The last couple of days of the Lord's Test were all I managed to see, but it was enough to forcefully remind me of the talents of two young players of very similar ages, but vastly differing backgrounds and abilities.
Tamim Iqbal is the best batsman Bangladesh has produced in the decade since it became a Test-playing country. As an attacking Asian opener he will inevitably be compared to Sehwag, but as the pundits were saying yesterday, a more precise comparison, on account of his stature, his left-handedness and his penchant for the hook, would be with the late Roy Fredericks. Tamim is the player around whom Bangladesh can build their improving batting for a long time to come, but for the moment it'll be enough to for the rest of us to enjoy the brilliance of his strokeplay and the spontaneity of his celebrations, for there will be many more to come.
Steven Finn, of course, can really bowl. But the comparisons with Glenn McGrath which everyone seems to have been drawing seem to me to be the product of wishful thinking, based partly on Finn's self-professed admiration for him and the fact that Finn's so tantalisingly good. For me, a better comparison is with Finn's county coach Angus Fraser, although time will surely reveal Finn to have been the quicker and more penetrative operator.
Finn also comes across in interview as confident, mature and articulate, with the type of self-deprecation which is bound to endear him to English audiences. After receiving the match award this afternoon he said something about only filling in for Stuart Broad, and implied that he thought he might not be selected again in a hurry.
Steven, I've got news for you. This was only the start. You're going to be in the England side for a very, very, long time.
31.5.10
23.5.10
The More Things Change...
Brian Brain was a seam bowler who played county cricket, for Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, from 1959 until 1981. Just before he finished playing he published a diary - Another Day, Another Match - about Gloucestershire's 1980 season, and his part in it. It is a fine book, recording the life and opinions of a county journeyman who had begun his career in a time that now seems like something from cricketing pre-history, and it laid the ground for similar publications which came later, such as Peter Roebuck's It Never Rains, published in 1984, Eight Days a Week, by Jonathan Agnew (1988), and Ed Smith's On and Off the Field (2004).
In May 1980 he wrote this:
I've yet to see a bad South African cricketer over here. It must be a combination of learning the game on good wickets, strength of character, competitive instinct and natural ability.
Brain was writing with Allan Lamb in mind, and also his colleague Mike Procter, but his summary of what makes South African-raised cricketers good still holds true today for the likes of Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb.
In May 1980 he wrote this:
I've yet to see a bad South African cricketer over here. It must be a combination of learning the game on good wickets, strength of character, competitive instinct and natural ability.
Brain was writing with Allan Lamb in mind, and also his colleague Mike Procter, but his summary of what makes South African-raised cricketers good still holds true today for the likes of Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb.
19.5.10
Flower of England
Whatever one's views on the composition of the England team, there can be little doubt that Andy Flower has played a blinder since he took over.
He gives every impression of combining the original mind of Fletcher with the technocratic approach of Peter Moores. And, if you throw in his truly outstanding international batting pedigree and experience of galvanising his old Zimbabwe side, it's clear that England, in a slightly roundabout way, have come across an outstanding coach.
A number of members of the eleven which triumphed in Bridgetown on Sunday are going to be around the top of the English game for a very long time. With what he has brought in a relatively short time in the job, you have to hope that Flower will be too.
His job is far from finished. In fact, in so many ways, it has only just begun.
He gives every impression of combining the original mind of Fletcher with the technocratic approach of Peter Moores. And, if you throw in his truly outstanding international batting pedigree and experience of galvanising his old Zimbabwe side, it's clear that England, in a slightly roundabout way, have come across an outstanding coach.
A number of members of the eleven which triumphed in Bridgetown on Sunday are going to be around the top of the English game for a very long time. With what he has brought in a relatively short time in the job, you have to hope that Flower will be too.
His job is far from finished. In fact, in so many ways, it has only just begun.
17.5.10
Impossible to Deny
On the face of it Gimblett's Hill, at Craig Kieswetter's adopted home ground, was the ideal place to go to reflect on England's first win an ICC competition, even if the atmosphere (and the temperature) was about as far removed from the Kensington Oval as it was possible to get. The sun shone, and Yorkshire's young opener Adam Lyth looked deeply impressive, but the sort of reflective glow which you can't help feeling the morning after an Ashes win just wasn't there.
