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Loading ...Early summer dupes the batsmen
By Will 2 days ago, in the late afternoon, 2 Comments »
It’s a glorious summer’s day in SW London here but, judging by the county scorecards, the batsmen aren’t yet enjoying it. Wickets have clattered and shattered all over the place. Kent, for example, bowled out Nottinghamshire for 202 but are now 16 for 4. Sidebottom has 3 for 2 from 4.
Lancashire slipped to 143 with Mark Davies storming through them with 7 for 33. In reply, Durham are 97 for 8. But the pick of the destroyers is Hampshire’s James Tomlinson who took 8 for 46 on the normally concrete Taunton pitch. Kevin Pietersen then made good Hampshire’s bowling performance with an even hundred.
I don’t really know why I’m telling you all this - you can look for yourselves.
2 Comments »One to go for Ramps
By Will 6 days ago, in the early evening, 1 Comment »
So Ramps has made it to 99 first-class hundreds. I suggest any Surrey or Ramprakash fans book tickets for their next Championship against Hampshire at The Rose Bowl on May 14…
1 Comment »Heart or wallet?
By Will 6 days ago, mid-morning, 3 Comments »
I had a good look at Chris Jordan, the West Indian 19-year-old fast bowler, while I was down at Hove. He looks to be the real deal - lovely smooth action of 12 steps, recoiling as he approaches his delivery stride and a classical follow through. It looks all natural. It was a dead pitch, though he did remove Matt Prior with quite a slippery bouncer.
Have a read of my interview with him. He’s still not sure if he’ll play for West Indies or England, so I pressed Clive Lloyd on the matter…who is clearly desperate to lure him back. I read the other day that Dennis Lillee is utterly convinced Jordan will play Test cricket.
The only question, then: for whom?
3 Comments »Flintoff: should he, shouldn’t he?
By Will 6 days ago, mid-morning, 8 Comments »
Apologies for the lack of updates. I’ve been down in sunny, rainy, windy Hove. While I was down there, much discussion took place in the press box about Mike Atherton’s debut as The Times’ chief cricket correspondent, namely his interview with Michael Vaughan. The England captain alluded to the likelihood of Andrew Flintoff returning for the first Test against New Zealand, which most media outlets picked up on.
I think it’s both inevitable that it will happen, and a positive for England. I am less convinced he will survive the whole summer - on landing, his ankle still points awkwardly and unnaturally away to the off side, which can only exhaserbate the problems he has had - but I’d rather he broke down playing for England than Lancashire. He’s bowled well enough for his club so far this season, and although he’s not scored any runs, his influence with the ball is still great enough to warrant his inclusion. Hell, Justin Langer - no stranger to OTT remarks - still considers him the best fast bowler in the world, though that was on the back of receiving a battering from Flintoff last week.
So where do you stand? Should Fred play the first Test, or bide his time with Lancashire until the South Africans arrive? Leave a comment and vote at the site.
8 Comments »City, county, region
By Will Tuesday, last week, 7 Comments »
So Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, doesn’t believe a city-based franchise system would be workable in England’s attempt to challenge the Indian Premier League. In fact, Clarke said that “franchise sport has simply never worked in the UK”, which comes hot on the heels of county chief executives voicing their own concerns over the latest Twenty20 developments.
Clarke was speaking at the ECB’s AGM, but some of what he says concerns me. He was full of praise for India’s tournament, but insisted “much of the look and feel of the tournament was taken from the ECB template”. Valid sentiments, but it only makes the ECB look even more daft, short-sighted and bitter that they didn’t think of it first. There is still no clear idea of what the English Premier League will amount to, and the relevant parties - ECB, Professional Cricketers’ Association and the counties themselves - all appear to be at loggerheads with one another. Meanwhile, Allen Stanford is waiting in the wings, licking his lips at what he believes could be a huge earner. But how? And when?
We can forget 18 counties being involved. That much we know. And I’m not in favour of city-based franchises either as this will inevitably lead to some cities and towns being left out, or merged with a neighbour. For example, thinking purely geographically, Gloucestershire and Glamorgan would presumably be combined…but as what? Bristol or Cardiff? Exclude one and you’re effectively ruling out 50% of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Regionalisation seems a fair and simple solution:
North Yorkshire, Lancashire, Durham
London Surrey, Middlesex, Essex
South Hampshire, Kent, Sussex
Wales and West Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Somerset
West Midlands Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Northants
East Midlands Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire
Fascinating to think of the teams these would put on the park, too, and who would captain them. Your thoughts?
7 Comments »New, online Old Bailey
By Will Monday, last week, 1 Comment »
Well, this is just brilliant: records from the Old Bailey stretching back to 1674 have been put online. The marvel of tinterweb, isn’t it, but the flood of visitors has crashed the website. Keep an eye on it though: http://www.oldbaileyonline.org.uk/
I searched for cricket, but clearly it hadn’t occurred to the evil gentry of the 18th century to use a bat on someone. It’s quite in vogue nowadays, by tattooed wifebeaters and the like.
