News Update

Hello and welcome back to my blog

While I sit my last university exams these posts will be a tad shorter than usual, today I will jump straight to the news and recent results (naturally if a big story breaks I will find a way to devote some time to it)

NEWS

• Alan Hunt (former 1980s player for Auckland) is the new coach of Central Districts and his career begins with the small task of preparing his charges for the Champions League
• Last week I talked about the A-list matches in AUS – well now they have confirmed splitting the innings into four lots of 20 overs! I do not like this at all because it might as well be 2020 cricket – just drop them and play another round of the Big Bash. What will this do to AUS ODI prowess? Will it weaken their ODI team just as Pro-40 did to England? This highlights the growing trend of cricket boards to be blinded by dollar signs involved with 2020 cricket (that is not a guarantee by the way) without thinking through the consequences
• Congrats to the creators of the Duckworth-Lewis system for their MBEs
• Andrew Miller of Cricinfo.com writes of the sudden interest in English ODI cricket and that it may just be in time for ODI cricket to die. Reading his article gave me a brain explosion of sorts. Now that 2020 World Cup appears to work well, is it time to get rid of the ODI World Cup? The format that hasn’t worked very well since 1992 – it’s too long, full of dead-rubbers and one-sided contests. This idea is nothing special but the seldom-mentioned advantage would be the removal of the cluster bomb of ODI cricket we have to endure in the 12 months preceding this event. This would free up the international schedule but in all likelihood kill ODI cricket altogether. With England, South Africa and Australia now considering/changing their domestic 50-over contests to shorter versions this may be inevitable anyway. However I hope ODI cricket can survive – there is still a big audience for it in the international context and perhaps most series need to be reduced to 3 matches instead of 5 (or the ridiculous 7). In a general sense I still find entertainment in a well constructed ODI hundred or last over thriller (neither scenario seems translate as well to 2020 cricket due to reduced overs). Getting rid of the ODI World Cup would simply remove the glut of this form in the year preceding it

RECENT RESULTS

• SRL are soundly beaten by ZIM but the win comfortably in the final of that series (Dilshan century)
• IND retrieve some dignity by overpowering ZIM in two 2020 matches
• SA thrashed WI in their first test. Funnily enough the scorecard resembles one from the 1980s except WI are on the receiving end. It just makes me sad to think that the best SA team every assembled (that of 1969-1970) never played WI at their peak. The contest would have been something (not to mention the racial tension thrown in). Do not mistake me for someone who would overlook Apartheid for cricket though, it’s just a regret

ARTICLE OF INTEREST
http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/459095.html
This article seems more relevant now than when it came out! It talks about the how the Head of Yorkshire Cricket (of all places) has been swept up in 2020 madness and the possible consequences of diving straight into that format

LOOKING BACK
June 7th (1975) – As 2020/ODI question continues it is the 35th anniversary of the first World Cup that started it all. Glenn Turner made 171 against East Africa in the first round while Sunil Gavaskar used as many balls to infamously make 34* in 60 overs. Australia beat Pakistan after Dennis Lillee took the first ODI 5-for (5-34)

