Tag Archives: Cricket Australia

The Ashes: 5th Test Preview

August 21, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

Tonight is the night that some Australian cricket fans have been praying would come quickly since the disaster that was the Lords Test match: the start of the last test match of the Ashes series. To say that it has largely been a tour of discontent for the Australia cricket team and its fans would be an understatement. Indeed, one only needs to consider that Australia has used all but one player from its original squad and two players from outside the original squad in this series as an indicia of how well things have gone for the baggy greens.

It wouldn’t be a test match that Australia is competing in at present without there being a selection change from the last test and this premise has held true in the lead up to this test match with James Faulkner coming in for Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Starc returning, for the second time, for his third test on tour in place of Jackson Bird. Shane Watson will bat at 3 and Brad Haddin at 6 in another realignment to the top order for Australia.

As an Australian fan I come into this game with the most limited of expectations to be honest. More changes, including one weakening the batting lineup, could not fill Australian fans with any resembling confidence. Equally, the Australian team will be desperate to avoid a 4-0 result and Darren Lehmann will have given them a rev up that would have metaphorically torn the paint from the walls of the dressing room in Chester-le-Street after the capitulation of the batting order there.

On the other hand the English team will come into this game on high after Stuart Broad’s excellent performance with the ball lead them to victory last time out. They have been forced to make two changes to their squad, albeit only one from the starting lineup, with Bresnan and Onions out hurt and Woakes and Kerrigan into the squad of 14. There is some thought that Kerrigan might play and bowl in tandem with Graeme Swann but a decision on that has yet to be made by the English hierarchy.

It is striking that for Australia there are careers on the line, coupled with those that have already been ended it would seem by this tour (Cowan and Khawaja), with a poor performance from the likes of Watson and Smith likely to find themselves on the outer if they perform badly here. At the same time England have no such problems though they will be looking to their young charges in Bairstow and Root (his 180 aside) to lift their performances in order to secure their positions for the summer tour to Australia.

There are also some massive risks arising for Australia out of a game that really is a dead rubber. Ryan Harris plays his 4th test match in a row for the first time in his career and given his history of injuries he will be watched closely by fans of both teams for any sign of a limp. Peter Siddle also looked completely spent at the end of the 4th test so I am hoping he is had sufficient time to refresh physically and mentally for this game. It would be final nail in the coffin of a tour of discontent for one of Australia’s two key strike bowlers for the return series to suffer a long term injury in this test match. There are also similar risks for England in playing Jimmy Anderson in this test match as he has not looked the bowler he was at Trent Bridge since that test match and seems down on enthusiasm as well as form.

It goes without saying that the umpiring in this series has been woeful at best and there is a real possibility that an umpiring drama at some point will arise. Aleem Dar and Kumar Dharmasena are the men in the middle for this game whilst the woefully out of form Tony Hill is in the TV hot seat. Roshan Mahanama will referee his 45th test match here whilst Richard Kettleborough is the 4th umpire.

The toss of the coin will be vital: particularly for England who will be desperate to bowl last and unleash Graeme Swann on a worn wicket against an Australian batting lineup replete with batsman all at sea so far when facing his bowling. It goes without saying that whichever captain wins the toss, he will bat first.

Key Players:

Shane Watson: Is there are more maligned representative of Australia in any sport at the moment than Shane Watson? I do not wish to troll over that old ground however, suffice it say, he has the opportunity in this game to again prove his doubters wrong. He has moved back up to the engine room of the order to bat at number 3 and one would expect that he will have the pressure off him to bowl a significant number of overs given the selection of Faulkner. If Watson scores runs at the Oval, Australia will score 300 plus for only the second time on the tour and put themselves in a good position to push for victory.

Jonathon Trott: If you had have told me at the start of this series that by the end of the fourth test match Jonathan Trott would have only scored 194 runs so far I would have been asking you to check your medication! Trott has been in the middle for almost all of England’s excellent results since he debuted at this same ground against this same opponent in the final test of the 2009 Ashes. He scored a hundred on debut in that game and given his drought so far with the willow it would surprise me not if he scored one here for England. He is a class player and is certainly due. Of course, when he scores runs the statistics show that England generally win so if he finally puts his mark on the series here that will bode well for them.

Prediction: Head says England because I just don’t think Australia has selected a balanced lineup here given that batting has been the weakness all series and the selectors have weakened rather than strengthened that aspect of the team. Heart and every other fibre of my being wants to see Australia win. I fear though that this is going to be another very tough test match for Australia fans.

Play commences in a little under 3 hours.

Cricket in Australia: Mickey Arthur opens up

August 20, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , Leave a comment

Mickey Arthur has been quoted thusly in the press in Australia today when speaking about the young players that came into the team during his tenure:

“They’re good players, they’re not great players. They’re earning obscene amounts of money and they’ve got big egos, but they don’t know the best way to go about it … we had no leaders there.”

