The Googly

Monday Muse: Where now for the Cricket World Cup?

Media and fans alike are tearing at the fetid remains of the Cricket World Cup like a pack of rabid Hyenas. The difference being that Hyenas usually laugh; there is no amusement to be had here at all.  But can we take a rib from the bones of this tournament and create a whole new being, as God apparently did with Eve: a thing of beauty, a tournament fit for purpose, something people actually want to watch?

Forgetting the obvious ICC cock-ups, the biggest problem with the World Cup is the cricket itself.  There are not enough truly competitive fixtures from the outset, in that teams can lose a number of matches and still get to the semis.  The crowds know this and the players know this, threfore there is no intensity from the players and thus no interest from the spectators. I have been watching this tournament throughout (unfortunately), and I can count on two fingers the number of conversations I have had about it: it is too long and too many matches inconsequential to care.

The ICC simply have to find a way of harnessing the games that are happening all over the world as teams tour and play each other.  The cricketing calendar is currently an endless merry-go-round of triangular series' and back to back ODIs that mean very little; these could and should be used as some kind of qualifying regime. 

This would take the form of a two division World League, with the top eight teams in Division 1 and the next eight in Division 2.  A schedule of games would then be agreed over a 4 year period in which points are accrued; nations could of course arrange fixtures outside of this schedule as well.  This would lead to a seeded 16-team straightforward knockout competition at the end of the qualifying period.  Imagine that - a World Cup that is only 15 games long: more flexible scheduling; an end to the comedy Duckworth Lewis nonsense in the big games; no need for semi finals to be played midweek.

Of course this format could increase the risk that top teams could go out early, and if it does so what?  This is sport, and it just may reduce this risk as it will force big teams to get their game faces on early. 

So what do you think?  It's a winner for me.

Monday Muse: Woolmer, murder and the media

Many of us are still in shock and disbelief about the tragic and mystifying death of Bob Woolmer last weekend.  But what has shocked me far more has been the nature of the press coverage since the police confirmed that his death was murder last Thursday.

Prior to the Police statement, there was much conjecture on internet forums, in the press and among cricket fans on the street as to what had happened, combined with the sadness we all felt and the hope that the post-death necessities would be carried out quickly for the sake of the Woolmer family.  The journalists were doing their level best, as is their job, to discover what the police were actually looking into regarding the death; not surprising when considering the length of time the police were taking to produce specific information for the public.

However, since the statement has been published the media have gone bananas with innuendo, muck-raking and irrelevant sensationalism.  Much of it involves Bob himself: Woolmer was writing a book, Woolmer was not in charge of the team, Woolmer had no support from the PCB, Woolmer may have been drinking on medication.  This kind of coverage serves no purpose other than to feed the giant monster of conspiracy that is rampaging all over the cricket world, paticularly in the sub-continent. Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, it maligns the memory of a decent and universally respected man. 

The second prong of nonsense on the media fork since last Thursday has been corruption.  There has been hundreds of thousands of words written and spoken on the subject in the last week and I can summarise all the coverage here in one sentence: Some people think it still goes on, we have no idea how or by who.  Yet this flimsiest of arguments seems to inform all the thinking on the murder of Bob Woolmer.

Is it too much to ask that the media stick to the fact that a man has been killed, it would seem by someone known to him, and the police are investigating all possibilities?  Probably so, and I suppose the media are simply giving people what they want.  But I feel sad that Bob Woolmer's alleged weaknesses and problems are now being aired in public, from the most unsubstantial platform of evidence, whilst the man is no longer around to defend his reputation.  [lee calvert] 

Andrew Flintoff bladdered and on a pedalo

Andrew Flintoff has been dropped from the England side and stripped of the vice-captaincy after an incident featuring about 32 cans of Red Stripe, five other players (Plunkett, Lewis, Nixon, Bell and Anderson)and a stolen pedalo.  These England players, aware of England's less than fantastic World Cup, have obviously decided that instead of worry about it they will get absolutely arseholed and have a laugh.  Flintoff has apparently been singled out as the ringleader, hence his punishment.

Laughing boy Duncan Fletcher does not share their views and has predictably overreacted to the scenario.   It seems petty to strip Freddie of the vice-captaincy when surely a suspension would have been enough, and I can't help thinking that this is further evidence of the souring relationship between the two men since last year's Ashes debacle.   After that awful series the spineless ECB had the chance to sack him from the position for genuine cricketing reasons but instead chose to leave him there, yet after a few beers and a daft incident at sea they move very quickly.  This certainly tells you the type of characters that are in charge.

Apparently Flintoff had been warned before about such things (an excessive Toohey's and surfboard incident in Oz?), and this is the reason they are using to justify the severity of the sanctions.  As an England fan I wish they could make proper cricketing decisions so rapidly; such as moving Flintoff to number 7 in the order and dropping the woeful Dalrymple.  Obviously these decisions are of less importance than making a public example of your most talented player because he didn't go to bed on time.  [lee calvert]

Monday Muse: World Cup minnows

The appearance of the 'associate nations' at this World Cup has been the one subject that has consistently polarised talking-head opinion in the lead up to the tournament.  It has not helped that Bermuda, Canada, Kenya, the Netherlands and Scotland - nations that have become collectively and colloquially as 'the minnows' - have all performed appallingly in the warm up matches, with only Ireland offering any kind of tangible resistance.

The strongest criticism has come from West Indies great Michael Holding, who said, "There are too many teams in the competition who are not good enough."  He went even further with his opinion of the tiny Bermuda, saying, "I don't believe that if you come fourth in the ICC Trophy you should be entitled to play in the World Cup." 

