Different Strokes
Wasim Akram v Imran Khan
The opening gambit is almost always the same, namely that Wasim Akram, who was once described as possessing the left arm of God, could move the ball both ways, sometimes in the same delivery
Saad Shafqat
25-Feb-2013
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Like a wildfire spewing flames towards the sky, it erupts uncontrollably when the mix is right. All you need are a few passionate and opinionated Pakistan fans, an atmosphere of spirited contention, and someone willing to light the match. As you can imagine, in Pakistan this isn't asking for much, and so the great debate erupts frequently and fervently.
Most people know instinctively which side they are on, and positions are staked out right away. The few, who start out genuinely neutral, discover very soon they are anything but. Before long, emotions rise to a crescendo and tempers begin to simmer. The exchange becomes intense, headed towards intractability.
The opening gambit is almost always the same, namely that Wasim Akram, who was once described as possessing the left arm of God, could move the ball both ways, sometimes in the same delivery. Footage of Akram swinging it like a yo-yo has left legions speechless, so this point is naturally impossible to refute. It can only be countered by a parallel argument which, if it is to survive the heat of debate, must be based on hard data.
Full postAn aggressive makeover
What’s interesting is the tendency for commentators the world over to be far more aggressive in their analysis than in their playing days
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
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Has anyone else noticed the change that comes over ex-cricketers as soon as they migrate to the commentary box? Even the most conservative of them suddenly see the action unfolding from a bird’s-eye perspective and advocate a far more attacking philosophy than when they played the game.
Throughout the last few months, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the variety and diversity of the Sky Commentary team in England. The ‘regulars’ bring their own unique regional accents and personalities to the table, complemented by guest commentators like Shane Warne and Greg Blewett who seem to have fitted in seamlessly to the professional, neutral and slightly irreverent tone of the coverage. They provide serious analysis of the game but yet don’t seem to take themselves too seriously. They make the game fun without trivialising it.
What’s interesting though is the tendency among commentators the world over to be far more aggressive in their analysis than in their playing days. It makes me wonder if it is a phenomenon that occurs naturally when you have the luxury of viewing the game from afar, generally from a lofty height, compared to being caught up at ground level on the field where the gaps in the field may look wider and less defendable.
Full postThe Wright road to follow
The gentleman who sat next to me on Sunday morning was also pleasantly surprised by how good Wright's bowling now is
Mike Holmans
25-Feb-2013
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Strange though it is to remember now, there was a time when Fred Flintoff was not the darling of English cricket and his omission from the England side was seen as a reason to praise the selectors for finally seeing sense rather than as an excuse for the team's dismal performance.
He had attracted a lot of attention as a young player with Lancashire. He was a huge and hugely powerful middle-order batsman who was a pretty good bowler, allegedly of the fast variety. England, so desperate for a new Botham that they had been picking players like Mark Ealham, Adam Hollioake and Ronnie Irani, could not resist the temptation and picked him for both the Test and one-day sides. Over the next couple of years, though, it became apparent that he was too fat to bowl fast and too indisciplined to offer anything more with the bat than the occasional lucky explosion. England sent him back to Lancashire with the stern message that he need not worry himself about future selection unless and until he was fit enough to bowl as fast as his early billing had suggested – and, as history now records, he went off and shaped up with fairly dramatic results.
The point is two-fold. One, is that, what a player is like when he first plays for England may bear very little relation to the cricketer he eventually becomes. The other is that the gulf between English domestic limited-overs cricket and the international variety is far greater than between the four-day championship and Test match cricket. What makes you a very useful allrounder in the county 40 or 50-over formats, is nowhere near what is required to fulfill a similar role internationally.
Full postOld timers Twenty20 XI- Part 2
We will have a leg-spinning all-rounder as captain, but I change my mind hourly on whether it should be the great South African Aubrey Faulkner or Richie Benaud
Mike Holmans
25-Feb-2013
In my last post, I selected an Old-Timers Twenty20 XI for England, old-timers being defined as those whose international career finished before 1970. India, Pakistan and New Zealand had too little history by then to pick reasonable teams, so I went for Rest of the World as England's opponents.
Before we go any further, Don Bradman does not make the team. Many will protest that he could adapt himself to anything, but the successful Twenty20 batsman is comfortable with hitting the ball in the air to clear the infield or the boundary and accepts that he will sometimes lose his wicket cheaply because of the risks he takes. Neither of these can plausibly be seen as traits of Bradman's batting. Maybe he could have adapted, but it would have been through gritted teeth at the gross offense to his principles, and I'd rather pick players who are going to relish the thrill-ride of a Twenty20 batting career.
Full postA spirited move from Queensland
If captains can somehow manage those adrenalin-charged moments of high emotion and allow the batsman to get away from the square without incident, we may well avoid a host of unseemly incidents.
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
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Male professional sport in Australia is facing an image crisis at the moment. Despite strong spectator numbers, the various football codes (rugby league, AFL, soccer and rugby union) are continually fielding awkward questions about player behaviour, alcohol abuse, respect for women and violence. The National Rugby League’s brand is apparently so badly damaged that they are thinking of re-branding it and selling it to the public in another disguise. A dinosaur by any other name is still a dinosaur – for genuine change to occur, the culture of the sport needs to change. Merely calling it by another name won’t be enough to fool the community for too long. Sometimes, you have to surrender before you can start winning again.