… Noon, and we went into Moorfields, and play’d at Cricket till ’twas dark. Then we came through the Tenter-grounds, and through Sun-street, and bid Akins Good-Night, and he cross’d the Way from us, and went
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… he swears to is the Day when the Women play’d the Cricket-Match. This Woman went with me into the City for Mr Locke’s Linen to the Back of the Royal Exchange, and stay’d there till 10 o’Clock; it was of a Mo .
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… perty. Prisoner’s Defence. I was going to see the cricket-playing in the fields; I went up to this girl’s door, and asked for a halfpennyworth of apples; she said, they did not sell apples; then I went into
Leave a comment if you find any interesting cases.
1 Comment »Cheerleaders turn blue
By Will Monday, last week, 8 Comments »
The rights of cheerleaders to do what they do best - cheer, half-nakedly - are being cruelly restrained in India. And quite honestly, I’ve had enough, so in the spirit of the free and democratic internet, it’s our misson - no, obligation - to catalogue the events in the medium of photos. Here are the lovely ladies prior to being asked to cover up:
But the Maharashtra police got in a right tizz about the flesh on show, and their natural attributes have now been painted blue. It’s a walking, garish travesty.
Cricinfo reports it as follows:
Modesty is the best policy
The Deccan Chargers’ cheerleaders followed the police dictact to dress in a “decent manner” during yesterday’s match in the outskirts of Mumbai. The cheerleaders wore full length tights beneath their regular outfits and the police were pleased with the way things panned out. “Our personnel were keeping a tight vigil on the performances. I am glad to say everything went off smoothly. We did not find anything objectionable in the dances or the dresses,” Ramrao Wagh, the Navi Mumbai police commissioner, told the Hindustan Times
Cricket fantasia
By Will Monday, last week, No Comments; be the first!
Will Smith filed his latest blog yesterday which made for interesting reading. We asked if he’d compile a Cricinfo Fantasy XI, so his choices were quite revealing. They included Francois du Plessis, Richard Pryah, Chris Jordan and Steven Finn. Have a read, why don’t you, or enter your own team for this season’s Championship.
No Comments »Six and out
By Will Monday, last week, 5 Comments »
The health and safety facists have done it again. A cricket club in Harrogate has banned players from boshing sixes and, if they do, they are automatically out of the game.
“Most of the neighbours are very supportive of the club, but we have the odd person who complains,” he said. Mr Rawlings maintains that not many of their balls make it into the residential areas.
He said: “Most of them just throw the balls straight back, but some of the residents, the ones who have concerns, keep them. We hope the new nets will solve the problem.” The pitch is used by the club’s third and fourth teams and by junior teams but is not suitable for national competitions.
More on this exquisitely anal piece of bureaucratic bullshit can be read at the Sunday Times.
5 Comments »Grannies lose out to IPL
By Will Sunday, last week, No Comments; be the first!
Is the IPL a flop or not?
- I love it more than my grandmother (66%, 69 Votes)
- It’s a complete flop and I despise it (34%, 35 Votes)
Total Voters: 104
Humph’s gone
By Will Saturday, last week, 1 Comment »
Terribly sad news that Humphrey Lyttelton, the broadcaster, writer, institution and jazz musician, has died aged 86. I listened and laughed at his hosting of I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue all my life; he had astonishingly good comic timing right up until the last series. Bloody fine musician too and much underrated trumpeter according to my Dad who heard him live many times.
Cheers Humph.
1 Comment »England’s attack in 2011
By Will 1 month ago, 8 Comments »
I’ve seen the future and it does not include Steve Harmison. I had a close look at Steven Finn today, Middlesex’s 6ft 8in fast bowler, and his first two balls were enough to convince me that England have a serious talent on their hands.
He runs in like a fast bowler. This sounds a ridiculous thing to say, but the emphasis on running has been forgotten by a lot of young bowlers these days. Michael Holding told me a year or so ago that while he inevitably had to do weights and push-ups, his primary form of fitness was running, as it was for Malcolm Marshall, Andy Roberts and all the other great West Indians. Finn has a long run-up but a smooth, athletic approach and a quick arm too. He doesn’t look awkwardly tall at the point of delivery like Chris Tremlett - it all looks natural. Andrew Strauss said last month he’s “as good a prospect as I’ve seen”.
So Finn is one, and a few miles south of the Thames is the other: Surrey’s 19-year-old Chris Jordan. We still don’t know where his allegiance lies - he was born in Barbados but could qualify for England through his grandmother - so for now must hope he decides on staying at Surrey and England. He is quick. Here’s what Richard Rae from The Guardian had to say about his three wickets against Durham today (see video):
Riverside; Chris Jordan has just bounced Steve Harmison - twice. The previous over he knocked out Mark Davies’ off-stump with a yorker, after softening him up with three bouncers. Davies didn’t see it. Jordan’s first ball to Killeen is vicious, smacks him on the elbow as ‘Killer’ just gets his arm up in front of his face. Two balls later, kocks out his off-stump. Durham 224 all out, well bowled the Brown Caps, each and every one.
