GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 106
October 2011
Cynical Dilemna
How can one continue to be embittered and a cynic? First the Rangers get promoted to the Premiership and just when I was getting into my stride about their lack of prospects the club gets sold again and a whole slew of blokes get purchased before the transfer window shuts. They then outplay the unbeaten Newcastle and win at Wolves.
Then Middlesex almost screw up but ultimately win well in their final game to be second division champions and gain promotion. And, to a lesser extent, Lancashire, who I have been a member of on and off over recent years, win the county championship.
What is left for an embittered cynic to moan about?
Middlesex Matters
The Great Jack Morgan takes us through the heady final matches of the season
Matthew Hoggard won the toss for Leicestershire (though I did not find this out until I read the following day's paper) and as the wicket was damp and the weather was overcast and gloomy, it was no surprise that he asked Middlesex to bat in the Championship match at Lord's. Unfortunately for Hoggy, however, his unimpressive bowling "attack" were totally unable to turn the conditions to their advantage. Instead, Andrew Strauss (returning to the side in place of Scott Newman) and Sam Robson were largely untroubled in reaching lunch on 131-0 and the two had both reached their centuries and the total was on 231, when Wayne White (only medium fast according to Playfair) suddenly pinged a fast bouncer into Robbo's helmet. After receiving attention on the pitch for a wound above his left eye, Sam was able to walk back to the pavilion, retiring hurt for a calm and impressive 101 with 18 fours, but he was not seen again for the duration of the match. Jamie Dalrymple, promoted to no 3, was soon scoring at a good rate and the score had reached 323 (a record partnership for any wicket against Leics) before Dalrymple fell for 46 off 64 balls with 8 fours. The time was about 4.35 and many of us were stunned when the catcher was named as Ned Eckersley (from Ealing CC, St Benedict's School, Middlesex 2s and MCCYCs) as we had no idea that he was playing! Although I was in my seat before the start of play, this was not early enough for the only reading of the team changes and news of the toss. The solution to this problem seems obvious: news of the toss and the teams should be repeated (say at noon and lunchtime) for the benefit of latecomers and those who were not late, but were not in time to hear these early announcements.
Straussy continued an exceptional innings and had already reached his highest first class score when the light, which had never been better than ordinary, deteriorated so much that the umpires took the players off at 370 for 1 with six and a half overs of the day remaining. I was shocked that this decision was greeted with loud booing from the crowd: why would we want to risk a clatter of wickets in poor light when there was still plenty of work to be done and three days remaining? Conditions had improved on day 2 with the wicket drier and the weather slightly brighter, yet paradoxically, the bowlers began to get more swing and seam movement than they had done on day 1. Dawid Malan added 115 with Strauss before departing for 47 with 7 fours, then skipper Bucky Rogers played a brisk cameo of 33 off 33 balls including two sixes while adding 58* with the unflappable Strauss. Many of us had expected Rogers to go on to 600 or more, but my feeling is that the improvement in the conditions for the bowlers persuaded Chris that it was only fair to allow Leics to have a bat after lunch, leaving Andrew undefeated on a magnificent 241 with 28 fours and 2 sixes and the total on 496 for 2.
This proved to be a good decision as Steve Crook, moving the ball around at a good pace, took 4 for 45, Tim Murtagh was nearly as impressive with 3 for 41 and Corey Collymore returned the immaculate figures of 14-8-17-1. Matt Boyce played a fighting innings of 46 with 8 fours and Eckersley (28 with 6 fours) and White (37 with 4 fours and a six) shared a stand of 50 for the sixth wicket, the best stand of an inadequate effort of 193 all out. Inevitably, Leics were invited to follow on, but the weather had turned glorious on day 3, the wicket was thoroughly dry and the light was excellent. Boyce played another stubborn innings of 31 off 94 balls, but it was when Greg Smith, already into his stride, was joined by Jimmy Taylor, that things got tough for Middlesex. 79 for 2 at lunch became 203 for 2 at tea with neither batsman looking likely to get himself out, but it was Tim Murtagh who turned the tide when he bowled Smith (after a third wicket stand of 132) for a thoroughly impressive 84 off 145 balls with 9 fours and then had Taylor caught behind (one of four victims for John Simpson) for an equally assured 85 off 164 balls with 7 fours. Toby Roland-Jones joined the party with a couple of wickets, but left-hander Rob Taylor, batting too low at 8, continued the fight and hit a good-looking 49 off 75 balls with some fine shots including 6 fours and two sixes. There was no stopping Middlesex, however, as TSRJ grabbed two more wickets and Leicestershire were all out for 338 (Toby 4 for 64, Tim 3 for 61 and Corey 2 for 41). The 36 needed to win was knocked off in 5.1 overs by Strauss and Rogers as Middlesex won by 10 wickets by 12.20 on day 4.
Strauss took his season's average (all first class matches) up to 61.6, Robson's went up to 57.4 and Rogers improved his to 50.3. Straussy now has three first class centuries for Middlesex this season, his best since 2003. County caps were awarded to John Simpson and Scott Newman at lunch on day 1. Middlesex 24 points, Leicestershire 0: has there been a 24-0 whitewash before? Probably, I suppose, but I cannot remember one. Middlesex also went to the top of the table with a three point lead over Northants with a game in hand. Surrey are improving rapidly in third place and enjoyed an emphatic win at Northampton, though they actually fell three further points behind Middlesex.
It is 2.30 pm on Friday and, after two full days of rain at Cardiff, Bergy (6-58), replacing TSRJ, has just bowled Glam out for 157: perhaps we could get a few points from this match after all? Soon after writing that, they were off for rain again! The draw at Cardiff leaves us 12 points clear of Northants and 13 ahead of Surrey, a strong position, but we really need a win at Leicester to make sure. If Northants and Surrey were both to win their last matches and Middlesex only drew (say), it would be incredibly tight at the top. Fine weather would be nice to ensure a satisfactory end to the season, but we now hear that a hurricane is arriving on Monday!
I thought Chris Rogers's declaration against Leics was spot on and his declaration at Cardiff today was also exactly the right move, though it does not look like leading to a win at present. I think he should now be appointed our permanent captain. It did not sound like a totally convincing win at Leicester, given the "strength" of the opposition, but it was nice to see Bergy getting runs and Ollie finally getting some wickets.
I think we deserved to go up as Champions, but the question is how well we will do next season? Spin was the obvious weakness this season: our spinners are tolerably accurate, but lack penetration and were not helped by some very green Lord's pitches. Many of the batters had good seasons and Robson has emerged as the best of our good young batsmen, but Dexter was a big disappointment and Newman, Dalrymple and Malan all had dodgy spells. Even our strong pace bowling looked vulnerable at times: when Bergy and Toby were injured, Finny was "with England" and Ireland was (justifiably) confined to second XI action, the pace bowling was stretched and over dependent on magnificent Murtagh. Simpson has always looked a promising bat, but now he is looking like a good keeper too. Our close catching was as good as it has been for many years and this was another crucial area of strength. There were some poor captaincy decisions at times and now that Dexy is no longer sure of his place, it would be a serious handicap to the team if he were reappointed captain.
