Some thought’s on the cricket world cup 2019 and some pictures.
INTRODUCTION
This is my first post for a while. I have lots of pictures to share. Aside from my continuing recovery from cancer (I have am expecting a date for my operation in the not too distant future, having recently had a pre-operation assessment) the cricket world cup has been centre stage for me since it got under on May 30th.
AN OVERLONG TOURNAMENT
Today is the 19th day of the tournament and the game currently taking place between Bangladesh and the West Indies marks the halfway point of the group stage (match 23 of 46). The reason why cricket world cups stretch on like this is because by and large only one match is scheduled per day (there have been a handful of days with two matches in this one, but very few), because the TV companies prefer it that way. During the last world cup I produced my idea for how to run a cricket world cup and not have it take such a ridiculously long time, and I reproduce that below:
THE SUTCLIFFE FORMULA
There has been much talk at the Cricket World Cup about how the tournament should be formatted, especially given that there are those who would reduce it to a ten team tournament (so utterly harebrained a notion that I do no more than mention it). Several of the associate nations at this world cup have given good accounts of themselves, with Ireland having a strong chance of progressing to the quarter finals.
My formula for a Cricket World Cup would be as follows:
16 teams to play in the tournament. Stage one would involve two groups of eight teams, the top four from each group progressing. Each group would play its matches in sets of four (hence two groups of eight), making seven rounds of matches for each group, to played on alternate days (i.e. this stage would span two weeks, with each side having a day off between matches.
After the group stage would be a three day break before the quarter-finals, which would be played all on one day. After a two day break the semi–finals would take place. Then following another two day break the final would take place. This would mean that the tournament would be played in a period of three and a half weeks (a sensible length for a global tournament).
As for the TV people: If they don’t like it they can lump it.
THOUGHTS ON WORLD CUP 2019
Apart from being miles too long once again this has been a good world cup so far. It has not featured the ludicrously high scoring some predicted, and the highest successful chase has been of a mere 244. That could go today however, as Bangladesh are 70-1 after 10 overs chasing 322 to beat the Windies.
A look at the ODI between England and Pakistan and the County Championship, a few other things including plenty of photographs.
INTRODUCTION
The current round of County Championship matches are approaching their conclusions (some being already finished), and the ODI between England and Pakistan is at the halfway stage. This post looks at what is going on, starting with…
England won the toss and put Pakistan in. Pakistan have just finished their 50 overs on 340-7. This might look a good total, but England at this ground have recently scored 481 versus Australia and 444-3 against Pakistan, and that 340 is the lowest total of the series to date. Thus I expect England to chase these down trivially easily, just as they did when facing 358 a few days ago (they got home with over five overs to spare). Babar Azammade a hundred for Pakistan, but was slow by modern day standards, being only just better than a run a ball. There were four wickets for Tom Curran, albeit at a cost of 75 runs from his 10 overs. Now we move on to…
THE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP
This is what is going on in the County Championship…
Kent v Yorkshire – Yorkshire 210 and 469, Kent 296 and 207-9.
A massive second innings by Yorkshire turned the tables on Kent, and the only question now is whether Yorkshire can get the wicket they need before time runs out. I fully expect them to do so. Ballancemade 159 in that Yorkshire innings. The Kent second innings has been a tale of batting failure, with Bell-Drummond top scoring with 41. Ben Coad has 5-48 so far.
Surrey v Somerset – Surrey 380 and 255-8, Somerset 398 – Match Drawn.
A combination of bad weather and decent batting by Surrey saved the defending champions in a match dominated by Lewis Gregory who must now be firmly on England’s Test team radar. Somerset did not try George Bartlett’s offbreaks even though Jack Leach had three second wickets with his slow left arm. Burns made 78 in the Surrey second innings and Will Jacks 54.
Warwickshire v Hampshire – Hampshire 354 and 302-5 declared, Warwickshire 233 and 109, Hampshire won by 314 runs.
Hampshire made early inroads into the Warwickshire second innings yesterday evening and comfortably finished the job today. Only youngster Robert Yates topped 20 in a dismal second innings effort by Warwickshire. The wickets were shared around the Hampshire bowlers.
Glamorgan v Gloucestershire – Glamorgan 250 and 481-8 declared, Gloucestershire 463 and 103-5 – Gloucestershire need a further 166 with five wickets standing and 16.4 overs remaining.
This looks like a marvellous recovery by Glamorgan thwarted by their unwillingness to risk defeat, which has led them to an overcautious declaration leaving insufficient time to get the wickets. Glamorgan’s recovery after being made to follow on was built on a partnership of 231 between Nicholas Selman (150) and Labuschagne(137), following an opening stand of 133 between Selman and Hemphrey(58). The fifth Gloucestershire wicket has just gone down, giving Glamorgan s shot at victory, although the draw is still favourite. Offspinner Kieran Bullhas two wickets in this fourth innings.
Middlesex v Leicestershire – Middlesex 349 and 223, Leicestershire 268 and 226-5, Leicestershire need 79 runs with five wickets standing. It is raining in London at the moment, which may baulk the fans of what should be a fine finish. Ackerman is 70 not out for Leicestershire.
