Interest at last

So after 10 days of the most tedious cricket imaginable, suddenly the test series between India and Pakistan explodes into life, simply because of a pitch which offers something to the bowlers (how much isn´t clear - the batsm had probably got used to the ball never moving off the straight). Congratulations to Kamran Akmal. From the stats at least, it looks as if he played a magnificent innings. Congrats to Pathan too for the first over hat trick. It looked like a very exciting day. The rest of the Test looks as if it will make for compulsive viewing.

It's Monty

Yes, that's right. Before a tour to the subcontinent (actually, at pretty much any time), I like to get unreasonably excited about an unknown spinner. I was going to write "the full monty" in the headline, but that's probably best reserved for when he takes all ten wickets in the second innnings of the first test. OK, so he'll probably get hammered all over the place by Sehwag and co (most bowlers do), but he's young, appears to have a good attitude, and if England can stick by him as they've stuck by Harmison, Jones and Flintoff, then perhaps in a few years' time we'll have a decent attacking spinner. I think it's good too that he's a Sikh, in the England team, going to tour India. Surely that will ease relations between the two sides, and the two countries, which at times, as far as I can tell, seem just that little bit fraught.
As for England's new bowling coach, at least it's not going to be Alan Donald. When I first saw that he was in the frame, from what he was saying, it did seem that he may have put his name forward just to force the hand of the South African authorities. That's just what he's done. Seeing as he's so passionate about South African cricket, this is probably for the best. Also, you know, as Mike Selvey points out, there's something to be said for promoting from within. It keeps everyone interested.
Finally, a bit off topic I know, but I'm very excited that Robbie Fowler's going back to Liverpool. I'm not mad about football, but I do like it and when I used to like it a bit more, Robbie Fowler was my favourite player I think.
I will never mention football again... unless England win the world cup maybe, but even then, I will only do so to mention how unexcited I get about it compared to England winning the Ashes.

On third thoughts...

The bad news it that it now seems as if the King of Spain won't be fit to tour India. The really bad news is that England may be planning to taking Ian Blackwell along if old Ash doesn't make it. I'm sorry, but that is kerrazzy talk. Ian Blackwell has a career first class bowling average of 43.25. He is not a bowler. He is a bits and pieces one day cricketer who, quite frankly, wouldn't get into a lot of county sides. What on earth do the England set up like about him? He even seems to be overweight (I'm not fattist, you understand, but this is a professional sportsman we're talking about here). Anyone but Ian Blackwell. If not Panesar, then why not Gary Keedy, who has been the best spinner in England for a few years now? I know he can't bat, but at least he might take a wicket.
The less said about the last test match between India and Pakistan, the better probably. How disappointing, once again. What a waste of time, money, interest.

Come on Jonesy

Good to see this article in which Simon Jones says he's going to try to become number one in the world within a year. He was fantastic during the Ashes series, a bowler transformed. Previously, he had always looked a little one dimensional, I thought. Suddenly he had an inswinger, an outswinger, using either conventional or reverse swing, depending on the state of the ball. One of his main competitors for the number one spot must be Flintoff, whose transformation has been almost as sudden. If Harmison can rediscover the form that took him to the number one spot, and Hoggard can continue to improve, England are going to have a pretty special pace attack (if they can all stay fit). They already do. If only the batting line up could match them...
So Ganguly has been dropped, finally. It was bizarre, how the government intervened (or at least, I think they did) to get him a recall. Why do the Indian people like him so much? I respect him for how he brought a tough, winning sensibility to his Indian teams, and how he pissed off Steve Waugh, but at the same time, he seems quite amazingly selfish (Chappell's comments about him only seemed to confirm what I already suspected).
Good to see a few wickets fall on the first day of the Test in Pakistan. Lots of runs are being scored too. Perhaps there will be a result in this one.

Better than all the rest?