The Joys and Despair of a Club Fixture Secretary (1967-74)
Brian Pacey debuts in these pages with the following
I had the idea to write this article after reading an earlier issue of “Googlies” where it was mentioned that South Hampstead never played against clubs who fielded two first elevens, prior to the introduction of the Middlesex County Cricket League (MCCL) in 1972. I took over as the “Bush” fixture secretary at the AGM in October 1967. My first task was to unwrangle a mess with High Wycombe. They wanted to adopt a policy of only playing clubs once per season, so that they could play more clubs. The “Bush” resisted this argument, and High Wycombe backed down. Unfortunately, from my point of view, the Wills KO Trophy started in 1968, and required those clubs who entered, to reserve two Saturdays in June for the first two round of the competition. As you can probably guess, the first round coincided with one of our High Wycombe fixtures, so that was lost. In the Wills Trophy, we were drawn in the preliminary round away to Stanmore, and duly lost! Despite this, we were guaranteed “losers” fixtures on the two Saturdays, and finished up playing Winchmore Hill 1st XI (away) and Hornsey 2nd XI at home (not a bad pair of fixtures).
Life seemed easy for a while until talks began about the formation of the MCCL for the 1972 season. Prior to the league, we played a lot of our MCCL opposition on a Sunday (Ealing, Finchley, South Hampstead, Stanmore and Winchmore Hill all twice, along with Edmonton and Hornsey). Our Saturday fixtures did include double fixtures with Brentham, Brondesbury, Southgate and Wembley plus one game with North Middlesex. Prior to the league, we had never played against Enfield, Richmond and Teddington. One further complication was that our fixtures outside Middlesex (High Wycombe, Beaconsfield and Slough – all double fixtures) were also on a Saturday. Whilst the introduction of league cricket seemed a big challenge with regard to re-arranging a load of fixtures, we managed to agree Sunday dates with High Wycombe and Beaconsfield, and everything eventually fell into place.
To return to my earlier remarks about playing against clubs who fielded two first elevens, we were lucky at the “Bush” in that we entertained Finchley on the first Sunday in May when we played against their strongest side (they did not always have such a strong side for the return fixture as their other first eleven were playing at Beaconsfield). With Southgate, they fielded a first eleven and an “extra first eleven”, so we played against their top eleven at home in June, and the return fixture (which we usually lost) was at Southgate on the last Saturday in September, when Southgate only fielded one first eleven. We did not start playing against Hornsey until 1968, and had a half-day Sunday fixture against their first (whole day) XI and a whole day Sunday fixture against their second (half day) XI.
I remember returning to the “Bush” on a Sunday in May (around 1969) to find out how our first eleven had got on against Finchley. When we left just before lunch, the Bush were about 80 for 6. Imagine our surprise, to learn that the “Bush” had won by 2 runs, 130 against 128 all out. I suppose I’m showing my age, when I say that both teams were still in the bar at 10 pm, but I can’t remember whether David Hayes was “supporting” David Jukes, or the other way round!
I also recall the match that Bill Hart mentioned in a recent issue, where a weakened South Hampstead had come across Ron Read for the first time, and struggled to score about 130. This was the match where David Jukes scored about 15 not out in 90 minutes, and the “Bush” closed on around 90 for 7. That must be one of the lowest number of runs scored in a full day match that lasted all day.
These events remind me of happy times, and I’m only sad that now the “Bush” only field one team on a Sunday, and that plays 40 over a side cricket. What a change from the all day fixtures on such lovely grounds as Maidenhead and Bray, where I never played on a winning side.
Oval Matters
The great Jack Morgan reports from the home of promotion rivals
Rory Hamilton-Brown chose to bat first in the crucial Championship match against Derbyshire at the Oval, but his team were soon in trouble at 12 for 2. However, the situation was retrieved by an excellent second wicket stand of 120 between Steve Davies (73 off 114 balls with 10 fours) and Zander de Bruyn (61 off 110 balls with 9 fours) and after that, the innings was dominated by an exceptional (though not entirely chanceless) knock by Tom Maynard. Jason Roy (45 off 52 balls including 2 sixes) kept pace with Maynard as the pair added 97 for the fifth wicket, but no other partner could rival Tom's outstanding strokeplay. When Maynard was eighth out for 123 off 157 balls with 16 fours at 382, it briefly looked as if Surrey might fall short of the precious fifth batting point, but Stuart Meaker (55* with 10 fours) soon allayed those fears. It was a surprise to see Tim Linley (career batting average 12) batting ahead of Pragyam Ojha (Test Match batting average 17), but Tim rose to the occasion and his 21 was a useful contribution to a ninth wicket stand of 73 with Meaker that helped Surrey to an impressive 468 all out.
Another surprise was that Derbyshire's unheralded spin attack of ex-Somerset off-spinner Wes Durston (mainly a batsman) and 18 year old slow left armer from Sheffield Tom Knight were asked to bowl 39 overs on day 1 (1 for 156 between them), though Durston improved his figures to 3 for 100 on day 2, while Mark Footitt (quick left arm over) took 3 for 99. Linley was very impressive at the start of the Derbys innings and he quickly shot out three of their top five as the visitors slumped to 28 for 4. Surrey could not, however, get rid of ex-Loughborough man Paul Borrington (son of Tony), who was playing an admirable sheet anchor role as wickets fell all around him. Paul got some assistance from left hander Ross Whiteley (24), skipper and keeper Luke Sutton (32) and allrounder Jon Clare (21), but when he was ninth out for an excellent 87 with 12 fours, Derbys lasted one more ball and were all out for a dismal 190. Linley finished with 3 for 34, but the star for Surrey was slow left armer Ojha ("the signing of the season" according to David Hopps in the Guardian) with 4 for 48.
Derbyshire were inevitably invited to follow on, but did even worse in their second innings. They had collapsed to 95 for 8 when no 9 Tim Groenewald from Pietermaritzburg (33* with 3 sixes) took the initiative with some powerful strokes and managed to add 57 for the last two wickets with Knight and Footitt, both of whom also hit a six as Derbys finished on 152 to lose by a comprehensive innings and 126 by 2.30 on day 3. The main cause of the visitors problems was again the spin and bounce of Ojha, who troubled almost every batsman and finished with the deserved figures of 6 for 42, 10 for 90 in the match and 24 at 12.95 each for the season, all of which will astound our revered editor who had assured Jim Revier and me that he was completely useless! The Oval announcer kept us well informed of progress in other matches, especially those at Leicester and Northampton, so we got early news that Northants had dropped two batting points and that Surrey would be promoted along with Middx if they took maximum points from this match and if Middx won their game at Leicester. In due course, everything fell into place and Northants had unluckily missed out by one point. RJHB received his county cap at lunch on day 1, while Davies and Gareth Batty received theirs at lunch on day 2. Surrey 24 points, Derbyshire 2.
Headingley Matters
I went to the second day of the Yorkshire v Warwickshire match at Headingley with the Professor. On the first day Yorkshire had been bowled out for 294. We met in the upper deck of the North Stand which is adjacent to the new pavilion at the Kirkstall Lane end of the ground. The Professor usually travels light and so I decided the previous day to double up on rations at Sainsbury’s to provide us with adequate sustenance for a day in what could be indifferent weather. After I had parked in the rugby car park I came into the ground and passed a sort of Chuck Wagon which seemed to be the only source of food on offer. Since its offerings included Gravy and Chips or Curry Sauce and Chips I was pleased that I had made the effort to purchase away from the ground.
Warwickshire opened with Westwood and Chopra. The latter scored two double centuries in April but has had little success since and on this occasion he failed too, as did Westwood, as Patterson and Sidebottom made early inroads to delight the locals. Nobody seems to be doing well in the first division of the county championship and this meant that several sides were in with a chance of winning cricket’s major prize. Warwickshire are one of these and they had recruited Chanderpaul as their overseas player to assist them on their run in. Laurie Evans, formerly of Surrey, played nicely but got out just as he began to look set. This brought the skipper Troughton in to join Chanderpaul and they saw Warwickshire through to lunch.
