Tuesday, December 21, 2004

England's resurgence


The fact that England is beginning to assume an Australia like win consistency is good for cricket. One tends to sit up and take notice when a team has just finished winning its 8th test match in a row. This is particularly great for a team which has not been a model of consistency over the last decade and for all practical purposes been a pretty ordinary team since the early 90's.

It is interesting to see how this team has become arguably the second best team in World cricket today. True, the emergence of Steve Harmison as a potent wicket taking force and Flintoff as a world-class allrounder has helped to a large extent, but I think the bulk of the credit for this resurgence has to go to Duncan Fletcher and the two captains he has worked with in the last few years - Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan. The English team has had a long-term strategy and this strategy has been executed to perfection by the team leadership. England always had quality batsmen - Trescothick, Vaughan, Thorpe, Butcher - they have all been around for some time. What is different these days is the belief that the batting line-up has in its ability to score runs and the fact that they are consistenly gelling together as a team to put runs on the board.

Steve Harmison was not the tearway he has become today when he started. But the team leadership noticed his potential and invested in him during the off-season by providing him the infrastructure he needed to be in top physical condition when the next season started. They have also been very astute with their personnel changes - and this has been meant that good new talent like Andrew Strauss and Geraint Jones has come into the side at the right time.

The ashes series next year will certainly be more evenly contested than it has been over the last decade or so. The English story is inspiring for other struggling teams and provides a model that can be emulated to good effect.

Monday, December 20, 2004

Perth: How would have other teams fared?

After Pakistan's massive defeat at the hands of the Aussies at Perth in the first test, one is left to ponder as to what might have been the fate of other teams had they been playing in Perth instead of Pakistan?

If you look at the 5 tests that have been played at the WACA in the last 4 years, they have all been one sided encounters with Australia winning in all of them, with the exception of a test against New Zealand in 2000/2001 which was drawn - interesting Australia had almost the same attack in that test - Lee in place of Kasprowicz being the only change. The four times Australia has won, they have won by huge margins against the Windies, England and Zimbabwe - the largest margin being the loss inflicted on Zimbabwe - an innings and 100 odd runs. However, the point is that, had Australia not decided to enforce the follow-on in any of these matches and batted twice - the margin probably could have been as high as 500 runs - as was the case in this match.

Even the most die-hard Pakistani fans will admit that this Pakistani batting line-up is probably the weakest in recent times. With the exception of Inzy and Youhana, no other batsman could possibly walk into the top 6 of any of the other top 6 teams. In the past also, the Pakistani bowling has always been better than the batting, however the lack of quality in this line-up is very obvious. Through the years there have always been 3 -4 quality batsmen in the line-up. In the 90's, the team had Saeed Anwar, Aamir Sohail, Salim Malik, Ijaz Ahmad, Miandad, Inzy and Imran Khan. Never did they have to rely on only a couple of batsmen.

Looking around at the other top teams, I really do not see any team that could have halted the Aussie juggernaut at Perth. Perhaps, no other team would have collapsed for 72 in the second innings. But given that no other team could have potentially knocked the Aussie batting over for less, I have to admit that the result would have been pretty darn close to the one we had this week, had any other team played Australia at Perth instead of Pakistan.


Friday, December 17, 2004

Perth Day 1: A great day of Test Cricket

Wow! The first day of the first test in the series down under between Australia and Pakistan, sure lived up to its billing. We had an explosive bowling performance by Pakistan in the morning, followed by a cavalier Australian fightback in the afternoon and an even battle to end the day in the evening. This was test cricket at its best - attacking cricket by both sides with the bat and ball dominating for equal measure.

However, I am not sure if the battle will be so balanced when its Pakistan's turn to bat. I just get the feeling that Australia has done enough with the bat to put the pressure back on Pakistan.

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Should India not try its bench against Bangladesh?

I learnt today that India will be persisting with its first 11 in the second test against Bangladesh. The reason being espoused is that a "Test cap"has to be "earned" and "valued" and its not be "shared". Well, I can appreciate the argument if the current holders of the Test cap were all in supreme form and at the top of their game. I would support the argument if the team had had a terrific run during the season and there was an argument against messing with a winning combination. However, this is not the case and the team and most of its incumbents have had a poor run of form this season. Alas, this would mean that the talented reserves - Kaif, Kartik, Shib Paul and Gagandeep Singh - would have to wait their turn or pray that one of the players in the team gets injured.

This in my opinion is not a healthy situation. It breeds complacency and promotes mediocrity. Do you think if Laxman was in the Australian team, he would not have made way for Kaif by now. Similarly, would Zaheer have been persisted with in the second test of this one-sided series. The risk free setting that the second test provided was an ideal opportunity for the team to do some experimentation and check out the talent on the bench. It is indeed amusing to note the number of new players tried out in the home series against Australia - most certainly the toughest test for anyone today. Contrast it with the surprising lack of initiative on the part of the team selectors to try out the bench in this series in Bangladesh. It appears that the old Indian habit of beefing up individual records against weak opposition, is coming to the fore. These players stand exposed against quality opposition, sooner or later.

