Impressive Broad, Impressive England
In the fourth game of what has been a well contested one day series against India, one player had a great game and must surely have impressed the whole country with his contribution. That player? Stuart Broad.
He bowled really well taking 4-51, taking out the middle order of the Indians and exposing the weak tail, but it was his batting that really set him apart. Coming in at number 9 and with his team needing just under 100 to win, he put on the most magnificent partnership with Ravi Bopara, Broad scoring 45 not out and Bopara 43 not out.
I’ve long been a fan of 21 year old Broad and he should have been in the test side this summer, but I think after today’s performance he can’t be overlooked for Tremlett again. He could be the player England have been looking for to bat at 8 in the test side if his performance tonight can be replicated. He’s got some excellent strokes in his locker, and showed a properly cool head this evening.
England have played pretty well in the games so far this year, especially compared to the performances in recent times. Maybe its the new coaching team, the new captain who knows, but it appears to be working and players are playing well and not relying on KP - who’s top score is only 33 so far in this series. I look forward to the rest of the series!
Woodworm’s Hard Drive, Mega Bite and Satellite
Check out my newer post with more information about these bats. Woodworm Bats
Woodworm used the day of the first one day international game between England and India to announce their new line up of bats for the 2008 season. Companies often re-sticker the international players bats around this time of year to try and generate a bit of interest before everyone goes into hibernation for the winter.
They have re-branded themselves a little bit and moved away a bit from the more colourful look to a darker, metallic look which looks ok but not what we are used to from Woodworm. They’ve been an incredibly successful company thanks to Freddie and KP, and now having established themselves they will look to push themselves further into the adult market, as the junior market is already successful.
I’m not to sure on the names of the bat, the “Hard
Drive”, “Mega Bite” and “Satellite”, are a bit tacky if you ask me, and without seeing the bats they may just been re-brands of the Torch, Flame and Globe. But some marketing people have obviously decided that is the way for the next two years and as long as KP and Freddie keep in the public eye they will get plenty of coverage!
If you see anymore new gear from the manufacturers, get in touch and I’ll post about it! Oh, and if Wordworm would like me to post fuller about this, get in touch and send me one and I’ll be more than happy to post about it!
Friends Provident Trophy Final
Over two days in a rather dismal London, Shane the German and his bunch of merry men were outplayed by a bunch of northerners travelling south for their first final as a county.
Apologies for the lack of preview and my thoughts on who would win, but I wasn’t actually sure which way I was going to go. I did say to a mate before the game started though that I fancied Durham as underdogs to spring a surprise, but I didn’t believe it enough to put any money on it though! I think the word I’m looking for here is “DOH”!
Herr Shane decided (I’m not quite sure why) to put Durham in to bat, and Mustard soon set about showing Hampshire the way to play positive cricket. And at the other end of the innings, Gibson managed to twat Tremlett into the stands a couple of times which was good to watch, unlike the horrific beamer the England “star” followed up with. Setting over 300 to win was a cracking performance from the Durham boys, and it was always going to be an uphill struggle for Hants to win.
The hill became as steep as Everest after the first over though, with Gibson taking two wickets and leaving Hants reeling on 3-2. KP was a bit of a disappointment, but it wasn’t the sort of situation he likes coming in on, despite the amount of practice England give him in one-dayers! At 158-5 when play was stopped it was a matter of waiting overnight for Durham to finish the job off. I’m not quite sure why they couldn’t just use the Duckworth/Lewis method to delay the inevitable, as when they eventually won it on Sunday it was in an almost empty Lords stadium. Not great for the TV, fans, players or anyone really.
Durham fully deserved the win, scoring over 300 after being put it to bat – and Hampshire will wonder how it got away from them quite so much. Maybe it was Warney’s pre match night routine of “pizza and a couple of beers”!
