The Googly

Why I don't like... Two Test Series

There's little that can gladden the hearts of followers of the greatest game than to read of a renaissance in West Indian Test cricket. Alas the Queen's Park Oval appeared to be populated with more dancing girls than cricket fans, but that did not stop Ramneresh Sarwan, supported by Shiv Chanderpaul and others reaching their target of 254 to level the Sri Lankan series 1-1. I looked forward avidly to the showdown next week where the spoils would be decided and (possibly) a new dawn at last hailed.

But no. In their infinite wisdom, the ICC's Future Tours programme saw fit to truncate this "series" to two Tests, and so deny us (and the Windies' worldwide followers) the chance to see a positive result. Shame on them.

And in case you think this is a one-off and see the malign hand of the IPL in play, here are some upcoming two / four Test series: Australia in West Indies (four Tests, April 2008); South Africa in England (four Tests, July 2008); Australia in India (four Tests, October 2008); New Zealand in Australia (two Tests, November 2008). I'm afraid there's plenty more such coitus interuptus to come.

[The Tooting Trumpet]   

Website of the Week

If you like your stats (and, quite frankly, who doesn't?), you'll love David Barry's blog. It's chock full of analyses such as "What counts as a slump in form for a batsman (Mr Strauss)?"  and "Why are there so many double centuries these days (Mr de Villiers)?"

I'm not sure I understand it all, but I'm sure going to try.

[The Tooting Trumpet]

New Zealand vs England - Series Player Ratings: New Zealand

Okay, it wasn't the best cricket we've ever seen, but it was competitive and unpredictable and, at the end (as our picture shows) poignant. The Trumpet awards the series an 8, but cross the jump for the New Zealand player ratings.

Jamie How 6 - A vital 92 on the first day of the series set up the Kiwis' extraordinary demolition of England in the First Test. Thereafter looked slightly out of his depth.

Matthew Bell 3 - Scores heavily in the domestic game, but seems paralysed by nerves in the international spotlight. Should sign up to a TV dance competition immediately.

Stephen Fleming 7 - Looks fantastic, a God amongst mortals, but still the match-turning knocks elude him. For a man unfulfilled as a batsman, it is deeply depressing to hear of his retirement at 34. He should speak to Graham Gooch.

Matthew Sinclair 1 - Not good enough.

Ross Taylor 8 - Made a dazzling 120 to set up the win in Hamilton, thereafter dazzled intermittently. Easy to forget that he has played just five Tests. If Vettori's bowling deteriorates further, expect whispers of captaincy.

Jacob Oram 6 - A batting all-rounder who played as a bowler who bats. Still doesn't convince at Test level - more of a Lancashire League pro playing a bit above his comfort level.

Brendon McCullum 5 - Gilchrist-lite. Slightly too pleased with himself, poor shot selection was his undoing too often. Keeping was showy rather than safe.

Daniel Vettori 6 - A bowling all rounder who played as a batsman who bowls. Captained beautifully at Hamilton, but was less convincing in the two defeats. His lack of penetration with the ball must be worrying him.

Kyle Mills 7 - Honest trier whose decapitation of the England order in the second innings at Hamilton sealed the win.

Jeetan Patel 7 - Outbowled his captain and brought energy and commitment to the field.

Chris Martin 6 - Took wickets regularly, but never looked like a running through a side. Too one-dimensional to trouble international batsmen. Showed real guts to allow Southee's cameo after a clout on the head.

Tim Southee 8 - Bowled a superb opening spell at Napier, then played an Astlesque innings when the game was up. Beautiful action, tremendous hand-eye coordination, wonderful temperament, big, strong boy - what more can one ask of a teenage cricketer?

Mark Gillespie and Grant Elliot 1 - Not Test cricketers on this evidence.

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image: Getty]

 

Performance of the Day - The Australian late order

Great cricket teams are created by a kind of alchemy that allows their gold to glisten in a pan full of iron and sand. There were times when the 80s West Indies bowling attack was blunted - so you had to deal with Gordon and Dessie and Big Clive and King Viv smearing you all round the paddock.

This great Australian team have that alchemy too. They were wobbling today in the Second Test vs India at 134-6 with just the one recognised batsmen and four bowlers left. Moreover, four of these five players have just 40 Tests between them. And none of them is called Adam Gilchrist. Any England fan would have taken 200 as a decent score, so, in the deathless phrase, what happened next?

