G&C 244
GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 244
April 2023
Spot the Ball
Jonathan Agnew: In what way?
Matthew Mott: It has shown us that our second-string players are no good.
Fan 1: But the football is not as good as the club stuff.
Fan 2: Does anyone bother to watch the international matches?
Fan 1: I doubt it. I don’t.
Fan 2: Got it! I know who likes the break.
Fan 1: Who?
Fan 2: Harry MacGuire
Fan 1: Why?
Fan 2: He gets a game!
Gary Linekar: So, they will be wearing red shorts?
Alan Shearer: No. Blue ones!
Out and About with the Professor
The Professor has been to his favourite AGM
“We need to put the last two years behind us and get back to doing what we do best…playing cricket”. This sentiment was loudly applauded at the Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s AGM last week as, of course, it was always going to be. The “what we are good at” bit was soon tested a couple of days’ later when the first team were reduced to 90-5 against the students of Leeds and Bradford universities. This was an appropriately named “warm-up match” on April 1st at a freezing Headingley, in front of about two dozen spectators - including (briefly) your correspondent. Dom Bess rescued the innings from embarrassment with a hundred and he was followed up in the second innings by Fin Bean.
Stand-in captain Tattersall about to snick the ball to the ‘keeper, watched by the massed ranks of the North East stand (lower).
The AGM had been a comparatively sedate meeting, chaired by Tanni Grey-Thompson, which spent as little time as was reasonably possible on the past and as much as could be on “the future going forward” in the words of our new(ish) CEO, who had come to Headingley following the collapse of the previous sports club that used his services, Wasps. The future going forward contained many good things (or at least expected good things) but also one or two little tricky issues like:
1.the £14.9 million owed to the Colin Graves Trust;
2.the £3.5 million spent on the “crisis” in the past two years (£1.3 million on legal costs and compensation pay-outs and £750,000 on “governance reviews” and a hotline);
3.the absence of a Chairperson for the County (Tanni G-T is “acting” and engaged in 10 weeks of “in depth” interviews for a replacement);
4.the (then) uncertainty about the CDC case against Michael Vaughan and the others and the remaining uncertainty about sanctions against the Club;
5.and, finally, (to get back to what we’re good at), the uncertainty surrounding the arrival of our new Captain, Shan Masood.
Masood was lured away from Derbyshire by the “superior set-up and ambition of the Club” which is professional sportsmen’s universal “newspeak” for “more money”. Quite a lot more money, as I understand it. The Masood delay had been caused by (at the time of writing) uncertainty about his selection for the upcoming Pakistan tour. This has resulted in a frantic effort to sign fellow Pakistani Saud Shakeel in time for the first county fixture - a visa seems to be the problem. Shakeel won’t assume the captaincy however; that has reverted to Jonny Tattersall, except that he injured a finger in the freezing cold on Sunday and may not be fit. So, as you can see, all is going smoothly and well in the Headquarters of the north.
The comparative quiet of the AGM can, I think, be explained in a large part by the absence of the Chair, Lord Kamlesh Patel. He followed his surprise announcement (to me at least) to stand down after some 500 days in charge, by giving apologies for absence for: “significant personal reasons”.
It is difficult to know how historians of Yorkshire CCC will treat the events of the last two years. Those events have, of course, been shameful; but there are many in the Club (or at least at the AGM) who are still in denial, who regard Rafiq as the problem and Patel as the decidedly unsatisfactory solution. Indeed, his unexpected decision to stand down has been widely received as a victory for the old guard (…..there never was a problem; Rafiq’s word is (at best) unreliable; we have reached out to the Bradford leagues but they didn’t respond (so it was their fault)… and so on). Opprobrium often attaches itself to those who are telling us things we don’t want to hear and it is clear that some of the grandees in the Club take the view that Patel made things worse not better, and it is good that he is gone. Those same people were, of course, in positions of authority: Chair/President, etc., when all the events Rafiq documented were happening. To admit their truth is to admit their own complicity. No doubt that when further sanctions are announced, these will also be regarded as the faults of others, not themselves.
Back on the field, I’m not sure that Dom Bess, now out of Test cricket for some time, will have changed his prospects much by a hundred against the students but he has, apparently, modified his action to get more spin on the ball and I should have thought there might still be an opening in the England squad for a finger spinner who can actually turn it. Fin Bean, by the way, looks a decidedly useful bat. It is far too soon to know if he might be the next cab off the rank that gave us Messes Root and Brook but it might be worth keeping an eye out for Mr Bean’s performances over the summer.
