GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 126
June 2013
1. Alistair Cook: The first one to blink collects the tea money.
2. KP: Which one of you wankers tweeted that I would find it hard to get back in the side?
3. Michael Clarke: So, step forward if you are ready to face Mitchell Johnson’s beamer.
4. The Barmy Army’s Jimmy: Don’t any of you know the words to Jerusalem?
Out and About with the Professor
Cricket, as the saying goes, is a funny old game…although it is not supposed to be.
I give two recent examples:
I spent three days at Headingley for the New Zealand test. During the time I was there a Shakespearian change in the climate took place from winter (on the first day) to glorious summer (days two and three) and back again. There was also a son of York – indeed two – to brighten the scene, and the emergence of Root is one of the more remarkable developments in English cricket in recent years. I may be alone in thinking that the much-vaunted attack didn’t bowl that well at times (a little churlish given they bowled the opposition out twice for less than 400) but it seemed to me that Anderson had problems with his line and Swann (especially in the second innings) with his length. Given that he had a 6-fer, that seems even more curmudgeonly but then I thought that New Zealand batted very poorly and that the two openers, in particular, were just not test match standard…at least not in this country. What the England attack do seem to have developed is the knack of someone bowling well when the others don’t – long may it continue.
The endless discussion about poor old Compton will keep the pundits going until the 10th July but that is a long way off and much can happen. Personally I hope they don’t move Root up (he seems to be doing alright where he is). If the next Test were tomorrow, I would opt for Trott opening and then he could bat like he did on Sunday evening until we all die of boredom. Trott will point to the scorebook and say he got runs but then all slow scorers do that and ignore the stress they place on the rest of the team – Bell and Root gave their wickets away and Prior and Bairstow very nearly did. The fact that he batted so differently on Monday morning merely compounded the felony.
My second, more parochial, example is Adil Rashid. Rashid came up through the Yorkshire juniors and made his debut in 2006 at the age of 18. In the post-Warne frenzy to have a leg-spinner in every side he was just about perfect: he could turn the ball, was a more than handy bat and an excellent field. His debut could scarcely have gone any better – a 6-fer against Warwickshire. Young Cricketer of the Year in 2007, an England call-up the next year, it was all just about perfect. But then things started to unravel. I have seen him bowl a fair number of times now and it has often been a bit all-over-the-place. He would take wickets, perhaps, but also bowl a fair supply of long-hops and go for too many runs. It was a bit like the pre-Warne days of leg-spin where everyone would say that you only put a leggy on if you had lots of runs to play with. Worse still, for Rashid, was the emergence of Azeem Rafiq (once Yorkshire had remembered to register him) as a talented off spinner. 2012 saw Rashid get only 16 Championship wickets and he was left out at the start of this season and was “considering his future” at Yorkshire. But then something happened. Rafiq got injured. Rashid got back in the side. Did he start taking wickets? No. He started to score runs. Lots of them. A not out 50 was followed by a career-best 180 and then another hundred. At the time of writing he is 80-odd not out against Somerset. If he keeps going like this he will be vying for KP’s place…think of that, Yorkshire boys at 4, 5 and 6!
And his bowling? Well when Rashid scored 110* against Warwicks, Yorkshire bowled the opposition out twice in 100 overs. Rashid was not required to bowl.
Funny old game, cricket.
200 Men
Seven batsmen have made double hundreds this season so far. Can you pick them out from the crowd?
Kevin Peterson
Graeme Smith
Samit Patel
Alistair Cook
Ian Bell
Paddy Carlin
Simon Katich
Henry Blofeld
Dawid Malan
Jimmy Adams (Hants)
Jimmy Adams (WI)
Allen Bruton
Luke Wells
Allan Richardson
James Hildreth
Nick Compton
Ricky Ponting
Chesney Hughes
Marcus Trescothick
Joe Root
Inzaman-ul-Haq
James Hildreth
Chris Rogers
Ross Taylor
Dicky Bird
Alviro Petersen
Sam Robson
Joss Buttler
Alex Hales
Sofa Cricket
Yorkshire v Derbyshire at Headingley CC Div 1 April 29
The Professor wrote about Chesney Hughes’ 270 in the last issue or at least his contribution to it on day one. Despite this colossal effort his side made only 475 and Yorkshire dwarfed it in response scoring 677. Joe Root made 235 and Jonny Bairstow 186. When Derbyshire batted again it wasn’t Bresnan or Plunkett who bowled them out but Yorkshire’s acquisition from Northants, Jack Brooks, who took 5 for 40. Here’s one for the anoraks – when did a player last score 270 and end up on the losing side by an innings?
Essex v Hampshire at Chelmsford YB40 3 May
Essex made a respectable 244 with Graham Napier tonking around in typical style for 50 from 28 balls at the end of the innings. Hampshire made mincemeat of this, though, winning by nine wickets in under thirty overs. When Carberry was out for 65 at 156 Hampshire had been scoring at over nine an over. James Vince finished on 129 not out. These guys will feature again in these notes.
Middlesex v Glamorgan at Lord’s YB40 5 May
Middlesex let this one get away form them. Marcus North made 137 not out from 98 balls in an unlikely Glamorgan total of 280. Since when has North been a fast scorer? Only Gareth Berg put together a reasonable innings at the right rate in reply and Middlesex were well beaten. We will have to concentrate on the County Championship.
Surrey v Hampshire at Kennington YB40 Oval 6 May
Hampshire got a taste of their own medicine. After they had accumulated a below par 228 Graeme Smith and Steven Davies added 162 before Smith went for 74 but Davies saw Surrey home with an unbeaten 127 for a nine wicket win with over eight overs to spare.
Yorkshire v Somerset at Headingley YB40 11 May
Somerset made a daunting 338 with Alviro Petersen finishing on 96 not out but the really telling innings was inevitably played by Joss Buttler who made 89 from 51 balls including four sixes. Alviro Thomas dismissed Jaques, Ballance, Lyth and Rashid in taking 4 for 41 and Yorkshire were dismissed for 207.
