Monday, March 29, 2010
Sorry for the delay
Just to let readers know that, due to internet difficulties at my current address, I won't be able to make a post until this weekend. Rest assured that at that time I will include all my analysis of the Hamilton Test and the test series plus a review of the Black Caps international season. As I type this the score at Seddon Park is 31-0 chasing 479 for victory with over 4 sessions to go. I don't expect NZ to win but it would be nice to extend the game well into DAY FIVE and give them a scare
Sunday, March 21, 2010
The good the bad and the ugly
Hello and welcome back to my blog
I predicted last week that Australia will likely win the test series in New Zealand 2-0. With New Zealand losing 11 wickets today and still 115 runs behind (Vettori and McCullum are the only recognised batsmen that remain), the baggy-green team are heading in that direction. The skill and determination that led them to an unbeaten summer has not been dulled as their batsmen continue to show patience and the ability to grab initiative while their bowlers trouble all but the most solid of defensive techniques. Michael Clarke played one of his best innings (168*) and Bollinger continues to be Ponting's best weapon with 5-28. Both achievements are more impressive given the former's recent off-field dramas and the latter's alcoholism (poor fellow gets beer cravings mid-game it would seem)
As for New Zealand's effort in this match there is mostly bad news:
The best for Black Cap fans was the 70-run opening partnership second time round (took 32 overs as well!). McIntosh played very well for his 83 (220) but sadly was dismissed right before the close of play
As for the ugly: McCullum's innings this morning when it's aggression transformed from inspired to horrible with a dreadful attempt to pull the first ball in a Bollinger over - may be equal to the word. Then there is 'Dougie' himself but to suggest he is related to Susan Boyle may just be petty
NEWS
RECENT RESULTS
ARTICLE OF INTEREST
http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/452177.html
This article is in another in the emerging discontent over cricket commentary (largely due to the amount of 2020 and cricket commentary's poor adaption to this form. I enjoyed the frank and eloquent description of particular commentators and it inspired me to make a few observations of my own:
Gifted Commentators include
Michael Slater, Ian Healy, Allan Border, Danny Morrison, Mark Richardson, Darrell Eastlake (see The 12th Man) and anyone else who spends their time in the commentary box shouting non-sensical blather in a poor attempt to cover their short-comings as speakers and thinkers.
(Note that the only reason that I do not include Martin Crowe in this group is because when he provides analysis he can be quite useful to the viewer)
LOOKING BACK
March 15 (1987) - while NZ slide to defeat in Wellington I would advise taking a moment to remember this game against the best team in the world between 1980-1995, West Indies. NZ won the toss and Hadlee (6-50) blew Greenidge, Haynes, Richards and the rest away for just 100. A couple days later the underdog won by 5 wickets to level the series
Well that's it from here and I hope you join me again
It's good bye for now
I predicted last week that Australia will likely win the test series in New Zealand 2-0. With New Zealand losing 11 wickets today and still 115 runs behind (Vettori and McCullum are the only recognised batsmen that remain), the baggy-green team are heading in that direction. The skill and determination that led them to an unbeaten summer has not been dulled as their batsmen continue to show patience and the ability to grab initiative while their bowlers trouble all but the most solid of defensive techniques. Michael Clarke played one of his best innings (168*) and Bollinger continues to be Ponting's best weapon with 5-28. Both achievements are more impressive given the former's recent off-field dramas and the latter's alcoholism (poor fellow gets beer cravings mid-game it would seem)
As for New Zealand's effort in this match there is mostly bad news:
- Southee found swing but no consistency - not for the first time in his career
- Vettori made the strange decision to bowl Darryl Tuffey with the second-new-ball (120-125 kph) when the only way to beat Australia is to attack. He should not be afraid to buy a couple of wickets - containment hasn't worked in the past and it won't work now
- Darryl Tuffey himself was caught short while not sliding his bat...