As Cricinfo baldly states, "The 173-run partnership between Andrew Symonds and Brad Hogg is the highest seventh-wicket stand for Australia versus India, and the fourth-highest against all teams. Symonds and Hogg scored their runs at lightening-quick speed too, consuming just 36.2 overs - that's a rate of 4.76 per over. Of the 218 deliveries bowled at them, the pair played just 135 dot balls, stole 45 singles, and struck 22 boundaries - 20 fours and two sixes. Both batsmen scored at an almost equal scoring rate: Symonds contributed 94 from 116 balls (run-rate of 4.86) while Hogg made 79 from 102 (4.64)." Australia are 376-7 and the Trumpet is awed again by the sheer bloody-minded class that these incredible cricketers bring to the game. Bastards!

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image: Getty] with thanks to S Rajesh and HR Gopalakrishna at Cricinfo.

What a difference a doosra makes

Murali has been weaving his magic again, with only the inclement weather falling on the Asgiriya Stadium calling halt to his inevitable march to the Test wickets record in this England innings. 

But, while the little magician has always been an outstanding bowler, his record since mastering the doosra in 2001 is nothing short of miraculous, even by his standards.  This additional string to his already well tuned bow has hastened his pace to the record, follow the jump to see the numbers

Murali's figures:

                 Matches  W    Best    Av       5w  10w
pre 2001         62     317   9/65   25.62   24    5
post 2001        53    387   9/51  21.77    36    15

An incredible reduction in his average has gone hand in hand with an huge jump in ten-fers and wickets; all achieved in 9 fewer matches.  What a difference a doosra makes.

I wonder how far Monty is off perfecting his? 
[Image: Getty]

Will the Tail be England's Achilles Heel?

Does our picture (right) fill you with hope? It's England's best spinner and most hostile fast man in a generation. But pause a moment - they are batting. Whilst any team can afford two rabbits, England seem likely to go into the First Test vs Sri Lanka with four and a half. So does it matter?

Surely England's first choice bowling quartet are on show today in the final warm-up match (give or take a back spasm or two) so England will go from 8 to 11 with Hoggy, Harmy, Jimmy and Monty. The average total number of deliveries these four batsmen face before dismissal is 109. With the strike evenly distributed between them and a proper batsman (or Matt Prior), that means that once the Lankans get England six down, they can expect to be batting in just over a session's time (and much sooner if they get the proper batsman out).

Going into a Test in which a draw is a very good result and a series that might well depend on fatiguing Murali, Vaas and the injury-prone Fernando, occupation of the crease will be critical. One 100 partnership and one 50 partnership down the order could be just what's needed, but I can't see it coming from this tail. The Trumpet wants Swann or Broad at 8.

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image: Getty]

Six out - all out?

It has long been The Trumpet's contention that Number 8 is a key batting position for all teams in all forms of cricket, but especially England whose top order is more fragile than most. Today's win against the Lankans was a perfect example of an innings being rescued, then scoreboard pressure, disciplined bowling and good fielding getting the job done. No wonder Colly is high-fiving Swanny (right).

So how important is the contribution from the last four wickets? In England's 12 ODIs since the World Cup, they have won six and lost six (typical). In the matches won, the last four wickets have contributed 64 runs per innings (excluding two matches in which England did not lose their sixth wicket). In the matches lost, England's last four wickets contributed 58 runs. Now six runs isn't much, but isn't 14 the average of a bowler who can hold a bat and 20 the average of a bowler who bats? Six is also the difference between Liam Plunkett's first class average and Graeme Swann's. Those six runs matter.

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image: Getty]

Twenty20 World Cup - The Best of the Bets: The Outcomes

Now that the dust has settled on a fabulous tournament, how fared The Trumpet's tips from that distant time when we weren't sure whether T20 had a future at international level? I'll see you over the jump with the damage.

"With the fixed odds bookmakers, VC Bet offers 12/1 about Pakistan, which I like as an each-way bet at 1/3 odds". Nice money!

"AB de Villiers has played some extraordinary innings in recent years, and I suggest Stan James is offering a generous price of 28/1 about him being the Top Tournament Scorer. I'd go each way with Dwayne Bravo as Top Tournament Bowler at 20/1 with the same company - he'll bowl at the death where there will be plenty of cheap wickets for the disciplined bowler." Not so good!

"I'm recommending a buy on Total First 6 Overs Runs at 2725 - 2800" Ouch! Settled at 2426 for a loss of 374 points! The stop-loss would have been in play.