Kent v Worcestershire at Canterbury CC Div 2 17 may
Allan Richardson took 5 for 41 as Kent were bundled out for 159. In reply Worcestershire managed to take a 35 run first innings lead which was almost enough to win the match on its own as Allan Richardson ripped through Kent for a second time taking 7 for 22 as they could only muster 63. Worcestershire went on to win by ten wickets.
Hampshire v Lancashire YB40 at the Rose Bowl 22 May
Ashley Prince made a hundred for Lancashire but their total of 244 never looked like being enough as Hampshire knocked them off for the loss of just one wicket with six overs to spare. Michael Carberry impressed with 150 not out from 115 balls in an innings which included five sixes. Strangely Hampshires big hitters - Bailey, Ervine and Mascarenhas - are not getting a look in as their less flamboyant top order is doing the job for them.
Ireland v Pakistan ODI at Dublin 23 May
Pakistan made 266 from 47 overs and Ireland had to score 276 to win under the Duckworth Lewis calculations. Opening the batting Middlesex’ Paul Stirling made 103 from 107 deliveries and then Kevin O’Brien slammed 84 not out from 47 deliveries but they could only manage 275 and so the match was tied. Tim “Paddy” Murtagh was also playing for Ireland in this match. Apparently he qualifies as his third cousin once drunk a pint of Guinness.
Sussex v Somerset CC Div 1 at Horsham 23 May
Sussex won this match by an innings. The Australian, Steve Magoffin, took 8 for 20 as Somerset were bowled out for 76 in their first innings. Sussex made 300 in reply and then Magoffin took 4 for 11 the second time round as Somerset reached just 108. Joss Buttler top scored in both innings with 22 and 29. When were these scores last the highest in a two innings match? And when were they last made by the same player. Answers to Keith Walmsley....
Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire YB40 at Edgbaston 23 May
This match was significant for a sublime innings from Michael Lumb who made 57 from 41 balls. These stats were much better before the Warwickshire spinners slowed him down. Lumb must be one of the most devastating openers in the shorter forms of the game against seam bowling. He took Wright and Woakes, the England Lions attack, apart with aggression and timing. The game was messed about by rain interruptions and the visitors eventually won under the Duckworth Leis calculations. James Taylor guided them home.
Leicester v Somerset YB40 at Grace Road 26 May
Tresothick, Trego, Suppiah and Petersen all scored at over a run a ball but, once again, it was Buttler who stole the show with 54 not out from 25 balls as Somerset racked up 323. They would have probably considered that they had done enough to win this match comfortably but hadn’t counted on a spirited response from the Leicestershire openers Cobb and Smith who added 235 for the first wicket before Cobb fell for 130 from 81 balls. Smith saw the home side home and finished on 135 not out. Steve Kirby went for 71 in his eight overs and Alfonso was hit out of the attack conceding 21 from his two overs. So what is enough in 40 over cricket?
Middlesex v Yorkshire YB40 at Radlett 27 May
Yorkshire must have felt like a club side turning up at Radlett. If they had gone a month earlier they could have played under the marquee. Roland-Jones was Middlesex’ best bowler with 4 for 44 and Yorkshire managed a middling sort of 236. Malan opens for Middlesex in this competition and it seems to suit him as he made 96 from 88 balls. His championship form has been wretched and he must be close to being dropped but he is their best batter in the forty over game. Weird, eh? Morgan made his first appearance of the summer and contributed 0, falling LBW to Rashid second ball. It was left to Rossington who made 79 not out from 71 balls to guide the home side to victory. Rossington will be pushing Simpson hard for the first team place as the latter is struggling with the bat now after a better start to the season.
Unicorns v Leicestershire YB40 at Wormsley 27 May
The Unicorns, whoever they are, made 253 against the mediocre Leicestershire attack and then Josh Cobb made 128 not out to see his side home. Cobb falls into the category of batsmen who England will not be able to ignore if he continues to score heavily.
England v New Zealand test matches at Lord’s and Headingley
Why was Joe Root the only English batsman to look in any sort of form in these test matches? Because he had been playing cricket for Yorkshire and the Lions, scoring heavily and getting into form. The rest assumed that one innings slumming it back in county cricket would suffice along with feeling good in the nets. When will they learn that you get into form by playing?
Derbyshire v Surrey YB40 at Derby 29 May
This match suffered a delayed start and then was curtailed early. In fact there were only nine overs bowled but the entertainment was extraordinary as Surrey reached 100 for 1 in this time. They slowed towards the end but at the six over mark had been scoring at 13 an over. The odd thing is that there was only one six hit in this demolition of the Derbyshire attack. Steven Davies made 50 from 22 balls whilst Jason Roy was 42 not out from 29. Davies’ batting is now of the highest order and he must be the front runner amongst those claiming to be Prior’s deputy. He is certainly a better keeper than Kieswetter, Buttler and Bairstow.
Sussex v Warwickshire YB40 at Hove 30 May
During this rain affected match when Boyd Rankin came on to bowl the commentators set the viewers a quiz to identify this season’s quickest bowlers in televised matches. Not all counties have featured and so several obvious candidates were disqualified through no fault of their own. It turned out that the two who had broken the 90 mph mark were Jamie Overton of Somerset and Mark Wood of Durham. Rankin clocked 85mph and was promptly called up to the England squad.
England v New Zealand 1st ODI at Lords 31 May
The England top order all had a net yet again and all got out when they tried to force the pace. As a result the final score was never going to be enough on a good wicket. England cannot get to grips with the simple need to score at a run a ball to get to 300. If the top order, who have the benefit of the new hard ball and the first power play, fail to achieve that it puts undue pressure on the middle order. 300 of course should be the starting target.
England v New Zealand 2 ODI at Rose Bowl 2 June
Woakes and Dernbach should not be bowling at this level. The former isn’t quick or consistent enough, the latter is just crap. England had no idea how to go about their response to the Kiwis’ massive total. The awful Trott had another net. He never scored at the required rate and even Anderson outscored him in their partnership. Trott must be the most selfish player since Sir Geoffrey.
