The Googly

Grass roots cricket is the place to be

This is my farewell piece here for the Googly and it's hard to know where to begin or what to write.  With only one piece left, I wondered whether to continue with the off-stage antics of Shane Warne - thinking the tram-crash fest in Melbourne last week - or whether to write about something closer to home.

I've chosen home because I'm sure you all know about the other thing! So last weekend I went to our season opener. A triangualar tournament of Twenty/20s between Lossie, Elgin and Fochabers. What a day to open the cricket season. Minus about 10, no-one there but me and the prettiest ground in the north-east looking dreadful because all the trees are still in full winter mode.

A ground that delights in being situated beside the Spey and lined on all sides by lovely trees was left looking like a 12 year-old's football playground at the side of the A96!

It didn't matter - my team hammered the opposition to win their matches and to my surprise, enchanted with some damn fine cricket. The match I'd been to before this had been Australia v India at the MCG. Sitting in the sun there, I had been entranced at the sight of Ishant Sharma befooling the Aussies with his magnificant bowling, and equally been impressed by Gilchrist walking when palpably not out. Last weekend, everyone out walked before the umpires even gave them out. It was cricket as I know it.

There could be no greater contrast between freezing to death at Fochabers, and having to leave the MCG because it was too hot. Amateurs playing for nothing but the love of the game - professionals earning their livings, but there was something that made these two experiences the same. I was the fan at both matches. I cared. In fact I probably applauded my mate Dave with more enthusiasm when he got a wicket than I did Ishant.

This may be the end of The Googly, but it won't be the end of fans wanting to have a voice.

It's been great fun being part of this and I hope all readers will find their way to other sites. Here at The Googly we have directed readers to check out many up and coming England cricketers - so follow our stars. Last year Toots and I brought you all the news of the County Cricket and hopefully you enjoyed that. Keep the faith. County Cricket is not dead. Outside the Counties, not just here in Scotland, cricket is a fine place to be. See this little song from someone in Oxford:

If you go down to the Parks tomorrow, you’re sure of a big surprise,

If you go down to the Parks tomorrow, you’d better go down in whites,

For ev’ry fan that ever there was, will gather there for certain, because

Tomorrow’s the day the Oxford UCCE play Nottinghamshire

Ev’ry cricket fan who’s been good, Is sure to see 3

England

players,

Including a leading wicket taker, and lots of runs beside

Beneath the spires where nobody works, they’ll bat and field as long as they please,

Cos that the way the cricketers have their innings.

All the best to my readers. Follow the links and you'll find me elsewhere.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig}

Thunder Downunder: West Indies tour squad announced

In their infinite collective wisdom the Australian selection committee recently announced the touring squad to tour the West Indies beginning in May.

There were few surprises in the squad with Simon Katich and Stuart MacGill returning to the Test squad and David Hussey and Shaun Marsh earning their first tour with the ODI squad.

Most interest has centred on 25 year old left-arm wrist spinner Beau Casson. Like MacGill, Casson left his home state of Western Australia to try his luck on the big turning Sydney pitch and after only one complete season it has paid a handsome dividend.

Capable of prodigious turn and with a well disguised wrong'un Casson is also a more than handy bat as his 88 in the Pura Cup final showed.

It is a grand chance for the young man to race ahead of young spinning rivals Dan Cullen and Cullen Bailey and if MacGill, only two matches back from surgery, aggravates his tender wrist then Beau Casson may get a red carpet ride into the Baggygreen brigade.  Full squads over the jump...

TEST SQUAD
Ricky Ponting (c) TAS 33yrs
Michael Clarke (vc) NSW 26yrs
Beau Casson NSW 25 yrs
Stuart Clark NSW 32 yrs
Brad Haddin (wk) NSW 30yrs
Matthew Hayden QLD 36yrs
Ben Hilfenhaus TAS 25yrs
Michael Hussey WA 32yrs
Phil Jaques NSW 28yrs
Michell Johnson QLD 26yrs
Simon Katich NSW 32yrs
Brett Lee NSW 31yrs
Stuart MacGill NSW 37yrs
Ashley Noffke QLD 30yrs
Andrew Symonds QLD 32yrs

LIMITED OVERS SQUAD
Ricky Ponting (c) TAS 33yrs
Michael Clarke (vc) NSW 26yrs
Nathan Bracken NSW 30yrs
Stuart Clark NSW 32 yrs
Brad Haddin (wk) NSW 30yrs
Matthew Hayden QLD 36yrs
James Hopes QLD 29yrs
David Hussey VIC 30yrs
Michael Hussey WA 32yrs
Michell Johnson QLD 26yrs
Brett Lee NSW 31yrs
Shaun Marsh WA 24yrs
Andrew Symonds QLD 32yrs
Cameron White VIC 24yrs

[Nesta Quin] [Image:Getty]

England under-19s fail to impress, again

On the 27th Jan, Pakistan's juniors took on Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo and won by an impressive nine wickets. A couple of days before that England had failed to capitalize on their previous good form and lost to Sri Lanka.

So what hope today was there for the so highly rated England boys as they played Sri Lanka again? Well bloody nothing really. Sri Lanka won the toss and batted first. James Harris struck early and removed multi-initialled EMGDY Munaweera for just 6, but his companion Chandimal hit 10 fours and one six on his way to an unbeaten 112. Sri Lanka posted a total of 312 - the highest I think in this Tri-Nation's series and England had a lot to do.

They didn't do much. Wakely out for a duck, Ben Brown (to my utter disappointment) only made 12 and Sam Northeast (who does sound like part of the Shipping Forecast) was top scorer with 32. England lost by 158 runs and my only comfort is that Billy Godleman was not playing. So many hopes for the future lie on that young man's shoulders that we can imagine that he would have won the game for us single-battedly.

A pretty miserable preparation for the World Cup - I can only hope that it will all go better for the boys there.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

England flatter to deceive, again

You would have thought, wouldn't you, that after yesterday's win over Pakistan, who had beaten Sri Lanka in a resounding fashion the day before, that England could for once have carried the winning momentum forward.

