Monthly Archives: July 2013

Australia A in South Africa: 193 reasons David Warner should stay in Africa!

July 25, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , 2 Comments

David Warner’s must publicized mid Ashes tour diversion in Africa reaped rewards overnight with an explosive 193 runs to his credit against South Africa A on the first day of the first “Unofficial Test”. Batting at number 4 Warner dominated the South Africa A attack after coming in with Australia A in trouble at 2/46. He deserves our congratulations for such a good innings and, in my view, he must stay in South Africa to continue to rebuild his form outside of the focus that comes from playing in an Ashes tour.

I have to concede here: I am not a Warner fan. That said, I want the best for Australian cricket and I think that the worst possible thing Cricket Australia could do both for D Warner the cricketer AND the Australian cricket team is to rush him back to England. I have three reasons for this:

1. Whilst he is in South Africa he is facing test quality bowling without the pressure of needing to perform in the cauldron of the Ashes. Make no mistake: Kyle Abbott and Marchant de Lange, two of the bowlers from South Africa A, are no mugs and both have recorded seven wicket hauls in their limited test appearances to date. More runs in the subsequent games against these bowlers will only build his confidence.

2. I have long wanted David Warner to spend more time playing first class cricket to hone his game against the red ball before he returns to the test team. There is another unofficial test match to be played here and he must play in that game. He has only played in 13 first class games that are not test matches (of which he has played 19) and I have a hunch that the more first class games he plays the better he will get. A season in the Sheffield Shield, a full season, should follow this to help him build his craft.

3. Could there be anything worse for Warner’s confidence than coming back into the squad for the 4th test (it is patently too late for him to be selected for the 3rd test match now) after Australia has, in all likelihood, lost the series and then get a series of low scores? If Jimmy Anderson can exploit Shane Watson’s front pad then you can bet that he and David Saker have a plan they are ready to execute to expose the various flaws in Warner’s technique. The prospect of this is avoided if he stays where he is in Africa.

The rehabilitation of David Warner is only just starting and he is off to a flyer but, to me, the wisest course now would be to keep him away from the Ashes series and keep him playing first class cricket to build up his confidence and form. I am sure he will return a better and more rounded player and the Australian team, if he returns, will be much better for his time away.

The Ashes: What must Australia get out of Hove?

July 25, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

The aftermath of Australia’s performance at Lords and the war of words that has erupted from old players, pundits and punters alike is still fresh in the minds of many. That said, there is a game to be played by the Australian touring team at Hove starting on Friday that presents as the next challenge for Australian cricket and the next opportunity for the games of various Australian test stars to be analysed and dissected by those in the know and those who are not but think they are.

Shane Watson, Chris Rogers and Peter Siddle have been given the game off and are convalescing in London. Additionally, Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin and Ryan Harris have also been omitted from the Australian XI. One can expect that the six of them will be selected for the third test at Old Trafford. I have been a strong advocate for the same team, subject to injury issues, being selected for the third test so, if I am correct, this game probably does not present as a selection trial. That said, a player who blows the selectors away may well force his way into the team. Moreover, after the “Lords Massacre”, this game is the first of many that Australia will play along the road to regain some of the respect lost at Lords.

We are already off to a terrible start to any attempt to rebuild Australia’s place in the game given that because Australia is resting so many players it has been required to call on Asthon Turner (from the Hampshire Academy) to fill the final spot in the team. Is it really the message that Cricket Australia wants to send? That this tour match is so unimportant after a catastrophic loss that it refuses to select a team from within its own squad. Given the bad press it has received already with its timing of the BBL marketing campaign I would have thought Cricket Australia would have been smarter than this.

Anyhow, that controversy aside, here are my 4 key outcomes that we must see from the Australians in this game for it to be considered a small step forward in the context of Australian cricket:

Fight!

The biggest criticism of many, including me, of the Australian performance at Lords was that the players did not appear, outwardly, to stand up and scrap when it was needed most. I am sure they were all giving their collective best but the perception that Australia lacked fight in that game is damaging to the reputation of Australian cricket to say the least! The team selected here must show some fight, particularly is Sussex starts to get on top at any point in the game.

