Michael Jeh
Strauss - A very English captain
It is with some sadness, even from the other side of the world, that I digest the news of Andrew Strauss retiring from all forms of cricket
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
It is with some sadness, even from the other side of the world, that I digest the news of Andrew Strauss retiring from all forms of cricket. Sadness yes, surprise no. For a man of Strauss's breeding and class, it comes as no surprise that he announced his departure from one of the top jobs in English society with little fanfare and no histrionics. His batting style was ever thus too. Even his departure mirrors his career - consistent, reliable, a minimum of fuss and no hanging around when the finger was raised. A good man.
2012 has been the year of surrendering good, decent men from the international stage. They don't come much better than Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and now Andrew Strauss. I speak not necessarily of runs, catches and wins but of that indefinable quality that speaks to the heart of what cricket stands for in the minds of sentimental old fools like me. These men were gifted and elegant batsmen whose Test records are up there with the best in the history of the game, albeit (Dravid apart) not necessarily walking in the elite company of the 'all-time Greats'.
Of the three players, watching VVS do his thing was probably the best entertainment I can imagine. Those wrists of steel barely seemed to hit the ball in anger and it is surely was not a coincidence that all of these men played their careers without showing any public demonstration of anger or boorishness, even under extreme pressure.
Full postSledging is not necessary
So Paul Nixon, gifted ex-international cricketer and intellectual giant, thinks that sledging is a sign of wanting to win
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
So Paul Nixon, gifted ex-international cricketer and intellectual giant, thinks that sledging is a sign of wanting to win? Reading Jon Culley's excellent review of Nixon's autobiography saddened me because it just reinforces the false notion that sledging and winning go hand-in-hand. Too many great cricketers, Nixon not being in that category but a damn fine player all the same, confuse boorish behaviour and bad manners with winning habits. The two behaviours are separate things - good cricket and poor behaviour are often coincidental occupants of the one person, but let's get one thing straight…they operate independent of each other.
Let's just take Australia for example, although this analogy could apply to any of the major teams. The Australian teams of the last 40 years, since the Ian Chappell era allegedly, have generally been thought to have been consistently the worst sledgers in the game. Even if we assume that is true, it's clear from looking at the results that winning cricket and sledging are not symbiotic. Australia were quite powerful in the early 1970s, they were weakened during World Series Cricket, revived again when the WSC players returned to the ranks and then fell in a hole for much of the 1980s until the World Cup victory in India in 1987. Some of the players came through both experiences - losing and winning. Allan Border for example. His personal success straddled both the losing and winning cultures, but I don't think he started winning more games because he became a better sledger. He may have become a better batsman and he may have played in stronger teams but it's an insult to a man of his talent to suggest that winning was largely down to an ability to sledge better.
Back to that Australian team; through the 1990s and till perhaps 2005, they were a pretty powerful unit, made up of wonderful cricketers with immense skill. Their reputation for being the best sledgers, justified or not, just happened to be coincidental. Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, the list goes on and on. Great cricketers full stop. Sledging may or may not have been a part of their game but it's irrelevant to their skill level. Australia won many games during this period because they were more skilled with the bat and the ball than with their mouths. Otherwise, how come many of those players also lost an Ashes series in 2005 and a few of those players have also started tasting defeat more regularly now that the Australian team is not as strong as it used to be? Using Nixon's theory, surely all these players still "wanted to win" as much as ever before. They were just defeated by more skilled players on the day, coinciding perhaps with a downturn in their own form. Nothing to do with sledging and the desire to win.
Full postFitness is the player's responsibility
My initial thoughts stemmed from the recent injuries to Pat Cummins and James Anderson, both of them breaking down after a ten-over bowling spell
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
My most recent blog post has inspired me to write a follow-up piece to further explore the broad themes around why so many bowlers are being sidelined through seemingly minor niggles and soft-tissue injuries. What has really inspired me to write again on the same topic has been the quality of the debate from around the world. Free from some of the partisan, flag-waving, one-eyed, jingoistic claptrap that usually polarises most blog pieces, the comments emanating from the previous article were erudite, educated, thoughtful and genuinely seeking respectful dialogue. I certainly learned a lot from many of the intelligent folk that contributed to that debate so I figured it might be worth taking the discussion to another plane.
My initial thoughts stemmed from the recent injuries to Pat Cummins and James Anderson, both of them breaking down after a ten-over bowling spell. I see today that poor old Jade Dernbach has caught the same virus, a side strain after bowling ten overs for 59 runs. Same questions apply here…was he not properly 'prepared' by the medical staff to get through a ten-over spell or was his (supposedly super-fit) body unable to cope with the demands of getting through those ten measly overs in three spells? Whatever the answer, it is clear that something is clearly amiss here. Either the cricketers themselves are not fit enough to bowl ten overs without straining a muscle or they haven't been prepared well enough to be able to deliver 60 balls in 2-3 spells at fast-medium pace on a mild summer's day without injuring themselves. I'm sorry but it just begs the question - how can this keep happening without somebody questioning the value of having such an expensive and extensive support system that is clearly unable to keep players on the park after a standard day at the office?