But no. Today our Under-19s allowed Sri Lanka to positively stroll to a seven wicket win in Colombo. With England batting first, it wasn't until James (You've Gotta Friend) Taylor and Greg Wood top-scored for the boys with 43 each that there was much respectability. Ben Brown, batting too far down the order for my liking, then chipped in with 38. The combined England score of 208 was not enough to trouble the Sri Lankan team.

Multi-initialled EMGDY (that's Eldeniya Medo Gedara Dilshan Yasika) Munaweera opened for SL with a strong 45, accompanied by Dinesh Chandimal.  Once EMGDYM had gone, Chandimal cemented the innings with Kushal Perera, putting on a stand of 106. Liam Dawson did finally make a break-through for England getting rid of Perera, but too little too late and England's fate was sealed.

Now much was made, when the England Test team were in Sri Lanka, of the fact that some of SL's top players were closing on retirement - and that there was little in the way of talented youth coming through. Perhaps time to think again. Perera and Chandimal are certainly full of talent and I think we'll all be trying to remember Munaweera's initials in the near future.

I am not writing off the England Under-19s on this one performance - they have another match on 28th Jan - before travelling to the World Cup, but I am concerned that they cannot sustain a winning streak.

All too reminiscent of the senior team.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

Close call for England Under-19s

Two days ago, this Googly correspondent was singing the praises of young Billy Godleman after his match-winning performance against Sri Lanka in England Under-19s warm-up match for the pre-World Cup Triangular competition. I was fairly sure that Billy would be the stand-out player when the tournament proper got underway, but not to be today.

England's juniors scraped a win over Pakistan (who yesterday beat Sri Lanka fairly comprehensively by 83 runs) by a narrow margin of just 16 runs.

And the bulk of these came courtesy of the bat of Sussex's 19-year-old Ben Brown. Ben is mostly categorised as a wicketkeeper and has only one First-class match to his name: last summer when he scored 46 against Sri Lanka A. Today he came to the rescue as the top order failed to fire and only Dan Redfern and Chris Woakes made double figures. Ben hit a stonking 93 not out off 105 balls, with nine fours and a six.

Far too early in his career to claim him as the next keeper/batsman, but not a bad start. England's total was 213 and after Pakistan's performance yesterday, one might have given them the edge but Tom Westley's (pictured) removal of top order bat Umair Mir was vital and 17-year-old Liam Dawson's three for 47 along with James Harris's removals of opener Ahmed Shehzad and tail-ender Adil Raza secured the victory for England.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

A good beginning

A week or so ago, I wrote that we at The Googly would be keeping a close eye on the performances and progress of England Under-19s as they prepare in Sri Lanka for their assault on the junior World Cup. Well, so far so good.

In their first warm-up match since arriving in Sri Lanka, the young England boys have taken on the Sri Lankans in Colombo today and notched up a satisfying win. Unsurprisingly for the time of year, Sri Lanka batting second, found themselves in a Duckworth-Lewis situation, but with our own young Googly pick Billy Godleman having top-scored with 123 they were always chasing a tough target of 318. Our bowling pick Tom Westley made sure they would have it hard taking three wickets for 27. Sri Lanka ended up 12 runs short.

Let's hope this is a display of real talent and not another blip of success on England's less-than-spectacular result sheet.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

England Under-19s: the pick of the squad

It is not yet clear who will be in the team for the Under-19 World Cup squad, but of the boys chosen to represent England in Sri Lanka in the preparatory Tri-Nations Tournament, we, at The Googly are proud to recogonise that quite a few of our One to watch boys are in the team. Last year we picked, publicly, Billy Godleman and James Harris.

Bubbling under, and if only there had been enough time, we were looking at Alex Wakely, Ben Brown, Steven Finn and Tom Westley.

Some names have sneaked under our radar and I do hope that in the year to come, our readers will help spot young pretenders.  Our current top-line Test side is a bit shaky and is not giving any of us the hope of being Aussie beaters in the next year or so. Therefore we must put faith in the layer below - and that does not mean bringing in old lovely lags like Mark Ramprakash. We need the young guns.

We'll be watching results this month in Sri Lanka and later in March in the World Cup. We are hoping that the boys are aggressive enough to stamp their mark on the world stage, but also hoping that our lads know how to play in the spirit of the game.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

Under-19 cricket

While grown-up Test cricket has been getting its collective knickers in a thorougly unedifying twist in Australia, a couple of rungs down the international ladder, the Under-19 teams have been preparing themselves for their World Cup.

Two days ago India U-19s whopped Bangladesh in the final of the Tri-Nation Tournament at Pretoria. Having won the toss they put on 260 for 8 in the 50 overs and then bowled Bangladesh for 123 in just 37.3 overs. A resounding victory to sit nicely for them alongside their victory over South Africa a few days earlier when they won by six wickets chasing a target of 223.

Today Pakistan announced their squad for the World Cup and the Tri-Nations Tournament against England and Sri Lanka that starts in Sri Lanka later this month. Pakistan will be captained by Imad Wasim who led his team to a 3-1 win in England last summer.

Here at The Googly we will be following both the Sri Lanka Tournament and the World Cup with great interest - partly to see if the young England boys can emulate the team of 1997-8 who took England to victory 10 years ago. Follow the jump to see just who's going to try and wrest the Cup off last time's winners Pakistan and better the runners-up: India.

The England squad announced earlier this month for the Tri-Nations is:

Alex Wakely (Capt), Ben Brown, Liam Dawson, Steven Finn, Billy Godleman, James Harris, James Lee, Stuart Meaker, Sam Northeast, Dan Redfern, James Taylor, Tom Westley, Chris Woakes and Greg Wood.

Stay with us for updates and the Cup squad.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig}

England Lions announced

Now, forgive me for my first comment here - but what the f**k is this Englands Lions stuff anyway? Until about half way through 2007, we were all quite happy with England A. It did what it said on the can. The A team - the second string squad - either not quite good enough to be in the full national side, or bubbling under.

This is not what Lions means. THE LIONS are the amalgamation of the UK Six Nations Rugby teams: England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. They may not be the all-conquering force of the 1970s - in fact they've been hammered all around the world, but Lions are rugby and I cannot for the life of me see why England A should seek to be rebranded in this way.

That said, there are some very exciting names in this England A (forgive me) squad.