In part I think this was because I didn't see very much of the competition, but it's impossible to deny that England's win simply doesn't mean as much to me as it would if four of the most important members of the team hadn't learned their cricket in other countries. While I've regularly paid tribute to the brilliant KP and Eoin Morgan (who has no realistic alternative way of fulfilling his talent), the addition of Kieswetter and Lumb just feels a bit too much like a shift towards a road I'd rather the team didn't go down.
Not that I, or anyone else, can do a lot about it. The potent South African combination of hard, true wickets, sunshine, new world attitudes and a selectorial environment which many find unjust will continue to react with simple economics and a tolerant qualification system to ensure a steady flow of players who are better than most of what the English system will produce.
It's best, I suppose, just to embrace it and relish the success, but, when the inevitable Australian jibes start, well, you kind of know that they have a point.
In part I think this was because I didn't see very much of the competition, but it's impossible to deny that England's win simply doesn't mean as much to me as it would if four of the most important members of the team hadn't learned their cricket in other countries. While I've regularly paid tribute to the brilliant KP and Eoin Morgan (who has no realistic alternative way of fulfilling his talent), the addition of Kieswetter and Lumb just feels a bit too much like a shift towards a road I'd rather the team didn't go down.
Not that I, or anyone else, can do a lot about it. The potent South African combination of hard, true wickets, sunshine, new world attitudes and a selectorial environment which many find unjust will continue to react with simple economics and a tolerant qualification system to ensure a steady flow of players who are better than most of what the English system will produce.
It's best, I suppose, just to embrace it and relish the success, but, when the inevitable Australian jibes start, well, you kind of know that they have a point.
Incoherent Thoughts
I said England needed to start well, and they did. The rest is history.
Anything more coherent at this hour is difficult, but I intend to mull things over today on Gimblett's Hill at Taunton and return later in the week.
Anything more coherent at this hour is difficult, but I intend to mull things over today on Gimblett's Hill at Taunton and return later in the week.
16.5.10
Start Well
For one reason or another - too much work, too much living to do - I haven't seen a huge amount of the World Twenty20. A Kevin Pietersen on-drive here, a Cameron White bunt for six there, frequent catches which at one-time would have been regarded as show-stoppers but which are now almost commonplace.
And now it comes down to England against Australia. While, given the precarious position which Australia occupied against Pakistan, this may have surprised some, nothing about Australia ever surprises me. I've written before about how Australian sportsmen are never, ever, beaten, until the contest finishes. Add to that the formidable technical skill and balance of the side which they've taken to the West Indies, and the fact that they're now taking twenty over cricket seriously, and it all adds up to a tough task for England.
The contracted nature of the T20 game means that it has much in common with sports like football and rugby, where the key in tight games is always to start well.
If England can do that they may be okay, but, if not, a hard afternoon beckons.
And now it comes down to England against Australia. While, given the precarious position which Australia occupied against Pakistan, this may have surprised some, nothing about Australia ever surprises me. I've written before about how Australian sportsmen are never, ever, beaten, until the contest finishes. Add to that the formidable technical skill and balance of the side which they've taken to the West Indies, and the fact that they're now taking twenty over cricket seriously, and it all adds up to a tough task for England.
The contracted nature of the T20 game means that it has much in common with sports like football and rugby, where the key in tight games is always to start well.
If England can do that they may be okay, but, if not, a hard afternoon beckons.
4.5.10
Innovation
Within 'traditional' cricket circles (and those are probably more firmly established in England than in most other parts of the cricketing globe) it's still fashionable to express one's dislike of Twenty20 cricket. If you take your place among a group of members at a County Championship match and say that you 'hate Twenty20' nobody will think you strange and most of the people within earshot will wholeheartedly agree. For many, who may by now have grudgingly accepted coloured clothing, white balls and floodlights, it's simply that the excess embellishments - the music, the dancers, the sponsored six-hits and time-outs - are too much to take, and I have some sympathy with that view. But for anyone who takes the narrow-minded view that these things simply render the game worthless, I have no time.
