On the subject of the Ian Bell run out that-was-and-then-wasn’t-again, I have this to say: who cares?  Really, it detracts from the actual play during the day which saw England put India across their knee and give them a damned good thrashing.  400 runs in a day is pretty good by anyone’s standards, but in a close fought match against the “number one ranked team in the world” it’s a real statement.

Let’s get this out of the way: Yes Ian Bell was careless, but common sense should have prevented India from appealing.  If even the fielder thought the ball had gone for four, why did Mukund and India appeal in the first place?

Once they had, MS Dhoni was in an impossible position – be pilloried for being either callous or spineless.  In that situation, any international captain should consider carefully their options and then do what Allan Border would have done: stick two fingers up at everyone, including his own mother if necessary.  Instead, Dhoni chose the gentlemanly option and let Bell resume his innings.

The impassioned debate about the spirit of cricket is largely a pointless one.  You can throw as many examples of one side being sporting and the other not as much as you like, and you’ll be a raging hypocrite for doing so.  Yes, English cricketers have had their unsporting moments in the past.  So have Indian cricketers.  Conversely, both English and Indian cricketers have displayed excellent sportsmanship regularly in the past, and will continue to do so.

This was a simple case of Indian cricketers sensing a match slipping away from them and impulsively trying to create an opportunity for themselves out of desperation.  India is the number one ranked team in test cricket, as their fans never tire of reminding us, but they are up against an England side who are heading for the top of the rankings themselves and know it.  So let’s cut the sanctimonious bleating, instil some much needed perspective and get on with the cricket.

Now, if any Indian fan wants to take umbrage with my views, and they undoubtedly will, let me now present the score at the close of play:

England 221 & 441/6; India 288

As any good former Yorkshire and England opener would say, that’s all that matters.  If India hadn’t fallen apart yesterday evening, England would have been under serious pressure today.  But no.  Instead, they have resisted as meekly as a blancmange in a gale.

Unless India can dig themselves out of a major hole at Trent Bridge over the next two days, the series will be virtually over, and that could be the real fall out from MS Dhoni’s decision to recall Ian Bell.

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Jonathan Trott now averages 66.77 in tests after his double century against Sri Lanka at Cardiff.  This is, to put it mildly, quite remarkable.  To illustrate, here’s a list of the averages of England batsmen who have scored more than 1,000 runs:

I should make clear that I’m not for a moment trying to use these stats to suggest that Jonathan Trott is better than Sutcliffe, Hammond, Hobbs and co.  But it does highlight what a remarkable start he has made to his test career and if he were to maintain it, we could certainly make a valid comparison with Ken Barrington, that legendary stonewaller (he wasn’t to begin with, but he became one to regain his England place).

Make a comparison of batsmen from any test country who’ve scored at least 1,000 test runs, and Trott is second only to Bradman.  His record compares well with greates like Graeme Pollock and George Headley, who played a similar number of innings in their careers.  The nearest current player is Jacques Kallis, and he’s trailing with an average of 57.43.

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There probably isn’t much to write by way of a preview to England v Sri Lanka that hasn’t already been written everywhere else.  So I won’t bother to bore you with predictions of how things will pan out, or to explain who’s got which weaknesses.  Suffice to say that two good teams will fight to the death and at the end of it all, India will emerge victorious as always.

We’ve had the Bopara / Morgan debate, and Morgan won on points.  He’ll now get an extended run, as is only right, which could have serious ramifications for Bopara’s future test prospects.  Tremlett and Finn will contend for the last bowling spot even though Stuart Broad has been bowling like Chris Broad so far this summer.  Tremlett will win that battle for the time being, which we’ve known for ages.

So that’s England out of the way faster than a Yorkshire batting lineup.  What of Sri Lanka?

We know they’ve a strong batting lineup, but in Dinesh Chandimal they have a batsmen with the potential to add depth to that lineup for years to come.  Although yet to make a test debut, the 21 year old averages 60 in first class cricket and already has an ODI century to his name, a match-winning effort against India last year.  He played against both Middlesex and England Lions, which suggests he is at least under consideration for the 1st test.

