Tag: The Ashes

All Time XIs: England in Australia

An all time XI of England players whose finest hours came in Australia, and a photo gallery,

With an away Ashes series approaching I offer a variation on the all-time theme – an England side picked specifically with achievements IN Australia in mind (yes, sceptical Aussie readers, I can find 11, and that without too much difficulty).

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. *Len Hutton (right handed opening batter, captain). England’s successful skipper both at home in 1953, when he was the first professional to lead England in a home Ashes series, and away in 1954-5, also recorded a series batting average of 88.83 on the unsuccessful 1950-1 tour.
  2. Alastair Cook (left handed opening batter). 766 runs at 127.67 in the 2010-11 triumph, including 235 not out at Brisbane, 148 at Adelaide and 189 at Sydney. He also scored an unbeaten at 244 at Melbourne eight years later.
  3. Ken Barrington (right handed batter, occasional leg spinner). The Surrey stalwart had racked up nine test centuries on various overseas tours, including 1962-3 in Australia, when he fared magnificently, before scoring one in a home test match (256 versus Australia at Old Trafford in 1964).
  4. Wally Hammond (right handed batter, occasional right arm medium fast bowler). Almost a century after he set it his 905 runs at 113.125 in the 1928-9 Ashes remains a record for a series in Australia, and second on the all time list behind Don Bradman’s 974 at 139.14 in England in 1930. He was also joint leading run scorer four years later with 440 at 55.00, an aggregate an average exactly duplicated by Herbert Sutcliffe, and his scores in 1936-7 included an undefeated double century.
  5. David Gower (left handed batter). Four Ashes tours in all (1978-9, 1982-3, 1986-7 and 1990-1), with two of them in winning cause. In 1978-9 at Perth he came in on the first day with England in trouble at 41-3 and proceeded to score his maiden Ashes ton, with Boycott blocking at the other end. England won that match, still the only time they have ever won a test match in western Australia, and took the series 5-1. He scored centuries on all four of his Ashes tours, including an innings on the last of them that Bradman rated among the top five he ever saw in Australia.
  6. +Matthew Prior (right handed batter, wicket keeper). England’s keeper in the successful 2010-11 tour, and he was a big part of the reason for that success.
  7. Ian Botham (right handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler). Crucial to England’s 1978-9 triumph, and the 1986-7 trip saw the last of his 14 test centuries, and a five-for later in the series.
  8. Frank Foster (left arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). A splendid all rounder until a motorcycle accident ended his career early, he was one of two bowling stars (the other is also in this XI) of the 1911-12 tour, when England lost the opener but won all four of the other test matches, with 32 wickets in the series.
  9. Hedley Verity (left arm orthodox spinner, right handed batter). One of the greatest masters of his craft ever to play the game. and a useful lower order batter. His role in the 1932-3 triumph was acknowledged by his skipper Douglas Jardine. He was the only bowler Donald Bradman admitted to facing as an equal, and I had very little hesitation in selecting him for the spinners slot.
  10. Frank Tyson (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). One of two choices for this slot, it was pretty much a coin toss as to who should get the nod. I went for his 1954-5 heroics over those of Larwood two decades previously.
  11. Sydney Barnes (right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). 77 test wickets in Australia, in 12 matches in that country. At Melbourne in the 1911-12 series on a good track he had the top four Aussie batters back in the pavilion for a single between them in his new ball burst. England won that series 4-1, with Barnes claiming 34 wickets in the series.

This side has a very powerful top five, a keeper/ batter who succeeded down under, a legendary all rounder and four great and well varied bowlers. A bowling unit of Barnes, Foster, Tyson, Verity and Botham, with Hammond and Barrington available as back up options should be capable of functioning well on any surface.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

There were three main rivals to my chosen openers: Andrew Strauss, who opened and captained on the 2010-11 tour and the old firm of Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe. I wanted a right hander to go with Cook, which ruled out Strauss, and the need for a captain gave Hutton an additional advantage over the other contenders. Archie MacLaren had a great series in 1897-8, but that was a bit of a flash in the pan given his overall record, and England lost that series.

Eddie Paynter had a superb record against Australia and could have had David Gower’s slot. Among right handed players who might have featured in the middle order were KS Ranjitsinhji, Kevin Pietersen (whose test best of 227 was scored at Adelaide) and Ted Dexter, who electrified crowds in 1962-3. Colin Cowdrey made six tours of Australia, an England record, including answering an SOS call at the age of 42, 20 years after first travelling down under. I regretted not being able to include the left hander Frank Woolley. Denis Compton was never the player in Australia that he was elsewhere and had to be excluded. If Joe Root rights the one wrong on his stellar CV, the lack of a ton in Australia, he will merit consideration.

Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff’s only visit to Australia in 2006-7 was a personal nightmare for him and ruled him out of consideration, while Ben Stokes has not yet fully delivered down under.

Among the keepers who could have been considered were LEG Ames (1932-3), Alan Knott (1970-1, and in defeat in 1974-5) and Bob Taylor (1978-9).

Derek Underwood performed a similar role in 1970-1 to that of Verity in 1932-3, and Johnny Wardle and Bob Appleyard both fared well in 1954-5. Graeme Swann fulfilled his brief of bowling economically in 2010-11, but flying home halfway through the 2013-14 tour tells against him.

Among the faster bowlers there are three honourable mentions: Harold Larwood in 1932-3 did what Frank Tyson did a couple of decades later and might well have had that slot. John Snow had a phenomenal tour in 1970-1. In 2010-11 James Anderson had a wonderful series, and had his moments on other tours as well.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

I suspected that this series of cormorant/ heron pictures would provide today’s feature image…
A jay using a piece of scaffolding as a perch.
…until this Red Admiral appeared this afternoon.

