Was trying to explain the appeal of cricket to some good-naturedly enthusiastic lady-friends yesterday. I now admit, in hindsight, that my pitch of "five-day moving chess" probably was not the most advisable tag-line to use in trying to sell the game. My point, however, was that the ostensibly slow nature of the game is amply compensated for by the constant scope it provides for examining the current situation, and speculating as to how it might change in the blink of an eye.
At face-value, 336 for 7 is pretty even. BUT… that first hour of day two could be crucial. If the Aussies rattle through the last three wickets, in under half an hour and for 15 or so runs, they gain the upper hand. Alternatively, if we hang around for another hour and a half, and nudge over 400, we can liberally dish out back-pats, safe in the knowledge that we ought really to have removed an Australian victory from the equation.
You see? It's the examination of the situation, and what might happen that's exciting! (At this point, presumably, various non-cricket enthusiasts give up and check facebook.)
Now admittedly the first hour may fall in between these two extremes, and meander gently for an hour, with England reaching around 380 all out in thoroughly unspectacular fashion. Should that be the case, however, then the following hour will become all important, for a handful of early Australian wickets would really give England the advantage… I jest ye not, I can barely contain my excitement.
The KP Debate Continues
As mentioned, at face-value it's even, but given that England won the toss, 336 -7 is mildly disappointing. It was a placid wicket, and the Australian attack does not instil the same fear of a fairly recent yesteryear. Bopara, Strauss and Prior were dismissed by decent deliveries, but with so many batsmen having made good starts, the lack of a big hundred was disappointing, and may well cost us victory.
Having opted to bat, we should have looked for at least 450. KP's dismissal was a rather exaggerated example of how our batsmen were too charitable in giving away their wickets. Geoff Boycott described his offending shot – an attempt to sweep a ball a foot and a half outside off-stump – as "stupid".
Boycott is always outspoken, and to be honest he rather irritates me, but I think he is spot-on here. If KP were still in this morning he'd have 100 by now and we'd be cruising towards 400+.
However, in KP's defence, that is the nature of the beast. If he did not attempt those unnecessary attacking – and downright daft - shots he would neither play half the excellent-but-unorthodox shots that make him our best batsman. For every infuriating and narcissistic dismal he also hits a breath-taking bravado 50. It is a debate that will be had many a time and oft, but the All-Action opinion is that it is a trade-off worth making.
Looking forward to a crucial first hour….
Showing posts with label Cricket Rants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cricket Rants. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 July 2009
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
England Cricket Team in "Ruthless" Shocker (But Ideal Preparation It Ain't)
Before the start of the 2008-09 football season Spurs went absolutely mental, destroying everyone who ambled into their path. The might of Tavenes and Leyton Orient were amongst those scythed down, but also, more encouragingly, so were Celtic and Roma, with goals scored as if going out of fashion.
As a Spurs fan it’s in my DNA to become ridiculously over-excited prior to the start of a season, and such sterling form naturally sent me into overdrive. ”We’ll storm the top four; we’ll win the Uefa Cup; we’ll win the Six Nations, Wimbledon, the Superbowl; we’ll ruddy well take over the world!” was the gist of the giddily excited expostulations ringing forth from All Action No Plot Towers around August 2008.
Cue no wins and only two points from our first eight games.Moral of the story. Well there are several – everyone laughs at deluded Spurs fans; you can set your watch by the August delusion of Spurs fans; Jermaine Jenas makes me want to rip out my own eyeballs with rusty pliers; and so on. Most pertinently however, was the conclusion that attempting to warm up for crunch games by playing rubbish opponents who meekly lie down and wait to be slaughtered will not stand a team in good stead come the start of the tricky business.
England cricket team take note. We’re playing the Aussies next. A straightforward destruction of a completely disinterested West Indies team was pleasant enough, but preparation for a five-Test series against the world’s best it most certainly ain’t. We could have done with a couple of five-day tests (lower-case “t”) against more challenging teams. Our players will need to be ready to fight and scrap for a draw in this series. Not the best preparation.
"Ruthless”. Blimey
That said, it was at least pleasing to note that the team did the job with minimal fuss. England teams of the very recent past have made heavy weather of taking 20 wickets or capitalising upon advantages. “Ruthless” seems to be the most apt adjective right now, and that’s not one we’ve bandied around too often in recent years.
Strength in Depth in The Batting Order
In terms of team selection, things are starting to take shape. Bopara has done all that can be expected at number three, and it’s good to note that we’ve scored runs by the bucketload despite the absence of any seismic contribution from our most talented batsman.
There has also been a pleasing development of the lower middle order, with Prior, Broad and Swann all chipping in at 6, 7 and 8. If Flintoff were picked as a specialist bowler (there seems to be room for one more, after a sound but unspectacular couple of games from Bresnan), batting at 8 or 9, we’d have a pretty darned intimidating batting line-up.
