County Championship Countdown!

Well it’s that time of year again. In the past, barely anyone I know took any notice of the County Cricket Championship coming to a close, but since there are three horses in this race, people have started to take a bit of notice. With the added influence of the Great British summer (or lack thereof) likely to play a massive part on the way the final standings end up, things could not be more exciting!

With Somerset currently leading the title push, both Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire are still in with chances of meeting their title ambitions. It has to be said though, that the only way one of these two can possibly achieve this (with so little cricket actually played in both matches) is through highly contrived circumstances in an effort to gain a result.

At Chester-le-Street, the home side Durham fought hard to reach 171 for 2, a lead of 31, and Somerset will have to work hard for the victory that would assure them the Championship title for the first time. With Nottinghamshire 89-2 after three days of cricket, there will have to be some serious fiddling to ensure a result at Old Trafford, where they are being hosted by Lancashire.

Elsewhere at Headingly, Kent finished their first innings with an overall lead of 41 and by the close Yorkshire had reached 51 for 1 to go ten runs in front. Now they must force a win on the final day of the season to see if it is sufficient to clinch the Championship title for the first time since 2001.

With Somerset going top of the table for the time being due to gaining full bowling and batting points, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire will have to do something truly special, or something highly controversial, to prevent the Title from heading south to Apple Country!

The ICC World T20

So it’s not long now until the ICC World T20 kicks off. Having witnessed the flair and style that was the IPL for the past month, I am now well and truly in 20 over mode, and combine this with the start of the English domestic season, there is lots to look forward to! Having played two pre season games during the Easter break from university, I now have to settle for watching it on the telly rather than playing it.

There are a few players that I expect to absolutely shine at this event in the West Indies that kicks off with New Zealand v Sri Lanka at the Providence Stadium Guyana on Friday the 30th of April.

Craig Kieswetter – having made to rather dodgy starts to his international career for England in Bangladesh, Kieswetter then knuckled down to score and uncharacteristically watchful century in only his third game. England will need him to change his approach from cautious to that of a mentalist as he has done for Somerset on numerous occasions, if they are to take advantage of the 6 Power Play overs.

Cameron White – another man who can hit the ball very very hard and very very far, White is a man that Australia will be looking to make some big scores. Once the holder of the highest individual score in 20/20 cricket with 141 not out for Somerset, White is now being viewed as one of the more experienced players in this youthful line-up.

Michael Lumb – thanks to a reasonably successful spell of opening the batting for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, Lumb has been shot into the international limited overs scene. He’s set to open with Craig Kieswetter and it will be interesting to see how he fairs against some world class bowling attacks.

Daniel Vettori – a class performer thorough and through, Daniel Vettori has carried the New Zealand bowling attack for years now. With everyone raving about how taking the pace off of the ball in limited overs cricket can have a massive affect on the run rate, Vettori is surely one of the most potent weapons in the World T20?! He needs the batsmen to fire though and get some decent totals for him to bowl at.

Shane Bond – having said that Vettori has carried New Zealand, that may have not been the case had this man have been fit more often and not retired when he did. He showed in the recent IPL that his pace and accuracy can be deadly and with slower balls and slower ball bouncers in his armoury, New Zealand could be the dark horses of the tournament.

Angelo Matthews – his IPL for off to an absolute flyer this year but soon fizzled out leading to him eventually being dropped. With his clean striking and good variations in his bowling, he could be the all rounder of the tournament. Let’s hope he brings his A game with him.

Graeme Swann – having had the international career that he has had so far, I predict that the metronomic Swann will keep doing what he does best in 2010. Take wickets (in the first over of his spell) and hit the ball like a mentalist.

All in all, I think I will be pretty much glued to the TV screen for the next few weeks. Things are not looking good for my final year exams that are fast approaching!

Paul

Can Durham do it again?

The county season 2010 has just kicked off and weirdly, it’s not raining! Although my team (Somerset) are not playing today and nor are the current county champions, Durham, it will be very interesting to see if there is anybody out there who can challenge them to the tile this year. With the strength and depth of their squad, they are looking very VERY good for securing the title for the third year running.


