Wednesday 25 April 2012

The 19th over

For it to happen once can be written off as statistically insignificant, but when the same thing happens a short time afterwards, we start to take notice and perhaps identify the birth of a trend. And we think we've seen one, namely this: The penultimate over of a t20 match is the key one.

Obviously, we'll be doing an in-depth statistical analysis of all t20 cricket at some point in the future (cough), but for now simply pointing it will do. It started with Albie Morkel's astonishing assault on the awkward bowling of Virat Kohli in game 13, taking him for 28 runs with Bangalore needing 43 off the last two overs. Though still with work to do in the last over, those six balls broke the back of the challenge allowing Dwayne Bravo and Ravi Jadeja to guide Chennai home.

The same thing happened today in game 33. With Mumbai needing 32 from two overs, Robin Peterson and Ambati Rayudu combined to take Piyush Chawla's figures from three overs for 19 runs to four overs for 46. Even as wily a bowler as Azhar Mahmood wasn't going to defend five from the final over and Mumbai grabbed a win from nowhere.

So what's the lesson here? Bangalore's mistake was allowing an agricultural slogger to tee off against the long-hops and full tosses of a part-time bowler with an action that could curdle milk. Peterson and Rayudu were facing a proper leggy, albeit one that has proved hittable in the past. Both episodes were very much a case of shit or bust for the batting side - they had to go for it and couldn't leave it any later. They swung, they won.

Time was that six runs off an over seemed a mountain of Himalayan proportions. The rapid expansion of the one-day game quickly meant that became the nonsense that we recognise today, but where scores in excess of 40 off two overs are becoming normal, that's a whole new ball game. We'll need to see such 19th-over pyrotechnics more often if we're going to form this into a new trend or even a tactic, but if any t20 captains out there want our advice it's this: Work on your death bowling options.

Monday 23 April 2012

Yorkshire - Always darkest before the dawn

Twelve months ago, Yorkshire were being tipped by many to if not win the County Championship, then certainly to go close. It didn't quite work out like that.

With a side light on experience, games were lost from seemingly impregnable positions. The home game against Nottinghamshire early in the season saw them go into day four looking to wrap up an innings victory. Six hours, a battling knock from Chris Read and a collapse of epic proportions later, they'd lost. It wasn't the first time that would happen either. Tim Bresnan spent more time on motorways after being surplus to requirements for England's Test summer and Jacques Rudolph's return to the side came too late to affect anything.

While results were poor, performances occasionally hinted at brighter things to come. A lot of the side were relatively young and showed plenty of promise, Joe Root and Jonathan Bairstow in particular. Other, more established players simply fell below their career standards, but had built up enough credit over the years to be given the benefit of large amounts of doubt. The feeling was that they'd bounce straight back and with some comfort.

The opening game of the county season saw Kent go to Headingley and thanks to a century stand for the last wicket, forced Yorkshire into following on before a battling second innings guided the Tykes to a draw. This was followed by a university game against the combined colleges of the Leeds and Bradford area where the students skittled the professionals for 135, a deficit of 76 on first innings. Oh dear.

This felt something like karma. There was an awful lot of bollocks spoken in regard to the relegation season. The supposed youth of the side, the invocation of bad luck and the presumption that they'd bounce back at the first attempt were all seen across the media and social networks. The side wasn't that young and it's not bad luck when the same things keep happening over and over again. Those first two games showed that bouncing back was not the foregone conclusion many seemed to think it would be.

And so to the game last week against Essex. With new signing Phil Jaques carrying the batting with 126 out of 246 first innings runs, the bowlers joined the party with Ryan Sidebottom - 5-30 in 24 overs - and Steve Patterson - three wickets in one over at one stage - impressing. The second innings saw runs from Root, Joe Sayers and the captain Andrew Gale who tried to set something up with a challenging declaration. Unfortunately, with day one a total washout and more rain on day four, there wasn't time to finish the job.

It's often said that you have to hit the bottom before you can start moving in the right direction - just see the national team for an example - and the games against Kent and Leeds/Bradford MCCU were if not the very bottom, certainly a wake-up call. With Jaques on board, the batting looks a lot better. A previously pop-gun attack stood up against Essex and the impending arrival of Mitchell Starc will do much to improve the bowling as a unit. There's now a real feeling that a corner has been turned. Positivity - never an attribute too closely associated with the average Yorkshireman - is suddenly an abundant commodity. The darkness of relegation was made worse by 'them from over the hills' becoming county champions, but now there's a real sense that dawn is breaking.

Thursday 19 April 2012

Tough love

It's not been a bad IPL so far. There have been some outstanding individual and collective performances, but this year's edition requires patience and optimism to keep punters interested.

Let's get one thing straight - we like t20. We accept it for what it is and embrace that. Indeed, it's the way some of us got into playing cricket in the evening village leagues around and about, getting our little off-breaks heaved into the field next door by a burly farmer with a deep-seated hatred of young lads who thought they could bowl a bit. But despite that, we still have a fondness for the shortest form of the game here a Morkels Acres. What we most certainly are not is jealous and neither is what follows (whatever thay may be - it's not been written yet) is not written with green eyes.

There have been some really quite spectacular games in this IPL already. Bangalore needing 21 off the last over against Pune and not just getting there, but doing it with some comfort was one, Chennai's Albie Morkel-inspired chase of 206 against Bangalore was another. Both were outstanding games of t20 cricket, epitomising everything that this format should be about. Rajasthan got home against Deccan despite needing 55 runs from the last four overs in another excellent game, but these three matches - of 22 completed at time of writing - stand out for their rarity value.

For every one game where 190-odd plays 200, there have been six near-walkovers. Indeed, the Chennai v Bangalore game referred to earlier was followed immediately by Pune getting bundled out for 115 by Kings XI who then knocked off the required runs at a canter, eventually staggering over the line in the 18th over. Even without the pyrotechnics of the game that immediately preceded it, this was an absolute turd of a match. Kolkata have beaten Kings XI with almost a quarter of their overs not required, Delhi have skittled Mumbai and knocked off the requirement with even more balls than that remaining. What particularly frustrates with these games is the always-irritating strategic time-out. Yes we know they're extended ad breaks, but what strategy do you discuss when you need eight runs to win, have four overs to get them in and have seven wickets in hand? "What do you reckon Jacques?". "I reckon I'm going to clobber the next two balls to the fence Gautam". "Good plan big feller".

There have been some pitiful chases as well such as Rajasthan coming up short by 59 runs against Bangalore and Deccan failing by just the 74 against Chennai. Another nadir was Kolkata failing to beat Kings XI in their first meeting despite chasing a derisory 135 and being 73/2 at one stage. Not one facet of that game was anything like top class.

Rubbish captaincy, bizarre bowling changes and truly horrible batting has blighted the tournament this year so far, but we keep watching, hoping the next 200+ chase is just around the corner. AB de Villiers's improvisation, the sheer power of Chris Gayle and all the snarling aggression of Dale Steyn keep us interested and good job that they do, because sometimes the IPL makes itself very hard to love.