, or a nom de blog, for my own personal reasons. If you don’t like it, you can choose not to read me.

The article in question, forwarded to Steve James, was the statistical one. The one where Monte can predict a game to some accuracy. I’m not clever or sophisticated enough not to call this nonsense, so I asked what it was about. One of our number forwarded it to Steve James. Harris didn’t do his homework, had a pop, and got all prissy when I called him on it. He may think the same. I can’t help that. Maybe he’s neutral about it all.

I’m bloody angry at the moment, because I knew this was coming. WIth every good news story, we, the refuseniks, get attacked. You see, with every bad news story, we attack those constructing the message and delivering it to us. Like celebrating a 48 against the 16th placed county in the country, just weeks after you know who hit 355 against the 17th and had it pooh poohed. I make no apologies for not having Alastair Cook as my favourite player.  I similarly make no apologies for saying KP was my favourite player. Those who choose to proceed in their own way COULD be accused of being on the same side as Giles Clarke, which would be a lovely thing to say. I don’t ever question their support of England cricket and the love of the game. So don’t you damn well question mine. You think I do this for a laugh.

I’ve put this below thelegglance’s post as the cricket is more important than this. Just wanted to get a few things off my chest.

Have a good day. Because all I do is “attack attack attack”, and it’s all “anti-Cook”. I don’t think I’d be getting the number (and it isn’t massive or particularly representative – I know that) of hits if we (Vian and I) were that one dimensional.