It now seems almost trite to suggest that T20 has encouraged innovation, but it's undeniably true, even if it's only been the acceleration of a process which had begun elsewhere. To see Eoin Morgan reversing his hands and scooping the ball over the infield in a way that demands ingenuity, reflexes, strength, timing and confidence is to see a game which, unlike virtually any other ball game you can name, is evolving in a fundamental, technical way, as opposed to just a tactical one.
When did someone last invent a completely new stroke in tennis, or a different way of passing the ball in rugby, or a new way of kicking a football? In those sports you have what you have, and, however good you are, you largely have to work within an established framework. Modern cricket is different.
England didn't deserve to lose yesterday, but those of us in a position to watch someone as gifted and groundbreaking as England's young Irishman are all winners.
It now seems almost trite to suggest that T20 has encouraged innovation, but it's undeniably true, even if it's only been the acceleration of a process which had begun elsewhere. To see Eoin Morgan reversing his hands and scooping the ball over the infield in a way that demands ingenuity, reflexes, strength, timing and confidence is to see a game which, unlike virtually any other ball game you can name, is evolving in a fundamental, technical way, as opposed to just a tactical one.
When did someone last invent a completely new stroke in tennis, or a different way of passing the ball in rugby, or a new way of kicking a football? In those sports you have what you have, and, however good you are, you largely have to work within an established framework. Modern cricket is different.
England didn't deserve to lose yesterday, but those of us in a position to watch someone as gifted and groundbreaking as England's young Irishman are all winners.
2.5.10
Truly Remarkable
In their first crack at cricket's first world Afghanistan came off a comfortable second best, but the fact that they looked largely out of their depth was as irrelevant as it was unsurprising.
The simple fact of their being there is as remarkable a sports story as has been seen in many a long year.
Enjoy.
The simple fact of their being there is as remarkable a sports story as has been seen in many a long year.
Enjoy.
29.4.10
Balancing Lives
As usual, there's been some great stuff in the cricket pages of The Guardian over the past few days. I particularly enjoyed Donald McRae's interview with Claire Taylor, especially her reflections on the trials and tribulations of balancing her career as a cricketer with a life that has inevitably been more complex, crowded and compromised than that of most male sportsmen of similar stature.
It leaves you wondering how the average male cricketer of even county standard, let alone Taylor's world-class, would be able to cope with an income so tiny that it meant that he had to live with his parents in his late twenties. Not well, I suspect.
With all this said, the almost touching modesty, magnanimity and balance of Taylor's closing words give a further clue as to the reasons why she's been so successful:
"If you look at the men, you have to acknowledge that they have come through as the best of 400 professional cricketers in this country. Their evolution into Test players is so different from ours. In the women's game if you're a good 17-year-old you can be picked for England. So you don't go through the same process as the men and perhaps there is a correlation between that and what they earn.
"But I don't play cricket for money. I play to be the best I can be and because it's a brilliant game. It's a game for everyone."
It leaves you wondering how the average male cricketer of even county standard, let alone Taylor's world-class, would be able to cope with an income so tiny that it meant that he had to live with his parents in his late twenties. Not well, I suspect.
With all this said, the almost touching modesty, magnanimity and balance of Taylor's closing words give a further clue as to the reasons why she's been so successful:
"If you look at the men, you have to acknowledge that they have come through as the best of 400 professional cricketers in this country. Their evolution into Test players is so different from ours. In the women's game if you're a good 17-year-old you can be picked for England. So you don't go through the same process as the men and perhaps there is a correlation between that and what they earn.
"But I don't play cricket for money. I play to be the best I can be and because it's a brilliant game. It's a game for everyone."
26.4.10
A Game of Contrasts
A Sunday afternoon in England with a decent TV and a functioning remote control was - in the absence of a ticket to the games and the means to be in two very remote places at once - as good a way to chart the diversification of the game as any.
On ITV 4 you had the IPL final from Mumbai - a riot of noise, colour and atmosphere, a floodlit stadium packed to the rafters and the Chennai Super Kings deservedly winning the third IPL title.
On Sky Sports 2 it was Worcestershire at home to Sussex in the new 'Clydesdale Bank 40' - a few hundred people, some hazy early season sunshine, and Worcestershire sliding to defeat in front of the most beautiful backdrop in English first-class cricket.
