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Maybe Waugh’s got a point
By Will 2 years ago, mid-May, 4 Comments »
Steve Waugh, not short of a word or too, last week said Australia lost the Ashes because they were far too nice and charitable to England and that they’d lost their aura. That as maybe, but frankly he’s missed the point.
Or has he? Marcus Trescothick, interviewed by Mark Nicholas, started a sentence with “Ah mate look.” Now, the more observant among you will know these three words, in varying order, smack of the Antipodeans. You can play state cricket in Australia for a decade; you can even be given the scared baggy green cap. But not until you use those three words in an interview are you truly accepted as having arrived as an Australian cricketer. “Ahh look mate” - “Ahh, listen mate” - “Look mate ahh” - “Mate look ah” - “mate ah look”.
Or maybe Marcus has been living in Australia during his exile…
4 Comments »The importance of being earnest
By Scott 2 years ago, mid-April, No Comments; be the first!
Tim de Lisle opened up in Cricinfo with an interesting post relating to independence in the media.
Trescothick is much liked, and even after his story changed, most commentators were gentle with him. But one pundit was conspicuously tough: Mike Atherton, cricket columnist for the Sunday Telegraph, who said Trescothick’s virus line was “so utterly implausible” that “ridicule is the only proper response”.
Atherton used to open the batting for England with Trescothick. He was a team-mate for years at Lancashire of Trescothick’s agent, Neil Fairbrother, who also came in for criticism in Atherton’s piece, albeit unnamed. The condemnation possibly went a touch too far, but it came from the right place: a belief in honesty. Atherton can’t stand spin - of the PR variety - and he is right to highlight the way it is spreading through the sports world.
Atherton is one of the best ex-player pundits for three reasons. He wants to get better; after a tentative start, his writing has steadily acquired more scope and flair. He is curious: he asks questions, while some ex-players still wait for the questions to come to them. And he has a clear grasp of the importance of being independent. He knows he is now batting not for England, but for his readers.
In a free press, that distinction is straightforward. In televised sport, it is becoming a grey area. The ultimate producer of cricket in India is now the Indian board. Atherton, who commentated for Sky on the India-England series, says local commentators were “asked not to mention sensitive subjects”. This provoked denials, but it will continue to be an issue. And some ex-players just don’t seem to see that it matters.
I posit that it is not quite so simple as this though. As a general rule of thumb, in whatever field you work in, you do not crap in your own nest. Cricket authorities are different in various places but all of them expect their broadcast partners to be supportive. And the management of the broadcasters themselves would be most displeased if the commentators were to disparage the game, lest they invite viewers to change the channel.
After all Michael Atherton would hardly expect the Sunday Telegraph to be very friendly to him if he bagged the paper in his column.
That is why there will always be a role for newspapers and blogs in cricket and indeed, in many other areas. We can ask the questions that broadcast media can not ask.
No Comments »England a ‘one man team’?
By Scott 2 years ago, mid-April, 6 Comments »
Actually that is a simplification of remarks that Matthew Hayden made in an interesting interview to The Wisden Cricketer magazine. I think if you challenged him on that score, what he would agree is that Andrew Flintoff is the player that made the difference between the two sides. He does add tremendous depth to England’s cause and I doubt England can be a real force in cricket without him.
Not that the likes of Simon Jones, Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick are not great cricketers. It is just that Flintoff completes the team, instead of just having a collection of useful cricketers.
It’s notable that Flintoff made an impression on Australia; indeed, so much so that selectors immediately started looking around for their own version. They invested hopes in Shane Watson, and he’s got a bit about him; a hard hitting batsman and a fast bowler that can get the ball up at around 140 kmph. However he injured himself in the Test against West Indies at the Gabba and his place has been taken by Andrew Symonds. Symonds has proved himself a modest cricketer at this level, and is no match for Flintoff, at least in Test cricket.
And sadly Watson’s comeback plans have been thwarted again. He scored 201 before retiring hurt in Queensland’s win in the Sheffield Shield, and that injury has now kept him out of the ODI leg of the Bangladesh tour. Australia will have to look elsewhere to find a match-winning all-rounder.