Middlesex Matters
The Great Jack Morgan took up his habitual position below the Media Centre and sent us this report
Middlesex brought in Corey Collymore and Paul Stirling to replace Gareth Berg (shoulder) and Ollie Rayner (dropped) for the Championship match against Surrey at Lord's on May 2nd. Proteas captain Graeme Smith, from Johannesburg, won the toss for Surrey and decided to bat, but did not last long himself and his loss caused Rory Burns from Epsom and Arun Harinath from Sutton to dig in to such an extent that they could not even match Derbyshire's funereal scoring rate in the last match at Lord's: Derbys were 59 for 1 off 30 overs at lunch, while Surrey managed only 45 for 1 off 30 overs. The pair did a good job for their side however as they put on 147 for the second wicket before Harinath departed for 61 off 163 balls with 8 fours. 37 year old ex-England ODI man Vikram Solanki (43 off 67 balls with 7 fours) played the most attractive innings of the first day, but it was 22 year old Burns, one of three wicket keepers in the Surrey team, who made the most valuable contribution with an excellent 114 off 267 balls with 12 fours.
Burns has made an exceptional start to his first class career and the Surrey innings declined rapidly after he departed, falling from 311 for 5 to 338 all out with Tim Murtagh (3 for 54) and Collymore (3 for 72) the most successful bowlers, while Stirling (2 for 43) collected his first ever Championship wickets. 37 year old Zander de Bruyn, also from Jo'burg, contributed 34, while Northern Irishman Gary Wilson, who is in fine form with the bat this season (and is another of the keepers) tried but failed to hold the tail together and finished with an undefeated 30. John Simpson took four catches behind the stumps.
Middlesex were probably quite happy to get Surrey out for a fairly moderate score and were probably happier still when apparently cruising at 72 for one in reply, but then it all went rapidly wrong as they collapsed to 166 all out. Eight Middlesex players got into double figures, but no one did better than Sam Robson's 36 with 5 boundaries. De Bruyn picked up 3 for 32 and England ODI man Jade Dernbach (another from Jo'burg) 3 for 59. Some thought that Surrey should have batted again, however Smith decided to enforce the follow on, but his bowlers could not repeat their success of the first innings. Chris Rogers and Robson looked totally untroubled as they put together an enormous stand for the first wicket before Robson fell for an outstanding 129 off 223 balls with 17 fours when the score was 259. Rogers carried on serenely and found a useful partner in Dawid Malan (47 off 72 balls with 5 fours), making his first significant contribution of the season as the pair added 130 for the fourth wicket.
Middlesex must have felt they were almost safe from defeat because an ill-advised bout of slogging just before lunch on day 4 saw them slump from 417 for 3 to 420 for 6, with Rogers finally departing for a magnificent 214 off 307 balls with 20 fours and 2 sixes. At lunch, Middlesex were 252 ahead with 69 overs remaining so they had more work to do to make the game safe and Neil Dexter, also making his first significant batting contribution of the season, was able to achieve this in a stand of 90 for the seventh wicket with Simpson (30*). Dexter made a fluent 59 off 61 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes and Rogers was able to declare at 514 for 8, setting Surrey a theoretical 343 to win in 48 overs, but of course, Surrey were not interested in chasing this target and the game drifted away to a dull conclusion. Solanki held on to 3 slip catches (and 4 in the match), while both Burns and Harinath picked up their maiden first class wickets as the visitors employed unusual bowlers to encourage a declaration, but teams who have come back from the dead do not want to risk defeat after working so hard to avoid it. Robson was deservedly awarded his county cap at lunch on day one. Middlesex 4 points, Surrey 9 and Middlesex lie in second place in the Championship table, 2.5 points behind Durham, who have played a game more.
I was also delighted that P Stirling finally made his Championship debut, but he really did not take his chance. He failed fairly pathetically with the bat in both innings and if you are looking at his two wickets and thinking that he might hold on to his place in the Championship side on the basis of his bowling, I think you would be wrong. I am not going to slag him off in my match report, but his bowling is very plain off-spin indeed, so plain that he makes Ollie look like Sonny Ramadhin! He might contribute as a second or third spinner if he can secure a place as a batsman, but not as the main spinner.
Dexter was sketchy again in the first innings, but suddenly looked in top form in the second! It was great to see the turnaround, but what transformed him? Malan also suddenly looked a much better player in the second innings: why? Denly has looked in good form in all the innings I have seen him play this season, but is not going on to big scores (if you do not count the MCC v Warks game).
Middlesex League Matters
Many of us were around when the Middlesex League started in the early seventies. Indeed Allen Bruton reminds me of how vehemently opposed to it I was. I am aware, though, that many have no access to the current format of the league and probably haven’t seen a match in years. Don Shelley send me the weekly email which lists the results in all the divisions together with the updated league tables and lists of top run scorers and wicket takers. I thought that the following extracts might give a flavour of what it is like now.
In week one Hampstead were at home to Ealing and batted first. They scored amassed 366 for 6 from 60 overs with Ben Scott making a modest 167 not out. Ealing only managed 185 for 7 in reply. In other Premier League matches Hornsey scored 286 for 8 and Twickenam 255. However, despite this high scoring there were no victories and there were none in Division 2 either although Brentham made 280 for 2 from 47 overs and Brondesbury 277 for 5 from 43 overs.
Down in Division 3 South Hampstead batted first at Barnes and scored 284 for 9 from 47 overs thanks to Paul Atherley’s 134. Barnes closed on 269 for 8. Highgate made 285 for 4 and Kenton 267 for 8.
By week 3 Ealing are top of the Premier League closely followed by Teddington, both clubs having two wins. North Middlesex are top of division 2 followed by Brondesbury. Enfield are top of division 3; most of the other sides in this division seem strange bedfellows for South Hampstead - Barnes, North London, Kenton, Edmonton, Wembley, Indian Gymkhana, Highgate and Acton.