A Scathing Few Words On The Windies. Grrr.
The Windies may not have wanted to be there, and may have only been drafted in as late replacements, but their performances were abject to the verge of disgraceful. Where on earth was their professional pride? Good grief I would have shaken an enraged fist at the England players as they left the field if they had produced such a capitulation in similar circumstances.
As a Spurs fan it’s in my DNA to become ridiculously over-excited prior to the start of a season, and such sterling form naturally sent me into overdrive. ”We’ll storm the top four; we’ll win the Uefa Cup; we’ll win the Six Nations, Wimbledon, the Superbowl; we’ll ruddy well take over the world!” was the gist of the giddily excited expostulations ringing forth from All Action No Plot Towers around August 2008.
Cue no wins and only two points from our first eight games.Moral of the story. Well there are several – everyone laughs at deluded Spurs fans; you can set your watch by the August delusion of Spurs fans; Jermaine Jenas makes me want to rip out my own eyeballs with rusty pliers; and so on. Most pertinently however, was the conclusion that attempting to warm up for crunch games by playing rubbish opponents who meekly lie down and wait to be slaughtered will not stand a team in good stead come the start of the tricky business.
England cricket team take note. We’re playing the Aussies next. A straightforward destruction of a completely disinterested West Indies team was pleasant enough, but preparation for a five-Test series against the world’s best it most certainly ain’t. We could have done with a couple of five-day tests (lower-case “t”) against more challenging teams. Our players will need to be ready to fight and scrap for a draw in this series. Not the best preparation.
"Ruthless”. Blimey
That said, it was at least pleasing to note that the team did the job with minimal fuss. England teams of the very recent past have made heavy weather of taking 20 wickets or capitalising upon advantages. “Ruthless” seems to be the most apt adjective right now, and that’s not one we’ve bandied around too often in recent years.
Strength in Depth in The Batting Order
In terms of team selection, things are starting to take shape. Bopara has done all that can be expected at number three, and it’s good to note that we’ve scored runs by the bucketload despite the absence of any seismic contribution from our most talented batsman.
There has also been a pleasing development of the lower middle order, with Prior, Broad and Swann all chipping in at 6, 7 and 8. If Flintoff were picked as a specialist bowler (there seems to be room for one more, after a sound but unspectacular couple of games from Bresnan), batting at 8 or 9, we’d have a pretty darned intimidating batting line-up.
A Scathing Few Words On The Windies. Grrr.
The Windies may not have wanted to be there, and may have only been drafted in as late replacements, but their performances were abject to the verge of disgraceful. Where on earth was their professional pride? Good grief I would have shaken an enraged fist at the England players as they left the field if they had produced such a capitulation in similar circumstances.
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Windies First Test, Day One – Bopara's Eternal Reputation Remains In The Balance
"Bopara has done everything right although I still have an irrational mistrust of him." So noted a mate of mine yesterday, as Bopara went about rebuilding after that most English of summer phenomena, the middle-order collapse.
Irrational judgements seem to be the way with cricketers - I can make up my mind within about three innings whether or not I'll like a player for the rest of his career. Butcher, Thorpe, Strauss, Vaughan - will always like them, no matter what they ever do. Bell, Collingwood, Giles, Anderson - eternal mistrust, no matter how well they play. In a sport which is entertaining without ever inciting the same demonic passion as football (Exhibits A, B and C – Messrs Drogba, Ballack and Terry last night) irrational judgements seem strangely acceptable. Cricket after all is a sport more for earnest discussion and polite applause, than vitriolic abuse and foul-mouthed invective.
Back to Bopara. My mate's mind is made up; the jury at More Action, No Plot Towers is, however, temporarily still out. He's started in the right way, but a hundred against an undercooked, ill-prepared Windies team with the looks of chaps who would rather be sipping Malibu on a beach (wouldn't we all?), on an English ground in English conditions, has a bit too much of Ian Bell about it.
Ah, Ian Bell. The sort of blighter who will make hay with a double-century against Bangladesh, then dine off that for two years, keeping his place in the Ashes squad while struggling to make double figures. Is young Bopara the new Bell, or something far more promising? I'm a tad worried that Bopara might not be up to the challenge of Australia, but will be rendered undroppable on the back of some good innings vs the Windies. Still, he has done all that can be expected of him at number three so far (which isn't very far, being only one day) – more than could be said of poor old Owais Shah last winter. Time shall tell. Hindsight shall be 20-20.