On this evidence, Jordan is already faster than Harmison. He cleaned up the Durham tail brilliantly, and could take a lot of wickets this season.
So in a few years time we could have a tasty trio of Stuart Broad, Steve Finn and Chris Jordan. Maybe sooner. Incidentally, talking of Jordan, read Rob Steen’s piece from 2004 about the lack of Afro-Caribbean cricketers in England. It’s amazing how few there are now (Michael Carberry and Jordan are the only two I can think of who qualify for England).
8 Comments »Stanford close to luring ECB
By Will 1 month ago, 31 Comments »
Allen Stanford and Lalit Modi. Two entirely different characters, both from opposite ends of the world - geographically and, arguably, morally - but both with a shared love of money and cricket. Why do I worry less about the Wild West cowboy, and more about Modi’s modus operandi?
Perhaps it’s because he’s American and has no historical connection to a cricket board. Maybe it’s because he appears to have no dirty agenda to the politics of the sport: he’s seemingly happy to pile money into the flayling West Indies cricket, and anyone else who wants to join in the fun is more than welcome. This sounds naive - of course, billionaires crave and adore money: it is their driving force - but his come-follow-me attitude is refreshing and progressive, which cannot be said of Modi. Modi’s business is power and politics; the IPL has already made him millions, but it is a vehicule to global dominance. We’ve seen this season how the ECB have been tied up in knots banning (and subsequently unbanning) various players who represented the Indian Cricket League - the antichrist to the sanctioned IPL - which demonstrates just how much power the BCCI wields.
Anyway, I digress. I like Mr Stanford and am quite excited by what he could do to counter Modi’s unquenchable thirst for dominance. He has met with the ECB - significantly, the president of the West Indies Cricket Board, Dr Julian Hunte, was also present - to finalise plans for an England v West Indies All Stars XI later this year (and possibly running over five years). The matches themselves aren’t too significant, but it could signal the start of a business relationship which expands far beyond any of our imaginings. Stanford’s 20/20 in the Caribbean was a rollicking success - some say he should be in charge of ICC’s World Cups - so it’ll be fascinating to see what he and England come up with.
31 Comments »Knight Riders on top
By Will 1 month ago, 5 Comments »
The results from our poll are in, and 29% of you ‘orrible readers are supporting Sourav Ganguly’s Kolkata Knight Riders. The Delhi Daredevils, led by Virender Sehwag, prop up the list with a pathetic 14 votes.
The next poll asks the relatively simple question: is the IPL a flop? Cast your votes on the main page.
- Kolkata Knight Riders (29%, 69 Votes)
- Chennai Super Kings (17%, 40 Votes)
- Deccan Chargers (13%, 31 Votes)
- Mumbai Indians (12%, 29 Votes)
- Kings XI Punjab (10%, 25 Votes)
- Bangalore Royal Challengers (7%, 18 Votes)
- Rajasthan Royals (6%, 15 Votes)
- Delhi Daredevils (6%, 14 Votes)
Total Voters: 241
MCC go pink
By Will 1 month ago, 6 Comments »
You’ve got to hand it to MCC. For so long they were the stuffy uncle of cricket: custodians of the laws of a noble sport, and with the detached arrogance to match such an honour. Their image has changed irrevocably in the past 15 years - just look at Lord’s for proof. It combines the old with the new like no other ground in the country (if not the world), and continues to break new ground. They’re now looking to utilise the tunnels beneath the nursery which once housed trains on the old tube line.
And today they unveiled a new pink ball as a potential replacement for the grubby white one which becomes so discoloured in ODIs. Yes, pink. It’s not as garish as it sounds and, on such a gloomy day at Lord’s, it was certainly luminous against the lush green turf. I’m not convinced it was any more visible than the old white one, but it appears MCC’s task is to find one more durable, not necessarily more visible.
Anyway. The chap tasked with all this is Dr Anthony Bull, a bioengineer from Imperial College, who was good enough to spare me and a couple of other reporters the time at Lord’s to explain a few things. More interesting than all the pink balls (honk honk, etc) was his opinion of the future potential of bat technology. He is convinced that within the current constraints of ICC regulations, the current bats can be improved so that a ball will travel a further 20% than they do at the moment.
That is quite some revelation and the impact on the game could be extraordinary. Mis-hits could go for six, or flashing nicks for six. Where on earth would this leave the poor bowler? Such a super-bat would give batsmen yet another unfair advantage over their opponents, and increase expectation on television suits to finish games even sooner than they currently do. Boundaries have been steadily creeping in from the fence in the past ten years - an absolute and unrecorded farce if you ask me - for that very reason: to get “result” games in order to lure bigger audiences to TV.
Anyway, we’re some way off ever seeing this super bat. Would be interesting to hear your thoughts. Would you be in favour of such a technological advance, or does it belittle the already hapless bowler to a mere support act?
More on Dr Bull and the pink balls at Cricinfo.
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