Twenty20 Championship in England
I wanted to talk about this when the news broke - I wasn’t able to, but better late than never! If you don’t know about the what where and when, go read the bbc report, then come back here for my view.
Allan Stanford, the American Billionaire looks keen to invest in a tournament that would give England a good IPL rival twenty20 competition. It looks like this is a great idea for a number of reasons, and I think that Stanford has given all the right noises that he seems like the right kind of guy to be a driving force in its conception.
Stanford has had a lot to do with Twenty20 in the West Indies, building his own ground for the competition over there, and bringing a sense of excitement and even innovation in the fact that they use cricket bats painted black in the competition. It is said that he has absolutely no interest in the longer forms of the game, especially Test Cricket, but with the sums of money he can bring in that is not that much of a problem - it will all be money for the game and raise the profile of cricket as an entertaining sport.
I also like the fact that we don’t seem to be rushing too much into this, looking at doing it in 2 years time. This should hopefully mean that when it comes about it isn’t as a knee jerk reaction and is planned out properly with all the relevant interested parties consulted and listened to. Twenty20 in this country currently has a spot in the middle of the summer to itself, so it shouldn’t be that difficult to schedule something in - the only difference really is the marketing and and the rules in terms of players etc. Will it still be counties and will they bring in players even more specifically for the tournament - and will you be allowed more overseas players than currently? Lots of questions, but there is a decent length of time to come up with the answers and as long as the right people are making the decisions I feel positive.
Another good reason for having our own competition like this is to help keep a bit of power in international cricket over here. There is no doubt that India are a very powerful country when it comes to cricket politics, and with the IPL/ICL we have started to see the repercussions of that power - Test Cricket has already lost some of its stars and county cricket is also feeling the pain. Maybe this is a bit selfish, but I don’t think one superpower is healthy as they end up dictating to the rest of the world who can play where and when. Spread the money that players can earn and hopefully it will all be a bit more balanced.
It might be that we end up with too many players that start to try and specialise in the shorter form of the game, and these players might not make the transition to the four and five day games, but that kind of happens now anyway so in my mind this isn’t an issue… yet.
So it all seems positive, and I’m struggling to see a negative side at the moment - anyone out there know anything wrong with this proposal?
Cricket Being Played Again!
I havn’t talked much about the actual game of cricket over the past couple of weeks - too much new England shirts and Telegraph fantasy cricket to worry about!
However, the county season has begun under grey skies and on damp pitches (this April is rubbish compared to last year), with the County Championship and Liverpool Victoria cups. I tend not to cover county cricket in too much detail here, there is far too much going on and not enough time to keep on top of it all, but I also find some interest at the start of a season, and below I mention how the start of the season will affect some of the England hopefuls.
Sky Sports showed their first game of the season on Sunday between Durham and Yorkshire in the LV Cup, and they managed to pick a decent game with a surprisingly tight finish. Yorkshire managed to nearly win the game thanks to Bresnan and Shazad, after looking right out of it, and it was a really good game to see the end of. Hopefully we’ll have more decent county cricket, but in the sunshine! Twenty20 managed to hit the worst part of the summer last year but that is always good fun, although now it will forever be compared to the IPL/ICL - the first of which started last Friday.
There are a few test match places up for grabs, so the start of the season is an important one for some England hopefuls and those who need to cement their place in the team. Shah will probably miss out but needs to score some runs to put pressure on Strauss who himself needs to score (for the same county - no run outs there please!). If Ravi Bop can continue his storming start to the season his hat will be in the ring as well.
Flintoff needs lots of hours batting and bowling, the second part of which Harmison, Hoggard and Anderson also need. Mustard and Ambrose both showed promise over the winter tours, but one of them needs to step up to the plate, and a decent start to the county season might just help them do that. Add in players such as Plunkett and Mahmood who will harbour thoughts of getting back into the frame and it could be a fighting first month in the bowling department!
Also, my own games of cricket start in a couple of weeks time - I should probably have played a friendly or two, so I’ll go into the first league game a bit cold but hey, its too cold to play cricket at the moment!