If he does get picked, it will almost certainly be in the number six spot he occupied against the Lions, with Sanga, Mahela and Thilan Samaraweera ahead of him.

It will be interesting to see how he goes but, frankly, the most interesting thing about Chandimal is that Dinesh is his middle name and it’s the only middle name he’s got.  Take that, Uda Walawwe Mahim Bandaralage Chanaka Asanga Welegedara.

So, the 1st test starts on Thursday at Cardiff.  In the meantime, Glamorgan will be attempting to flog the remaining tickets with all the desperation of a man who owes money to the mob and has just seen their car pull up outside.

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The matches between England Lions and the touring sides have become an important part of the fixture list. They are, in all but name, test trials for fringe and up-and-coming players.

The game against Sri Lanka is notable as much for the individual performances of the batsmen vying for Paul Collingwood’s place as it is for the form of the tourists. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that Eoin Morgan has won this week hands down.

The common consensus that Ravi Bopara would take the number six place is now seriously in doubt. Whilst choosing to score some runs in county cricket instead of playing in the IPL was the right decision for Bopara, his innings of 17 compared with Morgan’s 193 may well cost him anyway.

This means that today will probably be a defining one in Ravi Bopara’s career.

Having bowled out Sri Lanka for 266, the Lions could choose to enforce the follow-on, but I would be very surprised if they did. The bowling places are clearly decided, with Tremlett ahead of Finn for the time being, so England would benefit more from having another look at the batsmen.

If Bopara were to fail again, surely the place will go to Morgan. And if Morgan scores runs in the test matches, it could be a long time before another place in the top six is up for grabs – perhaps even until Andrew Strauss retires. By this time the likes of James Taylor and Ben Stokes of Durham, being the new kids on the block, will have a much stronger case. Taylor, of Leicestershire, is already making a decent case as it is, and if Stokes continues to bludgeon the best county bowling as he has been then it’s only a matter of time.

The selectors announce the squad for the 1st test tomorrow, and I think it’s D-Day for Ravi Bopara’s test ambitions. He must score some runs today.

Update: As it turned out, the follow-on was enforced, which shows what I know! However, that doesn’t mean that the rest of the argument about Bopara losing out for a long time to come isn’t valid. We shall see…

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England v Banglandesh, 1st test day 2: England 505, Trott 226; Bangladesh 172/2, Tamim Iqbal 55, Junaid Siddique 53*

Today was a day of contrasts.  First we saw Jonathan Trott become the first England batsman since KP to score 226 in a test innings.  He did this mostly by nudging the ball around for ones and twos, although occasionally he forgot himself and hit a cover drive for 4.

After England’s innings finished on a thoroughly inadequate 505, Bangladesh had a try.  Many people were surprised that they lasted till the close, finishing on a mighty 172/2.  They did this by scoring more boundaries in that 172 than Trott did in scoring 54 more runs.

But the most interesting thing about today happened five years ago.

When Bangladesh volunteered to be England’s pre-Ashes hors d’œuvre in 2005, they conceded a combined 975/6 in two test matches and mustered scores of 108, 159, 104 and 316.  Today’s effort was better than any of those innings – that 316 was at one stage 125/4 – and they managed to bowl out England.

So if you know anyone who still thinks Bangladesh should only be allowed to play Canada, Namibia or Geoff Boycott’s mum, and you surely do, then please bring the above comparison to their attention.

Sure, Bangladesh are still a relatively weak side, but they are showing improvement.  Their body language in the field might not always be up to Michael Vaughan’s lofty standards, and they may give away too many easy runs, but their batting has become a far sturdier entity.

They might need a few more years yet, but they are getting better.  It won’t be long before they learn to flay bowling attacks far less toothless than England’s and figure out how to out-think far smarter batsmen than Ian Bell.  New Zealand had better watch out.

In the meantime, a 4th day seems almost guaranteed, and a 5th distinctly possible, and that has made Giles Clarke a very happy man indeed.  And if Bangladesh play really well, it’s not inconceivable that England might suffer the utter humiliation of a draw.

Footnotes

As an aside, when Bangladesh play England Lions from now on, it really should be known as a Ligers Match.

