The Googly

Where did Jones GO?

When musing on the likely fate of Chris Read (probably won't play for England again) quite logically my thoughts turned also to Geraint Jones, who has become the forgotten man of the 2005 Ashes squad. So much water has passed under the bridge, and so many changes to the England side that I'd actually forgotten that he did play the first two Tests in Australia last winter. The last time I thought of him, a few months ago, he was playing nicely for his county (Kent), so I thought it time to play catch up and check how it's going for the little wicketkeeper of whom so much was expected.

It's not going that gloriously for Geraint. His batting average looks pretty nondescript at 29.09 in First-class matches, though his keeping has been fairly sharp with 20 catches and one stumping in the seven matches, and a further five dismissals in his nine Twenty20 games. However, he is lagging behind Chris Read, although doing better than James Foster, whose name seems higher up the selectors' lists than either Jones or Read. But sport is a cruel mistress, and there's no room for sentiment. Memories of his brave 85, batting with Freddie Flintoff at Trent Bridge that helped put England in a winning position back in a summer when the sun shone and the country caught Ashes Fever, butter no parsnips now in rainy, dank and miserable 2007.

I have no doubt that the selectors called it right in dropping GO during the disasterous adventure Downunder during the winter, but is it right that he is now ignored? On current evidence, sadly, I think it probably is.

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Chris Read has had his day with England, probably

Yesterday Peter Moores said, when talking about the England fast bowlers, that he's "not a big one for looking back. I think you are better looking forward ... looking to build new teams with what you have." Applying that logic to the other positions in the team, it would suggest that there is not going to be another chance for Chris Read. Matt Prior is selected for the India Tests, and James Foster (nearly two years younger than Chris) and Steve Davies (seven years younger) now both would seem to be ahead in the queue of men most likely to pull on the gloves should Prior slip up.

As Chris looks back on his international career (15 Tests and 36 ODIs between 1999 and 2007), he may feel a bit hard-done by and perhaps a victim of Duncan Fletcher's failed bid to save his own job, followed by the regime change. A strong debut against New Zealand and a subsequent solid performance with the bat against South Africa in the winter of 1999 was not enough to keep him in the side and he was dropped, not to return again until 2003. Again he only had a brief spell in white before the wicket-keeping duties were awarded to Geraint Jones. They traded places again in 2006 when Chris got called up for the 3rd Test against Pakistan at Headingley. He didn't do enough to keep his place and it was Jones who went to Australia for the 2006-07 Ashes Tour. However, his under-whelming achievements led to Chris's return for the last two Tests, and Chris may have felt that his strong showing behind the stumps would make up for a poor performance with the bat. It didn't and Paul Nixon nicked the gloves for the Commonwealth Bank Series and the ICC World Cup.

With Fletcher gone, Peter Moores plumped for Matt Prior and may have sealed Chris's fate. But never give up, I'd say, Chris. Keep working hard at Nottinghamshire - an average of 70.30 so far this season could catch the selectors' eyes again if others stumble.

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Graham Onions - a Test this summer?

It may have been Stuart Broad, bless him, who took most of the plaudits and headlines after the Tour match against India down at Chelmsford, but Graham Onions did himself no harm either with 3 wickets in the first innings coming from his 20 overs. He went for 90 runs and had a respectable economy of 4.50. It didn't go quite so well in the second innings, no wickets and the worst economy ( 7.00) of the four bowlers, but this did not negate his initial positive impression.

It was not really surprising to see this 24-year-old man of the north-east (born in Gateshead, schooled in Blaydon, playing all his county cricket at Durham) selected for this England Lions squad. A very strong 2006 season had seen Onions picked for England's provisional Champions Trophy squad and he was called up to replace Darren Gough for the one-dayers against Pakistan in September 2006. That led to inclusion in Peter Moores's England A side to tour Bangladesh.

With questions now over Steve Harmison's fitness and Graham's performance against India combined with his excellent season's averages in first-class matches (26 wickets, average of 31.00 and economy rate of 3.54), it may be that we see Onions hovering around the fringes of the Test side this summer.

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Strauss's fall from grace

Well we all know what Andrew will be doing next weekend. The England Lions? Who thought that one up then? Apart from magnificent beasts striding the plains of the Masai Mara (if it has plains), or lying around doing nothing at Longleat, there is only one pride of Lions in sport and that's the rugby lot. Heaven knows what they think about the ECB nicking their monicker. Still we seem to be stuck with it now and as the team formerly known as England A, prepare to take the field against India, it's hard to imagine that Mr Strauss does not feel that he's back at school and been sent down from Div I to Div II in maths (or French).

So how did this sad situation come to pass? It doesn't seem so long ago that we were cheering for Strauss as he hit 129 at the Oval, making him the only player in the 2005 Ashes to score a century twice in the series - the first coming at Old Trafford, with blood oozing from his ear from a Brett Lee ball. Hustled into the captaincy due to injuries to Michael Vaughan and Andrew Flintoff in the summer of 2006, his England team were humiliated by Sri Lanka - a 5-0 white-wash in the One-day series. Honour was, partially, redeemed as England took the Test series 3-0 against Pakistan (the debacle of the final Test was not of Strauss's making). But then they went Downunder. Bumped as captain in favour of the returning Flintoff, we hoped that Andrew (of the Strauss flavour) would bat his way into the limelight. Very few of England's team came back from Oz with their reputations enhanced, but few were as diminished as Strauss. With a mere two fifties after 20 innings on tour, he was dropped before the ICC World Cup.