Dig in!

It stood out like the proverbial in the second test that Australia’s batting order simply did not have the application to spend long times at the crease without playing a false shot. In the early games of this tour Australia’s run rate was exceptional and the hundreds flowed. Whilst that is fine for a tour match, the Australian batsmen who are playing need time at the wicket. I would much prefer to see Uzman Khawaja, for example, score a hundred in this game of 200 balls rather than at a run a ball because it will give him time at the wicket and help with temperament for the furnace of test match cricket.

Will the real James Faulkner please show up?

If Faulkner plays well in this game he should be debuting for Australia at Old Trafford. For the purposes of the balance of the bowling attack a swing bowling left armer is a must to accompany Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris. His batting will help solidify the lower middle order and he is an aggressive cricketer that will lift the vibe in the team.

Has the confidence of Nathan Lyon been too dented?

I have been vehement in my view that Nathan Lyon ought to been selected for the first test of this series at Trent Bridge and Ashton Agar’s 98 aside Australia has looked short a quality spinner in both games so far. The fact that 11 of Australia’s 20 wickets at Lords were taken by off spin bowling whilst Australia’s best spinner was the decidedly part time Steve Smith MUST mean Nathan Lyon is in the frame to return at Old Trafford. His return though must hinge on what his confidence level is like after being so inexplicably dropped. I sincerely hope that the selection panel have not stuffed him up mentally because, frankly, we need him.

Despite the travesty of a team Australia has selected for this game, a positive outcome for Australia is a must. A negative outcome, be it through poor cricket or even a loss will just make this tour even more shambolic and uninspiring for pundits and fans that is has already become.

Start where you Stand by Berton Braley

July 25, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , Leave a comment

This poem is possibly my favourite poem of all and I only found it a couple of years ago when, I will concede, I was at the depths of despair. It is a great poem and has a compelling message about dealing with failure and starting again.

Start where you stand and never mind the past,
The past won’t help you in beginning new,
If you have left it all behind at last
Why, that’s enough, you’re done with it, you’re through;
This is another chapter in the book,
This is another race that you have planned,
Don’t give the vanished days a backward look,
Start where you stand.

The world won’t care about your old defeats
If you can start anew and win success;
The future is your time, and time is fleet
And there is much of work and strain and stress;
Forget the buried woes and dead despairs,
Here is a brand-new trial right at hand,
The future is for him who does and dares,
Start where you stand.

Old failures will not halt, old triumphs aid,
Today’s the thing, tomorrow soon will be;
Get in the fight and face it unafraid,
And leave the past to ancient history,
What has been, has been; yesterday is dead
And by it you are neither blessed nor banned;
Take courage, man, be brave and drive ahead,
Start where you stand.’

Invictus by William Ernest Henley

July 24, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , 3 Comments

I have been blessed with a love of poetry and from time to time return to some favourite tomes of poetry to inspire me and direct my mind to what is important. It is not that the poetry is particularly poignant it is that the words provide trigger points in my brain that push key message forward in my brain. Invictus by William Ernest Henley is one such poem and a transpose it below. Enjoy!

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

I love this poem and it would be rarely a week that goes by that I do not read it and reflect on the importance to be the master of my fate and the captain of my soul. I hope you get as much out of the poem as I do!

Cricket by Request, Part 2: If not Shane Watson then who?

July 23, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , Leave a comment

As part of the ongoing discussion around the place of Shane Watson in the Australian cricket team I was challenged to have a look at the credentials of the other opening batsman who are presently playing in the Sheffield Shield to come up with a viable alternative player, if there is one.

For the purposes of this exercise I have come up with a formula that could be used to consider the prospects of the current contenders in the first class game. That formula is this: the batsman must be an opening batsman rather than a “stop gap”, he must have played at least 20 first class games and his batting average must by greater than 40 runs per innings. I have gone with a right hander because of a personal view that the best opening partnerships include a left and right hander (Matt Hayden and Justin Langer’s union aside).