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England v Banglandesh, 1st test day 1: England 362/4, Strauss 83, Trott 175*

Jonathan Trott has become the latest to use a test match against Only Bangladesh to boost his batting average.  His unbeaten 175 on the 1st day could be evidence of deep reserves of mental strength after a torrid winter.  Or it might not be.

But here’s a stat to consider.  If Trott adds a further 25 runs on the 2nd morning, he will have scored a double century.  Since 1985, only seven English batsmen have achieved this in a test innings: Graham Gooch (twice), Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe, Marcus Trescothick, Rob Key, Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen (all once) ^[1].  That’s a pretty select group whichever way you look at it.

Virender Sehwag has scored 6 double or triple hundreds by himself in a fraction of that 25 year period ^[2].  Even Wasim Jaffer has two ^[3].  Imagine how many honours Paul Collingwood would have after his name if he had two double hundreds.

Jonathan Trott’s South African instincts take over as he spots a minnow bowler that has been separated from the herd

So whilst there will be plenty of grinding of teeth and naysaying about Trott’s innings here, and it does seem to be en vogue to criticise the man at the moment, that Bangladeshi bowling still has to be put away.  Just ask Ian Bell, who had his average against them reduced to a measly 168 today after being dismissed for just 17.

The lack of double hundreds in general for England batsmen can be put down to two things – firstly, during the late eighties and throughout the nineties they were rubbish.

Not the sort of rubbish you would neatly separate out to be recycled, the kind that makes you pull a disgusted face and retch at the smell before flushing it down the toilet at arms length.

The almost-double century

Since then things have improved and England, and especially Michael Vaughan, perfected the art of scoring an almost-double century.  It became a sort of ritual tease, batting for hours without a care in the world, convincing everyone that they were about to do it before nicking a medium pacer on 187.

So whilst before the problem for England’s batsmen used to be going on from a score of 60, these days it tends to be going on from a score 0f 130 that gets them all a-flutter.

This second factor is a peculiarly English fragility – the fear of being seen to be greedy and merciless.  You know – “oh, I’ve scored my hundred, I’ll take it easy now and give these chaps a bit of a sporting chance”.  It’s an important part of the Englishman’s treasured Ps & Qs.

When Gooch scored his wonderfully symetrical 333 against India at Lord’s, the sound that accompanied every milestone was not applause but tutting at such an outrageous display of rubbing it in.  What he should have done was sacrificed his wicket at 140 to give someone else a turn and let the bowlers have something to cheer.

Trott being South African means he isn’t aware of this subtle etiquette.  For many English observers, Trott has already crossed the line by reaching 175, so the best thing he can do on day 2 is have a hit and get out for 194.  The gloriousness of “so near yet so far” could be his redemption.

Watch instead as his South African instincts lead him to grind the minnow bowlers into the dust, pounding them endlessly while grown men plead with him to “stop hurting the little ones”.

Footnotes

[1] – Source
[2] – Source
[3] – Source
[4] – Images on this post are courtesy of Sarah Canterbury

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It’s hard to know what to write about a two test series where the result seems a foregone conclusion.

Bangladesh are slowly improving, but their experience is limited mostly to the dry roads of the sub-continent and the Caribbean. It’s hard to imagine them mustering much resistance in English early summer conditions.

However, learn they must and being thrashed repeatedly and regularly has been the experience of most Test nations during their early years at the highest level.

We are bound to hear plenty of calls for them to be relegated back to associate level from England’s insular cricket media, but we should not view this mini-series as a true indicator of their progress.

In addition to the unfamiliar surroundings, their best batsman Tamim Iqbal is struggling to overcome injury, and captain & star all-rounder Shakib-al-Hasan is recovering from chickenpox.  Results in their warm up matches have been poor, with defeats to Essex and England Lions and a draw against Surrey.  The way Surrey have been performing in the longer format this season, that match might as well have been a loss as well.

England meanwhile are taking the opportunity to rest Paul Collingwood and Stuart Broad before sterner opposition later this summer and into the winter.

