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Celebrating 3500 ODIs
An analysis of one-day internationals, breaking up the 3500 games played so far into five sets of 700 each
Ric Finlay
01-Aug-2014
The passing of the 3500th ODI last month creates an opportunity to analyse the evolution of this particular form of cricket over forty-three and a half years since the first was played in January 1971. This averages out to 80 such games a year, but it took a while for the ODI idea to catch on, and it wasn't until 1992, more than 20 years after the first, that a calendar year had as many as 80 ODIs. The frequency reached a peak in 2007, when there were 191 ODIs (including a convoluted World Cup), but the number played per year has plateaued since then as the T20 juggernaut has gained momentum, and 2012 (which had 90 ODIs) was the first year since 1995 when fewer than 100 were played.
I have divided the ODI era into five periods, each containing exactly 700 matches, and we can use this division of the experience to observe the changing frequency patterns.
Full postHow exactly does one 'lead by example'?
A captain needs to do enough as an individual to retain respect and control, but exceptional performances may not result in even greater influence
Alex Bowden
01-Aug-2014
Leading by example. Does it really amount to much? I'm not sure how much store I put in it, but maybe that's because I'm not much inclined to follow anyone. I always seem to opt for being lost on my own rather than being led where I should be going by someone else.
My suspicion, therefore, is that "leading by example" is merely descriptive of the captain having played well, rather than being indicative of his having made any greater contribution beyond that. Is it just something people say when whoever's played well also happens to be the captain?
The term has been used a lot in recent times on those rare occasions when someone has felt moved to defend Alastair Cook's captaincy. He may not be tactically sophisticated, they say; he may not be a great orator; and he may sometimes appear to run out of ideas on the field; but what he can do is lead by example. The Test series victory in India is pointed at as being evidence of this and when he recently made 95 in the third Test against the same opposition, it was also taken by a few as somehow reinforcing his captaincy credentials.
Full postThe geometry of captaincy
Maybe leadership in cricket is not so much about the art of captaincy as about the real-time computing of information
Scott Oliver
27-Jul-2014
Seven defeats in ten winless Tests, during which he has scored a meagre 420 runs at 22.10: the wolves are circling Alastair Cook.
His leadership through the post-Ashes transition was always going to be put under pressure - rightly or wrongly, the excision of Kevin Pietersen was perceived as his doing, while Giles Clarke's ludicrous "right type of family" comments chafed at public sympathy - but it is his tactics that have invited the closest scrutiny, for their "naivety", "rigidity" and "timidity".
Shane Warne excoriated Cook's day four Headingley performance as the worst he'd seen in 25 years, while TV commentary boxes not light on ex-England captains have been regularly bewildered by his decision-making: six boundary riders for a No. 10 facing the new ball; opening-session bouncer barrages on a greentop; redundant fine legs and absent third men. Nasser Hussain labelled it "reactive", the clear implication being that Cook is unable to read the game's unfolding present until after it has happened, which is too late. Either that, or he is unable to impose his will on senior players.
Full postRevisiting the glorious summer of 2000
If England need a template for this transitional phase, they can turn the clock back to the series against West Indies at the turn of the century
Alex Bowden
18-Jul-2014
People are quick to talk about transitional periods these days, but in reality they are chunks of time you can only identify with the benefit of hindsight. After all, even if you always know where you're coming from, it's impossible to state with complete certainty where you're heading. The cynical among you might suggest that the term is merely intended to paint a poor team in a more optimistic light - for I think we can all agree that no one is ever talking about transitioning from a period of success to one of failure.
Looking back, the 2000 Test series between England and West Indies represented a genuine transitional period. In 1999, England had lost at home to New Zealand before having one of their finest-ever winters in 2000-2001, winning Test series in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. A turnabout as striking as that doesn't come out of nowhere and, in the summer of 2000, foundations were built that would continue to support the side in tougher times.
After enduring a number of defeats, one thing that supporters need above all else is hope. Hope achieves two things. It keeps people onside when they might otherwise grow impatient, and it also keeps them watching even when all seems lost. In 2000, credible hope grew from an incredible clatter of wickets.
Full postWhy so passive, England?
England have become a reactive batting side, content to respond to given field settings than to manipulate them
Alex Bowden
29-Jun-2014
There are many crimes that can be committed by an England cricketer, and I'm not talking about Chris Lewis here - I'm referring specifically to cricketing crimes. Perhaps the most heinous of all is to fail to "dig in" when the batting line-up is under pressure.
It's one thing to lose your wicket while playing a defensive stroke in these situations, but woe betide the England batsman dismissed trying to score a run - or worse, looking to find the boundary. Couldn't he have left that? Why didn't he leave it?
"Thou must not give it away" seems to be a commandment that is not applied in other nations to quite the same extent. Clearly there are times when discretion is the better part of valour, but it seems to me that the team I support is especially prone to getting the balance wrong. Batsmen grinding to a halt in their efforts to be seen to be doing the right thing are often doing the opposition's work for them.
This particular malaise has been especially apparent over the last six months or so. Think back to the Ashes and Mitchell Johnson-induced destruction will doubtless figure heavily. It's easy to recall the series as being one where England's batsmen were simply blown away because those were the headlines at the time and that's what fills the highlights reels.
Full postCaribbean second comings
The return of Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn and Dwayne Bravo to the West Indies Test squad shows that no door is truly closed when it comes to sports
Roger Sawh
07-Jun-2014
Easter in the Caribbean is an enchanting time of year. Signs of life and energy permeate the atmosphere: kites of all shapes and sizes swirl in the breeze, and families contribute to the cheer by being more engaged than usual in the hustle and bustle of life. My last visit to the Caribbean a few weeks ago coincided with Easter, and those kites and that zest reminded me of the ubiquitous theme of the season - resurrection, and the message of a second coming, a rebirth, and a celebrated return.