First things first, in last year’s Sheffield Shield competition there were 28 openers used by the 6 states in the competition across the 31 games played, including the final. Of those openers there are 4 that I consider to be of the nature of “stop gap” openers; viz., openers who are opening in a match situation because of injury or tactical reasons only. This recent season Messrs Hanscombe, Carters, Burns, Sheridan and Hill fall into that category.

So the list of openers is culled to 23 potential candidates. Of those openers only 8 are right handed which reduces our pool of players to these names: Moller, Silk, Davis, Nevill, Klinger, Kemp, Raphael and Dawson. Of these players only Davis, Nevill, Klinger and Dawson have played more than 20 first class games to see them go through to the final test: what do they average in first class cricket. For this purpose I have considered two metrics: average last year and career average to test whether the form of the player is improving over time or reducing.

Unfortunately the numbers here make very very ordinary reading as follows:

Liam Davis averaged 18.06 last season and over a 40 game career averages 31.22.

Peter Nevill averaged 26.31 last season and over a 31 game career averages 37.62.

Michael Klinger averaged 19.41 last season and over a 113 game career averages 37.26.

David Dawson averaged 25.33 last season and over a 31 game career averages 24.07.

If I release the metaphorical statistical hold on the number of games a player has played in order to qualify to be Watson’s replacement for this exercise then Jordan Silk would qualify given his excellent start to his first class career. That said, I could not believe for a second that selecting a player after 3 shield games and 2 additional first class game could possibly by selected to play for Australia: it is just too soon.

So: what does this all mean? Well, based on the criteria that was set for this exercise there is no replacement for Shane Watson in the team as a right handed opening batsman. Now before you all jump all over me and suggest that there is no need to make the distinction between left and right handed openers I have also considered how left handed openers went last year in the Sheffield Shield competition. Only two left handed opening batsmen in first class cricket in Australia last summer averaged over 40 and they were Chris Rogers and Phil Hughes. Both are already in the Australian team.

As I final postscript I also had pause to consider the credentials of the right handed opener currently opening for the Australian A team in its tour of South Africa, Aaron Finch. Finch played four first class games last season for Victoria albeit none of them as an opener and averaged 11.33. He has a career average of 29.07 in 31 games. The bizarre nature of his selection as an opener for Australia A is just flabbergasting given that it is patently NOT on form.

All in all, for those fans yearning for a replacement of Shane Watson from the ranks of domestic cricket in Australia then you might be waiting some time. Simply put, there is no one in the wings smashing down the door to be selected in his place.

The Ashes: Injury, Opportunity and Courage?

July 23, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , 3 Comments

Just reading the news out of London this morning that James Pattinson is to be sent home from England having suffered an “early stage low back stress fracture”. I tweeted during the second that I was worried he was hurt and am sad that that worry has become reality.

This is not a blog to say “I told you so though”. Simply put, the return home of J Pattinson presents a massive opportunity to Australia. There was an obvious sameness about the fast bowling attack at Lords that could now be broken up with the selection of James Faulkner. I know I decried the notion of mass changes to the team for the test at Old Trafford but this misery for Pattinson presents the opportunity to select a genuine all rounder who swings the ball and plays with aggression. He would bat number 8 and take the new bowl with Ryan Harris if selected in my view.

It will be a courageous selection with the series on the line. The obvious replacement is the return of Mitchell Starc and that is the “safe” option but given his form in the first test I think it is better for the selectors to be bold rather than revert to type here.

The other news overnight suggest a hint that Matthew Wade maybe set to be recalled as a batsman. Does Australia really need more disruption to its top six? Surely the better option is to give the guys in the top six a final chance in the 3rd test to get the job done. Afterall these make shift solutions (a wicketkeeper playing as a batsman is obviously one such solution) to real problems in the team so rarely work why risk it now?

Selecting a cricket team when the team’s form is down is no doubt a hard job. Even harder is to have the courage to stick with the team the selectors thought could win at Lords despite the shambolic result. The question is: will the selectors show courage and stick with the last side (injury aside) or bow to the pressure of a country of fans and pundits whose expectations are too high?

Only time will tell!