Alongside old timers such as Michael Yardy and Liam Plunkett, young guns Steven Davies, Joe Denly, James Hildreth (pictured), and Adil Rashid get the call.

The rest of the best are: Kabir Ali, Michael Carberry, Ed Joyce, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Alan Richardson and Jonathan Trott.

Some of these guys have already strutted their stuff on the International stage and there are names totally missing -what about Ravi Bopara for instance?

Still, we understand that Andrew Flintoff may continue his rehabilitation from injury by being called into the Lions side before they set off for India later this month.

I just hope that these young lions have been watching Big Cat Diary this week and have learned just how fierce a lion must be when facing the odds. Freddie to attack like Tamu, or defend like Honey the cheetah? How interesting that all the Big Cats of note are of the female persuasion. Hum.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

My Cricket Year: mimitig

Player of the Year: Mahela Jayawardene (pictured right with definitely not PotY Michael Vaughan), not only captained Sri Lanka brilliantly in the recent Test series but was also nominated for the ICC awards as Captain of the Year. He lost out to Ricky Ponting, but he's my favourite (as Brucie would say).

Champagne Moment: cheating a bit but I have two. The first being Paul Collingwood raising the Commonwealth Bank Series Trophy after an absolutely horrendous tour downunder for the England team, and the second being Somerset's promotion to Division One. They (both teams) earned it.

Worst Moment: in the larger picture, it can't be anything other than Bob Woolmer's death. Domestically, the realisation that Fred Flintoff's best days are over was pretty tough.

One to watch in 2008: Glamorgan's James Harris proved that not only can teenage dreams come true, but that there is life in Glamorgan post Simon Jones. Harris hit the headlines when he took 13 wickets against Gloucestershire at Bristol - in just his second game for the first XI. He's been in Chennai with the Academy and is due to fly out to Sri Lanka with England Under 19s next month. Not bad for a boy who hasn't done his A-Levels yet.

If I could change one thing about the game in 2008: no more Malcolm Speed at the ICC, and not replaced by another lawyer.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

England under-19s fail to impress, again

On the 27th Jan, Pakistan's juniors took on Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo and won by an impressive nine wickets. A couple of days before that England had failed to capitalize on their previous good form and lost to Sri Lanka.

So what hope today was there for the so highly rated England boys as they played Sri Lanka again? Well bloody nothing really. Sri Lanka won the toss and batted first. James Harris struck early and removed multi-initialled EMGDY Munaweera for just 6, but his companion Chandimal hit 10 fours and one six on his way to an unbeaten 112. Sri Lanka posted a total of 312 - the highest I think in this Tri-Nation's series and England had a lot to do.

They didn't do much. Wakely out for a duck, Ben Brown (to my utter disappointment) only made 12 and Sam Northeast (who does sound like part of the Shipping Forecast) was top scorer with 32. England lost by 158 runs and my only comfort is that Billy Godleman was not playing. So many hopes for the future lie on that young man's shoulders that we can imagine that he would have won the game for us single-battedly.

A pretty miserable preparation for the World Cup - I can only hope that it will all go better for the boys there.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

England flatter to deceive, again

You would have thought, wouldn't you, that after yesterday's win over Pakistan, who had beaten Sri Lanka in a resounding fashion the day before, that England could for once have carried the winning momentum forward.

But no. Today our Under-19s allowed Sri Lanka to positively stroll to a seven wicket win in Colombo. With England batting first, it wasn't until James (You've Gotta Friend) Taylor and Greg Wood top-scored for the boys with 43 each that there was much respectability. Ben Brown, batting too far down the order for my liking, then chipped in with 38. The combined England score of 208 was not enough to trouble the Sri Lankan team.

Multi-initialled EMGDY (that's Eldeniya Medo Gedara Dilshan Yasika) Munaweera opened for SL with a strong 45, accompanied by Dinesh Chandimal.  Once EMGDYM had gone, Chandimal cemented the innings with Kushal Perera, putting on a stand of 106. Liam Dawson did finally make a break-through for England getting rid of Perera, but too little too late and England's fate was sealed.

Now much was made, when the England Test team were in Sri Lanka, of the fact that some of SL's top players were closing on retirement - and that there was little in the way of talented youth coming through. Perhaps time to think again. Perera and Chandimal are certainly full of talent and I think we'll all be trying to remember Munaweera's initials in the near future.

I am not writing off the England Under-19s on this one performance - they have another match on 28th Jan - before travelling to the World Cup, but I am concerned that they cannot sustain a winning streak.

All too reminiscent of the senior team.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

Close call for England Under-19s

Two days ago, this Googly correspondent was singing the praises of young Billy Godleman after his match-winning performance against Sri Lanka in England Under-19s warm-up match for the pre-World Cup Triangular competition. I was fairly sure that Billy would be the stand-out player when the tournament proper got underway, but not to be today.

England's juniors scraped a win over Pakistan (who yesterday beat Sri Lanka fairly comprehensively by 83 runs) by a narrow margin of just 16 runs.

And the bulk of these came courtesy of the bat of Sussex's 19-year-old Ben Brown. Ben is mostly categorised as a wicketkeeper and has only one First-class match to his name: last summer when he scored 46 against Sri Lanka A. Today he came to the rescue as the top order failed to fire and only Dan Redfern and Chris Woakes made double figures. Ben hit a stonking 93 not out off 105 balls, with nine fours and a six.

Far too early in his career to claim him as the next keeper/batsman, but not a bad start. England's total was 213 and after Pakistan's performance yesterday, one might have given them the edge but Tom Westley's (pictured) removal of top order bat Umair Mir was vital and 17-year-old Liam Dawson's three for 47 along with James Harris's removals of opener Ahmed Shehzad and tail-ender Adil Raza secured the victory for England.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

A good beginning

A week or so ago, I wrote that we at The Googly would be keeping a close eye on the performances and progress of England Under-19s as they prepare in Sri Lanka for their assault on the junior World Cup. Well, so far so good.

In their first warm-up match since arriving in Sri Lanka, the young England boys have taken on the Sri Lankans in Colombo today and notched up a satisfying win. Unsurprisingly for the time of year, Sri Lanka batting second, found themselves in a Duckworth-Lewis situation, but with our own young Googly pick Billy Godleman having top-scored with 123 they were always chasing a tough target of 318. Our bowling pick Tom Westley made sure they would have it hard taking three wickets for 27. Sri Lanka ended up 12 runs short.

