Michael Jeh

England lack skill, pure and simple

The tourists have no excuses for their poor showing. They have simply not been good enough against quality bowling on lively pitches

Michael Jeh

10-Dec-2013

Let's have no talk of doctored pitches. Speak not of the importance of winning the toss. Not a word about DRS or umpiring errors, please. Injuries have nothing to do with it. What we've just seen from Australia is complete and clinical annihilation. Their triumphs in Brisbane and Adelaide have everything to do with high-quality batting, ferocious fast bowling, superior catching and brilliant captaincy. No excuses - quite simply, the better team has won and it will take a miracle (or rain) for shell-shcked England to avoid a 5-0 whitewash, especially with the bouncy Perth pitch to come.

In my Ashes summary from the previous series in England, I believed the 3-0 scoreline flattered the hosts. This series is heading in the opposite direction, with Australia heading for crushing victory margins. Thus far it has been a triumph of execution and England's limp showing is not necessarily a sign of how poor they've been but of how they've been made to look oh so mediocre by an Australian team that has simply not allowed them to get in the contest. Whichever way you cut and dice it, Australia have been awesome.

It wouldn't really have mattered if Michael Clarke had lost both tosses. The way his fast bowlers have assaulted the batsmen, the toss appears inconsequential. The pitch at the Gabba was helpful to the quicks but that is not Australia's fault. England too could have bowled fast and short if they wanted to, but they simply didn't have the weaponry. England's batsmen batted on the same Gabba strip as Australia's and showed none of the skill that was required.

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Doesn't sledging hurt anyone?

Players insist that what's said on the field doesn't affect them, but then why do it at all? And why go up in arms when someone seemingly crosses the line?

Michael Jeh

03-Dec-2013

"You might be a lone voice but keep at it and especially at youngsters. Tell them that sledging does not make them better cricketers, and definitely not better men."

My recent piece, trying to understand the tenuous link between sledging and manhood, between trash talk and improved performance, attracted lots of feedback, much of it offline, to my own website or private email. The encouraging message above came from one of cricket's true greats, someone who would probably feature in an all-time World XI. He played (and tamed) the very best cricketers of his era, so his comments carry some weight because they come from someone who succeeded at the highest level.

Jimmy Anderson attributes some of his bowling skill to also being a skilled sledger, although I'm not convinced he understands that merely doing something regularly, no matter how tasteless, equates to necessarily being proficient at this dubious dark art.

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How did sledging become a sign of manliness?

Michael Clarke has gained praise in some quarters for showing mongrel by sledging. What sort of message does that send?

Michael Jeh

27-Nov-2013

The bubble. It's a buzzword in sport today. This morning I attended the media launch of a new book called Bubble Boys, by Michael Blucher, a prominent Brisbane identity in the sports media community and a respected mentor to many elite athletes, especially when it comes to the matter of brand perception and image management. The author ruefully claimed that the book was seven years in the making and out of date within ten minutes! He was referring, of course, to the Michael Clarke sledging incident and its impact on the Clarke brand. (Incidentally Clarke's previous manager Chris White was also at this book launch, a wise, decent man whose advice might serve Clarke well right now.)

Picking up the Australian, I then read Gideon Haigh's excellent piece, which also refers to the bubble, this time in reference to Jonathan Trott, and is proof that the best cricket writers need not necessarily have played Test cricket. A quality writer who has distinguished himself in the Test arena, Michael Atherton, added to my enjoyment of the morning newspaper with his erudite and informed perspective, made more poignant by his first-hand experience of playing (and being sledged) at this level. He cautiously chided all parties involved, reminding them that at the end of the day, this is still sport and it behooves us all to not lose sight of that amidst all the trash talk.

Bubble Boys takes a balanced look at the pressures, both internal and external, perceived or real, that elite athletes have to now contend with. My professional life is centred firmly in this space, so I have some insights into bubble boys and it is with some caution that I offer my opinions on the fall-out from the Brisbane Test, conscious of my own personal leanings but not oblivious to the hard-nosed realities of modern warfare, which is what this Ashes series threatens to descend into unless both teams and the media change the mood.