Australia Complete WAshes Whitewash

An account of the third and as it turned out final day at the MCG and a photo gallery.

The word ‘WAshes’, with the first two letters capitalized is a social media hashtag created by combining the W from women’s with the word Ashes. This post looks at the events of the third and as it turns out final day of the one-off test match that ended this year’s WAshes series.

ENGLAND’S BEST PERIOD OF THE SERIES

The early stages of the day, which got underway at 3:30AM UK time, saw England produce their best bowling and fielding of the series. Knight opted for the contrasting threats of Ecclestone (left arm, slow) and Filer (right arm, fast), and both bowled beautifully. Mooney became the first Australian to complete centuries in all three formats (Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont, both playing for England in this match, are also members of this small club). She was out to a beauty from Lauren Filer which clean bowled her. The Australian innings ended when Perry, who came in at number ten after being held back due to injury, chipped a return catch to Ecclestone who thus claimed a place on the MCG honours board with her fifth wicket of the innings. She had toiled hard – the final ball of the Australian innings was the third of her 45th over thereof. Footage of this good spell for England can be viewed here.

ENGLAND’S SECOND INNINGS

England had scored a mere six runs when Darcie Brown got through the defences of Maia Bouchier, ending a wretched tour for the 26 year old, who was out for one. Bouchier’s tour aggregate was 33 runs from six innings, she does not bowl, and in a side who are not great in the field she is one of the most frequent offenders when it comes to dropped catches.

Beaumont and Knight batted well for a time, both hitting some highly impressive shots. However, with 79 on the board Knight was dismissed to a catch by Litchfield off Gardner. Nat Sciver-Brunt started impressively and the 100 came up without further loss, but at that point Alana King, in what was to be a long unchanged spell from the Shane Warne Stand end took centre stage with her leg spin. At 100 she trapped Sciver-Brunt plumb in front for 18. Three balls later Dunkley fell to an incredible ball. Footage of this delivery is available here, and I urge you to watch it and see for yourself what it did. Danni Wyatt-Hodge is high class batter, and a very experienced one, but she did not play like one this time round. She essayed a sweep, a shot that England have got in trouble with against Australia’s spinners all through this series, and Litchfield took a fine catch. The score had not advanced from King got one through Beaumont’s previously impregnable defences to dismiss the diminutive opener for 47. That was 109-6, and right on the stroke of the second interval Amy Jones edged one from Gardner to Mooney who made no mistake behind the stumps. Soon after the resumption Ryana MacDonald-Gay was eighth out, helplessly popping up a catch to Brown off King. Both spinners were involved in the dismissal of Ecclestone, joint third top scorer with 18, King taking the catch off Gardner. That left the two Laurens, Filer and Bell, to delay the inevitable as long as they could. In the event the numbers 10 and 11 hung on for 11.2 overs together before Filer fell to a catch by Sutherland off King to give Australia victory by an innings and 122 runs and a 16-0 clean sweep in the multi-format series. It was an appropriate ending – Sutherland was the obvious choice for Player of the Match for that dazzling 163 and King, with 23 wickets in all, was an equally obvious choice for Player of the Series. That Ecclestone, Filer and Bell, numbers 8,10 and 11, survived respectively for 50, 45 and 30 balls (the last being an unbeaten 0) serves to further highlight the wretchedness of that headlong plunge from 100-2 to 122-8. A highlights package from today can be viewed here. A full scorecard of this match can be viewed here. Australia absolutely deserved their clean sweep, and England need to make big changes moving forward.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

This was my first photograph of February

The Oval and Other Stuff

A mention of goings on at The Oval, A mention of James and Sons recent auctions and a mention of leafleting for the Green Party, plus large numbers of photos.

As I type this England and Australia men’s teams are doing battle at The Oval in the last match of a superb Ashes summer. This post starts with a brief look at what is going on there.

‘BAZBALL’ V ‘BOYCSBALL’

Yesterday England were put into bat, and managed 283 from 54 overs, Brook leading the way with 85. Australia by the close were 61-1. This morning saw an utterly craven batting effort from the Australians, with lady luck saving them on several occasions. Labuschagne in particular seemed to be digging in for a draw even though it was only the second morning! His dismissal for 9 off 82 balls brightened things up a little, but not much. Fortunately the afternoon session has seen Australia being punished for their wilfully slow scoring. Three wickets have fallen since the interval, two to Broad and one to Anderson. This leaves Australia currently 153-5, 130 runs behind England. If Australia, as is currently more than possible, end up behind on first innings they will have only themselves to blame.

A BANKNOTE AUCTION

James and Sons auctioneers, my employers, had a two day sale this week. Day one was stamps and postal history and seems to have gone well. Day two was banknotes (a huge lifetime collection from all around the world), and went superbly. I will be writing more about this later, but I touch on it briefly today as I secured two lots along the way: Antarctica and Djibouti (the latter containing an item of railwayana). Here are the images (to view an image at full size just click on it) that people got to see during the auction:

Here are some more images taken since I took possession of these notes…

LEAFLETING FOR THE GREEN PARTY

This morning I went to South Wootton to collect some leaflets for Michael de Whalley’s campaign to be elected for the vacant Freebridge seat on Norfolk County Council. I have started delivering them, doing one side of Low Road and all of Old Manor Close on my way home. Here are images of the leaflet:

PHOTOGRAPHS

These photographs come from three sources – my morning walk before work yesterday, my walk home in the evening having alighted at Gaywood and while I was out and about today…

While I was preparing this post for publication Alex Carey became the sixth Aussie to be dismissed this innings, holing out to cover off Root. They are still over 100 adrfit.

Men’s Ashes: Climax or Anti-climax

A look at development’s in the men’s Ashes as we wait for play to get underway on day four at Old Trafford.