Let's hope this is a display of real talent and not another blip of success on England's less-than-spectacular result sheet.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

England Under-19s: the pick of the squad

It is not yet clear who will be in the team for the Under-19 World Cup squad, but of the boys chosen to represent England in Sri Lanka in the preparatory Tri-Nations Tournament, we, at The Googly are proud to recogonise that quite a few of our One to watch boys are in the team. Last year we picked, publicly, Billy Godleman and James Harris.

Bubbling under, and if only there had been enough time, we were looking at Alex Wakely, Ben Brown, Steven Finn and Tom Westley.

Some names have sneaked under our radar and I do hope that in the year to come, our readers will help spot young pretenders.  Our current top-line Test side is a bit shaky and is not giving any of us the hope of being Aussie beaters in the next year or so. Therefore we must put faith in the layer below - and that does not mean bringing in old lovely lags like Mark Ramprakash. We need the young guns.

We'll be watching results this month in Sri Lanka and later in March in the World Cup. We are hoping that the boys are aggressive enough to stamp their mark on the world stage, but also hoping that our lads know how to play in the spirit of the game.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

Under-19 cricket

While grown-up Test cricket has been getting its collective knickers in a thorougly unedifying twist in Australia, a couple of rungs down the international ladder, the Under-19 teams have been preparing themselves for their World Cup.

Two days ago India U-19s whopped Bangladesh in the final of the Tri-Nation Tournament at Pretoria. Having won the toss they put on 260 for 8 in the 50 overs and then bowled Bangladesh for 123 in just 37.3 overs. A resounding victory to sit nicely for them alongside their victory over South Africa a few days earlier when they won by six wickets chasing a target of 223.

Today Pakistan announced their squad for the World Cup and the Tri-Nations Tournament against England and Sri Lanka that starts in Sri Lanka later this month. Pakistan will be captained by Imad Wasim who led his team to a 3-1 win in England last summer.

Here at The Googly we will be following both the Sri Lanka Tournament and the World Cup with great interest - partly to see if the young England boys can emulate the team of 1997-8 who took England to victory 10 years ago. Follow the jump to see just who's going to try and wrest the Cup off last time's winners Pakistan and better the runners-up: India.

The England squad announced earlier this month for the Tri-Nations is:

Alex Wakely (Capt), Ben Brown, Liam Dawson, Steven Finn, Billy Godleman, James Harris, James Lee, Stuart Meaker, Sam Northeast, Dan Redfern, James Taylor, Tom Westley, Chris Woakes and Greg Wood.

Stay with us for updates and the Cup squad.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig}

England Lions announced

Now, forgive me for my first comment here - but what the f**k is this Englands Lions stuff anyway? Until about half way through 2007, we were all quite happy with England A. It did what it said on the can. The A team - the second string squad - either not quite good enough to be in the full national side, or bubbling under.

This is not what Lions means. THE LIONS are the amalgamation of the UK Six Nations Rugby teams: England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. They may not be the all-conquering force of the 1970s - in fact they've been hammered all around the world, but Lions are rugby and I cannot for the life of me see why England A should seek to be rebranded in this way.

That said, there are some very exciting names in this England A (forgive me) squad.

Alongside old timers such as Michael Yardy and Liam Plunkett, young guns Steven Davies, Joe Denly, James Hildreth (pictured), and Adil Rashid get the call.

The rest of the best are: Kabir Ali, Michael Carberry, Ed Joyce, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Alan Richardson and Jonathan Trott.

Some of these guys have already strutted their stuff on the International stage and there are names totally missing -what about Ravi Bopara for instance?

Still, we understand that Andrew Flintoff may continue his rehabilitation from injury by being called into the Lions side before they set off for India later this month.

I just hope that these young lions have been watching Big Cat Diary this week and have learned just how fierce a lion must be when facing the odds. Freddie to attack like Tamu, or defend like Honey the cheetah? How interesting that all the Big Cats of note are of the female persuasion. Hum.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

My Cricket Year: mimitig

Player of the Year: Mahela Jayawardene (pictured right with definitely not PotY Michael Vaughan), not only captained Sri Lanka brilliantly in the recent Test series but was also nominated for the ICC awards as Captain of the Year. He lost out to Ricky Ponting, but he's my favourite (as Brucie would say).

Champagne Moment: cheating a bit but I have two. The first being Paul Collingwood raising the Commonwealth Bank Series Trophy after an absolutely horrendous tour downunder for the England team, and the second being Somerset's promotion to Division One. They (both teams) earned it.

Worst Moment: in the larger picture, it can't be anything other than Bob Woolmer's death. Domestically, the realisation that Fred Flintoff's best days are over was pretty tough.

One to watch in 2008: Glamorgan's James Harris proved that not only can teenage dreams come true, but that there is life in Glamorgan post Simon Jones. Harris hit the headlines when he took 13 wickets against Gloucestershire at Bristol - in just his second game for the first XI. He's been in Chennai with the Academy and is due to fly out to Sri Lanka with England Under 19s next month. Not bad for a boy who hasn't done his A-Levels yet.

If I could change one thing about the game in 2008: no more Malcolm Speed at the ICC, and not replaced by another lawyer.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

Interesting times for Scottish cricket

Keen readers may have noticed that I've been strangely quiet recently. Well, various reasons. Taking advantage of a lull in England's cricket programme, I left my Scottish fortress and did a bit of travelling. During this episode I (un)fortunately  encountered the London Public Transport system - I am still having nightmares - but this did give me the chance to discover that James Harris had been awarded Metro Cricketer of the Year. I'll look at that a bit later this week.

I have since my return, taken some time to bond more closely with my local cricket team and it is a joy to let the world know that cricket is moving forward in the North. A new coaching programme was announced a week or so ago when coaches and young players in the Macallan North League attended the opening of the Caledonian North Academy. Scottish cricket was given a huge boost by the performances in the World Cup and no matter how devalued the established nations believe this competition to be, for the emerging nations, it is of huge importance. Over the coming weeks and months, I will bring you news of the initiative in the far north to bring more and more young people into cricket.