- ...And speaking of run-outs, McIntosh is gaining a reputation for causing them. Peter Ingram has enough problems with his game without help from the other end in his pursuit to find poor-cricket methods to be dismissed
The best for Black Cap fans was the 70-run opening partnership second time round (took 32 overs as well!). McIntosh played very well for his 83 (220) but sadly was dismissed right before the close of play
As for the ugly: McCullum's innings this morning when it's aggression transformed from inspired to horrible with a dreadful attempt to pull the first ball in a Bollinger over - may be equal to the word. Then there is 'Dougie' himself but to suggest he is related to Susan Boyle may just be petty
NEWS
- Pune and Kochi will be two new IPL franchises next time round
- Warne suggested that Pathan's 100 (37) for Rajasthan was the best innings he had seen and was immediately tested for memory loss (or should have been given some of the games he has been in)
- Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad made public apologies about separate incidents during the first Test against Bangladesh. I won't explain what they did and only mention this as an example of the ridiculous position cricket PR has reached when such things cannot be settled between the parties involved - they didn't offend us so who benefits exactly?
RECENT RESULTS
- West Indies rapped up a 4-1 ODI series victory over Zimbabwe
- England beat Bangladesh in the first tests of their series after captain Alastair Cook made 173 and Swann took 10 wickets
- IPL victories went to Delhi, Chennai (2), Bangalore (3), Mumbai, Deccan and Rajasthan. The highlights this week included Kallis' form (200+ runs without a dismissal), Hayden's 93 (43) and Kumar's hat-trick
ARTICLE OF INTEREST
http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/452177.html
This article is in another in the emerging discontent over cricket commentary (largely due to the amount of 2020 and cricket commentary's poor adaption to this form. I enjoyed the frank and eloquent description of particular commentators and it inspired me to make a few observations of my own:
Gifted Commentators include
- Richie Benaud (see the above article as to why)
- Geoffrey Boycott and Ian Smith for their abrasive manner and ability to side-step politeness and criticise when it is required - while remaining entertaining and inoffensive to the ear
- Mark Nicholas for a wide vocabulary, wide cricket knowledge and the charm necessary to combine both without boring the public into watching golf
- Michael Atherton (again see article above)
- Jeremy Coney for an his mix of Richie Benaud simplicity and Mark Nicholas charm and wit
Michael Slater, Ian Healy, Allan Border, Danny Morrison, Mark Richardson, Darrell Eastlake (see The 12th Man) and anyone else who spends their time in the commentary box shouting non-sensical blather in a poor attempt to cover their short-comings as speakers and thinkers.
(Note that the only reason that I do not include Martin Crowe in this group is because when he provides analysis he can be quite useful to the viewer)
LOOKING BACK
March 15 (1987) - while NZ slide to defeat in Wellington I would advise taking a moment to remember this game against the best team in the world between 1980-1995, West Indies. NZ won the toss and Hadlee (6-50) blew Greenidge, Haynes, Richards and the rest away for just 100. A couple days later the underdog won by 5 wickets to level the series
Well that's it from here and I hope you join me again
It's good bye for now
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Opportunities missed and taken
Hello and welcome back to my blog
While the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy was a great chance to compete with the best in the world (in the form of cricket to which they're best suited) a test series against the same opposition is not. I'm not trying to sound defeatist here but there is no getting past the fact that New Zealand boasts a very inexperienced Test team against a juggernaut finding its second wind in 2010. This series should be a chance for improvement and the building of a solid team aiming for success in 12 months and while this may result in a lost series the gains in the future should be worth avoiding the use of stale has-beens now.
Unfortunately this is not entirely the case as the squad appears today. While I quickly applaud the inclusion of Arnel the return of Sinclair is a disappointment when Kane Williamson has become only the second Kiwi to reach 1000 first class runs before the age of 20 (after one M.D. Crowe). The perseverance with Ingram is also mysterious given his age and difficulty against fast bowling; these defences of 'well Tendulkar and Sehwag don't use their feet either' wouldn't stand up to a Chris Martin batting onslaught and how NZC can utter them with a straight face is bewildering.