Refreshingly, club cricket in Queensland is taking an innovative approach to addressing the spirit of cricket by introducing a new initiative called ‘Custodians of Cricket’. I attended their inaugural workshop earlier this week, aimed at all captains and club officials, cleverly designed to imbue them with the responsibility of honouring the spirit of the contest at all levels of grade cricket. In fact, Queensland Cricket are taking it so seriously that if a player who has not attended the ‘course’ ends up captaining a team during the season, that team will be deducted points.
I deliberately used the word 'contest' because it is in no way meant to detract from the competitiveness and winning desire that is endemic to Australian club cricket, even in the lowest grades. Especially in the lowest grades! This new programme is mindful of that culture, one of the bedrocks of the domestic system, yet it is trying to arrest a growing trend of anti-social behaviour that, if not halted in its tracks, will damage the sport.
Full postOld-timers Twenty20 - I
Mike Holmans
25-Feb-2013
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As the rain washed away the first T20I between England and Australia, I started to ponder how the old-timers would have done at Twenty20, and fell, as one does, into constructing imaginary XIs for England and Rest of the World selected from those who finished their international careers before 1970, so as to exclude anyone who ever played an ODI. It is more of a jigsaw-puzzle than picking an all-time Test team because of the need to cover all the angles. You want at least eight batsmen who are unafraid of taking the aerial route, six bowlers covering every speed from 50mph to 90mph and a couple of really good fielders you can put in key positions.
Beginning with the England XI, SF Barnes is always the first name on the sheet for any team I select for which he is eligible since he was the best bowler ever, a master of swing, swerve, spin and pace.
Next for Twenty20 comes Gilbert Jessop, one of the most amazingly fast scorers ever seen. Fifteen of his first-class centuries were scored in under an hour. He was initially regarded as a bowler, of fast-medium pace, and was also a brilliant fielder.
Full postRight for the wrong reasons
Playing 50-over cricket domestically in England does not do anything to train people for the international 50-over game
Mike Holmans
25-Feb-2013
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The English counties voted this week to scrap the 50-over and retain a 40-over competition from next year, and were quite open that the decision was made on the financial grounds that 40-over cricket gets better gates than 50-over.
This may not be because 40-over cricket is more appealing than 50-over: the Pro40 is mostly played in July and August and the 50-over Friends Provident mainly in May and June. For Pro40, normal dress is shirtsleeves but for the FP it's three layers, at least one of them waterproof; the Pro40 is in school holiday time and the FP is largely played on midweek days when kids are at school and dad is at work. Swap them over, and maybe 50-over would be more popular than 40. I doubt it, however. A 40-over game is a longish afternoon out, whereas a 50-over game takes up the whole day.
Chief selector Geoff Miller and Paul Collingwood, pro tem one-day captain, are saying that is very bad from a cricketing point of view because we ought to be playing domestic one-day cricket that exactly mirrors the international form in order to prepare future England ODI players.
Full postInvesting in England
Mike Holmans
25-Feb-2013
The Holmans Consulting Group (HCG) presents another market survey, this time covering leading English stocks. Investors are advised that this is a highly speculative market in which there is the potential for both substantial gain and considerable loss: market sentiment is extremely volatile, leading to regular outbreaks of panic buying and selling which distort the market considerably.
Strauss Hold. Has achieved outstanding results since adding a management services division, both in management itself but also in the batting, which is now one of the world's leading suppliers of opening products. Trading conditions in South Africa will be extremely challenging and dividends may well fall back in the short term, but the medium-term outlook is bright.
Full postInvesting in Australia
Mike Holmans
25-Feb-2013
Cricket markets are notoriously volatile and have become even more so in recent times, and investors may be unsure where to put their money. The Holmans Consulting Group (HCG) is therefore pleased to offer this analysis of the Australian market's leading stocks. [Potential investors are reminded that past performance is not necessarily a guide to future returns and should take professional advice before committing any funds.]
Ponting. Hold. The dominant company's batting division is and will remain a world-class performer for the foreseeable future. The management division has posted its third loss in five reporting periods, which clearly gives cause for concern, but there are signs that it will be concentrating more on improving its own performance rather than explaining disappointing results by referring to unfavourable conditions, competitors' business practices or perceived failures of regulation.
Full postWhat's with the lack of ethnic players in Australia?
The nature of Australian pitches lends itself to bigger, stronger physiques dominating senior club cricket
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
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I hesitated before deciding to writing this piece because I realise it is likely to engender polarised opinions that sometimes descend into unnecessary nationalistic vitriol that moves away from the original debate. I’m hoping that this time, the comments that inevitably flow will avoid the usual temptations to take an entrenched ethnic stance and view it instead as a friendly chat over the neighbour’s wall.
As a dark-skinned Australian who began his cricket career in Australia, I cannot claim any discrimination or disadvantage based on my ethnic background. Any bias that I’ve experienced has been down to the fact that I’ve been limited by this ridiculous obsession with picking the best players! I suffered from simply not being good enough.
The debate is one worth having though. Why has Australia lagged behind say England, South Africa and New Zealand in terms of players from Asian or indigenous origin pulling on the baggy green? I can think of a few very rational reasons to explain this anomaly, especially the Asian angle.
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