"I also like a buy of Total Batsman Ton-Ups at 29 - 33" Settled at 18, but I would have closed the position after Chris Gayle's knock in Match One at a healthy profit.

"Total Run Outs are quoted at 35 - 39 and that's another buy for me with plenty of singles being taken to the keeper to get the right man on strike at the death." Settled at 42 for a small profit.

I'd suggest that's not a bad return when looking for value. I'll be back over the weekend with the value in the Sri Lanka - England series.

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image: Getty]

Website of the week - The PCA Rankings

The PCA (Professional Cricketers Association) was once described as the only union whose members were more right-wing than their employers. Well I don't know about that, but I do know that the PCA cranked its profile a notch higher with its awards dinner held earlier this week, with the gongs based on its rankings. Perhaps only a computer could have placed Danish Kaneria ahead of Mark Ramprakash, but the site is to be commended for troubling to provide such a good source of pub conversation starters. For example, here's the Trumpet's County Championship Division One Team of the Year with their PCA Ranking in brackets (Division One only): Key (19); Carberry (40); Ramprakash (5); Adams (27); Goodwin (42); Pothas (43); Martin-Jenkins (22); Gibson (1); Ali (14); Naved-ul-Hasan (7); Mushtaq Ahmed (2).

For the record, the PCA Team of the Year for Division One (picking a balanced XI) would read: Di Venuto; Maddy; Ramps; Law; Benkenstein; Mustard; Rashid; Chapple; Gibson; Naved-ul-Hasan; Mushtaq Ahmed. It would be a good match.

[The Tooting Trumpet]

The stats don't lie?

Many people, particularly Geoff Boycott, make much of 'the stats'.  "The figures don't lie" Sir Geoff will say, in between ordering bread and water and getting unnecessarily narked by a bit of gently mockery on TMS.  But consider this:  here are the first class figures of two all-rounders, which one would you want in your Test team?

Player 1  Batting: 34.90  Bowling 31.82

Player 2  Batting: 41.58  Bowling 29.51

Have a think and make your decision, their identities are after the jump...

Player 1 = Andrew Flintoff

Player 2 = Ronnie Irani

The figures do lie.  [via The Wisden Cricketer]

New Zealand vs England - Series Player Ratings: New Zealand

Okay, it wasn't the best cricket we've ever seen, but it was competitive and unpredictable and, at the end (as our picture shows) poignant. The Trumpet awards the series an 8, but cross the jump for the New Zealand player ratings.

Jamie How 6 - A vital 92 on the first day of the series set up the Kiwis' extraordinary demolition of England in the First Test. Thereafter looked slightly out of his depth.

Matthew Bell 3 - Scores heavily in the domestic game, but seems paralysed by nerves in the international spotlight. Should sign up to a TV dance competition immediately.

Stephen Fleming 7 - Looks fantastic, a God amongst mortals, but still the match-turning knocks elude him. For a man unfulfilled as a batsman, it is deeply depressing to hear of his retirement at 34. He should speak to Graham Gooch.

Matthew Sinclair 1 - Not good enough.

Ross Taylor 8 - Made a dazzling 120 to set up the win in Hamilton, thereafter dazzled intermittently. Easy to forget that he has played just five Tests. If Vettori's bowling deteriorates further, expect whispers of captaincy.

Jacob Oram 6 - A batting all-rounder who played as a bowler who bats. Still doesn't convince at Test level - more of a Lancashire League pro playing a bit above his comfort level.

Brendon McCullum 5 - Gilchrist-lite. Slightly too pleased with himself, poor shot selection was his undoing too often. Keeping was showy rather than safe.

Daniel Vettori 6 - A bowling all rounder who played as a batsman who bowls. Captained beautifully at Hamilton, but was less convincing in the two defeats. His lack of penetration with the ball must be worrying him.

Kyle Mills 7 - Honest trier whose decapitation of the England order in the second innings at Hamilton sealed the win.

Jeetan Patel 7 - Outbowled his captain and brought energy and commitment to the field.

Chris Martin 6 - Took wickets regularly, but never looked like a running through a side. Too one-dimensional to trouble international batsmen. Showed real guts to allow Southee's cameo after a clout on the head.

Tim Southee 8 - Bowled a superb opening spell at Napier, then played an Astlesque innings when the game was up. Beautiful action, tremendous hand-eye coordination, wonderful temperament, big, strong boy - what more can one ask of a teenage cricketer?