This & That
Last month I drew attention to the big hitting of Islamabad United in the PSL. In the match at Rawalpindi, the Karachi Kings batted first and made 201 for 5. In reply Islamabad lost three wickets (Munro, Hales and Van der Dussen) before 70 was reached. Faheem then joined Azam Khan and they added 125 in eleven overs before Faheem at the non-strikers end was run out going for a bye to the wicket keeper. He should have realised that Azam doesn’t do that sort of thing. This brought in Asif Ali to face the last over with 8 still required. Cameos these days will include 20 of 10 balls, but in Ali’s case he thinks nothing of hitting his first ball for six and he then followed up with a one bounce four and so played the perfect two ball cameo. Meanwhile Azam at the other end was 72 not out from 41 balls. He is built like a combined version of Adam Rossington and Paul Stirling but is incredibly nimble at the crease and has fabulous wrist work. The Pakistan selectors won’t be able to ignore him much longer. He would never get into the English set up with that body shape.
The PSL produced tremendous cricket this year and the wickets at Rawalpindi were the scene of some extraordinary feats as the qualifying matches drew to a close. First Fakhar Zaman scored 115 as Lahore reached 226 for 5 which was more than enough to beat an out of touch Islamabad United who were without Azam Khan and they could only manage 107 in reply.
Babar scored a century when Peshawar Zalmi scored 240 for 2 against the Quetta Gladiators. However, Jason Roy, who was surplus to England’s requirements in Bangladesh, scored 145 not out in reply as the Gladiators won with 10 balls to spare. The Zalmi then scored 242 for 6 and must have thought that this would be enough to see them through against the Multan Sultans. But Rilee Rossouw scored 121 from 51 balls and the Sultans cantered home with 5 balls to spare.
Then the Sultans clocked up 262 for 3 against the Gladiators. Usman Khan opened and was out at the end of the tenth over for 120 scored from 43 balls and including 9 sixes. The Gladiators made a serious attempt at chasing down this enormous score and ended on 253 for 8.
The final was held at Lahore and was a fitting end to this extraordinary tournament. The Lahore Qalanders scored 200 for 6 thanks to their captain Sheen Shah Afridi’s 44 from 15 balls at the end of the innings. In reply the Multan Sultans finished on 199 for 8 and so lost by 1 run.
These prodigious batting feats were emulated when the West Indies took on South Africa at Centurion. The West Indies lost the toss and were put in to bat.
However, they proceeded to rack up 258 for 5 with Johnson Charles scoring 118 from 46 deliveries, having reached his hundred from just 39 balls which was 8 balls faster than Chris Gayle’s previous record for the West Indies. The faster IT20 hundreds were scored by David Miller, Rohit Sharma and Sudesh Wickramasekara of the Czech Republic who all reach three figures in 35 balls.
In reply De Kock and Reeza Hendricks, who hit 68 from 28, took 29 from the second over and shared an opening stand of 152. Their total of 102-0 after six overs was the highest powerplay score in a T20 international. Quinton de Kock scored 100 from 44 balls and was out in the 11th over and Hendricks in the 13th but their blistering start meant the Proteas were able to be relatively measured afterwards winning with 7 balls to spare. South Africa's pursuit of 259 is the highest IT20 chase, beating Bulgaria's pursuit of 243 against Serbia in 2022. The 517 runs combined is the highest match aggregate in a men's T20. West Indies hit 22 sixes, equaling Afghanistan's record for a men's IT20.
Pakistan T20 cricket was at a high after the PSL but they were soon to receive a major setback when they were soundly beaten in their three match series against Afghanistan. In both of the first two matches Pakistan batted first and failed to set a substantial target as Rashid, who is now captain, Mujeeb and co wove their spell. Afghanistan knocked them off in both matches. Pakistan won the third match once the series was dead. Many Afghan players are now getting experience in the T20 franchises and the national side is duly benefitting. The same can be said for Bangladesh who have just trounced England.
Temba Bavuma picked up an unwelcome pair on his debut as test captain of South Africa. But his side went on to beat West Indies.
The face of international cricket continues to change and another major leap will be Major League Cricket (MLC) the inaugural professional T20 League in the USA. There will be six teams competing and all matches will take place in Grand Prairie near Dallas. Players already signed up include Quinton de Kock and Aaron Finch. Satellite transmission of the matches will ensure large worldwide audiences. Some of the franchises are owned by IPL grandees as is evidenced in their names: Los Angeles Knight Riders, Texas Super Kings, MI New York, San Francisco Unicorns, Seattle Orcas and Washington Freedom. The matches will take place in July.
I continue to be baffled about what professional footballers do during the intensive training sessions we are informed that they all go through on a regular basis. In Leicester’s defeat at Southampton Iheanacho, who rarely breaks into a trot during a match, missed four clear scoring chances, two headers and two with his feet, and on each occasion he was unchallenged. But, even worse, he failed to hit the target with each shot. What does he do in training? The following week he should have spent hours turning crosses and through balls into an empty net until he had reached a 99% success rate. I fear, though, that he stood around in the centre circle with his colleagues playing one touch passes to each other.
