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