Tag Archives: cricket

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.

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!

The Ashes: Where to from here for Australia?

July 22, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , 5 Comments

The question of what next for Australian cricket has one that has been on the lips of many since the completion of the “2013 Lords Massacre”. I have a longer blog about the state of cricket in this country in the works at the moment but really that looks at the broader issues effecting the game.

My bigger concern for present purposes is how do we win at Old Trafford. Actually, forget winning … How do we compete at Old Trafford? There were plenty of players who failed at Lords but we still have a test to play in 9 days time AND, stop laughing English fans, the Ashes is still there to win.

Calls for mass sackings and the drawing in of players from outside the squad are at best knee jerk and at worst stupid. I mean: has Australia become as bad as England in 1989 yet? I do not think so!

I think we need to do the last thing everyone is expecting us to do: change nothing! That’s right: you read it correctly … CHANGE NOTHING! Keep the same 11 for this next test match and empower them with the task of bringing Australian cricket back from the edge of the abyss.

The only player I would countenance leaving out is A Agar. The experiment has failed: opposition spin bowlers took 11 wickets at Lords and he took none so despite how many magazine covers his image and that of his girlfriend sells it is probably time for an experienced spinner to step in.

England think they have the Australian team and fans broken and maybe they do have some of Australia’s fandom on brink BUT there is a lot of cricket to be played yet and they have not won the series yet.

So let’s keep this team together and empower them to get the job done. They can compete and, you never know, they may just surprise us fans with something special!

The Ashes, Second Test: Australian Player Ratings

July 22, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , 6 Comments

Australia lost the second test at Lords by a whopping 347 runs and, as painful as it is, here are my ratings of the performances of Australia’s players from this game.

Chris Rogers: 4 out of 10

Two of the more bizarre dismissals I have seen in test match cricket from the man they call “Bucky” and at times when his “expertise” at Lords, given that he is the captain of Middlesex and has score a ton of runs on the ground, was needed most. Was energetic in the field.

Shane Watson: 5 out of 10

Made two starts and was again out LBW in both innings. Top scored in the first innings which was overshadowed by the DRS referral issues. Got the initial breakthrough with the ball and shouldered the workload most have been screaming for from him.

Uzman Khawaja: 6 out of 10

Terrible shot in the first innings but top scored in the second innings. Will be much better for his performance here and thrived in the pressure of the second innings till he got a ripper from J Root. Suggestions that he is a liability in the field proved false by a solid performance.

Phil Hughes: 1 out of 10

Scores of 1 and 1 so why not go with that as his rating here too. More to the point, if Watson is to be pilloried for a bad review then Hughes must be similarly pilloried for two terrible reviews.

Michael Clarke: 6 out of 10

When Clarke doesn’t score hundreds the chances of Australia winning dissipate to zero. No hundred here but a solid 50 in the second innings showed a glimpse of a return to form that is sorely needed by the team. Tactically a few question marks particularly regarding his use of Pattinson when so woefully out of form and heavy reliance on Agar when the game was gone and he was injured.

Steve Smith: 4 out of 10

Gains with the bat seen in India disappeared in this test match but his work with the ball in the first innings got Australia back in the game, albeit fleetingly.

Brad Haddin: 2 out of 10

Did not get past 10 with the bat and two gaffes with the gloves, one the most costly of all given that Joe Root was on 8. Never thought I would say it but Matthew Wade must be close to coming back in off that performance.

Ashton Agar: 2 out of 10

I commented in my preview about the potential for “second test syndrome” to strike and it certainly did in this test match. 44 overs without a wicket whilst a part timer took 4 and for the other side the spinners took 11 just not good enough for the “next big thing”.

Peter Siddle: 5 out of 10

Heart the size of Phar Lap and his spell on the afternoon of day 2 was a stirring effort. Innocuous in the first innings when Harris needed support up the other end.

James Pattinson: 2 out of 10

Went for 5 an over in the first innings and was yanked from bowling in his first two spells after 2 over and 3 over respectfully. Not good enough. Workmanlike in the second innings without being threatening. Gritty with the bat but that is not his job.

Ryan Harris: 8 out of 10

It is a measure of his performance that without it Australia would have lost by much more but for it. Was wonderful in the first innings when the other two fast bowlers in the line up did not come up with the goods. Sadly looked like he was being nursed through the second innings a bit but off the back of 3 hours rest got to expect that. 10 days break before Old Trafford vital for him.

Simply, we were beaten in all aspects of the game. Can only suggest that a massive improvement is needed and we now have 10 days to do what we need to do to make that so.

Postscript: as I am currently taking a break from twitter, please feel free to comment on this blog or at shumpty77@mail.com should you wish to have a chat about these ratings or any other blog topic.

The Ashes: Second Test, Day 3: well this is a bit uncomfortable!

July 21, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , 10 Comments

Well: hasn’t this test at Lords turned into a …. well words escape me as to what this test match has turned into for Australian fans. To say that I, as an Australian fan, am frustrated would be an understatement. The fact is that Australia has been outplayed in absolutely every aspect of this game, perhaps with the exception of the bowling of Ryan Harris in the first innings. In addition to that fact is the fact that this is the outcome that just about everyone except for the most diehard of Australian fans expected.

It leads to this uncomfortable notion being forced down the throats of those of us who love cricket in this country: England are simply better than us at the moment. Not in some aspects of the game: all of them. From preparation, through to the quality of their domestic game and into the tactics and attitude of the actually game of cricket they are just streets ahead.

This might seem like I am, metaphorically, throwing the baby out with the bath water AND it may very well be but having already been through the Argus Review that was supposed to avoid, as its top goal, this sort of embarrassing performance now is not the time to sugar coat where Australian cricket is at.

The domestic game is not producing players that are up to test match standard at the moment, well batsmen at least, and we are now, more than ever, beholden to the dollar that comes from the Big Bash League and, more broadly, short form cricket. It is not just our state cricketers that playing more and more short form cricket: our junior and club cricketers are playing more and more of these games whilst at the same time our cricket cultural heritage of being a test cricket dynamo is being swept away because we can not produce players that are suited to the long form game.

I know this is only one game of cricket but this performance has been a growing storm that has been masked by some miraculous efforts by the captain and some individuals. We all know though that cricket is a team game and the team is only as strong as its poorest player: the Australian team has too many players who are not upto to the top flight of the game just yet.

The sticky tape that has been holding cricket in this country together has been well and truly ripped off in this test match. Some would say it already had been in India but our performance in Trent Bridge fooled us into thinking we were improving. We are not though and that frustrates me more than anything I have seen over the last 12 months.

When David Warner punched Joe Root and Mickey Arthur got the sack, I wrote that it was also time for Pat Howard and James Sutherland to go. This test match is not over nor is this series but if things do not improve starting from today’s play can anyone tell me how, certainly, Howard and, possibly, Sutherland, will survive? This is the series they have put all of their efforts into improving the Australian team to challenge for through the Argus Review and its aftermath and absent massive improvement those efforts have been rendered nugatory!

After a terrible day 2 and 3 at Lords, day 4 beckons with a massive improvement in performance needed regardless of the ultimate result of this game. Australia must improve: it is as simple as that. Then again, it would be hard to countenance a performance today that could possibly get any worse.

I, like any Australian fan, want Australia to win and Australian cricket to be dominant. More than that though I want us to compete: and I do not think we did that on day 3. I do not like writing these negative sorts of blogs but the circumstances give me nothing positive to write about. All I can hope is that day 4 is a much better day of cricket for the baggy greens and, by extension, their fans.