I know and love cricket at Worcester, but the IPL final was a compelling visual and sensory spectacle, which, for all its air of calm and the annual re-emergence of a timeless ritual, an early season game in England simply couldn't match. Unfortunately the transmission of the game also had too many adverts and the intensely irritating commentary of Danny Morrison, so that when it all became too much (every five minutes or so) it was necessary to take refuge in the more reserved ruminations of Nick Knight and Paul Allott.
For the third year running I've seen hardly any of the IPL, so most of this was new to me. It strikes me that you're better off being there, as you stand a reasonable chance of watching the game without being interrupted, just as long as Danny Morrison isn't sitting next to you.
County one-day cricket has its virtues but it has a bit less of everything. Fewer games, fewer spectators, less money, less colour, less interest.
Oh, and probably less corruption too.
On ITV 4 you had the IPL final from Mumbai - a riot of noise, colour and atmosphere, a floodlit stadium packed to the rafters and the Chennai Super Kings deservedly winning the third IPL title.
On Sky Sports 2 it was Worcestershire at home to Sussex in the new 'Clydesdale Bank 40' - a few hundred people, some hazy early season sunshine, and Worcestershire sliding to defeat in front of the most beautiful backdrop in English first-class cricket.
I know and love cricket at Worcester, but the IPL final was a compelling visual and sensory spectacle, which, for all its air of calm and the annual re-emergence of a timeless ritual, an early season game in England simply couldn't match. Unfortunately the transmission of the game also had too many adverts and the intensely irritating commentary of Danny Morrison, so that when it all became too much (every five minutes or so) it was necessary to take refuge in the more reserved ruminations of Nick Knight and Paul Allott.
For the third year running I've seen hardly any of the IPL, so most of this was new to me. It strikes me that you're better off being there, as you stand a reasonable chance of watching the game without being interrupted, just as long as Danny Morrison isn't sitting next to you.
County one-day cricket has its virtues but it has a bit less of everything. Fewer games, fewer spectators, less money, less colour, less interest.
Oh, and probably less corruption too.
17.4.10
New Kid on the Blog
Enjoying a welcome Saturday afternoon at home - for once away from work and the lure of the rugby touchline - I decided it was time to undertake a bit of housekeeping.
The main result of this is that there's a new blog on my blogroll.
Down at Third Man has the look of something excellent, which could run and run.
I hope it does.
The main result of this is that there's a new blog on my blogroll.
Down at Third Man has the look of something excellent, which could run and run.
I hope it does.
13.4.10
Few Tears Shed
There was a time when Surrey were the team which set the standards in county cricket. Not just in the 1950s, when they were the most potent team the championship has ever seen, but, more recently, in the era of Stewart, Thorpe, Butcher, Lewis, the Bicknells, the Hollioakes and Saqlain Mushtaq, when they won plenty of games but few friends.
Now, though, things are different. As a general rule, if Derbyshire thrash you at home, you are really struggling.
This, though, is the reality of life for Surrey as the 2010 season begins - some decent signings, the greatest English batsman since who knows when, but a 22 year-old greenhorn as skipper and a team that looks very far from being the sum of its parts. With Ramprakash failing to score in the second innings and Derbyshire's brilliant Australian accumulator Chris Rogers piling up the runs at the other end, Surrey's hopes of a successful start to the season rapidly disappeared into the deep blue ether over The Oval.
Chris Adams will ponder and fulminate, and, in all probability, they'll start to get it right before the season's over.
But, outside their own membership, few tears will be shed.
Now, though, things are different. As a general rule, if Derbyshire thrash you at home, you are really struggling.
This, though, is the reality of life for Surrey as the 2010 season begins - some decent signings, the greatest English batsman since who knows when, but a 22 year-old greenhorn as skipper and a team that looks very far from being the sum of its parts. With Ramprakash failing to score in the second innings and Derbyshire's brilliant Australian accumulator Chris Rogers piling up the runs at the other end, Surrey's hopes of a successful start to the season rapidly disappeared into the deep blue ether over The Oval.
Chris Adams will ponder and fulminate, and, in all probability, they'll start to get it right before the season's over.
But, outside their own membership, few tears will be shed.
