Cricket

The Sad Glory of Mark Ramprakash

The test match at Edgbaston is bubbling up nicely. If they can snaffle Graham Smith’s wicket England will be favoured to mop up the South African tail and claim a victory that looked unlikely after their careless batting displays. Hurrahs for Paul Collingwood and, with the ball, Freddie Flintoff. UPDATE: OK, so that didn’t work out did it? But I’d have also been happy to have been at Headingly today where, in his 11th innings after he struck his 99th first-class century, Mark Ramprakash has made it to the top of the mountain. The 100 Century Club has a new member. What’s more, Ramps’ may be the last admitted to

Cricketing Replay

Regular readers may not be surprised that I’m sceptical of the benefits of the new referral system being trialled in the Sri Lanka-India series. This morning’s events at Edgbaston demonstrate why. Kevin Pietersen was given out caught in the gully off Jacques Kallis. Replays and the “Snickometer” suggested that he’d hit his pad, not the ball, before it spooned up to Prince. So far so good: refer this to the Third Umpire and he’ll say that Pietersen is not out caught. But he might also mention that he looks as though he is out LBW. But the umpire in the middle can’t really say to Pietersen, “OK, so you didn’t

Alex Massie

What is wrong with England?

A dismal day at Edgbaston that took one back to the grim, hapless days of the late 1980s and almost the entire 1990s. Yes, England really were that bad. Batting first on a calm track they subsided to 231 all out. In reply, South Africa have ambled to 38-1. Now you may say that this is only the first day of five and, for sure, the situation is far from irretrievable. But unless England can bat and bowl with greater discipline than they have shown thus far this summer, then they look more likely to head to the Oval 2-0 down than with a chance to square, let alone actually

Ian Bell

What is it about Ian Bell? By which I mean, why does the poor fellow arouse such animosity? No other player in the current England team sees his failures magnified and successes downplayed to such an extent. Even when he bats well, his critics use this as evidence that, damn it, he should be batting like this all the time. Perhaps today’s splendid 199 against South Africa will quieten the critics. But if so, I suspect it will do so only temporarily. A friend suggests that Bell is the victim of the “Henman effect”. That is to say, he’s a nice, middle-class public schoolboy (Rugby in Bell’s case) whose demeanour

Alex Massie

Jack Russell

That’s the wicket-keeper not the misanthropic terrier. In the light of my defence of Ian Bell, a reader asks if I could write something about Gloucestershire’s Jack Russell. Certainly! Jack Russell was a blazing beacon of excellence. He was, in his pomp, the best wicket-keeper in the world. Obviously, he was traduced by England and the people who claimed to know what was best. For neither the first, nor the last, time they were wrong. In a better, more seinsible world Jack Russell would have spent a decade being the first name on an England team-sheet. For quite some part of that time – an uncomfortably large part in fact

M is for PBH May

It’s that time again folks so here is the M XI, to follow those led by Armstrong, Benaud, Constantine, Dexter,  Edrich,  Fry, Gower,  Hutton,  Imran , Jardine, Kapil. and Lloyd 1. Arthur Morris (AUS) 2. Vijay Merchant (IND)3. Charles Macartney (AUS)4. PBH May (ENG) (Capt)5. Stan McCabe (AUS)6. Keith Miller (AUS)7. 8. Rod Marsh (AUS) (Wkt) 9. Malcolm Marshall (WI)10. Muttiah Muralitharan (SL)11. Glenn McGrath (AUS) Country representation so far [before the M XI is counted!!!!!!!!!]: England 45, Australia 27, West Indies 17, India 12, Pakistan 11, South Africa 11, New Zealand 5, Sri Lanka 2, Zimbabwe 1, USA 1. If Neville Cardus were selecting this side, Archie Maclaren would

Better (and braver) Administrators Please

One of the sadder constants in international sport is that any major decision made by the International Cricket Council will, more probably than not, damage the long-term best interests of the game. That sorry streak continues today: The result of the controversial 2006 Oval Test between England and Pakistan is to be changed, the BBC understands. The match was awarded to England when the Pakistan team refused to come out onto the field after tea after being accused of ball-tampering. But the International Cricket Council is expected to change the result to a draw at its meeting in Dubai. BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew said the move would open up

