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Verily, that second catch was a corker.
Alastair Cook shocks us and himself
By Will 2 months ago Leave a comment on this post
Although it was slow going at times, the first day in Hamilton was quite engrossing. Both teams sparred in the first session, then New Zealand threw away a number of their wickets with some dreadfully sloppy shots, and they go into the second day pretty much on level footing with England. England don’t quite have their noses in front…though perhaps one nostril.
What a day Alastair Cook had, and how entertaining it was to watch the surprise on his face at each of his three catches. The first was a lifter in the gully which almost knocked him backwards - not a difficult chance but nevertheless expertly taken. His second, a salmon-leaping effort in the gully to dismiss Stephen Fleming, was an absolute corker (it’s not on Youtube yet - do leave a comment if you find it). Plucking it one-handed to his right, he threw the ball away in that nonchalant fashion which has become popular, but even he couldn’t believe he’d held on. Since his debut, Cook has looked more arthritic than athletic in the field, but perhaps this is the turning point. England need a good gully - Ashley Giles was as safe as houses there.
England’s outfielding was generally over zealous - overthrows galore and stupid shies at the stumps - but their catching today was faultless and as good as I’ve seen since the 2005 Ashes.
But it was a curious day, and not just for Cook’s catching. Steve Harmison rarely reached 80mph; Paul Collingwood averaged above 75mph; Ryan Sidebottom was comfortably the fastest with a mean mean of 86mph and Matthew Hoggard bowled like a drain. Sidebottom is decidedly slippery nowadays - what the hell’s going on?
Tags: alastair-cook, england, england in new zealand, new-zealand, steve-harmison |
9 Responses to “Alastair Cook shocks us and himself”
March 5th, 2008 at 4.05 pm
March 5th, 2008 at 4.52 pm
Here’s the link to the SkySports highlights, and yes, that was a corker of a catch.
March 6th, 2008 at 12.18 pm
oh oh oh so much so for ur prestige. y u r so hurt in writing about your country’s terrible loss to india dear? not a single post!!! dont be a coward like ur cricketers!! be a sport. wont mind if you delete this comment also
March 6th, 2008 at 4.36 pm
Naveed, neither Australia or India is “my” country. I couldn’t give a flying toss that India have beaten them in a meaningless one-day competition, a tournament that I’m proud to say completely passed me by. There is more to life, and cricket, than Indian cricket.
March 7th, 2008 at 3.56 am
India fans are a complete joke - Naveed’s asinine comment just confirms it!
March 7th, 2008 at 5.28 am
I agree there’s more to life than Indian cricket and that India’s win in the CB series was as inconsequential as India’s loss to England in the recent 1 day series. However, even when England (isn’t that ‘your’ country) lost a test series to India in England, I didn’t see much activity on this blog. Come out of it. 2005 Ashes was an aberration. There’s more to life and cricket than that.
March 7th, 2008 at 9.21 am
JII - that’s largely because I don’t have time these days due to my job at Cricinfo. I spend my life reading and writing about all aspects of cricket, and although I can’t claim to enjoy the dominance India’s administrators are beginning to hold over the game as a whole, don’t confuse my silence for indifference. And finally, this is my blog and as I’ve said for the past four years, it is nothing more than a snapshot of my own thoughts and musings on the game. I’ve never claimed to “cover” the game as much as some would like, and it would be wrong to try. I suggest you read one of the hundreds of Indian cricket blogs if you want their side of the story.
March 7th, 2008 at 10.46 am
‘England need a good gully - Ashley Giles was as safe as houses there.’
and almost as mobile as the average house. il viva el rey! in our hearts now and always. so hip he had to give up the game.
just by the bye - while will’s blog is (as he says) for him to write as he wants, and he certainly doesn’t claim comprehensive coverage, i really wouldn’t accuse him of pro-england bias. he strikes me as pretty fair - i may also be biased as another englishman but hey.
and blogs are, free, easy to start (only a little bit harder than criticising others’…) and needn’t be that much work (tho i imagine a fair few hours go into this one) so why not write one yourself and even up any perceived bias?
March 7th, 2008 at 1.04 pm
Will,
I am an Indian (you wud’ve guessed it) and till you made urreply to Naveed (whose comments were a load of ignorant shit), I always believed you to be non-biased. I’m someone who religiously goes thru ur blog daily (during office hrs) and never felt the need to join any of the ugly Ind-Oz spats that were going on here. But, when YOU showed such complete disregard for the World’s (officially) 2nd best test team, it hurt. But, as you said, your blog, your views.
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