Telegraph Fantasy Cricket 2008 - Players To Consider
I spent an hour or so yesterday looking at the player lists for Telegraph Fantasy Cricket 2008, so it seems only fair to let you know some of the players I was picking out. Bearing in mind, I still havn’t chosen my final XI, so these won’t necessarily make it into my team. My general strategy though I’ve decided is to go for an all round team, with few high rated players. I’m going to pack the 5 and 6 point players into my team I think, with county proven players who are going to win the LiveCricketUpdates.com mini league for me!
Batsman
After the first week of county games and LV cup games, Ravi Bopara has had a storming time of it. He also bowls, so there could be vital extra points there to be had. Although, being 7 points he isn’t cheap and he could be a risk - if he keeps his form up England will call him up and if he doesn’t, there is little point in having him!
Francois Du Plessis via South Africa to Lancashire is only a 3 point player, but he has a big reputation as a player for the future so things will be expected of him. Hasn’t really had a chance yet to show what he can do, but if you like a risk and need a 3 pointer he could be it.
Another 3 point batsman who has started really well is Usman Afzaal at Surrey. A ton in the county champ game and his experience of the county game make a mockery of his rating, with the only doubt being whether he’ll play every game given the strength of the brown caps batting lineup. Plus, will everyone have him in their team given he is a name people have “heard of” and see his cheap rating?
Mark Pettini has also had a good start to the season, and is only a 4 pointer. I think he plays in all forms of the game so could be someone to put in and forget about for the season! You have to be very careful not just to pick the players scoring tons at this stage of the season though, its tempting but you need to see the bigger picture!
Batsman such as Langer, Tresco, Key, Ramps, Rudoplh are all very much a given in this game. They’ll all score good runs, but you’ll pay in starting rating, and by having to make sacrifices in other areas of the team. Not to mention how similar your starting XI’s wil be!
Wicket Keepers
I tend not to spend too much on a wicket keeper in this form of the game - it seems that as long as you choose a guy who plays regularly and has some decent form with the bat that’s enough for me and I’ll save the points for other parts of the team. With that in mind, Nixon, Batty, Mustard, Foster etc are all out and I’m looking at one of three 5 point keepers; Jones, Sutton or Kieswetter. Jones is the obvious choice again as people have heard of him, but I like my team to be different so I’m looking at one of the other two probably. Kieswetter opened for Somerset yesterday and can hold a bat, whilst I might wait for Lancashire to play a couple of games before I decide on Luke Sutton or not.
All Rounders
Ryan McLaren from Kent could be in with a chance of getting into my team rated at 5 - I saw him bowl pretty sharpish last year, but I can’t remember how good he was with the bat, so I might have to check that out first.
Sean Ervine is only rated as a 5 as well, but I’ve picked him before and he’s infuriated me with his lack of getting involved with a game. He might have to bowl more with Hampshire’s winter troubles with bowlers, so he could be a decent pick for someone though.
The Dutchman Ryan ten Doeschate of Essex came close to being in my team - he scored a ton in the opening County champ game and is another one rated at 5, but I don’t know quite enough about him to happily put him in at the moment. Another one worth a look though.
Adil Rashid is a popular choice as well, but I think 6 points is too overrated for him this year. He needs more time in county cricket to deserve those kinds of ratings in my eyes.
Grahame Swann seemed to score a shed load of points last year, and as long as you watch when he gets picked for England in the ODI side he might be worth the 7 points he costs. One you will have to watch as the season goes on though, which isn’t really my style!
Bowlers
I’ve not had much chance to look at the bowlers list and decide where the worthwhile players are - but on early season wickets the seam bowlers are always the ones worth going for. Shreck and Onions are two popular choices, both with a very outside chance of making it into an England squad.
Onions had a poor year by his standards in ‘07 after a brilliant year the year before, and he could do it again. Plunkett is another bowler from Durham who is currently out of favour with the England selectors, but he should get points galore (but he is rated 7). Finally from the North East we have our friend Harmison. If he bowls well he’ll probably be called back into the England team, if he doesn’t then he won’t. Either way, you probably don’t want to pick him despite his decent enough showing in the LV cup yesterday.
