In today's Guardian, Duncan Fletcher is back. The former England coach has been a regular in the pages of said periodical since he left his previous post and, frankly, his column has been as full of the same banalities as his press conferences and the same loyalties to the same, small coterie of players as typified and, ultimately, brought down the Fletcher era.
This week, Fletcher is talking about the South Africans and the threats that they will pose. His three players to watch were the most eye-catching part of the piece, the rest of it being the sleep-inducing rubbish we're accustomed to. With his wide ranging knowledge of the game and tactical insights, could we expect him to highlight someone that's maybe slipped under the radar a little? Perhaps an up-and-coming youngster unknown to English audiences? Yeah, right. Instead he's gone for Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn. That's 241 Tests combined scoring 17102 runs and taking 436 wickets between them. Hardly going out on a limb. Why not inform us about Wayne Parnell, even if he is well known to county audiences, and Yusuf Abdulla, the two young left-arm seamers who look the real deal? No mention of Roloef van der Merwe moving from a one-day specialist to the Test arena or the exciting batting of Loots Bosman.
He played it safe, too safe at times, as a coach, and so it continues as a columnist.
Saturday 31 October 2009
Friday 9 October 2009
Next test for England
It's South Africa next for England and the touring parties were announced yesterday. Dare we suggest that common sense seems to have broken out at ECB headquarters? Gone are Steve Harmison and Monty Panesar and about time too.
Harmison's been a good servant for England, but looking back on his career, that patch from the West Indies tour in 2004 to the Ashes in 2005 looks like the blip rather than the dross he's served up at other times. On a hard, bouncy track - an archetypal Old Trafford wicket for instance - there are few better, but there's always that nagging doubt that the next ball will go flying over second slip's head and away for four wides. Harmison is yesterday's man and the time is right to leave that behind and move on.
Monty isn't yesterday's man. Neither does he look like tomorrow's. His lack of variation means he's very easy to read - compare and contrast to the unreadable Ajantha Mendis - and he's fallen behind Graeme Swann and Adil Rashid. Finally, Rashid is in the squad and though it looks unlikely that anyone would play two spinners in South Africa, his progression is something to celebrate.
The main headline is the inclusion of four South Africa-born players now that Jonathan Trott has become a fixture. Kevin Pietersen is in, as expected, though it remains to be seen how fit he'll be.
This tour represents England's first since the retirement of Andrew Flintoff. In comes Luke Wright to the Test squad. Luke Wright. Test player? Really? I don't see it myself.
Harmison's been a good servant for England, but looking back on his career, that patch from the West Indies tour in 2004 to the Ashes in 2005 looks like the blip rather than the dross he's served up at other times. On a hard, bouncy track - an archetypal Old Trafford wicket for instance - there are few better, but there's always that nagging doubt that the next ball will go flying over second slip's head and away for four wides. Harmison is yesterday's man and the time is right to leave that behind and move on.
Monty isn't yesterday's man. Neither does he look like tomorrow's. His lack of variation means he's very easy to read - compare and contrast to the unreadable Ajantha Mendis - and he's fallen behind Graeme Swann and Adil Rashid. Finally, Rashid is in the squad and though it looks unlikely that anyone would play two spinners in South Africa, his progression is something to celebrate.
The main headline is the inclusion of four South Africa-born players now that Jonathan Trott has become a fixture. Kevin Pietersen is in, as expected, though it remains to be seen how fit he'll be.
This tour represents England's first since the retirement of Andrew Flintoff. In comes Luke Wright to the Test squad. Luke Wright. Test player? Really? I don't see it myself.
Champions League
It's perhaps a sign of the perceived importance of the Champions League T20 that it's being broadcast in the UK on Eurosport 2. The key point of that sentence is the appearance of the number 2 at the end of it. Eurosport 2. Not even on Eurosport's main channel. So it was something of a surprise when, surfing the channels, I happened across the opening game between Bangalore and the Cape Cobras. Thinking that watching some cricket is always infinitely better than seeing none, I settled in to watch.
The grotesque amounts of money being bandied about is a definite turn-off, as are commentators reduced to being product spokespeople. It's not as bad as the IPL, but by christ it's still irritating.
My attention drifted, briefly brought back by Ross Taylor's blistering 50 off sod all, until one moment that suddenly made the whole thing worthwhile. The Cobras were in trouble having lost a couple of early wickets, including Herschelle Gibbs first ball, when JP Duminy strode to the crease. A few balls later and he marched down the wicket to slap the ball way back into the crowd. The bowler: Jacques Kallis. And did he not like that. The verbals came flying and suddenly I realised - this matters to them. And if team-mates are willing to get nasty in the pursuit of glory, I could see myself to following this through to the end.
The grotesque amounts of money being bandied about is a definite turn-off, as are commentators reduced to being product spokespeople. It's not as bad as the IPL, but by christ it's still irritating.
My attention drifted, briefly brought back by Ross Taylor's blistering 50 off sod all, until one moment that suddenly made the whole thing worthwhile. The Cobras were in trouble having lost a couple of early wickets, including Herschelle Gibbs first ball, when JP Duminy strode to the crease. A few balls later and he marched down the wicket to slap the ball way back into the crowd. The bowler: Jacques Kallis. And did he not like that. The verbals came flying and suddenly I realised - this matters to them. And if team-mates are willing to get nasty in the pursuit of glory, I could see myself to following this through to the end.
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