The idea of glorious returns got my mental gears turning; returns, or second chances, in the world of cricket, are not that common. For every successful comeback, there are many stories that don't enjoy pleasant endings. It is inherent to the über-competitive nature of the game that progressing to the highest level is very difficult, and the re-attainment of such a position is even harder. Nevertheless, the West Indies Test squad for the beginning of the 2014 home season boasts a variety of notable reappearances after prolonged absences.
I can hardly believe that it has been over three years since Dwayne Bravo and Sulieman Benn last donned West Indies Test caps (both last played against Sri Lanka in December 2010). One would have to rewind a year earlier, to November 2009 against Australia, to spot Jerome Taylor with the red cherry in hand in a Test. These three, however, have been recalled to the Test fold, and while Bravo is not among the final 13 for the first Test (due to continuing injury rehabilitation), all three renaissance stories are edifying.
Full postThe truth about Australia's exciting brand of cricket
Why does the type of cricket Darren Lehmann wants to play suddenly seem very important to England?
Alex Bowden
12-May-2014
You will doubtless be more than familiar with the phrase "brand of cricket", and you will probably feel faintly uncomfortable that neither "attacking" nor "exciting" precede it in this sentence. We've been conditioned to expect those words in this context, because for all the talk of different brands, people invariably want to market their approach as being dashing and initiative-taking.
This seems to mean that "attacking" and "exciting" are pretty much the only adjectives ever used when talking about brands of cricket. At a push, someone might risk an "aggressive" but they would then feel duty-bound to offer all sorts of qualifications about playing hard but fair, emphasising how the team knows where the line is and not to cross it. Most of the time if you start talking about optimal, acceptable levels of aggression, it brings with it the foul stench of hypocrisy, so why not just stick to safer terms that basically describe the same thing?
Attacking, exciting cricket it is, then. I guess it's easier to sell. And what are the alternatives? For several years, England played a brand of cricket which they didn't really market at all and this was because they knew that in many ways it wasn't all that appealing to their target market. They batted steadily and bowled conservatively and they hoped that the product would simply speak for itself. For a long time it did, but accumulated wear and tear eventually led to defects, and when the fans returned to the shop to complain, it seemed they weren't that keen on accepting an exact replacement. They wanted their money back so that they could go and buy a completely different brand of cricket.
Full postWhy can't broadcasters clean up Indian cricket?
It's in sports television's long-term interest to ensure that the game is run well and free of scandal
Subash Jayaraman
11-May-2014
Donald Sterling, the owner of the NBA franchise Los Angeles Clippers, was banned for life from the NBA for racist comments he made recently. More than the ban itself, the events leading up to it are of significance to us cricket fans.
There was plenty of public outrage over Sterling's offensive comments but some of the more decisive ones came from the NBA players, their union, and from corporate America.
LA Clippers were in the middle of their first round of playoff games when the scandal broke. The players made a statement ahead of game five by discarding their warm-up jerseys in the middle of the court and wearing their game jerseys inside out. Several active players, including Clippers' Chris Paul, who is the president of the NBA players association (NBPA), made statements in the media about their displeasure and outrage over Sterling's statements. The NBPA called on the NBA commissioner to suspend Sterling, which would include a ban from games and a removal from basketball operations, and also for the maximum possible fine. It got them all.
Full postTime to regionalise county cricket?
A six-team tournament above the Championship might strengthen the supply line for the England team
Scott Oliver
19-Jan-2014
So tenaciously and unstintingly do our passions drive us along through life that it's often hard to be clear whether one's apparently "rational" or "logical" take on some aspect of the world, even if sincerely felt, isn't a giant fig leaf for something much more throbbingly irrational.
This is especially true of the institutions under whose benign, comforting shelter our identity has been forged. Hard to let go, it can be equally difficult to bring ourselves to face their potential obsolescence, to admit they are mortal and submit them to transformation, making them serve our needs rather than us serving them, "needing" them.
Which brings us to Lord McLaurin's recent suggestion that the number of first-class counties should be culled from 18 to 12, an idea that has been about as welcome in some quarters as a Tesco on Hyde Park Corner. Lost in the brouhaha, McLaurin's implicit point - that we might need a stronger domestic first-class structure - is surely something worth pondering. Adapt or die, right?
Full postThe USA and Canada: the have-nots of Associate cricket
They are huge countries with vast talent pools, which means their meagre resources are stretched that much more
Samarth Shah
16-Jan-2014
The World Twenty20 Qualifier recently concluded in the UAE, with the big guns of Associate cricket - Ireland, Afghanistan, and Netherlands - qualifying for the main draw. Joining them are Nepal, UAE and Hong Kong. The two countries I play cricket in, Canada and the United States, finished 12th and 15th in the 16-team competition.
Both countries are vast, with large immigrant populations, and thousands of club cricketers across dozens of leagues. Reactions to the national teams' sub-par showing have ranged from anger and concern to resignation, depending on who you talk to. Canada Cricket published an open letter to its fans and supporters on its website, sympathising with their disappointment and looking ahead to the future. It then sacked the national team's coach, Gus Logie. In the United States there has been no official comment, but the disappointment of the cricket cognoscenti is for all to see.
I have played with most of the USA's national players and some of the Canadians. The players are giving their best. If it seems like an unequal contest out there, that's because it is. Some Associate nations' players have opportunities and resources, others do not. You'll be surprised to know that the cricketers of Canada and the United States, both G8 nations, are among the have-nots.
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