Well now there can be no denying, England cannot play ordinary spin bowling.
The so called no.1 test playing Nation has now lost 4 test matches in a row mostly due to its inability to play slow bowling. Don't get me wrong, the likes of Herath are good bowlers but not in the same class as Murali or Warne. We can spend all day blaming the conditions, but the truth is the conditions are the same for both sides and if England are incapable of beating these teams, then they do not deserve to be no.1 in the world.
There is one test remaining on this short tour and certainly hope Strauss, Cook and co. will show they do have the technique to score runs on these wickets.I
Friday 30 March 2012
Saturday 3 March 2012
More questions than answers for England
It is only three weeks until the first test against Sri Lanka and for England there are more questions than answers following the dismal test series against Pakistan.
England have a very good group of players at their disposal and some very good young players knocking on the door, however the big question mark over England has always been their ability to win on Asian pitches.
A major technical flaw with English batsmen over the years seems to be their ability to cope with the turning ball and the test series against Pakistan only confirmed this. Sri Lanka are currently in a post Murilitharan period and need to rediscover their strengths and weaknesses. Despite this they still managed to keep England at bay for most of last summer other than one session which cost them the series.
The bowling line up seems to be capable of bowling out sides on any pitch providing the ball is pout in the right areas, then is certainly strength in depth with a number of seam bowlers and spinners to chose from, I would say more than I can remember. Maybe a couple of fast bowlers in the mould of a Brett Lee or Dale Steyn would be useful but not necessary on slow Asian pitches.
It is the batting I am concerned with. England should have won the second test against Pakistan only chasing 145 and ending up bowled out for 72. Even if the England batsmen had thrown the bat at everything they would have done better, so perhaps a more aggressive approach is needed sometimes.
The form of Strauss has been worrying recently and Bell, Trott amd Pieterson also need to score some decent runs in this series. I am hoping the UAE series was an aberration and normal service can be resumed. Time for England to show the cricketing world they deserve to be top of the pile.
Wednesday 29 February 2012
What has happened to Test Cricket?
I first became interest in cricket around 1978. I was eight years old and England was touring Australia. This was a period of great turmoil in Australian cricket. The national team had been decimated by Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket revolution. On the commercial Channel Nine the familiar C'mon on Aussie C'mon featured regularly on advertisements. All the top Australian players featured: Marsh, Lillee, Chappell brothers, Thompson amongst many others.
Meanwhile on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation the Australian team endured a horrid summer losing the Ashes 5-1 against an England side featuring the rising stars of Ian Botham and David Gower. Yes this was a time for the young Australians such as Alan Border and Rodney Hogg to get their chance, and they did perform well when they had the chance, but against a near full strength opposition, I think it was only Alan Knott, Tony Grieg and Derek Underwood who participated in World Series Cricket. The Australians had little chance of success.
It wasn't long before the revolution won and cricket was never the same. I for one was never allowed to watch World Series Cricket as my father had boycotted it in our house. In 1978 one day cricket was relatively new on the world stage, the first World Cup on a few years before. Any score over 200 was considered as good score, remembering test scoring rates were usually around 2.5-3 runs per over. Touring sides did not bring one-day sides only the home team had the advantage of playing one day specialists.
Thirty years ago one day cricket never really threatened test cricket. Although the crowds were often bigger, there were not so many test playing nations to congest the fixture list. The only element to threaten the standing of test cricket was the rebel tours to South Africa which were often followed by lengthy bans to those that chose to take cash.
The last thirty years has seen some major changes to cricket internationally. The re introduction of South Africa into cricket and the admission of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe has broken the West Indies/Australia/England monopoly of power in cricket. The Pakistan and India sides have established themselves as credible powers in the game and India has become the power base of cricket politically.
Technology has also made a big impact on cricket, with first the third umpire being used for run outs and stumpings and now we see hot spot and snicko and frame by frame replays for lbws and caught behinds that only the Indians seem reluctant to use. But cricket has always been a pauper in the world of sport. Compared to Football players and tennis players and golfers and America's Grid Iron players, Basketball Players and Baseball players the international cricketer is not well paid other the very top players who could rely on endorsements.
The real revolution happened in the home of cricket. England had been going through a complete restructuring of its domestic cricket. Out went the 3 day first class games and in game the national 40 over league. But the counties still wanted to make the game more attractive to new supporters. The idea was a shortened version of the game set for evening play. It was meant to be quick and entertaining and the counties provided other entertainment such as Jacuzzis and competitions for the spectators. And so the 20 over form of the game was born.