6 Comments »Trescothick had a virus
By Will 2 years ago, mid-April, 6 Comments »
So, Marcus Trescothick’s reasons for leaving India have been revealed today. He had a virus and cited the endless amount of international cricket as reasons for his departure. I hope he makes a swift return; his importance to England cannot be underestimated.
6 Comments »Craving news of Trescothick
By Will 2 years ago, at the start of April, 4 Comments »
It’s remarkable. Marcus Trescothick is still the most searched-for keyword on this site, and the biggest referrer from Google; people are gagging to hear of his personal life. People type in all sorts of crap into google. “Where is Marcus Trescothick?” “Marcus Trescothick wife marriage.” “trescothick breakdown” etc. It’s this lust for news of fallen heroes…he’s just a normal bloke who plays cricket, yet people are far more interested in his personal life!
4 Comments »Marcus Trescothick’s reasons for leaving India
By Will 2 years ago, at the start of March, 27 Comments »
Update March 22, 2008
Trescothick retires from internationals
Update November 14 2006
He’s left the Ashes
Update April 10 2006 He had a virus
In this age of unstoppable news broadcasts, 24/7 programmes and a culture desperate to hear the dirt on anyone remotely famous, the news blackout on Marcus Trescothick’s departure from India has been nothing but welcome.
It’s rare these days for anyone in the public eye not to bear the brunt of a seedy tabloid investigation; Shane Warne is one obvious example, and Ian Botham was perhaps the first cricketer in the modern era to really be exposed for his off-the-field misdoings (or not, whatever).
So although as a cricket fan and wannabe-journalist, I’m itching to know when Trescothick will return - purely for the good of the Test side - I couldn’t care less what his reasons for leaving India are. A tabloid, or someone with a burning desire to know, will no doubt find out soon enough but, for now, it’s a welcome relief from the norm, that a sportsman can get on with his life and deal with his problems in private. Let it remain that way (but let’s also hope whatever it is doesn’t stop him from returning for the one-dayers!)
27 Comments »Alastair Cook’s maiden Test century
By Will 2 years ago, at the start of March, 2 Comments »
If he showed a glimpse of his class in the first innings, Alastair Cook proved it today with an innings of remarkable composure, restraint and maturity to give England a genuine chance of forcing the most unlikely of victories on the final day. First came Marcus Trescothick as England’s fresh-faced left-handed opener. Then Andrew Strauss, albeit in fortuitous selectorial circumstances. England have unearthed a third who, on the basis of one innings at Nagpur, could be better than both.
The prophets of doom, myself included, predicted nothing less than a 3-0 drubbing by India before the Test started; Michael Vaughan’s wonky knee, Trescothick’s undisclosed problems and a swathe of injuries afflicted England. Not even the most optimistic observer could have forseen the situation England find themselves in after four days.
He joins Andrew Strauss, with whom he opened in this Test, to make a fifty and a hundred on debut. Michael Clarke was the last to do it for Australia; Virender Sehwag for India; Scott Styris for New Zealand and Dwayne Smith for the West Indies. In fact, Smith’s highest score since that hundred against South Africa is 42. Against the might of Bangladesh. So it’s not a certainty that debutant centurions should forge a successful Test career but - and I’m willing to eat my hat, if I have one left, should this not be true - Cook showed he has more than enough ability and determination to succeed at Test level.
Against a true master of legspin, Anil Kumble, he was calm and in control, deftly back-cutting and waiting for a bad ball. Against Kumble’s partner in crime, Harbhajan Singh, he was flustered but was patient enough, and disconcertingly mature, to realise that eventually a bad ball would come. Singh, like his team-mates, didn’t have a day to remember - nor was lady luck smiling on them, or even grimacing. However this was Cook’s first outing at this level, and he coped with absolutely everything. Strauss’s debut against the West Indies in 2004 was one to remember, undoubtedly, but Cook’s magical knock today was technically superior and all the more astonishing given his late arrival; it was made in the second innings, too.