Today is Early Music Day at the Lynn Festival (will be blogging about this in due time), and I am making use of the long break between the first and second concerts (the second and third are basically back to back, with insufficient time between the end of one and the start of the other to come home) to keep an eye on the cricket should there be any developments at all today and to post this.

THE MEN’S ASHES – THE STORY SO FAR

Australia won the first two matches, though England had good chances in both, and could blame poor catching, especially by Bairstow behind the stumps, for the fact that they were not at least 1-1. England won a thriller at Headingley, with Harry Brook scoring a vital 75 in the final innings. That brings us to…

THE FOURTH MATCH – OLD TRAFFORD

Penultimate matches of Ashes series at Old Trafford include 1896 (2nd match of a 3 match series, Australia won by three wickets after England staged a remarkable but unavailing fightback – Ranjitsinhji on test debut conjured 154* after England were made to follow on, which meant Australia needed 125 to win, and fast bowler Tom Richardson narrowly failed to pre-empt Bob Willis’s Headingley heroics by 85 years, taking 6-76 as Australia limped over the line), 1902, when an Australian win by three runs gave them the Ashes, “Laker’s Match” of 1956, when the off spinner’s 19-90 in the match gave England victory by an innings and 170 runs and guaranteed retention of the Ashes for them, 1981, when a blazing Botham century set up victory by 103 runs which guaranteed England a series win and retention of the Ashes, and on the debit side of the ledger the bore draw of 1964 when Aussie skipper Simpson, knowing that a draw was enough for his side, literally ensured this off his own bat, occupying the crease until the third morning as Australia scored 656-8 declared (Simpson 311), England then scoring 611 to utterly kill the game.

Australia blatantly selected their side for this match with a draw in mind – they picked no specialist spinner and had two seam bowling all rounders and keeper Carey batting at number eight. England, rather than bringing in any new played had Moeen Ali officially at number three, Bairstow continuing as keeper and an 8-11 of Woakes, Wood, Broad and Anderson. England won the toss and put Australia in. The pitch proved better for batting than either side had reckoned on, and Australia’s 317, lasting just into the second day, was a definite underachievement by them. Woakes was the bowling star with five wickets. England took the bull by the horns, and it was that rarity, Crawley’s day. The Kent opener rode his luck to score a very rapid 189, backed by good performances from Ali and Root. Bairstow became the second Yorkshireman with a surname beginning with B to score 99* in a test match, as Anderson was pinned LBW before he could reach the landmark. Bairstow’s knock took a mere 81 balls, rather a contrast to the other 99* by a Yorkshire ‘B’, Boycott’s knock at Perth in the 1979-80 mini-series. England had tallied 592, a first innings advantage of 275. Wood came to the party in Australia’s second innings, claiming three wickets as Australia closed the third day on 113-4, still 162 adrift of making England bat again. There has been no play so far today, as Old Trafford’s tutelary deity, Jupiter Pluvius, has put in an appearance. There is a pitch inspection happening as I type this. The last two covers have just come off, much to the disgruntlement of the Aussies, who were hoping for today to be entirely washed out (they are looking and playing like a side who are mentally shot, and their attitude to the covers coming off is further indication of that). If the rain holds off, play will commence at 2:45PM.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Before my usual sign off, here one year on from its creation is a link to my all-time Ds XI.

An All Time Classic Test Match

A look at the amazing test match the ended at 7:20PM yesterday and a substantial photo gallery.

This post looks back at a test match that had everything. From the moment Zak Crawley creamed the first ball of the match for four through to 7:20PM yesterday when Pat Cummins struck a four to third man to settle things the fortunes of war swayed hither and thither. I will be producing a detailed set of player ratings and a look at who England might pick to deal with obvious problems revealed in this match.

THE CLOSING STAGES

I was at work yesterday, but a rain delay at Edgbaston meant that I got to witness the closing stages of the match by way of Test Match Special and cricinfo. On a last day pitch definitely favouring spinners supposed front line spinner Moeen Ali had the indignity of being outbowled by part timer Joe Root. Stokes, injured knee and all, bowled with great determination. Broad and Robinson were both excellent, though Anderson did little. Stokes declined to take the new ball when it first became available, and when Root got Carey to make it 227-8, 54 still needed, it looked like the move had paid off. However Stokes persisted with the old ball, and Cummins and Lyon gradually settled in. Finally, with the deficit halved England took the new ball, but although Broad and Robinson bowled well they simply could not break through. In truth I had been rooting for what would have been only test cricket’s third ever tie, because each side had at least one player who did not deserve a loss – Khawaja for Australia and Root for England being the standouts. A tie clearly outranks a draw, as it is a result in keeping with the Stokes ethos. However, I have no complaints about the end result, and certainly none whatsoever about the final stages of the match.

ENGLAND’S MAIN PROBLEMS

I am going to start this post by stating firmly one thing that did not cause England to lose: Stokes’ declaration on the first evening has been the subject of much comment, a good deal of it hostile. The truth is the problems lay elsewhere than that decision:

  1. ‘samey’ main bowlers: as splendid as they all are at what they do Anderson, Broad and Robinson are too similar as bowlers for England to accommodate all three of them in the XI.
  2. Wrong choice of main spinner: it should not have surprised anyone that an ageing player who has not played red ball for a couple of years struggled with the extra workload entailed in bowling in the long form of the game, nor that someone coming into the match with a bowling average against Australia of 65 did not pose very much of a threat.
  3. Wrong choice of wicket keeper: for my money Bairstow’s three definite missed chances (two catches and one stumping), plus the potential chance he didn’t go for, leaving the ball to pass between him and Root for four more than neutralized his contribution with the bat. Last summer Bairstow played as a specialist batter, with Foakes behind the stumps, and if Bairstow has a role in the side it is as a batter, not a keeper/batter.
  4. Players getting in and getting themselves out. : in the second England innings three players got to 40, and not one of them went on to 50. At least one of those three should have gone on to a genuinely major innings.