And so it goes on week after week, match after match. When Newcastle played Manchester United Willock was set up perfectly to open the scoring from less than ten yards out. But instead of hitting the target he ballooned it way over the bar. Within two minutes at the other end Antony was on his own even closer but still managed to miss by as much as Willock had done. Everton are desperate for goals but as he advanced into the box against Spurs Gana was unchallenged but still ballooned his effort way over the bar. At the other end Pedro Porro must have been impressed by this effort as within minutes he emulated it when it would have been easier to score. To keep the ball down we were taught not to lean back and to keep our knee over the ball. Yes, we didn’t always get it right but we weren’t paid $100k a week to do it. Most of these players have been involved with professional clubs since before their teens. What have they been taught?
When the Argentinian, Alcaraz, scored against Leicester he embarked on the customary run to the corner and commenced the knee slide from halfway there. However, he caught something on a divot and so damaged his knee that he had to be substituted shortly thereafter. This ludicrous form of celebration may soon be outlawed by managers and their physios. Meanwhile, during the second test for South Africa against the West Indies Keshav Maharaj celebrated taking a wicket in a sufficiently exuberant manner that he ruptured his achilles tendon in the process. This is of consequence to Middlesex’ aspirations as he has had to cancel his contract to play much of the season in both T20 and Championship matches.
Erik ten Hag has turned Manchester United round by taking some tough decisions and importing some experienced hard men into the lineup, Martinez and Casemiro. However, he seems to have a major blindspot over Weghorst and Antony. The former would not get into any other Premiership side and Antony would have been transfer listed long ago had ten Hag not insisted on bringing him with him from Ajax for a ludicrously high transfer fee of $82m.
Morgan Matters
The big question is whether the Great man will come out of spectator retirement this summer
Some are calling the Wellington test one of the greatest Tests of all time. Stokes is only the fourth Test captain to lose after enforcing the follow on, but said he was "blessed" to play in the match and is now off to play in the IPL despite his knee injury... it can only be for the loot can't it? He is on £1.6m to play for the Chennai Super Kings. Ali Martin in the G calls the match a "Test classic", while Tanya Aldred said "after a game this thrilling even defeat feels like a win".
Lancashire's plans for a second home (because of the number of internationals played at OT) at Farington (near Leyland) have been approved.
Mirpur ODI: Rashid's four wickets lifted him up to 3rd in the list of Eng's ODI wicket takers, though he has the worst bowling average in the top 8:
ODI Wickets Average
J Anderson 269 29.22
D Gough 234 26.29
A Rashid 181 32.44
S Broad 178 30.13
A Flintoff 168 23.61
C Woakes 159 30.25
I Botham 145 28.54
L Plunkett 135 29.70
The Rs had another dreadful result losing 3-1 at Rotherham who were hovering just above the relegation places, but have now overtaken Rs and other strugglers, but there is still a 7 point gap between Rs and the relegation places.
Will Jacks made his first ODI appearance in Mirpur last week to complete a full set of international debuts but has now suffered a setback as he has been ruled out of the remainder of the Bangladesh tour with a thigh injury. but he is still likely to play for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL!
Rehan Ahmed is the youngest ever Englishman to earn his first ODI selection and at 18 years 205 days he breaks Ben Hollioake's record of 19 years 195 days which was set 7 years before Rehan was born! J Buttler has defended his experimental selections though it is difficult to see what was gained as hardly anyone in the England side distinguished himself.
The Rs had their first win for (seemingly) years, thrashing Watford 1-0, the scorer was your favourite player Tim Iroegbunam! There are only five teams below the Rs in the table, but they are actually 10 points clear of the relegation places.
I have just found out that TSRJ will captain Middlesex in the Championship this season and that Ian Salisbury has signed up as a "consultant coach".
David Saker will return as England's fast bowling coach for the upcoming Ashes series, the 50 over WC title defence in India in October and he is already working with England's white ball bowlers.
India will play Australia in the World Test Championship final at the Oval on 7-11 June.
The Rs got a 6-1 thrashing at Blackpool who were joint bottom with Huddersfield, have now shot up to 22nd, but are still 7 points and 3 places behind Rs... it does not give you any confidence though, does it? Sack the manager!
Lord's will continue to host Eton v Harrow and Oxford v Cambridge for the next five years until a further review is held in 2027.
Middlesex's England hopefuls Tom Helm and Steve Eskinazi, both 28, have signed new contracts with Middlesex until the end of 2026.
Former Oz capt Tim Paine has now retired from domestic cricket.
Tom Curran has a stress fracture of the back and joins Surrey team-mate Jamie Overton on the sidelines as he also sustained a stress fracture of the back in January.
Jonny Bairstow is expected to miss the IPL this year and focus on preparing for the Ashes following the multiple fractures received on the golf course in September. Meanwhile, Ben Stokes is heading for the IPL amid concerns over the knee injury that curtailed his role as a bowler in NZ.
Leicestershire have signed Oz batter Peter Handscomb for the first two months of the County Championship, he has previously played for four other counties including Middlesex.
