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David Siddall — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:53:07 +0000

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One Hand One Bounce – A Cricket Podcast Ep7

Raf — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 07:54:57 +0000

Listen to the Cricket Podcast that Plays by Backyard Rules

World Cricket Watch has assembled a crackpot team in the desperate hope of creating the greatest cricket podcast on the web. Each week you’ll get a bizarre mix of cricketing oddness including cricket news, debates and discussions, weird and wonderful XIs, book readings, cricket betting tips and much, much more.

One Hand One Bounce Episode 7 – This week’s episode features a weird XI of the most under rated players as well as all the latest news and betting tips.

Ashes 2010: Life of an Aussie in England during the Ashes

Raf — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 03:36:12 +0000

In the lead up to the Ashes Rafiq Copeland remembers the highs and lows of living in England during two very different campaigns.

During last year’s Ashes Series I was living in the UK and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Not to say that England was horrible in itself – I was living in the delightful Devon countryside – but as an Australian I had to put up with a lot of jokes at my expense. Even more than usual. Over the last few years the Ashes has been transformed from a dreary exercise in ritual humiliation of the English into a fascinating contest between two well matched sides. And as much as I hate to remind myself, last year the Australians lost. To England. Again. When it came to water cooler conversation in my Devon office it was definitely the token Australian who had to cop it sweet.

What made my experience last summer slightly different than so many other Australians based in Old Blighty was that twelve years earlier I had lived in the exact same part of Devon during the 1997 Ashes campaign. Back then I was a 13 year old boy with the first traces of a moustache. I was angry, lonely and going through puberty quicker than an English middle order batting collapse. I started school in Devon about a week before the first Test. For an Australian city kid an English country school was always going to be an adjustment. There were children in my class whose dads would drop them off in the morning driving a tractor. The Ashes was an obvious area of common interest – even if this usually took the form of vulgar taunting.

In the First Test the Aussies got slammed and boy did I hear about it. I tried to defend my country’s honor but based on the team’s display it was pretty hard to do. On the first day the tourists won the toss and batted – they were all out for 118. In response England declared at 9 for 478, with Nasser Hussain making 207. Centuries to Taylor and Blewett in Australia’s second innings eased the humiliation but England still won the test by 9 wickets. The kids at school were predicting a series whitewash. Others more generously thought that England would win 4-1.

The Second Test at Lords started better for Australia, with Glen McGrath taking 8 for 38 to bowl England out for a paltry 77. Still, with what seemed like half the match lost to rain the best we could manage was a draw. Around this time my school arranged an interclass cricket tournament. I thought in England ‘interclass’ might mean a match between the landed gentry and the peasants, but again I was to be disappointed. I volunteered my services as a batsman but my class captain was skeptical. He didn’t think much of Australian cricketers and without so much as a tryout I was left out of the team.

And then the tide turned. At Old Trafford Steve Waugh became the first Australian for more than 100 years to score a century in each innings and the tourists prevailed by a margin of 268 runs. This kept the tormenters at school quiet, but the Fourth Test at Headingly really put them in their place. Seven wickets to Gillespie in the first innings saw England tumble to 172 all out. Australia declared at 509 for 9, with opener Matthew Elliot bowled on 199. Along the way a certain R.T. Ponting made his Ashes debut, quickly followed by his maiden century. Husain scored another ton in the second innings but five wickets to ‘Pistol’ Paul Reiffel was enough to hand Australia an innings and 68 run thumping and a 2-1 series lead.

By the time England lost the Fifth Test by 264 runs the press was baying for Atherton to resign and I had well and truly reclaimed the bragging rights at school. The fact that it was a six test series was irrelevant, Australia had won again. Despite a slender English victory in the dead rubber the only real points of interest were 7 wicket hauls to McGrath, Kasprovitz and a recalled Phil Tufnell.

Thinking back on that series brings back vivid memories – although mostly of whole weekends spent in front of the TV, or hours spent sitting in the car listening to the coverage on the radio. I think the Australian accents on the commentary teams helped with my homesickness. Matthew Elliot was my favorite player, and given he scored 556 in the series runs he probably deserved to be. For the English Thorpe was the high scorer, but it is Husain who I remember doing the real damage. Ponting is the only player still playing – this series will likely be his last.