PLAYER RATINGS

I will be going through each team in official batting order, using a scale of 0 (did nothing of value at all) through to 10 (perfection). Please note that when using such scales I use the whole scale – no courtesy marks just for turning up.

ENGLAND

Zak Crawley: 5. A dead average performance from someone who is in truth a dead average player – 61 in the first innings and a failure in the second is nothing special for an opener.

Ben Duckett: 2. Two failures with the bat this time, but he surely has credit in the bank from Pakistan and New Zealand to retain his slot.

Ollie Pope: 3. A promising start in the first innings, and his dismissal was somewhat unfortunate, but a skittish performance in the second in which he never looked like getting settled. Not one of the vice-captain’s finest outings.

Joe Root: 9.5. A glorious hundred in the first innings, joint top scorer in the second and out-bowled the ‘front line spinner’. Although this was a performance that underlined his status as one of the greatest cricketers his country has ever produced I dock him half a point for getting out on 46 in the second innings.

Harry Brook: 6. He was joint top scorer in the second innings, and bowled some tidy medium pace along the way.

Ben Stokes: 8. An overly frenetic batting performance in the first innings, but a much better effort second time round, and a determined bowling performance in spite of having knee trouble.

Jonny Bairstow: 4. The most controversial mark I am giving, but as I stated earlier in this piece I reckon that the chances he either missed or simply didn’t go for cost more runs (remember as well as the extra runs scored by the reprieved batters you have to factor in extra runs scored at the opposite end in the same period) than he contributed with the bat, and his second innings demonstrated another point about Bairstow the keeper/batter – he rarely scores well after a keeping performance. Since I have have him in net debit for the match I have to give him a below average score to reflect what was overall a below average performance, and on a scale of 0-10, 5 is average.

Moeen Ali: 3. Did not do a lot with the bat, and had a poor game with the ball, to the extent that on a final day pitch which was helping spinners he had the indignity of being out-bowled by part time Joe Root.

Stuart Broad: 8. A wholehearted bowling effort on a pitch that offered him absolutely nothing.

Ollie Robinson: 7. A solid bowling effort in unfavourable conditions, and some lower order runs in the second innings. His reaction to dismissing Khawaja in the first Australian innings attracted a lot of condemnation, but frankly given the way their bowlers have been known to treat opposition batters Aussies are the last to have any right to complain about this kind of thing

James Anderson: 4. Did little in the match, and I for one would not be terribly surprised if he missed Lord’s.

AUSTRALIA

Usman Khawaja: 9.5. A marathon effort with the bat in both innings. The only blot on his copybook is that he did not quite see the job through in the final innings.

David Warner: 4. Not absolute failure, but two moderate scores.

Marnus Labuschagne: 3. Failed twice with the bat.

Steve Smith: 3. The best current test batter in the world suffered a rare double failure in that department.

Travis Head: 5. Could not duplicate his brilliance against India in the WTC final, but not an outright poor performance.

Cameron Green: 7. Impressive with the bat, albeit assisted by Bairstow in the first innings, respectable with the ball, and fielded superbly.

Alex Carey: 8. Clearly the superior of the two keepers on show, and batted well, albeit with two assists from his opposite number in the first innings.

Pat Cummins: 9. His usual formidable self with the ball and batted well in both innings, getting Australia over the line in the second.

Nathan Lyon: 7. He took wickets in both innings, but also took some punishment. He was batting with Cummins when the winning runs were scored.

Scott Boland: 5. A poor match with the ball, but given how close it was his 20 as nightwatch in the fourth innings redeemed him somewhat.

Josh Hazlewood: 8. Bowled well on his return to the side from injury.

Full scorecard here.

SUGGESTED ENGLAND CHANGES

Foakes has to return to the side as keeper. I would personally achieve this by dropping Crawley, and having someone else open the innings. Ali cannot be retained, and I would say genuine possibilities are: Rehan Ahmed, Liam Dawson, Dan Moriarty (not a Surrey regular alas, but always bowls well when given the opportunity, as an FC bowling average of 27 suggests), Jack Carson, or the ultra-radical option of asking Sophie Ecclestone if she is up for playing alongside the men. Also, I would rest Anderson and bring in Wood to give the seam attack a point of difference. Chris Woakes has a splendid record at Lord’s, and playing him at number eight and relying on Root for spin is another option.

PHOTOGRAPHS

This has been a long post, but for those of you who made it to the finish this is my usual sign off…

Ashes 2023 Underway

A look at developments in The Ashes so far and a photo gallery.

While I have been blogging about my holiday in the Lake District (I have a page with links to all the posts in this series) plenty has been happening in the world of cricket. England and Australia both had good build ups to the first match of the Men’s Ashes, although England lost leading spinner Jack Leach to an injury. This post looks at the developments since the series got underway on Friday.

THE PRELIMINARIES

England’s final XI, announced two whole days before the match started, contained several bones of contention. Foakes was dropped, as England decided that the best way to accommodate the returning Bairstow was to give him the wicket keeping gloves. When it came to finding a replacement for Leach as spinner they made the shockingly retrograde decision to recall Moeen Ali, now on a WHITE BALL ONLY contract with Warwickshire. Finally, perennial top order failure Zak Crawley retained his slot. The final XI thus read Z Crawley, B Duckett, O Pope, J Root, H Brook, *B Stokes, +J Bairstow, M Ali, S Broad, O Robinson, J Anderson. Australia’s only question mark was which two of Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc would play. In the event they opted, rightly IMO, for Hazlewood and Boland, benching Starc. England won the toss, and as they were virtually obliged to opted to bat first.