Furthermore, I hope that Chris Martin (as a bowler) has been included due to his record at the Basin Reserve. His performances in the last 6 months have been below-par at best and it might be time to get a younger bowler. I predict, assuming there is little rain interference, that the series will go to Australia 2-0 and that won't disappoint me unless we don't learn anything, which is exactly what will happen if new players are ignored!
NEWS
RECENT RESULTS
ARTICLE OF INTEREST
http://www.cricinfo.com/page2/content/story/450909.html
I don't have a lot so say about this article except READ IT and laugh. Although the author reveals a strict left-wing-bias on some of the listed politicians this does not prevent the thing from making me crack up
LOOKING BACK
March 9th (1998) - Although this week is the anniversary of Laxman's Match in 2001 it is also the anniversary of Tendulkar's superb innings of 155* (191 balls) that set up a win against Australia in Chennai. He had been dismissed for just 5 (by Warne funnily enough) but took his revenge second time round with a brutal assault
Well that's it from here and I hope you join me again
It's good bye for now
While the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy was a great chance to compete with the best in the world (in the form of cricket to which they're best suited) a test series against the same opposition is not. I'm not trying to sound defeatist here but there is no getting past the fact that New Zealand boasts a very inexperienced Test team against a juggernaut finding its second wind in 2010. This series should be a chance for improvement and the building of a solid team aiming for success in 12 months and while this may result in a lost series the gains in the future should be worth avoiding the use of stale has-beens now.
Unfortunately this is not entirely the case as the squad appears today. While I quickly applaud the inclusion of Arnel the return of Sinclair is a disappointment when Kane Williamson has become only the second Kiwi to reach 1000 first class runs before the age of 20 (after one M.D. Crowe). The perseverance with Ingram is also mysterious given his age and difficulty against fast bowling; these defences of 'well Tendulkar and Sehwag don't use their feet either' wouldn't stand up to a Chris Martin batting onslaught and how NZC can utter them with a straight face is bewildering.
Furthermore, I hope that Chris Martin (as a bowler) has been included due to his record at the Basin Reserve. His performances in the last 6 months have been below-par at best and it might be time to get a younger bowler. I predict, assuming there is little rain interference, that the series will go to Australia 2-0 and that won't disappoint me unless we don't learn anything, which is exactly what will happen if new players are ignored!
NEWS
- This week the PCB baned several of their key players from between 1 year and ...well ever, in response to the pour tour of Australia. Mohammed Yousuf and Younis Khan will not play again and Afridi and the Akmal brothers were heavily fined and put on probation. I feel that perhaps the life bans in particular are severe - are they really going to stop their 2nd best-ever batsman from playing?
- After the ridiculous injury count this summer in the Black Caps team more and more questions are being, rightly, raised over the fitness regime
- NZC announced that the winter tour of Zimbabwe has been cancelled due to health concerns in that country. The tour may be rescheduled later in a neutral country (most likely South Africa)
RECENT RESULTS
- Australia retained the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy after convincing wins in Hamilton and Auckland. The credit here should go to Ricky Ponting whose decision to bowl first worked 2/3 times in this series and his captaincy has been very good during the game as well (including a very good innings in Auckland in game 4)
- New Zealand won the final match of the same series in Wellington after a strong bowling and fielding performance (made easier with the incorrect dismissal of Ponting to be fair). Vettori will be disappointed with the batting which failed for the 4th time in 5 games
- The IPL began this week with victories to Delhi, Kolkata (2 wins), Deccan and Mumbai: the highlight of the first week was the 37-ball century by Yusuf Pathan in a losing cause
ARTICLE OF INTEREST
http://www.cricinfo.com/page2/content/story/450909.html
I don't have a lot so say about this article except READ IT and laugh. Although the author reveals a strict left-wing-bias on some of the listed politicians this does not prevent the thing from making me crack up
LOOKING BACK
March 9th (1998) - Although this week is the anniversary of Laxman's Match in 2001 it is also the anniversary of Tendulkar's superb innings of 155* (191 balls) that set up a win against Australia in Chennai. He had been dismissed for just 5 (by Warne funnily enough) but took his revenge second time round with a brutal assault
Well that's it from here and I hope you join me again
It's good bye for now
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Living up to its name
Hello and welcome back to my blog
Since my last post the Chappell-Hadlee series has kicked off with two thrilling games of cricket in Napier and Auckland. Scott Styris, a late fill-in for injured Daniel Vettori, blasted NZ home to win by 2 wickets on Wednesday before AUS fought back at Eden Park Saturday night with D/L altered 12 run victory despite a gutsy performance from returning captain Vettori (70 off 49 balls after taking 2-42 in ten overs). There are three games remaining over the next week and I hope each is just as thrilling.
