Tag Archives: Cricket Australia

The Ashes 2013/14 Countdown: Day 79 … Still waiting for a First Class fixture list

September 3, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , Leave a comment

I wrote recently about what I consider to be Australia’s short preparation time for the upcoming Ashes series. As we sit here now, 79 days before the first ball will be bowled at the Gabba, we still have not seen from Cricket Australia the schedule for first class matches for the 2013/14 season.

How is this so? Surely the focus for Cricket Australia must be on preparation for the Ashes and surely the way to prepare for any test match series, let alone an Ashes series, is to have the players projected to play in said series playing first class cricket? You would not know it though given what we have been provided with so far from Cricket Australia. Between launching the Big Bash League, press releases about 5 day and day night first class games and spruiking the selection of Fawad Ahmed those in charge at Cricket Australia Towers have been silent on the season to come.

It has been postulated since the BBL launch that Cricket Australia will be looking to push through the Ryobi Cup fixtures before the BBL starts which would mean, one presupposes, that those fixtures will need to take place in October and November which precisely when the players in the test team should be tuning up for the Ashes series. There is a real risk that, not only will some of Australia’s key players be in India playing in a seven game series of one day internationals that means nothing, the remaining key players could be stuck playing Ryobi Cup cricket rather than first class cricket. Those propositions could hardly be considered to be good for preparing for a test match series.

Am I missing something here? Or is this just another example of the money lining the pockets of those at Cricket Australia Towers blinding them from their principal role which is to procure positive results? The fact that I can still buy tickets for the first test at the Gabba speaks volumes doesn’t it? In 2006 and 2009 the scramble to purchase tickets saw many a professional ignore his or her clients and staff on the day the tickets were released just to make sure they got tickets before they sold out and sell out the tickets did. The current blip in Australia’s form, born out of, in my view in large part, terrible preparation will continue to reduce crowd numbers. The question is though, will the crowd numbers reduce enough for Cricket Australia to take their eyes off the pot of gold at the end of the BBL rainbow and off gimmicks like day night first class games and back onto Cricket Australia’s core job of acting in the best interests of Australian cricket and, simply, winning?

One suspects that it will not, because if the pasting in India and then the 3-0 loss in England did not bring the importance of winning test matches and preparing to win said test matches to the forefront of the minds of those running the game in this country then nothing will.

With the projected preparation Australia is expected to have, can anyone see them challenging England? Just based on the preparation, which is where Australia should be gaining an advantage in a home series but don’t seem to be taking the opportunity to, I cannot see Australia’s challenge being anything more than a whimper.

If this is the ultimate outcome then blame must rest squarely at the feet of those in charge of the game. Will it then be time for the Sutherland era at the top to come to an end? One can only hope so!

The Warner Files: finally Cricket Australia sees sense

September 1, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , Leave a comment

I have been calling for David Warner to be dropped from the Australian cricket team for some time on form. In case you missed my writing on this here is a selection of my thoughts explaining why Warner should be dropped and returned to first class cricket:

David Warner: time to consider a “mature age” apprenticeship? |
https://shumpty77.com/2012/11/12/david-warner-time-to-consider-a-mature-age-apprenticeship/

The Warner Controversy: where to from here? |
https://shumpty77.com/2013/05/22/the-warner-controversy-where-to-from-here/

Australia A in South Africa: 193 reasons David Warner should stay in Africa! |
https://shumpty77.com/2013/07/25/australia-a-in-south-africa-193-reasons-david-warner-should-stay-in-africa/

Whilst it has happened in the One Day International format it is still an important development for Warner.

One can only hope that now he will go back and get some form in the Sheffield Shield and work on his game. It has been said by many that I have been calling for this move simply because I am not a fan but all I have been calling for is exactly this opportunity to be given to him. I sincerely hope he takes the opportunity now given.

Ashes 13/14 Countdown: Day 85 – How can you prepare for an Ashes series in India?

August 28, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , Leave a comment

There are now 85 days until the first test of the 2013-14 Ashes Series in Australia starts at the ‘Gabba. Off the back of a 3-0 drubbing in England Australia will be looking win back the urn on home soil for the first time since the epic 2006-07 series. Obviously then the preparation for this series will be vital.