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When petulant jingoism is mistaken for news

A Brisbane newspaper's campaign to vilify Stuart Broad has backfired spectacularly, and deservedly, as it wrongly portrays Australian fans as churlish and immature

Michael Jeh

22-Nov-2013

"Sometimes, even with the purest of intentions, we make things worse when we try to make them better". -- from Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

This week, Brisbane's home-town newspaper has managed to exceed its own exceptionally low benchmark by doing exactly the opposite. Even with the most childishly puerile intentions, they have managed to turn Stuart Broad into a less-hated figure than he was before the Test started.

It all started with an editorial edict that sounded laughable but was meant seriously. They decided, in a prolonged fit of misguided jingoism, to refrain from mentioning Stuart Broad's name (or publish photographs of him) in their coverage of the Ashes Test at the Gabba. He was only to be referred to as "the England medium-pacer" or similar.

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Tendulkar: devoid of malice

Is his image a carefully constructed bubble that will one day be pricked? Everyone I have asked emphatically disagrees

Michael Jeh

19-Nov-2013

A complete absence of malice. Hard to say about anyone in modern sport these days. From fans to commentators to fierce opponents and team-mates. Who can I think of in contemporary male sport, a genuine world champion on a truly global scale, who is devoid of malice, either directed at him by others or from within?

I qualify it by gender because generally speaking, female sport is much kinder, much less vicious, dare I say it, more mature, about the way it perceives champions, either from the outside looking in or through the lens of the champion herself, excelling without feeling the need to "fire up" in the way that many male athletes are conditioned to do in order to reach the very pinnacle. That so-called "mongrel" that is apparently necessary to lift performance from the mediocre to the magical. Female sport often rids itself of this unnecessary burden.

Tennis has a few such men, it seems. To an outsider anyway. Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and Rafael Nadal appear to have scaled dizzy heights without inviting a malicious word from the industry. Perhaps the insiders know better, but if so, then it is a well-hidden secret to the rest of us. Mo Farah, the Olympic champion middle-distance runner from the UK, is another that springs to mind. Haven't heard a malicious word about him.

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Warne, Watson, and the importance of emotional intelligence

A certain famous legspinner has shown he does not quite get leadership - in contrast to the two captains in the upcoming Ashes series

Michael Jeh

12-Nov-2013

Sometimes it is the calm before the storm that produces the most turbulence. These last few weeks, in anticipation of the Ashes opener in my hometown of Brisbane next week, have been decidedly tumultuous in Australian cricket circles.

Hatchets previously buried have been unearthed, players have been turning on each other, autobiographies have been released at propitious times, former captains (and frustrated never-to-be captains) have been weighing in with strong opinions from outside the dressing room, and through it all, Michael Clarke has been the ultimate diplomat. Under extreme duress, his grace under fire has been admirable. Perhaps when he finishes his career, we'll find out what he really thinks. Thus far, despite his no-win situation, his opinions have been about as interesting as wet lettuce, because we all know that he is (sensibly) shouldering arms until he can later take a swing at his detractors. That book might be worth waiting for.

The ODI series in India was hard to fathom. Australia keep insisting that they treat every international series with the dignity it deserves, but when the rubber hits the road, it is clear that even India, despite the big cheque book, runs a poor second to an Ashes series. How else can you explain removing Mitchell Johnson from the deciding game of a series locked at three apiece? Surely, if you really cared about winning the ODI series, you cannot remove your best bowler for the crunch match. The series is up for grabs, you send your best bowler home to prepare for the Ashes, claim you still want to win the game, and then get belted for 380-plus.

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Is any total safe anymore?

Scoring at more than six runs per over no longer comes fraught with huge risk and considerable damage

Michael Jeh

02-Nov-2013

It's clear now that no total is safe in modern ODI cricket. And if Pakistan are batting, no chase is safe either! It's easy enough to heap more insults on the bowlers (and I've done my fair share of that) so let's try and be rational about why scoring runs seems to be so much easier these days.

Both India and Australia have chased down big totals in the last few weeks, some of it at ridiculous run rates. But it's nothing new - it's happening everywhere. In domestic cricket, Queensland chased down 318 in a one-day final on Sunday, albeit at North Sydney Oval, which doubles as a postage stamp on weekdays. We can focus on the stunning chases of course, but let's not forget that in order for these totals to be hunted down, the team batting first also must have scored at a breakneck speed. Clearly 300 is a bare minimum now on good pitches but what has changed from say ten or 20 years ago?

