Young England growing up fast

August 11, 2014

Moeens paceAug 11: India's abject cricket in every department of the game should not compromise the part played in England's revival by a collection of fresh faces. Enthusiasm is a great gift. From it comes energy, application and courage. After Lord's, where England themselves surrendered pathetically, the dressing-rooms would have reflected the emotional whirl of professional sport. One team rampant, the other in ruins. Ecstasy, agony; laugh, cry; smile, scowl; speak to friends, turn off phone; meet for a drink, room service. In short, these moments bring on the extremes of exhilaration and despair. So unpredictable is sport that the emotions bounce around almost uncontrollably. The ability to handle them and respond accordingly is crucial to the development of a team.

Old hands find it hardest. This is why defeat tears a team apart. England's experienced XI was too much for Australia last summer in England. When the same group of successful players started losing during the winter in Australia, they had nothing with which to fight back - no energy, no mind or stomach for it. They were battle weary, punch drunk, shot away. Call it what you like but they were gone.

In contrast, the players that lost to India at Lord's were mainly starting out on their journey. Each had a gift but learning how to use it for the greater good of the England team was taking time. The pack was chasing the captain but he resolved to see it through. The fruits of his determination and belief are clear for all to see.

But in what exactly did Alastair Cook have such faith? Let's have a think. Himself certainly and, for sure, a new-ball pairing that has taken more than 600 wickets for England. He needed more from Ian Bell and he naturally backed Matt Prior, as much as anything because Prior had always backed him. Prior chose an honourable course, Bell got his head down. Above all though, Cook judged that the young players had a few things going for them and most important of those was enthusiasm. He looked around that room at Lord's and amidst the wreckage he could see a future. A future worth fighting for.

Top of his chart must have been Gary Ballance, a man of quiet talent and substantial achievement. Until Jonathan Trott's vigil, the No. 3 slot had various applicants. After Trott went the way of the broken-hearted in Brisbane, the hungry Australians devoured Joe Root's uncertain crack at it. It is well documented that when Ballance was asked if fancied the job, he said "when do I start?" A captain cannot want more for than that. Ballance brings both composure and conviction to England's batting. Each morning, about half an hour before play starts, he goes to the middle, stands at the crease and visualises - runs, runs and more runs presumably.

Neck and neck with Ballance for the captain's affections must be his Yorkshire team-mate, Joe Root. Fed upon by the Australians, Root has come back stronger, smarter, tighter. We won't see him caught at third man playing the paddle scoop again, even if he has made 180. We will see him bat on, and on. Root is brave and utterly committed to the cause of his country. No 5 works well for him now. He plays the opponent and the situation with clarity and works partnerships with skill. He is a bit cocky, which is good, especially as he is now harnessing the best of his talents and applying them with thought and consistency.

Next up is Moeen Ali. Fancy the fans singing "Graeme who?" on Friday evening when Moeen came out to be interviewed by Ian Ward from Sky. Ten wickets in the last two innings in which he has bowled tells us plenty about India's woeful batting but it also shows that Moeen is a proper threat. Of course, he is no Graeme Swann. Not yet anyway. But Moeen does spin the ball, delivering the thing with enough revs to dip the occasional one at the last second. He bowls pretty accurately and is not fazed by attacking batsmen. He improves almost daily and would benefit from an hour or two with Shane Warne whose genius was to bowl the ball "up", thus getting it to travel with hidden deception and surprising bounce.

His batting has stalled. Two things have led to this. One is the short ball, which is confusing him. Until he works out a clear defensive method, he should take it on, rather than try to fend it off. The angle of the ball that hurts him most, the one from around the wicket, is hard to avoid because it follows him. Attack it Moeen, until the off season allows you time to think it through. Otherwise he has played some measured innings and displayed a surprising power of shot. His memorable, heroic hundred all but saved the Headingley match against Sri Lanka. Yes, there is something of the hero in him. A man to inspire a new following for English cricket.

Jos Buttler's was not at Lord's, lucky chap. Not for the Test match at least, but he was there for the ODI against Sri Lanka, when he flayed them. Buttler is outrageously gifted with the bat and modest too. He doesn't do the hype, just the hitting. We thought his game was one dimensional but both here he proved he had gears. He batted with great intelligence, allowing Root to dominate the partnership that ripped the game from India's grasp.