End of Test Term Report
So we lost the series. Very disappointing considering how close we were to winning the first game which could have caused a whole different series. However, that is cricket and now we have to look back at who has done what this summer in the two series against the West Indies and India, and who should be looking over their shoulder for the winter tours to Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
Andrew Strauss
Copping a load of stick right now from all parts of the media, and he certainly isn’t quite where he was a couple of years ago, and he also failed to score a test century this summer. I think I’m right in saying that him and Cook havn’t had a century partnership either, so he must be looking over his shoulder. Against India he only averaged 2 runs less than his opening partner but Cook had a much better series against the WIndies.
Alistair Cook
As I mention above, had a decent series against the Windies, but he must push on and score more than fifties, and more than small hundreds. Still a class player though and a nailed on certainty to play this winter.
Michael Vaughan
Despite losing his first home series as captain, had a great summer with the bat and almost as importantly, played some cricket after the past few years totally injured! Will stay as captain, but maybe back to opening?
KP
Not a lot you can say about KP that hasn’t been said. Still the talisman of the England side and topping the averages for England in both series. I also like the way he gets up the opposition, keeps it more interesting to watch!
Paul Collingwood
A couple of centuries against West Indies, but nothing more than 60 odd against India, where the team needed more from him. He is a great person to have in the side though for his allround contribution, including 4 wickets against India.
Ian Bell
Not a sparkling summer with the bat by any means, but he was pushed from his spot previously in the order at no3. His scores in the 2nd innings against India until the final test were all in single figures, and he must do more than this. His name will be mentioned when talking about who may be dropped if Freddie was to come back.
Owais Shah
Had just one test against the West Indies and failed, but did himself more justice in the one dayers, and will get more chance to do so in the coming weeks. He’ll travel no doubt, but without injuries or a shift in team thinking it is difficult to see him getting in the side at the moment.
Matt Prior
Getting a lot of attention at the moment for a couple of dropped catches, and after a sparkling debut with the bat he failed against India putting himself under pressure. He is a class batsman though, and given more time he can become the keeper-batsman we so desire. Whether he’ll get that time is the question though… I’d give him time but plenty of critics out there won’t.
Ryan Sidebottom
Despite my worries, he had a good series against the West Indies, but things weren’t quite as easy against the better Indian side. If we had everyone fit I can’t see him playing as well as Hoggard, and despite his batting which looks useful, he may find himself for the chop. He’s done a job this summer though and I take back some of what I said when I heard he was called up!
James Anderson
Walked away with England player of the series against India after taking 14 wickets, and if he can keep the new ball and stay fit he could forge himself a starting spot all winter.
Chris Tremlett
Took 13 wickets against India, and bowled less erratically than I thought he might. However, he possesses no pace of any worry, and has hardly shown why he is in the team above Stuart Broad.
Monty Panesar
Had a disappointing series against India, taking just 8 wickets, 4 of which came in 1 innings. Had a much better series against West Indies, and is probably the 3rd name on the team sheet behind the skipper and KP.
Steve Harmison
Couldn’t play a part in the series against India and England missed him with his pace and bounce. If he can get a good bit of county cricket under his belt before the winter tour, and he doesn’t suffer homesickness, he should be a pivotal part of the side.
Matthew Hoggard
Could play a part in just 1.5 matches this summer, but given fitness he should be straight back in the team. His experience with the new ball just gives you a sense of well being when looking at the side on paper.
Liam Plunkett
In a summer when he could have made himself an integral part of the side he will be rueing the injury which meant he missed out on the series against India. The sort of player that will travel, but players are starting to move ahead of him in the running. He can bat though, so that will help with that no8 position!
I have only mentioned above, those who have played in a test this summer - which leaves out one Andrew Flintoff. When he can come back into the team and be ready to play a full part with the bat and the ball England straight away look a better outfit. It will mean losing a player though, and potentially a bit of a shuffle around. Vaughan could open, Bell go back to 3 and Flintoff replace Strauss. This would then allow us to bring in a second spinner in Sri Lanka and still keep three seamers. That is a topic for another time though no doubt!
Do you disagree with any of the end of term reports above? Leave a comment and let me know!