Internationally, I am not sure if I'm happy to see Steve Harmison's latest figures. At first sight, six for 91 looks good, but then take account of nine no-balls and 14 wides, and suddenly the radar still needs adjusting. I cannot but agree with those who say that it's unlikely Steve will be ready for the Sri Lanka test series, but I guess we'll know more after next week.

Finally, for now, I'm wondering what to think of the pink ball. A straw poll amongst my cricketing friends seems to think it's just a bit typical that it's going to be trialled by women. Huh!

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

Luke is having a shocker

Back in June I wrote that Luke Wright was playing well enough in county cricket, showing enough character and class, to earn a chance to move up to the international stage. I think I may have been wrong. Unfortunately, and it may simply be that England are not as clever as they thought about international Twenty20, Luke has struggled mightily in South Africa. As I write he has the grand total of three runs to his name, all in the losing cause against Australia, and his appearances against Zimbabwe and South Africa have seen him walking away with big fat blobs.

It's not only his batting that has gone to pot. His fielding, particularly against South Africa when he dropped Mark Boucher, has not shown the class that we were expecting.

I often make excuses for England boys on grounds of their youth (and Luke is still only 22 years-old), but in the current ICC Twenty20 Tournament, we are seeing younger ones from Zimbabwe and Bangladesh performing far better.

Now, we know Luke has been named in the One-day squad to tour Sri Lanka starting later this month with the first One-day International on 1st October. I hope his poor form in South Africa, so far, will not damage his chances of selection for this tour. After all, how can good young county players take the next step without exposure to the best the world has to offer?

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

Robin Martin-Jenkins: a cricketer catching the eye

Robin Simon Christopher Martin-Jenkins. What a name to conjure with and how many names does a man need? Not that it's Robin's fault he's lumbered with a five initial monicker. For that the responsibility lies at his parents' door and it hasn't stopped him being a fine cricketer.

The son of The Times newspaper cricket correspondent and Test Match Special commentator, Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Robin has long been touted as a future Test allrounder. It is possibly too late for Robin to throw his hat into the selection ring for England, but he has been enjoying an absolutely wonderful season for Sussex this summer.

Back in the day as a mere stripling, Robin played for his school - Radley - alongside Andrew Strauss and Ben Hutton and signed up by Sussex won the NBC Denis Compton Award for three years running (1998, 99 and 2000). A key figure in Sussex's Championship success in 2003, a call up to the England squad could have been expected. It never came, but at 31 years-old, there may be a chance (injury to the England players could play a hand), and Robin's performances over the last couple of days at the Riverside must be alerting someone, somewhere, to his talent. Batting yesterday he ended on 77 not out, today he took three for 33.

Martin-Jenkins may not be riding high in the overall county tables, but his figures (in first-class matches) of 28.50 with the bat, and 34 wickets at an economy of 2.48 are not too dusty.

[Image: Getty] [mimitig]

One to watch: Tom Westley

It may be a bit late in the season to pick some more young hopefuls as Ones to watch, but as it is late, some of the younger chaps are getting a chance to move up into County first teams. One such is 18 year-old Tom Westley. Currently playing only his third Championship match for Essex against Somerset, Tom had a storming first innings to hit a career-best 72 (with 13 boundaries).

He is fulfilling the promise he showed as early as 2003, when only 14 years-old, he joined the Essex Academy. Three years later he made his first-class debut in the tourist match against Sri Lanka and although primarily a batsman (right-hand), he has shown skill as a right-arm off-spin bowler. Time will tell which side of his game becomes the most important.

He impressed his masters at Essex (these include Paul Grayson and Graham Gooch) enough to be sent to the Cricket Academy at Mumbai in February 2007, and before that had benefited from a Graham Gooch Scholarship and spent three weeks in Perth (Australia not Scotland!).

Retirements (Andy Flower, Ronnie Irani) and England duties (Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara) have perhaps hastened Westley's progress to the Essex First XI, but all the signs are that he merits this chance at even this young age, and it may be that early promise will lead to a great future.

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Somerset win promotion

At the end of the last round of the County Championship Division Two matches, Somerset were looking very well-placed for promotion to Division One with 202 points and their closest rivals, Nottinghamshire on 178.5.

The gap has proved too wide to bridge, and with a 299 run win over Glamorgan and Notts only managing a draw at Lord's, the Somerset lads have been rewarded with the news that they will, indeed, play in Division One next season. James Hildreth (pictured) has been their top-scorer to date with 1177 runs.

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Is Stuart Broad ready to tour?

After England's unlikely win in the One-day international against India at Old Trafford last night, one of today's debates is whether Stuart Broad, bless him, should be picked for the England Test squad due to tour Sri Lanka in December.

Stuart and Ravi Bopara saw England home to victory with a record-breaking (in England One-day cricket) eighth-wicket partnership of 99. Stuart had also bowled superbly to take four wickets for 51.

So, unsurprisingly, many reports today have focussed on young Stuart's performance, with headlines such as "England ride on Broad shoulders" and "Bopara and Broad pull a rabbit out of a hat ..." and the blogs are full of praise hailing a new hero. We've been here before - England cricket is littered with names of those who were sure to be the next saviour of the game, but it is very possible that this time, we have a genuine long-lasting hope for the future.

Which brings us to the question? Should Stuart now be considered for the squad that will embark on a six-week trip to Sri Lanka? His father, ICC match referee and former England Test player, Chris today told Cricinfo that he doesn't believe Stuart is ready yet.

"We don't want to get too carried away or look too far ahead" and suggested that his son might be better served going with the England Lions to India, and save a Test debut for when we face New Zealand early next year.

Others reckon that if he's good enough, he's old enough and being part of the Sri Lanka tour will be good for him.

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England win - but be cautious

We've just had a great win, but fans and honeys, don't think this is the way it'll be for the rest of the series.

There are about another 39 matches to played - or according to the poor chaps at GU (the guys who have to do Over by Over coverage) about 135 ODIs still to be played. I can identify wth that fear - we're all feeling  fretful about the Twenty/20 World Cup and we're only half-way through this One-day series with India.

The best we know so far is that we have two new top dog commentators. Ashley Giles and  Justin Langer have more than earned their stripes in the box.