From my point of view, the only reason that Somerset’s challenge fell away was their inability to take 20 wickets. This is not helped by the fact that Taunton has some of the flattest wickets in the country and one of the smallest boundaries. This makes it a batting paradise and can often produce 450-500 runs on the first days play! With the retirement of Andy Caddick, there is extra pressure put on the already heavily burdened Charl Willoughby.

Durham seem to have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to fast bowling. With the stalling of Steve Harmison’s England career, the non-selection of a revitalised Liam Plunkett and the bizarre exclusion of Graeme Onions during the South Africa Tour, Durham look to have an advantage over all of their rivals. They have also produced some excellent youngsters, namely all rounder Ben Stokes and the talented leg spinner Steve Borthwick.

They seem almost certain to regain their title and it could be down to some unlucky results, injuries or the lord of weather that stops them!



Paul

Follow all of the action at cricinfo.

A plea to the the powers that be!

Thanks to the announcement by Gordon Brown that the UK election will take place on May 6th, the decision to evaluate the “crown jewel” sports has been put on the shelf. This means that the announcement as to whether the home cricket internationals are to be shown on terrestrial TV have also been put back.

The last test on Channel 4 (terrestrial TV) was the famous England ashes victory in 2005. It has been too long since you could watch the cricket in any pub, whether they have sky or not, and this deadline extension is rubbing salt into the wounds for me!

So this is a plea to whoever wins the upcoming election, please hurry up make the decision so we can potentially go back to enjoying cricket on television, anywhere and everywhere!

Yours Sincerely

Paul Wilkinson

PS – Please Hurry!!

Michael Lumb - Future Star?

Another England player stars in the IPL today in the form of Michael Lumb. He’s been in really solid form so far for the Rajasthan Royals, but today he finally got himself past the fifty mark for the first time. Lumb smashed 83 off of 43 balls, which included 16 fours and 2 sixes, helping to set up a very straightforward 9 wicket win over the Kings XI Punjab.

He is one of only 8 English players to be in the IPL this year (Kevin Pieterson, Andrew Flintoff, Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood, Ravi Bopara, Eion Morgan and Graeme Napier). When you bear in mind that Lumb has only just been selected for England for the first time, he is doing remarkably well and repaying the selectors faith.

A lot of former professionals believe that the IPL is a poor way upon which to establish the quality of a player and their suitability for international cricket. How can they possible say this say this? It may not be suitable to pick potential future Test Cricket stars, sure. But bear in mind, every one of the ten IPL teams can play 4 of their overseas star players out of about 7 or 8 altogether in their squad. The any new or future International Cricket stars would get to ply their trade against the likes of Brett Lee and Matthew Hayden for example.

In county cricket, both four day and 40/50 over, the English players only get to face one class overseas player per game. The IPL has allowed them to play four times as many, and therefore (I think) gain valuable experience.

Michael Lumb has been able to not only get paid a decent amount of money for doing what he loves, thanks to the massive television coverage he has pushed himself to the forefront of the selectors minds.

Good luck to the lad!

Paul

T20 Squad Time!

So the past few days have been a story of ups and downs for English cricket players. Ravi Bopara was handed the news that he will be going to the World T20 at the end of April (don’t quote me on the exact date), but at the same time he managed to field appallingly in his last outing in the IPL. It’s also worth noting that his form has slumped rather significantly as of late after making back to back fifties in his first two appearances for the Kings Punjab XI this year.

This is classic England selection policy:

Step 1 - Wait till a player gets into good/great/amazing form.
Step 2 – Wait a tad more.
Step 3 – Form going slightly pear shaped/confidence waning.
Step 4 – Really out of form = selection made!

On a similar note, Craig Kieswetter has been chosen as the sole Keeper in the T20 part, which gives him a chance to flaunt his entire game to the selectors, and start banging on Matt Priors test and One day door’s. This is a brave move on the selectors part, bearing in mind that his international experience consists of a few appearances against Bangladesh, the worst team in the top flight of the game in all formats. On a downer, one of England’s best players as of late, and ranked 3rd best bowler in the world, Graeme Swann, has been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving after his 31st birthday.........MUPPET!

