Mark Chilton – LiveCricket.in
Chill discusses cricket
Archive for the ‘Opinion’ Category
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17th
Although it was a disappointing end, Andrew Strauss and his men can hold their heads high after a successful tour of South Africa. To come away with a win in the 1-day series and a squared Test Series is a highly commendable effort. Despite there being areas for improvement i thought the England team showed a lot of bottle and unity against the no.1 rated team in the world. It seems that the Strauss/Flower combination is working really well and they have an exact idea of how they are going to become the best England outfit for many years.
I enjoyed the series and thought it was a fantastic advert for Test cricket, which has come under some pressure recently. The standard of quick bowling in the Final Test was something that hasn’t been seen for some time and even caught the imagination of the Sky commentators who had previously dealt with the likes of Marshall, Ambrose, Walsh, Donald, Pollock etc.
A little break now before England travel to Bangladesh where they will face completely different conditions and styles of cricket. I have to agree with David Gower who wrote that he thought it a shame that Strauss is not going to lead that tour. They had a great opportunity to keep the momentum going that they have created over the last 12 months.
Signing off now but more to follow.
5th
Firstly I must apologise for the absence of Blog material, we have been faced with a few technical difficulties that are hopefully now sorted.
The Ashes now move to Headingley where England have a great opportunity to secure the urn with one test left to play. The series has been evenly matched so far but I think we have just edged it and deserve the 1-0 lead. The England bowling attack has looked more potent than the Australians and I think they are more likely to take the 20 wickets required to win a test match.
Headingley can be an interesting place to play and games can change very quickly depending on the overhead conditions. However, it looks like wickets have been a bit flatter than normal this year with plenty of runs being scored there. It will be another battle of attrition and victory will come to the team that keeps the focus and intensity for the full five days. England will hope that Freddie is fit enough to impact the game, the last two tests have shown how valuable he can be with both bat and ball.
More to follow……….
18th
It has been a while since writing and much has happened. The Pieterson/Moores affair has finally been dealt with but not without consequences. I wanted to get some opinion on how influential a Captain should be, especially at the international level. Should the ECB have given Kevin Pieterson what he wanted or are they the ones that put everything in place and then people learn to work together for the best of the country/team.
Personally i think the Captain’s opinion clearly needs to be sought but too much power can be a dangerous thing and it is crucial when making appointments that these people are happy to work together. Clearly Pieterson had his problems with Moores from an early stage so why was he appointed as Captain? Surely to the people closely involved, the final outcome wasn’t overly surprising.
It is sad that it all happened the way it did and is clearly not ideal preparation for the upcoming tour of the West Indies. Andrew Strauss has a tough job on his hands harmonising, what could be, a difficult changing room. I am sure his aim will be to get the team to be open and honest and try to rebuild some team spirit.
I am backing Kevin Pieterson to score runs in the Caribbean but whether the team will gel together well enough to force some positive results remains to be seen.
2nd
So Australia get beaten on their own soil since 1993 and there is suddenly a crisis and every man and his dog voices their opinion. The fact is they just haven’t been used to getting beaten that often and to be so convincingly turned over means questions get asked. I have read many articles over the last few days about where they go from here and I thought I would offer another opinion.
It is no secret that they are a different team without Glenn Mcgrath and Shane Warne, especially the latter, and their deficiency in the spin departement has proved to be a real problem. I reckon they have two options.
Firstly, they could pick their four best bowlers (regardless of action), six best batters and Brad Haddin to keep wicket. The possible batters in my view would be Brad Hodge or David Hussey.
Secondly, they find an allrounder to allow them to play the spinner. I would play Jason Krejza who is a more attacking spin option then pick a bloke who can do a holding job as a fourth seamer to allow some control when the three quicks are tired or the spinner fetches it. Andrew Macdonald is a consistent performer having a great season with Victoria and has an opportunity to show is potential. A fully fit Andrew Symonds would still make my starting eleven but he has to able to bowl the overs.
Althought the results were ultimately pretty convincing the Aussies had South Africa on the ropes at times and failed to convert their strong positions. They are still a quality side and if they can keep confidence will still be a tough team to beat in Sydney and provide a stern test for England in the Ashes next year.
3rd
After the shocking terrorist attacks in Mumbai the England Cricket Team faces a tough decision on whether or not to return to play the two test matches that have been arranged. It is a difficult dilemma for all involved but i personally think they should continue on with the games and try to bring some relief to what has been a dreadful time for the whole of the Indian public. Obviously there needs to be clearance from all the security checks that will be taking place but if that comes back positively then i would encourage the team to tour.
I can understand players concerns and if the tour gets the go ahead they face difficult decisions but hopefully the majority will feel positive about the situation and give the Indian public something to concentrate their minds on after such a terrible time.