Freddie Steward's red card in England's match v Ireland has now been rescinded! So, they should replay the match surely?
H Kane's successful penalty for Eng in Italy last night (Italy 1 Eng 2) took him to the top of the list of England's leading scorers:
Caps Goals
H Kane 81 54
W Rooney 120 53
B Charlton 106 49
G Lineker 80 48
J Greaves 57 44
M Owen 89 40
N Lofthouse 33 30
A Shearer 63 30
T Finney 76 30
V Woodward 23 29
F Lampard 106 29
Then he added another one v Ukraine.
Sam Billings, Alex Hales and Liam Dawson are some of those who have chosen to continue in the Pakistan Super League rather than play for England in Bangladesh because they will earn a lot more money in the PSL.
The April Cricketer tells us that:
a. County Championship draw will be worth 5 points next season (down from 8) a return to 2019 rules and the first batting point will require 250 runs inside 110 overs;
b. Darren Stevens (47 in April) has not given up hope of a 27th season of county cricket;
c. Middlesex are "balanced, settled and ready to take off in the top flight" but have also been asked to "explain the state of their finances to the ECB";
d. Surrey are "formidable, even with Overton sidelined";
e. There is "much uncertainty for ailing giants" Yorkshire; and
f. India's Ravi Ashwin has leapt to the top of the ICC Test players bowlers league table ahead of James Anderson.
Somerset have signed Oz batter Cameron Bancroft for the start of the County Championship campaign.
B Stokes has had to have an injection in his left knee to allow him to compete in the IPL! Why not just rest it instead? He will start the IPL season with Chennai Super Kings as a specialist batsman while being groomed as a possible long-term captain.
G Lineker has won his appeal against HMRC over a £4.9m tax bill relating to income from BBC and BT Sport for 2013-14 and 2017- 18.
Durham have signed Oz SLA Matt Kuhnemann, who recently made his Test debut in India, for the whole of the 2023 season.
Jofra Archer is contracted to Mumbai Indians and is unlikely to play any red-ball cricket before the Ashes starts in June.
IPL Riders and Runners
One of the biggest absences is England batter Jonny Bairstow, who was set to play for Punjab Kings but is missing the tournament to continue his recovery from a broken left leg. He is replaced by Australia's Matthew Short in Punjab's squad.
England's Will Jacks has been replaced by New Zealand's Michael Bracewell at Royal Challengers Bangalore, who will have Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis in their ranks once again.
Australia batter David Warner has replaced Rishabh Pant as Delhi Capitals captain as the India wicketkeeper recovers from a car crash.
Pant is not the only India star who has been ruled out this year by injury.
Mumbai Indians' star bowler Jasprit Bumrah will be absent from the IPL for the first time since 2013 because of a back problem, while Kolkata Knight Riders' Shreyas Iyer will miss at least the first half of the tournament.
Nitish Rana replaces Shreyas as captain but Mumbai are yet to name replacements for Bumrah and fellow injured seamer Jhye Richardson.
Fast bowler Mohsin Khan, who is uncapped by India but shone for Lucknow Super Giants in 2022, is also absent because of a shoulder injury.
In the coaching department, former South Africa wicketkeeper Mark Boucher is the new Mumbai head coach, replacing Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardene who has moved into a strategic role.
England's World Cup-winning coach Trevor Bayliss has replaced Anil Kumble at Punjab Kings, while West Indies legend Brian Lara takes over from Tom Moody at Sunrisers Hyderabad.
England Test coach Brendon McCullum left Kolkata and he has been replaced by Chandrakant Pandit.
What is the format and schedule for IPL 2023?
Group A
Group B
Mumbai Indians
Chennai Super Kings
Kolkata Knight Riders
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Rajasthan Royals
Gujarat Titans
Delhi Capitals
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Lucknow Super Giants
Punjab Kings
The teams are split into two groups of five and each play 14 group games. They play the teams in their group once and those from the other group twice.
Those results form one table, with the group stage finishing on 21 May.
Barnet Watch
The South coast must be the epicentre of exotic Caribbean gents hair stylists. Many of the Southampton selected side display noteworthy concoctions including Alcarez who has a razored parting a quarter of an inch above his hairline but it is when the substitutes came on that even greater flamboyance is displayed. None more so than Sekou Mara who has had his hair sculpted into a series of short dreadlocks, tied into bunches and died orange. He looks like an old-fashioned tea pot warmer acquired at a jumble sale and gifted by a distant cousin.
At the other end of the spectrum is Spurs for whom no one has anything more exotic than a short back and sides.
Googlies Website
All the back editions of Googlies can be found on the G&C website. There are also many photographs most of which have never appeared in Googlies.
www.googliesandchinamen.com
Googlies and Chinamen
is produced by
James Sharp
Broad Lee House
Combs
High Peak
SK23 9XA
[email protected]
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 244
April 2023
Spot the Ball
- Jonathan Agnew: Four consecutive international white ball losses must come as quite a blow to you?