Match report
The Great Jack Morgan goes back over fifty years to one of his earliest scorecards
Middlesex got off to a good start in the Championship match against Sussex at Lord’s on May 20 1961 and quickly had four Sussex batsmen back in the pavilion with only 66 on the board. However, England allrounder Ted Dexter (born in Milan) was playing attractively and, getting some support from another England allrounder, Don Smith, took the score on to 114 before he fell for 47 with 9 fours. Smith then took on the dominant role and was assisted in a stand of 94 for the sixth wicket by off-spinning allrounder Graham Cooper (41), before departing for an extremely valuable 88. Opening bowler Ian Thomson (soon to play in Tests for England) added 63 for the eighth wicket with ex-Middlesex slow left armer Ronnie Bell before the innings closed on 289 with Thomson undefeated on 41. The faster bowlers took all ten wickets for Middlesex with England's Alan Moss taking 4 for 52, allrounder Ron Hooker 3 for 86 and 23 year old debutant from Wembley CC, John Price, doing very well to finish with 3 for 48. John Murray took three catches behind the stumps and Peter Parfitt also held on to three slip catches.
Middlesex started their innings even more shakily than Sussex had done and Bob Gale, Syd Russell, Parfitt, Bob White and Fred Titmus were all back in the hutch with the total on only 67. Fortunately, however, Eric Russell was in brilliant form and with Murray contributing a composed 69 to a sixth wicket stand of 165, Middlesex were in control. Russell eventually fell for a superb 156 with 17 fours, but Hooker ensured that Middlesex secured a first innings lead and skipper Moss (in the absence of new captain Ian Bedford) immediately declared on 290 for 7. Thomson was the pick of the visiting bowlers with 3 for 90.
In the Sussex second innings, left handed opener Richard Langridge (62) shared a fine stand of 106 for the second wicket with Dexter (65), but then wickets fell regularly with only Smith (51) making more than 15. One of the main reasons for this was the outstanding performance of young Price who took 4 for 93 and finished with 7 wickets in his maiden first class match. Sussex had scored their runs at a fairly dilatory rate and declared at 231 for 9, setting Middlesex a target of 231 in 175 minutes, comfortably the quickest scoring rate of the match. Reassuringly, however, Gale looked in fine form and he and Eric Russell (45) put on 80 for the first wicket, Syd Russell helped to add 52 for the second wicket and when Gale was out for an excellent 81, Parfitt was already going well and the 64 that were then required in 40 minutes were knocked off with 9 minutes to spare. Murray was promoted in the order to help Parfitt maintain the required rate and the two shared an unbroken stand of 65 as Parfitt led the team home with a hard hit 52*.
After two early defeats in the Championship, Middlesex were unbeaten in the next 15 games, winning 12 of them, and went to the top of the table, but they had to settle for third place behind champions Hampshire (against whom Middlesex had a win and a draw) and Yorkshire (whom they beat twice).
Test Awards Matters
King Cricket announced the following awards at the conclusion of the two amtch test series against New Zealand
1. Ploddiest bastard
The ploddiest bastard award recognises the batsman who played the most bar-filling innings. There were a few contenders with England’s entire first innings at Lord’s worthy of a team award, while Neil Wagner’s unbeaten nought not out off 37 balls in the second Test was an unfinished masterpiece. However, this award goes to Nick Compton for his unspectacular seven off 45 balls in the second Test. This case study in self-imposed mental paralysis was made all the more striking for being played while the famously uninhibited Alastair Cook was making a 63-ball 50 against the same bowling.
2. Biggest sociopath
This award recognises profound antisocial behaviour on the cricket field and it goes to Jonathan Trott for his batting on the fourth evening of the second Test. His 11 not out off 69 balls while England were looking to increase the run-rate ahead of an inevitable declaration showed quite staggering disregard for the feelings of his captain, coach, team-mates, fans and indeed pretty much everyone on earth. It was marvellous stuff.
3. Crappest shot
We’d probably go with Nick Compton’s deranged slog in the first innings of the first Test. Block, block, leave, block, heave like you’re trying to slaughter a demonfrom hell with one crushing blow, walk off the pitch looking a little bit ashamed.
4. Thanks for coming
Martin Guptill. Followed one off five balls with three off 22 balls. No wonder they gave him a bowl in between. Those five overs went for 41.
5. Living the cliché
Recognising the player who made it most difficult to avoid using tired, overused phrases to describe them. Neil Wagner gets this award for his bustling fast-medium bowling. He just kept on running in.
Follow on Matters
The Great jack Morgan states his position
I am fairly keen on enforcing the follow on, but that may be because I was brought up on 3 day cricket, when there was really no alternative. Not enforcing is also rare in 4 day cricket because there is the considerable risk of a draw, which is really no use. The problem comes in Tests, of course, which are not only 5 days long, but crucially are part of a series in which a draw can confirm a victory in the series almost as convincingly as another win. It is also a defensive move as it can effectively rule out an opposition win in a way that enforcing cannot. Another factor was that at least four of our top seven (Cook, Compton, Bell and Prior) had been below par recently and another innings was deemed useful... well, it worked for Cooky. Against these reasons, of course, was the weather forecast and the fact that taking the attacking option and trying to win rather than draw should always be the proper course of action. Yes, I am an enforcer!
Nomenclature Matters
There seems to be a reversion to the old style of naming cricket grounds. The Oval has lost its Brittania or Kia prefix, I have even heard it referred to as Kennington Oval. Headingley was likewise simply stated during the recent test match. But its not all good news. The Great Jack Morgan noted: “I laughed at Sussex for calling their ground "the Probiz County Ground", but I am not claiming any credit for the change here because it is now called the "Brightonandhovejobs.com County Ground"!
He also is taking credit for influencing the banking sector: “There is no end to my influence dept: last season I laughed at the Clydesdale Bank for calling their competition the "Clydesdale Bank" 40 Over Competition because their organisation is called the Yorkshire Bank in England, where the vast majority of the matches are played and (guess what?) they have now changed the name to the "Yorkshire Bank" competition!”