Lancashire v Northamptonshire – Northamptonshire 230 and 200, Lamncashire 415 and 17-0, Lancashire won by 10 wickets.
Lancashire claimed the extra half-hour to attempt to finish this yesterday, but could not quite do so. However, they finished the job this morning. Gleeson picked up his second five-for of the match in the Northants second innings.
Worcestershire v Durham – Durham 273 and 197, Worcestershire 390 and 84-5, Worcestershire won by five wickets.
A fighting 47 from Liam Trevaskiswas the only contribution of note to a poor second innings by Durham. Josh Tongue five wickets and Joe Leach three. Worcestershire managed to lose five wickets in knocking off a tiny target, all to Chris Rushworth.
THE EUROPEAN ELECTIONS
I have received my first European Election publicity – a leaflet from the English Democrats which I tore into tiny pieces and put in the recycling (they are absolute b**t**ds), and this from the Green Party:
MOUNTING STAMPS
It being a dull day today weather wise I have spent some of this afternoon mounting stamps for display:
An update on my slowly improving health, some of the recent cricket, a few interesting links and lots of photographs.
INTRODUCTION
This post looks at my slowly but surely improving health and a few other things as well.
CRICKET UPDATE
My last set of predictions did not work out too well. I was right on one, and wrong on two, albeit the second wrong one (Scotland/Afghanistan owing more to a D/L calculation that gave the match to Afghanistan when rain intervened with them needing 57 off 31 balls with seven wickets standing (it was the latter that helped Afghanistan), a target that they would almost certainly not have succeeded in chasing down had the match gone the distance. Had Middlesex started less dreadfully they may have borne out my prediction of a successful chase, since even after slumping to 24-5 they finished up not far short of the target. In the semi-finals, which took place yesterday, Somerset thrashed Nottinghamshire while Hampshire won a closer game against Lancashire. Thus the final will be between Hampshire and Somerset, with the former starting as favourites.
In the first match of their ODI series England beat Pakistan by 12 runs in an extraordinary game which saw 734 runs scored in 100 overs – England 373-3 from 50, with a very rapid century from Jos Buttler, Pakistan 361-9. Left-arm medium pacer David Willey bowled superbly in the closing stages to save England from potential embarrassmAent.
There are County Championship games starting tomorrow, so watch this space!
HEALTH UPDATE
Yesterday I was feeling sufficiently good to venture somewhat further afield than for some time, although still not very far, going as far as the pond opposite Harewood Parade. Today I was again feeling good, and encouraged by the continuing sunshine did the same thing, although I had forgotten that BB Care were due to visit and missed them in my eagerness to get out. There is a long way to go, but things are definitely improving.
LINKS AND PICTURES
An article appeared in Saturday’s Times in which the head teacher of Stowe School (£38,000 per year to have your children educated there) had the cheek to complain about the fact that slightly more state school students are now getting into Oxbridge. Many have pitched into him, but the best evisceration of both him and the article came from Richard Murphy of Tax Research UK:
How yesterday’s predicitions fared, and predicitions for todays matches (one Royal London Cup match, one tour match). Also a few extras including two very important petitions.
INTRODUCTION
In this post I reveal how yesterday’s predictions fared and look at what is happening in today’s matches. I also have a couple of extras as you will see.
YESTERDAY’S PREDICTIONS
Hampshire v Gloucestershire – Hampshire 331-8 from 50 overs, Gloucestershire 246 all out from 46.5overs, Hampshire won by 71 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method.
James Vince’s amazing innings looked to have put this one beyound Gloucestershire. A small rain delay reduced Gloucestershire’s innings to 47 overs and their target to 318. No Gloucestershire batter reached 50 (Ryan Higgins, primarily a memiud pacer, top scored with 45), and Hampshire were never anything other than in control, so this was a correct prediction for me. Mason Crane, a legspinner who had a brief but very unsuccessful time as an England player took 3-64, while Kyle Abbott, Brad Whealand Liam Dawson all picked up two.
Northamptonshire v Worcestershire – Worcestershire 254-9 from 50 overs, Northamptonshire 234 all out from 48.4 overs, Worcestershire won by 20 runs.
In restricting their opponents to a modest score Northamptonshire seemed to have done enough, but their own batting misfired badly. Alex Wakely with 46 and Josh Cobb with 44 were the leading scorers, which tells you what the problem was. Wayne Parnelltook 3-45, while Brett D’Oliveira was the most economical bowler with 1-28 from 10 overs. I got this one wrong.
Nottinghamshire v Leicestershire – Nottinghamshire 433-7 from 50 overs, Leicestershire 259 from 33.2 overs, Nottinghamshire won by 87 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Rain reduced the Leicestershire innings to 37 overs and their target to 347. They made a brave effort, but the target was always beyond them, bearing out my prediction. Harry Dearden made 74 off 70 balls and Mark Cosgrove 59 off 43. Luke Fletcher took 3-53 from eight overs, a notable achievement given the overall run rate on the day.