Jonathan Agnew: In what way?
Matthew Mott: It has shown us that our second-string players are no good.
- Fan 1: Does anyone think that the international breaks in soccer are a good thing?
Fan 1: But the football is not as good as the club stuff.
Fan 2: Does anyone bother to watch the international matches?
Fan 1: I doubt it. I don’t.
Fan 2: Got it! I know who likes the break.
Fan 1: Who?
Fan 2: Harry MacGuire
Fan 1: Why?
Fan 2: He gets a game!
- Gary Linekar: Is it true the Women’s England team will be wearing coloured shorts in future?
Gary Linekar: So, they will be wearing red shorts?
Alan Shearer: No. Blue ones!
Out and About with the Professor
The Professor has been to his favourite AGM
“We need to put the last two years behind us and get back to doing what we do best…playing cricket”. This sentiment was loudly applauded at the Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s AGM last week as, of course, it was always going to be. The “what we are good at” bit was soon tested a couple of days’ later when the first team were reduced to 90-5 against the students of Leeds and Bradford universities. This was an appropriately named “warm-up match” on April 1st at a freezing Headingley, in front of about two dozen spectators - including (briefly) your correspondent. Dom Bess rescued the innings from embarrassment with a hundred and he was followed up in the second innings by Fin Bean.
Stand-in captain Tattersall about to snick the ball to the ‘keeper, watched by the massed ranks of the North East stand (lower).
The AGM had been a comparatively sedate meeting, chaired by Tanni Grey-Thompson, which spent as little time as was reasonably possible on the past and as much as could be on “the future going forward” in the words of our new(ish) CEO, who had come to Headingley following the collapse of the previous sports club that used his services, Wasps. The future going forward contained many good things (or at least expected good things) but also one or two little tricky issues like:
1.the £14.9 million owed to the Colin Graves Trust;
2.the £3.5 million spent on the “crisis” in the past two years (£1.3 million on legal costs and compensation pay-outs and £750,000 on “governance reviews” and a hotline);
3.the absence of a Chairperson for the County (Tanni G-T is “acting” and engaged in 10 weeks of “in depth” interviews for a replacement);
4.the (then) uncertainty about the CDC case against Michael Vaughan and the others and the remaining uncertainty about sanctions against the Club;
5.and, finally, (to get back to what we’re good at), the uncertainty surrounding the arrival of our new Captain, Shan Masood.
Masood was lured away from Derbyshire by the “superior set-up and ambition of the Club” which is professional sportsmen’s universal “newspeak” for “more money”. Quite a lot more money, as I understand it. The Masood delay had been caused by (at the time of writing) uncertainty about his selection for the upcoming Pakistan tour. This has resulted in a frantic effort to sign fellow Pakistani Saud Shakeel in time for the first county fixture - a visa seems to be the problem. Shakeel won’t assume the captaincy however; that has reverted to Jonny Tattersall, except that he injured a finger in the freezing cold on Sunday and may not be fit. So, as you can see, all is going smoothly and well in the Headquarters of the north.
The comparative quiet of the AGM can, I think, be explained in a large part by the absence of the Chair, Lord Kamlesh Patel. He followed his surprise announcement (to me at least) to stand down after some 500 days in charge, by giving apologies for absence for: “significant personal reasons”.
It is difficult to know how historians of Yorkshire CCC will treat the events of the last two years. Those events have, of course, been shameful; but there are many in the Club (or at least at the AGM) who are still in denial, who regard Rafiq as the problem and Patel as the decidedly unsatisfactory solution. Indeed, his unexpected decision to stand down has been widely received as a victory for the old guard (…..there never was a problem; Rafiq’s word is (at best) unreliable; we have reached out to the Bradford leagues but they didn’t respond (so it was their fault)… and so on). Opprobrium often attaches itself to those who are telling us things we don’t want to hear and it is clear that some of the grandees in the Club take the view that Patel made things worse not better, and it is good that he is gone. Those same people were, of course, in positions of authority: Chair/President, etc., when all the events Rafiq documented were happening. To admit their truth is to admit their own complicity. No doubt that when further sanctions are announced, these will also be regarded as the faults of others, not themselves.
Back on the field, I’m not sure that Dom Bess, now out of Test cricket for some time, will have changed his prospects much by a hundred against the students but he has, apparently, modified his action to get more spin on the ball and I should have thought there might still be an opening in the England squad for a finger spinner who can actually turn it. Fin Bean, by the way, looks a decidedly useful bat. It is far too soon to know if he might be the next cab off the rank that gave us Messes Root and Brook but it might be worth keeping an eye out for Mr Bean’s performances over the summer.
