An account of today’s BBL match between Melbourne Stars and Sydney Sixers. Also a photo gallery.
This morning UK time Melbourne Stars hosted Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League. This post looks back at the match.
THE STARS INNINGS
Glenn Maxwell scored 31 off 14 balls, but no one else in the Stars line up came close to firing on all cylinders. Off spinner Todd Murphy bowled superbly and was rewarded with 2-15 from his four overs. Sean Abbott, the leading wicket taker in BBL history, would have been extremely disappointed to record 4-0-36-0 in a moderate opposition total. Stars finished with 156-4, the kind of total no team should ever record in a T20 innings – to bat through the whole 20 overs losing only four wickets and finish with a run rate of under eight an over is unacceptable, and I fully expected this total not to pose any great threat. Cricinfo’s ‘Win Predictor’ tool was slightly less scathing in its assessment than me, giving Sixers an initial 61% chance of a successful chase to Stars 39% chance of a successful defence.
THE SIXERS REPLY
Sixers started fairly slowly, but safely. The loss of Philippe to the penultimate ball of the opening Power Play made it 29-1, at which point Daniel Hughes joined James Vince. By the halfway point this pair were still together, though the required run rate had climbed to 8.90 per over. The 11th and 12th overs started to swing things firmly in Sixers favour, and then, with Vince and Hughes still together they took their Power Surge, very well timed in my estimation. Of course taking those two overs of Power Surge at a sensible time is only half the equation – you then still have to make full use of them. Sixers did exactly that, scoring 29-0 from the two overs in question, to be 122-1 after 14 overs. This meant that the RRR was below six an over, with the CRR up at 8.71, and barring a spectacular crash of wickets the game was as good as done – Sixers might conceivably have lost it from there, but Stars could not win it without the assistance of their opponents. In the event Sixers were icy cool, and by the time Vince was out for a superb 79 the target was down to 18 off 3.4 overs with seven wickets left. There were still seven wickets standing when Jordan Silk calmly turned the first ball of the 19th over into the leg side for the winning runs. A single would have been enough as scores were level by then, but the ball actually ran away for four. The only stage at which Sixers looked like they were other than in total control of the situation was when Maxwell was going well early in the Stars innings – even when they were significantly behind the required rate at the halfway stage of their innings they had nine wickets standing. The timing and use of the Power Surge were exemplary, realizing that they were superbly placed to take it at the end of the 12th over and not delaying in the hope of being even better placed later. Wickets can be lost in the Power Surge, but I have also seen wickets fall when a team delays the Power Surge and I would always prefer a team to be overbold about taking it than overcautious. Sixers are now very well placed to qualify for the KO stages, while Stars are very unlikely to do so – they would need to win all their remaining games and have a few other results go their way into the bargain. One other small point: in spite of the fact that most of the problems in both innings were caused by slower bowlers Stars opted to give Jonathan Merlo (right arm medium fast) his first over in this season’s competition, which worked out horrendously, costing 13 runs. Since Merlo was officially scheduled to bat at number nine, the fact that he hardly bowls, which today’s effort made only too easy to understand, this raised the question of just what he was doing in the XI.
A brief look at the opening day between Australia and Pakistan and a briefer mention of the extraordinary events at Newlands between South Africa and India.
The second test match of the series between Australia and Pakistan got underway at Sydney overnight UK time. This post looks at the opening day’s play.
PAKISTAN START POORLY
Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first. By lunch time it was looking poor for them at 75-4. At 95-5 it looked even worse, but then came a fightback. Mohammad Rizwan (88) and Agha Salman (53) began the rescue act, but at 227-9 it still looked like Australia’s day. Pat Cummins had achieved his third straight five-for by then. However Mir Hamza, the Pakistan number 11, offered solid resistance, while Aamer Jamal played a magnificent innings. Jamal was eventually caught by Starc off Lyon for 82, having raised the Pakistan score to 313. There was time for one over of Australia’s first innings, which they ended on 6-0. This match looks like being a good one.