His wicket-keeping is a work in progress. In Southampton he impressed. In Manchester he looked oddly insecure. Adam Gilchrist was average behind the timbers in his early days. Enough said. Buttler will spend hours studying the art and searching for improvement. He loves the work ethic. Best of all, like Gilchrist, he is box office and English cricket sparkles a little more with him on the field. The crowd see this and with his arrival comes a great fizz of anticipation.

Engand stuck with Chris Jordan for this match when, after an iffy game at the Ageas Bowl, other selectors might have packed him off to the shires. Ridiculous as it sounds, Jordan's catching sets a standard. His footwork and hands are close to perfect. By making a difficult skill appear easy, he inspires others. England caught brilliantly in the match, a sure sign of a winning team. The ability to catch tells us that Jordan is a proper cricketer. He leaves no stone unturned in his preparation and improvement seems an inevitable result of this attention to detail. With the ball, he has pace. With the bat, he has strength. Give this man time and he will reward with you with moments of magic.

Sam Robson and Chris Woakes are less convincing but no less worthy as men. Sometimes, you have to pick the character and stick with it for a while to find out if the talent can match the attitude and mind. Robson tries almost too hard, which leads to a rigidity in his play and inflexibility to his options. He is popular because he relishes the contest and enhances the team ethic but soon enough he will be judged on his output not simply the strength of that character. The Oval is a big game for him. He must find a way to flow.

Woakes is much admired by the bowling coach, David Saker. But you sense he is on the time he has borrowed from Ben Stokes. Stokes has flair. Woakes has honesty. Flair wins by a mile if it is fit and in the present. Meanwhile, Woakes needs to make the batsman play at more balls, ensuring that he jars their bottom hand when he does so.

With these two are Liam Plunkett, whose heart is plenty big enough for the job of fast bowling and Steven Finn, who is creeping back into our consciousness.

After the match, Cook could barely contain his excitement. Three weeks is indeed a long time in sport, he agreed. We all thought he was at his wit's end when the India players began their Lord's party but he saw himself at the beginning of a journey he truly believed he could conquer. Feeble as India have been in these two matches, you can only thrash the opponent put before you and, by heaven, England have done that.

Mark Nicholas, the former Hampshire captain, presents the cricket on Channel 9 in Australia and Channel 5 in the UK.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

Sydney, Feb 7: "I received a message from Brett Lee," said former India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Friday when asked as to who recruited him to take part in the Bushfire relief fundraiser match.

Tendulkar will be coaching the Ponting XI in the upcoming Bushfire Bash on Sunday, February 9 at the Junction Oval.

"I received a message from Brett Lee. Brett said that Kevin (Roberts, Cricket Australia's chief executive) would like to be in touch with you. It was a no-brainer. From the moment I was asked, I said, 'yes I'm more than happy to come here," cricket.com.au quoted Tendulkar as saying.

Bushfire Bash was originally slated to be played at Sydney on Saturday but weather forecast prompted Cricket Australia to reschedule the game to ensure the best possible pitch and outfield conditions for the final of Big Bash League.

The match will be played to raise funds and all match profits will go to the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund.

"This is an alarming situation, it's catastrophic - that's an understatement. You see the number of lives it has affected, not only humans but also wildlife which sometimes people don't talk about. That is equally important. I'm so happy I'm here in whatever way to support the cause, to raise money," Tendulkar said.

Ponting XI: Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting (c), Elyse Villani, Brian Lara, Phoebe Litchfield, Brad Haddin (wk), Brett Lee, Wasim Akram, Dan Christian, Luke Hodge. Coach: Sachin Tendulkar

Gilchrist XI: Adam Gilchrist (c & wk), Shane Watson, Brad Hodge, Yuvraj Singh, Alex Blackwell, Andrew Symonds, Courtney Walsh, Nick Riewoldt, Peter Siddle, Fawad Ahmed (one more to be announced). Coach: Tim Paine

The Bushfire Bash exhibition match will be a 10-overs-per-side contest, with a five-over Powerplay, no bowling restrictions, and batters unable to get out from the first ball they face.

Bowlers will not have over limits, fielders can sub on and off as it suits, while captains will have the ability to sub batters in and out during an innings.