The Ashes of 2009 is fresher in the memory, so I won’t talk too much about it. Besides it’s still a soft spot. Suffice to say that the Australians made more runs and took more wickets than the English but still lost the series. Perhaps I didn’t follow it in 2009 with the same emotional intensity as I did as a teenager, but I still hung on every ball. Because it’s the Ashes. And for the same reason I’ll be doing the same later this year when the Poms tour Down Under.

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England vs Pakistan 1st Test Day 1 Highlights

David Siddall — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:46:20 +0000

England 331 for 4 (Morgan 125*, Collingwood 81*) v Pakistan

Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Mohammad Aamer blitzes England’s top order early but the Eoin Morgan and Colly steady the ship. Morgan gets his first test ton in a sublime innings.

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The Reverse Sweep – What’s Hot in Cricket Right Now?

David Siddall — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:38:51 +0000

This week we preview the England-Pakistan test series, which starts on Thursday at Trent Bridge. We also try not to laugh at the problems facing Australia, espouse the recently concluded MCC Spirit of Cricket series, bemoan the batting paradise that is the Colombo SSC and ask what has happened to the pool of supposedly talented Indian fast bowlers. Finally, we revisit one of our most talked about posts after it was featured in World Cricket Watch’s latest One Hand, One Bounce podcast (which, we highly recommend you give a listen).

The Reverse Sweep is an irreverent and acerbic round-up of the week that was in cricket. For similar musings on the sport that God would play, please visit our blog also entitled The Reverse Sweep – selected as one of the 50 best cricket web sites in the world by The Times. Alternatively, you can read our regular column on CricDude, or follow us on Twitter @TheReverseSweep.

England must be wary of Pakistan’s pace threat

Up until a few weeks ago, most observers would have predicted that England should have no problem in defeating Pakistan in the four test series that starts this week at Trent Bridge. Whilst the England bowlers will be relishing the opportunity to bombard what is an inexperienced and brittle Pakistani batting line-up, their batsmen will be wary of the triple threat of the Mohammads Asif and Aamer, as well as that excellent exponent of reverse swing Umar Gul.

Pakistan will be energised and confident having finally beaten Australia in a test match for the first time since 1995. Salman Butt was mostly impressive in his bow as captain and for the first time in ages, Pakistan look to have good team unity and a positive intent.

South African supporters may disagree, but Butt arguably has the best pace attack currently operating in test cricket at his disposal, especially as each offers something different. Asif provides unerring accuracy and like Glenn McGrath has an ability to put ball after ball into the batsman’s corridor of uncertainty, whilst Gul has a lethal yorker and will be hoping for hot and dry conditions to get his reverse swing going.

Potentially the best of the lot is left-armer Aamer; especially if he really is only 18. He already has an excellent cricket brain in the way that he varies his lines of attack and has developed an uncanny ability for getting top batsmen out – Aamer has now got Ponting out four times in five tests. No wonder Wasim Akram has conceded that Aamer is even better than he was at the same age.

As such, England unexpectedly have a tougher examination of their credentials before the eagerly awaited Ashes series. Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower will likely see this as a good thing (as long as they win!) because the series should enable them to complete the final pieces of their Ashes jigsaw.

Jonathan Trott has done all that has been asked of him in the number three role, although some doubts still exist whether he is the best option in this pivotal position. If Trott can emerge from this series unscathed against Pakistan’s pace trio then he can expect to be first drop at the Gabba to face the misfiring Australian seam attack.

Ian Bell’s injury gives Eoin Morgan another chance to nail down the number six position. The Irishman will have to an excellent series to beat Bell to a slot in the Ashes XI, but if he can replicate the impact he has made in the Twenty 20 and one day teams, he may well just do that. Ravi Bopara is waiting in the wings, should Morgan fail to adapt to the different challenges of test cricket.

With Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad certain starters for Brisbane barring injury that leaves two bowling spots up for grabs given that England seem set on six batsmen plus Matt Prior. The men in possession are James Anderson and rookie paceman Steve Finn. Anderson seems to have lost the ability to take wickets with the new ball, so the supposed leader of England’s attack needs to regain form fast especially as his record against the Aussies is actually poor. One can’t help but feel that Ajmal Shahzad may be a better bet on Australian pitches.

Finn had a wonderful series against Bangladesh and given that Pakistan’s batting line-up isn’t much stronger thanks to the absence of experienced duo Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan, the young Middlesex bowler could well cement his place in the Brisbane XI over the next few weeks.

So having had a look into the crystal ball, we at the Reverse Sweep believe that Pakistan may well win one test but that England will emerge as 2-1 series victors. Let battle commence.

Don’t laugh too much, but…

For the first time since 1977, an Australian touring side left English shores empty handed having lost the Nat West Series to England 3-2, been beaten 2-0 in the Twenty 20 series against Pakistan and with defeat at Headingley, only drawn the test series with the latter 1-1. As we outlined on our own blog last week, the problems facing the declining Australians are stark with only a short two test series in India to go before the first Ashes test in Brisbane. Groundhog Day batting collapses, impotent new ball bowlers and question marks over a number of players due to injury and form are just some of the problems facing Ricky Ponting and Tim Neilsen. Whisper it quietly, but England have a real chance of winning an Ashes series in Australia for the first time since 1987.

Dear MCC, Please can we have more neutral test series’ please…

The two MCC Spirit of Cricket tests between Australia and Pakistan at Lord’s and Headingley were both fantastic spectacles (please click on the links, for our marks out of ten for Pakistan and Australia). Hopefully, despite the poor crowds in Yorkshire, this is an experiment that will be repeated again. With India touring England next summer and Pakistan still unable to play test matches at home, maybe the MCC could host two or three Pakistan-India tests? Now that would fill up the grounds.

A battle between bat and ball?

The current test match between Sri Lanka and India in Colombo has so far seen over 1,000 runs in the first three days for the loss of only eight wickets. The pitch may yet deteriorate and produce a result but that seems unlikely. Pitches like this give test cricket a bad name. The game is not supposed to be about how many batsmen can score hundreds, but as the name suggests be a thorough ‘test’ of both batsmen and bowlers. Maybe the Headingley track can be dug up and shipped over to Sri Lanka for the third test forthwith?

Where have all the Indian fast bowlers gone?

It seems ironic that in the week cricket commentators are espousing over the latest gems to come off the Pakistan fast bowler production line, the opposite is true for India. It doesn’t seem long ago that envious eyes were being cast on India’s stock of fast bowlers, which is hard to believe now. Only Zaheer Khan has consistently been world class and he is now injured. Ishant Sharma has faded badly since Australia toured India in 2008 and the likes of Ashish Nehra, RP Singh, Sreesanth and Munaf Patel have only shone briefly (well ok in Munaf’s case, very briefly). Things have got so bad, that in the current series in Sri Lanka, the gentle medium pace of Abhimanyu Mithun can be found opening the bowling. It would seem that India’s number one test side ranking is about to disappear to the same place as its quick bowlers – into thin air.

…and finally

Whilst listening to the excellent One Hand, One Bounce podcast on World Cricket Watch, we at the Reverse Sweep were delighted that one of our old posts for the site got a mention. This particular post divulged our top 20 batsmen in test history, but got most attention for placing Sachin Tendulkar at a lowly 11. We’ve since extended the list to 30 names and Sachin has moved up the list. But where is he now? Check out: numbers 30-21, 20-11 and 10-1, but please don’t get too upset if you don’t agree with us!

That’s all for this week folks.

Sri Lanka vs India 2nd Test Day 3 Highlights

David Siddall — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:43:35 +0000

India 382 for 4 (Tendulkar 108*, Sehwag 99, Raina 66*) trail Sri Lanka 642 for 4 decl by 260 runs

Runs, runs, runs, runs, again. Tendulkar gets dropped off the bowling of Dilhara Fernando and then as you’d expect punishes the Sri Lankans with a hard fought century.