WICKETS CRASH AT NEWLANDS
I was only able to follow this one by way of cricinfo and various people’s twitter comments, but I must make mention of an extraordinary opening day between South Africa and India in Cape Town. South Africa won the toss and batted first, crashing to 55 all out, Mohammad Siraj 6-15. India were 153-4 in response at one point but lost their last six wickets without addition! South Africa lost three second innings wickets before the close, including a unique double of Elgar being out twice on the first day of his last test match and Stubbs being out twice on day one of his test debut. Stubbs is not the first to have been out twice on day one of his debut – aeons ago Harry Butt of England suffered the same fate.
Noting that the county championship is only 95 days away, by featuring Tom Soar’s career best. Also the first photo gallery of the new year.
Welcome to a new year. I have decided to make the main body of my first post of 2024 fit with the start of a new county championship season being 95 days away. I then have a photo gallery to share – today has been largely bright and sunny and I have been out and about.
TOM SOAR’S CAREER BEST
Tom Soar is not an illustrious name in the history of cricket, and fast bowling was his main occupation (323 FC wickets at 23.82 with a best of 8-38). His highest score with the bat was 95, and it came in a truly remarkable match.
Somerset had batted first and posted a total of 315, Ernie Robson top scoring with 74. Hampshire began poorly in reply and it would have been even worse for them had Somerset keeper Wickham pulled off a stumping chance against Major Robert Poore. Poore survived, which would have felt ominous to Somerset, given that at Portsmouth earlier that season he had already smashed them for two centuries in the match. Hampshire were 62-4 when Soar joined Poore. The pair put on 196 together before Soar was out for 95. Poore was now joined by another army officer, Captain Teddy Wynyard, and just over four hours this pair proceeded to hammer 411 runs, before Wynyard fell for 225. Poore was out a few balls, for precisely 300 runs more than he had scored at the time Wickham missed that stumping. Hampshire declared at 672-7, an advantage of 357. A dispirited Somerset could only manage 206 at the second time of asking and lost by an innings and 151 runs.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
A gathering of gulls.MoorhenWhite duckSwansBlue tit.I think this was a skein of geese, going by the shapes of the birds.BlackbirdMy first starling of 2024JackdawsSparrows
A look back at the Boxing Day test between Australia and Pakistan, a brief comment on the Lamichhane case (some may find this distressing), a mention of the Panto at the Corn Exchange and a photo gallery.
Early yesterday morning the the Boxing Day test match between Australia and Pakistan ended a day ahead of schedule. The main part of this post looks back at that match. There is then a second section that some readers may find distressing, covering a piece of news that should not be overlooked. I end with my usual photo gallery.
A HARD FOUGHT BATTLE
I posted about developments earlier in this match here. Pakistan ended up 61 behind on first innings. They began the Australian second innings breathing fire, reducing their hosts to 16-4 at one point. They had a chance to make it 46-5, but it went to ground as more than one other did in the course of the match. The reprieved batter, Mitchell Marsh, went on to top score with 96 and Australia had 316 to defend in the end. The biggest ever successful chase at The G is 332, by England in 1928-9 in the match that won them that Ashes series, while Pakistan have a horrible record down under – last time they won a test match anywhere in Australia the side was captained by Imran Khan.
However, Pakistan did not surrender meekly, as their subcontinental neighbours had at Centurion in the other Boxing Day test (India 245, South Africa 406, India 131 – South Africa won by an innings and 30 runs), they had a real go at the target.
The got to within 100 of the target with the sixth wicket pairing of Mohammad Rizwan and Agha Salman together and going nicely. Cummins appealed for a catch behind against Rizwan, given not out on the field, with the TMS commentary team also certain that it wasn’t out and Rizwan indicating that it had hit his forearm on the way through. Australia sent it upstairs, and after about five minutes of using every piece of technology available to him the third umpire Richard Illingworth found what he believed was evidence to overturn the decision and instructed Michael Gough, the on field umpire, to do so. My belief is that having studied replays for that long there is no way the evidence Illingworth had could have been convincing enough to warrant an overturn.