For those wondering, here is the schedule of games the Australia team has committed to in the next 85 days:

Date Match Type Opponent
29/08/13 T20 England
31/08/13 T20 England
03/09/13 ODI Scotland
06/09/13 ODI England
08/09/13 ODI England
11/09/13 ODI England
14/09/13 ODI England
16/09/13 ODI England
10/10/13 T20 India
13/10/13 ODI India
16/10/13 ODI India
19/10/13 ODI India
23/10/13 ODI India
26/10/13 ODI India
30/10/13 ODI India
02/11/13 ODI India

If the ODI / T20 squad stays the same for the tour of India as it is now in England the following players from the 5th Ashes test at the Oval (or on the fringe of selection for that team) will be involved in that tour:

· Clarke

· Faulkner

· Hughes

· Smith

· Starc

· Wade

· Warner

· Watson

Assuming those players are all selected for the tour of the India, I have been left to ponder what first class cricket they might get to play before the first test match. Herein lies a problem: the first class schedule for the 2013/14 season has not been published yet. Of course we know when the BBL circus will occur but less than a month away from the historical start of a Sheffield Shield season and a schedule of games is not to be found.

The one game that has been locked in is an Australia A fixture against England starting in Hobart on 6 November. That being the case, the only guide for what might be happening in first class cricket in Australia is that which happened last year. Broadly speaking, there were four Sheffield Shield fixtures played before the first test last year by each team on the following rough dates (these dates are skewed by NSW having to start their season early to play in a T20 competition):

· 1st week in October

· 4th week in October

· 1st week in November

· 2nd week in November

Given those rough timings and assuming Cricket Australia sticks with that methodology when setting the fixtures, anyone taking part in the short form tour to India is only likely to get one first class game of cricket before the first test match at best. That is, of course, predicated on players being released by Cricket Australia to play said cricket which has not happened much in the past.

Does this not all smack of a team that is going to be behind the 8 ball preparation wise for the 1st test? This is a tour in our own backyard and yet we do not seem enamoured to set things up so that our team is well prepared and ready to play long form cricket? Surely the best way to prepare for long form cricket is to play long form cricket but if things go they were they are projected the obvious prospect is that at least four of our starters at the ‘Gabba will NOT have played a long form game before that test starts.

If preparation for the Ashes series and striving to rest the Urn back from England is Cricket Australia’s principal goal for this summer of cricket there is an easy two phased answer to all of this:

1. Send an Australian “A” team to India and keep anyone projected to be in the first test team at home in Australia; and

2. Schedule the Sheffield Shield games so that:

a. There are four of them before first test starts; and

b. There is a gap between the first test and the last Shield game of no more than seven days; and

c. Actually make the players projected to be in the test team play in all of those Shield games before the first test match.

That strategy works only though in a world where the governing body seeks to prepare test cricketers by playing long form cricket. Here is how I expect Australia’s preparation to actually occur:

1. Australia will send a full squad to India for the seven one day fixtures.

2. Cricket Australia will only schedule 2 Sheffield Shield games before the first test because they have to fit in the abridged 50 over competition before Christmas so that the BBL can run for 2 months.

3. Players will not be released to play for the States because Cricket Australia holds “preparation” camps for squad members not in India on the dates of the Sheffield Shield games BUT will be released to play in the Ryobi Cup.

In that scenario none of the combatants striding onto the Gabba on 21 November will have played long form cricket before that test starts. You scoff: but it has happened before!

One can only hope that sanity will prevail but one worries that this Australian team is going to go into this series bizarrely under prepared. If that is the case then Cricket Australia will have no one to blame but itself.

Peter Siddle: massive heart but is heart enough?

August 27, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , 2 Comments

I have been critical on this blog about the continued selection of Peter Siddle in the Australian cricket team. The end to Siddle’s Ashes series has done nothing move me away from that view.

There can be no doubt of two things when it comes to Peter Siddle:

1. He has been a valiant servant of the game in Australia during a period of down performance by the team; and

2. If some of Australia’s younger players showed as much heart as he does every time he steps on the field in a baggy green cap, then Australian cricket would be a much better place.

Despite those factors, it strikes me in the aftermath of a 3-0 flogging by England now is the time to consider whether Siddle continues to lead the Australian bowling attack into the next series which is only 86 days away.

For that purpose I have examined the last 10 test matches Siddle has played in and come to the unmistakeable conclusion that on form there must be a massive question mark over his selection. Consider these numbers for Siddle and Australia this year (given that all of the test matches have been played in 2013):

· Australia has won 1 test match, lost 7 and drawn 2. Australia has not won any of its last 9 test matches.

· Siddle is Australia’s highest wicket taker during that span with 29 wickets at an average of 32.06. This is entirely understandable though flattering statistic given that Siddle is the only bowler from Australia who has played all 10 test matches in 2013.

· The more compelling statistic is that Siddle has only averaged 1.6 wickets per innings during that 10 match span (there having been 18 innings for the bowlers in that period).

· In the last 3 test match innings bowled by Siddle he failed to take a wicket and his captain only bowled him 3 overs of the 40 bowled by Australia as it strived for victory in the final test match of the series.

