Great Aussie Tactics
There I was, worried that nothing really that interesting was happening in the world of cricket this week, until Justin Langer goes and pulls a rabbit out of the hat for me! You should be thankful as well, as otherwise it was going to be a blog about my own cricket so far this season!
We’ve had bizarre weather recently in sunny old England - one minute cold and rainy, the next a little bit sunny and hot. I think the bowlers would be happy with the moisture on the pitches though, and at Lords that certainly looked the case. Middlesex put Somerset in to bat in a county championship game, and it looked like the right decision when Somerset were 50-8 after just 26 overs! So what would you do in this situation as captain? Hope your tail enders can stick it out and get a few runs for you so you maybe at least have something to bowl at? No, not if you’re Australian - you declare of course!!
I kind of see where he’s coming from when his coach said:
“He wanted to get the best of the conditions and frankly we had been struggling to put bat on ball. He thought he should give his bowlers a chance to put Middlesex under the same pressure.”
Still, 50-8 is hardly a score to declare on in a four day game! And it backfired, since Middlesex went and score 252 hehe! Still, it gave me something to write about!! Here’s to more bizarre decisions throughout the rest of the season!
West Indies - Where Are You??
Is this the post that I eat my hat in? One friend I spoke to said it should be, after my rant about Sidebottom in the test match preview.
I was surprised to see that England went with Sidebottom in the end, but it appears they wanted a bit more control than someone like Anderson offered. Now his match figures of 8-80 something probably show that Peter Moores made a good choice, but was there really much resistance? This is now nothing against Sidebottom (who does need a haircut though!), as you can only take wickets against the batsmen in front of you. But the Windies lost Chanderpaul before the game, and Sarwan (possibly for the series) whilst fielding, so they were severely hampered. It is at times like this though that you need players such as Gayle to step up to the plate and take some responsibility, and what happened - England won by an innings and a lot. The only player who’s really made a good impression is Bravo, who does look to be a properly good all-rounder.
The next test doesn’t start until the 7th June, and I imagine there could be a few players back from injury and some tough decisions to be made by the England selectors, but thats a good position to be in. A quick “well done” as well to Vaughan who I said wouldn’t be given much time by some fans and media. A good ton is what he needed, and again there could be tough decisions in the batting order, and some players may be unlucky to miss out in the next test. But that is the nature of a good test side, and the pressure for places can only be a good thing.
Sidebottom in England Squad - Seriously?!?!
The England Squad for the second test has been announced an in the absence of Broad and Lewis, the England selectors have picked Ryan Sidebottom! The same Ryan Sidebottom who had one test a few years back and did nothing, the same Ryan Sidebottom who hardly sends shivers through the spine of county players.
I’m really not sure the thinking of this - they announced the “performance squad” of 25 earlier this season which people thought they would look at first when picking a side. And a couple of bowlers in this squad are Mahmood and Onions of Durham. Why not pick one of them?! We know how Mahmood bowls, and if they want someone who swings the ball then Onions does that. And both of them are players for the future, players who can get better and not county cricket journeymen!
The likelyhood is that Anderson will get the bowling spot (I hope so at least), and if Sidebottom does play expect more incredulity from me!
Vaughan returns as skipper with not much time to show the fans he deserves his spot back in the team. There is a lot of people who don’t think he deserves to waltz straight back into the team and the pressure surely will be on him. Let battle commence!
Eng Vs Windies Draw
The weather got the best of the first test between these two teams, which was a shame as the final day could have had some interesting cricket. Had we had more than 10 or so overs, there could well have been a result. England would have thought they had a chance, with the ball moving for Monty, and the West Indies would have seen England a bowler down and fancied their chance if one of the big hitters got in.
It wasn’t to be though, and we move on to the second test next Friday, where hopefully we’ll have a result! England will have to make a change or two with Hoggard out and if Vaughan is fit and if we want to pick him. Shah didn’t do anything in this test match, and looked a very nervous and fidgety player, but his county cricket record speaks for itself and if he gets another go that’s alright with me. Losing Hoggard was a big blow, and I imagine Anderson will come in for him, but they could go for someone else such as Broad or Mahmood. I’m not sure how Broad’s injury has come along though so that might rule him out.
I was pleased to see Prior have a great game with the bat and gloves. I’ve advocated him for the test team for a year or two, and if he can continue to play in the same vein against other test nations as well we could well have solved the wicket keeper position for now. Most of the other batsmen got runs as well, and Monty continued to amaze us all - this guy gets wickets whichever way you look at it and is a great crowd pleaser, he’s one for keeps!
Bar Bravo I wasn’t that impressed with the West Indies bowling attack, but then we all know they aren’t where they were. I did expect to see more from Taylor though, although to be fair they have had very little bowling to speak of in this country. They looked strong with the bat and we’ll need to bowl well to get them all out twice to win a test - which we should still manage to do!
Just a quick footnote - I managed to get someone out this weekend for a golden duck and what made it all the more sweet was the fact he had one of those pink cricket bat grips. Anyone who has read my previous posts on this here, here and here will know how much I enjoyed this!!
England vs West Indies - where’s the excitement?
You wouldn’t know it unless you were a fan of cricket (and even then its debateable), that the first test of the summer starts tomorrow, with England taking on the West Indies at Lords. There has been minimal press coverage regarding the first game which is a bit disappointing, and I would take a punt at a lot of those who have been sucked into cricket recently not knowing about tomorrow.
Why is this do I think? Maybe the press have had cricket overload after the World Cup, or maybe the West Indies don’t hold the same excitement as opposed to the hype surrounding things such as the Ashes series. It may sound a bit stupid, but it could also be the rather rubbish weather we’ve had recently! It’s not what I call “cricket weather” - I had to play last Saturday after getting drenched on Friday night walking home! The forecast looks ok for Lords though, and with such little fuss made, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear if there were tickets available still. Unfortunately though I’ll be at work, but I’ll fire up Live Cricket Updates and check out the latest news and live updates on the game!
It looks as though Freddie is a bit more of a doubt than I suggested the other day, but until tomorrow we won’t really know how it plays out. It looks though that if he cannot play that they’ll play the extra bowler in Anderson, so it looks as though Shah will be carrying the drinks again!
England Test Squad
The first England Test Match squad under the supervision of new coach Peter Moores was announced this morning, and there were no real surprises. We had been led to believe that Vaughan would be given more time to see if he could be fit in time, but I think sensibly they have ruled him out. He can have a week of rest, and if he then has a good period in the nets without any reaction, they can think about bringing him in for the second test.
The wicket keeper position had been up for grabs and I’m glad that Matt Prior has been given a chance. He has scored runs in county cricket year after year, and if he is given a decent run in the team I think we will be pleased with what we’ll get from him. Nixon may have been in the “performance 25″ named last month, but he is not the right person to bring in for a debut at his age, and the way England need to build for the future. He may still have a part to play in the one day game, and probably the twenty20 as well so he will not be forgotten.
The final spot up for grabs was that of seamer, which was mainly between Anderson and Plunkett. Plunkett has bowled well in England since he came back from the World Cup, and we’ve seen him do well in the past as well. Stuart Broad may have been the choice but an injury has put him out of contention for the first couple of tests, but his time will come also.
I’m really looking forward to watching test cricket again after the constant one day stuff that’s been on recently, and although the West Indies are not the greatest test team at the moment I reckon we should see some good cricket. Lets just hope for some better weather than the last week so there is some cricket!
