Only about 11 months until the next ashes...

...and the build up hasn't started yet. What the hell is going on? I feel let down by cricket journalists everywhere.
OK, OK, I jest (ha, ha, ha, guts spilling everywhere). There's a whole lot of cricket to be played between now and then, some of which looks very interesting and is imminent. I'm talking of course about Pakistan against India (cue drum rolls, or maybe not - too military). It's going to be interesting to see how the former fare. Have they improved or were England just shite? Bit of both maybe.
Of all the many end of year round ups, this one was my favourite. Apart from being quite funny, it's an interesting point he makes about England not really celebrating the wickets they took in Pakistan. They didn't, did they? They just looked kind of bored.
Anyway, the reason I'm thinking about next year's Ashes is that I've been watching the DVD of last year's once again. Quite a few of those Australians aren't in their side any more, are they? I do feel a bit sorry for Damien Martyn. I always thought he was a very classy batsman and almost all of his dismissals during that last series were either unlucky (he edged a couple which were given LBW), a bit careless (chipping one to mid wicket), or else the result of some amazing cricket by the opposition (run out by Vaughan at Edgbaston, bowled by Giles at Old Trafford). Is Hodge better than him? Probably not. Still, with Hussey there, the Australian batting is looking a little more formidable. Long may Gilchrist's loss of form continue.
Ponting seems to be happy with his new look team anyway. Then again, he doesn't just look like Dubya, he also has a similar way of ignoring what doesn't look so great, and frankly, the australian bowling still seems pretty average to me (average as in not as good as it used to be). McGrath may be getting old, Lee isn't much younger and never was so great, I don't think. As for Nathan Bracken... OK, OK, there's always Warne.
Fine as England's pace bowling quartet may look (I'm thinking of you Mr Jones, no, not in that way, but bowling Clarke with what must have been the ball of the series on that last day at Old Trafford), our batting still looks shit. I've said that before, haven't I?
Anyway, it had crossed my mind in recent weeks that every test playing nation seems to have a wicketkeeper who can bat better than Geraint Jones. Here is confirmation. Can't someone do an Alec Stewart for us? Did Rob Key's Mum give him some gauntlets for Xmas?
I swear not to mention the Ashes for another six months.

141-8???

Oh for an English batsman.

VVS Special

It's great to see Laxman get a ton. Hopefully those crazy Indian selectors won´t be tempted to drop him again anytime in the near future. I want to see him bat at Lord's in 2007. Is there a better batsman to watch? I can't think of one. He seems like a really nice guy too.
From an English point of view however, Pathan's form with the bat is looking a bit ominous. I just hope that he doesn't play pace bowling as well as he does spin.
Down Under, another middle order Australian batsman comes to the party. Frankly I'm a bit ambivalent about what goes one there in the series. I would like to see both teams lose, if that were possible.

And the really bad news is...

The bad news is that England collapsed again, on a good pitch, albeit after having probably stayed up half the night to celebrate Freddie's winning the sports personality of the year award. It may just have been another one day international, but it's becoming a very worrying trend. Soon it's going to be time for new blood. Who will be the fall guy? Who will come in? Will old Dunc take my advice and move Strauss down the order? Probably not. Actually, it sounds like a bit of a daft idea.
Anyway, that was the bad news. The really bad news is that bowling coach Troy Cooley has defected in much the same manner as a Cold War double agent only without all the hiding in suitcases. It's the betrayal that hurts most, Troy. Or should that be Judas? OK, so I suppose that strictly speaking, he is actually Australian, but just when it seemed like McGrath and Warne were going to be succeeded by a bunch of pie throwers, the old enemy has gone and got someone who transformed Flintoff, Jones, Harmison and Hoggard (to a lesser extent perhaps, because his improvement hasn't been so dramatic) into world beaters. Damn that old enemy's eyes. I guess we're going to find out how much credit Troy can take for those transformations. Not very much, hopefully. Either way, it looks like he might have some work to do.
It's all going on in the rest of the cricket world. Well, not all, but quite a lot. That test series in India against Sri Lanka looks like it might be a good 'un. Congratulations to Tendulkar of course, for getting the record number of centuries. I saw him score this one at Edgbaston back in 1996. Given the circumstances and the conditions, I think it's the best innings I've ever seen live. I still think Lara is, slightly, the greater batsman, if only because he's more mercurial and has scored more runs when they mattered most (notably against Australia in that series back in 1999).
Talking of all time greats, it was good to see this article in praise of Murali. I think that he's fantastic. As well as being the most unique bowler, he seems like such a nice, down to earth bloke. I do like his mischievous smile, and his mad eyes at the point of delivery (he'd be good at the Haka, I reckon). It is such a shame that some commentators just dismiss him as, at best, a freak (and, more commonly, as a cheat). He has to be at least as good a bowler as Shane Warne. Personally, I think he's ever so slightly better.
Finally, I was looking forward to seeing how the Australians would fare against South Africa, but the latter don't look to be in such great shape at the moment. Perhaps they're trying England's technique of playing atrociously in the warm up games. It didn't work in the last series though did it?

