It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... depending on which cricket team you were trying to select; England or Australia (then there is New Zealand but more of that during the NEWS section). Two surprisingly similar batsmen treated in very different ways to show us just how desperate one team is compared with the other. While Alastair Cook enjoys the best form of his career so far, in terms of weight of runs and excess of praise (too easily placed in my opinion), Simon Katich finds himself on the outer for no other reason it seems than his age; or at least what his age will be during the next Ashes series. Both players have an excellent temperament for opening in test cricket - for test cricket in general - yet one suffers by comparison to an over hyped, younger opening partner and the other is lorded like players far better than he, have been in the past. The time and space I have to fill here is short so I will leave the question of Cook for another day (although he does appear below)
Katich was left out of the Australian team in an announcement in Adelaide recently - appropriate given the run out and injury that ended his Ashes series there before Christmas. The main reason given was his age and the intention of the Australian selectors to create a new opening pair now, that they might have time to mature before the 2013 Ashes in England. Katich, Australian's most consistent batsmen in the last 3 years, rightly felt aggrieved over this omission and stated as much in a very candid conference during which he expressed anger at the waste pile that his recovery plan had been flung into as a result. He then attacked the idea of using part-time selectors to pick players for a full time team where salaries are hundreds of thousands of dollars if not more. The saga has served nothing but to make the establishment of Australian cricket look befuddled and desperate and here is why:
- If you want to build an opening partnership that can cope in English conditions why so easily discard the one batsman that has been there on 3 tours? Maybe he will be too old but it appears that the argument has barely been fought - the man hasn't even returned from injury!
- At least, if you are having to pick between Watson and Katich as to who should go (with an eye on England in 2 years), why retain the guy who is a glutton for LBWs to the point where Fleming v McGrath seems like a light salad (2005)
- As Shane Warne rightly pointed out, if Katich is to go for age reasons, surely the likes of Ponting, Hussey or Haddin could go as well? Naturally the defense for that one is that some maturity is required to shepherd the new players through; well why not leave Katich at the top of the order to do just that?
Former opener Michael Slater came out in support of Katich and I would have to agree with him. The axing of such a hard working player in this manner is disgraceful. He has every right to feel hard done by as apparently an average of over 50 since his recall isn't enough when over-rated fellow openers must remain. Australian cricket faced a similar crises in the 1980s but at least then they didn't just focus on winning the Ashes, they tried to build a new core of players that could hack it at international level (against bowling attacks far more frightening than those that currently make up the crop) and win test matches in general. They needed tough cricketers willing to get hit, run into the ground and yes taste defeat at first. Katich is the kind of player capable of absorbing all of these things and deserved another chance to prove that he could perform at this level. Axing him now sets a dangerous precedent and a poor example to new players
NEWS
- New Zealand cricket featured heavily in the news in the last month or so with the following appointments/redundancies:
- John Buchanan to the position of president of cricket in New Zealand
- Glenn Turner and Lance Cairns' selecting roles are at an end - full power will reside in the coach (and likely the captain too)
- Ross Taylor was made captain of the Black Caps and rightly so. What little I have seen of Taylor's captaincy it appears to be of the more quiet and calculating (Stephen Fleming if you must) mold where as Brendon McCullum would have been a greater risk - although his captaincy during the 2009 IPL in South Africa didn't help his cause I suspect. Taylor has an interesting schedule ahead of him with 4 test against ZIM, 2 in AUS, 3 at home against SA and then a tour to WI (our first since 2002!). Then England tour here the following season. At some point during this drool worthy run of cricket we should have a fair idea as to whether the choice was a good one
Meanwhile, elsewhere in cricketdom
- Mohammed Amir broke his ban from cricket by playing for small club in England. What little sympathy I had for this player is under great strain as a result and I would not be immediately against a harsh penalty to drive home the fact that spot fixing won't be tolerated in this sport. I hope at least we shall endure less of this babble about giving him a pass due to his obvious talent - an idea that deserves every bit of contempt it has coming to it
- The war between Chris Gayle and the WICB continues for the moment but meanwhile there is a very interesting test series going on between an under-strength India side and the home team. Both possess bowling attacks noticeably stronger than the batsmen that make up the other half of the team sheet
- Even those possessing weaker powers of perception will notice that I haven't mentioned a word of the ICC conference in Hong Kong but as we are already pressed for time here I have decided to devote an entire blog entry to this pivotal event. This will appear by weekend's end (I know I sighed writing that word twice as well)
RECENT RESULTS
- ENG win their test series against SRL 1-0
- IND won an ODI series in WI 3-2
ARTICLE OF INTEREST
To add some colour to the Taylor/McCullum contest here is an article from the NZ Herald about the issue and why the result should have been no surprise (although I can't say I was very surprised)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/cricket/news/article.cfm?c_id=29&objectid=10734572
Well that's it from here and I hope you join me again
It's good bye for now