Michael’s Yardy and Lumb have been recalled/selected for the T20 too on the back of solid form which is great news as I have always been a fan of the south coast duo, and I fully expect them both to shine! All in all an interesting squad and one that could make any diehard test cricket purist slightly interested.

Paul

PS - please feel free to comment and follow guys! (I don’t bite!)

For more information please go to:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/8595614.stm

Cricket Hurts!

Great video to demonstrate the risks of the game!



Paul

Which Catch Is better?

Ok, if anyone happened to be watching the IPL live on ITV 4 the other day when the Delhi Daredevils played the Kolkata Knight Riders.......... what about that catch from David Hussey!??! Is that not one of the best catches in recent years? Despite having played cricket for 13 or 14 years now I guess, and I can’t even begin to contemplate how the hell he managed to pull that one off!


It looked for all money that Collingwood had smashed another flat 6 off the over, only to be removed by an absolute stunner!

For all of you who have no idea whatsoever what I am talking about, feel free to check out the video below.



Too be fair it’s about time Paul Collingwood got a taste of his own medicine after the numerous belters that he’s managed to cling onto! This one ring any memories?



(I was lucky enough to be in Bristol watching that game) : D

Both Different catches but which one is better?? You tell me!

Paul

Classic Sledging!

Awesome work from the master, Andrew Flintoff vs Tino Best!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1NFbVx0uN8

Being Freddie: My Story So Far

Andrew Flintoff: The Biography

Ashes to Ashes

Andy Flower singles out Bresnan as stand out seamer

Bresnan Bowled Beautifully!

As you may have read the other day when I blogged (had a rant!) about the lack of depth to England’s seam bowling attack and stand out performance from Tim Bresnan, England cricket coach Andy Flower has come out and said that he agrees (with me – get in!!).


"Tim Bresnan wasn't originally selected in the Test party but with the opportunity given to him by the injury to Ryan Sidebottom, and after his performances in the one-day series, he sort of leapfrogged his way into the side," Flower told reporters before the team left Dhaka.


"He reverse swung the ball both ways, he was controlled and accurate, bowled a heavy bouncer and was strong enough to keep going for long periods of time," Flower said. "I thought our players held strong in some trying conditions weather-wise and on some very flat pitches.”


The 91 in the second test is surely a sign that Bresnan can bat at 7 ahead of Stewart Broad should England wish to play 5 bowlers. Very important given that the Ashes in Australia are only 8 or 9 months away!


Paul

 
Read the full article - cricinfo.com

2nd Test vs Bangladesh (day five)

Captain Cook!

So England managed to go on tour to Bangladesh and come out as expected with a white was in every format. Their ability to beat their opponents in both tests, despite the ridiculously flat wickets, was a credit to their bowlers. The two main players for me have been Swann and Bresnan, most notably the latter who had very little to assist his brand of seam bowling, but ran in and took 6 hard earned wickets at a cost of just over 30 a piece. That being said, Swann did manage to take the most out of both sides (as expected), bagging 16 scalps at 25.25.


Tredwell managed to take more wickets that Swann in the final innings of the tour, which was an unexpected surprise, taking his tally to six in the one solitary game that he played.

The thing that is nagging at me though, being the cricketing guru that I am (NOT) is that there seems to be a lack of seam bowling depth. Finn and Broad really were pretty average on the whole and they both lacked variety and imagination, as far as getting batsmen out rather than waiting for them to make a mistake. They really needed Onions as he is the gravy (sorry about that one)!

The lack of inspiration and seam depth is rather alarming as it’s only eight or nine months until the ashes down under, against an Australian team that love revenge and have a wealth of talented and nasty fast bowlers. A lot of whom have the wool over a fair few of the English batsmen!

On the subject of batsmen and captain supreme at the same time, Alistair Cooks first proper run out as captain must be very very satisfying indeed. With two hundreds in the test series (one of them a big one) and some very solid one day inning to boot, Cook may have deservedly nudged his way into the selectors minds in terms of one day selection. Not to mention becoming the future captain. I hope Andrew Strauss has had a nice rest!!