Sifting through the previous blog comments, it is clear that I'm not the only one to be pondering this question. There were some really insightful theories from around the world, from those with a medical background to people who understand bowling actions, javelin throwers and biomechanics to just commonsense folk who have fond memories of enduring and durable fast bowlers of yesteryear (some fairly recent) who somehow managed to escape this modern affliction of the ubiquitous muscle strain!
Full postWhy do so many bowlers get injured?
It's not just cricket that suffers this affliction of the uber-fit athlete who is engineered like a Ferrari to the point where they're next to useless when it comes to durability
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
Eighteen months ago I wrote about the relative fragility of the modern cricketer, and in doing so, questioned the veritable army of medical and conditioning staff that have now become part of any first-class squad.
Hearing today's news that Pat Cummins is out of the England tour with a side strain and Jimmy Anderson is temporarily sidelined with a groin strain, neither injury seemingly an 'impact' injury or accidental, I wonder again how these little niggles keep happening in ultra-professional sporting environments. How do both Cummins and Anderson, supposedly 'prepared' for peak performance by highly qualified conditioners, break down after just 10 overs of work? Not just on game day, but even in the days and months leading up to an international series, these guys have been analysed, cosseted and massaged down to their last sinew. They fly business class, warm up for hours before they bowl, warm down under strict supervision and yet they seem to be breaking down at a rate that just makes a mockery of all the medical support staff.
I'm not necessarily blaming the conditioners; maybe the modern international cricketer is a lot softer than the average common or garden variety playing club cricket anywhere in the world, but it still begs the question of how these muscle strains keep happening at the highest levels. Do the rest of us mere mortals not have the muscles that the Cummins and Andersons of the world strain after bowling 10 overs? Yes, that may be the case but we also don't get the care and attention that these lads benefit from, so what gives? Did the player ignore medical advice or protocols when it came to stretching exercises, hydration, compression suits or whatever else he was instructed to do to ensure he could get through a ten-over spell without having to pull up too sore to play the next game? Most bowlers pull up a bit sore after a decent spell of bowling but 99% of them can bowl again later that afternoon, let alone the next game.
Full postWhat's with the full tosses?
C'mon fellas, you're meant to be the best in the world and you're paid accordingly. No other profession would accept such a high ratio of execution error to this extent
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
Despite full-time careers as cricketers, doing precious little else other than train, play, recuperate and shop for designer clothing, I'm not convinced that modern bowlers are any better today than they ever were. In fact, under pressure, I'd argue that they are a lot worse, despite the increasing presence of sports psychologists and other professional ancillary staff. Unlike their predecessors of even a generation ago, the inability of international standard cricketers to repeatedly make 'execution errors' is a blight on their so-called professionalism and brings into question whether bowling coaches are raising standards at all.
I've just finished watching the final ODI between Australia and the West Indies. The fact that it finished up being mildly exciting was down to some brave hitting from Darren Sammy and Andre Russell but just about any half-decent batsman could probably have despatched a brace of knee-high full tosses into the stands. Notwithstanding pressure, nerves, home crowd support, sweaty hands, small boundaries and better cricket bats, it's hard to believe that the very best bowlers in Australia continued to bowl full tosses. I mean, these guys are supposedly the best bowlers in the country. Think about it - of all the thousands of cricketers playing the game in Australia, these guys are the very best. They have a full-time bowling coach at State or international level, they practice 4-5 times a week, they have the best that sports medicine/science can throw at them, they're hydrated and honed to perfection…and they can't land the ball on the pitch during a Powerplay.
It's not just Australia that are woeful in this regard. Just about every team in world cricket cannot execute these skills under pressure, despite never being more 'professional' than in this era. Sri Lanka were terrible under pressure recently in the ODI series in Australia, bowling full tosses that cost them dearly at crucial times. India were no better - their death bowling was horrendous at times, most of it coming down to a simple inability to bowl yorkers. They weren't missing by a small amount either. The difference between a yorker and a waist-high full toss is some margin of error. It's like an opera singer continually missing the high note - if they miss it more than once in a performance, they'd be torn to shreds by the critics.
Full postInnings swap, anyone?
Is there anyone else out there who spends their day thinking about cricket, coming up with theories on how to improve it?
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
Is there anyone else out there who spends their day thinking about cricket, coming up with various theories on how to improve one aspect of the game or the other? None of these ideas are ever likely to be accepted by the ICC, but that's never stopped my friends and I from whiling away the hours, debating these concepts and imagining the implications. It's good stuff to argue about on rainy days, cooped up in dressing rooms, waiting for the umpires to call off the match. That's happened a lot in Brisbane lately!
Here's an ODI hypothetical; the genesis of the idea comes from a good friend called Baldy who lives and breathes cricket whilst pretending to be a chartered accountant of dubious distinction.