Googlies and Chinamen
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 126
June 2013
1. Alistair Cook: The first one to blink collects the tea money.
2. KP: Which one of you wankers tweeted that I would find it hard to get back in the side?
3. Michael Clarke: So, step forward if you are ready to face Mitchell Johnson’s beamer.
4. The Barmy Army’s Jimmy: Don’t any of you know the words to Jerusalem?
Out and About with the Professor
Cricket, as the saying goes, is a funny old game…although it is not supposed to be.
I give two recent examples:
I spent three days at Headingley for the New Zealand test. During the time I was there a Shakespearian change in the climate took place from winter (on the first day) to glorious summer (days two and three) and back again. There was also a son of York – indeed two – to brighten the scene, and the emergence of Root is one of the more remarkable developments in English cricket in recent years. I may be alone in thinking that the much-vaunted attack didn’t bowl that well at times (a little churlish given they bowled the opposition out twice for less than 400) but it seemed to me that Anderson had problems with his line and Swann (especially in the second innings) with his length. Given that he had a 6-fer, that seems even more curmudgeonly but then I thought that New Zealand batted very poorly and that the two openers, in particular, were just not test match standard…at least not in this country. What the England attack do seem to have developed is the knack of someone bowling well when the others don’t – long may it continue.
The endless discussion about poor old Compton will keep the pundits going until the 10th July but that is a long way off and much can happen. Personally I hope they don’t move Root up (he seems to be doing alright where he is). If the next Test were tomorrow, I would opt for Trott opening and then he could bat like he did on Sunday evening until we all die of boredom. Trott will point to the scorebook and say he got runs but then all slow scorers do that and ignore the stress they place on the rest of the team – Bell and Root gave their wickets away and Prior and Bairstow very nearly did. The fact that he batted so differently on Monday morning merely compounded the felony.
My second, more parochial, example is Adil Rashid. Rashid came up through the Yorkshire juniors and made his debut in 2006 at the age of 18. In the post-Warne frenzy to have a leg-spinner in every side he was just about perfect: he could turn the ball, was a more than handy bat and an excellent field. His debut could scarcely have gone any better – a 6-fer against Warwickshire. Young Cricketer of the Year in 2007, an England call-up the next year, it was all just about perfect. But then things started to unravel. I have seen him bowl a fair number of times now and it has often been a bit all-over-the-place. He would take wickets, perhaps, but also bowl a fair supply of long-hops and go for too many runs. It was a bit like the pre-Warne days of leg-spin where everyone would say that you only put a leggy on if you had lots of runs to play with. Worse still, for Rashid, was the emergence of Azeem Rafiq (once Yorkshire had remembered to register him) as a talented off spinner. 2012 saw Rashid get only 16 Championship wickets and he was left out at the start of this season and was “considering his future” at Yorkshire. But then something happened. Rafiq got injured. Rashid got back in the side. Did he start taking wickets? No. He started to score runs. Lots of them. A not out 50 was followed by a career-best 180 and then another hundred. At the time of writing he is 80-odd not out against Somerset. If he keeps going like this he will be vying for KP’s place…think of that, Yorkshire boys at 4, 5 and 6!
And his bowling? Well when Rashid scored 110* against Warwicks, Yorkshire bowled the opposition out twice in 100 overs. Rashid was not required to bowl.
Funny old game, cricket.
200 Men
Seven batsmen have made double hundreds this season so far. Can you pick them out from the crowd?
Kevin Peterson
Graeme Smith
Samit Patel
Alistair Cook
Ian Bell
Paddy Carlin
Simon Katich
Henry Blofeld
Dawid Malan
Jimmy Adams (Hants)
Jimmy Adams (WI)
Allen Bruton
Luke Wells
Allan Richardson
James Hildreth
Nick Compton
Ricky Ponting
Chesney Hughes
Marcus Trescothick
Joe Root
Inzaman-ul-Haq
James Hildreth
Chris Rogers
Ross Taylor
Dicky Bird
Alviro Petersen
Sam Robson
Joss Buttler
Alex Hales
Sofa Cricket
Yorkshire v Derbyshire at Headingley CC Div 1 April 29
The Professor wrote about Chesney Hughes’ 270 in the last issue or at least his contribution to it on day one. Despite this colossal effort his side made only 475 and Yorkshire dwarfed it in response scoring 677. Joe Root made 235 and Jonny Bairstow 186. When Derbyshire batted again it wasn’t Bresnan or Plunkett who bowled them out but Yorkshire’s acquisition from Northants, Jack Brooks, who took 5 for 40. Here’s one for the anoraks – when did a player last score 270 and end up on the losing side by an innings?
Essex v Hampshire at Chelmsford YB40 3 May
Essex made a respectable 244 with Graham Napier tonking around in typical style for 50 from 28 balls at the end of the innings. Hampshire made mincemeat of this, though, winning by nine wickets in under thirty overs. When Carberry was out for 65 at 156 Hampshire had been scoring at over nine an over. James Vince finished on 129 not out. These guys will feature again in these notes.
Middlesex v Glamorgan at Lord’s YB40 5 May
Middlesex let this one get away form them. Marcus North made 137 not out from 98 balls in an unlikely Glamorgan total of 280. Since when has North been a fast scorer? Only Gareth Berg put together a reasonable innings at the right rate in reply and Middlesex were well beaten. We will have to concentrate on the County Championship.
Surrey v Hampshire at Kennington YB40 Oval 6 May
Hampshire got a taste of their own medicine. After they had accumulated a below par 228 Graeme Smith and Steven Davies added 162 before Smith went for 74 but Davies saw Surrey home with an unbeaten 127 for a nine wicket win with over eight overs to spare.
Yorkshire v Somerset at Headingley YB40 11 May
Somerset made a daunting 338 with Alviro Petersen finishing on 96 not out but the really telling innings was inevitably played by Joss Buttler who made 89 from 51 balls including four sixes. Alviro Thomas dismissed Jaques, Ballance, Lyth and Rashid in taking 4 for 41 and Yorkshire were dismissed for 207.