The controversial breakthrough thus achieved, Australia did not take long to do the rest of the job, Pakistan being all out for 237 to lose by 79 runs. Pat Cummins in addition to captaining his side took five wickets in each Pakistan innings (5-48 and 5-49 respectively), and there was thus only one candidate for Player of the Match. Nevertheless, for me, the circumstances of Rizwan’s dismissal in the final innings means that this victory by Australia is somewhat tainted. A full scorecard can be seen here.
THE LAMICHHANE CASE
Yesterday it was announced that the a Nepalese jury had found Sandeep Lamichhane, the Nepali leg spinner, guilty of raping a minor, an offence that under Nepali law carries a possible 12 year jail term. In my view the ICC, as cricket’s world governing body, have a duty to respond to this news: Lamichhane should forthwith be banned outright from ever having anything more to do with organized cricket – no playing, no umpiring, no commentary gigs, no coaching (especially this latter given what he has been found guilty of) etc.
THE CHRISTMAS PANTO
This year’s Christmas Panto at the Corn Exchange, King’s Lynn was Dick Whittington, and on Thursday night the West Norfolk Autism Group had block booked seats. The fact that we were buying in bulk got us a substantial discount on the regular price, and members were only asked to pay £5 per ticket by us. It was an excellent production, well worth the minor inconvenience of the timing (a scheduled 5:30PM start, which meant all I had time to do at home between work and the performance was get changed out of my work clothes, and supper had to wait until I got home again at the end of the evening).
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
The Corn Exchange Advertising in the foyer of the Corn Exchange.
A look at the first two days play between Australia and Pakistan at the MCG and a splendid photo gallery.
The Boxing Day test match between Australia and Pakistan at Melbourne has now seen two days play, albeit one of them disrupted by the weather, and is beginning to take shape.
THE AUSTRALIAN INNINGS
Pakistan won the toss and elected to put Australia in to bat. A truncated opening day ended with the hosts 187-3 after a “curate’s egg” bowling and fielding effort by Pakistan. At 226-4 Australia still looked very well placed, but then Pakistan fought their way back into things, and Australia eventually tallied a mere 318, respectable after being sent in but by no means formidable. Marnus Labuschagne with 63 had the only half century off the bat in the innings, but Pakistan may well come to regret the fact that they allowed Extras to tally a half century as well (52, including 15 wides). Debutant Aamer Jamal claimed three wickets, while Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mir Hamza and Hasan Ali each had two, and Agha Salman, brought on to bowl the last over before lunch on day one, was gifted the wicket of David Warner.
THE PAKISTAN RESPONSE TO DATE
Pakistan began well, and at 124-1 it looked like things were going their way, but then came a passage of play that completely changed things. Pat Cummins removed Abdullah Shafique for 62, hanging on to a hard return chance. Then he widened the breach by bowling new batter Babar Azam for 1. Lyon got Shan Masood for 54, Hazlewood produced a beauty to get through the defences of Saud Shakeel for 9, and Pakistan were 151-5 and in a lot of trouble. Cummins claimed a third scalp of the innings when he got one to take the edge of Salman’s bat to make it 170-6. However Jamal defended stoutly, while wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, who had performed better behind the stumps than 20 byes and 15 leg byes might suggest, batted well. When the cut off time arrived Pakistan were 194-6, with Rizwan 29*. Much rests on him on day three – it will largely by his further contribution or lack of it that decides whether Australia will have a really commanding lead or not. At the moment Australia are in the box seat, but many worse positions than the one Pakistan are currently in have seen sides emerge victorious.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Yesterday morning was bright and sunny, and I got out for a long walk while the weather was pleasant. I was well rewarded, including sightings of an egret and a couple of cormorants among other things…
An egret in the mud on the west side of the Great Ouse, opposite Hardings Pits (features in six pictures)Cormorants at one of their most regular perching spots (10 pictures)
An account of how I made the best of being alone for Christmas and ,enjoyed my day. Lots of photographs.
My parents, sister and nephew are all off in far flung parts of the world, and my aunt is also away for Christmas. This meant that my own Christmas would be what I made of it . The rest of this post is my own account of yesterday.