England v New Zealand: ODI series review

thelegglance32 Comments

Just more of the same old problems really.  A static opening batsman, an over-reliance on what the data says, a determination to reach an adequate score that proved totally inadequate.  Square pegs in round holes, a complete unwillingness to try players who have been successful in the short form of the game in domestic cricket, and an approach that looks frankly terrified throughout. Hang on, that’s not what happened at all is it?  England won the series 3-2 of course, but even if they’d fallen short in the final match, it wouldn’t have mattered in terms of them demonstrating progress.  That they did mattered greatly to the players of course, and the joy and delight on their faces was apparent to all. But what it did highlight was the astonishing change in approach for this series and this series alone.  And it raised lots of questions about how England had played before, how they’d been set up to play before, and the management who were responsible for that. As recently as March, Alastair Cook was berating all and sundry for dropping him as captain for the World Cup, stating that the side needed his leadership and criticising Eoin Morgan for how he had led the side.  This is history of course, so why bring it up again?  Well the trouble is that the most striking thing about the change of approach from England is that it has plainly never occurred to the old guard to do it.  When Cook was whining about his omission, he at no time stated his dissatisfaction with the style of England’s play, merely that they didn’t play very well, and that it would all have been so different had he been there.  A penny for those thoughts seeing England play in such a manner Alastair. As for Morgan himself, there are enough indications now coming out that he was deeply unhappy as captain in the World Cup, specifically because of the strait-jacket in which the team was placed.  Whilst he probably won’t win any awards at the Funky Captaincy Annual Dinner, he is clearly a major influence on the way in which England are now approaching the format. One of the most amazing sights about this England team is that they are so obviously and plainly enjoying themselves thoroughly.  The England teams have looked utterly miserable for a long time, and the most basic pleasure of playing sport seemed to have gone completely.  For this team at least, it is well and truly back. What isn’t known is whether that will spill over into the Test side as well.  Of course, it is an entirely different game, but those players who will return do seem to prefer scowling to smiling, berating team mates to jumping on them.  There’s some sympathy to be held here, grumpy, crotchety older players are hardly especially unusual, and particularly so when there’s frustration and unhappiness.  Yet the contrast between Broad and Anderson on the one hand, and Mark Wood on the other, couldn’t be more obvious.  In the last match, Wood playfully pretended to Mankad one of the New Zealand batsman.  He laughed, the batsman smiled, and so did the umpire.  And yet….Wood had rather made the point there hadn’t he?  Don’t push it with the backing up.  All with humour.  Likewise with his sudden sneaky running in before the batsman was ready.  It kept them on their toes, and was all done with a smile, from a player who looks like a kid at Christmas.  What will be fascinating to see is if Wood’s patent enjoyment rubs off on the others.  Because there’s no doubt at all, a team having fun will play better than if they’re not. Wood’s economy rate of 5.23 across the three matches he played was bettered only by Trent Boult on either side, and in a series which was such a run fest, it proved critical to the outcome.  That Boult was injured dealt a huge blow to New Zealand, without question.  But that’s the game, and few series have gone by without injuries to key players.  Where it does become relevant as far as England are concerned is that when Wood first played in the Tests, there were concerns about whether his action made him an accident waiting to happen.  England then played him in the one day series.  This is a difficult one.  England’s bowling coaches mangled James Anderson thoroughly trying to fix a potential injury crisis before it happened, and since he returned to his natural action, he’s remained more or less constantly fit.  It’s probably best to leave Wood alone, and deal with any issues if and when they arise rather than worrying potentially unnecessarily.  But managing his workload is still sensible.  One of the overriding criticisms of England is that they are extremely poor at doing so.  Grinding Wood into the dirt won’t be easily forgiven if they do it. In terms of the selection for this series, it seems that incoming coach Trevor Bayliss requested a young side and the selectors obliged.  That in itself raises questions about how it was done previously.  On tour it’s said that although the selectors choose the squad, captain and coach select the team.  That means that Adil Rashid’s clear success in this series vindicated the selectors who chose him for the West Indies, but rather hang out to dry then coach Peter Moores and captain Alastair Cook for not picking him.  With the ODI series over and eyes turning towards the beginning of the Ashes, quite why Rashid wasn’t tried – and the justification that he’d not bowled well in the nets – looks more and more an aberration, especially given Mooen Ali’s clear and obvious lack of fitness.  Better late than never perhaps, but it doesn’t mean excusing it. A similar circumstance applies to Alex Hales, albeit concerning his absence from the World Cup until it was too late.  Hales didn’t go on to make the big score he would have craved, but he undoubtedly set the tone with his batting, and others carried it on.  That he was ignored for so long because of a supposed weakness to the ball coming in looks ever more bizarre.  And yet it’s exactly how it is with English sport all too often, a focus on what someone supposedly can’t do rather than promote what they can.  Hales was instrumental to England firing from the very top. Not everything England tried came off.  Jason Roy did ok without every looking like he was going to take the world by storm.  Steven Finn took wickets yet still didn’t look the bowler he was.  And of course the final match yesterday had England 50-5.  And yet none of the shots were especially reckless, they just found fielders through slightly awry execution for the most part.  That’s not something to worry about, it can happen and on this occasion it did happen.  It will also happen again.  The recovery led by Bairstow was outstanding, and they still played in the same manner.   On so many occasions England have said they are learning, yet right now with this side, they really are learning.  Some patience with them when they get it wrong is deserved.  It’s only when they use that as a shield to close down discussion and criticism that it’s a problem, I don’t get the feeling with this side that it is. And so New Zealand come to the close of their tour of England, with just a T20 match to come.  They have been brilliant tourists, and that people have been heard to say we should have them every year says everything about how they have played the game.  As well as playing attacking, exciting cricket as a policy, they have some genuinely fine cricketers.  Kane Williamson looks special, Ross Taylor is a terrific batsman, and the seam attack even beyond Boult and Southee looks potent.  Above all else, they have played it in a wonderful spirit, demonstrating beyond all question that playing the game hard doesn’t have to mean sledging, abusing or provoking opponents.  It’s something England could learn from, as could several teams.  Not shouting at an opponent isn’t giving them an easy ride, and never has been. England go to New Zealand in 2018 as currently scheduled.  There are again only two Tests to be played.  It is possible they will look to amend that, but not very likely.  The last tour down there was praised for being beautifully balanced, with three T20s, three ODIs and three Tests.  So of course they are not going to repeat that.  It would be too much to think that the boards could see a good thing and capitalise on it.  Although some things can change on the field, off it very little does.  And while this post has concentrated on the cricket, it doesn’t mean that the ECB are now forgotten for what they have done, not for a single second.  It might be what they hope for, but the news overnight about telling Sky which commentators they can have remains as symptomatic of their ability to make a bad situation even worse as ever. It’s just that the cricket itself sometimes reminds you why we care. @BlueEarthMngmnt