If you were wondering: these were the players that debuted, in test match cricket, during Mickey Arthur’s era in control of the Australia team (the span being from November 2011 through to June 2013):

James Pattinson
Mitchell Starc
David Warner
Ed Cowan
Matthew Wade
Rob Quiney
Jon Hastings
Jackson Bird
Moses Henriques
Glenn Maxwell

It is trite to say but this comment from Arthur, if a true reflection on the state of things, is a pretty sad indictment on these players coming into the test match set up and, indeed, the cricket program in Australia more broadly. I know I have written about this before and, frankly, I feel like I am whipping the metaphorical dead horse but is it not striking that the bulk of these players have had extremely limited first class careers of note before their selection in Australia test team?

Here the statistics in this regard:

James Pattinson: 8 games (all games are first class for the purposes of this exercise)
Mitchell Starc: 16 games
David Warner: 10 games
Ed Cowan: 52 games
Matthew Wade: 41 games
Rob Quiney: 49 games
Jon Hastings: 26 games
Jackson Bird: 17 games
Moses Henriques: 39 games
Glenn Maxwell: 15 games

I know Australia does not appear to be spoilt for choice for players to select at the moment but it could hardly be suggested that, Cowan, Wade and Quiney aside, this list of players have had anything resembling the first class apprenticeship that players of the past received. That being the case is it all surprising that they are not fully rounded players who “know the best way to go about it” when they enter the team? By extension it must be asked if it is really the coach of the test match team’s job to complete the education of Australia’s top players?

It seems to me that something has gone horribly amiss in the way in which cricket (as a sport) and Cricket Australia (as the ultimate governing body of said sport) is developing the young players for the next step into the test match team. It would be simple to say that said players are not playing enough first class cricket and are not getting an opportunity early enough to prove themselves.

That said, it has often been said that the simplest answer is often the right one and I suspect it is the case here. One only needs to look at the England set up to see that they are getting there pathway to the test team correct where Australia is failing. For this purpose consider these recent debutants in test match cricket for England and the number of first class games they have played:

Jonny Bairstow: 47 games
James Taylor: 76 games
Nick Compton: 99 games
Joe Root: 36 games

England’s young cricketers, even on the foregoing evidence, are getting more first class cricket and, therefore, more of an apprenticeship before they reach the big time of test cricket.

Again I concede that this may be a simplistic analysis but surely one of things that cricket in Australia must be looking at to ensure that the games of our future test players are complete, or as near as they can be to being complete, is giving them more first class cricket?

That does not appear to be the case though in the current climate in Australia given the enhanced and elongated focus on short form cricket and the fact that our best young players are being pushed into the international short form of the game ever faster than they have been before.

Final comment: I will leave you with a question … how can we expect our young players to succeed when we don’t give them the tools to even compete? At the moment the structure in Australia promotes the fast tracking of players through the short form of the game but that approach has been about as successful as it would be for a law firm to send a 1st year lawyer to the High Court to argue an appeal. We need to get back to basics and give the players the building blocks to develop their games. The “on the job” training method is not working and is only serving to inflate egos which can only be a bad thing for cricket in Australia in the long term.

Cricket: Pat Cummins out for the season … Again

August 19, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , Leave a comment

News from Cricket Australia Towers regarding Pat Cummins is both saddening and unsurprising: he is out for the whole of the 2013/14 domestic season with a recurrence of a lower back stress fracture.

Many people are scratching their heads about how to deal with Cummins and are confused about whether he should be bowling more or less. It is pretty obvious that his problems started after (or indeed whilst) bowling 65 overs in the Shield final in March 2011. It is also pretty obvious that that was a woeful example of over bowling of a young and immature cricketer.

That does not mean he does not need more bowling however. That means before he was asked to bowl such a long series of spells he did not have enough bowling. I maintain that Cummins needs to have a season or two away from the international scene in domestic cricket to bowl more and to get his body ready for the rigours of international cricket. He is still young and still developing and yet every time he gets fit he is thrust straight back into the lions den. It is time for Cricket Australia to admit that his fast tracking is not working and it is time for a different approach to be taken.

One can only hope Cricket Australia is alive to this and implements a different approach. If they don’t then the name Pat Cummins could be consigned to the ranks of “might have been but for injury” all too soon.

The Ashes: More changes afoot for Australia in the 5th test … why? And who?

August 19, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

It has been reported in the News Limited press, who have been uncannily correct in their prediction of changes to the Australian team this tour (is Malcolm Conn actually a selector?), that there will be at least two changes to the Australian team for the 5th test at the Oval with Usman Khawaja and Jackson Bird to be left out.