Paul

Borat Learns Cricket

An old classic:

Sledges and Quotes

Like every good sport, cricket has its amazing and memorable quotes, and i’d like to share a few classics with you now:

Cricket civilizes people and creates good gentlemen I want everyone to play cricket in Zimbabwe; I want ours to be a nation of gentlemen - Robert Mugabe.

The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey - Brian Johnston - referring to Michael Holding and Peter Willey

Statistics are like miniskirts, they reveal more than what they hide – Unknown.

I smiled at Ricky Ponting. He didn't smile back. He was in a terrible temper for some reason. Quite why he was blaming me when his partner, Damien Martyn, had called him for a suicidal single to cover, I don't know. You know what's more? All the palaver caused me to burn my toast! - Duncan Fletcher on the fallout from the infamous Gary Pratt run out.

Mark Waugh: F**k me, look who it is. Mate, what are you doing out here, there's no way you're good enough to play for England.
James Ormond: Maybe not, but at least I'm the best player in my family!

Don't bother shutting it, son, you won't be there long enough - Fred Truman to incoming Aussie batsman as he opened the gate on his way out to the middle at Lord's.

The aim of English cricket is, in fact, mainly to beat Australia - Jim Laker.

Aussies are big and empty, just like their country - Ian Botham.

Merv is a funny guy, though he would sledge his own mother if he thought it would help the cause - Gladstone Small.

Shane Warne is thicker than a complete set of Wisden yearbooks - Matt Price.

That ball went so high it could have got an air hostess down with it – Sidhu.

The gap between bat and pad is so wide you could have driven a car through – Sidhu.

I bowl my best when I am fittest and the best way to get fit is to bowl. That's how you get your rhythm. You cannot really find a rhythm by bowling in the nets - Brett Lee.

Aussie fan to Phil Tuffnell - Oi Tuffers, lend us your brain, I'm trying to build an idiot!

GREG THOMAS (GLAMORGAN) v VIV RICHARDS (SOMERSET, WINDIES)
During a county championship match Thomas beat Richards' outside edge a couple of times. He called out to the legend: "It's red, round and weighs about five ounces in case you were wondering." The very next ball the master smashed Thomas out of the ground, into a river, and replied: "Greg, you know what it looks like. Now go and find it."

Easton In Gordano Cricket Club

On Tour In 2009

We are a unique local club who play friendly cricket at a beautiful ground behind the Rudgleigh Inn.

We play 40 over Sunday matches and mid-week evening 20/20 games, usually on Tuesdays.

For more information on fixtures or joining the club, contact the club captain, Chris Lester, on 07879 423790

Check out our play cricket website at - http://eig.play-cricket.com/home/home.asp : )

Biggest 6 ever!

Trust me, you'll like this!

2nd Test vs Bangladesh (day three)

Bell makes his 10th test hundred

Surely England should whitewash Bangladesh? Their test series in Bangladesh should be more straight forward than this. England played some scintillating cricket in the ODI’s with Eoin Morgan in particularly good form. Bangladesh, although new to the international cricketing arena, do not have the players that England do nor do they have the pedigree. Don’t get me wrong they have some fine cricketers including the young Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan but they do not match up against the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood.

Surely then this series is a foregone conclusion? With Bangladesh achieving a score of 419 in this test match, their third highest ever score in their short international cricketing history; it suggests that it is not.

A good consistent response from England which included 138 from Ian Bell and an unbeaten 74 from Tim Bresnan has left England on 440-8 at the end of day three in Mirpur. With the relative inexperience and the youth of the Bangladesh front line, England’s bowlers and Graeme Swann in particular, should see Bangladesh off in the end. Maybe it’s me being too expectant of England and their cricketing prowess or maybe I am just realistic but Cook and company should polish this off with relative ease (in theory)!