Yeah, that's right, I knick headlines from dodgy Tina Turner hits. Anyway, there was an interesting little article about Murali over on cricinfo to which I would like to draw your attention forthwith (I'm learning German at the moment and frankly, it's creating havoc with my English). Now, I, more than most perhaps, know that one day cricket bears little resemblance to real cricket (and yes, I use the value laden adjective deliberately), but it is quite remarkable, methinks, that a spinner should have the best record in one day cricket. Warne or Murali? Who would you choose? I'd definitely go for the former, if only 'cause it would mean that the dressing room would be a smoke free zone, and there might be some pies left by lunch time (oh dear).
So an Australian has had a go at Ponting about his team's baiting of umpires. I don't know. They looked pretty docile over here during the Ashes, especially when compared with previous Australian teams, such as those lead by Waugh, Border, etc. Ian Chappell's lot make the current bunch look like pansies (Australian vernacular, don't you know). I like a bit of aggro anyway. It's good to watch, to a degree of course. Andre Nel is very boring.

On second thoughts...

Being a reasonable man (and not a prime minister or a president, who seems to believe that changing one's mind is a sign of weakness (little bit of politics)), I'm having second thoughts about whether old Monty (Panesar, not the golfer) should be selected to go to India after all. My doubts were inspired by this article. Perhaps it would be better for him to go on an A Tour to the West Indies. It's more than likely that he wouldn't play much in India (unless Giles gets injured), and if he did, it's more than likely than he wouldn't have too much joy bowling to Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar et al (Warne probably still wakes up in the middle of the night after nightmares about it, although I guess his success during his last Indian tour may have eased them somewhat). Anyway, it's not up to me, and we'll all find out tomorrow (I think).
The whole Zimbabwe situation is very sad (and I'm not just talking about cricket), but it is a relief to see that they've withdrawn from Test cricket. Perhaps Bangladesh could also do the decent thing. Recent announcements regarding future series between India, Australia and England seem to imply that the national authorities have been deciding that they no longer need to toe (tow?) the ICC line, which is only right, I think. No one is too interested in the Test league table (or whatever it's called) and I'd far rather see 5 tests against India or Australia spread out over an entire summer, like they used to be. As much as anything, it gives fast bowlers time to recover between matches, batsmen time to lose or get into form, and, perhaps most importantly, spectators a bit of time to talk about it all. That, however, is unlikely to happen, I guess.

Wasted Hussey and he´s not Ganguly

I was just looking at the scorecard of the SA vs Australia one day international, not that I´m too interested in the one day game, you understand, but it´s nice to see an Australian defeat, even when South Africa are inflicting it. I do wonder about those Australian selectors though. Why on earth is Hussey batting at 7. Given his recent record, which is far superior to all those coming in before him, with the exception of Ponting perhaps, surely he should be coming in at 5 (or maybe he should even open, which he has done for most of his career).
The India vs Pakistan Test continues to be amazingly dull. How disappointing. Good to see, however, that Dravid has finally grasped the nettle (is there an India equivalent of that expression?) and decided to open. Frankly, I think he should have done it years ago. His technique is suited to opening, and given the miserable largely miserable records of all those who have opened with Sehwag over the past years, he was often facing a very new ball anyway, even when coming in number 3. With him opening, Laxman can come in at no.3 (surely his preferred position) and room is made for Yuvraj Singh lower down the order. Room could also be made for another promising youngster if Ganguly were to go. I wonder if he´s ashamed to see a captain sacrificing his own interests for those of the team, something which, allegedly, he was always very reluctant to do.

Ch-, ch-, ch-, ch-.... errr... wait there.

Changes? None. None that were very significant anyway. Sorry, I'm talking about England's test squad to India. How Udal kept his place, I don't know. It does seem a bit pointless to retain a 36 year old spinner who never really looked like he was going to take a wicket in Pakistan. Why was Alex Loudun dropped? What did he do wrong? If he was good enough to be third spinner before, why isn't he now? I'm confused. It sounds as if a third spinner is going to be picked. Personally, I would have dropped Udal and included both Loudun and Panesar.
I would have liked to have seen a new batsman added to the squad too, Owais Shah or Ed Joyce perhaps. Unfortunately none of the batsmen did so badly in Pakistan that they had to be dropped. None of them did that well though, did they. Pietersen seems to score runs when he needs them. Bell doesn't look like he's got the temperament to be the new Thorpe. It's all very well scoring a hundred, but regular 30's are just as important.
Mmm... I must have got out of the wrong side of bed this morning. There is something to be said, of course, for continuity. Bell is still young. As for Collingwood...
I'm guessing that the pitch at Lahore for the Pakistan vs India test is pretty docile. The worst test matches are those played on feather beds, I think. Runs are almost worthless. Bowlers are neutered. There is no result (although there might be, I suppose, if India succumb to the pressure of such a huge total). It seems wrong that featherbeds are referred to as 'good' pitches. Some of the best test matches have been played on 'bad pitches', on which batsmen have to struggle. Someone though, usually manages to score runs, and those runs are priceless. Meanwhile, every ball is full of possibility. The batsman might just get out. A spectator can't leave his/her seat.
Interesting to read this article about the tiger moth incident. I'm not really sure where my sympathies lie. I can see how running off to go flying during a match might not be good for team morale. Did such behaviour warrant a kind of court martial though? All in the past now, all in the past.