6.4.10
Playing Long
I never saw Sir Alec Bedser bowl. He retired from first-class cricket more than five years before I was born, and, by then, his outstanding Test career was a distant memory. I only remember him as a somewhat curmudgeonly chairman of the England selectors, making it known after Ian Botham resigned the England captaincy in the early summer of 1981 that he would have been sacked anyway, and unwittingly laying the ground for some of the most inspirational individual performances in Test history.
But his passing matters to me because of what it says about what English cricket was and what it has lost. Bedser was a product of an era before limited-over cricket - even of the 65, 60 or 55 over variety, let alone 20 - had been introduced to the professional game. The only way to play was to play long, three or five days, engaging the physique and the brain against the best the opposition had to offer. And the mature Bedser was a key player both in the greatest domestic team English cricket has known and in the England side which came closest to dominating the cricket world in the way we have since seen other teams - from the Caribbean and from Australia - do.
Bedser embodied, as few alive still can, an era when the game was far more central to the English way of life than it is now, or ever will be again. A time when England produced truly great cricketers, and truly great teams.
Of course, much of the change which cricket has gone through, and is still undergoing, has, for all its artifice and embellishment, been vital in widening the game's appeal. A modern sport cannot exist forever in the sepia-tinged glow of elderly men's memories.
But they'll do for now.
But his passing matters to me because of what it says about what English cricket was and what it has lost. Bedser was a product of an era before limited-over cricket - even of the 65, 60 or 55 over variety, let alone 20 - had been introduced to the professional game. The only way to play was to play long, three or five days, engaging the physique and the brain against the best the opposition had to offer. And the mature Bedser was a key player both in the greatest domestic team English cricket has known and in the England side which came closest to dominating the cricket world in the way we have since seen other teams - from the Caribbean and from Australia - do.
Bedser embodied, as few alive still can, an era when the game was far more central to the English way of life than it is now, or ever will be again. A time when England produced truly great cricketers, and truly great teams.
Of course, much of the change which cricket has gone through, and is still undergoing, has, for all its artifice and embellishment, been vital in widening the game's appeal. A modern sport cannot exist forever in the sepia-tinged glow of elderly men's memories.
But they'll do for now.
29.3.10
Up for Grabs
Various people seem to be getting uptight about the fact that the opening match of the English cricket season is taking place in Abu Dhabi. I can't say I'm hugely bothered, especially as the weather round here today is about as far from suitable for cricket as you can get.
The last time I watched cricket in April, let alone March, I went down with a mild case of hypothermia, so the idea of playing it somewhere warmer appeals, but then I wasn't going to go to the game anyway.
If I was one of those loyalists who regularly attends the season opener at Lord's I've no doubt I'd think differently, as I certainly do about the crackpot suggestion apparently being made last week by the new bloke in charge of the PCA (can't remember the name) that several rounds of the championship could be played abroad each season.
But then most aspects of the English first-class season suddenly seem to be up for grabs and open to question, with some others apparently seriously considering abandoning the two division championship in favour of three randomly drawn conferences, an idea which sounded dreadful and pointless when Lord MacLaurin was peddling it about thirteen years ago and which hasn't improved.
David Hopps of The Guardian has set up a Facebook page opposing the idea. I'm not sure how much good it'll do but it's the first Facebook page I've ever signed up to.
The last time I watched cricket in April, let alone March, I went down with a mild case of hypothermia, so the idea of playing it somewhere warmer appeals, but then I wasn't going to go to the game anyway.
If I was one of those loyalists who regularly attends the season opener at Lord's I've no doubt I'd think differently, as I certainly do about the crackpot suggestion apparently being made last week by the new bloke in charge of the PCA (can't remember the name) that several rounds of the championship could be played abroad each season.
But then most aspects of the English first-class season suddenly seem to be up for grabs and open to question, with some others apparently seriously considering abandoning the two division championship in favour of three randomly drawn conferences, an idea which sounded dreadful and pointless when Lord MacLaurin was peddling it about thirteen years ago and which hasn't improved.
David Hopps of The Guardian has set up a Facebook page opposing the idea. I'm not sure how much good it'll do but it's the first Facebook page I've ever signed up to.