DAY ONE

Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope were both out fairly cheaply, but Crawley for once played well, scoring 61. However the feature of the innings was a glorious century by Joe Root, underlining his status as an all time great. Bairstow made 80, and Stokes surprised many by declaring at the end of the 78th over with the score reading 393-8. This set a new record – the earliest point in terms of balls bowled at which the opening innings of a test match has been declared. England didn’t manage an early breakthrough that evening, and many were slating Stokes for declaring. I was not among them, because unlike these critics I remember Rawalpindi, when Stokes was proved right about an aggressive declaration.

DAY TWO

This was a frustrating day. Bairstow more than undid his good work with the bat with some poor keeping – he reprieved Travis Head and Alex Carey, both pretty costly, and Australia reached the close at 311-5, 82 behind.

DAY THREE

The very first ball of the day should have seen England break through but Bairstow muffed another easy chance. There was another edge that failed to go to hand not much later, but I am not cruel enough to describe that one as a chance – it hit Bairstow’s boot before touching the ground, but it would have been miraculous to make a catch of it. However, in spite of these frustrations England did eventually take a first innings lead, bowling Australia out for 386. They made a good start, but then Cummins and Boland had a purple patch, and when the rain made its final intervention of the day England were 28-2, 35 runs ahead.

DAY FOUR SO FAR

Pope was third out with the score at 77, though Root was again batting splendidly. He was now joined by Harry Brook. They put on a rapid 50 stand before Root fell for 46 to make it 129-4. Brook exactly matched Root’s score before he too was out. Stokes and Bairstow are still together. Scott Boland had a naughty moment when he claimed a catch that would have meant the end of Stokes, but it went upstairs and replays showed that Stokes had hit the ball straight into the ground, a fact of which Boland must have been aware. As things stand England are 196-5, 203 runs ahead, and the match is intriguingly poised.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

As I was preparing this post for publication Bairstow fell LBW to Lyon to make it 196-6, and new batter Ali has got off the mark with a single. Yes Bairstow has contributed 100 runs in the match (80 and 20), but his bad wicket keeping means he is no better than even for the match, and maybe even in debit – certainly any more errors behind the stumps that cost anything will put him in debit.

Ashes Ahoy

A preview of Ashes 2021-22, with official coverage starting at 11PM UK time.

Official coverage of the 2021-22 Ashes series gets underway at 11PM tonight UK time, on five live sports extra for radio fans like me and on BT Sports for TV fans. The preliminaries have been turbulent for both sides, though at least England’s woes have largely been weather related (no on-field preparation time due to ridiculous amounts of rain), whereas for the second time in a few years an Australian test skipper has stepped down mired in scandal.

ENGLAND

England welcome Ben Stokes back into the fold after a layoff for mental health reasons. Sensibly Pope, a massive talent and one seemingly well suited to Aussie pitches has been preferred for the number six slot to the perennially underachieving at test level Jonathan Bairstow (a magnificent ODI opener and a fine T20I number four, the two international roles he should now make his sole focus). The basic question left is between Woakes (for extra batting depth and arguably bowling variety), Broad (for maximum bowling firepower) and Leach (there is some talk of going without the spinner, but with Stokes back there is no excuse – three front line pacers plus Stokes as back up is plenty in that department). My own final 11 would be: Burns, Hameed, Malan, *Root, Stokes, Pope, +Buttler, Robinson, Wood, Broad, Leach but I would not unduly quarrel with Woakes being picked ahead of Broad.

AUSTRALIA

Cynics would say that the loss of Tim Paine probably leaves Australia better equipped both batting and keeping wise than they were with him in post (Alex Carey makes his test debut as keeper-batter). Pat Cummins, who was Paine’s vice captain takes over the captaincy for this series (it is not common for a specialist fast bowler to be given this role – the last for England was Bob Willis who held the reins from 1982 to early 1984, and the only one ever to perform the role for Australia was Ray Lindwall in the 1950s – he stepped in on the field due to an injury). Mysteriously, Steve Smith, who could surely never be trusted with the captaincy again, has been appointed vice captain. Australia have a tried and not very trusted at no5 in Travis Head, a newbie at no six in Cameron Green and a debutant keeper in Carey. They have an experienced pace trio of Cummins, Hazlewood and the express paced but sometimes erratic Starc, and the second best test off spinner currently playing the game (sorry Nathan Lyon, Ashwin is definitely ahead of you). Their batting has three proven stars in Warner, Labuschagne and Smith.

PROSPECTS

While neither could be described as top class both of England’s openers, Burns and Hameed, have demonstrated an ability to bat time in test matches, and they provably gel well as a pair – three test century opening stands together already. Malan at number three is frankly a backward looking selection, but he may perform well. Obviously the skipper, batting in his regular number four slot, will be crucial to England’s chances, and at least the Burns/Hameed combo should insure that he is not too often coming in with the ball still new and shiny. It is a huge relief to have Stokes back in action, and a good series for him could well swing things England’s way. This is the series for Pope, who enjoys the type of pitches that Australia usually provides, to establish himself beyond question in England’s middle order, and I am expecting big things from him. Buttler has a respectable test batting record, and though he is not the equal of Foakes as a keeper I can understand why England have opted for him. The bowling, even with Anderson rested due to a minor calf issue, looks impressive. Robinson has been a revelation since his elevation to the test match ranks, Wood is quick and performs well away from home, Leach pays less than 30 per wicket and takes only just short of four wickets per game in his career to date and could well be crucial in this series, Broad has previously had success at the Gabba, and Woakes if picked will probably perform well.