Substitute own pun on Lamb

Allan Lamb. Did anyone else score centuries in 3 consecutive Test matches against the fearsome West Indian attack in the 70's and 80's? I don't think so. Did anyone else play so many tests while otherwise so consistently underperforming? Carl Hooper, maybe. I used to love the way that Allan Lamb batted - hands right at the top of the handle, cutting like a butcher (ooh, there's the pun), but he wasn't exactly known for his application was he? This is an interesting article about him I think. People seem to remember the England team in the 80's as having a great batting line up, but Gatting, Lamb and Botham had career averages in the mid thirties, and Gooch didn't become world class until the 90's, I don't think. Did Lamb and Botham also adversely effect the spirit of the team during that era?
The England squad for India is going to be named on Friday. Monty Panesar's county coach (strokeless Australian/South African Kepler Wessels) seems to think that Monty should be selected. Worth a try, I reckon.
It was good to see (purely for aesthetic reasons) Damien Martyn make a lot in yesterday's 20/20 match. I do think that he was dropped from the test team too quickly.

The new Boycott?

It seems like Kallis has been up to his old tricks again. He did something similar in the second innings of the last Test against England in South Africa, although I don't remember him running anyone out on that occasion. Is he the most selfish batsman since Boycott? At least Boycott opened the batting. He also played in a different era, when it was more acceptable for players to grind. There was a documentary about Boycott on TV a couple of years ago. Botham was on it, talking about a time when England had been trying to score quick runs to set a target against New Zealand, back in the late seventies. To Boycott's horror, and the rest of the team's glee, Botham had gone out to bat and got Boycott run out. Perhaps some of the rest of the South African team should take a lesson from history. I imagine that Gibbs might be tempted, next time around.

Is Ponting one of the greats?

I just saw an interesting article about Ricky Ponting, discussing whether he should be consdered one of the greats. I don't reckon so, not quite. I mean, he's obviously very, very good but he's ever so slightly lacking in two respects. Firstly, I don't think he's that great to watch. He appears like a functional batsman. OK, that's probably a bit harsh. His swivel pull is pretty impressive, as are his driving and pulling, but there's a lack of finesse about his batting, I think. He certainly isn't David Gower. The second reason is that he hasn't played any really great innings. You only have to look at cricinfo's list of his seven greatest. Nothing too amazing there I don't think. Even the one at Old Trafford this year ended with him getting out just before the end. Personally, I've always suspected that he's a bit of a flat track bully. Of course, he's never had to play against his own attack either (one reason why I think that Viv Richards is overrated).
Thinking about it, I would put him fourth in the list of batsmen currently playing, after Lara, Dravid and Tendulkar, in that order (bit controversial putting Dravid before Tendulkar, I know, but Dravid just pips it, I think, owing to his overall record and the significance of some of his innings).
Well, that was interesting wasn't it? No? Oh well, the same couldn't be said of the Test going on in Sydney (that it's uninteresting, that is - Jesus, English please). My brother will be there watching, so I hope he's enjoying himself. I'm sure he is. I wish I was there with him. I was for the test there last year against Pakistan, but it wasn't very good, frankly (very disappointing to watch Shoaib bowl at 80mph). Hopefully, next year's, at the end of the Ashes, will be a stormer (or, even better perhaps, meaningless 'cause England are 4-0 up - dream on).