He did make an appearance, but 7 against the West Indies at Bridgetown was not the performance we expected of him. Some pretty poor scores (6 and a blob in the third match) in the Test series against the West Indies this summer (his 77 in the fourth Test was not indicative of his overall form) led to him not being picked to play in the Twenty20 or One-day internationals. Strauss has hardly been setting records in the county game for Middlesex and while an average of 54 is not shabby, this is only calculated from three innings so not possible to relate it to a return to form.

However, with England's top order far from impressive, let's not rush to judgement. Rather wait and see if Andrew Strauss can overcome past problems representing his country and return to grace on the fair fields of Essex.

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Mike Yardy: sunk without trace?

Every now and then I find myself thinking of the names that briefly graced the England team in the latter stages of Duncan Fletcher's reign. Although with hindsight (and the evidence of his performances in the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy) it is clear that Michael Yardy was out of his depth at the highest level of international cricket, at the time it did not seem such a wild idea on Fletcher's part.

Yardy had had a superb season for Sussex in 2005, ending with an average of 1st class runs of 56.29. A much lower average in One-Dayers was offset by some eye-catching bowling. He was rewarded with a place in the England A Sqaud for the West Indies tour of 2005-06 and made his debut for the full international side at the Twenty20 in Bristol against Pakistan.

In the One Day match at Trent Bridge he took 3 wickets - Mohammed Yousef, Shaoib Malik and Kamran Akmal - for 24. It was therefore not sa urprise to see him selected for the ICC Champions Trophy.

Unfortunately in the demanding conditions of the Sub-Continent, and, inexplicably moved up to bat at 4, Yardy was not up to the task and he was dropped for the Commonwealth Bank Series.

His name has just re-appeared in the county match reports, having spent some weeks out of action with a broken finger, and it seems he's going well with the bat.

Will this be enough to see Yardy recalled to the England squad under Perter Moores's new regime?

I doubt it.

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Hoggard: down but not out

Matthew Hoggard: a name to celebrate. We think of him so often as the journeyman of the England bowling attack, and yet he is so very frequently the one who makes things happen.

When he walked off the park last Saturday, our collective hearts fell - we know how much we need him to lead the pace attack. Yet much of the time, he seems to be relegated to the sidelines in the stories written of the England team.

Why this should be is beyond me. His figures stand scrutiny from the harshest of critics, and that includes that dour old Yorkshireman, Mr Boycott.

I do remember chants of "Hoggy, Hoggy, Hoggy" ringing round the grounds during the 2005 Ashes, but I cannot bring to mind many front or back pages of the newspapers featuring the shaggy-haired northerner. This is a poor public recognition for the man who took a brilliant hat-trick in Barbados in 2004, and followed that with a truly astounding 12-wicket haul that winter as England toiled in South Africa. Quite possibly, his performance was what turned the tide and ensured that the series went in England's favour.

In 2006 he had a solid series against Sri Lanka, not such a good time against Pakistan, but showed his class in the Adelaide match of the 2006/7 Ashes, taking 7 wickets. And yet still no headlines!

As a batsman, he has turned in some decent hits for Yorkshire, and internationally, is the nightwatchman all the Test playing countries wish they had. Stolid, unflappable, and always effective. He is, quite possibly, one of the best we have ever had the privilege to rely on.

Get well soon, Hoggy. England needs you.

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Desperately seeking authority

Andrew Strauss was given the unenviable privilege of captaining England in the first Test against Pakistan at Lord's. He is not only a stand-in, but a stand-in for a stand-in (a double stand-in?). He failed to summon or convey any sense of authority in the first three days of this Test yet today struck a hundred to silence those who, perhaps, felt he was weak of character and lacking in authority. However his quality and authority as a batsman has never been in doubt, and the first three days remain a slight concern.

He joined unique company, too, today; only Allan Lamb and Archie MacLaren have made hundreds on their captaincy debut. To do it at Lord's, his home ground and where two years ago he made a hundred on his Test match debut, gave the occasion added posterity and wistfulness. His celebration on reaching three figures was noteworthy too; gone were the youthful arm-swinging and bat-waving of 2004. In its place, both arms were calmly raised in a gesture which perhaps signalled his relief in leading from the front as he intended. Although he had just run out Ian Bell...

He is no Flintoff. There is a diffidence and reverancey to his character; he is a potentially fine writer on the game, an erudite reader of match situations and ever since his debut has been earmarked as a Future England Captain. Unlike Flintoff's "follow me into battle, guys", his calm air might serve him and England well in the forthcoming months.

The first three days are nevertheless a real concern though. Nothing much happened. And when nothing happened, he did little to affect a change. A resigned smile, hunched shoulders and much chewing of nails did little to stop Mohammad Yousuf, much as it will do nothing to stop Ricky Ponting and co. in the winter. Without the tongue-lashing of Michael Vaughan England rather drifted along. Well done, Strauss, but Flintoff's my man for the Ashes.

Easy plateau

As England finally reach somewhat of an injury plateau, Pakistan are scrabbling (rather impressively too) to catch up. In just 48 hours, three players have all been written off/died/collapsed/bashed around a bit. Quite a good effort that. Mohammad Sami is a doubt; Mohammad Asif is a bigger doubt and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who looks at least 50, is ruled out. There are probably more, too, which I’ve forgotten.

Writing about cricket has, for the past few months, resembled something similar to my previous life working in the NHS. Broken limbs, missing bits of cartilage, idiots treading on people’s hands, wonky groins and so on. Quite why all these winners are falling apart at the seams with such predictable regularity is beyond me. As Fred would have said, “in my day…”