Yorkshire had Rudolph back in their side and he was captain in the absence of Gale who had sustained an injury in the nets. He operated from first slip and seemed to have very little impact on the proceedings. Bowling changes were mechanical and there was little enthusiasm from the Yorkshire players. Perhaps they were taking their cue from Anthony McGrath who looked as if he was someone’s dad or uncle making up the numbers because they were one short at the start. He has a huge frame and will comfortably fit on Lardarse or Samit’s lunch table. They hide him at second slip when the seamers are on but later in the proceedings he gets hopelessly exposed as a donkey in the field and has even the biggest Yorkshire fans in despair.
I had said to the Professor before play began that I had dreaded seeing Chanderpaul scratch around all day but in the event we were treated to a masterclass by the left hander who never got bogged down and who accelerated his scoring though the day. Warwickshire had not made the fastest progress up to mid afternoon but Tim Ambrose then took four consecutive fours off Pyrah and then when Chanderpaul took a single of the first ball of the next over he took two more boundaries off the next two deliveries.
Two years ago I was most impressed by Adil Rashid’s bowling at the Oval for England against Australia. There he was on the spot and troubled the batsmen. On this occasion and, sadly, the Professor confirmed that it is now the norm, he commenced each spell with a couple of long hops and rarely looked like beating the bat subsequently. Wainwright looked a more consistent proposition but was less comfortable bowling to the left handed Chanderpaul and with help from Rudolph’s puzzling field placings he conceded plentifully. But he did pick up a couple of wickets and had a catch dropped by Rudolph.
In the evening session the sun shone and Yorkshire’s cricket was decidedly ragged. Chanderpaul played all his shots and what looked at one stage like being a 270 day at best turned into a 340 one. The following day Chanderpaul fell just short of a double century but Warner went on to 80 and Carter made 43 before Chris Wright, formerly of Middlesex and now on loan from Essex, bowled Yorkshire out cheaply to keep Warwicks in contention for the title.
Lord’s Matters
I completed a hat trick of Wednesday cricket in August by travelling down to Lords for the second day of Middlesex’ championship match against Leicestershire. On the first day Hoggard had won the toss and put Middlesex in. Their first success came with the score on 323 when Dalrymple was dismissed for 46. He was at the crease because Sam Robson had retired hurt on 104 after being crusted by Wayne White. Strauss was not out 184 at the close. The Great Jack Morgan was able to fill me in on the details of the first day’s play and we were joined by Jim Revier.
During the morning session the ball moved around and Hoggard and Buck could both count themselves unlucky not to have picked up a wicket. Strauss proceeded to his double century and Malan was furious with himself when he got out having set himself up for a big score. This brought captain Rogers to the crease at 440 for 2. He struggled at first but was soon scoring quicker than Strauss and before lunch twice slogged Cobb high into the Tavern Stand. At lunch Middlesex were 497 for 2 and had already beaten a whole range of batting records. Strauss was on 240 and we started to discuss how long it would take him to overhaul Jack Robertson’s highest ever Middlesex score of 331. He had progressed from 184 to 240 in the morning session but, we felt, could proceed to the magic figure before tea since some acceleration could be expected and he needed less than 100 in the session. However, just before the umpires were due back on the field of play I spotted Simpson in his pads doing catching practice and we suddenly realised that Middlesex had declared. It took even longer for the scorers and announcer to cotton on and it wasn’t until the players had re-emerged that the official announcement was made.
As they had at Canterbury two weeks earlier Murtagh and Collymore put in an impressive spell with the new ball. Middlesex posted attacking fields and so there were plenty of boundaries for the Leicestershire batsmen but none of them looked capable of playing a big innings. Boyce who had taken four boundary catches the previous Saturday to win the T20 played a dogged innings but much depended on Taylor to stay long enough to avoid the follow on. In the event Steve Crook bowled him in an inspired spell from the pavilion end in which he ripped the heart out of the middle order. Crook has had his opportunity in the side because of injury to Gareth Berg and has caused most sides problems with his whippy action and movement. Taylor may be feeling the weight of carrying Leicestershire’s batting this season. He has been nothing like as prodigious as last year but still features in the England selectors plans.
The announcer kept trying to generate support and interest in a Meet the Players evening which was taking place in the Mound Stand after the close of play. Who would want to attend such an event? What would you discuss? Why would you pay £15 to go? Jack suggested that one could discuss the history of Middlesex cricket with Neil Dexter. Jim Revier pointed out that it would provide an opportunity to meet Paul Stirling. In the West Indies someone had pointed out the Greenidge Stand to Stirling who replied: “Who was he? One of the Three Ws?”
Wayne White looked the most comfortable of the Leicestershire batsmen but after he was dismissed the rest folded and they were all out in the last over of the day. Leicestershire put up a better fight the third day but still lost before lunch on the fourth day which means that Strauss could have had another session to make a serious mark in the record books. Perhaps Rogers didn’t want any more triple centurions in the side.
Field Placing Matters
George has been bowling to his grandson, also George, whilst on holiday in France. He sent me this:
“I decided to bowl to a 1/0 field while George was batting at Pinadas. I put Monty at leg slip. He's very quick in the outfield, but that's about it.”
This is not very helpful. How can we assess this report? Was George bowling over or round the wicket? Was the ball swinging, seaming or spinning? The wicket certainly looks very green. Did Monty slide when retrieving the ball? Can quadrupeds slide anyway? Did Monty throw in from the outfield or did he “fetch”. Does anyone have any views on bowling to a 1-0 field? It obviously wouldn’t make any difference to Harbajhan Singh given the rinse he served up this summer.
Carlin Matters
Paddy Carlin sent me the following notes from the Middlesex Room, the Montpelier Club and the boundary at WGCCC
Heavily influenced by the luxury of the Oval’s Montpelier Club and the Surrey ties of the indomitable Barry and Roger Hamilton Brown it was highly pleasurable to see the end of season success for Surrey. They clearly have a good team spirit and with a couple of additions will be a force in Division One next year. At the risk of intimidating the GJM I think that they are better placed than Middlesex. They need a good opening bat so that Rory H-B can move down to number four and also a left arm spinner. They surely have the money to solve the former and the rumour is that Kartik will return to London and he along with Lewis will strengthen the already strong bowling side. Personally I would give a contract to Ojha who is the best left arm spinner I’ve seen in a while. How has he not been picked for India?
The pace attack at Kennington now that they have juiced up the wicket looks pretty good with the experienced Lewis, steady de Bruyn, speedy Meaker and the rapidly improving Linley. Add Tremlett to this lot and maybe an occasional Jordan and it looks strong. You will notice that I haven’t mentioned Dernbach who in a Lord ray moment vis a vis the PPS I described as TAP material and the worst opening bowler I had seen last year. I note that he has now been picked for England for his ability to bowl at the death. Apparently his slower ball is the main danger and I contend that he may be a better slower bowler with an occasional quicker ball than a fast bowler with an occasional quicker ball. Anyway in county cricket with dreadful spells at Lord’s, Cheltenham and the oval he served up a lot of unpredictable rubbish usually too wide or high for the batsmen to hit. But in 20, 40 and 50 over cricket this unpredictability is an advantage. In county cricket you can’t set a field for his bowling but at the death this doesn’t matter so much provided you don’t bowl a good length ball into the batsman’s arc. Anyway next season he may struggle to make the county side, despite being capped a week or so ago, since he is number six in the pecking order behind those previously mentioned.