That was worse

What a collapse... again.
All in all what a horrible defeat. I couldn't bear to listen while Pakistan were piling up the runs on Wednesday and Thursday. It was like a return to the bad old days of toothless attacks (Defreitas et al). There was the consolation, however, that our brilliant fast bowlers had just been neutralised by a very flat track. Collingwood and Bell, hardly the most imposing batsmen, both looked to have the measure of it, but then... oh no, not again. That was truly horrible. Had the players given up? Did they just want to get it over with? I don't know. If the team needed a wake up call after the ashes though, that was it.
So where now? Well, I think there are two or three issues to be dealt with. The first is the spin bowling. Without Giles, the cupboard looks very bare. Is it time to throw Monty Panesar (spelling?) in at the deep end? That's been the policy with the fast bowlers of late (viz Plunkett), so why not with a spinner as well? OK, so the guy can't bat, but we're desperately in need of a spinner who can take wickets and given a few years in the team, who knows? He can't be much worse than Udal. I wouldn't jettison Gilo just yet, but it's sad to seem him having to play when he's injured just because of the lack of a credible alternative. I was wrong about Udal. He doesn't really look up to it, and he's not young enough to worth perservering with.
The next issue is the batting. As I've said before, we're desperately in need of a grafter down there in the middle order. I even said this at the beginning of the Ashes when Thorpe was so unceremoniously dropped. We got away with it in that series but only just. The second innings performances at Edgbaston, Trent Bridge and the Oval weren't at all convincing (if Warne had caught Pietersen...). In fact none of the batting performances in any of the Tests were that convincing, not given the flatness of the pitches.
The problem seems to be that 5, 6 and 7 are all the same type of player: high risk strokemakers. I previously suggested trying to make Pietersen into a grafter but that doesn't look as if it's about to happen. Alternatively how about playing Pietersen at 4 and Bell at 5? If Bell can build on his decent series, he could become the new Thorpe. New blood isn't really required, I don't think. It is about time, however, that Vaughan started to score some runs. Swap him and Strauss perhaps?
The third issue is that of preparation. Aggers makes a good point here I think. How much better might the batting have been if they'd had a chance to acclimatise? The conditions out there are so very different. Of course, the Pakistanis were unlikely to give the batsmen a chance to acclimatise: they produced seaming wickets for the only two warm up games. But, as in South Africa last year, the batting did look half baked. Chances of longer tours look slim however. Let's just hope that the batsmen can take some lessons from Pakistan with them to India.
On a brighter note, it's good to see Pakistan gelling finally. It could be a false dawn, of course. They've always looked good when on a roll, not so good when faced by adversity. But with Woolmer at the helm, Kaneria and Shoaib Ahktar maturing, two great middle order batsmen in Inzaman and Yousuf, and the rest of the team looking relatively solid (with the exception of Shoaib Malik at the top of the order), they could start winning regularly. They certainly have the raw materials. Strong teams make for good cricket.
As for England, well, maybe they should go to India as underdogs now. That might suit them.