I have been overt previously in other posts on this blog and will say it again: I firmly believe that Australia should make as limited as possible changes to the team for this test match and, in particular, should not be tinkering further with the batting line-up. That said, given Malcolm Conn’s uncanny knack for getting this stuff right, it looks certain that wishes of fans like me will be left unsated and thus it is important to look at who might be wearing the baggy green come the toss of coin at the Oval.

Thus, of the players in the squad at the moment who ought be the replacements for Khawaja and Bird?

The batters who can come are: Phil Hughes, Ed Cowan and Matthew Wade. The favourite, he is the darling of the News Limited press after all, is Phil Hughes. To be honest though, despite that sarcastic assessment, Hughes has been the form batter for Australia in first class matches played on tour with 436 runs at an average of 62 with 5 fifties. If a change is to be made, on form, Hughes must be the man to come in. Of the other contenders: Wade has played only 1 first class game on tour and that, of itself, must count him out of the selection frame whilst Cowan would appear to be on the outer with the NSP never to return despite a solid performance in the first class games on tour.

The bowling stakes come down to a race in two between James Faulkner and Mitchell Starc. I have already written at length about why James Faulkner ought be selected. I concede that this would be a selection based on potential rather than form given that in the 3 first class games he has played on tour he has taken only 7 wickets at an average of 32. Starc, form wise, is the clear selection option given that in his 4 first class games on tour he has taken 16 wickets at an average of a shade under 21. In test matches he has played on tour he performed admirably despite being dropped twice with 8 wickets at an average of 27. He has been punished it would seem for being erratic at times and not being able to create pressure on the English batters.

On the basis of the foregoing:

1. If Khawaja is to be dropped then I think it is clear that Phil Hughes will return. I disagree with that move but if it is happening then one must accept same and move on.
2. On the bowling front, form suggests Starc will be selected however I think that would be a narrow minded mistake given the opportunity to give Faulkner a game ought, frankly, be irresistible.

If changes are going to be made, which I am against, then is dropping Khawaja and Bird the only changes that should be made? I think that there are some other changes, given that change seems to be happening, that could also be made. For example, on form can anyone convince me that Steve Smith is in any better form with the willow than Khawaja? Aside from an early half century in the first test and 89 in partnership with the captain in the 3rd test he has not passed 20 in six other innings. If there was another batsman in the squad, given Cowan is on the outer and Wade’s lack of cricket, would he survive the rearrangement of deck chairs seemingly being undertaken by the NSP? I, frankly, doubt it.

Given Brad Haddin’s poor form with the willow (170 runs at 25 in the test matches) it is surprising that there is not more pressure on his position in the team (given Australia’s fascination with batting wicket keepers) but, again, that may have more to do with Matthew Wade’s lack of first class cricket on tour than anything else. It must be said though that aside from a couple of mishaps at Lords Haddin has been in fine form with the gloves and thus making a change would solely be for batting reasons and they are, in my view, the wrong reasons to be changing a wicketkeeper.

On the bowling side, and I know I am beating a dead horse here, is it time for Peter Siddle to have a rest? Since his 5/50 in the first innings of the first test at Trent Bridge, which most unbiased fans would say was more luck than good bowling, Siddle has taken 12 wickets in 7 innings at an average of 33. At Chester-le-Street he struggled and looked like he was spent as early as the English first innings. If changes are being made then I would suggest that Siddle be rested and Faulkner be selected in his place (if Starc is coming in for Bird).

England lead the series 3-0 and will be desperate to complete 4-0 victory at the Oval. Australia will be desperate to finish the series with a win and with that in mind I advocate as few changes as possible. If I got my way, the team for the final test would be:

Rogers, Warner, Khawaja, Clarke, Smith, Watson, Haddin, Faulkner, Siddle, Harris, Lyon

If more changes are to made, as suggested by Malcolm Conn, then I would go further than just dropping Khawaja and Bird. Steve Smith can count himself lucky there is not another batsman on tour and I would rest Siddle. My preferred team in that context would be:

Rogers, Warner, Hughes, Clarke, Smith, Watson, Haddin, Faulkner, Starc, Harris, Lyon

It will be very interesting to see what the Australian selectors will do. Obviously the avoidance of more knee jerk reactions to Australia’s current form would be preferred but that does not seem to be an option the NSP is alive to.

Only 2 days till the final test of this, frankly, terrible tour for Australia begins. The final day of the test, whichever one it is, can not come soon enough for Australian fans.

Postscript: Before those who have questioned my keenness to see David Warner not in the team, I am alive to the contradiction the foregoing presents. I remain firmly of the view that he, and Australian cricket, would be better served by him spending a full season in the Sheffield Shield. I do not believe he should be in the test team but it is obvious that he is in there to stay at the moment so for present purposes I am not going to seek to push my view any further.

