Cricket World Cup - In praise of bits and pieces

Trent Johnston is cricket's version of Jack Charlton - a foreigner who has taken an Irish sporting team to unprecedented heights, through as full an understanding of the Irish culture as a man born on O'Connell Street who habitually carries a copy of Ulysses under one arm leaving the other free for the Guinness.

But he is also a fine example of the much-maligned figure, the Bits and Pieces Player (BPP).

The King of the BPPs for my generation was Jeremy Coney, now an er... distinctive broadcaster. He was almost a carbon-copy of Trent, bowling strictly medium pace, batting down the order, and captaining very shrewdly indeed - Trent even looks like JC! His Test record is almost perfect for the BPP: batting average 37; bowling average 35. Sitting next to JC alphabetically is another fine BPP from New Zealand, Bevan Congdon, who batted 32 and bowled 36.

Other countries have their own versions of BPPs. For Pakistan, Mudassar Nazar averaged 38 with both bat and ball, whilst India's Manoj Prabhakar turns in 33 with the bat and 37 with the ball. Even Australia have flirted with the BPP. After 53 Tests (the Manchester Test of 1993 - you know, Warne to Gatting), Steve Waugh averaged 37 with the bat and 45 with the ball - but he did improve!

All these players look like all-rounders, but they're not really, as neither of their skills is quite good enough to nail down a regular place - nevertheless, the top drawer BPP is a very useful member of any team. Duncan Fletcher likes them (he calls them multi-dimensional, but they're BPPs really). Ashley Giles has made the 50 Test club as an out an out BPP with figures of 21 with the bat and a shocking 40 with the ball. I reckon Ravi can beat that, don't you?

[The Tooting Trumpet]