Irrational judgements seem to be the way with cricketers - I can make up my mind within about three innings whether or not I'll like a player for the rest of his career. Butcher, Thorpe, Strauss, Vaughan - will always like them, no matter what they ever do. Bell, Collingwood, Giles, Anderson - eternal mistrust, no matter how well they play. In a sport which is entertaining without ever inciting the same demonic passion as football (Exhibits A, B and C – Messrs Drogba, Ballack and Terry last night) irrational judgements seem strangely acceptable. Cricket after all is a sport more for earnest discussion and polite applause, than vitriolic abuse and foul-mouthed invective.
Back to Bopara. My mate's mind is made up; the jury at More Action, No Plot Towers is, however, temporarily still out. He's started in the right way, but a hundred against an undercooked, ill-prepared Windies team with the looks of chaps who would rather be sipping Malibu on a beach (wouldn't we all?), on an English ground in English conditions, has a bit too much of Ian Bell about it.
Ah, Ian Bell. The sort of blighter who will make hay with a double-century against Bangladesh, then dine off that for two years, keeping his place in the Ashes squad while struggling to make double figures. Is young Bopara the new Bell, or something far more promising? I'm a tad worried that Bopara might not be up to the challenge of Australia, but will be rendered undroppable on the back of some good innings vs the Windies. Still, he has done all that can be expected of him at number three so far (which isn't very far, being only one day) – more than could be said of poor old Owais Shah last winter. Time shall tell. Hindsight shall be 20-20.
Thursday, 8 January 2009
Pietersen's Resignation A Blessing In Disguise
Nice to see England doing their utmost to throw away the Ashes some six months before it begins. It’s been a headline-writers dream, with the tabloids tripping over themselves at his priceless opportunity to trot out cricketing puns of every kind. England are stumped! KP has been caught out! The coach has been yorked! And so on, ad infinitum.Meanwhile, tea-sipping gentlefolk of the ilk of Jonathan Agnew have been positively tutting with incandescence at the manner in which the whole affair has been conducted. Some of the MCC members are even planning to vent their fury with letters to The Times, before settling back down for forty winks in the afternoon.
To be honest, I think this whole shambles may be a blessing in disguise. Pietersen’s talent is beyond doubt, and quite extraordinary, but cannot be separated from his ego and frankly annoying personality. The man’s craving for the limelight, frequent displays of petulance and mind-numbing, cliché-riddled interviews and press conferences suggest that he might not necessarily have the maturity to lead the team. In cricket particularly, the ability to keep your head while all about you are losing theirs is priceless. The sight of Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting losing his rag after being run out back in 2005 was most gratifying, but would also made it clear that the team was showing some signs of vulnerability. KP seems the sort to lose the plot in similar fashion when rattled - or indeed the sort to chase personal glory rather than the good of the team.
Within six months of Pitersen taking over it has emerged that there is a personality clash with the coach so large as to be insurmountable. I suspect that not all the players were necessarily enamoured of him either.
By contrast, his replacement Andrew Strauss comes across as a more intelligent, thoughtful and likeable chap, blessed with the capacity to think before speaking and acting. He seems less likely to rub team-mates the wrong way, and has captaincy experience at county and international level.
Another happy side-effect is that KP’s fit of pique has not extended to him picking up his ball and going home. No self-enforced sabbatical here, KP is keen to continue playing, and this will give England a chance to settle upon a batting order in the West Indies, before the serious stuff begins against the Aussies in the summer. All we need now is for Ian Bell to retire from Test cricket in an act of support/protest, and we’ll be ready to reclaim the Ashes.
To be honest, I think this whole shambles may be a blessing in disguise. Pietersen’s talent is beyond doubt, and quite extraordinary, but cannot be separated from his ego and frankly annoying personality. The man’s craving for the limelight, frequent displays of petulance and mind-numbing, cliché-riddled interviews and press conferences suggest that he might not necessarily have the maturity to lead the team. In cricket particularly, the ability to keep your head while all about you are losing theirs is priceless. The sight of Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting losing his rag after being run out back in 2005 was most gratifying, but would also made it clear that the team was showing some signs of vulnerability. KP seems the sort to lose the plot in similar fashion when rattled - or indeed the sort to chase personal glory rather than the good of the team.
Within six months of Pitersen taking over it has emerged that there is a personality clash with the coach so large as to be insurmountable. I suspect that not all the players were necessarily enamoured of him either.
By contrast, his replacement Andrew Strauss comes across as a more intelligent, thoughtful and likeable chap, blessed with the capacity to think before speaking and acting. He seems less likely to rub team-mates the wrong way, and has captaincy experience at county and international level.
Another happy side-effect is that KP’s fit of pique has not extended to him picking up his ball and going home. No self-enforced sabbatical here, KP is keen to continue playing, and this will give England a chance to settle upon a batting order in the West Indies, before the serious stuff begins against the Aussies in the summer. All we need now is for Ian Bell to retire from Test cricket in an act of support/protest, and we’ll be ready to reclaim the Ashes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