There are times when the Beeb really earns its licence fee, and to my mind, they've done it this summer with the guys they've brought into commentary. Not just these boys, but we've had Darren Gough with his Cricket Show which entertained us for weeks in the summer and Dom Cork was a wonderful part of that. On Gab's Saturday show we've had weeks of Graeme Swann - a man in tights making cricket fun.

We, cricket fans, should make our voices heard more loudly so we can have more of these chaps.

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One to watch: Gareth Rees

Glamorgan has made a point this season of not going for big name overseas signings, but bringing on their own. One such is young Gareth Rees. I apologise for repeating a picture of this young chap, but he hasn't made enough of a mark yet for there to be great shots of his superb batting. I think this will change quite soon.

At the age of just 22, Rees might have been better served to move from Glamorgan but as a multi-talented sportsman, and proud Welshman, he's no doubt been loath to leave the Principality. He did shoot off to Bath to further his education, but that's only a wee trip down the M4 from his motherland. Here's a young man who played for Wales Under-17s and Llanelli Under-21s (at the Rugby) before throwing in his lot with Glamorgan to try and make a go of professional cricket.

His First-class debut came last year and this season, he has fulfilled the promise he showed at the end of last summer. Although he's listed (Cricinfo) with just 27.22 as his average, this does not reflect his performances or his talent.

At just topping 6 foot tall, he's a mean left-hand bat and has a decent arm (left-arm medium) with the ball. Just what the future will bring for this young man, we can't know, but a product of the excellent coaching skills provided by the centre of excellence that is Bath University, one has to think that this chap has a real chance of an international trial.

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County Champion Division Two round-up

Of the latest round of Division Two matches, the one between Glamorgan and Derbyshire at Sophia Gardens was the first result in. They finished a day early with Derbyshire taking the win (a day early) by 42 runs. 22 year-old rugby-playing Gareth Rees (pictured right) matched Derbyshire's top score of 61 in the first innings and made the highest score of the match with 109 in the second innings. But this wasn't enough to save Glamorgan, and so they continue to hug the bottom slot of the table. However we may see much more of this young player as he, hopefully, continues to make an impact in the first XI.

Nottinghamshire's Graeme Swann continued to impress and press his case for his inclusion in the England squad for Sri Lanka as he took his team to a two wicket win over Northamptonshire at Trent Bridge. He hit 51 in the first innings and a half-century (not out) in the second.

At Colchester, Andy Bichel took five wickets in the match and well supported by Danish Kaneria, the pair ensured that Leicestershire were unable to chase the 291 they needed. Essex won by 114 runs, but remain a distant third in the table.

The match at Lord's between Gloucestershire and Middlesex was drawn. Andrew Strauss showed a slight return to form with 75 in the first innings and 36 in the second, but both were slowly made and he still has to convince as a man with confidence in himself.

Somerset, who play Glamorgan at Taunton starting on 30th August, remain at the top of table, well clear of Nottinghamshire with 202 points against 178.5.

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Stuart off to Notts

So as we all know now, young Stuart Broad, bless him, is to abandon Leicestershire and follow his fortune at Trent Bridge. That's all well and good, and we certainly understand why he would chose this path. A young England hopeful, needing experience, the right choice is to go and play for a county who's home ground is a Test pitch.

With some England caps already under his belt, although a rough time today against India, there's no doubt that Stuart is well set for a long career (injury permitting) in the whites. It will be interesting to see if he stays in the One-day side for the rest of this series and whether the England management will be serious about letting him develop in the county game, with Nottinghamshire, for the next season.

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England Under 19 cricket

After yesterday's strong performance by the England Under 19 side, a stand-out performance from Billy Godleman easing England to victory at Grace Road by a margin of 80 runs, it was a shame that the momentum was not carried forward today.

The lads could only muster a scant 165 - Westley and Brown joint top-scoring with 31 each. Not enough to bother a resurgent Pakistan side, scenting not only a match win, but a series win here. Umar Amin (pictured) put the game firmly in the pocket of the visitors with a fine 72 not out, and I would suspect that we'll be seeing more of him in the future.

There are good signs for England though, Finn bowled well (two wickets) as did Rory Hamilton-Brown (economy of 3.66) so I think it's fair to say that there is hope for the future in England's young talent.

We watch and wait.

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One to watch: follow-up - Billy Godleman

Many moons ago, or so it seems, although actually only back in June, this correspondent suggested that Billy Godleman was worth watching through the county season. Well, I'm pleased, and relieved to report that he certainly has been worth keeping an eye on. His county performances have impressed and although his average has dropped this year to 46.87 (last year he ended with 60.54 but only played eight matches), and 750 runs is only just over half of those amassed by table leader Mark Ramprakash, he has done well.

Also playing for England Under 19s against Pakistan, he has put on a fine show. In the second Test - opening with Alex Wakely, he added 95 for the first wicket partnership and top-scored for England (in a losing cause, admittedly) with 115.

In today's One-day International at Leicester, Billy has put England in a commanding position with an outstanding 149 not out. There is no doubt that he is continuing to lay down the foundations for a fine international career.

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Mediawatch with Ian Bell and Matt Prior

My latest little review of what our fine boys are saying in the print and web media is, yet again, light on revelations, though in a way, the fact that Matt Prior has been prepared to go on record and be quoted with anything in the light of his performance is somewhat of a revelation to me. Surely he'd have been better served by either crawling off into the woodwork, or better still, going back to his county and putting some effort into practice? To have a headline for your own column saying "My performance at The Oval has been criticised and all I would say to that is I am still learning" and the commentator's headline: "Prior admits to toughest week", surely is not helpful - even though honest.

Prior must be aware that there not only a lot of questions being asked by both professional commentators of the game but also the fans about his performance, but also that there are some fast rising contenders for the gloves out there - not least young James Foster and Steve Davies. How then is it helpful in your own cause, Matt, to tell the BBC that: "mistakes do happen - we're all only human"? Or that: "Maybe at Lord's in the second innings I could have gone on to get a good score but Zaheer Khan bowled me a very good ball on 42 and I happened to edge it"? Without wishing to be too harsh, and Matt has said he is his own biggest critic, it's all a bit "the dog ate my homework". Should have done better, should have kept his mouth shut.