Let me know your views, especially you Willo! Englands prospects will be discussed soon.
1st
A slight change this week. I am currently playing cricket for Melbourne University in the district competition here in Melbourne and would like to give a brief insight into my experience so far.
I have always been a big fan of the way the Australian league system is set up. The 1st Grade competition is the feeder for the full Victorian team so all the best players are concentrated in the one league which makes for very competitive cricket. Unfortunately we haven’t made the best of starts and are just below par in all departments but i have seen some real talent at the club and been impressed by the whole attitude the club has to training and improving. There is a real desire and ‘get on with it’ attitude that i am sure, will not only stand the club in good stead for the rest of this season, but also the future ones too.
I am aware that officials have tried to work on setting up a premier league back in Lancashire and think it is a real shame things haven’t worked out. I understand that the logistics behind it would take some sorting out but i also see huge benefits in concentrating the talent we have in Lancashire. If you had 18 clubs with the best players from the region all playing in the one competition standards would undoubtedly increase and players would be tested week in week out.
It will take someone to stick their neck out but i truly believe it would be of huge benefit to Lancashire CCC.
16th
Not a great start! England have now suffered two humiliating defeats within a fortnight and are going to have to turn things around very quickly to try and regain some confidence. Losing is never fun…but getting whooped is dreadful. They face a stiff challenge, the Indian team look full of confidence in both forms of the game and are taking the game to the opposition by playing positive, aggressive cricket.
My feelings are that they England are going to have to match this and go all out to try and assert themselves from the start of the game. Whether they bat or bowl first tomorrow the first ten overs will be crucial and the game can be won and lost in that time. This puts alot of responsibility on the likes of Matt Prior and Ian Bell with the bat and Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad with the ball.
The injury to Yuvraj Singh would be a bonus after his phenomenal performance the other night!
5th
What a finale….both captains, Ricky Ponting of Australia and Indias golden boy Mahendra Dhoni, have both publicly stated the importance of the final test at Nagpur. After having been comprehensively outplayed in the first three tests, Australia still has a chance to come away from India holding the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
They will be under no illusions though, it will be an incredible result if they pull it off. The pitch will be a huge hurdle for them, all reports suggest a slow, low pitch suited to the spinners….no surprise there then. Australia are still faced with the problem of no Shane Warne, it is time to give Jason Krejza his opportunity. Krejza is relatively unknown but must be there for a reason, he has been selected as the Aussies number one spinner and they have to put some faith in him. Australia have performed well to stay in the series, to follow a huge Indian total of over 600 is never easy no matter how flat the surface and they batted admirably.
Great to see Lancashire new recruit, VVS Laxman, in the runs. He was fabulous in his short stint in 2007 and i am sure we are all looking forward to his arrival. A quick congratulations to him, this will be his 100th match for India….quite an achievement.
My tip….a step to far for Australia. Indian win
13th
It hasn’t taken too long for the Indian Premier League to prove how powerful it has become. There is real worry that next years touring Sri Lankan cricket team will not be a full strength team with the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan and Kumar Sangakara honouring their committments to the IPL.
This is the exact scenario that officials have been worried about. They talked of doing everything they could to protect the quality and integrity of Test Cricket but the financial rewards for playing in the IPL are just too attractive for players to turn down. Since the IPL began i felt it could pose a serious threat to the current Test Cricket calender and despite what some authorities have said i see no reason to change my mind.
I think the only option is to restructure the Test Cricket fixtures. The days of five match test series will soon be over and instead it will be replaced by a Test championship where teams play one or two match series when the opportunity allows them to do it.
There is no doubt that Test Cricket needs to have the best players playing in it or the whole competition will become devalued and less attractive to the spectators and sponsors. I am afraid the time is coming where the authorities are going to have to work round the IPL to find a structure that can keep the longer form of the game an appealing spectacle.
Let me know any thoughts?
27th
Durham became county champions yesterday with a resounding win at Canterbury to send Kent to division 2. After a season that has been heavily interrupted by the weather it is the geordies who have shown the most resolve in the last few weeks. Although i cannot begrudge Durham their victory it has been disappointing that Lancashire have been unable to impact the top of the table. If you look at the final positions one more win could have been enough for the red rose but unfortunately the games called off made life very difficult. I think most of us at Lancashire would hold our hands up and say some of our performances could have been better and we just weren’t consistent enough.
Over the last two or three seasons Durham have found a good mix of experience and youth and have been very competitive in all competitions and in my opinion are fully deserved of this victory. They play their cricket in the right way, hard but fair, and are well led by their captain Dale Benkenstein. Congratulations to all involved, a county season takes a lot of effort from a lot of people and i am sure they are enjoying their celebrations.