Another player who impressed with both bat and ball yesterday was Tim Bresnan from Yorkshire - he is only a 5 pointer and as long as he gets a game every time he will be a popular pick. His bowler partner in crime at the end of the Yorkshire batting innings also showed himself in a good light - Ajmal Shazad. Rated only 3, he had something about him and if he plays regularly he’s a decent shout.
From Somerset Charl Willoughby has caught my eye - with the lack of anything else really standing out from Taunton someone is going to have to take the wickets, and at 6 points I think he could be a decent shout.
Apart from those mentioned i’m struggling to really find the quality in the bowling list - we have other England players in years past in Jones or Mahmood, Hoggard - but my knowledge of the county bowlers is much less than I thought!
Telegraph Fantasy Cricket 2008
With the counties starting pre-season games this week (it seems far, far too early though!), thoughts start to look towards the county season and The Telegraph’s popular fantasy league cricket game. There isn’t much to report at the moment, it looks like they’re waiting for the last few decisions on who is actually going to turn up and not play in India, but you can “pre-register” for the game here, and start signing up from the 7th April.
I’m undecided if at the moment if I’ll sign up - a couple of years ago I enjoyed it but there is so much cricket to try and keep an eye on and not enough time nowadays and last year my team was just ignored once I’d set it up! Anyone else thinking of playing?
Shane Warne Quits Hampshire
Quite a bold move, but if I’m honest it doesn’t surprise me in the least. Ever since he came over to play for Hants he’s taken them for a bit of a ride, saying he’ll only be over during particular dates, not playing in certain tournaments etc. Rod Bransgrove (Hants chairman) took it all though as Warne was a great marketing tool for him and the Rose Bowl outfit. And I’ll be honest, it worked to get me there a couple of times as watching the guy play did make you feel like you were watching a world class player.
However, ever since it was announced that he would miss the start of the ‘08 season to play poker (yes really), he went down in my estimation. Either you are a cricketer or a pro poker player, make up your mind and don’t play us all for fools, and sure as hell not this close to the start of the league season. Why has he taken until this point to say he’ll not play for Hants again? He was supposed to be happy where he was living and playing cricket, so something has come up, and its probably money..
Re-reading what I’ve written it seems a bit harsh on Warne as I understand that the Indian leagues and other stuff outside of cricket bring these guys a good retirement fund, but something about this announcement just seemed so inevitable I think I would have preferred to hear it early on, with all the cards on the table (no pun intended!)
County Season Review
The UK county cricket season finished last weekend, although with the riveting World Twenty20 on, it got a bit left behind in the media, and on this blog as well. And with England starting their winter of cricket with the first one dayer against Sri Lanka on Monday there is no room to rest at the moment in cricket news terms!
In the county championship division 1, Sussex were the first side for a while to win back to back titles. Spearheaded, again, by Mustaq Ahmed, Chris Adams’ team did enough to hold off Lancs and Durham, who finished second and third.
In the second division, Somerset didn’t surprise many people by winning promotion back to the top division. With players such as Tresco, Langer, Cameron White playing, and Caddick having had his best season for a while they won at a canter. With the restrictions not allowing as many overseas players next year we have seen the last of White there for a bit, but Langer remains as captain and will be hoping to finish near the top of the top division next season.
Otis Gibson was one of the stars of the county season, taking 80 wickets, and at the ripe old age of 38. With Alan Donald busy elsewhere for England’s tour of Sri Lanka, Gibson will be the bowling coach for them, a role he has done for Peter Moores at the academy recently.
Mark Ramprakash had another barn-storming season with the bat, and finished the season with a batting average of over 100! Two magnificent years in a row for the guy – now if only he’d had this sort of form when he played for England…
For a more in depth view of which were the players of the season, take a look at the cricket blog over at the googly - they see more county cricket than I do and do a much better job bringing it all together!