Kent v Worcestershire at Canterbury CC Div 2 17 may
Allan Richardson took 5 for 41 as Kent were bundled out for 159. In reply Worcestershire managed to take a 35 run first innings lead which was almost enough to win the match on its own as Allan Richardson ripped through Kent for a second time taking 7 for 22 as they could only muster 63. Worcestershire went on to win by ten wickets.
Hampshire v Lancashire YB40 at the Rose Bowl 22 May
Ashley Prince made a hundred for Lancashire but their total of 244 never looked like being enough as Hampshire knocked them off for the loss of just one wicket with six overs to spare. Michael Carberry impressed with 150 not out from 115 balls in an innings which included five sixes. Strangely Hampshires big hitters - Bailey, Ervine and Mascarenhas - are not getting a look in as their less flamboyant top order is doing the job for them.
Ireland v Pakistan ODI at Dublin 23 May
Pakistan made 266 from 47 overs and Ireland had to score 276 to win under the Duckworth Lewis calculations. Opening the batting Middlesex’ Paul Stirling made 103 from 107 deliveries and then Kevin O’Brien slammed 84 not out from 47 deliveries but they could only manage 275 and so the match was tied. Tim “Paddy” Murtagh was also playing for Ireland in this match. Apparently he qualifies as his third cousin once drunk a pint of Guinness.
Sussex v Somerset CC Div 1 at Horsham 23 May
Sussex won this match by an innings. The Australian, Steve Magoffin, took 8 for 20 as Somerset were bowled out for 76 in their first innings. Sussex made 300 in reply and then Magoffin took 4 for 11 the second time round as Somerset reached just 108. Joss Buttler top scored in both innings with 22 and 29. When were these scores last the highest in a two innings match? And when were they last made by the same player. Answers to Keith Walmsley....
Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire YB40 at Edgbaston 23 May
This match was significant for a sublime innings from Michael Lumb who made 57 from 41 balls. These stats were much better before the Warwickshire spinners slowed him down. Lumb must be one of the most devastating openers in the shorter forms of the game against seam bowling. He took Wright and Woakes, the England Lions attack, apart with aggression and timing. The game was messed about by rain interruptions and the visitors eventually won under the Duckworth Leis calculations. James Taylor guided them home.
Leicester v Somerset YB40 at Grace Road 26 May
Tresothick, Trego, Suppiah and Petersen all scored at over a run a ball but, once again, it was Buttler who stole the show with 54 not out from 25 balls as Somerset racked up 323. They would have probably considered that they had done enough to win this match comfortably but hadn’t counted on a spirited response from the Leicestershire openers Cobb and Smith who added 235 for the first wicket before Cobb fell for 130 from 81 balls. Smith saw the home side home and finished on 135 not out. Steve Kirby went for 71 in his eight overs and Alfonso was hit out of the attack conceding 21 from his two overs. So what is enough in 40 over cricket?
Middlesex v Yorkshire YB40 at Radlett 27 May
Yorkshire must have felt like a club side turning up at Radlett. If they had gone a month earlier they could have played under the marquee. Roland-Jones was Middlesex’ best bowler with 4 for 44 and Yorkshire managed a middling sort of 236. Malan opens for Middlesex in this competition and it seems to suit him as he made 96 from 88 balls. His championship form has been wretched and he must be close to being dropped but he is their best batter in the forty over game. Weird, eh? Morgan made his first appearance of the summer and contributed 0, falling LBW to Rashid second ball. It was left to Rossington who made 79 not out from 71 balls to guide the home side to victory. Rossington will be pushing Simpson hard for the first team place as the latter is struggling with the bat now after a better start to the season.
Unicorns v Leicestershire YB40 at Wormsley 27 May
The Unicorns, whoever they are, made 253 against the mediocre Leicestershire attack and then Josh Cobb made 128 not out to see his side home. Cobb falls into the category of batsmen who England will not be able to ignore if he continues to score heavily.
England v New Zealand test matches at Lord’s and Headingley
Why was Joe Root the only English batsman to look in any sort of form in these test matches? Because he had been playing cricket for Yorkshire and the Lions, scoring heavily and getting into form. The rest assumed that one innings slumming it back in county cricket would suffice along with feeling good in the nets. When will they learn that you get into form by playing?
Derbyshire v Surrey YB40 at Derby 29 May
This match suffered a delayed start and then was curtailed early. In fact there were only nine overs bowled but the entertainment was extraordinary as Surrey reached 100 for 1 in this time. They slowed towards the end but at the six over mark had been scoring at 13 an over. The odd thing is that there was only one six hit in this demolition of the Derbyshire attack. Steven Davies made 50 from 22 balls whilst Jason Roy was 42 not out from 29. Davies’ batting is now of the highest order and he must be the front runner amongst those claiming to be Prior’s deputy. He is certainly a better keeper than Kieswetter, Buttler and Bairstow.
Sussex v Warwickshire YB40 at Hove 30 May
During this rain affected match when Boyd Rankin came on to bowl the commentators set the viewers a quiz to identify this season’s quickest bowlers in televised matches. Not all counties have featured and so several obvious candidates were disqualified through no fault of their own. It turned out that the two who had broken the 90 mph mark were Jamie Overton of Somerset and Mark Wood of Durham. Rankin clocked 85mph and was promptly called up to the England squad.
England v New Zealand 1st ODI at Lords 31 May
The England top order all had a net yet again and all got out when they tried to force the pace. As a result the final score was never going to be enough on a good wicket. England cannot get to grips with the simple need to score at a run a ball to get to 300. If the top order, who have the benefit of the new hard ball and the first power play, fail to achieve that it puts undue pressure on the middle order. 300 of course should be the starting target.
England v New Zealand 2 ODI at Rose Bowl 2 June
Woakes and Dernbach should not be bowling at this level. The former isn’t quick or consistent enough, the latter is just crap. England had no idea how to go about their response to the Kiwis’ massive total. The awful Trott had another net. He never scored at the required rate and even Anderson outscored him in their partnership. Trott must be the most selfish player since Sir Geoffrey.