If England win this Test - and there’s an awful lot more work to do - it must surely be regarded as one of the best in recent times, given their pre-series disasters. If anything, it proves one thing: never write a team off, and left-handers have a bloody easy time of it 
Disaster turns to farce
By Will 2 years ago, at the end of February, 3 Comments »
England’s disasterous preparations for the first Test is rapidly turning into a farce. First it was Michael Vaughan’s knee. Then Baroda-belly hit the spinners. Then Simon Jones had a wobbly stomach. Then Marcus Trescothick flew home. Now Simon Jones has recovered from his gut-ache and has twisted his knee. No, not his dodgy right knee (which he injured/snapped in Australia a few years ago) - his left knee! It’s all going horribly wrong.
The good news, though, is Andrew Flintoff has decided not to go home on or around the second Test, if / when his wife goes into labour for their second child. Flintoff is England’s captain for the remainder of the tour. (thoughts on this yesterday)
It’s almost funny…
3 Comments »Owais Shah added to squad
By Will 2 years ago, at the end of February, No Comments; be the first!
So then, Owais Shah has joined an ever-increasing list of “cover” players to join England’s squad in India. He acts as cover for Marcus Trescothick, who’s flown home citing personal reasons. Alastair Cook has also been called upon; in fact, he was called up for England’s tour of Pakistan, too, when Michael Vaughan’s knee played up. Cook smashed a double hundred against Australia in the summer (for Essex) and is a fabulous talent. More thoughts at The Googly.
No Comments »Trescothick goes home
By Will 2 years ago, at the end of February, 21 Comments »
Update November 14 2006
He’s left the Ashes
As if England’s situation couldn’t be worse, Marcus Trescothick has flown home for family reasons and might miss the Test series.
Also see: media blackout on Trescothick a welcome relief
21 Comments »Banger’s blog
By Will 2 years ago, at the end of February, 5 Comments »
Marcus Trescothick has started blogging. Well, his ghost has, anyway, or at least his biggest fan has. It’s all rather odd, but mildly entertaining, including things such as:
Well it started very badly, we sort of pulled it almost together in the middle, and then it started to fall apart again at the end.
Mostly it was long and very very hot. (aparently they clocked 40 deg during the afternoon). It was good practice; we’re going to have a lot of very long hot days in the field over the next month or two so we needed to see what it was going to feel like. But our batting is currently such a worry that I would have prefered to have got them out much quicker and give ourselves a day and half to really dig in and get some practice at getting runs.
Don’t they teach them how to spell in their “media training” things these days? Although, quite impressed with the excellent use of that semi-colon.
UPDATE: I’m officially concerned. Read some of the comments here. There are Mark_Bouchers, Stephen_Flemings and all sorts. All a bit odd, really!
5 Comments »Someone had blundered!
By Scott 3 years ago, mid-December, 3 Comments »
Jagadish mused on Trescothick’s folly in inviting Pakistan to bat first and then watching them run up over 350, and went down memory lane for other invitations that did not work out too well. He invites readers to give their vote for the biggest blunder (I voted for Ganguly’s inviting Australia to bat in the 2003 World Cup final, which led to Australia scoring 359).
Great idea, that.. Jagadish limits his post to ODI’s so I’ll make the two obvious Test blunders. Both of them were Ashes disasters.
In 2002, Nasser Hussain decided to invite Australia to bat in the First Test at the Gabba. Hayden and Ponting racked up centuries and plundered the English to be 2 for 364 at stumps. What was the blunder? Hussain no doubt thought his bowlers would get more assistance from the pitch then he thought, and he wasn’t helped that Simon Jones broke down after seven overs.
In 2005, Ricky Ponting lost the services of Glenn McGrath, but still felt confident enough to invite England to bat at Edgbaston. Freed from the stern discipline of McGrath, the English were bowled out by stumps, but they had racked up 407 at more then five an over. England seized the initative in the Ashes series and never gave it back.
Any other blunders come to mind in Tests?
3 Comments »Trescothick- Shoaib was the difference
By Scott 3 years ago, at the start of December, No Comments; be the first!