Mark Gillespie and Grant Elliot 1 - Not Test cricketers on this evidence.

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image: Getty]

 

Performance of the Day - The Australian late order

Great cricket teams are created by a kind of alchemy that allows their gold to glisten in a pan full of iron and sand. There were times when the 80s West Indies bowling attack was blunted - so you had to deal with Gordon and Dessie and Big Clive and King Viv smearing you all round the paddock.

This great Australian team have that alchemy too. They were wobbling today in the Second Test vs India at 134-6 with just the one recognised batsmen and four bowlers left. Moreover, four of these five players have just 40 Tests between them. And none of them is called Adam Gilchrist. Any England fan would have taken 200 as a decent score, so, in the deathless phrase, what happened next?

As Cricinfo baldly states, "The 173-run partnership between Andrew Symonds and Brad Hogg is the highest seventh-wicket stand for Australia versus India, and the fourth-highest against all teams. Symonds and Hogg scored their runs at lightening-quick speed too, consuming just 36.2 overs - that's a rate of 4.76 per over. Of the 218 deliveries bowled at them, the pair played just 135 dot balls, stole 45 singles, and struck 22 boundaries - 20 fours and two sixes. Both batsmen scored at an almost equal scoring rate: Symonds contributed 94 from 116 balls (run-rate of 4.86) while Hogg made 79 from 102 (4.64)." Australia are 376-7 and the Trumpet is awed again by the sheer bloody-minded class that these incredible cricketers bring to the game. Bastards!

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image: Getty] with thanks to S Rajesh and HR Gopalakrishna at Cricinfo.

What a difference a doosra makes

Murali has been weaving his magic again, with only the inclement weather falling on the Asgiriya Stadium calling halt to his inevitable march to the Test wickets record in this England innings. 

But, while the little magician has always been an outstanding bowler, his record since mastering the doosra in 2001 is nothing short of miraculous, even by his standards.  This additional string to his already well tuned bow has hastened his pace to the record, follow the jump to see the numbers

Murali's figures:

                 Matches  W    Best    Av       5w  10w
pre 2001         62     317   9/65   25.62   24    5
post 2001        53    387   9/51  21.77    36    15

An incredible reduction in his average has gone hand in hand with an huge jump in ten-fers and wickets; all achieved in 9 fewer matches.  What a difference a doosra makes.

I wonder how far Monty is off perfecting his? 
[Image: Getty]

Will the Tail be England's Achilles Heel?

Does our picture (right) fill you with hope? It's England's best spinner and most hostile fast man in a generation. But pause a moment - they are batting. Whilst any team can afford two rabbits, England seem likely to go into the First Test vs Sri Lanka with four and a half. So does it matter?

Surely England's first choice bowling quartet are on show today in the final warm-up match (give or take a back spasm or two) so England will go from 8 to 11 with Hoggy, Harmy, Jimmy and Monty. The average total number of deliveries these four batsmen face before dismissal is 109. With the strike evenly distributed between them and a proper batsman (or Matt Prior), that means that once the Lankans get England six down, they can expect to be batting in just over a session's time (and much sooner if they get the proper batsman out).

Going into a Test in which a draw is a very good result and a series that might well depend on fatiguing Murali, Vaas and the injury-prone Fernando, occupation of the crease will be critical. One 100 partnership and one 50 partnership down the order could be just what's needed, but I can't see it coming from this tail. The Trumpet wants Swann or Broad at 8.

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image: Getty]

Six out - all out?

It has long been The Trumpet's contention that Number 8 is a key batting position for all teams in all forms of cricket, but especially England whose top order is more fragile than most. Today's win against the Lankans was a perfect example of an innings being rescued, then scoreboard pressure, disciplined bowling and good fielding getting the job done. No wonder Colly is high-fiving Swanny (right).

So how important is the contribution from the last four wickets? In England's 12 ODIs since the World Cup, they have won six and lost six (typical). In the matches won, the last four wickets have contributed 64 runs per innings (excluding two matches in which England did not lose their sixth wicket). In the matches lost, England's last four wickets contributed 58 runs. Now six runs isn't much, but isn't 14 the average of a bowler who can hold a bat and 20 the average of a bowler who bats? Six is also the difference between Liam Plunkett's first class average and Graeme Swann's. Those six runs matter.