Violence Through Silence

LordCanisLupus28 Comments

I think it shows how weary I’ve become that when I saw the article (quite early in the evening) on KP and the commentary stint I thought I’d leave it be. Nothing surprises me with these clowns any more. That is should go through the conduit of the Daily Mail or Mail on Sunday is little surprise. That Patrick Collins thinks it’s great is little surprise. I’ve no doubt the likes of Pam, who was probably jumping the moon after her little Andy came in and we’ve had this massive turnaround (drawn series at home to New Zealand), and is calling us all KP fanboys, is happy too.

There’s a super piece by Maxie over at TFT if you want to comment. I have and so have other familiar traitors posters (I jest). But I’ve just re-read the Mail article and two bits in particular make my blood boil.

The ECB were outmanoeuvred by Pietersen and his advisors, led by Piers Morgan, during a sustained public relations campaign on his behalf after he was sacked following England’s 5-0 Ashes drubbing in Australia last year.

and

Pietersen has previously impressed as a television pundit, but pressure from the ECB to keep him at arm’s length this summer indicates that they remain extremely wary of his capacity to polarise public opinion and potentially alienate England supporters with his outspoken views. (my emphasis).

Listen here, journos. I don’t think we had everything to do with it, but it wasn’t you keeping “outside cricket” going, and it wasn’t KP either. There was no sustained PR campaign throughout last year when KP kept largely silent on the matters of his dismissal, as he was bound to do. They had a strategy. Stand back and let the morons at the ECB, aided and abetted by the compliant media to do the rest. Just wait, and thou shall deliver.

The ECB did itself in by appointing Paul Downton, and all the campaign had to do was keep quiet, let some of your lot throw themselves in front of the mighty Paul, and call him Lord Aplomb, and then allow him to open his mouth. I miss Downton because he was useless. He had all the suitability to the job as I have of being a court jester. There’s nothing sustained about the PR Campaign. He wrote a book and you lot took out the bits that mattered to you, and ignored some pretty salient points. And you can’t go f–king anywhere without Piers Morgan’s name coming up. Grow up you morons and admit it. Some of his fans, and many who hated the way he was scapegoated, didn’t buy what you fools were selling. Now some of you have buyer’s remorse on Downton in particular, and Moores as well, you want us to say sorry? Do one.

Which leads to the second point. His commentary may alienate some of the cricketing public. I’ve seen it all now. What do you think his sacking did? Do you think I’ve been writing this blog because I love it and accept it? Do you think I care enough to spend all the hours that I have on this and HDWLIA because I’ve not been alientated by this. And you care about those who have done nothing but insult us all the way because of it? Because we were right over Downton, over Moores, over Cook’s position in the ODI, and yes, over his leadership of the test team. You worry about alienating the people who have stuck their heads in the sand?

It would be hilarious if these chumps weren’t serious. Well done Sam. Paul would be very proud.

2015 Test Century Watch – # 28 – Adam Voges

LordCanisLupus1 Comment

Adam-Voges-Cricketer-Images-540x337

Adam Voges – 130 not out v West Indies at Roseau, Dominica

A debut century always gets the stattos on their uppers, and this one was one of the better ones. With due respect to Graham Thorpe and Alastair Cook, it was a first innings ton. With due respect to Andrew Strauss and Matt Prior, it came when his team were really up against it. With due respect to pretty much everyone, this bloke is a cricketing OAP.