I edited his idea a little bit but in essence, to make allowance for the toss of the coin being too much of an advantage, Baldy proposes that the team losing the toss can call for an "innings swap/suspension' sometime between overs 15-40. So on a pitch that is very helpful to the bowlers, Team A wins the toss and chooses to insert Team B. If Team B is struggling at say 3 for 50 after 15 overs and thinks there is still some life in the pitch, they can call for an 'innings swap' and have a crack at utilising those conditions themselves. It also means they have to bat last on that pitch, which could mean it has flattened out or it could start to slow down or take spin or keep low. That's the risk they take by choosing to call for the swap.
Full postMankading is no grey area
Cricket needs to find a way to eliminate these anomalies because it is a game decided by the smallest of margins
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
Forgive me for continuing to bang on about the same topic but if international cricketers (and the system that governs them) keep repeating the same behaviours, perhaps it's necessary to keep bringing the same matter up for discussion. In my most recent blog, we discussed the Mankading incident involving Lahiru Thirimanne and whether the liberties that batsmen are taking constitute cheating or gamesmanship.
Yesterday in Hobart, Sri Lanka were quick to remind Michael Hussey that backing up too far was a global phenomenon and not unique to Sri Lanka. Despite Hussey looking a bit bemused when the umpire gave him a friendly warning via Mahela Jayawardene, video evidence clearly showed that Hussey was indeed guilty of stealing a few centimetres, by accident or design.
Today in Wellington, the issue was elevated from the sublime to the ridiculous when Lonwabo Tstotsobe was no-balled for overstepping the line and the video replay showed that a part of his heel was actually behind the line, although to be fair, it might have looked different from where the umpire was standing. This tiny fraction of a centimetre was enough to cost him a "free hit" which can prove to be a costly mistake. What was interesting though was that the replay showed the batsman, Kane Williamson, backing up a long way out of his crease at the time that Tsotsobe's foot was deemed to be a centimetre too short for the umpire's liking. So whilst the bowler is penalised for being a fraction over the line, the batsmen can be a few feet past the line and there is very little that the game can do to stop this blatant cheating.
Full postThirimanne issue shows cricket's double standards on morality
India's withdrawal of the appeal speaks volumes of the maturity shown by Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar even in the heat of battle
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
The incident involving Lahiru Thirimanne and the almost-'Mankad' run-out by R Ashwin provides the perfect platform for an intellectual debate about the difference between gamesmanship and sportsmanship in an ancient game that has almost outgrown its antiquated value system.
India's withdrawal of the appeal speaks volumes of the maturity shown by Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar even in the heat of battle. Their cool-headed wisdom, coupled with sensible umpiring, avoided creating an incident that would inevitably have polarised two close neighbours and would almost certainly have led to bad blood that would have lingered on for some time. Well done India.
It does beg the philosophical question though that at what point does a team or individual cross that fine line between being villain or hero, opportunist or cheat, playing to the rules as opposed to playing within the rules?
Full postShattering the Kalu myth
Truth is, Kalu actually had a pretty average World Cup. His scores, listed here as runs/balls faced, were: 0/1, 26/16, 33/18, 8/3, 0/1, 6/13
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
Nostalgia can indeed be a seductive mistress, can she not? Watching Sri Lanka dismantling the Australian bowling attack in Sydney tonight, I heard Tony Greig waxing lyrical about the feats of Romesh Kaluwitharana in the 1996 World Cup. Greig's insinuation was that Kalu's breathtaking innings at the top of the order in that tournament were the catalyst for the new style of opening in ODIs. It is easy to be fooled into thinking that Kalu set the world alight and got Sri Lanka off to some amazing starts, but my distant memory forced me to check the facts.
Truth is, Kalu actually had a pretty average World Cup as a batsman. His scores, listed here as runs/balls faced, were: 0/1, 26/16, 33/18, 8/3, 0/1, 6/13.
They certainly weren't slow starts but, apart from the 33 against Kenya, his contributions could hardly be considered significant. It's easy to remember him as that explosive little stick of dynamite but if you actually look at his scores during that season, even leading into the World Cup, the numbers tell a very different story.
Full postWho is Joe Dawes?
Joe Dawes was announced yesterday as India's new bowling coach
Michael Jeh
25-Feb-2013
Joe Dawes was announced yesterday as India's new bowling coach. I've already read a few blog comments on various cricket websites and online newspapers, and some Indian fans are understandably a bit nervous about who they are getting to fill Eric Simons' shoes. I'm here to put your minds at ease - worry not folks, this is one appointment that will reap rich dividends soon.
Let me state my bias upfront so there's no question of me offering a neutral opinion. I've known Joey since we first started playing cricket together at Valleys CC in Brisbane back in 1995. We've been good mates ever since and we've even worked together. So the opinions I offer suffer from undoubted bias but they also benefit from an intimate knowledge of the man himself. It cuts both ways.
I won't even begin to address his technical competence because, frankly, I don't understand what it takes to coach bowling at this level. Suffice to say that he has all the qualifications and experience but it's how he imparts that knowledge and then gets players to execute those skills under pressure that will impress you. Just wait and see.
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