· During this same period, Siddle is striking every 11 and a half overs.

Are these the numbers of the leader of a bowling attack? Many will consider that I am judging Peter Siddle harshly here given that Australia has hardly been in the best form but it begs the question as to what the other “leaders” of bowling attacks in other test teams have done during the same span. Here are some numbers for the bowlers that I consider to be the leaders of their respective bowling attacks:

· James Anderson (England): 10 test matches, 41 wickets, average 28.12.

· Dale Steyn (South Africa): 5 test matches, 33 wickets, average 12.36.

· Ravichandran Ashwin (India): 4 test matches, 29 wickets, average 20.10.

· Trent Boult (New Zealand): 7 test matches, 23 wickets, average 29.13.

The top three bowlers from list play for teams that have been undefeated in 2013. Trent Boult plays for New Zealand which has put up a record of 7:0:4:3 during the same period. He averages though 2.1 wickets per innings.

Looking at those numbers: is Peter Siddle really the leader of the bowling attack that Australia needs lift it out of the current doldrums that Australian cricket is in? This is particularly so with the re-emergence from injury of Ryan Harris. For the record his numbers in England were: 4 test matches, 24 wickets at an average of 19.58. Those are numbers that put him in the Anderson, Steyn and Ashwin category.

There can be no denying Siddle’s heart and there can be no denying that he is a fantastic team man. I have commented in the past that on unhelpful wickets Siddle is a little predicable and lacking penetration. Australia needs now to look to the future and build a bowling attack around Ryan Harris rather than Siddle which will lead to the question of whether Siddle’s heart is enough to keep him in the running for a bowling attack he is not leading given that lack of penetration.

The first test at the Gabba is 86 days away. It could also be said that the start of Australia’s rebuilding of its test team, its ranking (which has now slipped to 5th in the world) and its reputation also begins in 86 days and that rebuilding phase cannot occur in my view whilst Australia includes Siddle in the line-up. Now is time for a change because relying on heart is patently not enough.

Cricket: Warne and the Baggy Green

August 24, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , Leave a comment

What a right mess Shane Warne has gotten himself into this time. For those who missed the commentary last night Warne made two comments which, to summarise, were along these lines:

1. That he refused to wear his baggy green hat to Wimbledon on Pat Rafter’s request because he thought it inappropriate; and
2. He did not agree with the need to wear his baggy green in the first hour of play as required by his captain of the day, Steve Waugh and, indeed, saw to do so to be unnecessary in favour of his floppy white hat.

I have no cavil with Warne’s view regarding his first statement: I happen to agree with the premise that wearing the baggy green to Wimbledon is inappropriate and, indeed, an affront to the cap and all it stands for.

It is the second statement made by Warne that I do have a cavil with however. Indeed I have three problems with Warne’s statement:

1. Warne seemed to suggest that it was an imposition of Steve Waugh that baggy green be worn during the first hour of play. Obviously Warne’s memory has been pickled by the botox he has had injected or the plugs in his hair because the “imposition” of the baggy green “rule” was put in place by Allan Border and then picked up by Mark Taylor.

2. Warne suggests that he did not need to wear the baggy green to show his patriotism. The wearing of the cap was not a question of patriotism though to my way of thinking. Rather it was a sign of unity both in spirit and in purpose or at least that is what I thought it was meant to show. The wearing of the cap was a metaphor for the strength of the team and the strength of the team. Thinking about it though is it really a surprise that Warne would be interested in his own interests rather than showing team unity? This is the man who took a banned substance to look good on camera and left his team short for a World Cup after all.

3. Warne suggests that he did not like wearing his cap because it was tight and it gave him a headache. Come on Shane: you were a key player in this Australian team and you are telling me that you could not ask for a bigger hat? That sounds like a rubbish excuse to me!

I do not question Warne’s patriotism and I support his position on wearing the cap to Wimbeldon. The fact that he thought he did not need be part of a gesture designed to show team unity and strength is not a surprise given his past form on matters of team solidarity. That being the case, I have a simple question for S Warne: can Cricket Australia please have it’s baggy green cap back?

Cricket: Another day, another injured Australian fast bowler

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

Jackson Bird is flying home early from England having suffered, seemingly, a back injury whilst bowling in the 4th test at Chester-le-Street. He is the second bowler to go home from the tour after James Pattinson also withdrew from the series after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in the back.

I have said this before: fast bowlers getting injured is a natural part of the game. They run 20 metres at a fair pace and then hurl a piece of leather as fast as they can in a ridiculously unnatural motion.

That said: I hope those at Cricket Australia Towers are looking at the preparation and preparedness of Australia’s young fast bowlers for top line cricket because it seems like every time one is asked to bowl a long spell he gets injured.