Into the squad for the 1st Test come Eoin Morgan and Ajmal Shahzad. Neither has played a test yet, and there must be a strong temptation to have a look at them both at Lord’s. Jonathan Trott or Tim Bresnan could make way depending whether Strauss & Flower prefer 4 or, probably more likely, 5 bowlers.

Either way I would expect Morgan to play as England will want to give him a chance to stake a claim for an Ashes place.  In a way though, both newcomers are on a hiding to nothing in this series – even if they put in match winning performances, there would be a reasonably strong argument for saying “it’s only Bangladesh” in the way that people downplayed Ravi Bopara’s run spree against West Indies a year ago.  They were proven right then, and a repeat is perfectly possible.

The continued selection of Steve Finn is a good move. He impressed the England hierarchy in his two Tests in Bangladesh and has been in good form for Middlesex. I firmly believe that he will go to Australia barring a severe loss of form, rather than a return to an old pick like Steve Harmison.

Andrew Strauss has, bizarrely, been the subject of some speculation over his place in the ODI team as a result of his absence from England’s World Twenty20 victory.  The two formats are completely different, and Strauss has been a good performer in ODIs for England during his captaincy.  Why there should be any speculation is beyond me.

So it’s no surprise that I am predicting a comfortable 2-0 series win for England, at least one of those by an innings.  It’s sad to say it but I can’t see Bangladesh presenting a challenge.  The scheduling doesn’t help them, and they rely on two or three players to lead the rest.  England should pick them off with ease.

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Before the Ashes last summer, I wrote about the media campaign to have Steve Harmison returned to the side.  England nobly resisted this sentiment until the 4th Test at Headingley, and he played the final two tests, supplying a measly portion of 4 wickets amongst the usual banquet of pies.

His non-selection for the winter tour to South Africa signalled the end of his international career, with England looking to build the next generation.

Sadly, someone has forgotten to inform the hacks writing for Sky online, who have published two articles this week telling us how Harmison might, might, be selected this winter.

First there was the report on an interview in Wisden Cricketer magazine with England’s new madcap Aussie bowling coach, David Saker, which produced this priceless quote:

I’m not going to write off someone as tall as he is and someone who can really cause some damage to the Australian team.

So he’s afraid to write him off because he’s tall and, I assume, might give him a fat lip.  If I remember England’s last tour to Australia correctly, any likely damage will be to the England slip fielder’s shins rather than any Australians.

The real story here is that Sky’s reporters are so lazy that they have simply trotted out the same nonsense that they always do when one of the team officials refuses to openly slag off a discarded player.  It wouldn’t even have been a story if Saker had said:

Aww, look.  Of course Steve won’t be going to Australia.  Last time he went he made a bit of an idiot of himself and he hasn’t been much good for the last four years anyway.  Strewth, you Pommies ask the dumbest questions.

But no, instead Harmison has been “handed a lifeline” and “could be in line to tour Australia”.  It was one of those articles that you just know they have as a template, and the journo just fills in the blanks.

Not content with that, Sky then followed up with video footage of Michael Clarke obviously answering a leading question on the subject.

When Steve’s bowling well with his height, his bounce and the pace he bowls, he’s as tough as anybody that I’ve had to face in Test cricket

This scenario last occurred in 2005.  We all know that the Australians would be more than happy to see Harmison down under this winter.  He doesn’t like touring.  He gets homesick.  He doesn’t prepare well.  He bowls badly as a result.

Another common feature of the build up to an Ashes series is the Australians talking up a player who hasn’t played in a while.  Last year they did the same thing with Michael Vaughan.  They do it because they remember that it used to work every time when Ray Illingworth was in charge – Australia was England’s fifth selector in an Ashes year.

Andy Flower is many things but Ray Illingworth is not one of them.  This is why I can safely make the following foolish Ashes predictions:

Foolish Ashes Prediction #3: Steve Harmison will not be selected for the tour to Australia this winter.

Foolish Ashes Prediction #4: No English cricketer who is praised by Australia will be selected unless they are already in the squad.

It’s not at all foolish to predict that Sky, and the rest of the media, will continue to churn out this tripe for the rest of the summer.

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You may have noticed that I have taken a break from blogging on this site over the winter.  The reasons for this are numerous, but I am now ready to return to normal service.