Next season may also not see Ramps any more following his football injury and his consequent poor season in 2011. I saw him at Cheltenham where he played a remarkable innings. Dropped a couple of times, LBW reprieved four times by Nigel LLong the most batsman friendly umpire, he pottered along for over three hours unable to get the ball off the square. It was painful to watch as the other Surrey batsmen thrashed away in order to get to a reasonable score. In the end he blossomed using the last hour of a 330 minute innings to get 80 odd and finish with 140. But that was about it for the season and he is now very vulnerable to a quick swinging or non swinging straight ball. He didn’t really field much in Surrey’s last game and was castled third ball in his only innings. If that is it , it was a sad ending.
The Surrey batting need not fret because in Davies and de Bruyn there is class and steadiness. In Tom Maynard (now as good as KP), Jason Roy and Rory H-B they have three good young players and Meaker the fastest of the bowlers can bat too. Surrey to be Division One Champions in 2012. There are worse bets.
I only saw Middlesex in the middle of the season and was really only impressed by Simpson and Murtagh. They clearly missed Berg as a more than useful all rounder and there is a real need for a couple of spinners and one more quick bowler if Finn is to be absent. Berg has been a pain in the neck for WGCCC as he has played only three games for Radlett in the Home Counties Premier League in the last three years all against us. Radlett were relegated this year and Berg turned up at WGCCC for the last game of the season taking vital wickets and scoring 130 not out as they won for the only time this season. With the new Middlesex connection which pisses off members of both Middlesex and Radlett one can expect Radlett to bounce back with a plethora of young Middlesex talent being available.
KP and other Matters
Nick Reed sent me the following
I couldn't let Mr Ray's latest extraordinary observations on the Phenomenal Pietersen Style go by without responding that Pietersen's test credentials are surely no longer a matter of opinion. The man (Pietersen, not Ray) has 6,000+ runs at an average above 50, and 19 centuries from 78 games - a tons/match ratio better than any other top-rank England player except, er, Alastair Cook. One may or may not want to split a decent bottle of Rioja with the him (again, P rather than R), but his credentials as a world-class batsman are no longer in doubt. We're not talking about a debutant here, or a Bopara / Morgan feeling his way, or even a Trott who has been excellent for 'only' two years.
The most recent Ray cavils seem to be:
(a) The Oval '05 doesn't count because Warne dropped him early on, and
(b) He 'might have been out quite a few times' during his double ton this summer.Well, every time a batsman plays and misses he 'could have been out', and catches have to be held (Pietersen dropped so many that summer the Aussies probably felt he was owed one.) That element of chance is one of the thousands of things which make our sport so fascinating.
Oh, and
(c) He 'selfishly' got out in the 220s in Adelaide, just when we needed him to push on. I'm not sure that one really needs a response!
Oh, and he has an unorthodox style, curse him. Goodness knows what Mr Ray made of Hayden, Sehwag, Trescothick or, to use the closest Pietersen comparison, Viv Richards in his pomp. If only they kept their hands together better and eschewed the dramatic clout!
Pietersen averaged 48.36 in 78 ODI knocks from debut to the end of 2008. Since then he has had 30 innings (none not out), hit two 50s, and averages 22.87. So if he hasn't been dropped he probably should have been, and your implication that he is being 'rested' to salve his ego is probably spot on. Incidentally, 21 of his 30 dismissals have been caught, including the last 12 straight. Even more fascinatingly, Pietersen's T20 record up til the end of 2008 from 14 innings was 363 runs at 27.92. Since then 18 innings have yielded 648 runs at 43.27. Less than half his dismissals have been caught. And, as a footnote his test record... Up to 2008, 4039 runs at 50.48. Since then, 2324 runs at ... 50.48 !
Clearly, Pietersen has, consciously or otherwise, remodelled his short-form technique while remaining the same potent test force throughout. On any statistical rating he is by a street the best batsman international T20 has seen, while his ODI record has become awful. This may well support my argument that ODIs are now the most disciplined and formulaic - and therefore dull - international format, and are surely due for either a massive rethink or obsolescence.
A fair while back, I popped my head above the parapet to suggest England would be best served by four frontline bowlers, augmented by some twirling from Pietersen and trundling from Trott / Bell / Bopara / whoever from the batters. Despite my inexperience as a correspondent I got a decent kicking for that one. Unfortunately I can't remember who administered it, but I must be due an apology by now?
I replied
Thanks for the notes-its good to keep the KP debate rumbling along. Presumably you don't think that he has been dropped, rather than rested, from the ODI side?
He followed up with
KP dropped from the ODI side... I hadn't thought about that, but now that I do it might make some sense.
ODI batsmen these days, as a wild generalisation, fall into two camps. The more orthodox of the greatest talents thrive - Tendulkar, Ponting, Jayawardene, Kallis, with Inzamam and Chanderpaul as other good recent examples. Trott is a genuinely good one-day player, and I'm sure Cook will be too. And then there are the nurdlers, heirs to Michael Bevan and Neil Fairbrother who can hit run-a-ball 60s with few boundaries. Morgan is surely the best in the current game, and I suspect that like the other two his test career will be comparatively disappointing. I would argue that the real dashers - Pietersen, Gayle, Sehwag, Dilshan - are best served in either test cricket where their unorthodoxy can change the game in a session but they can still dig in and make huge hundreds, or the heavily fielding-restricted slogfest which is T20.
Paddington Matters
Dennis Jones sent me the following notes
I managed to attend a Paddington match on Sunday, watching them defeat Weybridge by 12 runs in an entertaining game which gave us a fourth successive victory after some disappointing results earlier in the season.
Amidst regular cricketers for the first time since the incident, I was surprised to discover that I was in the minority over the Ian Bell 'run-out'. Much as I would like to think that I always played within the 'spirit' of the game of cricket', I have never been an advocate that the spirit should outweigh the Laws, and was amazed at the ready acceptance that Bell should be allowed to continue with his innings. Ian Bell was clearly OUT, and I find it difficult to accept that at the very top level of the game, however upsetting the individual circumstance, there are people who consider it right to override the Laws. Replays showed quite clearly that Eoin Morgan knew that there was a doubt over whether the ball was dead. Ian Bell should also have known. Please do not misunderstand me on this. I am delighted that Ian Bell has scored loads of runs, and that England have won the series with a whitewash. I couldn't care less about the poor Indian performance; we need to make the most of it whilst our England team is in the ascendancy. But it all needs to be done within the proper written Laws of the game.
Where is the spirit of the game defined? What is acceptable action within that spirit? Each individual is likely to see it slightly differently, and there is a real possibility that confusion and resentment become more prevalent now that it has been shown that the Laws do not take precedent. Conversely, it seems that the 'spirit' of the game has already been undermined anyway by abolishing the rule that the non-striker cannot be run out for backing up too far before the bowler makes his delivery. I fail to see how the current situation is consistent with the 'spirit' of the game. I am sure that your readers, and contributors, have already voiced their opinions on these issues anyway, but it would be interesting to have feedback on the majority/minority split.
The Legendary Len Stubbs
I am very sad to report that Len Stubbs died before Christmas. We had begun to fear the worst when communications with him failed. At the Old Danes Gathering Bob Peach asked Hugh Lindsay, who is a member of Fulwell Golf Club, to make enquiries on our behalf and he was able to provide the sad news. I invite anyone who has memories or anecdotes about Len to submit them and I will publish a comprehensive tribute next month.
Dressing Room Matters
Allen Bruton sent me this
Marcus North has recently signed a contract with Glamorgan, his sixth different county. Poor chap will do well to remember who he is playing for and certainly cannot be expected to know if he is playing a home or away fixture.