PLANNING THE DAY
I decided that I would spend the hours of daylight away from my computer, and that I would have my fancy Christmas Day meal (a home cooked variation on the steak & chips theme) in the evening. I selected some Christmas music to play through the day, and planned to do some walking during the daylight hours. My parents had arranged that I would have a package to open on the day.
THE MORNING
I went out for my first walk just before 9AM, which took in both the ponds near where I live, the Kettlewell Lane tree/ river area, The Walks, the Peace Garden/ Greyfriars tower, the town centre, St Nicholas’ Chapel, Bawsey Drain and back along Columbia Way. I then played the first of my chosen Christmas Music CDs. When this CD finished I headed off for my second walk, which again included both ponds, but this time I took the footpath from the second pond that leads to Loke Road just before the junction with Gaywood Road, crossed Loke Road, headed onto Gaywood Road for a short stretch before crossing it and heading down Tennyson Avenue. Just before the railway crossing I took the footpath that heads towards Lynnsport and followed to the point at which it meets the Gaywood River path, which I walked along until I reached a path off it towards the Discovery Centre and thence back home.
THE AFTERNOON/ EARLY EVENING
I had lunch while a second CD played. When the second CD finished I went out for a third walk, taking in the first pond, a route through to the footpath alongside Bawsey Drain and followed that footpath until Columbia Way, at which point spots of rain warned me that I needed to take the direct route home, along Columbia Way, rather than extend the walk further as I had been considering. I then played the rest of the Christmas music I had picked out, returning to the computer briefly in the early evening.
COOKING SUPPER
I put the oven on at about 7PM, set to approximately 175 Celsius, taking care to turn the extractor fan on and open a kitchen window. I oiled a baking tray next. Then I cut a large potato into slices of approximately equal thickness, thick enough that when cooked they would still obviously be potato and thin enough that they would have a bit of crunch. I placed this slices on the oiled baking tray, sprinkled some salt over them, and then added a little more oil. I put them into the oven to cook. Then I got to work on the brussels sprouts, preparing a dozen for cooking, placing them in a saucepan and boiling a kettle full of water to cook them in. Once they were on and cooking I turned the potato slices over. I tenderised the steak, got some oil in small frying pan heating up (to colour on the outside while still being red in the middle the steak has to go in to oil that is already hot), and at the appropriate moment I put the steak into cook, flash-frying it for a minute on each side at high heat. I then plated it up, before draining the sprouts, pouring a drink and then getting the potatoes out. This is what my variation on a steak & chips theme looked like on the plate:
For the record it tasted splendid.
For afters I had a small jar of Kalamata olives.
THE END OF THE DAY
I was mindful of the fact that the Boxing Day test match at Melbourne between Australia and Pakistan, which Test Match Special were covering, got underway at 11:30PM UK time (Melbourne is 11 hours ahead of us). I thus timed my heading to bed so that I could have that commentary playing while I was in bed. I enjoyed the day, and my Christmas meal worked well.
A look back at the events that have unfolded in Mumbai over the last few days, a historic win for India Women in a test match over Australia women. Also a photo gallery.
Four days ago a test match between the Indian and Australian Women’s teams got underway in the city of Mumbai. I was only able to follow developments through cricinfo and some of my twitter and mastodon followers, so this post will be a bit sketchy, but you will see why I could not ignore it. India Women had never beaten Australia Women in a test match going into the game, but they had just won a test against England Women in Mumbai…
THE AUSTRALIAN FIRST INNINGS
The first hint that not all was going to the way of Australia came in the first innings of the match, when they managed only 219, with Pooja Vastrakar taking four wickets, Sneh Rana three and Deepti Sharma two. Vastrakar’s effort was especially significant – both because day one often sets the tone and because seamers should do well early in matches.