Bell gets a mention today because the dog SHOULD have eaten his homework. After weeks of doing very nicely (he was verging on an A minus for his previous pieces in the Guardian), he served up utter tripe in his column of 2nd August. The topic, unsurprisingly, was the sledging jellybean-gate row, and I would have thought the point of having a column (ghost) written by someone who was actually there, was to get a bit of insight. There, genuinely, is nothing worth quoting from the dross served up in this article and bloggers quite rightly got on the case, and if Ian bothered to read their comments, it's amazing that his self-esteem lasted well enough for him to score a sound 67 in the second innings.

All in all, a poor showing from England in the field at The Oval and an absolutely C minus performance in the media. Back to the nets in cricket class, and into detention at Googly Dungeons in writing class. It's not just a matter of could do better, it's a matter of don't even try if you fail so abysmally.

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One to Watch: Adil Rashid

Well, I know there's nothing clever in choosing Rashid to write about in the One to Watch spot: he was awarded Performance of the Day by the Trumpet back in May, and has been mentioned many times in these pages. However we have not yet taken a really close look at this young Yorkshireman of whom so much is expected in the years to come. Back in what seems the dim and distant past when Darren Gough (pictured with Adil) was invited to take the captaincy at Yorkshire, I remember him saying that one of the reasons he was so excited about the job was the chance to work with and develop one of the most thrilling young bowling talents in England. That'd be Rashid then. Now, the boy sits second to the Dazzler in Yorkshire's bowling table with 27 wickets so far this season. His batting is not looking too shabby either - fifth in the county table with an average of 43.90.

The statistics this season back up his promise of last year, when he exploded into the cricket-watching consciousness and set tongues wagging with 25 wickets in just six appearances. An eight-wicket haul against India with England Under-19s confirmed his class. No-one should be surprised though - Adil is a product of the Terry Jenner spin programme and we all know who Terry's most famous son is (oh alright, in case there's a reader out there wondering: Shane Warne).

If young Rashid can remain free of injury (he has changed his action following a stress-fracture to his back last winter), then I believe we can confidently expect to see his name on the Honours Board at Lord's before too many years go past.
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A bit of Dazz, a bit of Phil, a lot of cricket

Limbering up for my coverage of tonight's Dazz show, I tuned in to the Twenty20 coverage last night (after writing up my Tour report) and found my favourite, Phil Tufnell on the airwaves. As I joined, "The Cat" was describing someone "smearing it all over the pitch". I didn't know who was smearing what, and to be honest I'm not sure Phil did either as soon after he asked not only what the scoreboard said, but where was the scoreboard! Isn't that so the spirit of Twenty20? Mad, confused and exciting. It was just as well that I had that little limber, as tonight, Tuffers was with Goughie for the Cricket Show, and it was another hectic and hysterical affair. A good job that experienced broadcaster Eleanor Oldroyd was there to keep a semblance of control, as otherwise, we'd have had nothing but laughter. Which whilst therapeutic fun would not have been the point.

Gough again managed a stellar line up of guests, starting with Chris Broad - much talk of the selection policy that saw Chris Tremlett get a Test debut ahead of son Stuart (bless him), and a good discussion of Strauss's 96 at Lord's today. All seemed to agree that it was a fine knock and it was only a very typical batsman's wish of making the ton with a four or six that got him out. No criticism at all. After a very interesting discussion of the use of Hawkeye in cricket as opposed to tennis - Chris feels it has a place but there's no substitute for experience in dodgy decisions where even the machine is reduced to guess-work, we had next guest. What an absolutely delightful and charming man Harbhajan Singh is. No bitterness about missing out on the Indian Test side, hopes to get a call for the One-Dayers and answered all questions with openness and a sort of innocence. Questioned about Dhoni's resignation from Surrey - he just said he didn't know details but somehow this was just honest and not avoidence. Also when asked about his non-selection for the India side he told us he'd heard it on TV - but there was not even an undercurrent of unhappiness. He'll be a great addition to the Surrey side and seems to be so pleased to be here.

Next up was David Hussey - the younger brother of Michael, and again another delight. Quite open about his desire for the Baggy Green, but very happy to be here. Then came the Corkster (pictured). To be honest there was so much laughter that I found it hard to keep track of the serious discussions, but there were some. Sensible words about how England disregard players past 28-29, and at 30 you're past it. Fun stuff about heckling from the crowd. Apparently Dom got a bit of crowd-sledging about his waistline recently and riposted with "hey Kojak, pack it in" on seeing the heckler was bald. Well, maybe not top-notch stand-up stuff, but as Dazz said, it's all in good fun.

I had to leave the show before Geoff Lawson's spot, but will try and find that in the ether for another time. All in all, this was another entertaining and informative show - a great introduction to the game for new fans, and a real filip for the old and jaded. There is an utter magic between Dazz, Dom and Phil that puts some other cricket broadcasters to shame.

Join them next week and if you can't I'll do my best to bring you highlights.

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Joe Denly makes the most of his chance

It was almost a dream debut for 21-year-old Joe Denly on Friday in Chelmsford. Shiny and squeaky-clean in whites for England A (oh, alright, then Lions - but I'm not alone in finding it hard to take that name seriously) he opened the batting with Andrew Strauss (poor chap - failed again), and hit 83 - including 16 fours, and his fifty came of just 49 balls. The dream perhaps would have been a century, but second top score to Bresnan's 126 certainly justified his inclusion at this level. A score of 18 in the second innings was pretty immaterial as by that point we all knew this match would be played out to a tame draw.

Joe has been with Kent since the age of 13 and has moved calmly through the junior ranks. He toured India with England Under-19s in 2005 and impressed with three half-centuries. Although highly thought of, captaining Kent's Second Eleven and the ECB Development of Excellence XI, there was no place for him in the first team last year. His chance came this season with the departure of David Fulton and Joe has made the most of it. The Googly's Tooting Trumpet awarded him Performance of the Day on 23rd of May - the day Joe hit 115 against Shane Warne's Hampshire.

With such a strong junior record, it's not surprising that Joe took the Denis Compton honours in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and looks set to become a feature in the England squad, though probably not in the Test side this summer.