On the flip side India captain Rahul Dravid has welcomed their inclusion, commenting that, "The associate nations should be here at this World Cup. I think they add a lot of character and charm to the event," he did go on to make the much more valid and less patronising statement that, "If you don't encourage them and if you don't give them an opportunity in an event like the World Cup, then what's the incentive for them to actually keep playing the game?"

On initial analysis it is easy to understand both sides of the argument that these two greats of the game present.  The World Cup schedule, at nearly two months, is far too long and the first half of the tournament will be filled with appalling mismatches, Holding's view of dispatching the minnows would solve this.  But ultimately I have to come down on Dravid's side for the reasons that he states in his second point; developing nations need a goal. 

Scotland is a prime example. As a major sporting nation they are struggling on all fronts at present,  unsurprising with their relatively small population.  Their football team is slowly improving after a desperate time that still finds them lowly in world rankings and the rugby team that narrowly missed out on a world cup final appearance in 1991 currently looks about as likely to repeat the feat as a team of John Inman impersonators.  In the middle of this malaise Cricket Scotland have to recruit players into their sport.  I would argue that their single USP at the moment when tempting young Scots into cricket is a guarantee of playing in a World Cup, the pinnacle of the international one-day game. 

If the ICC were to take this priceless draw away from nations such as Scotland, it is fairly safe to say that the game will struggle to get off the ground.

Added to this, if the minnows were excluded we would never again see Kenya beat the West Indies, or John Davison smash the fastest ton ... erm .. against the West Indies.  I think I'm beginning to understand perhaps why Holding takes the view he does!
[lee calvert]

Monday Muse: All hail Chris Schofield

When Surrey take to the field in the 2007 County Championship there will be familiar looking figure amongst them, a testament to that thing we all love, the sportsman who refuses to give up. 

Chris Schofield was the last proper leg-spin bowler to play for England, he played two tests in which he took not a single wicket. An unusually tall wrist spinner with a gangly action and hair not unlike Billy Whizz, he nevertheless turned the ball a long way and was seen as talented enough to be given one of the first central contracts in 2000, albeit surprisingly and far too early. Having not bowled at all in his first test, in the second his bowling was as much a stranger to control as Rik Waller is to salad and talent.  The selectors put an 'x' in their collective notebooks.

 

Schofield was sent back to his county to develop his talent away from the glare of the test arena.  It was always going to be difficult to build a normal career with confidence shattered following his shambolic handling by the ECB , and so it proved .  With his figures on a seemingly constant downward spiral with the ball, and first team appearances becoming increasingly fewer, he was finally released by Lancashire in 2004 after coach Mike Watkinson deemed him surplus to requirements. 

Refusing to let the disappointments wreck his career, this man of willowy frame showed a surprisingly iron-clad determination to drag himself back into the county arena. His long journey back has been via minor counties Suffolk, the Surrey and Durham second XIs and working as a painter and decorator in between.  Surrey have been impressed enough to give him the contract this year that he has chased stoically for the last three.

What Schofield's story illustrates is two things.  The first is that the ECB are at times very stupid, the second is that the world class leg-spinner is coveted perhaps more than any other talent in the modern game.   In 2000 the fever in English cricket to find a home-grown Shane Warne, or at the very least someone better than Ian Salisbury, was cloying; Schofield was a talented kid caught in the crossfire of muddled thinking. Now, at the still tenderish age of 28 and turning out regularly for Surrey, maybe the international selectors could come calling again.   If they do, it will be all credit to Schofield himself.  [lee calvert]

Monday Muse: has Harmison been a bit too cocky?

Whilst watching the opening matches of the CB Series from the comfort of his favourite armchair in the family home in Ashington,  Steve Harmison must have found a small part of himself feeling pleased.  Not pleased that England were losing, he is far too much of a patriot and a decent bloke for that; but that the bowlers his voluntary retirement had ushered into the side were not exactly ripping up trees or more importantly stumps.  I doubt he is feeling quite so content now.

Only a fool would suggest that Harmison did not retire from the limited overs game this winter without the thought that his test place was secure.  He has been England's main strike bowler for the best part of 5 years and has always looked worthy of that position; until last year that is.   

2006 was an awful year for Harmison, he lost his rhythm, his rudder, and finally in the 2007 Ashes came the final humiliation as the responsibility of the new ball was taken away from him. He took this on the chin as a decision for the team, but deep down it must have hurt and angered him.  Ambrose, Donald, Walsh, McGrath, Vaas, Gough - great and even just good fast bowlers simply do not lose the new ball.  Ever.

The latter part of the CB Series saw a massive improvement in the bowling of England's young pretenders which no doubt caused Harmison to shift in his armchair.  Anderson was finally shaping the ball before injury took him out of the reckoning.  Liam Plunkett drew praise from the likes of Ian Chappell, Saj Mahmood continued to show the immense promise which we all know he has, and Stuart Broad is currently bowling very well on the A tour.

The one thing all of these young bowlers have shown is a strength of character to keep plugging away and applying themselves to the basics in testing circumstances, something that Harmison has shown very little of for eighteen months. One wide ball at the beginning of a test match was all it took to turn Harmison into a frankly terrible bowler, which is not good enough at even at club level.

If England by some miracle have a good World Cup (or even an average one) and these bowlers show up well, questions may well be asked about just what Harmison brings to the team.  A seam up pace bowler is only any good when they are bowling with ferocious pace and consistently into the correct areas. Should Mahmood do this in the Caribbean it will cause Harmison and indeed the selectors to shift even more uncomfortably in their respective thrones.

Harmison is 30 this year, he does not have the time to learn his art again and so needs to find form and attitude again very quickly. For his sake I hope the time spent at home this winter has been more productive than getting overs in against the best batsmen in the world.  If not, come the summer he may find himself contemplating another retirement decision.
[lee calvert]