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Great to have the county cricket season back this week, Mark Ramprakash started the season where he left off last term with a century for Surrey vs Lancs in the championship and Notts won their opening match after promotion, while in divison two Worcester’s Graeme Hick showed he is far from finished with a top knock of over 100. I was a happy chap today as Somerset got their campain off to a winning start in the 50 over friends provident trophy (good old blackwell)more to come from west country men PLEASE.
Now for the bad news, it’s just not cricket this game is suppose to be fair with every team having an equal opportunity, a level playing field but it gets so frustrating with bad light / rain stop play affecting results, points and possible promotion/relegation or even title campains if Somerset’s match was played yesterday then they would have 1point now instead of 2. I know it’s the same for all the teams and some times works in your favour when say following on but cricket matches and leagues should be won on the pitch and not from the heavens.If only the roofs could close like Wembly or the Millenium stadium.
Charles Darwin to conquer the World
The Notts win was the most surprising and galling (for those of us who had backed Kent). That they did it without Sidebottom and Broad was particularly impressive and it throws the whole division into doubt. I have a feeling that Hampshire might be heading for the trapdoor this year.
Good win by Somerset indeed, they are certainly starting strongly.
I have a feeling that Hampshire might be heading for the trapdoor this year.
There was talk that Pieterson was going to play today, in the local paper it said he had texted Trescothick saying how much he was looking forward to playing, probably trying to sort out a contract for the Indian pl. I think Hampshire’s big problem this season may well be the non replacement of spinners Warne and Udal but time will tell.
Charles Darwin to conquer the World
Agreed, Nathan – I presume (and correct me if not) that Warne would have counted as the overseas player again this season, so the onus should have been on finding as good a replacement international spinner as they could once it became apparent Fatboy Spin’s poker engagements would prevent his return.
As things stand, Hampshire’s sole specialist spinner this year is 18 year-old slow left armer Liam Dawson. Although a useful performer at Minor Counties level for Wiltshire, and the leading wicket taker for England U19s in Pakistan last winter, he is basically untried at county level and it’s simply going to be asking too much of him to even halfway fill Warne and Udal’s boots at this nascent stage of his career, I fancy.
Nor, I suspect, will the occasional ad hoc off-breaks of batsmen Benham, Brown, Carberry, Lamb and Pietersen realise too many wickets between them.
Further, they seem to be placing a lot of store in Shane Bond and Chris Tremlett running through enough top orders between them, but the former is no stranger to injury and the latter could be hauled away if England need him again – the back-up pace attack of Billy Taylor, James Tomlinson and two tyros looks no better than ordinary.
Yep, Hampshire = Division One toast as far as I’m concerned as well.
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Further, they seem to be placing a lot of store in Shane Bond and Chris Tremlett running through enough top orders between them
The only place you will see them together is in the physios room
I know fixtures should be random or whatever, but wasnt it disappointing (for us surrey fans) to see the Lancs game scheduled for late winter
The only place you will see them together is in the physios room
LOL Clive, I expect you to be proven right at some point this season!
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
British cricket has, oddly enough, been ruined by the international game, with our top players seemingly rarely available to serve the club that helped them earn their call-up in the first place. And with the IPL prepared to offer ridiculous sums to secure the presence of the likes of Pietersen, cricket in this country is only going to get worse (even our pitches will become foreign to us, and given our inability to judge a fairly readable surface in New Zealand we’re set to become a laughing stock).
It mystifies me why the likes of Robert Key have not been given a recent spell in the team, when the selectors don’t seem all that bothered by experimenting with an impenetrable pool of players in ‘nothing’ matches. There are countless county players who deserve a chance at international level, and could follow the Sidebottom (the best thing to happen to cricket in this country for a long time, if only for his attitude and the pride he shows when donning the Three Lions) phenomenon and actually excel in it. I think we’re far better rotating a core set of quality players in each position – as cricket isn’t wholly dependent upon understanding between team-mates – freeing up Strauss, Vaughan, Bell etc. to compete more regularly in domestic games
The ECB, much like its football, rugby and speedway counterparts, just doesn’t seem capable of working for the greater good of cricket – and that lack of ‘urgency’ filters down to the clubs themselves.
But I don’t know why anyone is even remotely surprised, this is England after all.
County cricket is better than it was, but it is still an unholy mess. Australian cricket is shaped like a pyramid, with every level feeding into the level above and everyone knowing who is responsible at every stage.
Whereas we are lost in a jumble of counties, minor counties, varying representative teams (what are the England Lions for?) academies of varying merit, age-based teams, local leagues and universities. And at the top, we are run by the county chairmen who see no further than the balance sheet in front of them. Why else would we have the absurd and pointless (even though Worcester won it last year) Pro40 competition? Why else would our fixture list look like some sort of word puzzle? (I have it on my wall now, with different competitions marked in different colours and it looks like an accident in a paint factory).There is quite frankly too much meaningless and low intensity cricket and no clear progression for players from youth to England team. The fact that any talented players at all emerge from it is despite the system not because of it. And we do have a lot of young talent coming through at the moment, at the under 19 and under 20 level. I guarantee most of that talent will be wasted.
Finally, though I am a great admirer of Sidebottom, I would be wary of assuming this means that county cricket is suddenly okay again. Sidebottom is something of a special case, having shown the ambition and determination to improve his bowling, move counties and seek help from Dennis Lillee amongst others. Most county trundlers remain in the mediocre category because the sheer amount of cricket we play does not encourage players to take the time to develop new skills (something that is done in the nets) nor does it toughen players up like Australian cricket. It is a treadmill of one game after another and the only time players feel the need to play with extra intensity is when their contracts are up or their team has a chance of winning something. Otherwise, they turn up, go through the motions and collect their money.