Let's tick off the obvious factors so that we can elevate this discussion to a higher plane without wasting too much time. Better batting pitches, smaller boundaries, faster outfields, and more powerful cricket bats. Two new balls (which can make batting tougher in some parts of the world but not so on the subcontinent, it seems, especially near the end of the innings). Only four fielders outside the circle. Powerplay in the middle of the innings. I'm tempted to add "rubbish bowling", but that is probably unfair, despite the fact that I do genuinely think that bowlers are less adept at executing basic skills. But that's another story and it has already been told.

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What's the right age to start wearing helmets?

Do kids as young as eight need the protection, or do helmets just hamper their batting technique?

Michael Jeh

28-Oct-2013

My recent piece about the prohibitive cost (for me) of playing junior representative cricket in Australia elicited a dozen emails from strangers and friends. Their feedback has prompted me to compose this follow-up piece, seated in the departure lounge of Harare airport, having stopped en route to watch some pretty decent schoolboy cricket on the way to the airport.

The thing that struck me immediately about what little I've seen of Zimbabwe's young cricketers was the integrity and purity of their batting techniques, strikingly similar to boys of the same age that I've watched in the maidans of Mumbai and the laneways of Colombo. No doubt the best Australian kids, not playing impromptu games in the streets or parks but in structured net sessions, would be as good as the best anywhere in the world but there's precious little spontaneous backyard stuff in Australia these days.

Something else that stood out was the fact that most of the boys in Zimbabwe who I watched this morning were batting in caps, helmets nowhere to be seen. That was a sight to warm the cockles of my heart. I've long held the view, perhaps mistakenly, that the compulsory wearing of helmets by children as young as eight can be one of the most limiting factors in their development.

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The death of the yorker

Where are the bowlers who consistently land balls in the blockhole at decent pace?

Michael Jeh

22-Oct-2013

MS Dhoni's lament about the quality of death bowling after Ishant Sharma's latest meltdown highlights a trend in modern cricket that is difficult to comprehend - the complete inability to bowl yorkers under pressure. Perhaps Ishant was given instructions not to bowl yorkers. Whatever the reason, that performance was pathetic, made less so only by similar poor bowling throughout the world in similar circumstances by bowlers from all countries.

Contemporary cricket abounds with bowling coaches and technical analysis by video that is meant to enhance skills. Apart from the spinners' ability to bowl doosras, I fail to see how the standard of bowling has improved that much in the last few decades, despite all the technological and physiological advances.

Even allowing for the scoop (ramp) shot to full-pitched deliveries and heavier bats on smaller grounds, I'm not convinced that the modern international fast bowler holds a candle to the quicks of say 20 or 30 years ago. Perhaps there are just so many of them these days that it is unfair to compare them to the smaller list of elite fast bowlers of yesteryear. It is entirely another story as to why there are so many mediocre quicks playing international cricket but that may in part be due to the injury toll (despite sports science advances) and the plethora of cricket, much of it meaningless, played today and forgotten tomorrow.

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The left-hander's cover drive

Aka the cricket stroke that can move medical professionals to poetry

Michael Jeh

12-Oct-2013

Usually a visit to the GP is a relatively uneventful occasion. The odd amputation here and there, a frontal lobotomy every few months, and a few Panadol to wash it all down. Stock-standard stuff here in suburban Brisbane. Imagine my surprise then when my new GP recognised my name from the ESPNcricinfo blogsphere. Apparently he prescribes my incoherent ramblings for patients suffering insomnia and it has proved to be a reliable cure. Completely forgetting why I was in his surgery, we launched into a detailed analysis of cricket that eventually had to be curtailed due to pressing medical needs - that vasectomy won't get itself done, will it? Better get that big knife, doc!

My erudite GP, Janaka Malwatta, is more than just a passing cricket fan and much more than a mere doctor. He is a gentleman, a scholar and a poet, no less. Somehow or another, we got round to talking about my sons, both left-handed batsmen, and Janaka's eyes lit up. Fearing the worst, I watched anxiously as he suddenly looked for a file on his computer. My fears were allayed when I read this delightful poem about the left-hander's cover drive. Poetry in motion indeed.