The Surfer
Fire the boss!
As the row between Kevin Pietersen, the England cricket captain, and Peter Moores, the head coach, begins to establish some kind of rhythm, it seems increasingly likely that Moores will have to go, writes Simon Barnes in the Times :
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
As the row between Kevin Pietersen, the England cricket captain, and Peter Moores, the head coach, begins to establish some kind of rhythm, it seems increasingly likely that Moores will have to go, writes Simon Barnes in the Times:
Why? Simple: because Pietersen wants him gone. Throughout the history of sport, cricketers, more than most athletes, have been considered inferior to such people as selectors and chairmen and tour managers. A lack of deference to such people used to cost players their places, as Fred Trueman, among many others, learnt the hard way. But now, it seems, the captain is about to sack the coach, much as a writer sacks the editor or the lead violinist sacks the conductor. Fire the boss! What a thrilling concept - how wonderful it would be, whenever our careers seem to be developing along unpleasing lines, to sack the boss.
In the Independent Angus Fraser writes the row and its inevitable fall-out could undermine a huge year for English cricket. Perhaps the bravest and best decision England cricket's managing director Hugh Morris can make is to remove both.
Full postEvery Dougie will have his day
Greg Baum in the Age looks at Doug Bollinger’s eventful but wicketless first bowling innings in Test cricket.
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
Greg Baum in the Age looks at Doug Bollinger’s eventful but wicketless first bowling innings in Test cricket.
As Mark Boucher and Morne Morkel stalled Australia for nearly three hours and added another twist to the plot, Dougie appeared to have trapped Morkel plumb in front, and appealed in a way that made this point clearly and unarguably, and was mortified when umpire Bowden did not see it his way. Another expletive followed, which was at least understandable, and from a fast bowler's point of view, the minimum requirement.
All this was enough to make a man want to tear his hair out, something Dougie must beware, since his hair is not his anyway, and if torn out would not grow back, but would have to be replanted surgically, which would cost a lot of money and besides, what would Tegan say? Admirably, but by a narrow margin, he kept his hair on.
In the Australian, Peter Lalor explains the “heavy ball” for which Peter Siddle is renowned.
Full postHilditch too busy for two jobs
Australia’s chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch has been under as much scrutiny as the players this season
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
Australia’s chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch has been under as much scrutiny as the players this season. A tabloid paper published photos on Sunday of Hilditch walking his dog in Adelaide instead of watching Matthew Hayden bat for his career and Robert Craddock in the Courier-Mail believes something is wrong with Australia’s selection panel.
It is a shame that officials who were upset by the photos have not put the same amount of effort into getting Hilditch to do his job better ... then there would have been no photos. Since he took over as national selection chairman Hilditch simply has not tackled his public responsibilities with the same gusto as his predecessors, Trevor Hohns and Laurie Sawle.
...
As a full-time lawyer in Adelaide he already had a cramped schedule, perhaps too cramped to fit two jobs into one day. Even other selectors noted how difficult at times he was to contact, and how one of them had a phone battery go flat while waiting for Hilditch during a phone hook-up. But it is not as if he is being paid mere petrol money to do the job. As chairman, his salary of more than $100,000 is twice as much as those of the other three selectors - Merv Hughes, Jamie Cox and David Boon - and part of the extra money is a sweetener for being the public face of the panel. So far it has been a very private public face.
Full postTwenty20 for plenty
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
The spells for New Zealand players under the Indian Twenty20 sun will do wonders for their cricket by letting them blast away shoulder to shoulder with the game's superstars, and help them come to grips with playing in the subcontinent. But the action-starved crowds in New Zealand have every right to ask if they are getting a good deal, and if what many of them still consider the real game is being tainted by the Twenty20 craze. Chris Rattue in the New Zealand Herald has more.
These Million Dollar Test Babes are set for life, and the moment is fast approaching when Southee, Ryder and all will face the difficult choice of whether they drive to the next rain-sodden cricketing scrapheap in this country in a Porsche or a Lamborghini.
Clarke shows his leadership qualities
Mike Coward writes in the Australian that Michael Clarke’s century at the SCG has only enhanced his growing reputation as a leader since being appointed vice-captain.
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
Mike Coward writes in the Australian that Michael Clarke’s century at the SCG has only enhanced his growing reputation as a leader since being appointed vice-captain.
Clarke's willingness to accept greater responsibility as Ricky Ponting's deputy will buoy the selectors who have been the butt of loud criticism as the Australians have failed in a home series for the first time since the West Indies were here in 1992-93. Not everyone greeted his appointment enthusiastically and the game's governors will be delighted with the maturity he has brought to the office.