Googlies and Chinamen
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 106
October 2011
Cynical Dilemna
How can one continue to be embittered and a cynic? First the Rangers get promoted to the Premiership and just when I was getting into my stride about their lack of prospects the club gets sold again and a whole slew of blokes get purchased before the transfer window shuts. They then outplay the unbeaten Newcastle and win at Wolves.
Then Middlesex almost screw up but ultimately win well in their final game to be second division champions and gain promotion. And, to a lesser extent, Lancashire, who I have been a member of on and off over recent years, win the county championship.
What is left for an embittered cynic to moan about?
Middlesex Matters
The Great Jack Morgan takes us through the heady final matches of the season
Matthew Hoggard won the toss for Leicestershire (though I did not find this out until I read the following day's paper) and as the wicket was damp and the weather was overcast and gloomy, it was no surprise that he asked Middlesex to bat in the Championship match at Lord's. Unfortunately for Hoggy, however, his unimpressive bowling "attack" were totally unable to turn the conditions to their advantage. Instead, Andrew Strauss (returning to the side in place of Scott Newman) and Sam Robson were largely untroubled in reaching lunch on 131-0 and the two had both reached their centuries and the total was on 231, when Wayne White (only medium fast according to Playfair) suddenly pinged a fast bouncer into Robbo's helmet. After receiving attention on the pitch for a wound above his left eye, Sam was able to walk back to the pavilion, retiring hurt for a calm and impressive 101 with 18 fours, but he was not seen again for the duration of the match. Jamie Dalrymple, promoted to no 3, was soon scoring at a good rate and the score had reached 323 (a record partnership for any wicket against Leics) before Dalrymple fell for 46 off 64 balls with 8 fours. The time was about 4.35 and many of us were stunned when the catcher was named as Ned Eckersley (from Ealing CC, St Benedict's School, Middlesex 2s and MCCYCs) as we had no idea that he was playing! Although I was in my seat before the start of play, this was not early enough for the only reading of the team changes and news of the toss. The solution to this problem seems obvious: news of the toss and the teams should be repeated (say at noon and lunchtime) for the benefit of latecomers and those who were not late, but were not in time to hear these early announcements.
Straussy continued an exceptional innings and had already reached his highest first class score when the light, which had never been better than ordinary, deteriorated so much that the umpires took the players off at 370 for 1 with six and a half overs of the day remaining. I was shocked that this decision was greeted with loud booing from the crowd: why would we want to risk a clatter of wickets in poor light when there was still plenty of work to be done and three days remaining? Conditions had improved on day 2 with the wicket drier and the weather slightly brighter, yet paradoxically, the bowlers began to get more swing and seam movement than they had done on day 1. Dawid Malan added 115 with Strauss before departing for 47 with 7 fours, then skipper Bucky Rogers played a brisk cameo of 33 off 33 balls including two sixes while adding 58* with the unflappable Strauss. Many of us had expected Rogers to go on to 600 or more, but my feeling is that the improvement in the conditions for the bowlers persuaded Chris that it was only fair to allow Leics to have a bat after lunch, leaving Andrew undefeated on a magnificent 241 with 28 fours and 2 sixes and the total on 496 for 2.
This proved to be a good decision as Steve Crook, moving the ball around at a good pace, took 4 for 45, Tim Murtagh was nearly as impressive with 3 for 41 and Corey Collymore returned the immaculate figures of 14-8-17-1. Matt Boyce played a fighting innings of 46 with 8 fours and Eckersley (28 with 6 fours) and White (37 with 4 fours and a six) shared a stand of 50 for the sixth wicket, the best stand of an inadequate effort of 193 all out. Inevitably, Leics were invited to follow on, but the weather had turned glorious on day 3, the wicket was thoroughly dry and the light was excellent. Boyce played another stubborn innings of 31 off 94 balls, but it was when Greg Smith, already into his stride, was joined by Jimmy Taylor, that things got tough for Middlesex. 79 for 2 at lunch became 203 for 2 at tea with neither batsman looking likely to get himself out, but it was Tim Murtagh who turned the tide when he bowled Smith (after a third wicket stand of 132) for a thoroughly impressive 84 off 145 balls with 9 fours and then had Taylor caught behind (one of four victims for John Simpson) for an equally assured 85 off 164 balls with 7 fours. Toby Roland-Jones joined the party with a couple of wickets, but left-hander Rob Taylor, batting too low at 8, continued the fight and hit a good-looking 49 off 75 balls with some fine shots including 6 fours and two sixes. There was no stopping Middlesex, however, as TSRJ grabbed two more wickets and Leicestershire were all out for 338 (Toby 4 for 64, Tim 3 for 61 and Corey 2 for 41). The 36 needed to win was knocked off in 5.1 overs by Strauss and Rogers as Middlesex won by 10 wickets by 12.20 on day 4.
Strauss took his season's average (all first class matches) up to 61.6, Robson's went up to 57.4 and Rogers improved his to 50.3. Straussy now has three first class centuries for Middlesex this season, his best since 2003. County caps were awarded to John Simpson and Scott Newman at lunch on day 1. Middlesex 24 points, Leicestershire 0: has there been a 24-0 whitewash before? Probably, I suppose, but I cannot remember one. Middlesex also went to the top of the table with a three point lead over Northants with a game in hand. Surrey are improving rapidly in third place and enjoyed an emphatic win at Northampton, though they actually fell three further points behind Middlesex.
It is 2.30 pm on Friday and, after two full days of rain at Cardiff, Bergy (6-58), replacing TSRJ, has just bowled Glam out for 157: perhaps we could get a few points from this match after all? Soon after writing that, they were off for rain again! The draw at Cardiff leaves us 12 points clear of Northants and 13 ahead of Surrey, a strong position, but we really need a win at Leicester to make sure. If Northants and Surrey were both to win their last matches and Middlesex only drew (say), it would be incredibly tight at the top. Fine weather would be nice to ensure a satisfactory end to the season, but we now hear that a hurricane is arriving on Monday!
I thought Chris Rogers's declaration against Leics was spot on and his declaration at Cardiff today was also exactly the right move, though it does not look like leading to a win at present. I think he should now be appointed our permanent captain. It did not sound like a totally convincing win at Leicester, given the "strength" of the opposition, but it was nice to see Bergy getting runs and Ollie finally getting some wickets.
I think we deserved to go up as Champions, but the question is how well we will do next season? Spin was the obvious weakness this season: our spinners are tolerably accurate, but lack penetration and were not helped by some very green Lord's pitches. Many of the batters had good seasons and Robson has emerged as the best of our good young batsmen, but Dexter was a big disappointment and Newman, Dalrymple and Malan all had dodgy spells. Even our strong pace bowling looked vulnerable at times: when Bergy and Toby were injured, Finny was "with England" and Ireland was (justifiably) confined to second XI action, the pace bowling was stretched and over dependent on magnificent Murtagh. Simpson has always looked a promising bat, but now he is looking like a good keeper too. Our close catching was as good as it has been for many years and this was another crucial area of strength. There were some poor captaincy decisions at times and now that Dexy is no longer sure of his place, it would be a serious handicap to the team if he were reappointed captain.