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Sri Lanka vs India 2nd Test Day 2 Highlights

David Siddall — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:32:22 +0000

India 95 for 0 (Sehwag 64*, Vijay 22*) trail Sri Lanka 642 for 4 decl (Sangakkara 219, Jayawardene 174, Paranavitana 100) by 547 runs

Runs, runs, runs, runs. Sri Lanka pile on more runs to post a mammoth total of 642 – 4 declared. Sangakkara records his third double century at the SSC. Meanwhile Jayawardene records his 1oth ton at the SSC.

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Where art thou Ishant Sharma? An open letter to a fading Indian quick

Blaise Murphet — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 05:35:24 +0000

Where art thou Ishant Sharma? What has happened to you? Are you ok? I write as a concerned fan, and I write in hope of inspiring you back on track to become one of the greats. If I’ve got your attention, then please read on…

In the (Australian) summer of 2007/8 you toured down under and immediately won plaudits as a real ‘up-and-comer’. I’m sure you remember that none other than former captain Steve Waugh, a man known for recognising good talent, called you India’s most exiting talent. Steve knows a thing or two about fast bowlers Ishant, in fact when he made those comments I immediately thought of his amazing encounters with former West Indian great Curtly Ambrose, and how much you (at that time) reminded me of him. The similarities were of course apparent in your height, and the way you delivered the ball from the top reach of your arm, and also the way you bounced the ball of the pitch with venom. But more than all of this what really reminded me, and I think probably Steve Waugh, of Curtly Ambrose was your fiery passion.

On that first tour of Australia you certainly weren’t the top wicket-taker, but your spell against Ricky Ponting in Perth was something to behold, and then when Australia toured your home country later in 2008 you were unstoppable. 15 wickets at 27 with an economy rate of 2.9 in a winning series is really something Ishant, and it seemed obvious that you would only rise in stature from there. Your ODI form was also brilliant, with good performances against Australia and Sri Lanka, but something just went wrong, and that is why I write to you now to gently enquire on your wellbeing.

Perhaps you suffer from a serious case of ‘VVS Laxman disease’? This rare and potentially career-fatal disease was introduced by your teammate V.V.S. Laxman who seems to score runs for fun against Australia, but against all other teams, who have through most of his career been far less superior than Australia, he struggles. Maybe you just need to be up against those pesky, arrogant Aussies to get your competitive fires burning? Is that the answer Ishant?

Or maybe it’s the problem of too much cricket. Although you are still young, you’ve had to bowl a lot for your country and for the Kolkota Knight Riders in the IPL. Maybe all that bowling, often on slow pitches, has worn you out. Your competitive edge has certainly been your fiery nature, and I imagine this is the first to evaporate when you feel exhausted. We might even call this the ‘Shaun Tait disease’. Shaun just can’t get his body and mind together often enough to be a force for Australia in the long run, and maybe you feel the same.

Or perhaps finally it comes down to a false dawn? Maybe you were an exceptional talent who, once batsmen knew your style, ran out of tricks? You certainly seem pedestrian now, and often have a horrid economy rate. Batsmen just seem confident against you, which would have been unimaginable after that memorable afternoon in Perth not three years ago.

All in all I fear for you Ishant. The Indian selectors have kept faith; most probably because your contemporaries such as Sreesanth and RP Singh aren’t in great touch either, but also because they too remember your potential. My advice is to take a small break, have a chat to some mentors, and re-find your fire. Perhaps the best way to do that might even be to watch some old footage of the man who you remind me of most, Curtly Ambrose, because when it came to fire he was the hottest of all.

Best,

Blaise Murphet

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Sri Lanka vs India 2nd Test Day 1 Highlights

David Siddall — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:57:10 +0000

Sri Lanka 312 for 2 (Sangakkara 130*, Paranavitana 100) v India

Sri Lanka pile on the runs on the opening day as Sangakkara and Paranavitana record 100s. Once again the lack of strength in depth in India’s bowling department is exposed.

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