THE INDIAN FIRST INNINGS
India started impressively with the bat, with Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues all making runs, and looked set for a massive lead when they passed 250 with only three wickets down. They then suffered a mid-innings collapse and at273-7 it looked like an opportunity to bury the match had been squandered. However, for the all their positions at numbers eight and nine in the order both Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar are competent batters, with Sharma being a genuine all rounder in any format save T20, where her relatively slow scoring rate counts against her. This pair reasserted India’s dominance, batting all the way through the final session of the second day and taking India’s lead past 150. India ultimately topped 400, finishing with 406 for a lead of 187. Sharma had the top score of the match with 78, and Vastrakar had set a new record for an Indian number nine in a test match with 47.
THE AUSTRALIAN SECOND INNINGS
Australia, as one would expect of such a strong and determined side fought hard in their second innings, but never really threatened to take the initiative away from India. Perry, McGrath, Healy and Sutherland all provided stiff resistance, but by the close of third day Australia were five down and only 46 to the the good. Had their lower order been able to conjure another 100 on the final day Indian nerves might have been jangling, but in the end they only managed a further 28, to give themselves just 74 to defend. Sneh Rana claimed four wickets with her off spin, and two other spinners, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Rajeshwari Gayakwad claimed two scalps a piece, while Vastrakar added another wicket to four first innings scalps. Tahlia McGrath had battled her way to 73.
THE INDIAN CHASE
Shafali Verma was out cheaply to make it 4-1, but Richa Ghosh offered Smriti Mandhana good support, and by the time she was out only a further 20 were needed for victory. Rodrigues joined Mandhana and this pair were still together when India completed an impressive win, Mnadhana 38*, Rodrigues 12*. Sneh Rana’s seven wicket match haul earned her the Player of the Match award, though both Vastrakar (five wickets across the two innings and a vital 47) and Sharma (the highest individual score of the match and two wickets) must have been close, especially the former. All credit to India for winning this one – Australia were unbeaten in the format since 2014 going into this match. A full scorecard can be seen here.
A look at how the Big Bash League is panning out and a photo gallery.
The Big Bash League is well underway. This edition of the tournament features only 10 group matches per side rather than 14 and also sensibly only allows the top four sides to qualify for the knockout stages as opposed to the ludicrously overgenerous situation previously whereby fifth was good enough.
HOBART HURRICANES v MELBOURNE RENEGADES
There was radio commentary on this match today for UK listeners. Renegades batted first and helped by a rare example of a reasonably well timed Power Surge (overs 16 and 17, making it a kick starter into the death overs rather than actually being part of the death overs, still an over or so later than I would like but the best timed one in any of the radio commentaries I have listened to so far) which they capitalized on, taking the two overs for a total of 34 runs, tallied an eminently respectable looking 185-5 from their 20 overs.
Unfortunately for them they bowled like drains, which in combination with some excellent Hurricanes batting, especially from Matthew Wade and Macallister Wright, saw the hosts home by six wickets with an over to spare.
HOW THE TABLE IS LOOKING
Three sides, Brisbane Heat, Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers, are looking very likely to progress. Another three, Adelaide Strikers, Sydney Thunder and Hobart Hurricanes would appear to be fighting for the fourth qualification slot, while the two Melbourne sides, as happened in the women’s version of this tournament, look like propping up the table.
POWER SURGE THOUGHTS
In the BBL the initial Power Play lasts for four overs rather than the usual six and the batting side then has a two over Power Surge which they have to take in the second half of their innings (this is to stop sides lazily using it for overs 5 and 6 and thereby having a standard Power Play). My feeling based on the games I have listened to so far this season is that most sides are very overcautious about taking the Power Surge which means it often happens later than it should. Personally the latest I would countenance those overs being taken is for overs 16 and 17 as happened today, but I would want to go earlier if possible. In one of the other games I listened to the side batting first had two well set batters together at the end of 12th over and still together at the end of the 13th, but they refused to take these golden opportunities to use the Power Surge, and lost a wicket in the 14th. They ended up using the Power Surge in the 18th and 19th overs of their innings, which I regard as plumb crazy. It depends on exact situations but I would always want to go fairly early. If the openers happened still to be together at the end of the 10th over I would seriously consider taking the Power Surge for overs 11 and 12 as a launch pad for the second half of the innings. The other time I might go that early as if a number of wickets have fallen and I want to use the surge while I still have two front line batters to capitalize on it. I would say that in intermediate situations between the two I have outlined above I would look at overs 13-14, overs 14-15, overs 15-16 and at the very outside overs 16-17 and would never allow the surge to unused going into the death overs.