This fascinating contest is a continuation of a fine trophy system that began in December 2004 when two surprisingly similar games were fought in Australia (before the third was washed out to leave things level at 1-1). Brendon McCullum first showed off the flick over the keeper shot on this occasion for those who care to remember. The following year Australia played for the trophy in New Zealand and achieved easy victory in game one before escaping in Wellington (only thanks to great death bowling by Mick Lewis - who incidentally when on to concede 100+ from his ten overs in the famous loss to South Africa 2 months later). The series was gone but respect was earned by a record chase in Christchurch led by Scott Styris and finished by McCullum (in his finishing role that sadly is missed today).
In 2007 the Black Caps achieved history by trouncing their rivals 3-0 with outstanding performances from Bond, McMillan, Taylor and McCullum. This was reversed late that year with a 2-0 loss in Australia and in 2009 rain again intervened during the new 5 match format to leave the trophy in Australia's hands after a 2-2 result.
After 5 years the tally stood at:
The annual dog-fight was set up in name of the Chappell and Hadlee cricket families and at every stage encompasses the aggression, skill and determination of the cricketers in those two families.
On this topic I would like to highlight the recent article by Michael Donaldson of the Sunday Star Times who accuses Daniel Vettori of a poor piece of captaincy to insert Australia in Auckland despite the certainty of a rain affected game. In actual fact the toss was won by Australia and Vettori is owed no blame. Mr. Donaldson would do well to watch the game he is analysing for an otherwise, respectable newspaper.
NEWS
RESULTS
ARTICLE OF INTEREST
The Johnson-Styris controversy has stirred up some strong opinions including this one suggested to me by a Christchurch journalist friend:
http://blogs.cricinfo.com/diffstrokes/archives/2010/03/where_is_the_justice.php
The writer is concerned that double standards are arising within the cricket judiciary process – or at least the appearance of such, in response to the light penalty handed to Johnson after his altercation with Styris in Napier. While the concerns are valid it isn’t as if such divisions haven’t existed in cricket before. This is the sport that wouldn’t let pros captain England until the 1950s, women play at Lords or appear in members stands; lets not get too high on the pedestal. As for the idea that clashes like that in Napier are more accepted in New Zealand and Australia, there may be some truth to this because of the very casual reactions to violence in Rugby Union, League and AFL – sports not popular in the subcontinent or the West Indies – there is a difference of opinion.
I think the rulings should be derived from a position of 'offence to cricket'; member nations can decide on the image of cricket and if a player’s actions go against that then punishment is due – create a standard for cricket and don’t allow regional bias to interfere.
LOOKING BACK
March 5th (1971) – Mike Proctor scored his sixth successive century to equal a record also held by Bradman and CB Fry. Important to remember that the period of 1975-1990 had 4 great all-rounders – there could have been 5 if South Africa were permitted to play. Proctor played just 7 tests (41 wickets @ 15) but in first class cricket he averaged 36 with the bat and 19 with the ball while racking up more than 20,000 runs and 1400 wickets
Finally, as today is the birthday of Sir. IVA Richards here is a link to some good footage of him blasting the English bowlers of the 1970s and 1980s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK_n5le73LE
Well that's it from here and I hope you join me again
It's good bye for now
Since my last post the Chappell-Hadlee series has kicked off with two thrilling games of cricket in Napier and Auckland. Scott Styris, a late fill-in for injured Daniel Vettori, blasted NZ home to win by 2 wickets on Wednesday before AUS fought back at Eden Park Saturday night with D/L altered 12 run victory despite a gutsy performance from returning captain Vettori (70 off 49 balls after taking 2-42 in ten overs). There are three games remaining over the next week and I hope each is just as thrilling.