Rob
Follow the game here - http://www.cricinfo.com/

2nd Test vs Bangladesh (day one)

Bell and Prior watch as Bangladesh march on

So I wake up this morning to see that Bangladesh have almost mustered 300 in the first innings of the 2nd test in Mirpur, against England. They eventually closed on 330-8, with Mr Graeme Swann claiming another 3 wickets (30 – 4 – 94 – 3) and debutant James Tredwell claiming 85 – 2 off of his 29 overs. It’s clear that Bangladesh are improving as a test cricket nation, their current score of 330 almost equalling their second innings fight at Chittagong, they still have a long way to go.

That being said, England’s lack of penetration it terms of seam bowling is rather worrying. It was only 5 years ago that it was an attack formed of messers Flintoff, Jones, Harmison and Hoggard. The attack of today seems rather dull and lacking in match winning characteristics. Although Tim Bresnan, Steven Finn and Stuart Broad are fine bowlers, with good records at the county championship level, are the test match bowlers??

Compare England’s current attack to the one lead by Flintoff in the 2005 Ashes and which one are you more scared of and which one is more likely to get (knock) you out?!

I’m guessing what I’m saying is that the current seam attack don’t have the same aura and ability as they used to, and this is really evident in the way that Bangladesh, the lowest ranked team on the test match ladder, are fighting against them. But how do they get this X Factor back?? Pick the 2005 Ashes attack maybe??

Paul

Follow the game here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/default.stm or here http://www.cricinfo.com/bdeshveng2010/engine/current/match/426424.html

The IPL

The Little Master

Although the coverage is not the best, the pundits are truly woeful at times, it's still better than nothing! There are three major bees in my bonnet with regards to the IPL that I need to get off of my chest as it is really starting to nag at me:

1 - The Horn - During the games, wherever they are and regardless of who's playing, there is a loud Spanish sounding horn that the DJs love to play to get the crowd going. This gets used in the UK at football/rugby/cricket matches, but THEY use it every half hour or so. The IPL, the DJs like to sound this horn, and I’m not exaggerating here, every half a second! P*ss off!

2 - Ad Breaks – I know that the IPL is being staged in a country with over a billion people and have a viewing audience of hundreds of millions worldwide, buts is there really a need to have ad breaks ever couple of overs and in between balls?? REALLY??

3 - The Presenters – Yes I realise that ITV got the IPL at the last minute, but surely they could have got two people with more experience in the world of cricket? Come on ITV, you can do better!

Right, rant over! Now I’m going to be watching the rest of the current game Deccan Chargers vs Kings XI Punjab (follow it here - http://www.cricinfo.com/ipl2010/engine/current/match/419117.html) and keeping a close eye on the only Englishman in the game, Ravi Bopara.

Paul

Craig Kieswetter (wicket keeper batsman)

Another Huge 6 At Taunton

Since this is the first time that I’ve posted on here I thought I’d keep it close to home. Being born and bred in the west-country it seems only natural that my first post is about the magnificence that is Somerset County Cricket Club, more specifically the sensation of Craig Kieswetter.

In the past few years they have had a meteoric return to their rightful place at the top of the county championship, largely thanks to the opening partnership that is Marcus Trescothick and Craig Kieswetter. These two propel Somerset at an incredible rate in the one day game and have taken this aggression out on the county scene as well.

Like a number of players before him Craig Kieswetter, a hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman, chose England ahead of South Africa. He joined Somerset when he was 18 and made his international debut four years later, little more than a week after completing qualification. Playing against Bangladesh in his first 2 ODIs Kieswetter made scores of 19 and 4, and he looked rather out of his depth. In the third however, he repaid the decision of the selectors with and extremely mature innings of 107 (from 123 balls). He is the first wicket keeper since Alec Stewart to score a hundred in limited overs internationals, and this surely must be worrying the current holder of the gloves, Matt Prior.

This wonderful start to an international career must be the signs of things to come from such a promising young talent. It is my belief that Craig Kieswetter will be the full England keeper, in all forms of the game within the next year and a half, which will bring a much needed sense of youthful exuberance to the team. Anyone care to bet against me???

Paul



Follow Craig Kieswetter here at cricinfo.com:

http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/230855.html