Warwickshire v Durham – Warwickshire 244-8 from 50 overs, Durham 211-3 from 33.4 overs, Durham won by seven wickets with 2.2 overs to spare under the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Warwickshire’s total looked modest, and the Duckworth-Lewis adjustment to cater for Durham’s reduced allocation of overs did not help them sufficiently to put them back in the game. Alex Lees was 78 not out off 69 balls and Gareth Harte 51 not out of 49 when Durham completed their victory, Greg Clark having scored 66 off 62 at the top of the order. No Warwickshire bowler deserves to have their figures quoted. This was another correct prediction.
Yorkshire v Derbyshire – Yorkshire 308-2 from 40 overs, Derbyshire 224-3 from 22 overs, tied under the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Because Yorkshire had a lot of resources left when the rain came (20% of their overs and 80% of their wickets) the requirement for Derbyshire when the game could be resumed was, as it should have been, exceedingly stiff. Spearheaded by opener Billy Godleman running up his third straight List A century Derbyshire made this a pulsating contest, and actually came closer to winning at the end than Yorkshire, although the tie, the second that Yorkshire have been involved in in the competition was a fair result (though disappointing for my predictions, as I had called it in Yorkshire’s favour. Godleman (107 not out off 62 balls) was well backed by Leus Du Plooy (75 off 37 balls) and Matt Critchley (33 not out of 23 at the death). I will not quote any of the Yorkshire bowling figures.
Thus I called three right and two wrong, making my overall record 21/34. In the day/night game Somerset comfortably beat Essex (353-5 off 39 overs, against Essex 154-6 from 17 overs, a margin of 36 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method). Peter Trego made 141 of 101 balls, Azhar Ali 110 off 93 and James Hildreth 40 off 18. Peter Siddle took 4-60 off eight overs. In the Essex Innings Dan Lawrence made 51 off 33. Tim Groenewald took 3-34 off three overs, while Craig Overtonwas notably economical with 1-9 from three overs. In the early stages of the Essex innings there was some blatant time wasting by their batters in the hope that the ten overs necessary for it to constitute a game would not be bowled, but fortunately they were, and thereafter there was little doubt that justice would be done.
TODAY’S PREDICTIONS
There are two matches taking place in England today, and they are:
Middlesex v Sussex, Sussex 298 all out from 48 overs.
When Sussex were 6-2, and even more when they were 102-5 this looked good for Middlesex, but Luke Wright who had opened thne innings and survived all the early wickets was supported by Ben Brown, captain and wicketkeeper for Sussex in a stand of 174, before both fell in quick succession, Brown for 55 and Wright for an amazing 166 (142 balls, 10 fours, nine sixes). The Sussex tail then did an impression of a house of cards, and Middlesex were spared having a 300plus total on the board against them. However this total should be enough to for Sussex to defend comfortably. Nathan Sowter took 4-48 and Ireland star Tim Murtagh 3-24 each from their full 10 overs,. while their colleagues had a combined 3-226 from 28 overs.
Kent v Pakistan (Tour Match)Pakistan 358-7 from 50 overs
A formidable looking total from Pakistan. Imad Wasim scored 117 not out from 78 balls, Haris Sohail 75 from 71 and Fakhar Zaman 76 from 59. OnlyImran Qayyumwith 4-45 from his 10 did anything significant with the ball. I fully expect Pakistan to defend this. A point of interest is that Kent have been strengthened by the presence of James Harris of Middlesex in their ranks.
A piece from Cambria Jenkins titled “Take Care of Yourselves, Everyone – Especially You, Greta Thunberg“. This piece, written by an autistic person (as Greta Thunberg is as well), contains some good advice for those who struggle to take care of themselves and also some powerful but fair comment on the more neanderthal among Thunberg’s opponents, some of whom have publicly expressed the hope that she has a meltdown in public. For anyone who has experienced a meltdown (see here for an account of one) this is deeply offensive, and it should be outrageous to anyone.
A look at the conclusions of yesterday’s Royal London Cup matches and an analysis of my predictions at the half way stages.
INTRODUCTION
Yesterday, when all the day fixtures in the Royal London Cup had reached their half-way stage I covered what was happening and made predictions for each result. Today I complete the story be revealing the results and mentioning noteworthy efforts from the second half of each game.
YESTERDAY’S ROYAL LONDON CUP MATCHES
This is how it all unfolded:
Derbyshire v Northamptonshire – Derbyshire 268-6, Northamptonshire 215 (43.5 overs), Derbyshire won by 53 runs I backed Derbyshire to win this one because of the fightback they had made in the latter stages of their innings. This one was more one sided even than the margin suggests. At one point Northants were 112-8 before a lower order fightback gave them a hint of respectability. There were four wickets for young medium pacer Alex Hughes, three for Van Beek and two for Rampaul. Luke Procter scored an unbeaten 50, but no other Northants batter merits a mention.
Warwickshire v Yorkshire – Warwickshire 270-8 Yorkshire 270-9 TIED!!