The Ashes Tour: Tour Game Travesty Day 2

August 18, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Bad light stopped play on day 2 of the Australians’ tour match against the English Lions at Northampton and after a 68 over centre wicket practice for the Australians the match was declared a draw. Of the three batters seemingly fighting for two spots in the Australian team, Hughes, Smith and Khawaja, only Hughes spent a long time at the crease taking 92 balls to scratch out 30.

As I said yesterday: this was a terrible act of scheduling by the ECB and Cricket Australia playing a glorified net session or centre wicket practice for 2 days heading into the last test of the Ashes series. I guess though it is important to look for positives in every situation and I can see two here: Shane Watson did not get hurt and the final test is a dead rubber so at this net session didn’t make things worse for Australia.

Being on the last test!

Cricket: Sam Robson and the baggy green? Red Herring or indicative of a bigger issue?

August 16, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , , 2 Comments

So here is the latest from Cricket Australia Towers: they are going to change the rules of eligibility of players able to play in domestic competitions by making it easier for dual passport holding players to play. Why are they doing this and why are they doing this now? I have one name for you: Sam Robson. The “now” part is simple too: two weeks ago he qualified to play for England despite being Sydney born.

Only the closest of cricket watchers will know who Sam Robson is, or at least they would have until this season when he has exploded into a rich vein of form for his county side Middlesex for whom he has scored 3 hundreds at the top of the order and averaged 62.06. Six years ago, as an 18 year old, and behind the likes of Hughes, Katich et al in New South Wales he moved to England to play first class cricket. In fact, he is enamoured with the county game given that he is quoted as believing that the 16 four-day matches in that competition is better for his development than the Sheffield Shield competition. He returns to Australia in our summer to play club cricket for Easts in Sydney but under current rules cannot play in the Sheffield Shield competition.

So why then is Cricket Australia (and the NSW set up) moving for this rule change? Obviously those in power at Cricket Australia Towers have looked at the current batting line up and decided that the Australian line up needs another change and the injection of a young right handed batsman who has never played on Australian pitches is the answer.

Here is the thing for me: Robson, who I am sure is a lovely bloke, made a decision to move to England to further his career for which he is to be congratulated. He has had no part of the Australian set up though since playing for Australian U19s. He has not played a first class game on an Australian wicket. Most particularly though, there are other players of Robson’s vintage who have done the hard yards in Australia, worked their way through whatever roadblocks there were and are now playing at the first class (and test) level who also deserve a chance.

A cursory examination of the player list from Robson’s 9 Australia U 19 XI fixtures shows that only Phil Hughes is still playing in even first class cricket from the batters who were selected in any of those 9 fixtures. If one broadens the timeframe to the teams in the year preceding and the year following Robson’s time in the U19 set up some other names of note arise: Usman Khawaja, Tom Cooper, Steve Smith, Nic Maddinson. Additionally some names on the fringe of first class cricket in Australia also come up like Hill and Stoinis.

It is simplistic to say but should the powers that be at Cricket Australia Towers be rewarding someone for abandoning cricket in this country just because he is suddenly in a rich vein of form? My personal view at the start of writing this post was that CA should not be doing that (and that view has not changed) but the more I looked at the Australian U19 Xis from Robson’s time the more a worrying trend arose that is a bigger issue that needs to be discussed whether Robson plays for Australia or England or no one. The trend is simple: Phil Hughes, Michael Hill and Sam Robson aside not one batsman who played in the 9 under 19 fixtures that Robson played is currently playing first class cricket. Additionally, no one else is even playing Second XI cricket for their state at the moment. It is worth bearing in mind that Robson played in those games as leg spin bowling all rounder rather than an opening batsman and, on my count, some 13 other batters were used.

This all raises this question: what is happening to our best young batters between the ages of 20 and 25 that stops them from taking the next step? Robson had to move to England to get a chance, Michael Hill has played 37 fewer first class games than Robson in a sporadic career and Phil Hughes is a young star of the game. The rest are, at best, languishing in club cricket or, at worst, are not playing at all. The strange part of this is that presently in Australia our top cricketers play so little Sheffield Shield cricket (between test, ODI, T20, BBL and KFC and sock commercial commitments) that it is now considered very much behind the County Competition in stature yet some of our best young cricketers still cannot pierce the metaphorical glass ceiling and get a run.

Rather than rush through a rule change that could see Sam Robson in a baggy green (as an aside has anyone thought of what kind of look it would be for Cricket Australia if they change the rule and he still says no OR Cricket NSW don’t select him?) maybe those in the seats of power at Cricket Australia Towers need to look more closely at the development of all of our young cricketers and consider methodologies for keeping those cricketers in the game rather than selecting someone developed in another system? Surely a long term solution is better for Australian cricket than a stop gap one?

A final comment: Nic Maddinson has played 27 games of first class cricket, averages the same as Robson and is two years younger. Plus he has been committed to the Australian system since day one. Shouldn’t he be getting first crack at the team?