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image: Getty]

Twenty20 World Cup - The Best of the Bets: The Outcomes

Now that the dust has settled on a fabulous tournament, how fared The Trumpet's tips from that distant time when we weren't sure whether T20 had a future at international level? I'll see you over the jump with the damage.

"With the fixed odds bookmakers, VC Bet offers 12/1 about Pakistan, which I like as an each-way bet at 1/3 odds". Nice money!

"AB de Villiers has played some extraordinary innings in recent years, and I suggest Stan James is offering a generous price of 28/1 about him being the Top Tournament Scorer. I'd go each way with Dwayne Bravo as Top Tournament Bowler at 20/1 with the same company - he'll bowl at the death where there will be plenty of cheap wickets for the disciplined bowler." Not so good!

"I'm recommending a buy on Total First 6 Overs Runs at 2725 - 2800" Ouch! Settled at 2426 for a loss of 374 points! The stop-loss would have been in play.

"I also like a buy of Total Batsman Ton-Ups at 29 - 33" Settled at 18, but I would have closed the position after Chris Gayle's knock in Match One at a healthy profit.

"Total Run Outs are quoted at 35 - 39 and that's another buy for me with plenty of singles being taken to the keeper to get the right man on strike at the death." Settled at 42 for a small profit.

I'd suggest that's not a bad return when looking for value. I'll be back over the weekend with the value in the Sri Lanka - England series.

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image: Getty]

Website of the week - The PCA Rankings

The PCA (Professional Cricketers Association) was once described as the only union whose members were more right-wing than their employers. Well I don't know about that, but I do know that the PCA cranked its profile a notch higher with its awards dinner held earlier this week, with the gongs based on its rankings. Perhaps only a computer could have placed Danish Kaneria ahead of Mark Ramprakash, but the site is to be commended for troubling to provide such a good source of pub conversation starters. For example, here's the Trumpet's County Championship Division One Team of the Year with their PCA Ranking in brackets (Division One only): Key (19); Carberry (40); Ramprakash (5); Adams (27); Goodwin (42); Pothas (43); Martin-Jenkins (22); Gibson (1); Ali (14); Naved-ul-Hasan (7); Mushtaq Ahmed (2).

For the record, the PCA Team of the Year for Division One (picking a balanced XI) would read: Di Venuto; Maddy; Ramps; Law; Benkenstein; Mustard; Rashid; Chapple; Gibson; Naved-ul-Hasan; Mushtaq Ahmed. It would be a good match.

[The Tooting Trumpet]

The stats don't lie?

Many people, particularly Geoff Boycott, make much of 'the stats'.  "The figures don't lie" Sir Geoff will say, in between ordering bread and water and getting unnecessarily narked by a bit of gently mockery on TMS.  But consider this:  here are the first class figures of two all-rounders, which one would you want in your Test team?

Player 1  Batting: 34.90  Bowling 31.82

Player 2  Batting: 41.58  Bowling 29.51

Have a think and make your decision, their identities are after the jump...

Player 1 = Andrew Flintoff

Player 2 = Ronnie Irani

The figures do lie.  [via The Wisden Cricketer]

Why I don't like.... overthrows after hitting the stumps

What's better than a tight game of cricket? Okay, quite a few things, some even printable, but the Bopara and Broad game (the 4th England vs India ODI) showed that even a moribund format like 50 over cricket can rouse the most sated observers to something close to ecstasy.

In tight games of cricket, every run counts in determining the thinnest of margins of superiority, so it's crucial to get the boundary calls right - hence the television replays.

The Trumpet has written before of his disdain for leg-byes as legitimate runs and now makes the case against overthrows after hitting the stumps. What is the objective of a fielder with ball in hand? To hit the stumps. But if the batsman is in by any margin (including that of the benefit of the doubt), that achieved objective becomes a liability for the fielding team. No fielder can back up as the ricochet is unpredictable, so no plans can be made. The better the fielder, the more chance of giving away runs.

Invariably after such runs are added, the batters are giggling, while the fielding captain sucks his teeth and commentators rail at the injustice. Why not call dead ball once the stumps are broken and let the batters have the runs they've earned, but no more, and not penalise the fielder who does his job in hitting the stumps?

[The Tooting Trumpet]  [Image: Getty]

In Praise of Number 8s

One of England's most effective Number 8s, Ashley Giles (right, unforgettably) retired today. Mimi has written a fine appreciation and others will have their say tomorrow.