The obvious starting point is that at 35 years and and 243 days he is not only the oldest man to make a test century on debut, he combined this with really pissing off Ian Chappell. The previous holder of this record was Dave Houghton of Zimbabwe, who was 125 days younger when he scored a hundred against India in Harare in 1992. I make it Voges is the 99th player to make a century on debut – there have been 101 debut centuries and Lawrence Rowe and Yasir Hameed made a hundred in each innings – and the fourth Australian this century to do so, following Michael Clarke, Marcus North and Shaun Marsh. Kirk Edwards was the last man to score a hundred on debut in the West Indies (at Roseau too), while Scott Styris was the last visitor to score a debut hundred in the Caribbean (he made his at St. George’s, Grenada). No Australian before Voges made a hundred in their debut test in the Caribbean. Other Aussies to make debut centuries are – Charles Bannerman, Reggie Duff, Roger Hartigan, our main man Herbie Collins, Bill Ponsford, Archie Jackson, Jim Burke, Doug Walters, Greg Chappell, Gary Cosier, Dirk Wellham, Kepler (pure dinkum) Wessels, Wayne Phillips, Mark Waugh and Greg Blewett.

This was the 36th highest score made by a batsman on debut, and the 9th highest by an Australian. The leader in that field is the longest standing record in the game. Charles Bannerman’s 165* still leads the way, with Archie Jackson (164), Wayne Phillips (159), Kepler Wessels (162) and Doug Walters (155) all within 10 runs of that record. Others above Voges include Mark Waugh (138), Shaun Marsh (141) and Michael Clarke (151). It is the 8th highest unbeaten hundred on debut, with that lead being held by Jacques Rudolph who made 222* on debut against Bangladesh. The highest debut hundred remains Tip Foster’s 287 in Sydney for England in 1903.

This was the 109th test century by an Australian against West Indies. At the time it moved into 41st= in the overall scores list, level with another maker of 130*, Kim Hughes. It was the 55th scored in the Caribbean, and at the time, it placed him just in the top 20. The best is by Bill Lawry, who made 210 in Bridgetown in May 1965. It is the 4th highes by someone batting 5 for Australia in the West Indies (Steve Waugh holds the top two slots with 200 and 199), and is one of just two unbeaten tons from number 5 in the West Indies by an Aussie – the other being Adam Gilchrist. All pretty decent names.

Voges was the second Australian to make a century at Windsor Park. Matthew Wade made 106 on the Aussies previous visit in 2012. He became the fifth man to make a hundred there, and the scorer of the 6th overall – Chanderpaul (2), Edwards, Wade and Gayle the others. 130* is the test record for this venue.

Have you seen a 130, Dmitri? Given the two scores of 130 made in London were before I was born, this makes it unlikely, and that’s the case. The last England man to make 130 was Alastair Cook, at Leeds in 2013 – you remember the one. That hundred made before his drought. Other 130s of note include Eoin Morgan’s very forgotten century against Pakistan on a difficult pitch at Trent Bridge. The last 130 before this was made by Imrul Kayes in November last year. The last one by an Aussie was by Michael Clarke against India in Chennai in 2013. Jacques Kallis has ben not out 130 on two occasions. Brian Lara has been dismissed on 130 on two occasions.

The first 130 in tests was made on 17 July 1899 by Tom Hayward. Coming in at 47-4 at Old Trafford, Tom Hayward eased the England score up into the 300s with his knock. Wisden waxed lyrical…

On the first day England stayed in until just after six o’clock their total reaching 372. Nothing in the early cricket gave promise of such a score, the start being so disastrous as to threaten a repetition of the failure at Lord’s. Despite fine weather in the morning the ground kicked a good deal during the first hour, and at the end of fifty minutes’ play four wickets were down for 47. Things changed a little when Hayward joined Jackson these two batsman staying together for an hour and twenty minutes and in that time putting on 60 runs. Jackson was caught at slip off a bumping ball at 107, and though Brockwell played a very bright innings he only remained in while 47 runs were added when he left England’s position was a very bad one, the only dependable batsman left to help Hayward being Lilley. These two had saved the situation at Leeds and again they did brilliant work together, putting on 113 runs in something over an hour an a half.