L is for Lloyd

It’s Clive Lloyd’s turn to lead a side in this series. So here is the L XI, to follow those led by Armstrong, Benaud, Constantine, Dexter,  Edrich,  Fry, Gower,  Hutton,  Imran and Jardine and Kapil. 1. Bill Lawry (AUS)2. Justin Langer (AUS)3. Brian Lara (WI)4. Maurice Leyland (ENG)5. Clive Lloyd (WI) (Capt)6. Denis Lindsay (SA) (Wkt)7. Ray Lindwall (AUS)8. Harold Larwood (ENG)9. Jim Laker (ENG)10. George Lohmann (ENG)11. Dennis Lillee (AUS) Country representation so far: England 45, Australia 27, West Indies 17, India 12, Pakistan 11, South Africa 11, New Zealand 5, Sri Lanka 2, Zimbabwe 1, USA 1.

Cricket Notes: West Indies

The ICC (that’s the International Cricket Council) and the authorities in England keep banging on about how they want to ensure that test cricket remains the pinnacle of the game. Then they keep announcing additional one day and 20/20 competitions. You tell me how that adds up. Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire backer of the new England vs West Indies 20/20 challenge matches (for $5m each game) says he finds test cricket “boring”. Virgil was right: timeo Danaos et dona ferentes… Stanford sees 20/20 as a way to “crack” the American market. Now I think he is almost certainly mistaken in thinking this is possible but I’m not prepared to

K is for Kapil

Apologies for the delay in publishing this latest installment in our marathon series. Still, here it is at last. So far we have has featured teams skippered by: Armstrong, Benaud, Constantine, Dexter,  Edrich,  Fry, Gower,  Hutton,  Imran and Jardine. Now it is Kapil Dev’s turn. 1. Gary Kirsten (SA)2. Rohan Kanhai (WI)3. Vinod Kambli (IND)4. Jacques Kallis (SA)5. Alvin Kallicharran (WI)6. Alan Kippax (AUS) 7. Kapil Dev (IND) (Capt) 8. Alan Knott (ENG) (Wkt)9. Anil Kumble (IND)10. Khan Mohammed (PAK)11. Bart King (USA) Country representation in the series: England 41, Australia 23, West Indies 15, India 12, Pakistan 11, South Africa 10, New Zealand 5, Sri Lanka 2, Zimbabwe 1,

What do they know of cricket who only play it well?

It is not, right now, saying much to observe that Kevin Pietersen is England’s best batsman. His century against New Zealand today has not been the stuff of legends but it has at least rescued England from the perilous position they had put themselves into at 86/5. But if Pietersen is England’s best batsman, we must hope that he is also be their most ignorant. How else to explain his prediction that Monty Panesar “will be the best finger-spinner the world has ever seen”? Of course there’s no reason to suppose that test cricketers might also have some appreciation for the the game’s history. But it would be nice to

Thoughts on a Test Match

So, to no-one’s great surprise, the first test between England and New Zealand ended in a draw. Commendations are due Daniel Vettori for his bowling and Jacob Oram for the century that ensured England would have no chance to snatch an improbable victory. England’s pusillanimous tactics made achieving victory, however, very much more improbable than it needed to have been.

Alex Massie

J is for Jardine (Who else?)

Apologies for the (unconscionable?) delay in posting this latest installment. I know this has disappointed some of you. What can I say? Well, the truth is that Firefox ate this post and this set me back a few days as it was some time before I could muster the energy or enthusiasm to write a new version. Still, you can’t discount indolence as a factor either. Anyway, here we are at last. This series has featured teams skippered by: Armstrong, Benaud, Constantine, Dexter,  Edrich,  Fry, Gower,  Hutton and Imran. There are some tough cookies in that list, you’ll agree, but none sterner than the man leading the J XI onto