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Needed a 2 tier test system

As Bangladesh continues to lose test matches by huge margins and the team displays no semblance of any competitive flair, the case of a two tier test match system gains ground.

Would it not be a great idea to have the top 7 test teams play in tier 1 and remaining (currently 3) test teams play with the "A" teams of the top 4 teams in tier 1. The division into the tiers would be based on the ICC test cricket rankings. The last team in Tier 1, at the end of a year would automatically be demoted to Tier 2, with the top team of the bottom tier graduating to the Tier 1. If the top team of Tier 2 is not a Test playing nation, there need not be a move between the tiers. This would not only introduce more competition in the Tier 1 but also allow the minnows of World test cricket more experience playing with teams that are closer to their class. At the same time, it would provide the top teams a staging ground to try out their reserves against some international competition in a risk-free setting. A win-win for everybody.

Bangladesh and Zimbabwe (these days) are so far below the rest of the test playing teams that it really does not make sense to have them play along-side test playing nations. A two tier system will allow them time to set up a good first class system within their country and slowly raise their standard as they gain more experience. The worst thing that can happen to the game of cricket is a proliferation of one sided boring games that take out all spectator interest in the sport. The ICC needs to take a long-term view and ensure that test cricket continues to enjoy the popularity it has today (at least in the sub-continent).

Sunday, December 12, 2004

What does the future hold for cricket in Africa?

With Zimbabwe in turmoil and in no shape to compete, South Africa in decline and Kenya going rapidly downhill after their impressive World Cup, it begs the question - Is the future for cricket any bright in the dark continent?

In my opinion, the problem that can be rectified most easily is the one in South Africa. The country really does not need quotas in its selection policy. Its colored cricketers are coming along on their own and having quotas for them, in my opinion probably insults their contributions. Makhaya Ntini, Herchelle Gibbs and a few others are in the South African team purely on merit. Quotas were probably necessary when South Africa returned to the test fold- but i think the need is now passe. Having a team selected on merit at all levels above first class cricket is probably a necessary step to prevent white kids in South Africa from taking up other sports in preference to cricket. This probably will be the single most important step if South Africa has to continue to see the flow of good talent to cricket and if it has to return to being the good team it has been in the last decade.

Zimbabwe is clearly a problem that does not appear to have a solution that the cricket board can address. It is sad that politicians have been allowed to mess with cricket and prevented the world from seeing the likes of Andy Flower any more in the international arena. It is also sad that Kenya has not been able to make any headway after the World Cup. The Odumbe affair and the subsequent players strike is not good news for any country trying to establish a sport.

Can someone living in these countries please comment.

Predictions for Pakistan's tour of Australia

Pakistan's tour of Australia is surely a mouth-watering prospect. Talented, aggressive and passionate players on both sides, who dont give an inch. Couple that with result-oreinted Australian pitches, demanding fans and volatile tempers on both sides, there is a considerable potential for drama and entertainment. I am sure a lot of us are planning to follow the series closely.

The early exchanges have been disappointing for Pakistan, but I think we need to keep in mind that no team from the sub-continent has ever done well in Western Australia (Perth). When India went Down under last year, they really struggled during the solitary one-dayer at Perth at the end of the tour, after having a wonderful batting tour until that point. Hence, I think the contest will become more competitive as the action shifts to the other centers after Perth and as the batsmen come to better terms with the bounce.

I would not want to stick my neck out too much on the outcome of the series, but I can hazard a prediction on the outcome for the Perth Test - Pakistan will most probably lose due to its batting. Melbourne and Sydney - however - in my opinion, can go either way. The reason - Inzamam and Youhana will in my opinion do enough with the bat to allow Shoaib Akhtar and Co. to have some cushion to play with. I am not predicting Pakistan will win, but there will be the mouth watering drama we are all expecting.

Tendulkar: How much longer is the elbow going to hold up?

I did find myself mildly applauding Sachin Tendulkar's 34th test hundred. Not so much as for his equalling Gavaskar's record, but for the break in the pattern in his form - only 3 double-figure scores in his last 10 visits to the Tests crease. Sachin has not been normal since his "tennis elbow" came to the fore and this begs the question - "Is this something that he can overcome and continue with his international career?"

True, the opposition was Bangladesh and he had two lives en route to his hundred, it was good to see him spend an extended period of time in the middle in a Test. However, during the end of the day press conference, he mentioned that he had considerable pain during the knock in his arm and that his physio expected him to have some stiffness in his arm as a result of the knock. This thought by itself is a huge concern to me as it means that the tennis elbow issue is not behind him and is surely going to be an issue in the future.

This series does not present too much of a challenge, but Messrs. Shoaib Akhtar, Sami and Kaneria are due to visit India soon and they are surely going to be handful if you are nursing a niggling injury. Also, if his recent form continues against the more challenging opposition and he experiences any pain, I am sure it will leave him with some food for thought with regard to his international future.

Surely, something that has the potential to disappoint a lot of us!