Different Strokes
Come together
If cricket is to become a truly global game to remotely rival soccer or tennis, it's future lies in taking a leaf out of the Olympic spirit and start revelling in greatness, regardless of whether it hails from Brisbane, Bangalore or Barbados
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
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Depending on what happens over the Champions Trophy, cricket fans might soon be part of a political game of tit-for-tat which will have one common casualty - watching the best players from all over the world in action.
Since Bradman became the first global colossus of the game, we've seen a few players who have been adopted by genuine fans who can truly put aside their loyalties and simply recognise wonderful cricketers for what they are. In my lifetime, I immediately think of players like Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall. I'm sure other readers will have their own favourites from countries other than a blind allegiance to their own.
IPL may represent a watershed in this regard. A bit like what county cricket did for the great West Indians, Pakistanis and other overseas players, IPL's model of bringing the great players of the modern era to Indian franchises and global television coverage will hopefully bring about a cultural shift in the minds of cricket fans all around the world. Imagine a team that might one day have Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar bowling in tandem. Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh winning a thrilling run-chase and embracing in delirious joy. OK, OK, now I'm getting carried away!
Full postVaughan again
Vaughan’s triumphs will shine through history, but history will take its own good time to decide how much weight to place on the subsequent disappointments
Mike Holmans
25-Feb-2013
If Michael Vaughan’s knee injury at the back end of 2005 had ended his career, as once seemed likely, his place in history as one of the great captains would be assured.
He managed to square the 2003 series against a fairly obviously superior South Africa, had an indifferent visit to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and then won six series on the bounce, including England’s first series wins in the West Indies and South Africa since the 1960s and culminating in the glorious victory in the 2005 Ashes, over which a grateful nation swooned.
His ability to get the best out of the individuals in his team and uncanny knack of knowing which bowler to bring on and what unorthodox field to set for each and every batsman evoked comparisons with the other two great England captains of my watching career, Raymond Illingworth and Mike Brearley.
But the story of Vaughan’s captaincy is an Aristotelian tragedy, in which a man’s reversal of fortune comes from a mistake. It was reasonable enough to appoint a stand-in captain for the series in India which followed the injury, but once it became apparent that the injury was going to take a lot longer to heal, he should have given up the captaincy and allowed England to move on while he came back in his own good time.
Full postGoodbye Windies. Hello Australia
My memories of the glorious ‘90s still feature positive images of an Australian dynasty that took the on-field skills to new heights and dragged cricket to a higher plane
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
Continuing with my theme of comparing decades rather than individuals, I recall the 1990s as a period of significant change. It began with the retirement of some all-time greats but time stands still for no man. Sachin Tendulkar, Shane Warne, Brian Lara, Muttiah Muralidaran, Glenn McGrath, Wasim Akram and Steve Waugh were just some of the new generation to dominate the ‘90s. Ian Healy took wicket-keeping to new heights but even his excellent batting at number 7 looks out of place amongst today’s glovemen.
Courtney Walsh’s fabulous career covered this entire decade too.His career went full circle from feared enforcer to the lone class act in a fast bowling attack that had none of the venom of his early days. And that was possibly the biggest power shift in cricket. Australia, sensing the weakness of the Reggae Kings, finally conquered the Caribbean fortress in 1995 and thirteen years later, they still hold the world crown in both forms of the game.
The Aussie domination can be traced to multiple factors, not least a talent pool that reaped the dividends of a strong domestic structure and the vision of the Cricket Academy. Top class players, battle-hardened and confident, kept arriving off the conveyor belt and were instantly ready for elite company. Imitation is definitely the sincerest form of flattery with most countries now replicating that ‘finishing school’.
The balance of the Australian team was arguably even more superior to the West Indies in their pomp because they had Warne. No pitch was now beyond them, even though India still defended their castle staunchly. Individual players too became supremely adaptable, performing at home and abroad, on green tops and dust bowls alike.
Full postMath report
I do not think that statistics are out-and-out liars
Mike Holmans
25-Feb-2013
A number of people replied to some of the things I said about Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis with the mantra “Statistics do not lie.” Oh yeah?
Until the end of 2007, James Anderson was a second-choice bowler for England, only getting in the side when someone was injured. During this period he averaged 39.21 with the ball. This year, he was picked ahead of both Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison for the second Test against New Zealand, thus graduating to first-choice bowler. Since then, he has taken his wickets at just under 27 apiece [at the time of writing]. He now has a career average of 34.
Full postO Captain! My Captain!
Great captaincy also means creating a dominant position and pressing home your advantage
Stephen Gelb
25-Feb-2013
It’s been all about captains this week, at least in England.
Graeme Smith’s innings was without question a great one, if not a huge surprise to South Africans who have seen that absolutely resolute batsman more than once. You knew he would be there till the game was decided either way, but it was a rollercoaster as the familiar resignation of top-order disintegration was followed by heart-in-the-mouth during the AB de Villiers and Mark Boucher partnerships, and finally relief with 25 or 30 to get. I listened to the hugely entertaining Henry Blofeld for the last hour on the car radio parked outside my daughter’s school – I snuck out of the function inside with Russel and Clive, two other dads. It felt a bit like 1965, South Africa’s last series win in England – plus ça change and all that.