25.3.10
Exchanging Congratulations
As the congratulations were exchanged and the hands shaken at the end of the Mirpur Test, one's thoughts inevitably drifted to those of the players. Michael Carberry, who looked happy but perhaps a little wistful, will have known that there's a good chance that his Test career has ended almost as soon as it began, while James Tredwell, well though he acquitted himself over the five days, will have known that it might be a long time before he's seen again in England whites. A few romantics may talk about England playing two specialist spinners, but when apart from in the sub-continent (and then rarely) is it ever going to happen? Barring a serious loss of form in all areas, Graeme Swann is destined to remain England's sole spinner for the foreseeable future.
Tim Bresnan's sentiments will have been different. A big bear of a Yorkshire lad with a winning smile and an instinctively confident attitude, he looked, with his ability to extract occasional but potent bounce and movement from the most soporific of tracks and his uncomplicated batting, like a player who could stay in England's Test match mix for a while. Having troubled the Bangladesh batsmen on their own dead surfaces, he's sure to do so in this country, and the fact that Graham Onions' back injury is worse than first thought may mean that he gets a chance to do so. For his ability to look as though he was enjoying the hard work and for maintaining his equanimity in a way that the increasingly annoying Stuart Broad would do well to copy, you don't need to look far beyond him as the quiet success of the trip.
The batting was as good as it needed to be. Cook was outstanding and KP showed that rumours of his demise (so persistent that I stupidly started to believe them myself) were greatly exaggerated. Trott, as The Old Batsman writes, is a potential complication, but an interesting one. With his obvious mental resilience he has a good base on which to build; his Warwickshire colleague Ian Bell should now go from strength to strength (although I've said that before).
Bangladesh, though much improved, are still weak, but with the heat and the dust it's a tough tour. Whatever the deficiencies of their tactics and the limits of their ambition, England deserve credit for emerging unscathed and remaining the only major country that's yet to lose to Bangladesh in any form of the game.
And, for that, Eoin Morgan, currently engaged on IPL business, must be thanked.
Tim Bresnan's sentiments will have been different. A big bear of a Yorkshire lad with a winning smile and an instinctively confident attitude, he looked, with his ability to extract occasional but potent bounce and movement from the most soporific of tracks and his uncomplicated batting, like a player who could stay in England's Test match mix for a while. Having troubled the Bangladesh batsmen on their own dead surfaces, he's sure to do so in this country, and the fact that Graham Onions' back injury is worse than first thought may mean that he gets a chance to do so. For his ability to look as though he was enjoying the hard work and for maintaining his equanimity in a way that the increasingly annoying Stuart Broad would do well to copy, you don't need to look far beyond him as the quiet success of the trip.
The batting was as good as it needed to be. Cook was outstanding and KP showed that rumours of his demise (so persistent that I stupidly started to believe them myself) were greatly exaggerated. Trott, as The Old Batsman writes, is a potential complication, but an interesting one. With his obvious mental resilience he has a good base on which to build; his Warwickshire colleague Ian Bell should now go from strength to strength (although I've said that before).
Bangladesh, though much improved, are still weak, but with the heat and the dust it's a tough tour. Whatever the deficiencies of their tactics and the limits of their ambition, England deserve credit for emerging unscathed and remaining the only major country that's yet to lose to Bangladesh in any form of the game.
And, for that, Eoin Morgan, currently engaged on IPL business, must be thanked.
22.3.10
Player Development
Tamim Iqbal has possibly been Bangladesh's most impressive player during their short series with England. This typically excellent piece by Andrew Miller offers plenty of clues as to the reasons for his success.
Talent, of course, but an obvious level of self-awareness, confidence and ambition which sets him apart from many of his colleagues.
With his imposing presence and natural power, it's easy to forget that he only reached his twenty-first birthday a couple of days ago. It's going to be very interesting to watch him develop over the next few years.
Talent, of course, but an obvious level of self-awareness, confidence and ambition which sets him apart from many of his colleagues.
With his imposing presence and natural power, it's easy to forget that he only reached his twenty-first birthday a couple of days ago. It's going to be very interesting to watch him develop over the next few years.