England opening batsman Marcus Trescothick conceded that England had been outplayed in Pakistan, and pinpoints Shoaib Akhtar as the difference:
There’s no point making excuses: we were outplayed, simple as that. They had qualities that we didn’t. Most critically, they had Shoaib Akhtar, who bowled better than I have ever seen him bowl before. Sure, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Danish Kaneria had big series, too, but it was Shoaib who kept putting us under pressure early on in our innings. Without him, Pakistan would have been a much less fearsome unit.
Shoaib is a huge figure in world cricket; a volatile, dynamic, and emotional man who has a huge role to play in Pakistani cricket, and I wrote about him at length the other day.
Trescothick also muses about the lessons England need to take from their defeat:
But the lesson here is that we have to learn to adapt. You can still be positive by scoring at two runs an over. We have to become flexible enough to control any situation.
The best example of this was our run-chase at Multan, which ended in failure and so set the tone for the series. We had two half-decent partnerships - first Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell, and then Geraint Jones and Shaun Udal - which relied on playing patiently and seeing off the bowlers. While it would have been nice to dash to a quick win - and the pitch wasn’t getting any younger - hindsight certainly suggests we were too eager that day.
You don’t get many opportunities to win games in Pakistan, so it really hurt to let that opportunity slip. We had outplayed them for most of the match, and if we had won it, I’m sure the whole tour would have been a completely different story.
In a three Test series, it is so hard to come back after you’ve dropped the First Test. Mismanaging the runchase as they did, England will have to learn if they want to do better in the sub-continent in future.
No Comments »Trescothick might fly home
By Will 3 years ago, mid-November, 11 Comments »
Update February 27 2006. You might be looking for this, instead.
This ‘aint good. Tresco’s father-in-law has fallen off his ladder - literally, not metaphorically, you understand. So he might be flying home.
He scored most of England’s run in the first Test, and Vaughan’s hardly put bat to ball all winter/tour. Alastair Cook, come on down!
11 Comments »Pakistan v England, 1st Test, 2nd day thoughts
By Will 3 years ago, mid-November, 7 Comments »
Another good day for England with a performance bordering on excellent - and certainly a disappointing and dismal one for Pakistan. Despite their extra-long tail, which is almost unheard of in these days of multi-dimensional cricketers and bowlers “that can bat a bit,” few expected them to capitulate as feebly as they did.
Mind you, it was due to some brilliant bowling from England. Each wicket-taking delivery would, I think, have accounted for better batsmen than the Pakistani tail. First to go was Sami, tempted into a swish outside off in Matthew Hoggard’s first over. Hoggard (perhaps unusually for him) was right on the money from ball one, in ideal dewy conditions, moving the ball away almost at will.
Andrew Flintoff, opening the bowling with Hoggard, accounted for Inzamam who remained England’s only thorn at the start of the day; but even he could only add a handful of runs to his overnight score. Again, Flintoff’s delivery was inch-perfect, squaring up Inzy and presenting Andrew Strauss with a sharp but undroppable chance at second slip, a position he is making his own. This was quality bowling, and England had suddenly seized the advantage.
It was all over very quickly. Pakistan had succumbed quickly and feebly, losing 5 for 30 in two fewer balls than 20 overs. Agony for the home side and, curiously, a “matter-of-fact” response from the visitors who appear almost to expect this kind of performance. Whether it’s due to years of my own agony in watching England capitulate, much like Pakistan had done today, or whatever - I can’t imagine the day where I expect England to perform like they did today.
The batting, then, was dominant, solid and few would have realised England’s woeful pre-Test form had been such a concern. Marcus Trescothick, who was one of the few afforded a run of form before this game, simply played a blinder; his 13th Test hundred was played with class, confidence and control throughout. Strauss was undone by pace and swing by Sami - who looks a prospect, but shouldn’t he be more than simply a potentially good bowler by now? - and Collingwood relit the doubts I have of his defensive technique, but it was otherwise a great batting display. Not least, indeed, by Ian Bell who was arguably the player under the most amount of pressure. His 71 (?) was solid, reliable and very unflashy - just the sort he needed, and I bet he’s secretly hoping his usual captain buggers off home to rest his knee…
10/10 England. Probably 2 for Pakistan.
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