I got this one wrong, expecting Yorkshire to chase them down. At 112-6 it looked a certain win for Warwickshire, but Jonny Tattersall (79) and Tim Bresnan (89) staged a revival that very nearly won it for Yorkshire. England all-rounder Chris Woakestook 3-47 and the hugely promising teenager Henry Brookes took 3-50. Kiwi veteran Jeetan Patel was the most economical with 2-41.
Durham vLeicestershire – Leicestershire 233-9, Durham 234-4 (45.3 overs) Durham won by six wickets
This was an easy call after that poor Leicestershire innings, and an easy win for Durham in the end. Cameron Bancroft scored 118 not out, and received support from various of the Durham order. Dieter Kleinand Gavin Griffithseach had a couple of wickets.
Hampshire v Glamorgan – Glamorgan 292-9 Hampshire 293-3 (41.5overs) Hampshire won by seven wickets.
I had this down as a Glamorgan win. In the event Hampshire made it look very easy indeed, and Glamorgan’s future in this competition, even after just two matches looks bleak – they failed horrendously to chase in their first game and failed just as epically to defend in this one. Tom Alsop, a 23 year-old wicketkeeper batter opened the Hampshire innings and was 130 not out off 115 baals when they completed the win. Former England man James Vincescored 95 off 78 balls to put Hampshire in complete control of the chase. I will draw a veil over the Glamorgan bowling figures.
Nottinghamshire v Lancashire– Nottinghamshire 417-7, Lancashire 406-9 Nottinghamshire won by 11 runs
I called this one correctly. Lancashire made a tremendous effort, and until the dismissal of their captain Dane Vilas (166 off 100 balls) an extraordinary victory appeared to be on the cards. In the end that Nottinghamshire total was just enough. Steven Croft scored 110 off 82 balls. James Pattinson with 5-61 off his 10 overs was the star of the bowlers – if he had gone at the same rate as his colleagues Lancashire would have got home with time to spare (approximately an over and a half if you care to do the calculation).
Somerset v Kent– Somerset 358-9, Kent 94 (27 overs) – Somerset won by 264 runs With that total on the board I called this one in Somerset’s favour, but even I was surprised by the margin of victory. AfterS had piled up their huge total Kent needed a good start to stay in the contest. Unfortunately for them they got the reverse, as Craig Overton followed his 66 by taking three early wickets (he would add two more before the end, finishing with 5-18) and Kent were reeling at 25-4. Thereafter Kent tried to salvage a hint of respectability and failed. The margin was a record for one first class county over another in limited overs cricket (various previous limited overs competitions featured minor county sides, so the distinction is needed). A detailed analysis of this match can be found here.
Essex v Middlesex– Middlessex 366-8, Essex 328 (49.2 overs) Middlesex won by 38 runs
Again a big enough total to predict the final outcome with some confidence, but Essex put up a fine fight. Varun Chopra made 127 off 127 balls and Tom Westley 77 off 59 balls. For Middlesex Nathan Sowter, a 26 year-old legspinner with little previous experience of top level cricket took 6-62 from 9.2 overs
I called five of these matches correctly and two wrongly, making my overall record of predictions in this competition now eight right and four wrong. As with the first round there was a “day/night” match which was not far enough advanced for me to make a prediction on at the time:
Surrey v Sussex– Surrey 274-9, Sussex 278-8 (48.1 overs)
This was a humdinger of a match. Surrey’s problem in their innings was that no-one went to a really big score – Foakes led the way with 64 and Will Jacks managed 56, while Mir Hamza rook 4-43. Tom Curran (3-37 from 10) and Gareth Batty(2-39 from 10) bowled excellently for Surrey, Morne Morkel and Rikki Clarkewere respectable, but the fifth set of 10 overs let Surrey down, as Plunkett(6 overs, 1-57) and Jacks (4 overs for 26) both bowled very poorly. Sussex’s matchwinner was David Wiese (92 not out), while Luke Wright scored 69.
The first set of fixtures provided a lot of very one-sided games, but no one could complain about the fare on offer this time round – fine cricket featured in most if not all of the matches and several were very close, including the incredible tie between Yorkshire and Warwickshire.
A look at what is happening in the Royal London Cup, complete with predictions. Also some of my photopgraphs.
INTRODUCTION
The seven daytime Royal London Cup Fixtures taking place today have all reached the halfway stage, and as in this post, where I was 3/5 on predictions I will be essaying predictions as to the outcomes of these fixtures, as well as drawing attention to noteworthy efforts within the matches. Wihtou further ado…
THE ROYAL LONDON CUP 19/4
Derbyshire v Northamptonshire – Derbyshire 268-6 from 50 overs This total represents a fightback by Derbyshire, as at one stage they were 137-5. This and the fact that the sides batting first all won their games last time out influences me to call this one in Derbyshir’s favour. Billy Godlemanplayed the anchor role for Derbyshire with 87 off 124 balls, while Matt Critchley scored 64 not out off 51 balls, having come in at 137-5. Blessing Muzurabani picked up 2-54 and Jason Holder 2-62.