Middlesex Matters
The Great Jack Morgan took up his habitual position below the Media Centre and sent us this report
Middlesex brought in Corey Collymore and Paul Stirling to replace Gareth Berg (shoulder) and Ollie Rayner (dropped) for the Championship match against Surrey at Lord's on May 2nd. Proteas captain Graeme Smith, from Johannesburg, won the toss for Surrey and decided to bat, but did not last long himself and his loss caused Rory Burns from Epsom and Arun Harinath from Sutton to dig in to such an extent that they could not even match Derbyshire's funereal scoring rate in the last match at Lord's: Derbys were 59 for 1 off 30 overs at lunch, while Surrey managed only 45 for 1 off 30 overs. The pair did a good job for their side however as they put on 147 for the second wicket before Harinath departed for 61 off 163 balls with 8 fours. 37 year old ex-England ODI man Vikram Solanki (43 off 67 balls with 7 fours) played the most attractive innings of the first day, but it was 22 year old Burns, one of three wicket keepers in the Surrey team, who made the most valuable contribution with an excellent 114 off 267 balls with 12 fours.
Burns has made an exceptional start to his first class career and the Surrey innings declined rapidly after he departed, falling from 311 for 5 to 338 all out with Tim Murtagh (3 for 54) and Collymore (3 for 72) the most successful bowlers, while Stirling (2 for 43) collected his first ever Championship wickets. 37 year old Zander de Bruyn, also from Jo'burg, contributed 34, while Northern Irishman Gary Wilson, who is in fine form with the bat this season (and is another of the keepers) tried but failed to hold the tail together and finished with an undefeated 30. John Simpson took four catches behind the stumps.
Middlesex were probably quite happy to get Surrey out for a fairly moderate score and were probably happier still when apparently cruising at 72 for one in reply, but then it all went rapidly wrong as they collapsed to 166 all out. Eight Middlesex players got into double figures, but no one did better than Sam Robson's 36 with 5 boundaries. De Bruyn picked up 3 for 32 and England ODI man Jade Dernbach (another from Jo'burg) 3 for 59. Some thought that Surrey should have batted again, however Smith decided to enforce the follow on, but his bowlers could not repeat their success of the first innings. Chris Rogers and Robson looked totally untroubled as they put together an enormous stand for the first wicket before Robson fell for an outstanding 129 off 223 balls with 17 fours when the score was 259. Rogers carried on serenely and found a useful partner in Dawid Malan (47 off 72 balls with 5 fours), making his first significant contribution of the season as the pair added 130 for the fourth wicket.
Middlesex must have felt they were almost safe from defeat because an ill-advised bout of slogging just before lunch on day 4 saw them slump from 417 for 3 to 420 for 6, with Rogers finally departing for a magnificent 214 off 307 balls with 20 fours and 2 sixes. At lunch, Middlesex were 252 ahead with 69 overs remaining so they had more work to do to make the game safe and Neil Dexter, also making his first significant batting contribution of the season, was able to achieve this in a stand of 90 for the seventh wicket with Simpson (30*). Dexter made a fluent 59 off 61 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes and Rogers was able to declare at 514 for 8, setting Surrey a theoretical 343 to win in 48 overs, but of course, Surrey were not interested in chasing this target and the game drifted away to a dull conclusion. Solanki held on to 3 slip catches (and 4 in the match), while both Burns and Harinath picked up their maiden first class wickets as the visitors employed unusual bowlers to encourage a declaration, but teams who have come back from the dead do not want to risk defeat after working so hard to avoid it. Robson was deservedly awarded his county cap at lunch on day one. Middlesex 4 points, Surrey 9 and Middlesex lie in second place in the Championship table, 2.5 points behind Durham, who have played a game more.
I was also delighted that P Stirling finally made his Championship debut, but he really did not take his chance. He failed fairly pathetically with the bat in both innings and if you are looking at his two wickets and thinking that he might hold on to his place in the Championship side on the basis of his bowling, I think you would be wrong. I am not going to slag him off in my match report, but his bowling is very plain off-spin indeed, so plain that he makes Ollie look like Sonny Ramadhin! He might contribute as a second or third spinner if he can secure a place as a batsman, but not as the main spinner.
Dexter was sketchy again in the first innings, but suddenly looked in top form in the second! It was great to see the turnaround, but what transformed him? Malan also suddenly looked a much better player in the second innings: why? Denly has looked in good form in all the innings I have seen him play this season, but is not going on to big scores (if you do not count the MCC v Warks game).
Middlesex League Matters
Many of us were around when the Middlesex League started in the early seventies. Indeed Allen Bruton reminds me of how vehemently opposed to it I was. I am aware, though, that many have no access to the current format of the league and probably haven’t seen a match in years. Don Shelley send me the weekly email which lists the results in all the divisions together with the updated league tables and lists of top run scorers and wicket takers. I thought that the following extracts might give a flavour of what it is like now.
In week one Hampstead were at home to Ealing and batted first. They scored amassed 366 for 6 from 60 overs with Ben Scott making a modest 167 not out. Ealing only managed 185 for 7 in reply. In other Premier League matches Hornsey scored 286 for 8 and Twickenam 255. However, despite this high scoring there were no victories and there were none in Division 2 either although Brentham made 280 for 2 from 47 overs and Brondesbury 277 for 5 from 43 overs.
Down in Division 3 South Hampstead batted first at Barnes and scored 284 for 9 from 47 overs thanks to Paul Atherley’s 134. Barnes closed on 269 for 8. Highgate made 285 for 4 and Kenton 267 for 8.
By week 3 Ealing are top of the Premier League closely followed by Teddington, both clubs having two wins. North Middlesex are top of division 2 followed by Brondesbury. Enfield are top of division 3; most of the other sides in this division seem strange bedfellows for South Hampstead - Barnes, North London, Kenton, Edmonton, Wembley, Indian Gymkhana, Highgate and Acton.