An all time XI of players whose given names begin with W, a very detailed honourable mentions section and a photo gallery.
Today I present an all time XI of players whose given names begin with W and a detailed honourable mentions section, as well as my usual photo gallery.
THE XI IN BATTING ORDER
William Morris ‘Bill’ Lawry (Australia, left handed opening batter). He averaged 47 with the bat in test cricket.
William Harold ‘Bill’ Ponsford (Australia, right handed opening batter). Until Brian Lara came along only one player had achieved two first class scores in excess of 400, Ponsford, with 429 against Tasmania in 1922 and 437 against Queensland in 1927. In December of 1927 he became the only player ever to score 1,000 first class runs in a calendar month outside of England, with a sequence of 1,146 runs in five innings. His test record was not quite so outstanding, but even at that level he averaged 48, which included centuries in each of his first two test matches and centuries in each of his last two.
*WG Grace (England, right handed batter, right arm bowler of various styles, captain). Cricket’s first superstar, and in his best decade, the 1870s, he averaged 49 with the bat at a time when the best of the rest were just about managing 25. Only one other person in cricket history ever sustained being twice as prolific as the best of the rest over a long period – Bradman.
Wally Hammond (England, right handed batter, right arm medium-fast bowler). He scored 7,249 runs at 58.45, including 905 at 113.125 in the 1928-9 Ashes.
+William Lloyd ‘Billy’ Murdoch (Australia, right handed batter, wicket keeper). Australia’s best batter in the earliest years of test cricket, and a fine enough keeper that FR Spofforth missed the first ever test match because he initially didn’t believe that any keeper other than Murdoch could handle his bowling.
Warwick Armstrong (Australia, right handed batter, leg spinner). A fine all round cricketer whose feats included scoring over 2,000 runs and taking over 100 wickets in first class matches on the 1905 tour of England. 16 years later he almost captained an undefeated side, the only loss they sustained on the tour coming at the hands of ‘an England XI’ assembled by AC MacLaren.
Willie ‘Billy’ Bates (England, right handed batter, off spinner). The first England bowler ever to take a test hat trick, part of a match performance in which he scored a 50 and took seven wickets in each Australian innings.
Wasim Akram (Pakistan, left arm fast bowler, left handed batter). One of the greatest ever.
William Joseph ‘Bill’ O’Reilly (Australia, leg spinner, left handed batter). Only one batter among those he came up against in the course of his career could truly claim to have his measure: Don Bradman.
William Arras ‘Bill’ Johnston (Australia, left arm fast medium bowler, left arm orthodox spinner, left handed batter). The third essential member of Australia’s immediate post WWII bowling attack after Lindwall and Miller, as well as being two types of bowler in one he was possessed of great stamina – it was not unknown for him to go straight from spinning the old ball to swinging the new one. Three times he was Australia’s leading wicket taker in Ashes series. In England in 1953, with the active connivance of some his team mates, who got themselves out in some of the later matches to help engineer the outcome, he became only the second player to average 100+ for an English first class season (17 innings, 16 not outs, 102 runs, average 102.00) after Bradman in 1938 (the Don achieved his average of 115.66 for that season without any such shenanigans going on).
Waqar Younis (Pakistan, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). A superb practitioner, and one who regularly shared the new ball with Wasim Akram.
This side has a powerful batting line up, and a wealth of bowling options. The only regular type of bowling that is not featured is left arm wrist spin. The front five of Younis, Akram, Johnston, O’Reilly and Bates are formidable in their own right, and in the unlikely event that they prove insufficient there are Armstrong, Grace and Hammond as back up options.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
I start this section with a paragraph devoted to my most notable omission…
WILFRED RHODES
One of the most extraordinary performers in the history of cricket, with a remarkable five-phase playing career – specialist left arm spinner, all rounder, specialist batter, all rounder, specialist left arm spinner. The trouble is that brilliant as he was as an all rounder at county level his England career was almost exclusively spent either as specialist bowler (early and late periods) or as a specialist batter (in the run up to WWI). His batting would not warrant selection as a specialist and if I pick him as a specialist bowler I would have to leave out Johnston, who offers me two bowling options in one and had an outstanding test record.