Australia are in some turmoil, with four of their top seven genuinely questionable, though their bowling unit is its usual formidable self. Also Cummins is new to captaincy and there are at least two major ways a bowling captain can err – they can bowl themselves into the ground in an effort to lead by example, and they can go the other way and not give themselves enough overs. Also captaincy can have an adverse effect on form – Ian Botham took 7-48 in his last bowling innings before becoming England captain and 6-95 in his first after resigning the role, but never managed a five-for as captain.

A further factor in the equation is that due to their quarantine policy Perth (where England have only ever won one match, under Brearley in 1978) is off the roster, and if the weather forecasts are correct the opener at the Gabba is highly likely to be drawn.

Thus, even though it is half a century since an England team regained The Ashes down under (three retentions in that period, in 1978-9, 1986-7 and 2010-11), I really believe that England have a genuine chance. Australia will start as favourites and rightly so, but if England get everything right the upset is a definite possibility.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

My selected XI before the news about Anderson.

Thoughts About The Ashes Squad

A look at the England tour party for the upcoming Ashes and my selections for the Gabba.

A few days ago the England squad for the upcoming Ashes tour was announced. They opted for a squad of 17, and picked the following players:

In the rest of this post I will look at the problems with this party and then name the XI I would pick for the Gabba.

FOUR SELECTION HOWLERS

There are four players who certainly should not be in the squad. First is Jonathan Bairstow, a great white ball player whose test career comprises one fat year (Dec 2015 to Dec 2016) and eight lean ones. His place should have been given the Ben Foakes, who has been shamefully treated by the England selectors over the last few years.

Second is Dom Bess. English off spinners have generally struggled in Australia. Swann, the best English offie of my lifetime, paid almost 40 per scalp on the successful 2010-11 trip and broke down midway through the 2013-14 trip. Bess is nowhere near being in the same class as Swann, and is a disaster waiting to happen in Australia. This place should have been given to one of Matt Parkinson (pays 23.5 per first class wicket) or if you want more batting depth available Liam Patterson-White (left arm spin bowling all rounder) or Matt Critchley (batter who bowls leg spin and has had a fine season).

Third is Zak Crawley, a man who averages 11 in test cricket since his sole major innings at that level. Tom Abell should have been selected to fill the no three slot, with the bonus that he can offer some support in the bowling department with his medium pace and that if he manages to establish himself at test level he will be a serious candidate to replace Root as skipper when the time comes.

Fourth is Dawid Malan, a man now in his mid-thirties whose test average is rather less than his age. I would have selected Tom Haines as reserve opener in place of Malan.

I will not deem it a mistake but I also have concerns about two veteran seamers, Anderson and Broad both being named in the tour party. Neither have the greatest records in Australia and the likelihood of both of them being fit for the whole of a five match series seems small. Jofra Archer and Olly Stone are both crocked, but a gamble on the extra pace of Saqib Mahmood or Brydon Carse might have been taken.

AN XI FOR THE GABBA

Having laid out my most pressing concerns about the tour party and established the like the Irishman being asked for directions “I wouldn’t have started from here” it is time to select an XI for the Gabba:

The opening pair presents no problems – Burns and Hameed have two century stands in three innings and to break them up at this point would be positively frolicking with disaster.

No three is tougher, but since he is in the party it makes sense to stick with Malan for all my entirely justified misgivings about him.

No four is the one position that no one will argue about – Joe Root, the skipper, retains his regular slot.

Number five is a close call between two players who have yet to fully establish themselves at test level, and I opt for Ollie Pope over Dan Lawrence – Aussie pitches should suit Pope.

Number six is Jos Buttler, the keeper (no six is his best position, and the balance of the side also dictates that he should bat there).

Chris Woakes has to be at seven if one wants four genuine seam options and a spinner, and his record batting at seven in tests is stellar (albeit from a small sample size).

Ollie Robinson has inked himself into the side given the way he has performed in his test career to date, and he is well capable of batting at no eight.

Mark Wood is the only genuinely fast bowler in the squad, and the Gabba should suit him (I would spare him from the thankless task of attempting to extract life from the Adelaide Oval, as I suspect he will need a bit of nursing to get through the series).

There is only one spinner of genuine test standard in the squad, and with possibly exception of Perth he should play every match, so Jack Leach gets in at number ten.

At number eleven is England’s all time leading test wicket taker, James Anderson.

This side (Burns, Hameed, Malan, *Root, Pope, +Buttler, Woakes, Robinson, Wood, Leach, Anderson) is slightly short on batting, with two of the top five definitely unproven (Pope may change that, but I actually regard Malan as proven in the wrong way – provenly not good enough) but does have the bowling resources to take 20 wickets at less than ruinous cost with Anderson, the height of Robinson, the pace of Wood, the spin of Leach and Woakes as fourth seamer. Here courtesy of Wisden is a picture of my team:

PHOTOGRAPHS

Time for my usual sign off:

A Plan for Australia

A detailed look at possibilities for The Ashes.

With the last test of the series against India cancelled officially due to a Covid outbreak in the Indian ranks and unofficially due to the Indian players and board prioritizing the IPL over test cricket, I offer up detailed suggestions for the upcoming Ashes tour.

A BIG SQUAD NEEDED

In view of the situation, with Covid still very much with us, and Australia unlikely to allow reinforcements to be flown in mid-series England will need a large squad to give themselves a chance of getting through the tour. Thus the bulk of this post will look at 22 players who I have arranged into two teams who might contest a warm-up match. Before I get into that part of the post I need to clear up a few details, and after I have finished I will mention a couple of other players of promise.