14.3.10
Mad Bob
One of the most priceless aspects of Sky Sports' coverage of Test cricket is the increasingly eccentric and amusing contributions of Bob Willis.
He has always seemed to me to be the most boring (and bored) commentator in history, and his appearances behind the microphone have become rarer in recent years as Sky have correctly judged that his mad genius flowers best in a studio environment.
Now, though, with the likes of Hussain and Gower opting out of the Bangladesh trip, he's back in the box, this morning's signature contribution being a classic rant about England players failing to tuck their shirts in. Even though the mikes were down it was easily possible to discern Mike Atherton collapsing into the fit of uncontrollable laughter which was the only credible response.
Later on I came back into the room to find him moaning about the fact that batsmen weren't required to 'save the game with the ball' when the likes of Graham Onions had to do so with the bat.
Twas ever thus, Bob.
He has always seemed to me to be the most boring (and bored) commentator in history, and his appearances behind the microphone have become rarer in recent years as Sky have correctly judged that his mad genius flowers best in a studio environment.
Now, though, with the likes of Hussain and Gower opting out of the Bangladesh trip, he's back in the box, this morning's signature contribution being a classic rant about England players failing to tuck their shirts in. Even though the mikes were down it was easily possible to discern Mike Atherton collapsing into the fit of uncontrollable laughter which was the only credible response.
Later on I came back into the room to find him moaning about the fact that batsmen weren't required to 'save the game with the ball' when the likes of Graham Onions had to do so with the bat.
Twas ever thus, Bob.
Caution
While I don't think I was completely wrong to write of Bangladesh's relative improvement, they haven't looked particularly strong opponents over the last three days. Their bowling lacks penetration, their fielding has often been poor and their batting has been variable. Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim have shown decent technique and more than a little class with the bat, but others in the top order have looked ill-equipped to deal with the England seam attack, especially when Stuart Broad pitched the ball short.
For this reason, England's tactics have looked over-conservative in the extreme, playing just four genuine bowlers and failing to enforce the follow-on this morning, something which condemned the game to a prolonged period of stagnation. It would have been far better for them to emphasize their superior class by putting Bangladesh in again, but their approach has been at one with the over-prepared caution which seems standard fare in modern Test cricket.
Cook's batting was a lot more impressive, his authoritative and entertaining hundred confirming his return to his best form, and Pietersen has also showed that he's close to being back in the groove. It was only a matter of time, and it may be that my own judgement was as cautious and orthodox as England's when I started to question his confidence.
We've also seen one of the most impressive pieces of ground fielding by an England player for many a year. Whatever the duration of his career in Test cricket - and it may well be a short one - Michael Carberry has at least made a lasting impression in an area of the game in which he really excels.
For this reason, England's tactics have looked over-conservative in the extreme, playing just four genuine bowlers and failing to enforce the follow-on this morning, something which condemned the game to a prolonged period of stagnation. It would have been far better for them to emphasize their superior class by putting Bangladesh in again, but their approach has been at one with the over-prepared caution which seems standard fare in modern Test cricket.
Cook's batting was a lot more impressive, his authoritative and entertaining hundred confirming his return to his best form, and Pietersen has also showed that he's close to being back in the groove. It was only a matter of time, and it may be that my own judgement was as cautious and orthodox as England's when I started to question his confidence.
We've also seen one of the most impressive pieces of ground fielding by an England player for many a year. Whatever the duration of his career in Test cricket - and it may well be a short one - Michael Carberry has at least made a lasting impression in an area of the game in which he really excels.
11.3.10
Certainty Falls
Slumps in form have been around for as long as people have been batting. Better players than Kevin Pietersen have endured longer spells in the batting doldrums and come back stronger.
Fundamentally I still believe that the old saying about form being temporary but class permanent applies, but it increasingly seems as though people are concerned about KP. Obviously the mainstream media are, as they love sudden and unexpected falls from grace (especially when they involve the sort of person he is perceived to be), but I get the feeling that an increasing number of those who once felt he could do no wrong - including, perhaps, himself - are starting to wonder what's happened.
A lot of people who you come across on the county circuit in England have never liked him. Too cocky, too unorthodox, too South African, too great a contrast with the default English setting of self-effacing underachievement to ever be truly embraced. Others, myself included, only saw a brilliant batsman, whose spikiness and unorthodoxy made him what he was. And we didn't make the qualification rules.