This fascinating contest is a continuation of a fine trophy system that began in December 2004 when two surprisingly similar games were fought in Australia (before the third was washed out to leave things level at 1-1). Brendon McCullum first showed off the flick over the keeper shot on this occasion for those who care to remember. The following year Australia played for the trophy in New Zealand and achieved easy victory in game one before escaping in Wellington (only thanks to great death bowling by Mick Lewis - who incidentally when on to concede 100+ from his ten overs in the famous loss to South Africa 2 months later). The series was gone but respect was earned by a record chase in Christchurch led by Scott Styris and finished by McCullum (in his finishing role that sadly is missed today).
In 2007 the Black Caps achieved history by trouncing their rivals 3-0 with outstanding performances from Bond, McMillan, Taylor and McCullum. This was reversed late that year with a 2-0 loss in Australia and in 2009 rain again intervened during the new 5 match format to leave the trophy in Australia's hands after a 2-2 result.
After 5 years the tally stood at:
- 16 games
- 3 no-results
- 7 NZ wins
- 6 AUS wins
The annual dog-fight was set up in name of the Chappell and Hadlee cricket families and at every stage encompasses the aggression, skill and determination of the cricketers in those two families.
On this topic I would like to highlight the recent article by Michael Donaldson of the Sunday Star Times who accuses Daniel Vettori of a poor piece of captaincy to insert Australia in Auckland despite the certainty of a rain affected game. In actual fact the toss was won by Australia and Vettori is owed no blame. Mr. Donaldson would do well to watch the game he is analysing for an otherwise, respectable newspaper.
NEWS
- The injury list in the New Zealand camp now includes Taylor, Oram and Franklin with mild niggles for McCullum and Vettori. Shanan Stewart of Canterbury will join the squad as cover in the middle order for the rest of the series
- Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, a man of no cricket experience should now become the next ICC President (in 2012) after his nomination this week for Oceania. Below is a link to footage of his best effort in this sport
RESULTS
- Another South African import helped England to a win over Bangladesh (ODI)
- Zimbabwe shocked some (and realised the fears of others) by beating West Indies in the first ODI before the series was levelled in game two
ARTICLE OF INTEREST
The Johnson-Styris controversy has stirred up some strong opinions including this one suggested to me by a Christchurch journalist friend:
http://blogs.cricinfo.com/diffstrokes/archives/2010/03/where_is_the_justice.php
The writer is concerned that double standards are arising within the cricket judiciary process – or at least the appearance of such, in response to the light penalty handed to Johnson after his altercation with Styris in Napier. While the concerns are valid it isn’t as if such divisions haven’t existed in cricket before. This is the sport that wouldn’t let pros captain England until the 1950s, women play at Lords or appear in members stands; lets not get too high on the pedestal. As for the idea that clashes like that in Napier are more accepted in New Zealand and Australia, there may be some truth to this because of the very casual reactions to violence in Rugby Union, League and AFL – sports not popular in the subcontinent or the West Indies – there is a difference of opinion.
I think the rulings should be derived from a position of 'offence to cricket'; member nations can decide on the image of cricket and if a player’s actions go against that then punishment is due – create a standard for cricket and don’t allow regional bias to interfere.
LOOKING BACK
March 5th (1971) – Mike Proctor scored his sixth successive century to equal a record also held by Bradman and CB Fry. Important to remember that the period of 1975-1990 had 4 great all-rounders – there could have been 5 if South Africa were permitted to play. Proctor played just 7 tests (41 wickets @ 15) but in first class cricket he averaged 36 with the bat and 19 with the ball while racking up more than 20,000 runs and 1400 wickets
Finally, as today is the birthday of Sir. IVA Richards here is a link to some good footage of him blasting the English bowlers of the 1970s and 1980s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK_n5le73LE
Well that's it from here and I hope you join me again
It's good bye for now
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