Warwickshire v Yorkshire – Warwickshire 270-8 from 50 overs Various Warwickshire players got starts, but only Tim Ambrose(77 off 108 balls) made a really significant score. Matthew Pillansadded another three wickets to the five he took in the opening game, while Bresnan and Poysdentook two each. I would expect Yorkshire to make it two wins out of two – all it will take is two of their top order play significant innings.
Durham v Leicestershire – Leciestershire 233-9 from 50 overs Leicestershire were 112-7 at the low water mark of their innings, so this score represents a fight back. However, although it runs contrary to my hopes given their awful choice of captain I expect Durham to win this fairly easily and make it two wins from two. Tom Taylor made 59 off 63 balls and Dieter Klein, also mainly a bowler, scored 46 off 71 balls in the latter stages. Brydon Carse took 3-58, while Liam Trevaskis had 2-37 from his full 10 overs.
Hampshire v Glamorgan – Glamorgan 292-9 overs This is a tough one to call – Glamorgan’s total looks quite good, but none of their batters got more than 68 (achieved by David Lloyd off 62 balls and Graham Waggoff 57 balls). Kyle Abbotttook 3-47 andLiam Dawson 2-57. Bearing in mind the successes of sides batting first so far this season I am going to predict a win for Glamorgan.
Notinghamshire v Lancashire– Nottinghamshire 417-7 from 50 overs A monster score by Nottinghamshire. Cricket is a glorious game precisely because it is wonderfully unpredictable, but it will the story of the day if Lancashire chase these down. My prediction is therefore a Nottinghamshire victory. Joe Clarkemade 139 off 99 balls at the top off the order, Ben Slater hit 74 off 82, Tom Moores 74 off 39 and Luke Fletcher46 not out off 17 at the end. Graham Onions managed 2–70 from his 10, quite an achievement in such a huge score, and Saqib Mahmood, a young medium pacer, collected 2-88 from his 10.
Somerset v Kent– Somerset 358-9 from 50 overs A big total for Somerset, and one that I confidently expect them to defend. Tom Banton, a 20 year old keeper-batter scored 107 off 79 balls at the top of the Somerset order, Lewis Gregory contributed 51 from 45, and Craig Overton scored 66 not out off 36 at the death. Stevens, Podmore, Klassenand Milnes each took two wickets, the veteran Stevens managing to go for only 50 from his ten overs.
Essex v Middlesex – Middlesex 366-8 from 50 overs A great effort by Middlesex. Dawid Malan led off with 95 from 102 balls, and Nick Gubbinswith 56 off 57 kept things going when Middlesex might have got into trouble, before George Scott, a 23 year old right hander, scored 63 off just 28 balls to give the total a late boost. Peter Siddle took 3-71 and Dan Lawrence’sleg spin brought him 2-63 – his batting will be needed later if Essex are to get anywhere near chasing this total down. I expect Middlesex to win this one, especially given that teams batting first have done so well so far this season.
Thus my calls in these games are: Derbyshire, Yorskhire, Durham, Glamorgan, Nottinghamshire, Somersert and Middlesex. The Surrey v Sussexmatch is at too early a stage for a prediction as it is a day/night game. Surrey are 206-4 in the 40th over. Will Jacks made 56 for Surrey, Foakes has 41 not out and Pope, just starting to hit the launchpad, is 32 not out. None the Sussex bowlers have really noteworthy figures. If Foakes and Pope keep going and propel Surrey to something in the vicinity of 300 they will be favourites, while if Sussex keep Surrey below about 270 they will have a good chance. Update – Pope has just gone for 33, making 209-5, swinging things back towards Sussex. Rikki Clarke has joined Foakes.
I select an England squad from players I have witnessed and a true all-time England squad.
INTRODUCTION
This is the start of a new series which will appear on this blog periodically in between posts about other things. I will pick two squads in each of these posts – one restricted to players whose performances I have witnessed live and one true all-time squad, using my considerable knowledge of cricket history. I will also be including a few other things after the main body of the post. We will being the main part of the post with…
ENGLAND SQUAD FROM PLAYERS I HAVE WITNESSED LIVE
To begin with we need an opening pair. I refuse to consider those who went on the two English rebel tours to South Africa. The serious contenders left are:
Mike Atherton – 7,.728 runs at 37.69 from 115 test matches. A fine record, though that average was reduced by his encounters with Glenn McGrath who seriously had the wood on him.
Alec Stewart – 8,463 test runs at 39.54 from 133 test matches. These already impressive figures conceal the fact that Stewart the specialist batter (the role in which I would be using him) averaged 47, while Stewart the keeper averaged 34.
Marcus Trescothick – 76 test matches produced 5,825 runs at 43.79. An attack-minded left hander, Trescothick hit the ground running at Test level with 66 against the West Indies on debut, and until mental health issues caused his premature retirement from international cricket he went from strength to strength.
Andrew Strauss– 100 test matches, 7,037 runs at 40.91. An consistent opener who did even better as captain than he did in the ranks.
Alastair Cook – England’s all time leading test run scorer, with 12,472 at 45.35, he started his test career with a fifty and a century against India and ended it 12 years later with a fifty and a century against India.