Now things seem different. All batsmen are diminished by lack of runs, but players like Pietersen, who exist in their own minds to innovate and dominate, are diminished more than most. Every time he gets out to a modest bowler (that is, to him, almost any bowler) you can almost hear him thinking 'This is wrong. This isn't what I do'. Now, though, it is.
Pietersen may have reached the point where his self-certainty, once so apparently impregnable and his strongest suit, has started to weaken. And that, for a player with his level of conceit, is a confusing and dangerous space to occupy.
In a series that may have been felt to lack sub-plots, the contest between Pietersen and the Bangladesh spinners will be compelling.
Fundamentally I still believe that the old saying about form being temporary but class permanent applies, but it increasingly seems as though people are concerned about KP. Obviously the mainstream media are, as they love sudden and unexpected falls from grace (especially when they involve the sort of person he is perceived to be), but I get the feeling that an increasing number of those who once felt he could do no wrong - including, perhaps, himself - are starting to wonder what's happened.
A lot of people who you come across on the county circuit in England have never liked him. Too cocky, too unorthodox, too South African, too great a contrast with the default English setting of self-effacing underachievement to ever be truly embraced. Others, myself included, only saw a brilliant batsman, whose spikiness and unorthodoxy made him what he was. And we didn't make the qualification rules.
Now things seem different. All batsmen are diminished by lack of runs, but players like Pietersen, who exist in their own minds to innovate and dominate, are diminished more than most. Every time he gets out to a modest bowler (that is, to him, almost any bowler) you can almost hear him thinking 'This is wrong. This isn't what I do'. Now, though, it is.
Pietersen may have reached the point where his self-certainty, once so apparently impregnable and his strongest suit, has started to weaken. And that, for a player with his level of conceit, is a confusing and dangerous space to occupy.
In a series that may have been felt to lack sub-plots, the contest between Pietersen and the Bangladesh spinners will be compelling.
7.3.10
Life Below Stairs
Life at the bottom of world cricket's pile is tough and unforgiving. Players come and go, results mostly comprise a depressing mixture of defeats and the odd draw. The world's media are at best patronising, at worst damning.
This is what life has been like for Bangladesh ever since it became a Test playing nation almost ten years ago. A relentless but always cheerful and committed struggle, consistent failure punctuated with brief shafts of glory, as at Cardiff, June 2005.
The signs now are slightly better; a Test series has been won, and recent opportunities to beat England for the first time have been missed through a combination of opponents' brilliance and their own naivete. An outstanding player, Shakib Al Hasan, has been found, and the rest of the side is predominantly young, talented and optimistic.
For Zimbabwe's players things have been slightly different. For well-documented reasons they have usually been the recipients of sympathy rather than criticism; for the same reasons they haven't spent the same amount of time in the firing line as their Bangladeshi counterparts. Their recent victories in the Caribbean have signalled the possibility of a return to credibility, even if the great days of the past - of the Flowers, of Goodwin, of Johnson, of Streak, of Olonga - are gone for ever.
In small ways, things are looking up for both Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
Unfortunately they can't play the West indies every week.
This is what life has been like for Bangladesh ever since it became a Test playing nation almost ten years ago. A relentless but always cheerful and committed struggle, consistent failure punctuated with brief shafts of glory, as at Cardiff, June 2005.
The signs now are slightly better; a Test series has been won, and recent opportunities to beat England for the first time have been missed through a combination of opponents' brilliance and their own naivete. An outstanding player, Shakib Al Hasan, has been found, and the rest of the side is predominantly young, talented and optimistic.
For Zimbabwe's players things have been slightly different. For well-documented reasons they have usually been the recipients of sympathy rather than criticism; for the same reasons they haven't spent the same amount of time in the firing line as their Bangladeshi counterparts. Their recent victories in the Caribbean have signalled the possibility of a return to credibility, even if the great days of the past - of the Flowers, of Goodwin, of Johnson, of Streak, of Olonga - are gone for ever.
In small ways, things are looking up for both Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
Unfortunately they can't play the West indies every week.
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