OTHER HONOURABLE MENTIONS
The opening slots were rich in potential candidates. Lawry’s only rival for the left handed openers slot was Warren Bardsley, the first batter ever to score twin centuries in a test match and possessor of a fine overall test record, as well as being Australia’s leading scorer of first class centuries until Bradman came along, more than half of those tons having come in England.
Ponsford was rivalled for the right handers opening slot by two other Williams who were generally known as Bill, WA Brown and WM Woodfull. Woodfull in particular is unlucky to miss out, while Brown also had a fine record.
I regard WG Grace as an essential pick and my reckoning is that he could handle first drop, though he did prefer to open. Two regular number threes who thus miss out are William Gunn, the Gunn of Gunn & Moore, whose test record did not live up to his superb first class record and William Scotton, also of Nottinghamshire, whose ability to bat for long periods of time came at the expense of run scoring. William John ‘Bill’ Edrich was another who might have had this slot, averaging 40 in test cricket in spite of losing six prime years to WWII. WG ‘Billy’ Quaife had a splendid record for Warwickshire but his seven tests were disappointing. Wajahatullah Wasti of Pakistan once scored twin tons in a test match but did little else at that level. William Yardley has a place in the record books – in 1870 he became the first player ever to score a century in the Varsity Match.
Among the all rounders I could not accommodate were Wasim Raja, WE ‘Bill’ Alley, Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva, Wilf Flowers and William ‘Billy’ Barnes.
My decision to entrust the gloves to Murdoch meant that three very accomplished keepers, Wriddhiman Saha of India, Wasim Bari of Pakistan, and Arthur Theodore Wallace ‘Wally’ Grout of Australia missed out.
WH ‘Bill’ Lockwood was a fine bowling all rounder, and possibly the pioneer of the slower ball, but not a serious rival to Akram for the number eight slot. A number of Williams, all known as Bill, were fine quick bowlers: Whitty, Voce, Bowes, Copson, Andrews and Bestwick among them. Two Williams known by their full first names, Lillywhite and Mycroft, were both great bowlers kept out by the immense strength in depth available for this squad. Wes Hall and Wayne Daniel were two of the many superb quicks to come from the coral island of Barbados, and both can be considered unlucky to miss out. Walter Mead, a bowler of mixed spin for Essex who claimed a 17 wicket match haul against the 1893 Australians and had a magnificent first class record was the biggest miss in the spin bowling department.
In a few years time there may be a second WG in the line up – WG Jacks of England, an attacking batter and a capable off spinner who is in the process of establishing himself in international cricket.
An all time XIU of players whose given names begin with V, some honourable mentions and a photo gallery.
Today I present an all time XI of players whose given names begin with V, plus some honourable mentions, including two players given whole paragraphs to themselves. I also have a photo gallery which includes pictures taken while travelling to and from Cambridge today. I am not going to publish an XI of players whose given names begin with U because such an XI owes more to cricinfo than it does to me, and is also far from great.
THE XI IN BATTING ORDER
Victor Trumper (Australia, right handed opening batter, occasional medium pacer). A great player and according to all available reports a great human being as well. His finest hours came on the 1902 tour of England, in an exceptionally wet season on uncovered pitches. In first class matches on that tour he scored 2,570 runs including 11 centuries. The highlight of this procession round England came in the fourth test match of the series at Old Trafford, when with England on a mission to ‘keep Victor quiet before lunch’ he proceeded to become the first player ever to reach a test ton on the first morning of the match.
Vijay Merchant (India, right handed opening batter). Only ten test matches, spread over 18 years for him, in which he recorded a career batting average of 47. In all first class cricket he averaged 71.22, a figure which places him second only to Bradman among those who played enough matches to qualify (another Australian, Norman Calloway, played a solitary a first class match, scoring 207 in his only innings at that level, before going off to fight in WWI, where he was killed in action).