Despite all this warmth for the man, pundits and journoes still wheel out the old canard that "batsmen bat and bowlers bowl" as if the tail doesn't matter. The Trumpet has never bought this, so investigated the last ten Tests worldwide with a positive result. Wouldn't you know it? In eight of the last ten Tests with a result, the higher first innings contribution of the last four wickets was produced by the winning team. So forget reverse swing and wrist spin, if you want to know which team will win a Test, have a look at the tail.

[The Tooting Trumpet] [Image: Getty]

Half-Century for Monty

When instantly recognisable, hugely enthusiastic, cult hero Monty Panesar (right, Getty Images) snared Devon Smith today, he went through his leaping, high-fives-missing celebration for the fiftieth time in an England shirt. At just 25, he can expect to be leaping about another 250 times or so (by which time he might actually connect with another hand).

The reaction to Monty Down Under during the Ashes was mixed. Aussies could see that he turned it more than Gilo, but reserved judgement on whether he turned it enough - of course, they don't really rate finger spinners. Were the Aussies right? With fifty wickets in the bag, Monty is a fixture in the England set-up, so how does he stack up against other England spinners?

Monty has taken 50 Test wickets at 32.4. Here's that stat for others: Gilo 39; Tufnell 37; Croft (49 wickets) 37; Emburey 33. He's no Warne nor Mushy, but he's ours and he ain't bad. [The Tooting Trumpet]

Steve Harmison likes Old Trafford

We've all had some cheap laughs at Harmy's expense in the last few weeks, but the miserable Geordie certainly can bowl when he wants to, and from the look of things he historically wants to at Old Trafford.

The currently radar-less fast bowler has played three Test matches at the Lancashire HQ and bagged 18 wickets at 18.22, which is very good indeed, especially in relation to his career average of 30.77. 

His most memorable match is undoubtedly his routing of the Pakistan first innings last summer where he took an astonishing 6-19 from 13 overs, 7 of which were maidens.

If only Steve could have bottled whatever tonic he drank that day to sip at consistently, then he would surely be considered one of the best in history.  But for today, Allan Donald could not have picked a better venue for his first match in charge of Project Harmison. [Lee C] [Image: Getty]

Cricket World Cup: where it went wrong for England

England are going home in a blaze of misanthropy and deflated egos, but what went wrong?  The Googly considers the whole sorry mess:

Top Order
The top three batsmen were a heady cocktail for England: take the wrong type of player, add a measure of injuries, a pint of deadful form, shake it all about a bit and what do you get?  A sour tasting dacquiri of pitiful scores, abysmal strike rates and cripplingly poor starts to every innings.  If you discount the cakewalks against Kenya and Canada, England's first three batsmen averaged a teeth scrapingly bad total of 56.33, at 18.77 runs each. That figure actually flatters Michael Vaughan.

Collapses
Collapses are as English as dreadful transport infrastructure, drunken fighting, and a misconception of our importance in the world; but even by English standards the middle order collapses in this tournament were breathtaking in their ineptitude.  In the Super 8 stage, if you discount the Ireland match, England lost their middle order wickets quickly and cheaply:  3 for 7 against Sri Lanka (Pietersen, Flintoff, Collingwood); 3 for 15 against Australia (Bell, Collingwood, Flintoff); 3 for 30 against Bangladesh (Pietersen, Flintoff, Bopara); and the final crowning turd in the cess pool, 5 for 10 against SA.

These collapses, alloyed with the abysmal top order made for very grim totals indeed.

Attitude
England looked so crippled by lack of confidence you expected them to stay frozen to the spot like Flintoff against a spinner, or cry openly at the crease.  Neither of these things happened, but what did happen is it took them 44 overs to see of Bangladesh's sorry total of 143. This innings was the passage most indicative of what was wrong with England's collective attitude in this tournament: even when they had skittled an average side cheaply they still could not summon the confidence in the batting to smash the total in any convincing way.

The Coach
Let me state this first up: Duncan Fletcher has been a brilliant coach for England, he came in when we were at our lowest ebb and made us a decent side.  However, he now has to go.  His entire strategy for this World Cup was not only wrong, he did not even have the players in form to carry in out; yet he plodded on regardless.  He broke up a winning team from the CB Series, dropping Liam Plunkett who had a brilliant back end to that tournament.  But in the World Cup the players simply looked totally without motivation, and the collective team unit gave off more negative vibes than a hippy who's lost his LSD. Regardless of what nonsense Vaughan came out with in the press, this is the bald truth; and that is ultimately the coaches fault as the buck stops with him.  Geoff Boycott was stating last year that it was time for him to go, as his reign had run its course and he simply did not seem to have any new ideas.  As usual Sir Geoff has been vindicated.
[lee calvert]

One-day cricket: where is it heading?