The Joys and Despair of a Club Fixture Secretary (1967-74)
Brian Pacey debuts in these pages with the following
I had the idea to write this article after reading an earlier issue of “Googlies” where it was mentioned that South Hampstead never played against clubs who fielded two first elevens, prior to the introduction of the Middlesex County Cricket League (MCCL) in 1972. I took over as the “Bush” fixture secretary at the AGM in October 1967. My first task was to unwrangle a mess with High Wycombe. They wanted to adopt a policy of only playing clubs once per season, so that they could play more clubs. The “Bush” resisted this argument, and High Wycombe backed down. Unfortunately, from my point of view, the Wills KO Trophy started in 1968, and required those clubs who entered, to reserve two Saturdays in June for the first two round of the competition. As you can probably guess, the first round coincided with one of our High Wycombe fixtures, so that was lost. In the Wills Trophy, we were drawn in the preliminary round away to Stanmore, and duly lost! Despite this, we were guaranteed “losers” fixtures on the two Saturdays, and finished up playing Winchmore Hill 1st XI (away) and Hornsey 2nd XI at home (not a bad pair of fixtures).
Life seemed easy for a while until talks began about the formation of the MCCL for the 1972 season. Prior to the league, we played a lot of our MCCL opposition on a Sunday (Ealing, Finchley, South Hampstead, Stanmore and Winchmore Hill all twice, along with Edmonton and Hornsey). Our Saturday fixtures did include double fixtures with Brentham, Brondesbury, Southgate and Wembley plus one game with North Middlesex. Prior to the league, we had never played against Enfield, Richmond and Teddington. One further complication was that our fixtures outside Middlesex (High Wycombe, Beaconsfield and Slough – all double fixtures) were also on a Saturday. Whilst the introduction of league cricket seemed a big challenge with regard to re-arranging a load of fixtures, we managed to agree Sunday dates with High Wycombe and Beaconsfield, and everything eventually fell into place.
To return to my earlier remarks about playing against clubs who fielded two first elevens, we were lucky at the “Bush” in that we entertained Finchley on the first Sunday in May when we played against their strongest side (they did not always have such a strong side for the return fixture as their other first eleven were playing at Beaconsfield). With Southgate, they fielded a first eleven and an “extra first eleven”, so we played against their top eleven at home in June, and the return fixture (which we usually lost) was at Southgate on the last Saturday in September, when Southgate only fielded one first eleven. We did not start playing against Hornsey until 1968, and had a half-day Sunday fixture against their first (whole day) XI and a whole day Sunday fixture against their second (half day) XI.
I remember returning to the “Bush” on a Sunday in May (around 1969) to find out how our first eleven had got on against Finchley. When we left just before lunch, the Bush were about 80 for 6. Imagine our surprise, to learn that the “Bush” had won by 2 runs, 130 against 128 all out. I suppose I’m showing my age, when I say that both teams were still in the bar at 10 pm, but I can’t remember whether David Hayes was “supporting” David Jukes, or the other way round!
I also recall the match that Bill Hart mentioned in a recent issue, where a weakened South Hampstead had come across Ron Read for the first time, and struggled to score about 130. This was the match where David Jukes scored about 15 not out in 90 minutes, and the “Bush” closed on around 90 for 7. That must be one of the lowest number of runs scored in a full day match that lasted all day.
These events remind me of happy times, and I’m only sad that now the “Bush” only field one team on a Sunday, and that plays 40 over a side cricket. What a change from the all day fixtures on such lovely grounds as Maidenhead and Bray, where I never played on a winning side.
Oval Matters
The great Jack Morgan reports from the home of promotion rivals
Rory Hamilton-Brown chose to bat first in the crucial Championship match against Derbyshire at the Oval, but his team were soon in trouble at 12 for 2. However, the situation was retrieved by an excellent second wicket stand of 120 between Steve Davies (73 off 114 balls with 10 fours) and Zander de Bruyn (61 off 110 balls with 9 fours) and after that, the innings was dominated by an exceptional (though not entirely chanceless) knock by Tom Maynard. Jason Roy (45 off 52 balls including 2 sixes) kept pace with Maynard as the pair added 97 for the fifth wicket, but no other partner could rival Tom's outstanding strokeplay. When Maynard was eighth out for 123 off 157 balls with 16 fours at 382, it briefly looked as if Surrey might fall short of the precious fifth batting point, but Stuart Meaker (55* with 10 fours) soon allayed those fears. It was a surprise to see Tim Linley (career batting average 12) batting ahead of Pragyam Ojha (Test Match batting average 17), but Tim rose to the occasion and his 21 was a useful contribution to a ninth wicket stand of 73 with Meaker that helped Surrey to an impressive 468 all out.
Another surprise was that Derbyshire's unheralded spin attack of ex-Somerset off-spinner Wes Durston (mainly a batsman) and 18 year old slow left armer from Sheffield Tom Knight were asked to bowl 39 overs on day 1 (1 for 156 between them), though Durston improved his figures to 3 for 100 on day 2, while Mark Footitt (quick left arm over) took 3 for 99. Linley was very impressive at the start of the Derbys innings and he quickly shot out three of their top five as the visitors slumped to 28 for 4. Surrey could not, however, get rid of ex-Loughborough man Paul Borrington (son of Tony), who was playing an admirable sheet anchor role as wickets fell all around him. Paul got some assistance from left hander Ross Whiteley (24), skipper and keeper Luke Sutton (32) and allrounder Jon Clare (21), but when he was ninth out for an excellent 87 with 12 fours, Derbys lasted one more ball and were all out for a dismal 190. Linley finished with 3 for 34, but the star for Surrey was slow left armer Ojha ("the signing of the season" according to David Hopps in the Guardian) with 4 for 48.
Derbyshire were inevitably invited to follow on, but did even worse in their second innings. They had collapsed to 95 for 8 when no 9 Tim Groenewald from Pietermaritzburg (33* with 3 sixes) took the initiative with some powerful strokes and managed to add 57 for the last two wickets with Knight and Footitt, both of whom also hit a six as Derbys finished on 152 to lose by a comprehensive innings and 126 by 2.30 on day 3. The main cause of the visitors problems was again the spin and bounce of Ojha, who troubled almost every batsman and finished with the deserved figures of 6 for 42, 10 for 90 in the match and 24 at 12.95 each for the season, all of which will astound our revered editor who had assured Jim Revier and me that he was completely useless! The Oval announcer kept us well informed of progress in other matches, especially those at Leicester and Northampton, so we got early news that Northants had dropped two batting points and that Surrey would be promoted along with Middx if they took maximum points from this match and if Middx won their game at Leicester. In due course, everything fell into place and Northants had unluckily missed out by one point. RJHB received his county cap at lunch on day 1, while Davies and Gareth Batty received theirs at lunch on day 2. Surrey 24 points, Derbyshire 2.
Headingley Matters
I went to the second day of the Yorkshire v Warwickshire match at Headingley with the Professor. On the first day Yorkshire had been bowled out for 294. We met in the upper deck of the North Stand which is adjacent to the new pavilion at the Kirkstall Lane end of the ground. The Professor usually travels light and so I decided the previous day to double up on rations at Sainsbury’s to provide us with adequate sustenance for a day in what could be indifferent weather. After I had parked in the rugby car park I came into the ground and passed a sort of Chuck Wagon which seemed to be the only source of food on offer. Since its offerings included Gravy and Chips or Curry Sauce and Chips I was pleased that I had made the effort to purchase away from the ground.
Warwickshire opened with Westwood and Chopra. The latter scored two double centuries in April but has had little success since and on this occasion he failed too, as did Westwood, as Patterson and Sidebottom made early inroads to delight the locals. Nobody seems to be doing well in the first division of the county championship and this meant that several sides were in with a chance of winning cricket’s major prize. Warwickshire are one of these and they had recruited Chanderpaul as their overseas player to assist them on their run in. Laurie Evans, formerly of Surrey, played nicely but got out just as he began to look set. This brought the skipper Troughton in to join Chanderpaul and they saw Warwickshire through to lunch.