PLAYERS NOT COVERED
IN THIS POST

There are some well known names who for various reasons do not feature in the main part of the post:

  • Players who are hors de combat for various reasons: Jofra Archer and Olly Stone are both definitely unavailable due to injuries, and even if Stuart Broad recovers in time to make the tour an away Ashes series is probably not advisable for someone coming back from a serious injury. Ben Stokes must also be regarded as unavailable at present – until and unless he himself states that he is ready to return to the side he should not be a factor in anyone’s calculations.
  • Players who are surplus to test requirements: I have seen enough of Moeen Ali, Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow to be certain that none of them belong in the test arena. Ali averages less than 29 with the bat, almost 37 with the ball and appears to be on the decline into the bargain, Bairstow had one good 12 month period starting in December 2015, but either side of that has consistently averaged in the mid 20s in a career that spans nine years, while Malan has produced one major test innings in his life and is now in his mid 30s.
  • Players I do not think need to play a warm up fixture, though they will be in the squad: Joe Root and Jos Buttler. The former would give whichever side he was part of a huge advantage, while we all know what the latter is capable of.

TEAM ABELL

  1. Tom Haines: Sussex, left handed opening batter. This season has been a breakout one for the youngster (23 years old), with him averaging close to 50 with the bat for his county.
  2. Alex Davies: Warwickshire (leaving Lancashire at the end of this season), right handed opening batter, occasional wicket keeper. He has had two strong seasons in a row (is avergaing 48 this season), and the fact that in retaliation for his decision to move to Warwickshire Lancashire have been vindictive enough to drop him (a classic example of cutting the nose off to spite the face) should have no bearing on whether or not he gets picked for this party.
  3. *Tom Abell: Somerset, right handed batter, occasional medium pace bowler, captain. He has been superb for Somerset this season and is an excellent skipper.
  4. Harry Brook: Yorkshire, right handed batter. The 22 year old Yorkshireman has a modest overall record but has been excellent this season and appears to have a fine temperament.
  5. Ollie Pope: Surrey, right handed batter, occasional keeper. Has an awesome record for Surrey but has yet to translate this to a higher level, though he did score 81 in the first innings of the last test at his home ground, and appears one of two genuine candidate for this slot.
  6. Oliver George Robinson: Kent, wicket keeper, right handed batter. The 23 year old is one of a number of talented young keeper batters that England have available to them.
  7. Matt Critchley: Derbyshire, right handed batter, leg spinner. His bowling does not quite allow him to be called an all rounder, but he has been batting well for Derbyshire of late, and his leg spin is not entirely to be disregarded.
  8. Craig Overton: Somerset, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter. As Steven Finn and Chris Tremlett showed a decade ago extra height can be a valuable asset in Australia, and the giant Devonian has it in spades. He is also a more than handy batter to have coming at eight.
  9. Mark Wood: Durham, right arm fast bowler, right handed lower order batter. With Archer and Stone both hors de combat he is the only express bowler England can seriously consider (Brydon Carse, his Durham team mate, is just as quick but has an uninspiring red ball record, and I have come to hate seeing players picked for test cricket based on white ball performances).
  10. Jack Leach: Somerset, left arm orthodox spinner, left handed lower order batter. He is the only current England spinner with a respectable test record (62 wickets in 16 matches at 29.98 – so almost four wickets a game and an average the right side of 30). In first class cricket there are a couple of spinners with cheaper averages than his 26 per wicket, but they have many fewer wickets than he does. It is one of the great absurdities of the last couple of years that he has not been England’s first choice spinner on a regular basis.
  11. James Anderson: Lancashire, right arm fast medium bowler, left handed lower order batter. England’s all time leading wicket taker. He was the leading wicket taker in the series last time England won in Australia a decade ago, and there is little sign of his powers waning for all that he turned 39 during this season

This side contains a solid top five, a talented keeper/batter at six, a player in good batting for at seven, and a well balanced front four bowlers, with support available from Critchley’s leg spin and Abell’s medium pace. Now it is time for a look at the opposition…

TEAM BURNS

  1. *Rory Burns: Surrey, left handed opening batter, captain. Only one English batter not named Root has scored a test ton in 2021, this man. He also has two fifties in his last three innings and is showing signs of forming a successful opening partnership with…
  2. Haseeb Hameed: Nottinghamshire, right handed opening batter. Having begun a renaissance after moving from Lancashire following a couple of lean seasons he announced his return to form to a wider audience when he scored a ton for the County Select XI v The Indians. His subsequent recall to the test ranks has seen two fifties in three innings back, both coming in century stands with Burns.
  3. James Bracey:Gloucestershire, right handed batter, occasional wicket keeper. A typical moment in recent England selection history saw this man make his test debut in his second favourite role and batting way out of position at number seven. Not altogether surprisingly he fared poorly on that occasion, but he deserves another chance, this time in his proper position and preferred role.
  4. Liam Livingstone: Lancashire, right handed batter, occasional purveyor of both off and leg spin. Has a good FC record, although he is better known for his white ball exploits.
  5. Dan Lawrence: Essex, right handed batter, occasional off spinner. He and Pope are the principal contenders for the no5 slot, and both have shown promise with neither staking an unassailable claim to the place.
  6. +Ben Foakes: Surrey, right handed batter, wicket keeper. The best English keeper currently playing the game and a fine middle order batter. I put him at six to insulate him just a bit from batting with the tail – nos 7 and 8 can both be counted as all rounders and the no9 is better than most lower order batters.
  7. Chris Woakes: Warwickshire, right handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler. With the colossus Stokes having to be regarded as hors de combat this man is the best all rounder available to England, and he would walk into almost any test side. His return to test action against India at The Oval saw him take a good haul of wickets, score a 50 and offer some decent resistance in the second innings when England were slumping.
  8. Liam Patterson-White: Nottinghamshire, left arm orthodox spinner, left handed batter. He recently reached a maiden first class hundred at the expense of Somerset, and his wickets in that match took his bowling average below 30. His temperament appears to be excellent as well. He has less FC experience than anyone else in either side.
  9. Oliver Edward Robinson: Sussex, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed lower middle order batter. He has had a sensational start to his test career, and as a bowler who uses his great height to cause opponents problems he may well enjoy bowling in the homeland of Glenn McGrath. His batting can also be valuable.
  10. Matt Parkinson: Lancashire, leg spinner, right handed lower order batter. After 29 first class games the young leg spinner has 93 wickets at 23.95. That average is excellent, but there is a concern over the relatively low wickets per game ratio. Nevertheless I feel that he deserves a place in this tour party – no current English spinner with over 5oFC wickets has taken them more cheaply than the Lancastrian.
  11. Saqib Mahmood: Lancashire, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed lower order batter. He has 70 wickets in FC cricket at 26 a piece and is quite sharp.