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News Network
March 2,2020

Christchurch, Mar 2: India captain Virat Kohli on Monday said the under-fire Rishabh Pant has got a "lot of chances" but the team is not looking to try someone else in the youngster's place just yet as one player can't be singled out in a collective failure.

Pant has been under the scanner for the past one year because of his inconsistent run. His tally of 60 runs across four innings in the 0-2 Test series loss to New Zealand, which concluded here on Monday, has only amplified the debate whether it was prudent to leave out a keeper of Wriddhiman Saha's calibre and back Pant.

"...we have given him (Pant) a lot of chances in the home season as well starting from Australia. Then he was not playing for a bit. In turn he really worked hard on himself," Kohli came to Pant's defence after the series here.

"You need to figure out when is the right time to give someone else a chance. If you push people too early, they can lose confidence," he added.

"...collectively, we didn't perform. I don't believe in singling him out. We take the hit together as a group whether it's the batting group or as a team."

When asked if he believes Pant has taken his place in the side for granted, Kohli made it clear that the culture of this team doesn't encourage anyone to think along those lines.

"I don't see anyone taking his place for granted in this team. That's the culture we have set. People are told to take responsibilities and work hard. Whether it happens or not is a different thing. Then you can have a conversation with the players," he said.

"But no one has come here thinking I am going to play every game or I am indispensable," he added in no uncertain terms.

Kohli, just like head coach Ravi Shastri, made it clear that Pant can make a difference in overseas conditions and he won't like to deviate during future tours.

"The time that he didn't play, he really worked hard on his game. So we thought this is the right time because of his game and the way he plays because he can make a difference lower down the order.

"That was our planning behind it. We can't really fluctuate when it comes to what we planned," he added.

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News Network
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has proposed radical changes in the LBW laws, stating that a batsman should be given out leg before as long as the ball is hitting the stumps irrespective of the spot of its landing and impact.

Chappell also said captains should agree on one way of working up the ball which will encourage swing bowling, even as the ICC is considering the use of artificial substances to shine the ball instead of sweat and saliva in post-COVID-19 scenario.

"The new lbw law should simply say: 'Any delivery that strikes the pad without first hitting the bat and, in the umpire's opinion, would go on to hit the stumps is out regardless of whether or not a shot is attempted'," he wrote in a column for ESPNcricinfo.

"Forget where the ball pitches and whether it strikes the pad outside the line or not; if it's going to hit the stumps, it's out."

The 76-year-old said the change in lbw law would attract expected criticism from the batsmen but it would make the game more fair.

"There will be screams of horror - particularly from pampered batsmen - but there are numerous positives this change would bring to the game. Most important is fairness.

"If a bowler is prepared to attack the stumps regularly, the batsman should only be able to protect his wicket with the bat. The pads are there to save the batsman from injury not dismissal.

"It would also force batsmen to seek an attacking method to combat a wristspinner pitching in the rough outside the right-hander's leg stump," said Chappell.

He cited Sachin Tendulkar's example on how he negotiated Shane Warne's round the wicket tactic during the 1997-98 Test series in India.

"Contrast Sachin Tendulkar's aggressive and successful approach to Shane Warne coming round the wicket in Chennai in 1997-98 with a batsman who kicks away deliveries pitching in the rough and turning in toward the stumps. Which would you rather watch?

"The current law encourages "pad play" to balls pitching outside leg while this change would force them to use their bat. The change would reward bowlers who attack the stumps and decrease the need for negative wide deliveries to a packed off-side field," he said.

Chappell said his proposed change to the lbw law would also cut down "frivolous" DRS challenges.

"This change to the lbw law would also simplify umpiring and result in fewer frivolous DRS challenges. Consequently, it would speed up a game that has slowed drastically in recent times.

"It would also make four-day Tests an even more viable proposition as mind-numbing huge first-innings totals would be virtually non-existent."

On the substitute of shining the ball without sweat and saliva, Chappell said international captains should find out a way of working up the ball.

"With ball-tampering always a hot topic, in the past I've suggested that administrators ask international captains to construct a list (i.e. the use of natural substances) detailing the things bowlers feel will help them to swing the ball.

"From this list, the administrators should deem one method to be legal with all others being punishable as illegal," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

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