Initially, I began without much in the way of a plan – I just set up the software and started writing – and after a hectic summer of Twenty20, an Ashes series and the CLT20, during which I had designed my own theme for the site, I rapidly found myself morphing into the blogging equivalent of Angus Fraser’s run-up.  I wasn’t happy with the redesign either, and so I decided to stop, take a break and work on something else for a while.

A few months have gone by, and my enthusiasm and energy for this blog has been revitalised.  I’ve also had the time to devise a more coherent plan, so there will be some changes in the near future, and I am currently working on another new design that I hope will far surpass previous efforts.

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South Africa are just about the best team in the world right now.  England are hopeful coming off the back of the Ashes success, and Australia have shown that South Africa can be vulnerable at home, but in reality they have got their work cut out.  Here’s what they have to do to overcome the odds.

Give KP his head

Kevin Pietersen – miserable 2009, but an enforced break will benefit him in South Africa this winter

Kevin Pietersen hasn’t played cricket for about three months, but actually this is about the best thing that could have happened for England’s long-term prospects.  After the way he was treated by the ECB over the Moores saga, and having carried his injury around for too long, KP had lost his sparkle.

The enforced break has given him a chance to get away from the game and come back refreshed.  Now England need to give him the freedom to go out and play like the KP of old.  He will not lack for motivation  – he now has a point to prove to both South Africa and England.  This will be his first Test series in his country of birth, and England would do well to ensure that his preparation is geared to this and not the one-day series beforehand.

Convert starts into big hundreds

For KP to flourish, he will need support from his fellow batsmen to relieve the pressure.  Too often in the last 2-3 years, England’s top order have squandered the initiative by giving away their wickets when set.  Even when they do score hundreds, they rarely go on to score double hundreds – Pietersen himself was the last English batsman to do so, and that was almost 2 ½ years ago.

The continued form of Andrew Strauss will be crucial, as he has carried the batting lineup in recent times.  There are also high hopes for Jonathan Trott, but the likes of Alistair Cook and Paul Collingwood will need to perform better than they did this summer.

Catch South Africa cold

When Australia won in South Africa early in 2009, they did so partly because they were quick out of the blocks, and South Africa were underprepared.  Having overcome their bête noire by winning in Australia a couple of months previously, Graeme Smith’s team had not played any first class cricket in between, and it showed.

They will not make the same mistake this time, but it will be vital that England prepare better than they traditionally do, and they have the opportunity of getting up to speed during the T20s and ODIs that precede the Test series.

Be brave enough to drop the extra bowler

Five bowlers has been England’s law in recent years, and sometimes to their disadvantage.  Often a fifth bowler proves to be redundant – the old saying “if four won’t do it, neither will five” has a ring of truth to it.  Wickets in South Africa have tended to be spicier than the recent world standard, and England may need to consider bolstering their batting where conditions merit.

There is also the unknown of whether Stuart Broad is ready for the responsibility of batting at number 7.  This is a position that should be considered as a bona fide part of the main batting, so breezy innings of 30 or 40 will no longer be seen as enough.  Does Broad have what it takes to score serious runs yet?  We might find out in South Africa.

Target Graeme Smith’s opening partner

The second opener’s berth is the one part of the opposition batting lineup that is not settled, and it is important that, whoever fills it, England target the early breakthrough.  Imraan Khan made his debut in the third Test against Australia in March, but was outshone by Ashwell Prince who scored 150 in Smith’s absence.  Prince’s position in the middle order has been usurped by JP Duminy, so South Africa may decide to shoehorn him into the side at no. 2.

An outside option would be Stephen Cook (son of Jimmy), who recently broke the South African domestic first class record with a score of 390.

Keep AB de Villiers quiet

After a quiet couple of years, AB de Villiers came good in 2008, as England found to their cost in their home Test defeat.  More than pure numbers, de Villiers has a habit of playing match winning innings – notably against Australia in Perth when South Africa chased down 414 in the 4th innings.

Against England he currently averages a shade below 50, and in his last 5 Tests against them has scored two centuries, including 174 at Headingley in 2008, and two nineties.  England will need to get the better of him if they are to be successful.

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