Of these five I can accommodate three in my squad (an opening pair and a reserve opener), and my choice, with due respect to Messrs Atherton and Trescothick is to go for Alastair Cook and Alec Stewart (mainly defensive left hander and more attacking right hander) as my first choice opening pair and Strauss as the reserve opener. It is a close call between Strauss and Trescothick, but Strauss’ captaincy experience gives him an edge.
My designated number three bat and captain is Michael Vaughan. Number three has traditonally been a problem position for England, but Vaughan was magnificent there – his only rival in my lifetime is Jonathan Trott, but since I want Vaughan as captain he gets the nod. When it comes to picking three middle-order batters there is an embarrassment of riches to choose from. There are two left-handers, David Gowerand Graham Thorpe and a phalanx of right-handers including Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Joe Root and Paul Collingwood who all did fine things at test level. I can only select three, two to be in the first XI and one as cover, and my choices are Joe Root, David Gower and Kevin Pietersen.
With all due respect to Andrew Flintoffand Ben Stokes who have both had great achievements at the highest level there is only one candidate for the allrounders role in my view and that is Ian Botham.
There are four potential candidates for the wicketkeepers slot, of whom I need to select two since I do not intend using Stewart in that role. My four candidates are:
Jack Russell – a magnificent keeper, but his test batting average of 27.10 was a little on the low side.
Matt Prior – there was never a question about his batting skills, but his keeping took a while to develop, though he became very good indeed.
Jonny Bairstow – A fine attacking batter and a good keeper, but rarely able to combine the two at test level
Ben Foakes– A magnificent keeper and averaging over 40 in his brief test career so far.
It will be considered controversial in some circles to give the nod to someone still in the early stages of their career, but my choices are Ben Foakes as first choice keeper and Matt Prior as reserve.
Alec Stewart
Alastair Cook
Andrew Strauss (reserve opener)
*Michael Vaughan
David Gower
Kevin Pietersen
Joe Root
Ian Botham
+Ben Foakes
+Matt Prior
James Anderson
Stuart Broad
Steve Harmison
Simon Jones
Graeme Swann
Monty Panesar
The likely first XI, assuming a pitch that does not favour any particular type of bowling would be: Stewart, Cook, *Vaughan, Root, Gower, +Foakes, Botham, Swann, Broad, Anderson and Harmison, with Kevin Pietersen just missing the final cut in favour of Root (Gower’s lefthandedness works to his advantage).
THE ALL TIME SQUAD
For this one I start with the greatest of all opening pairs, Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe. In addition to being one half of the greatest of all opening pairs Herbert Sutcliffe’s averages suggest, as does everything ever written about him, a big match temperament par excellence – 52.02 in first class cricket, 60.73 in all test cricket and in the cauldron of The Ashes, 66.85. As reserve opener I select W G Grace, reckoning that his test batting average (32.29) was reduced both by the pitches he played on and the fact that he was already 32 when he played his first test match in 1880, and his career at that level lasted until within a couple of months of his 51st birthday. My remaining choices for batting slots are Joe Root (captain), Denis Compton, Walter Hammond and Frank Woolley (the latter two more than handy bowlers as well as great fielders, and Woolley a left-hander). For the wicketkeepers I opt for Les Ames as first choice and Ben Foakes as reserve. Ian Botham retains his place as designated all-rounder. For the bowlers I retain Anderson, and augment his presence with Fred Trueman, Syd Barnes (189 wickets at 16.43 from just 27 matches) and George Lohmann (112 wickets in 18 test matches at an eye-popping 10.75). My two players selected as spinners are Hedley Verity (slow-left arm) and Jim Laker (off-spin).
Thus my squad list reads:
Jack Hobbs
Herbert Sutcliffe
W G Grace (reserve opener)
Denis Compton
*Joe Root Walter Hammond
Frank Woolley
+Les Ames
+Ben Foakes
Ian Botham
Fred Trueman
Syd Barnes
George Lohmann
James Anderson
Jim Laker
Hedley Verity
The first XI in batting order, assuming the pitch does not justify either two specialist spinners or an all-seam attack is: Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Compton, *Root, Woolley, +Ames, Botham, Lohmann, Laker, Trueman and Barnes. I select Laker ahead of Verity as the lone specialist spinner because Woolley was a good enough slow-left armer to have taken 10 wickets in a test match and Compton could bowl slow left-arm wrist spin.
A BIT OF NEWS
Today as part of my continuing recovery from cancer I attended a physio session at Tapping House, and it went very well. I handled all four of the exercises I did today reasonably well, and my breathing behaved itself. It is a nice small group, and the setting is good.
PICTURES
My usual sign off…
The first 11 pictures here are from Tapping House.
It took three attempts…to get a decent picture……of this bird which I saw crossing the carpark at Tapping House.
Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award in your post/or on your blog.
MY ANSWERS TO SIMPLEILLUSION’S QUESTIONS
How dedicated are you as a blogger? pretty dedicated – in just under eight years since I started I have produced just over 1,500 posts, and whenever possible I like to put something up most days. I also read a huge number of blogs, posting likes and where appropriate comments.