Giles Clarke the new ECB money-grabber in chief is in favour of squad rotation in the future, but frankly all that will do is expose county cricket even further since we simply do not have a pool of players with the skill and mental strength to do well at Test level. In some respects, the 2005 Ashes win was the worst thing that could happen since it fed our natural complacency.
In some respects, the 2005 Ashes win was the worst thing that could happen since it fed our natural complacency.
Certainly at international level, yes, and I’m not sure even the subsequent tonking Down Under quite shook the team out of its smug torpor.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
The general reaction of the England players to that humiliation was a collective shrug of the shoulders. Harmison in particular seemed unflustered by the whole experience.
And can anyone tell me why Harmison is in the 26 man ‘Performance’ squad announced yesterday? If there was a squad for apathy his name would be first on the list, but when was the last time he put in a ‘performance’?
I can only presume he’s there as the result of a combination of;
– past glories,
– the bounden belief that he is a better player when not mooching around the Southern Hemisphere citing homesickness,
– some lingering reservations that Broad and Tremlett still aren’t entirely ready to fill his boots as the over-tall quickie who hits the deck hard and whistles it past the batsmen’s noses.None of those three reasons carry any weight with me on recent exploits, I’m afraid.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Giles Clarke the new ECB money-grabber in chief
I remember when Giles the clown Clarke was Cheif Executive at Somerset and Andrew you have hit the nail right on the head, once he tried to ban me for bringing in two cans of strongbow into the ground, they expect you to cue for ages pay about £3.00 for a pint and if it’s a twenty20 game you miss the first innings. My mother in law bought my stepson a junior membership when Clarke was in charge only to find out that the twenty20 games didnt come included in the membership, money grabbing or what.Charles Darwin to conquer the World
Lord above, that’s Draconian!
We’ve never had a bother bringing alcohol into North Marine Road on our annual trips up to the Scarborough Cricket Festival, just so long as it had alll been decanted into plastic bottles first.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Lord above, that’s Draconian!
We’ve never had a bother bringing alcohol into North Marine Road on our annual trips up to the Scarborough Cricket Festival, just so long as it had alll been decanted into plastic bottles first.
gc
It’s becoming very hard to smuggle the cider into Taunton over the past few years, they have loads of overweight sercuity guards on the gates that search your bag on the way in, you cant even bribe these guys not like the good old stewards we use to have.
Lancashire and Somerset tomorrow, it’s going to be a big test for Somerset coming up against the likes of James Anderson, Flintoff, Law, Hodge, Loye and Sajid Mahmood but there’s a good buzz around Somerset at the moment and the 11/8 – 6/4 on offer might be worth a few quid with the draw being a no bet, Somerset’s record this played one won one so im being optimistic while i can be.
Charles Darwin to conquer the World
Think Somerset will have their work cut out to be honest and without Caddick, breaking down that Lancashire batting order will be tough. And when I checked last night, rain was forecast for all four days so I’d be playing the draw if it was anywhere over evens.
If any of the matches were to survive the weather, I would be interested in backing Sussex at home to Kent, since the latter have had a dreadful start to the season.
Durham v Surrey is a battle of bowlers v batsmen but rain is likely to have the last say as it will in the Yorks v Hampshire match.
Interesting feature of many of these games is the return of several England players to their respective counties. Northants v Warks will feature Panesar, Ambrose and Bell and so is likely to be a touch better than would be expected for a run of the mill Div 2 scrap. I backed the draw on that one at 6-4.
You are probably right Andrew regarding Somerset, Caddick will be missing for at least a couple of weeks and is a blow, but it’s the boys first game in div 1 for a long time and my heart is going to overrule my head. Good news coming off the press was Hildreth has signed a new contract which will keep him at Taunton to at least 2011 providing England dont snap him up and we never see him down here again.
Charles Darwin to conquer the World
Northants v Warks will feature Panesar, Ambrose and Bell and so is likely to be a touch better than would be expected for a run of the mill Div 2 scrap. I backed the draw on that one at 6-4.
Marginal preference for me would be for Warwickshire. I can’t see the Wantage Road pitches being quite as dry, care-worn and receptive to violent turn as Panesar, Brown and Boje would like so early in the season (which has hardly been snuff dry so far as it is), and the English-born back-up to Van der Wath and Klusener in the pace ranks is rather ordinary.
Warwickshire’s attack looks thinner than it has for a while as well, though, with several high-ish profile players departing close-season, but I think we’re still to see the very best of James Anyon and Tim Groenewald.
The signing of Sanath Jayasuria looks a very good one, too, and after years of proving up to the task of fending off some of the very best seam attacks in world cricket, I fancy him to put a few games out of the reach of opposing sides by swatting the up-and-down, workaday pace attacks of most English teams to all corners.
After last year’s bad season under Mark Greatbatch, the desire to impress under new coach Wheelybin Giles will be all the keener.
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Great to have the county cricket season back this week, Mark Ramprakash started the season where he left off last term with a century for Surrey vs Lancs in the championship and Notts won their opening match after promotion, while in divison two Worcester’s Graeme Hick showed he is far from finished with a top knock of over 100. I was a happy chap today as Somerset got their campain off to a winning start in the 50 over friends provident trophy (good old blackwell)more to come from west country men PLEASE.
Now for the bad news, it’s just not cricket this game is suppose to be fair with every team having an equal opportunity, a level playing field but it gets so frustrating with bad light / rain stop play affecting results, points and possible promotion/relegation or even title campains if Somerset’s match was played yesterday then they would have 1point now instead of 2. I know it’s the same for all the teams and some times works in your favour when say following on but cricket matches and leagues should be won on the pitch and not from the heavens.
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