This & That
Last month I drew attention to the big hitting of Islamabad United in the PSL. In the match at Rawalpindi, the Karachi Kings batted first and made 201 for 5. In reply Islamabad lost three wickets (Munro, Hales and Van der Dussen) before 70 was reached. Faheem then joined Azam Khan and they added 125 in eleven overs before Faheem at the non-strikers end was run out going for a bye to the wicket keeper. He should have realised that Azam doesn’t do that sort of thing. This brought in Asif Ali to face the last over with 8 still required. Cameos these days will include 20 of 10 balls, but in Ali’s case he thinks nothing of hitting his first ball for six and he then followed up with a one bounce four and so played the perfect two ball cameo. Meanwhile Azam at the other end was 72 not out from 41 balls. He is built like a combined version of Adam Rossington and Paul Stirling but is incredibly nimble at the crease and has fabulous wrist work. The Pakistan selectors won’t be able to ignore him much longer. He would never get into the English set up with that body shape.
The PSL produced tremendous cricket this year and the wickets at Rawalpindi were the scene of some extraordinary feats as the qualifying matches drew to a close. First Fakhar Zaman scored 115 as Lahore reached 226 for 5 which was more than enough to beat an out of touch Islamabad United who were without Azam Khan and they could only manage 107 in reply.
Babar scored a century when Peshawar Zalmi scored 240 for 2 against the Quetta Gladiators. However, Jason Roy, who was surplus to England’s requirements in Bangladesh, scored 145 not out in reply as the Gladiators won with 10 balls to spare. The Zalmi then scored 242 for 6 and must have thought that this would be enough to see them through against the Multan Sultans. But Rilee Rossouw scored 121 from 51 balls and the Sultans cantered home with 5 balls to spare.
Then the Sultans clocked up 262 for 3 against the Gladiators. Usman Khan opened and was out at the end of the tenth over for 120 scored from 43 balls and including 9 sixes. The Gladiators made a serious attempt at chasing down this enormous score and ended on 253 for 8.
The final was held at Lahore and was a fitting end to this extraordinary tournament. The Lahore Qalanders scored 200 for 6 thanks to their captain Sheen Shah Afridi’s 44 from 15 balls at the end of the innings. In reply the Multan Sultans finished on 199 for 8 and so lost by 1 run.
These prodigious batting feats were emulated when the West Indies took on South Africa at Centurion. The West Indies lost the toss and were put in to bat.
However, they proceeded to rack up 258 for 5 with Johnson Charles scoring 118 from 46 deliveries, having reached his hundred from just 39 balls which was 8 balls faster than Chris Gayle’s previous record for the West Indies. The faster IT20 hundreds were scored by David Miller, Rohit Sharma and Sudesh Wickramasekara of the Czech Republic who all reach three figures in 35 balls.
In reply De Kock and Reeza Hendricks, who hit 68 from 28, took 29 from the second over and shared an opening stand of 152. Their total of 102-0 after six overs was the highest powerplay score in a T20 international. Quinton de Kock scored 100 from 44 balls and was out in the 11th over and Hendricks in the 13th but their blistering start meant the Proteas were able to be relatively measured afterwards winning with 7 balls to spare. South Africa's pursuit of 259 is the highest IT20 chase, beating Bulgaria's pursuit of 243 against Serbia in 2022. The 517 runs combined is the highest match aggregate in a men's T20. West Indies hit 22 sixes, equaling Afghanistan's record for a men's IT20.
Pakistan T20 cricket was at a high after the PSL but they were soon to receive a major setback when they were soundly beaten in their three match series against Afghanistan. In both of the first two matches Pakistan batted first and failed to set a substantial target as Rashid, who is now captain, Mujeeb and co wove their spell. Afghanistan knocked them off in both matches. Pakistan won the third match once the series was dead. Many Afghan players are now getting experience in the T20 franchises and the national side is duly benefitting. The same can be said for Bangladesh who have just trounced England.
Temba Bavuma picked up an unwelcome pair on his debut as test captain of South Africa. But his side went on to beat West Indies.
The face of international cricket continues to change and another major leap will be Major League Cricket (MLC) the inaugural professional T20 League in the USA. There will be six teams competing and all matches will take place in Grand Prairie near Dallas. Players already signed up include Quinton de Kock and Aaron Finch. Satellite transmission of the matches will ensure large worldwide audiences. Some of the franchises are owned by IPL grandees as is evidenced in their names: Los Angeles Knight Riders, Texas Super Kings, MI New York, San Francisco Unicorns, Seattle Orcas and Washington Freedom. The matches will take place in July.
I continue to be baffled about what professional footballers do during the intensive training sessions we are informed that they all go through on a regular basis. In Leicester’s defeat at Southampton Iheanacho, who rarely breaks into a trot during a match, missed four clear scoring chances, two headers and two with his feet, and on each occasion he was unchallenged. But, even worse, he failed to hit the target with each shot. What does he do in training? The following week he should have spent hours turning crosses and through balls into an empty net until he had reached a 99% success rate. I fear, though, that he stood around in the centre circle with his colleagues playing one touch passes to each other.