Gideon Haigh

The sums are as obscene as those of a CEO's salary: 595 deliveries for 872 runs, 504 of them, or 58 per cent, in the form of boundaries, including twenty-six sixes.  As Ed Craig observed on Cricinfo, New Wanderers has a bit of previous, and the absences of Pollock and McGrath disturbed the equilibrium of both sides. But to Australians waking this morning, 434 for 4 sounded more like a football formation than a cricket score, and news ofSouth African victory compounded the incredulity.

Whether the game was genuinely surprising is another matter.  One-day scores have been rising for years, as boundaries come in and bats hit further, and one need not expect the authorities to reverse the trend, for the pressure is on the 50-over game to rival the 20-over game's carnival feel. After all, as John Arlott observed: 'The big hit – for six – is the most companionable of cricketing acts.  Casting the unfortunate bowler in the role of clown, it infallibly puts the crowd in a satisfied, laughing mood.'  Expect more conical hats for bowlers as they hand out more helmets to spectators. The time may not be far off when bowling is simply mechanized, with a sponsored machine called the AutoLewis programmed to spit out six half-volleys an over.

Is this sustainable?  Most of the time when a team posts a huge tally in a fifty-over match, the opposition loses early wickets in a headrush of testosterone and folds up soon after: bigger scores beget bigger margins.

It is middling scores that tend to generate the close finishes which are the game's sine qua non.  Still the best one-day game I have ever seen was between these two countries six and a half years ago at Headingley where the ball was in the ascendant for most of the day, and the fate of the match seemed to hinge on every ball. The effect of the turbo-charging of batting and the malcolmnashisation of bowling, then, may be more one-sided games. If so, the fifty-over game may be about to reverse sweep the ball right into its own goolies.

Gideon Haigh is an Australian-based cricket historian and author. He writes for The Age and Cricinfo.com among others

The greatest game of all

So. South Africa successfully chased down an astonishing 435 to beat Australia, who held the record for a mere few hours. It was an unforgettable day - but was it the greatest game of all? Barry Richards, and perhaps everyone else watching, was absolutely convinced South Africa wouldn't reach 400, let alone the 435 to win the game. Yet they did it. So much for 300 being a good score...

Ed Craig, deputy Editor of The Wisden Cricketer, just happened to be at the game and provided Cricinfo with an excellent colour piece which is worth reading.

I need to absorb what's happened before writing any more. Things like this don't happen every day (the previous highest total stood for 10 years and 6 days), but promise to have some thoughts on it as soon as possible. In the meantime, provide your own!

Limerick competition winners will also be announced tomorrow (hopefully).

Cook serves up desert

If he showed a glimpse of his class in the first innings, Alastair Cook proved it today with an innings of remarkable composure, restraint and maturity to give England a genuine chance of forcing the most unlikely of victories on the final day. First came Marcus Trescothick as England’s fresh-faced left-handed opener. Then Andrew Strauss, albeit in fortuitous selectorial circumstances. England have unearthed a third who, on the basis of one innings at Nagpur, could be better than both.

The prophets of doom, myself included, predicted nothing less than a 3-0 drubbing by India before the Test started; Michael Vaughan’s wonky knee, Trescothick’s undisclosed problems and a swathe of injuries afflicted England. Not even the most optimistic observer could have forseen the situation England find themselves in after four days.

He joins Andrew Strauss, with whom he opened in this Test, to make a fifty and a hundred on debut. Michael Clarke was the last to do it for Australia; Virender Sehwag for India; Scott Styris for New Zealand and Dwayne Smith for the West Indies. In fact, Smith’s highest score since that hundred against South Africa is 42. Against the might of Bangladesh. So it’s not a certainty that debutant centurions should forge a successful Test career but - and I’m willing to eat my hat, if I have one left, should this not be true - Cook showed he has more than enough ability and determination to succeed at Test level.

