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Complacent England?
By Will 2 years ago, at the start of June, 1 Comment »
Interesting day’s play today. Before tea, it looked like Sri Lanka were going to be bundled out for a paltry total before their best batsmen this series, Chaminda Vaas, dug them out of another sizeable whole. It’s a shame this is the last Test of the series, as there’s an interesting trend developing.
England look so utterly dominant in the field at times that you wonder how Sri Lanka will ever scratch out an innings. Yet with the (now dreaded) mention of the tail, England’s polished bowling and control seem to vanish out of the window. Sri Lanka will be chuffed to bits in reaching 231 (off the top of my head), and Vaas was again instrumental in getting them that far - so much so that I wrote some things about him.
It demonstrates Sri Lanka’s resiliance, certainly. But more importantly it exposes a curious problem with England’s bowlers (or attitude?) who, this series, have been caught short. I did say in my piece at Cricinfo that it “smacked of complacency” which, on reflection, is a little tough on them. But nevertheless, I think bowling attacks around the world have yet to react to the new wave of tailend batsmen; they’re a different beast these days, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they should be afforded any more respect than they ever were.
Ian Botham is of the opinion that tailenders should be bounced out - chin music and all that - and intimidated which, on the basis of the dross England bowled at Nos. 9, 10 and jack, is a fair idea. Yes tailenders have added defence to their armoury, but let’s not forget their position in the batting order.
1 Comment »Steve Waugh warns West Indies
By Will 3 years ago, at the start of November, 1 Comment »
But if the Windies waltz around imagining they are all Viv Richards then they may as well not turn up.
So concludes Steve Waugh in his recent column, where he warns West Indies against complacency. And, as ever, it appears Brian Lara has the world and his aunty on his shoulders. If he rises, his team might too. If he doesn’t, will the rest of his side bother to rise to the occasion? Ryan posted a link on similar lines earlier.
While we know all to well the crisis West Indian cricket finds itself in, Waugh’s handbrake analogy is very good and very true:
West Indies has undoubted talent with a dangerous batting line-up that can tear attacks apart. It is one that has enough strike power with the ball to cause problems, but it all hinges on their attitude which has acted like a handbrake since they lost Ambrose and Walsh.
Those halcian days of Walsh and Ambrose seem so long ago. And someone else (maybe it was Waugh himself?) recently said that the last time the West Indies toured Australia, they did so with Courtney Walsh. He of 500 bloody Test wickets - and they still weren’t a force. “What hope have they now?” was the argument. Come on, Windies - show some guts and fight the good fight.
1 Comment »