Viv Richards (West Indies, right handed batter, occasional off spinner). One of the greatest of all time.
Virat Kohli (India, right handed batter). Across formats the best batter of the current era.
Vijay Hazare (India, right handed batter, right arm medium pacer). At a time when few Indians had great test records he averaged 47 with the bat at that level. In first class cricket he once scored 309 in a total of 387 all out, the lowest FC innings total to include a triple century.
Vyell Walker (England, right handed batter, right arm slow bowler). One of only two players to have scored a century and taken all ten wickets an in innings of the same first class match, WG Grace being the other.
Vallance Jupp (England, right handed batter, off spinner). Achieved the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in first class matches in each of eight successive English seasons in the 1920s. In all he scored 23,296 first class runs at 29.41 and took 1,658 first class wickets at 23.01.
+Victoria Lind (New Zealand, wicket keeper, right handed batter). Finding a wicket keeper for this XI was difficult, and I have selected someone who did not actually have the gloves when I saw her in action (she was playing as a specialist batter, with Katey Martin keeping wicket), but who was a recognized keeper.
Vanburn Holder (West Indies, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). Was part of the first WI pace quartet in 1976.
Vernon Philander (South Africa, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). In test cricket he claimed 224 wickets at 22.32 a piece, enough to underwrite his claim for a place in this XI.
Vince van der Bijl (South Africa, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). His entire career happened while South Africa were banned from the international arena, but 767 FC wickets at 16.54, taken at a rate of fractionally below five per match and the universally high opinion of all who encountered him are good enough for me.
This side has a powerful top five, two genuine all rounders of different style, a keeper who could bat and three excellent specialist bowlers. The bowling attack should be able to capture 20 opposition wickets in most conditions.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
First of all…
THE VERY VERY SPECIAL ONE
Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman, universally known by his initials VVS, had a test average of only just over a run per innings less than that of Hazare, and maintained over larger number of matches. That fine career record included a thunderous 281, at the time the individual record score for an Indian in test cricket, against the mighty Aussies in 2001. However my feeling was that Hazare offered a back up bowling option as well as his batting, and was part of a less strong batting order than Laxman had the luxury of belonging to. Had Laxman been a left hander, of whom there are none in this order, he would have had the nod, but I felt Hazare had the edge and selected accordingly.
VIRENDER SEHWAG
Virender Sehwag was the first Indian ever to score a test triple century, and achieved that feat twice, but he did not do much outside Asia, and especially he did not do much against the swinging or seaming ball, whereas the attacking opener I did select, Trumper, was at his very finest on an overseas tour in conditions that would have been massively alien to a Sydneysider – one of the wettest English summers ever.
OTHER HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Vernon Ransford was the best left handed batting option available for this squad. Vic Wilson, the only other left hander worth mentioning was even further adrift, though he could be named as designated fielding substitute. With Richards and Kohli absolutely certain selections he could only have been accommodated at the expense of Hazare, and my feeling is that getting a left hander in isn’t worth sacrificing an average of ten runs per innings for. Vic Richardson, a legendary all round sportsperson and grandfather of two Aussie skippers, did not have a good enough record at test level to merit inclusion. Vikram Solanki was a good county batter, but such international success as came his way did so in limited overs cricket. Vic Jackson, an Aussie who bowled both medium pace and off spin, and played for Leicestershire as well as his native NSW was in the mix for an all rounders slot. Varun Aaron was a quicker bowler than any of three specialists I selected, but he was also much more erratic, and 18 test wickets at 52.61 hardly constitutes a strong basis for a challenge. Vinod Kambli was hugely talented, and was probably cast aside too soon by the Indian selectors, but unfortunately when up against Richards, Kohli and Hazare, with Laxman also deserving a mention a player who only gained 17 test caps, even one who averaged 54 with the bat at that level cannot be included.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
Cambridge station, as viewed from where Hills Road crosses the railway line.A giant Christmas bauble near Cambridge station.Ely Cathedral
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