Another Reason Why Australia Are No 1
When England lost Troy Cooley as fast bowling coach it was known then that they had made a big mistake letting him go back to his native country.
Now the news is coming through that the Australians are holding specific twenty20 practice for its pace bowlers this week, getting them to perfect some of the variations required from slower balls to yorkers. And it won’t just be the established players, but also those upcoming, so should they be required they will know their game correctly. Sounds like a good idea for them before what is going to be a very busy period, but not really one England can replicate due to the overload of games we have to currently play!
There hasn’t been much news coming out of Australia in their winter, and with a bit of a break until they play their next meaningful game it may just be some PR bod spinning something that happens anyway, but you can’t help but think they push preparation to the next level and that everyone else is catching up!
Marketing Cricket
Whilst sat at a the county ground in Taunton last weekend basking in the un-summer-like sun, I heard something from a kid in front of me that got me thinking. The boy was probably around 10, and was at a Pro 40 game with his dad. About an hour in, he said “I’m bored, I prefer twenty20″. He moaned that they had only bowled 13 overs in an hour (slow admittedly, but it was very hot), and that it wasn’t exciting enough. Bearing in mind that Trescothick and Langer were at the crease on a small Taunton ground and it seemed like the boy’s problem was rather in his head than what he was actually seeing. He liked twenty20, therefore anything longer than that must be boring. And lets face it, there is a bit of that kid in all of us.Twenty20 has been so hyped up by the marketing bods at the counties, on TV and in the magazines and newspapers that almost everything else is a let down in comparison. We think we want to see boundaries every over, balls hit out the ground and some blistering run rates. However, twenty20 is only one part of cricket and however successful it has been, I’m starting to think its almost getting too successful and is close to harming the traditional forms of the game.
Come a Saturday afternoon, those that want to play a game of club cricket generally want it to be a 45-50 over affair. There are longer forms of the game going higher up the ECB pyramid also, and these games are supposed to get people ready for county cricket and maybe beyond. If the counties were to start playing more twenty20 cricket though, the skills required to be successful as a county player will change, and from there upwards our test players would change in skills also. Test cricket is still the pinnacle and gets great attention in the media and crowds, and we need players who can play the longer form of the game (something our current batsmen are making look hard!)
We need to do something to ensure that the cricketers coming through get experience of all types of cricket, and if the youngest generation only want to play the short version of the game that isn’t going to happen. Something needs to be done to generate interest in the Pro40, County Championship and Friends Provident trophies. Pro40 out of these doesn’t do too bad at some counties (if the weather is right), but there is still more that could be done. There are far too many kids at these games who aren’t even watching the cricket which surely isn’t right. Running around the ground, playing cricket with a tennis ball and not being able to see the pitch whilst Tresco, Langer and Blackwell are batting, surely Pro40 can’t be that bad?
One thing I know cricket misses out on is the pre-match news and views that other sports give. If we take football for an example, before any match we will have been on the club website, seen who might be playing, who is injured and a couple of interviews with managers and players. Sky Sports News is currently full of transfer rumours and injury news and the football season hasn’t even started yet! You try getting some information about the latest team news etc from a county club and it just won’t happen. If you offer this kind of service and news it may then get picked up by the TV and newswires which will immediately get you some possible additional coverage.
The ECB do offer some cricket clubs tickets for participating in schemes such as Focus Clubs, Cricket Force etc, but they are not greatly advertised and as such many people wouldn’t know how beneficial it is to participate. You cannot just give out some free tickets either though and expect everything to be all right. It needs a considered, long term plan to get people through the turnstiles at grounds around the country, something which I don’t see any evidence of currently.
It is an issue that needs to be addressed or forever you will get kids not going to any game that is “boring” or not Twenty20. What did his dad say to the boy mentioned in this post “Give it a chance”. I imagine he went home that night though and wondered whether it was worth returning until an “interesting” Twenty20 game comes around again. Clubs cannot build a season around getting crowds in for two weeks of the season, and something will have to be done to ensure all forms of cricket are marketed well throughout the country.