Big Apple Cricket

Looks as though I’m going to have to get Joseph O’Neill’s new novel Netherland. The NYT explains: The idea of publishing a novel in the United States about cricket gave him commercial qualms but not artistic ones, Mr. O’Neill said in an e-mail message. “You want a novel to tap as directly as possible into your most unspeakable preoccupations,” he added. “And in America, in particular, cricket is pretty unspeakable.” New York cricket is “bush cricket,” one of the characters in the book complains, played on wickets of cocoa mat instead of grass and on weedy, substandard pitches, where to score a run you need to bat the ball in

Malcolm Marshall Remembered

Since I’m too young to have seen Dennis Lillee in his absolute prime, Malcolm Marshall is the greatest fast bowler I’ve watched in my lifetime. He would have been 50 this month, but for the colon cancer that killed him. Pat Lynch remembers the great Barbadian here. One fine story that has just a hint of the Golden Age about it: What he said, he meant, as he did at Pontypridd when playing for Hampshire. With two days remaining, Glamorgan were 13 runs ahead in their second innings with seven wickets left. Just before the start of play in front of a full dressing room Marshall rang his Southampton golf

Alex Massie

The I XI

So, this series has so far featured teams skippered by:  Armstrong, Benaud, Constantine, Dexter,  Edrich,  Fry, Gower and Hutton. Now it’s Imran’s turn to stroll onto the field. 1. Frank Iredale (AUS)2. KC Ibrahim (IND)3. Ijaz Ahmed (PAK)4. Inzamam-ul-Haq (PAK)5. Asif Iqbal (PAK)6. Imran Khan (PAK) (Capt)7. Imtiaz Ahmed (PAK) (Wkt)8. Ray Illingworth (ENG)9. David Ironside (SA) 10. Jack Iverson (AUS)11. Bert Ironmonger (AUS) Country representation in the series so far: England 35, Australia 19, West Indies 12, Pakistan 10, India 9, South Africa 8,  New Zealand 5, Zimbabwe 1. No New Zealanders or Sri Lankans or West Indians were available for selection while only two “I” South Africans have

H is for Hard Decisions (And Some Easy Ones)

After  Armstrong, Benaud, Constantine, Dexter,  Edrich,  Fry and Gower it is clearly time for Len Hutton’s lads to take the field. This, I submit, is a pretty strong ‘H’ XI. It would have been posted three days ago had I not been paralysed by indecision brought on by the difficulty of selecting the man to bat at 6. 1. Jack Hobbs (ENG)2. Len Hutton (ENG) (Capt)3. Wally Hammond (ENG)4. George Headley (WI)5. Neil Harvey (AUS)6. Clem Hill (AUS)7. Richard Hadlee (NZ)8. Ian Healy (AUS) (Wkt)9. Michael Holding (WI)10. Wes Hall (WI)11. Harbhajan Singh (IND) Country representation in the series so far: England 34, Australia 16, West Indies 12, India 8,

G is for Gower

Well, better late than never, here’s the long, even keenly, awaited G XI. No excuses for its late arrival, but comfort yourselves with the thought that you’ll have less time to wait before the H XI arrives to batter everyone else’s bowling to pieces. So, following Armstrong, Benaud, Constantine, Dexter,  Edrich and Fry, it is time for Gower. 1. Sunil Gavaskar (IND)2. Gordon Greenidge (WI)3. David Gower (ENG) (Capt)4. WG Grace (ENG)5. Tom Graveney (ENG)6. Adam Gilchrest (AUS) (Wkt)7. Tony Greig (ENG)8. Jack Gregory (AUS) 9. Joel Garner (WI)10. Clarrie Grimmett (AUS)11. Lance Gibbs (WI) Number of players from each country in the series so far:England 31, Australia 13, West

How can all be lost? Wisden has arrived.

One of the great annual treats is upon us: yes, the 2008 edition of Wisden arrived this morning. As always, the obituaries provide some of the best reading. To wit, Mike Brearley’s father, Horace who died last August aged 94. He was: A batsman who played once for Yorkshire before the war, and twice for Middlesex afterwards…Mike himself tells the story of his father’s only game for Yorkshire, which was against Middlesex: “He batted an No. 5, and faced a side that contained three leg-spinners. Horace had never, or almost never, been confronted by a googly bowler, and here were three all at once. But he was a typical Yorkshireman,