Tag Archives: cricket

The Ashes: So you want Watson dropped? Are you drunk?

August 20, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , 2 Comments

The 5th and final test of the Ashes Series is imminent and thus selection speculation for the Australia team is rife. The usual phalanx of former players and commentators (including those of the armchair variety) have come out of the woodwork to demand the dropping of Shane Watson. In reply I ask: are you drunk?

I know that question is inflammatory and condescending, and on that basis I withdraw it in order to pose it in a different way: on form, in comparison to the other batters in the team, explain to me why Watson ought to be dropped?

Here is the exercise I would like all those calling for such a change to the Australia team to undertake: set aside your irritation at his use of the DRS as well as your irrational hatred of his, alleged, personality traits (and look at his actual form.

Some number to assist with that exercise are as follows:

· Watson is Australia’s 3rd highest run scorer in the series after Michael Clarke and Chris Rogers.

· Watson has a better batting average in this series than Messrs Khawaja, Cowan, Smith, Haddin and Hughes.

· If one broadens the scope and includes England batters in the equation then the following batters have also scored less runs than Watson despite having played the same number of tests: Bairstow, Trott and Prior. It is also worth noting that his 180 runs aside at Lords, Joe Root has only scored 80 runs in 7 innings at an average of just over 10.

Forget the Australian batters for a moment, are the people suggesting Watson be dropped also lining up to suggest that Jonathan Trott be sacked? Are they also suggesting that Joe Root be dropped? I think not.

Steve Smith and Uzman Khawaja are obviously in worse form than Watson and whilst Khawaja’s name has been mentioned in dispatches as being a prime target to have been dropped, Steve Smith’s name has not been mentioned. Shouldn’t he, Smith, be ahead of Watson in the dropping stakes?

I am all for debate: debate is the cornerstone of intelligent discussion. That said, I would really like it if the debate was based on the actual numbers and actual form of the players rather than issues, imagined or otherwise, one has with the person.

If Watson is to miss the 5th test at the Oval, as sad as it is to say, I hope it is due to injury because if he is dropped on form it makes a mockery of the selection process given the form of other players with lesser claims to being in the team.

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: England squad for the 5th Test

August 18, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , 3 Comments

England have today named a 14 player squad for the 5th and final test of the Ashes series at the Oval.

The squad is: A Cook (c), J Anderson, J Bairstow, I Bell, S Broad, S Finn, S Kerrigan, K Pietersen, M Prior, G Swann, C Tremlett, J Trott and C Woakes

Tim Bresnan and Graeme Onions are out of the squad from the 4th test with injury. Steve Finn returns having been dropped after the second test.

Simon Kerrigan, for those who don’t know of him, is a 24 year old left arm orthodox spinner who has played 48 first class matches and boasts an impressive record with 164 wickets at an average of 26.52. He has not appeared in the top English team at any level.

Chris Woakes, having already represented England at ODI and T20 level, is another 24 year old (does England have some depth at the moment or am I missing something?) this time an all rounder, again with an impressive first class record, having played 82 first class fixtures during which he has scored over 3000 runs at an average of 38 and taken 284 wickets at an average of 25.48.

The Ashes: 5th Test … A dead rubber or an opportunity?

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

I have been a staunch advocate for the Cricket Australia National Selection Panel to not make changes for the sake of making changes to the Australia test match lineup and I remain so. There could be nothing worse for building consistency in a team than consistently changing said team as is clearly evidenced by the current predicament the Australian team finds itself in.

Nonetheless, after much reflection I can only conclude that there is no better opportunity to blood a player with a view to the future than in this fixture. The series is gone and this is a dead rubber so all eyes must be focused on winning back the Ashes in Australia, a series that commences only 3 months almost to the day from the end of this test match.

To that end I believe that James Faulkner MUST be awarded his first baggy green in this game for the, hopefully, betterment of Australian cricket and the strengthening of both our batting and bowling lineups.

With Pattinson injured, Starc proven erratic and Bird innocuous under pressure the time is right to grant a debut for the young left arm swing bowling allrounder from the apple isle to see what he is made of. He possesses an excellent first class record albeit on a helpful home grand and has been shown in the past to have the fire in the belly that at times has been lacking, either actually or perceived, in Australian teams of late.

That change aside I see limited benefit in making any other changes. If Usman Khawaja is to be Australia’s long term number 3 then he must be supported by the NSP and selected. Nathan Lyon has done enough in the eyes of everyone but for John Inverarity to secure his spot. Talk of Ashton Agar being selected to bat at number 6 is surely hyperbole from a desperate press core. Finally, say what you like Brad Haddin: he is still the far superior gloveman to Matthew Wade and given that the wicket keeping is still the primary focus of his role he must be selected as well.

This final test is both the dead rubber and the opportunity I mention in the title to this post. One wonders whether the NSP has the courage to take the opportunity or whether it will revert to type and make knee jerk changes that see the same faces leaving or returning depending on whose turn it is. Only time will tell.