I am sure the T20 concept was never meant to be taken seriously just a chance for the counties to make a bit of money and the players and crowd to have fun; a good introduction for the young to cricket. However events were to change that. The IPL was soon established and player auctions introduced. The domestic cricketer who excels in the shortest form of the game is now able to command a large salary without even playing international cricket. So now the professional prioritises the T20 over international cricket.
Test cricket by consequence is dying slowly. Other than in England it is rare to see a sell out in test cricket and more and more we are seeing great test cricket played in front of empty stadiums. While there are suggestions to try to boost the game with day/night tests and different coloured balls, it seems this form of the game is in decline. And what a shame it will be if it dies forever.
Meanwhile on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation the Australian team endured a horrid summer losing the Ashes 5-1 against an England side featuring the rising stars of Ian Botham and David Gower. Yes this was a time for the young Australians such as Alan Border and Rodney Hogg to get their chance, and they did perform well when they had the chance, but against a near full strength opposition, I think it was only Alan Knott, Tony Grieg and Derek Underwood who participated in World Series Cricket. The Australians had little chance of success.
It wasn't long before the revolution won and cricket was never the same. I for one was never allowed to watch World Series Cricket as my father had boycotted it in our house. In 1978 one day cricket was relatively new on the world stage, the first World Cup on a few years before. Any score over 200 was considered as good score, remembering test scoring rates were usually around 2.5-3 runs per over. Touring sides did not bring one-day sides only the home team had the advantage of playing one day specialists.
Thirty years ago one day cricket never really threatened test cricket. Although the crowds were often bigger, there were not so many test playing nations to congest the fixture list. The only element to threaten the standing of test cricket was the rebel tours to South Africa which were often followed by lengthy bans to those that chose to take cash.
The last thirty years has seen some major changes to cricket internationally. The re introduction of South Africa into cricket and the admission of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe has broken the West Indies/Australia/England monopoly of power in cricket. The Pakistan and India sides have established themselves as credible powers in the game and India has become the power base of cricket politically.
Technology has also made a big impact on cricket, with first the third umpire being used for run outs and stumpings and now we see hot spot and snicko and frame by frame replays for lbws and caught behinds that only the Indians seem reluctant to use. But cricket has always been a pauper in the world of sport. Compared to Football players and tennis players and golfers and America's Grid Iron players, Basketball Players and Baseball players the international cricketer is not well paid other the very top players who could rely on endorsements.
The real revolution happened in the home of cricket. England had been going through a complete restructuring of its domestic cricket. Out went the 3 day first class games and in game the national 40 over league. But the counties still wanted to make the game more attractive to new supporters. The idea was a shortened version of the game set for evening play. It was meant to be quick and entertaining and the counties provided other entertainment such as Jacuzzis and competitions for the spectators. And so the 20 over form of the game was born.
I am sure the T20 concept was never meant to be taken seriously just a chance for the counties to make a bit of money and the players and crowd to have fun; a good introduction for the young to cricket. However events were to change that. The IPL was soon established and player auctions introduced. The domestic cricketer who excels in the shortest form of the game is now able to command a large salary without even playing international cricket. So now the professional prioritises the T20 over international cricket.
Test cricket by consequence is dying slowly. Other than in England it is rare to see a sell out in test cricket and more and more we are seeing great test cricket played in front of empty stadiums. While there are suggestions to try to boost the game with day/night tests and different coloured balls, it seems this form of the game is in decline. And what a shame it will be if it dies forever.
Monday 27 February 2012
Are Australia on their way back?
It doesn't seem at that long ago that Australia slumped to three innings defeats against England. However fortunes have improved somewhat since then. A series victory in Sri Lanka was followed up by a credible drawn series in South Africa, a series draw against New Zealand being the only blip, which was then followed by a whitewash of India.
Australia's efforts against India matched those of England last summer and perhaps like England are due to the decline of an ageing side. However you can only defeat the opposition that is put in front of you.
This Australian team is still very much an unknown quantity. There appears to be very little consistency in selection and the side appears constantly affected by injury to not only its array of fast bowlers but also to the captain, Micheal Clarke.
I am unsure how this new crop of Australian players will fare in the coming years, and the Englishmen in me hopes for failure, however knowing the Australians, it won't be long before they are once again at the top of the cricketing world.
Australia's efforts against India matched those of England last summer and perhaps like England are due to the decline of an ageing side. However you can only defeat the opposition that is put in front of you.
This Australian team is still very much an unknown quantity. There appears to be very little consistency in selection and the side appears constantly affected by injury to not only its array of fast bowlers but also to the captain, Micheal Clarke.
I am unsure how this new crop of Australian players will fare in the coming years, and the Englishmen in me hopes for failure, however knowing the Australians, it won't be long before they are once again at the top of the cricketing world.
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