And so it goes on week after week, match after match. When Newcastle played Manchester United Willock was set up perfectly to open the scoring from less than ten yards out. But instead of hitting the target he ballooned it way over the bar. Within two minutes at the other end Antony was on his own even closer but still managed to miss by as much as Willock had done. Everton are desperate for goals but as he advanced into the box against Spurs Gana was unchallenged but still ballooned his effort way over the bar. At the other end Pedro Porro must have been impressed by this effort as within minutes he emulated it when it would have been easier to score. To keep the ball down we were taught not to lean back and to keep our knee over the ball. Yes, we didn’t always get it right but we weren’t paid $100k a week to do it. Most of these players have been involved with professional clubs since before their teens. What have they been taught?
When the Argentinian, Alcaraz, scored against Leicester he embarked on the customary run to the corner and commenced the knee slide from halfway there. However, he caught something on a divot and so damaged his knee that he had to be substituted shortly thereafter. This ludicrous form of celebration may soon be outlawed by managers and their physios. Meanwhile, during the second test for South Africa against the West Indies Keshav Maharaj celebrated taking a wicket in a sufficiently exuberant manner that he ruptured his achilles tendon in the process. This is of consequence to Middlesex’ aspirations as he has had to cancel his contract to play much of the season in both T20 and Championship matches.
Erik ten Hag has turned Manchester United round by taking some tough decisions and importing some experienced hard men into the lineup, Martinez and Casemiro. However, he seems to have a major blindspot over Weghorst and Antony. The former would not get into any other Premiership side and Antony would have been transfer listed long ago had ten Hag not insisted on bringing him with him from Ajax for a ludicrously high transfer fee of $82m.
Morgan Matters
The big question is whether the Great man will come out of spectator retirement this summer
Some are calling the Wellington test one of the greatest Tests of all time. Stokes is only the fourth Test captain to lose after enforcing the follow on, but said he was "blessed" to play in the match and is now off to play in the IPL despite his knee injury... it can only be for the loot can't it? He is on £1.6m to play for the Chennai Super Kings. Ali Martin in the G calls the match a "Test classic", while Tanya Aldred said "after a game this thrilling even defeat feels like a win".
Lancashire's plans for a second home (because of the number of internationals played at OT) at Farington (near Leyland) have been approved.
Mirpur ODI: Rashid's four wickets lifted him up to 3rd in the list of Eng's ODI wicket takers, though he has the worst bowling average in the top 8:
ODI Wickets Average
J Anderson 269 29.22
D Gough 234 26.29
A Rashid 181 32.44
S Broad 178 30.13
A Flintoff 168 23.61
C Woakes 159 30.25
I Botham 145 28.54
L Plunkett 135 29.70
The Rs had another dreadful result losing 3-1 at Rotherham who were hovering just above the relegation places, but have now overtaken Rs and other strugglers, but there is still a 7 point gap between Rs and the relegation places.
Will Jacks made his first ODI appearance in Mirpur last week to complete a full set of international debuts but has now suffered a setback as he has been ruled out of the remainder of the Bangladesh tour with a thigh injury. but he is still likely to play for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL!
Rehan Ahmed is the youngest ever Englishman to earn his first ODI selection and at 18 years 205 days he breaks Ben Hollioake's record of 19 years 195 days which was set 7 years before Rehan was born! J Buttler has defended his experimental selections though it is difficult to see what was gained as hardly anyone in the England side distinguished himself.
The Rs had their first win for (seemingly) years, thrashing Watford 1-0, the scorer was your favourite player Tim Iroegbunam! There are only five teams below the Rs in the table, but they are actually 10 points clear of the relegation places.
I have just found out that TSRJ will captain Middlesex in the Championship this season and that Ian Salisbury has signed up as a "consultant coach".
David Saker will return as England's fast bowling coach for the upcoming Ashes series, the 50 over WC title defence in India in October and he is already working with England's white ball bowlers.
India will play Australia in the World Test Championship final at the Oval on 7-11 June.
The Rs got a 6-1 thrashing at Blackpool who were joint bottom with Huddersfield, have now shot up to 22nd, but are still 7 points and 3 places behind Rs... it does not give you any confidence though, does it? Sack the manager!
Lord's will continue to host Eton v Harrow and Oxford v Cambridge for the next five years until a further review is held in 2027.
Middlesex's England hopefuls Tom Helm and Steve Eskinazi, both 28, have signed new contracts with Middlesex until the end of 2026.
Former Oz capt Tim Paine has now retired from domestic cricket.
Tom Curran has a stress fracture of the back and joins Surrey team-mate Jamie Overton on the sidelines as he also sustained a stress fracture of the back in January.
Jonny Bairstow is expected to miss the IPL this year and focus on preparing for the Ashes following the multiple fractures received on the golf course in September. Meanwhile, Ben Stokes is heading for the IPL amid concerns over the knee injury that curtailed his role as a bowler in NZ.