Yorkshire had Rudolph back in their side and he was captain in the absence of Gale who had sustained an injury in the nets. He operated from first slip and seemed to have very little impact on the proceedings. Bowling changes were mechanical and there was little enthusiasm from the Yorkshire players. Perhaps they were taking their cue from Anthony McGrath who looked as if he was someone’s dad or uncle making up the numbers because they were one short at the start. He has a huge frame and will comfortably fit on Lardarse or Samit’s lunch table. They hide him at second slip when the seamers are on but later in the proceedings he gets hopelessly exposed as a donkey in the field and has even the biggest Yorkshire fans in despair.
I had said to the Professor before play began that I had dreaded seeing Chanderpaul scratch around all day but in the event we were treated to a masterclass by the left hander who never got bogged down and who accelerated his scoring though the day. Warwickshire had not made the fastest progress up to mid afternoon but Tim Ambrose then took four consecutive fours off Pyrah and then when Chanderpaul took a single of the first ball of the next over he took two more boundaries off the next two deliveries.
Two years ago I was most impressed by Adil Rashid’s bowling at the Oval for England against Australia. There he was on the spot and troubled the batsmen. On this occasion and, sadly, the Professor confirmed that it is now the norm, he commenced each spell with a couple of long hops and rarely looked like beating the bat subsequently. Wainwright looked a more consistent proposition but was less comfortable bowling to the left handed Chanderpaul and with help from Rudolph’s puzzling field placings he conceded plentifully. But he did pick up a couple of wickets and had a catch dropped by Rudolph.
In the evening session the sun shone and Yorkshire’s cricket was decidedly ragged. Chanderpaul played all his shots and what looked at one stage like being a 270 day at best turned into a 340 one. The following day Chanderpaul fell just short of a double century but Warner went on to 80 and Carter made 43 before Chris Wright, formerly of Middlesex and now on loan from Essex, bowled Yorkshire out cheaply to keep Warwicks in contention for the title.
Lord’s Matters
I completed a hat trick of Wednesday cricket in August by travelling down to Lords for the second day of Middlesex’ championship match against Leicestershire. On the first day Hoggard had won the toss and put Middlesex in. Their first success came with the score on 323 when Dalrymple was dismissed for 46. He was at the crease because Sam Robson had retired hurt on 104 after being crusted by Wayne White. Strauss was not out 184 at the close. The Great Jack Morgan was able to fill me in on the details of the first day’s play and we were joined by Jim Revier.
During the morning session the ball moved around and Hoggard and Buck could both count themselves unlucky not to have picked up a wicket. Strauss proceeded to his double century and Malan was furious with himself when he got out having set himself up for a big score. This brought captain Rogers to the crease at 440 for 2. He struggled at first but was soon scoring quicker than Strauss and before lunch twice slogged Cobb high into the Tavern Stand. At lunch Middlesex were 497 for 2 and had already beaten a whole range of batting records. Strauss was on 240 and we started to discuss how long it would take him to overhaul Jack Robertson’s highest ever Middlesex score of 331. He had progressed from 184 to 240 in the morning session but, we felt, could proceed to the magic figure before tea since some acceleration could be expected and he needed less than 100 in the session. However, just before the umpires were due back on the field of play I spotted Simpson in his pads doing catching practice and we suddenly realised that Middlesex had declared. It took even longer for the scorers and announcer to cotton on and it wasn’t until the players had re-emerged that the official announcement was made.
As they had at Canterbury two weeks earlier Murtagh and Collymore put in an impressive spell with the new ball. Middlesex posted attacking fields and so there were plenty of boundaries for the Leicestershire batsmen but none of them looked capable of playing a big innings. Boyce who had taken four boundary catches the previous Saturday to win the T20 played a dogged innings but much depended on Taylor to stay long enough to avoid the follow on. In the event Steve Crook bowled him in an inspired spell from the pavilion end in which he ripped the heart out of the middle order. Crook has had his opportunity in the side because of injury to Gareth Berg and has caused most sides problems with his whippy action and movement. Taylor may be feeling the weight of carrying Leicestershire’s batting this season. He has been nothing like as prodigious as last year but still features in the England selectors plans.
The announcer kept trying to generate support and interest in a Meet the Players evening which was taking place in the Mound Stand after the close of play. Who would want to attend such an event? What would you discuss? Why would you pay £15 to go? Jack suggested that one could discuss the history of Middlesex cricket with Neil Dexter. Jim Revier pointed out that it would provide an opportunity to meet Paul Stirling. In the West Indies someone had pointed out the Greenidge Stand to Stirling who replied: “Who was he? One of the Three Ws?”
Wayne White looked the most comfortable of the Leicestershire batsmen but after he was dismissed the rest folded and they were all out in the last over of the day. Leicestershire put up a better fight the third day but still lost before lunch on the fourth day which means that Strauss could have had another session to make a serious mark in the record books. Perhaps Rogers didn’t want any more triple centurions in the side.
Field Placing Matters
George has been bowling to his grandson, also George, whilst on holiday in France. He sent me this:
“I decided to bowl to a 1/0 field while George was batting at Pinadas. I put Monty at leg slip. He's very quick in the outfield, but that's about it.”
This is not very helpful. How can we assess this report? Was George bowling over or round the wicket? Was the ball swinging, seaming or spinning? The wicket certainly looks very green. Did Monty slide when retrieving the ball? Can quadrupeds slide anyway? Did Monty throw in from the outfield or did he “fetch”. Does anyone have any views on bowling to a 1-0 field? It obviously wouldn’t make any difference to Harbajhan Singh given the rinse he served up this summer.
Carlin Matters
Paddy Carlin sent me the following notes from the Middlesex Room, the Montpelier Club and the boundary at WGCCC
Heavily influenced by the luxury of the Oval’s Montpelier Club and the Surrey ties of the indomitable Barry and Roger Hamilton Brown it was highly pleasurable to see the end of season success for Surrey. They clearly have a good team spirit and with a couple of additions will be a force in Division One next year. At the risk of intimidating the GJM I think that they are better placed than Middlesex. They need a good opening bat so that Rory H-B can move down to number four and also a left arm spinner. They surely have the money to solve the former and the rumour is that Kartik will return to London and he along with Lewis will strengthen the already strong bowling side. Personally I would give a contract to Ojha who is the best left arm spinner I’ve seen in a while. How has he not been picked for India?
The pace attack at Kennington now that they have juiced up the wicket looks pretty good with the experienced Lewis, steady de Bruyn, speedy Meaker and the rapidly improving Linley. Add Tremlett to this lot and maybe an occasional Jordan and it looks strong. You will notice that I haven’t mentioned Dernbach who in a Lord ray moment vis a vis the PPS I described as TAP material and the worst opening bowler I had seen last year. I note that he has now been picked for England for his ability to bowl at the death. Apparently his slower ball is the main danger and I contend that he may be a better slower bowler with an occasional quicker ball than a fast bowler with an occasional quicker ball. Anyway in county cricket with dreadful spells at Lord’s, Cheltenham and the oval he served up a lot of unpredictable rubbish usually too wide or high for the batsmen to hit. But in 20, 40 and 50 over cricket this unpredictability is an advantage. In county cricket you can’t set a field for his bowling but at the death this doesn’t matter so much provided you don’t bowl a good length ball into the batsman’s arc. Anyway next season he may struggle to make the county side, despite being capped a week or so ago, since he is number six in the pecking order behind those previously mentioned.