Well that's if from here and I hope you join me again
It's good bye for now

A Sad Joke

Hello and welcome back to my blog

The main focus of the cricket world is currently in England (despite certain embarrassments for India in ODI cricket) where the question of the future of Bangladesh is being asked once again. Should they be playing test cricket? What of the the other aspiring nations?
This short test series has given some observers hope. Certainly the performance of the tourists was much improved from 2005 when they were beaten soundly inside 3 days in each test match. The batting was much better with the explosive rise of aggressive-opener Tamim Iqbal who scored two centuries. There were also notable contributions from other batsmen that suggested a growing willingness to spend time at the crease. The bowling was only slightly better than the previous tour and suffers mainly from a lack of any kind of fast/strike bowler
Having noted the improvements it is still plain to me that Bangladesh will struggle to ever become successful at Test Level. Iqbal will lose form and his temperament will get him out cheaply (like in the second innings at Old Trafford) and meanwhile the other batsmen, while showing better patience, still suffer from 2020-illness in terms of their shot selection.
More importantly, a lack of a strike bowler will doom them to never taking the 20 wickets required to win a match. Their spinner will keep them competitive at home but when their best pace-man is a 125-130 kph they haven't a chance elsewhere; seriously the guy is only going to get wickets when the batsmen trip on their own stumps laughing at the way he yells like Brett Lee but bowls like Paul Collingwood
The sad thing is that this reality might be sinking in given the speed with which the team resolve appeared to die as these matches progressed. The BBC was rightly critical of their 'defence' of 160 at Lords and I expect similar criticism of their poor 123 at Old Trafford. Both performances revealed a depressed sense of the inevitable and is not part of any equation for success in test cricket - that's why it is called test cricket! It challenges your mental and physical durability over 5 days - something you cannot practice for in 2020 cricket (see my opinions on the effect of 2020 cricket on minor nations in my post of May 8th 2010 - the end of the dream)
The only thing that is proven to drag a side up the test rankings is to produce a world class bowler like Hadlee, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Chamindaa Vaas. The careers of these four men saw their respective teams achieve success in overseas test matches and earn the respect of the cricketing world. If Bangladesh can produce a similar bowler they can do the same and teach a new generation of fast bowlers. The only danger here is if the standard is not maintained and the next bowlers do not live up to the standard of whoever it will be. Imran Khan managed to foster his successors but the same cannot be said for Hadlee, Dev and Vaas.
I find this an interesting concept worth pursuing and looking at how these bowlers fortunes lifted their teams and their retirement perhaps hurt them. Look out for this discussion over the next few weeks

NEWS

• Former chief executive of the ICC, Malcolm Speed has taken apart some of the arguments against the John Howard’s nomination, in particular the ‘because he’s a politician’ attack by Zimbabwe (supported by South Africa) as pure hypocrisy given their cries against mixing politics with sport in their own case. Speed also cited a former president that wasn’t a member of Pakistan’s cricket board in the face of Sri Lanka’s criticism
• Canterbury Cricket is likely to delay their outfitting of a Test cricket venue due to the upcoming council elections
• The Australian reported the possibility of separate 2020 and Test teams that could play at the same time (i.e. a test series in Australia while a 2020 series happened in another country). This sounds like bowing to the inevitable to be honest; of course it may solve the player burnout problem. Ian Chappell points out the problem with this is one-dimensional-cricketers and the disappointment of someone like Steven Smith only playing one form
• Australian Cricket is also looking to restructure their domestic 50-over tournament after the success of their 2020 Big Bash has taken the crowd and excitement out of their current system
• There are increasing calls for Steven Smith of Australia to play test cricket. I’m biased here, as are a few in that country, because cricket needs leg-spinners

RECENT RESULTS

• ENG beat BAN 2-0 in their test series after the tourists collapsed to lose by an innings at Old Trafford – a far cry from the bravery of their batsmen at Lords a week before
• IND beat SRL with Rohit Sharma making his 2nd consecutive ODI century
• SRL then thrashed ZIM
• ZIM beat IND again! Again it was comfortable
• SRL beat IND to kick them out of that series
• SA won their series against WI 5-0. I apologise for stating last week that the series was 3 matches long. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THOUGH. Why is it necessary to have five ODIs as well as two 2020s?

ARTICLE OF INTEREST
If you have got this far through the post this week I will not make you read another long article. Instead enjoy this footage of former South African fast bowler Alan Donald:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaJ8-4jrCWQ&feature=related

LOOKING BACK
The first week of June seems to be filled with anniversaries - normally I only pick one but it is more amusing to list them all:
June 1st (2002) - the death in a plane crash of disgraced South African captain Hansie Cronje
June 4th (1993) - anniversary of the Gatting Ball that drifted outside leg stump and turned sharply to beat Gatting's defence and begin the legend that is Shane Warne
June 6th (1994) - Brian Lara made 501* on this day - the highest first class score
Also note that his week marks the birthdays of the following people:

• Steve and Mark Waugh, twins that in 100+ tests together defined the Australian team for a decade
• George Lohmann, 112 wickets @ 10.75 in 18 tests – enough said
• Wasim Akram - the greatest left-arm fast bowler to play the game
• John Reid - captain and all rounder for New Zealand
• Walter Hadlee - New Zealand captain and father of a couple other Hadlees that played cricket
• Eric Hollies - bowled the most famous googly in history to dismiss Bradman for 0 in 1948
• Mike Gatting - in 1993 his birthday must have been a quiet affair after being dismissed by Warne two days before in such dramatic fashion
• Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson - England's fastest and most frightening bowler

Quite a list

Well that's it from here and I hope you join me again
It's good bye for now