What do you love most about blogging? Interacting with a community, something that I struggle with except via the medium of a computer.
Do you collect anything when you travel and if so, what and why? I collect maps to remind of me of places I have visited and I also collect photographs to share so that others can see things that have caught my eye.
Do you speak any other languages? No, I am sadly monolingual (my efforts to learn other languages have all been failures).
Are you a tea or coffee drinker? I am a coffee drinker. These days I drink filter coffee, and my method for producing the perfect brew is: Two heaped scoops of coffee grounds into the pot, cover with enough boiling water to produce two cups of coffee, place the top over the pot and leave to stand for not less than five minutes (I check my emails while filling in this time), then press the plunger down and pour. The result looks like black muck and drinks like liquid velvet.
How did your blog get its name and why did you start it? My blog got its name from a shortening of my official 2006 diagnosis – Asperger’s Syndrome – although these days like most autistic people I simply use autism and refer to myself where appropriate as an autistic person. I started the blog because I hoped that people would be interested in reading about an autistic person from their own point of view. Also, I find writing to be therapeutic – I always feel better for having created a blog post.
What post are you most proud of on your blog? The one I wrote about going through a melt down, because it was a difficult and sensitive subject and if I had misfired with such a post I could have copped some serious stick, while in the event it was very well received.
Name one thing you didn’t expect to happen with your blog that has. That I would acquire as many followers as I have done – almost 800 of you now follow this blog.
What is your typical weekend like? I can no longer claim to have a typical weekend, but unless something (usually an unscheduled hospital trip these days) prevents it Sunday lunch with family remains a regular feature.
What is your greatest inspiration in life? My inspiration comes from the natural world – I love to get outside in to green spaces and see what the beasts and birds are doing.
What advice would you give someone wanting to start a travel blog today? I would say start by picking a title for your blog and creating a wordpress site, then continue by searching wordpress for travel blogs and see what kinds of stuff they post, also leave a few likes and comments to advertise your presence (I spent my first three years or so as a blogger failing to do this), then think about what you want your first post to look like and set about creating it. Once you have created the post make sure it is categorized and tagged properly (no more than 10 tags for a post or you could fall foul of various spam filters) and that you have a good feature image. If you do other forms of social media (not all bloggers do) then post links there to maximise exposure of the blog.
MY QUESTIONS
What inspired you to become a blogger?
How do you promote your blog?
What has been your greatest recent challenge?
Do you ever set yourself to do muli-post blogging projects (e.g my “100 cricketers” series, which occupied 40 posts)?
How do you go about creating a blog post?
Which of your posts did you most enjoy creating and why?
Where in the world would you most like to visit and why?
What is your favourite meal?
What kind of music do you most enjoy? If you fancy expanding on this one you could do a “Desert Island Discs” style selection of eight pieces and finish by pickinf one from that list.
What do you enjoy most about blogging?
Do you have an idea that you think you could turn into a book? If so what is it?
MY NOMINATIONS
I have nominated the following, who I present as a bulleted list to avoid any suggestion of a ranking order:
The latest in my “100 cricketers” series, featuring updates from the County Championship and of course some of my photographs.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the latest piece in my “100 cricketers” series, in which we look at the three big name batters from the ninth XI. The introductory post to the series can be found here, and the most recent post in which the ninth XI is introduced is here. Before getting to the main body of the piece, it is time for a…
COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE
Two of the six county championship matches have been settled and a third is on the cusp of producing a result.
Sussex v Leicestershire – Leics 232 and 252-3 beat Sussex 212 and 308 by seven wickets Paul Horton, Hasan Azadand veteran Aussie Mark Cosgroveall made runs as Leicesterhsire ended up making light work of what had looked like being a fairly tough run chase. The feature of this match was the 80 made by Philip Salt in the Sussex second innings – if he can go on to a few centuries in the near future the England selectors may just take note.
Hampshire v Essex – Hamsphire 525-8 declared beat Essex 164 and 274 by an innings and 87 runs. A century by veteran Ravi Bopara kept this game going longer than some expected, but Hampshire had been in control most of the way, and once they got through Bopara the rest came quickly, with Adam Wheater absent hurt for the second time for the match. South African Kolpak signing Kyle Abbott took five wickets for Hampshire, to back Fidel Edwards who had done likewise in the first Essex innings.
Derbyshire v Durham – Derbyshire 197 and 334, Durham 171 and 207-8
Many will be glad that Durham seem to be headed for defeat in their first match after they chose to award the captaincy of their side to a proven cheat in Cameron Bancroft.
Somerset v Kent– Somerset 171 and 243 beat Kent 209 and 131 by 74 runs
This result is just in, and it did not look likely this morning, but a last wicket stand between 21 year-old George Bartlett(63) andJack Brooks (35) gave Somerset something to bowl, Lewis Gregoryripped out three quick wickets before lunch (he went on to finish with 5-18) and Kent never looked like getting to the target. This match turned on the morning session of today, with Kent having had the better of the previous play by far. I commented on this post on Toby’s Sporting Views that if Somerset could eke out a further 50 this morning they would give themselves a chance, they actually managed 70, and ended up winning comfortably.
Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire– Nottinghamshire 408 and 329-5D, Yorkshire 291 and 181-2
This one looks set to end in a draw (although a dramatic Yorkshire collapse remains possible). Nottinghamshire’s overnight declaration with Joe Clarke97 not out, following his first innings 112 provided an early talking point. My view, expressed on this site yesterday and on twitter this morning is that Notts were right to give themselves a full day in which to bowl the Yorkies out a second time – the needs of the team have to come first. Joe Rootis currently 87 not out for Yorkshire and Gary Ballance is 52 not out.
Northamptonshire v Middlesex – Northants 445, Middlesex 271 and 294-4
This one looks like petering out as well. Full credit to Middlesex captain Dawid Malan who is 151 not out in their second innings, and would appear to have saved his side.
It is now time for the main part of this post, starting with…
112 and 83 on test debut, centuries on his debuts against two further countries (and he nearly made four), a Compton-Miller Medal winning performance in the 2009 Ashes and captaining England to Ashes success down under in 2010-11. Exactly 100 test match appearances brought him 7,037 test runs at 40.91.
111 test matches yielded him 7,172 runs at 40.06, he also scored 8,037 ODI runs at 32.40. In addition to his attacking batting he was a fine captain of New Zealand. He is a worthy captain of this XI.
77 test matches yielded him 5,444 runs at 45.36, with a highest score of 299, made against Sri Lanka when New Zealand were initially in a lot of trouble. He was one of the finest batters ever to come out of New Zealand, although the likes of Stewart Dempster (average 65.72 in his very brief test career), Bert Sutcliffe (holder of the two highest first class scores by New Zealanders – 385 and 355, the 385 coming out of an innings total of 500, while his opponents, Canterbury, managed 382 off the bat in their two innings combined) and Glenn Turner (the only Kiwi to have scored 100 first class hundreds) would all have their advocates. His first test century came against England in 1983-4 and helped to save his side after they had been over 200 adrift on first innings.
I mentioned in my county championship update section that Derbyshire were closing on victory over Durham. They have now completed the job, the result being:
Derbyshire 197 and 334 beat Durham 171 and 235 by 125 runs Openers Harte and Lees made half centuries, but apart from them only Burnham (32) and Trevaskis, the 19 year-old slow left-armer (27 not out) who I have marked as one to watch offered any significant resistance as the wickets were shared round.
The latest in my “100 cricketers” series, featuring the opening batters from the eighth XI.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the latest post in my “100 cricketers” series. In this post the spotlight is on the openers from the eighth XI. The introductory post to the whole series can be found here, and the previous post in the series in whicb I introduced the eighth XI is here.
A GREAT OPENING PAIR
As with the my seventh XI, with Greenidge and Haynes, this XI features an opening pair who batted together in real life, and did mighty well as a combination. They had one poor series, the 2005 Ashes, which Australia ended up losing. In the 2001, 2002-3 and 2006-7 Ashes, all featuring this opening pair and won by Australia, the Aussies rarely started an innings badly. The 2010-11 Ashes saw Australia regularly losing the first wicket early, and with Pontingat 3 and Clarke at 4 also having shocking series with the bat a series of inadeqaute totals resulted, and England not only won the series, but on three occasions out of five they won matches in they had to bat only once. England’s own inconsistency in the test arena recently stems from not getting enough runs at the top of the order – since Strauss’ retirement England have not had a reliable opening combination, and the more recent retirement of Cook has opened another big hole at the top of the order. The second postin this series contains a radical solution of mine to this problem, meanwhile with a new county championship season under way tomorrow it would be particularly good timing were a young opener or two to hit their straps right from the start. Now on to the players themselves, starting with…
The tall, dominating left hander scored 8,625 test runs at 50.73. At Brisbane at the start of the 2002-3 series Nasser Hussain won the toss and put Australia in. By the end of day 1 they were 364-2, Matthew Hayden 197 (he would score another century in the second innings after Ponting declined to enforce the follow on), the match and series were both as good as gone. In between Brian Lara’s two efforts he held the individual scoring record for a period with an innings of 380 against Zimbabwe at the WACA. His one blip came in the first four matches of the 2005 Ashes (he made 138 at The Oval in the fifth match, but with Australia needing to win, and therefore by all logic to spend as much time out in the middle as possible, he was twice party to the team going off for bad light (by the rules of the day the batters had to be asked if they wanted to go off). The match ended in the draw the allowed England to regain The Ashes (I fully expect that the Ashes series later this summer will likewise end with England winning, though it will probably be settled before the final game).
A left-hander like his opening partner, but much shorter in stature, though no less aggressive in approach in his own way. He scored 7,696 test runs at 45.27, witrh 23 centuries and a best of 250 against England at the MCG. Like Hayden he struggled for most of the 2005 Ashes before making a century in the final match. He played in the county championship for Middlesex and Somerset, which helped him to reach 86 first class hundreds. With this pair to get the innings underway for them my eighth XI will usually have a good base for the middle order, featured in the next post in this series to build on.
aspiblog 