Next season may also not see Ramps any more following his football injury and his consequent poor season in 2011. I saw him at Cheltenham where he played a remarkable innings. Dropped a couple of times, LBW reprieved four times by Nigel LLong the most batsman friendly umpire, he pottered along for over three hours unable to get the ball off the square. It was painful to watch as the other Surrey batsmen thrashed away in order to get to a reasonable score. In the end he blossomed using the last hour of a 330 minute innings to get 80 odd and finish with 140. But that was about it for the season and he is now very vulnerable to a quick swinging or non swinging straight ball. He didn’t really field much in Surrey’s last game and was castled third ball in his only innings. If that is it , it was a sad ending.
The Surrey batting need not fret because in Davies and de Bruyn there is class and steadiness. In Tom Maynard (now as good as KP), Jason Roy and Rory H-B they have three good young players and Meaker the fastest of the bowlers can bat too. Surrey to be Division One Champions in 2012. There are worse bets.
I only saw Middlesex in the middle of the season and was really only impressed by Simpson and Murtagh. They clearly missed Berg as a more than useful all rounder and there is a real need for a couple of spinners and one more quick bowler if Finn is to be absent. Berg has been a pain in the neck for WGCCC as he has played only three games for Radlett in the Home Counties Premier League in the last three years all against us. Radlett were relegated this year and Berg turned up at WGCCC for the last game of the season taking vital wickets and scoring 130 not out as they won for the only time this season. With the new Middlesex connection which pisses off members of both Middlesex and Radlett one can expect Radlett to bounce back with a plethora of young Middlesex talent being available.
KP and other Matters
Nick Reed sent me the following
I couldn't let Mr Ray's latest extraordinary observations on the Phenomenal Pietersen Style go by without responding that Pietersen's test credentials are surely no longer a matter of opinion. The man (Pietersen, not Ray) has 6,000+ runs at an average above 50, and 19 centuries from 78 games - a tons/match ratio better than any other top-rank England player except, er, Alastair Cook. One may or may not want to split a decent bottle of Rioja with the him (again, P rather than R), but his credentials as a world-class batsman are no longer in doubt. We're not talking about a debutant here, or a Bopara / Morgan feeling his way, or even a Trott who has been excellent for 'only' two years.
The most recent Ray cavils seem to be:
(a) The Oval '05 doesn't count because Warne dropped him early on, and
(b) He 'might have been out quite a few times' during his double ton this summer.Well, every time a batsman plays and misses he 'could have been out', and catches have to be held (Pietersen dropped so many that summer the Aussies probably felt he was owed one.) That element of chance is one of the thousands of things which make our sport so fascinating.
Oh, and
(c) He 'selfishly' got out in the 220s in Adelaide, just when we needed him to push on. I'm not sure that one really needs a response!
Oh, and he has an unorthodox style, curse him. Goodness knows what Mr Ray made of Hayden, Sehwag, Trescothick or, to use the closest Pietersen comparison, Viv Richards in his pomp. If only they kept their hands together better and eschewed the dramatic clout!
Pietersen averaged 48.36 in 78 ODI knocks from debut to the end of 2008. Since then he has had 30 innings (none not out), hit two 50s, and averages 22.87. So if he hasn't been dropped he probably should have been, and your implication that he is being 'rested' to salve his ego is probably spot on. Incidentally, 21 of his 30 dismissals have been caught, including the last 12 straight. Even more fascinatingly, Pietersen's T20 record up til the end of 2008 from 14 innings was 363 runs at 27.92. Since then 18 innings have yielded 648 runs at 43.27. Less than half his dismissals have been caught. And, as a footnote his test record... Up to 2008, 4039 runs at 50.48. Since then, 2324 runs at ... 50.48 !
Clearly, Pietersen has, consciously or otherwise, remodelled his short-form technique while remaining the same potent test force throughout. On any statistical rating he is by a street the best batsman international T20 has seen, while his ODI record has become awful. This may well support my argument that ODIs are now the most disciplined and formulaic - and therefore dull - international format, and are surely due for either a massive rethink or obsolescence.
A fair while back, I popped my head above the parapet to suggest England would be best served by four frontline bowlers, augmented by some twirling from Pietersen and trundling from Trott / Bell / Bopara / whoever from the batters. Despite my inexperience as a correspondent I got a decent kicking for that one. Unfortunately I can't remember who administered it, but I must be due an apology by now?
I replied
Thanks for the notes-its good to keep the KP debate rumbling along. Presumably you don't think that he has been dropped, rather than rested, from the ODI side?
He followed up with
KP dropped from the ODI side... I hadn't thought about that, but now that I do it might make some sense.
ODI batsmen these days, as a wild generalisation, fall into two camps. The more orthodox of the greatest talents thrive - Tendulkar, Ponting, Jayawardene, Kallis, with Inzamam and Chanderpaul as other good recent examples. Trott is a genuinely good one-day player, and I'm sure Cook will be too. And then there are the nurdlers, heirs to Michael Bevan and Neil Fairbrother who can hit run-a-ball 60s with few boundaries. Morgan is surely the best in the current game, and I suspect that like the other two his test career will be comparatively disappointing. I would argue that the real dashers - Pietersen, Gayle, Sehwag, Dilshan - are best served in either test cricket where their unorthodoxy can change the game in a session but they can still dig in and make huge hundreds, or the heavily fielding-restricted slogfest which is T20.
Paddington Matters
Dennis Jones sent me the following notes
I managed to attend a Paddington match on Sunday, watching them defeat Weybridge by 12 runs in an entertaining game which gave us a fourth successive victory after some disappointing results earlier in the season.
Amidst regular cricketers for the first time since the incident, I was surprised to discover that I was in the minority over the Ian Bell 'run-out'. Much as I would like to think that I always played within the 'spirit' of the game of cricket', I have never been an advocate that the spirit should outweigh the Laws, and was amazed at the ready acceptance that Bell should be allowed to continue with his innings. Ian Bell was clearly OUT, and I find it difficult to accept that at the very top level of the game, however upsetting the individual circumstance, there are people who consider it right to override the Laws. Replays showed quite clearly that Eoin Morgan knew that there was a doubt over whether the ball was dead. Ian Bell should also have known. Please do not misunderstand me on this. I am delighted that Ian Bell has scored loads of runs, and that England have won the series with a whitewash. I couldn't care less about the poor Indian performance; we need to make the most of it whilst our England team is in the ascendancy. But it all needs to be done within the proper written Laws of the game.
Where is the spirit of the game defined? What is acceptable action within that spirit? Each individual is likely to see it slightly differently, and there is a real possibility that confusion and resentment become more prevalent now that it has been shown that the Laws do not take precedent. Conversely, it seems that the 'spirit' of the game has already been undermined anyway by abolishing the rule that the non-striker cannot be run out for backing up too far before the bowler makes his delivery. I fail to see how the current situation is consistent with the 'spirit' of the game. I am sure that your readers, and contributors, have already voiced their opinions on these issues anyway, but it would be interesting to have feedback on the majority/minority split.
The Legendary Len Stubbs
I am very sad to report that Len Stubbs died before Christmas. We had begun to fear the worst when communications with him failed. At the Old Danes Gathering Bob Peach asked Hugh Lindsay, who is a member of Fulwell Golf Club, to make enquiries on our behalf and he was able to provide the sad news. I invite anyone who has memories or anecdotes about Len to submit them and I will publish a comprehensive tribute next month.
Dressing Room Matters
Allen Bruton sent me this
Marcus North has recently signed a contract with Glamorgan, his sixth different county. Poor chap will do well to remember who he is playing for and certainly cannot be expected to know if he is playing a home or away fixture.
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