This side contains a good top five, one of the greatest of all wicket keepers, genuine all rounders at seven and eight, a bowler who can bat at nine and two excellent bowlers to round out the XI.

I conclude this section with a graphic:

ODDS AND ENDS

This section looks at a few other players who may be on the radar before long:

  • English off spinners have generally struggled down under (even Graeme Swann paid almost 40 per wicket in 2010-11, and failed to make it through the 2013-14 series), which is why none feature in my selections. There are two whose current records suggest they may make the grade eventually: Jack Carson of Sussex and Amar Virdi of Surrey.
  • Dan Moriarty, a left arm orthodox spinner, has a remarkable record in his fledgling first class career and may well be a candidate for elevation in the near future.
  • Luke Hollman, a leg spinning all rounder, has recently recorded a ten wicket match haul for Middlesex, and he may be a candidate in future.
  • When qualified for England Ricardo Vasconcelos of Northamptonshire will be a candidate for a top order berth.
  • Various fast medium bowlers whose chief weapon is accuracy have been overlooked because bowlers of that type rarely make much impact down under: Ben Coad, Sam Cook, Jamie Porter and Ben Sanderson are four who have very fine county records.

Please feel free to comment with suggestions of your own.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Well done for making it to the end of this post and enjoy my usual sign off…

Looking Ahead to Australia

Some ideas for the Ashes tour, a couple of links and some photographs.

This post is prompted by the recent behaviour of Engkand’s test selectors, and my increasing certainty that big changes are needed.

INJURIES AND REJECTS

Various players are hors de combat with injuries or due to other issues. Archer and Stone both have long term injuries that will keep them out of the Ashes, Broad is also injured and may not be able to play the Ashes, Stokes and Buttler have to be treated as not available for the Ashes given that Stokes has already said he is taking time out and Buttler does not want to be away for months on end with his wife about to have their second child. Also I do not believe that any of Ali, Bairstow, Crawley or Malan should be considered for this most demanding of all tours. The last of these four may yet convince me, having just been drafted into the squad, but at the moment that decision just looks like the latest in a series of regressive, backward looking calls the selectors have made recently.

THE CAPTAINCY

I think that Root needs to be relieved of the captaincy, and would at this point give the job to Rory Burns as a temporary measure, hoping that Tom Abell (my choice for number three and Somerset’s current captain) can establish himself at test level and then be given the captaincy.

THE BATTING

This of course is the biggest area of concern for England at present. With Sibley out of form and confidence I see little alternative to Burns and Hameed as openers, Abell would be my choice at three, and Root at four. Number five for me is between Lawrence and Pope, with my preference for the first named. I would give the gloves to Foakes with Buttler not available, with Bracey in the squad as reserve keeper. Foakes would bat six, putting an extra batter between him and the tail. At number seven I would want Chris Woakes in the all rounders role in most conditions. Bracey is cover not only for the keepers gloves but also the number three slot. On my radar as reserve batters are Liam Livingstone, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Matt Critchley and, as a gamble on a youngster who seems to have the right temperament, Lewis Goldsworthy. Critchley might be selected at seven in place of Woakes if a second spin option looks like being useful (he bowls a bit of leg spin).

THE BOWLING

Of the bowlers I am prepared to consider available (Wood is injured and there is no way of knowing how long he is out for, so although I am not absolutely ruling him out as I have some others I am for the moment placing him on the sidelines) my first choices are: Overton, Robinson, Leach and Anderson (I want at least one genuine spinner and Leach is first choice in that department). I hope Mark Wood will be recovered in time to make the trip. Other seam back up could be provided by Saqib Mahmood, George Garton or Sam Curran (he has looked fairly unthreatening with the ball of late which is why I have him well down the pecking order). The spin situation, partly dictated by the fact that English off spinners have only rarely done well in Australia, is less happy looking. Although it would be unlikely that he and Leach would be picked in the same XI the next nearest thing England have to a spinner in Leach’s class is Matt Parkinson, the Lancashire leg spinner who currently has 86 FC wickets at 23.69, though his wickets per game rate is on the low side at just a tick over three. Direct back up for Leach is not really available unless one gambles on four first class appearances telling a true story and name Dan Moriarty in the party. However, Liam Patterson-White has a respectable record, and can bat, which would give England two ways of selecting two spinners of differing methods without both being bunnies with the bat – Either Critchley at seven and Leach at 10, or a 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 of Woakes, Patterson-White, Robinson, Anderson, Parkinson.

WRAPPING IT UP

Until and unless they get tried there is no way of knowing whether the above ideas will work, but the selectors continuing with their current approach has one likely result in terms of The Ashes: 5-0 to Australia.

LINKS AND PHOTOGRAPHS

TFL have recently produced a piece titled ‘Sightseeing on the Northern Line‘, an effort which missed more than it found and prompted me to produce my own version.

Now it is time for my usual sign off…