While he led competently in two limited-overs matches in the Caribbean early last year, he demonstrated his strength as a man manager later in the year when he recommended strong action be taken against Andrew Symonds for abandoning a compulsory team meeting for a fishing expedition in Darwin. He again showed his maturity during a tense moment of the Test match in New Delhi when Simon Katich was incensed by the behaviour of Indian opening batsman Gautam Gambhir. When it seemed Katich could lose his self-control, Clarke physically ushered Katich away. It was excellent work by Clarke and showed his presence of mind under pressure -- an essential quality for a leader.
Peter Roebuck in the Sydney Morning Herald argues that Clarke’s 138 was the most accomplished innings of his career, while Greg Baum in the Age believes the maturing of Clarke has been one of Australia's few gains this summer.
Full postEngland shoot themselves in the foot
Stephen Brenkley wonders in the Independent on Sunday how the Kevin Pietersen-Peter Moores rift will be resolved
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Stephen Brenkley wonders in the Independent on Sunday how the Kevin Pietersen-Peter Moores rift will be resolved.
Full postThe English game would look foolish if either man were to depart. Moores was appointed to replace Duncan Fletcher 20 months ago without interview. He was deemed to be the sole and logical choice. Pietersen was similarly ushered in when Vaughan resigned last summer. It was as if there was no alternative, but there is always an alternative.John Stern writes in the Sunday Times that it is likely that neither Pietersen nor Moores will be sacked.
The most likely outcome is a Morris-inspired fragile peace, an agreement between all parties to muddle on through to this summer’s Ashes, the result of which will dictate the career paths of players and coaches alike.
The IPL distraction
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
The second instalment of the IPL begins in April and thoughts are turning to who the franchises might snap up at next month's auction. Some England players are likely to be on the roster, plus youngsters who have impressed over the last 12 months. However, there are warnings to heed. Not all the stars who signed last year impressed during the tournament and some have suffered a hangover into their Test and ODI performances.
In the Sydney Morning Herald Andrew Stevenson and Stephen Samuelson look at the Australian players who came back from India worse off.
Full postThe decline of Australian sport
For years, Australia has been pound-for-pound the greatest sporting nation, winning golds, grand slams and World Cups, taking particular pleasure in crushing England
Nishi Narayanan
25-Feb-2013
For years, Australia has been pound-for-pound the greatest sporting nation, winning golds, grand slams and World Cups, taking particular pleasure in crushing England. But cracks have started to show. In the Observer Malcolm Knox, an Australian, explains where it's gone wrong and how failure is affecting the country's psyche.
... when our Olympians don't win, we all feel a bit more sluggish. When our cricketers are beaten by England or India, there is a little less strut on every Saturday-afternoon pitch across the nation. Great champions inspire a nation; failure at the top has a slight depressive effect on the masses
... the best young talents tend to skip over their years of grade cricket, being recruited to the academy or elite State squads from their mid-teens and pushed forward into Sheffield Shield cricket before they have played much grade cricket at all.
Full postSouth Africa plot to stay on top
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Neil Manthorp writes in the Observer about how South Africa's side has several similarities with England's Ashes-winning one of 2005. He also talks about how the involvement of Jeremy Snape as performance coach and Duncan Fletcher as part of the backroom staff were key components in South Africa's historic series win.
South Africa's rise is a journey mirrored by their captain, Graeme Smith, who will return home straight after the Sydney match for treatment on his sometimes agonising tennis-elbow condition. Smith has made a tumultuous five-and-a-half-year transition from outspoken youth to the longest-serving and most-respected leader in the game.
The irony, to those who know him best, is that while his team and their collective attitude and approach to cricket has changed fundamentally, Smith's core principles have remain unchanged. It's just that he has now dropped the shield of aggression and bullish confrontation behind which he used to do battle.
Full postHayden's time looks up
Matthew Hayden's highest innings of the Australian summer was probably his most frustrating, and he surely has only one knock left to save his career, says Rob Smyth in the Guardian
Cricinfo
25-Feb-2013
Matthew Hayden's highest innings of the Australian summer was probably his most frustrating, and he surely has only one knock left to save his career, says Rob Smyth in the Guardian.
Full postHe has always struggled to cope with bad form: some will say because of a lack of humility, others because of a lack of flexibility in body, mind, or both. Ian Healy once described the Australian team, in the nicest possible sense of word, as bluffers. He was right: any game that is played predominantly in the mind will depend to some extent on bluff, and Hayden, as the most overtly strong member of the side both physically and mentally, is probably the biggest bluffer of the lot.