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One to watch: Ben Wright

In the spirit of fairness, having chosen to highlight James Harris, it's only right for the One to watch to take a close look at his Glamorgan colleague Ben Wright. Born in Preston, Lancs but educated in my mother's home town of Cowbridge, Ben must be considered as a Welshman. Not a tall boy, he nonetheless wields a mean right-hand bat (first-class average at 26.44 and a jaw-dropping 100.00 in his five Twenty20 games). Not yet 20-years-old, he went to Bangladesh with the England Under-19s and although it was a disappointing experience for the team, Ben's 68 runs in a fourth-wicket stand of 121 with Adam Lyth was a highlight.

He won the Denis Compton Award in 2006 and has been keeping tongues wagging. Nowhere in Glamorgan's tables, he has just turned in a stonking performance against Leicestershire becoming the youngest century-maker for the team since Matthew Maynard in 1985.

There's nothing to be lost in keeping an eye on this boy.

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One to watch: James Harris

Nearly two months ago, the eagle-eyed Tooting Trumpet awarded his highly sought-after Performance of the Day on 18th May to Glamorgan's 17-year-old James Harris and this young man got a mention again last Monday in PoD. So in a continuation of the theme of looking at cricketers called James (we've already done Hildreth, Foster and Benning), the One to watch reckoned it was time to delve deeper into the short but promising career of James Harris.

Born and educated in South Wales (old not New that is - Harris is no Aussie import), he is currently touted as an allrounder - a right-hand bat and right-arm medium fast bowler, particularly strong on his seam bowling, and has a lot of "youngest" accolades against his name. Youngest to play for the Glamorgan 2nd XI (at 14 years and 353 days), youngest (just turned 15) to play for Wales Minor Counties, youngest (at 17) to take first a seven wicket haul in the Championship and then the youngest to take 10 wickets in a match. Glamorgan may be stone last in the LV County Championship Division Two table with a mere 46 points, but for Harris with 23 wickets in just 5 matches (at an average of 18.73 and a remarkable economy rate of 2.97) and nicely in the middle of the batting averages with a round 20.00, this season is far from being a damp squib for the 6-foot Welshman. It could be tight between him and Ben Wright for the Denis Compton Award this year.

Already, in this first year of top level County cricket, Harris has made himself quite a reputation to live up to, and you can be sure that the head honchos of the England side are keeping a close eye on his development.

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Calling James Benning

A pretty poor performance from England yesterday has led to a shout for James Benning to be called into the side. Well ever-willing, your correspondent has gone searching and can bring you these facts to help you make up your minds. Is he good enough?

A right-hand bat with a current First-class average with Surrey of just 34.88, he might not immediately spring to mind as worthy of the call. But this boy, he's still just 24 years-old, promised much as a school-boy and was chosen for the England Under-15s. In 2003 he was acclaimed as Surrey's most-promising newcomer and won a Denis Compton Award. He has made steady progress and his position in the tables does not reflect the skill and guts that got him his top score of 152 against Gloucestershire in April this year. In partnership with Ali Brown, they smashed their way to a world record One-day total at the Oval.

Enough, surely, for not only Guardian Unlimited's Andy Bull, but England to have an eye on him.

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One to watch: Rory Hamilton-Brown

A while ago I wrote about ex-Millfield boy James Hildreth who has been attracting a fair amount of interest this season. Today my pick for One to watch is another alumnus of that same sporting seat of learning - young Rory Hamilton-Brown. At nearly 20 years old, Rory has started on the right path towards an England call-up in the not too distant future.

Winner of Denis Compton Awards in 2005 and 2006, he has been wielding his bat (right-hand) and bowling right-arm offbreaks for Surrey since 2005 when he made his debut against Bangladesh A. He earned a place with the England Under-19s for Sri Lanka in 2006 and in the December of that year was chosen to captain the squad for their tour of Malaysia in 2007. Unfortunately a shoulder injury requiring an operation put paid to that, but he has remained involved with the U19 set-up and although not setting the world on fire at Surrey so far this season, he certainly has the talent and junior record to merit close watching.

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Luke Wright: his time must come soon

Just yesterday the 22-year-old Luke Wright imposed himself on the Kent bowling attack with an astonishing century off just 44 balls, as Sussex won the Twenty20 match by 7 wickets. His own bowling had just been monstered by Robert Key and Martin van Jaarsveld, and a player of lesser character could have crumbled psychologically. Wright is, after all, deemed an all-rounder. But this young right-hand bat and medium pace bowler is made of stern stuff, and while having Jacques Kallis as a hero may raise some eyebrows, it's clear that attempts to emulate a hard man of the sport do Wright no harm.

A graduate of Loughborough University, Wright has spent the lsat 2 winters back there at the National Academy and his performance led to a call-up in February 2006 to the England A squad in the Caribbean - a natural progression following his appearances representing the England Under-19s.

Three times a winner of the Denis Compton Award, a vital part of Sussex team that won last year's C & G Trophy, although sitting only mid-table in this season's batting for Sussex, I think it will only be a matter of time before we see him in the England One-day side.

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One to watch: Dimitri Mascarenhas

One of the names that all Hampshire fans will be extremely happy to see on the England selectors' list  for the One-day side, is that of the 29-year-old Dimitri Mascarenhas. To followers of the One-day game, it is perhaps surprising only that we have not seen this player don the pyjamas of England before.

Born in Middlesex, Dimi moved to Australia as a child and did not return to these shores until 1996, when he was signed by Hampshire. He hit the headlines immediately with a stunning bowling display against Glamorgan, ending with 6 for 88. Noticeably, he has put in his best performances in the highest-profile games - being awarded "Man of the Match" in the 1998 Nat/West trophy semi-final where he took 3 wickets and hit 73 crucial runs. The first-ever hat-trick in Twenty20 cricket has name against it in the book -  he took 5 in total playing against Sussex in 2004.

A solid performance with the bat, alongside Nic Pothas on Wednesday, helped take Hampshire to the Friends Provident final at Lord's - we look forward to that in August. Let's hope that Peter Moores's continuing adventurousness pays dividends again with this choice and that Mascarenhas can turn it on for England as well as he does for his county.

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