When Lilley was lbw at 267 a speedy end to the innings was expected, but the Australian bowling had now lost its keen edge and some rare hitting followed. Hayward and Young took the score to 324, and after the ninth wicket had fallen Young and Bradley added 35 runs in as many minutes. Sadly disappointed at the turn the game had taken the Australians became a little demoralised. Hayward’s innings of 130 was in every way magnificent. Rarely or never in the whole series of England and Australia matches in this country has a more remarkable display of batting been given. Up to lunch time he took an hour and a half to make 20 runs, but so completely did the character of his cricket change when things were going better for his side that after the interval he added 110 runs in rather less than two hours and three-quarters.

This was on Hayward’s three centuries for England. Another great Surrey man….

22nd January 1929: Tom Hayward (1871 - 1939) played for England (1893 - 1914) and Surrey. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
22nd January 1929: Tom Hayward (1871 – 1939) played for England (1893 – 1914) and Surrey. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Two Adams scoring test tons within the space of a few days. How coincidental.

Adam Voges century came up in 187 balls and contained 9 x 4 and 1 x 6

Escape For Victory

LordCanisLupus40 Comments

There was almost something poetic about Jonny Bairstow’s knock today. In a nutshell it summed up so much that had gone wrong in the past. That Adil Rashid was there at the end as well, was strangely appropriate. Two talents somewhat unfulfilled at the international level. Two “what ifs”. Two players seemingly relishing their chance to shine.

Today’s win is one of the really good ones. It’s the one dug out of adversity, when you are, to all intents and purposes, dead in the water. You are left 45 for 5. The rocks on which we are building this revival had gone – Hales had failed at the top of the order, Root had gone at three, and then so did Morgan. With no Buttler to fall back on, it was now up to rookie Sam Billings, and fallen young star Jonny Bairstow. As I drove back from Costco in Croydon, in the middle of a rainstorm I heard the two lads put the partnership together to cement the innings and give us a shout. When Billings went, Bairstow piled on. I got back to see the end. Bairstow with cool hitting getting us home, and yes, with a bit of luck too, with the drop by Santner almost certainly costing the New Zealanders the match.

But the symbolism of a talent, abused and ignored by England for so long, bringing a new era home was not lost on me. Bairstow had become the world’s most experience drinks carrier. He was called up rarely, often without much in the way of top class cricket under his belt in the weeks building up to his appearances. He’d come into teams either shot of confidence, or knowing he wasn’t there for long. He’d been over-sold when he made a 95 at Lord’s against South Africa, or that 50 at Cardiff. But he’d be in and out more times than an Hokey Kokey convention and he withered. Today was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I’m thrilled for him, and I’ve not said that about a cricketer in ages. I thought it was reminiscent of the KP innings against Australia at Bristol in 2005 – maybe not as violent, but every bit as important because this won a series, this continued momentum, this set down a bit of a marker, and it was against pretty large odds. Good luck.

I’m not going to go into huge detail on the game. I’ll leave that to thelegglance who is going to do a series review in the next day or two. But a series win is important, but in the whole scheme of things not that important. It was the manner in which we played, it was seeing some of our talent set free. I love that more than anything. Adil Rashid was excellent with the ball today. Mark Wood looks like he loves it out there. Jos Buttler is a man with talent to burn. Eoin Morgan and Joe Root are the rocks at 3 and 4. It’s a team to get behind. It’s a team that enthuses.

On to the Ashes. And the return of those who were noticeable by their absence. ABC will return. They have a momentum they have to ride with, not destroy. We’ll be watching. Carefully.