Match report
The Great Jack Morgan goes back over fifty years to one of his earliest scorecards
Middlesex got off to a good start in the Championship match against Sussex at Lord’s on May 20 1961 and quickly had four Sussex batsmen back in the pavilion with only 66 on the board. However, England allrounder Ted Dexter (born in Milan) was playing attractively and, getting some support from another England allrounder, Don Smith, took the score on to 114 before he fell for 47 with 9 fours. Smith then took on the dominant role and was assisted in a stand of 94 for the sixth wicket by off-spinning allrounder Graham Cooper (41), before departing for an extremely valuable 88. Opening bowler Ian Thomson (soon to play in Tests for England) added 63 for the eighth wicket with ex-Middlesex slow left armer Ronnie Bell before the innings closed on 289 with Thomson undefeated on 41. The faster bowlers took all ten wickets for Middlesex with England's Alan Moss taking 4 for 52, allrounder Ron Hooker 3 for 86 and 23 year old debutant from Wembley CC, John Price, doing very well to finish with 3 for 48. John Murray took three catches behind the stumps and Peter Parfitt also held on to three slip catches.
Middlesex started their innings even more shakily than Sussex had done and Bob Gale, Syd Russell, Parfitt, Bob White and Fred Titmus were all back in the hutch with the total on only 67. Fortunately, however, Eric Russell was in brilliant form and with Murray contributing a composed 69 to a sixth wicket stand of 165, Middlesex were in control. Russell eventually fell for a superb 156 with 17 fours, but Hooker ensured that Middlesex secured a first innings lead and skipper Moss (in the absence of new captain Ian Bedford) immediately declared on 290 for 7. Thomson was the pick of the visiting bowlers with 3 for 90.
In the Sussex second innings, left handed opener Richard Langridge (62) shared a fine stand of 106 for the second wicket with Dexter (65), but then wickets fell regularly with only Smith (51) making more than 15. One of the main reasons for this was the outstanding performance of young Price who took 4 for 93 and finished with 7 wickets in his maiden first class match. Sussex had scored their runs at a fairly dilatory rate and declared at 231 for 9, setting Middlesex a target of 231 in 175 minutes, comfortably the quickest scoring rate of the match. Reassuringly, however, Gale looked in fine form and he and Eric Russell (45) put on 80 for the first wicket, Syd Russell helped to add 52 for the second wicket and when Gale was out for an excellent 81, Parfitt was already going well and the 64 that were then required in 40 minutes were knocked off with 9 minutes to spare. Murray was promoted in the order to help Parfitt maintain the required rate and the two shared an unbroken stand of 65 as Parfitt led the team home with a hard hit 52*.
After two early defeats in the Championship, Middlesex were unbeaten in the next 15 games, winning 12 of them, and went to the top of the table, but they had to settle for third place behind champions Hampshire (against whom Middlesex had a win and a draw) and Yorkshire (whom they beat twice).
Test Awards Matters
King Cricket announced the following awards at the conclusion of the two amtch test series against New Zealand
1. Ploddiest bastard
The ploddiest bastard award recognises the batsman who played the most bar-filling innings. There were a few contenders with England’s entire first innings at Lord’s worthy of a team award, while Neil Wagner’s unbeaten nought not out off 37 balls in the second Test was an unfinished masterpiece. However, this award goes to Nick Compton for his unspectacular seven off 45 balls in the second Test. This case study in self-imposed mental paralysis was made all the more striking for being played while the famously uninhibited Alastair Cook was making a 63-ball 50 against the same bowling.
2. Biggest sociopath
This award recognises profound antisocial behaviour on the cricket field and it goes to Jonathan Trott for his batting on the fourth evening of the second Test. His 11 not out off 69 balls while England were looking to increase the run-rate ahead of an inevitable declaration showed quite staggering disregard for the feelings of his captain, coach, team-mates, fans and indeed pretty much everyone on earth. It was marvellous stuff.
3. Crappest shot
We’d probably go with Nick Compton’s deranged slog in the first innings of the first Test. Block, block, leave, block, heave like you’re trying to slaughter a demonfrom hell with one crushing blow, walk off the pitch looking a little bit ashamed.
4. Thanks for coming
Martin Guptill. Followed one off five balls with three off 22 balls. No wonder they gave him a bowl in between. Those five overs went for 41.
5. Living the cliché
Recognising the player who made it most difficult to avoid using tired, overused phrases to describe them. Neil Wagner gets this award for his bustling fast-medium bowling. He just kept on running in.
Follow on Matters
The Great jack Morgan states his position
I am fairly keen on enforcing the follow on, but that may be because I was brought up on 3 day cricket, when there was really no alternative. Not enforcing is also rare in 4 day cricket because there is the considerable risk of a draw, which is really no use. The problem comes in Tests, of course, which are not only 5 days long, but crucially are part of a series in which a draw can confirm a victory in the series almost as convincingly as another win. It is also a defensive move as it can effectively rule out an opposition win in a way that enforcing cannot. Another factor was that at least four of our top seven (Cook, Compton, Bell and Prior) had been below par recently and another innings was deemed useful... well, it worked for Cooky. Against these reasons, of course, was the weather forecast and the fact that taking the attacking option and trying to win rather than draw should always be the proper course of action. Yes, I am an enforcer!
Nomenclature Matters
There seems to be a reversion to the old style of naming cricket grounds. The Oval has lost its Brittania or Kia prefix, I have even heard it referred to as Kennington Oval. Headingley was likewise simply stated during the recent test match. But its not all good news. The Great Jack Morgan noted: “I laughed at Sussex for calling their ground "the Probiz County Ground", but I am not claiming any credit for the change here because it is now called the "Brightonandhovejobs.com County Ground"!
He also is taking credit for influencing the banking sector: “There is no end to my influence dept: last season I laughed at the Clydesdale Bank for calling their competition the "Clydesdale Bank" 40 Over Competition because their organisation is called the Yorkshire Bank in England, where the vast majority of the matches are played and (guess what?) they have now changed the name to the "Yorkshire Bank" competition!”
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