Against a true master of legspin, Anil Kumble, he was calm and in control, deftly back-cutting and waiting for a bad ball. Against Kumble’s partner in crime, Harbhajan Singh, he was flustered but was patient enough, and disconcertingly mature, to realise that eventually a bad ball would come. Singh, like his team-mates, didn’t have a day to remember - nor was lady luck smiling on them, or even grimacing. However this was Cook’s first outing at this level, and he coped with absolutely everything. Strauss’s debut against the West Indies in 2004 was one to remember, undoubtedly, but Cook’s magical knock today was technically superior and all the more astonishing given his late arrival; it was made in the second innings, too.

If England win this Test - and there’s an awful lot more work to do - it must surely be regarded as one of the best in recent times, given their pre-series disasters. If anything, it proves one thing: never write a team off, and left-handers have a bloody easy time of it

Will Luke writes for Cricinfo.com and edits The Corridor of Uncertainty

Murali's thousandth wicket

I think it was Courtney Walsh who first broke through the 500-Test barrier and, at the time, I remember feeling utterly amazed that anyone could have got so far. I was equally doubtful that anyone would ever better it. Since then, Shane Warne and Muttiah Muraliatharan have waltzed past it as though it were nothing; Warne broke past 600 at Old Trafford in the summer. Today, though, Murali has gone past 1000 international wickets! It makes Walsh’s effort look pitiful and feeble*

Rather appropriately, his 100th wicket was controversial: “Khaled Mashud was given out caught when the ball only hit his pad” (S.Rajesh / Cricinfo)

* I am, of course, joking. It’s all very well for these glitzy spinners to take hundreds of wickets, but it’s all the more incredible for a fast bowler to manage it.

Will Luke writes for Cricinfo.com and edits The Corridor of Uncertainty

The Ultimate Showdown: Ponting v Lara v Sachin

Dan Jellinek

Ricky Ponting's stunning return to form in Australia's home series against
South Africa in January, hitting a century in each innings of his hundredth
Test match, sparked a string of stories asking whether he matches up to the
two other colossi of modern batting: Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar.

Some suggested that us Brits tended to write Ponting off simply because he
was an Aussie, or because his batting style was not as attractive to watch
as Lara or the Little Master. Others said that Ponting could not be rated as
good because, being Australian, he had not had to face the world's best
bowling attack in compiling his high Test average - in other words, his own
team's bowling attack.

This got me pondering (OK, I need to get a life) about how one might be able
to compare the three batsmen's stats as much as possible comparing like with
like. If you looked, for example, at their averages against three leading
teams against which they had all played - and only used away matches so they
had all played at the same grounds as well and without home support - what
might this show?

A few minutes later, and a bit of playing with Cricinfo's awesome stats
filter (and if I need to get a life, how about the people who compile that
mother?), some interesting results emerge. The three teams that appear
best suited to produce the comparison are England, South Africa and Sri
Lanka, since we have to rule out the players' own three teams, plus Pakistan
because Ponting has only played one match there. If we then look at the
three batsmen's away match Test averages against those three nations, we
get:

Ricky Ponting
Overall current Test ave 57.71 (100 tests)
v England away 42.63 (13 matches)
v South Africa away 77.25 (3 matches)
v Sri Lanka 50.11 (6 matches)

Brian Lara
Overall current Test ave 53.86 (121 matches)
v England away 48.76 (15 matches)
v South Africa away 46.72  (9 matches)
v Sri Lanka 100.85 (4 matches)

Sachin Tendulkar
Overall current Test ave 56.71 (126 tests)
v England away 71.6 (10 matches)
v South Africa away 42.4 (9 matches)
v Sri Lanka 111.66 (6 matches)

The main message from all these stats is that we are looking at three
amazing cricketers here. The margin that separates them from each other is
not large. But it does show that, while Ponting has the highest overall Test
average at the moment, he has averaged less against England and Sir Lanka
away than either Lara and Sachin (in the case of Sri Lanka, much less), and
his high figures against South Africa are based on far fewer tests so may
well come down once he has played the 9 matches that the other two have.

Add to this the fact that Ponting has played a lot fewer Tests overall than
Lara or Sachin, and the small matters of Lara's phenomenal Test and
first-class cricket high score records (400 not out against England in
2003-04 and 501 for Warwickshire), and we see that Ponting has some way to
go before he could be declared the best in the world. And that's before one
looks at Inzy's record at Pakistan, which is fabulous this year.

On the other hand, it could happen. The great thing is that all these
players are still playing, so let's see where Ponting is after another 25
Tests.

Dan Jellinek is a Brighton-based writer, publisher and cricket fan (Sussex and England)