Leicestershire have signed Oz batter Peter Handscomb for the first two months of the County Championship, he has previously played for four other counties including Middlesex.
Freddie Steward's red card in England's match v Ireland has now been rescinded! So, they should replay the match surely?
H Kane's successful penalty for Eng in Italy last night (Italy 1 Eng 2) took him to the top of the list of England's leading scorers:
Caps Goals
H Kane 81 54
W Rooney 120 53
B Charlton 106 49
G Lineker 80 48
J Greaves 57 44
M Owen 89 40
N Lofthouse 33 30
A Shearer 63 30
T Finney 76 30
V Woodward 23 29
F Lampard 106 29
Then he added another one v Ukraine.
Sam Billings, Alex Hales and Liam Dawson are some of those who have chosen to continue in the Pakistan Super League rather than play for England in Bangladesh because they will earn a lot more money in the PSL.
The April Cricketer tells us that:
a. County Championship draw will be worth 5 points next season (down from 8) a return to 2019 rules and the first batting point will require 250 runs inside 110 overs;
b. Darren Stevens (47 in April) has not given up hope of a 27th season of county cricket;
c. Middlesex are "balanced, settled and ready to take off in the top flight" but have also been asked to "explain the state of their finances to the ECB";
d. Surrey are "formidable, even with Overton sidelined";
e. There is "much uncertainty for ailing giants" Yorkshire; and
f. India's Ravi Ashwin has leapt to the top of the ICC Test players bowlers league table ahead of James Anderson.
Somerset have signed Oz batter Cameron Bancroft for the start of the County Championship campaign.
B Stokes has had to have an injection in his left knee to allow him to compete in the IPL! Why not just rest it instead? He will start the IPL season with Chennai Super Kings as a specialist batsman while being groomed as a possible long-term captain.
G Lineker has won his appeal against HMRC over a £4.9m tax bill relating to income from BBC and BT Sport for 2013-14 and 2017- 18.
Durham have signed Oz SLA Matt Kuhnemann, who recently made his Test debut in India, for the whole of the 2023 season.
Jofra Archer is contracted to Mumbai Indians and is unlikely to play any red-ball cricket before the Ashes starts in June.
IPL Riders and Runners
One of the biggest absences is England batter Jonny Bairstow, who was set to play for Punjab Kings but is missing the tournament to continue his recovery from a broken left leg. He is replaced by Australia's Matthew Short in Punjab's squad.
England's Will Jacks has been replaced by New Zealand's Michael Bracewell at Royal Challengers Bangalore, who will have Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis in their ranks once again.
Australia batter David Warner has replaced Rishabh Pant as Delhi Capitals captain as the India wicketkeeper recovers from a car crash.
Pant is not the only India star who has been ruled out this year by injury.
Mumbai Indians' star bowler Jasprit Bumrah will be absent from the IPL for the first time since 2013 because of a back problem, while Kolkata Knight Riders' Shreyas Iyer will miss at least the first half of the tournament.
Nitish Rana replaces Shreyas as captain but Mumbai are yet to name replacements for Bumrah and fellow injured seamer Jhye Richardson.
Fast bowler Mohsin Khan, who is uncapped by India but shone for Lucknow Super Giants in 2022, is also absent because of a shoulder injury.
In the coaching department, former South Africa wicketkeeper Mark Boucher is the new Mumbai head coach, replacing Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardene who has moved into a strategic role.
England's World Cup-winning coach Trevor Bayliss has replaced Anil Kumble at Punjab Kings, while West Indies legend Brian Lara takes over from Tom Moody at Sunrisers Hyderabad.
England Test coach Brendon McCullum left Kolkata and he has been replaced by Chandrakant Pandit.
What is the format and schedule for IPL 2023?
Group A
Group B
Mumbai Indians
Chennai Super Kings
Kolkata Knight Riders
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Rajasthan Royals
Gujarat Titans
Delhi Capitals
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Lucknow Super Giants
Punjab Kings
The teams are split into two groups of five and each play 14 group games. They play the teams in their group once and those from the other group twice.
Those results form one table, with the group stage finishing on 21 May.
Barnet Watch
The South coast must be the epicentre of exotic Caribbean gents hair stylists. Many of the Southampton selected side display noteworthy concoctions including Alcarez who has a razored parting a quarter of an inch above his hairline but it is when the substitutes came on that even greater flamboyance is displayed. None more so than Sekou Mara who has had his hair sculpted into a series of short dreadlocks, tied into bunches and died orange. He looks like an old-fashioned tea pot warmer acquired at a jumble sale and gifted by a distant cousin.
At the other end of the spectrum is Spurs for whom no one has anything more exotic than a short back and sides.
Googlies Website
All the back editions of Googlies can be found on the G&C website. There are also many photographs most of which have never appeared in Googlies.
www.googliesandchinamen.com
Googlies and Chinamen
is produced by
James Sharp
Broad Lee House
Combs
High Peak
SK23 9XA
[email protected]