Full postBig hair, big deeds
The 1980s reflected the global economy of the time
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
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The 80s was the decade when one-day cricket became a staple of the cricket diet. Slow, steady starts, wickets in hand and a crescendo in the last 10 overs. Once the chasing team’s asking rate got above the six runs per over figure, Richie Benaud pronounced many a solemn death. Today, that would be a stroll to the finish line.
It was also the first signs of West Indies' domination in ODI cricket coming to an end. India surprised even themselves when they famously won the 1983 World Cup and Australia were shock winners of the 1987 World Cup in the subcontinent. That ‘home’ hoodoo still holds true. No host has won a World Cup yet.
What about the allrounders though? So many genuine legends, all playing in the same era. Ian Botham, Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Clive Rice were similar players, genuinely capable of being selected for their batting or their bowling. Hadlee might be borderline as a batsman as was Malcolm Marshall who was just out of that true allrounder class but as bowlers, they were both peerless.
Full postThat '70s show
Perhaps the sheer statistics and averages of the players of the 1970s don’t really stack up today but they still seem impossibly heroic to me, even thirty years later
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
The recent debates (here and here) about Jacques Kallis and an earlier thought-provoking piece about comparing players of different eras threatens to steal boyhood dreams that began in the 1970s. I keep trying to compare different players from different eras but the harder I try, the more confused I get. I might devote my next few posts to defining the last four decades and the great comparisons within.
To the 1970s then: little did I know then that cricket would become the single most defining influence in my life. The players from that era still evoke a kind of magic that comes from a childlike awe.
Full postJacques not King
South Africa are a very strong side because of the amount Kallis contributes
Mike Holmans
25-Feb-2013
“Gelb’s Gallery of Greats”, if it ever gets written, will no doubt include a substantial essay on Jaques Kallis but “Holmans’s History of Heroes” will not.
That’s because there are almost as many definitions of cricket greatness as there are cricket-lovers. The main cause of duplication is the faction of know-littles who believe that you can discover greatness with a spreadsheet. You may have come across the type, who in his most recognisable form declares that being an all-time great (ATG) batsman involves nothing more or less than a Test career average exceeding 50.
You can deduce excellence from a spreadsheet, but greatness is something else. Nearly all great players are excellent and most excellent players are great, but the two sets are not quite the same. Learie Constantine was a great player but his numbers are anaemic; Ken Barrington had a fantabulous Test batting average but few refer to him as an ATG.
Stephen’s paean to Kallis, like so many invitations to call him a great player, relies too much on “Look at these numbers” for me to be comfortable with it. The player I have watched over many years does not quite match the conclusions drawn.
Full postKallis King
Kallis’ real problem is that he hasn’t ‘marketed’ himself well
Stephen Gelb
25-Feb-2013
I owe Fox a response to his observations on South Africa (with which I largely agree). But first I must pay tribute to Jacque Kallis. Recently I’ve been on a private little ‘Kallis watch’ as he approached 235 Test wickets, Sobers’ mark. His 3/31 yesterday took him to 236.
Kallis passed Sobers’ 8032 career runs ages ago, and now he’s above him on the wickets table. So Kallis is officially the top allrounder in cricket history.
I hope I have your attention now. Let’s discuss.
Full postAbout turn
Is this a sign that India is moving away from a long tradition and now becoming more of a threat on pitches that do a bit more for the quickies
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
It would be a foolish person who reads too much into the result of a single Test match and makes sweeping generalisations, far less, unfair criticism of champion players. India’s capitulation in Colombo must be a cause for concern of course but the ‘Greats’ of Indian batting (and surely Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag and Ganguly must rank in that list) will no doubt turn things around in Galle. Their history tells us that they almost certainly will score big runs soon. Reading a bit more into an Indian post-mortem however warrants a few questions that only those more familiar with the Indian scene can really answer.
First question: is India moving away from being a team that relies on spin-friendly conditions? Perhaps the fruits of the MRF Pace Academy and a steady production line of bigger-framed fast bowlers are giving India a hint of what their future looks like.
Their relatively poor performance on spinning tracks (Colombo 2008 v Sri Lanka, Adelaide 2008 v Australia, Mumbai 2006 v England) is actually in contrast to some wonderful performances away from home on more fast-bowler friendly surfaces. Perth 2008 v Australia, Johannesburg 2006 v South Africa and their series win in England in 2007 are cases in point where India’s fast bowlers dominated more fancied opposition and their batsmen coped admirably with those pitches.
Even in ODI cricket, their VB series victory in Australia and various other good performances away from home (World Cup 2003) contrast sharply with some poor performances in spin-friendly conditions. The Champions Trophy in 2006 and Australia’s ODI series win in 2007 rank amongst the home disappointments.
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