Reverse Swing

England have picked Chris Read instead of Geraint Jones – something that most England supporters have been urging them to do. With Jones finger injury they did have the opportunity of a cop-out, saying that his omission was down to injury rather than poor batting form. But they went head-on, with Graveney giving the reason:

“The key factor for the selectors was his form with the bat and we believe that he will benefit from having a break from international cricket and spending more time in the middle with his county.”

It’s been reported that Duncan Fletcher hasn’t joined in with Bob Woolmer’s fulsome praise of Monty Panesar. The way it’s been told is that Fletcher doesn’t think Panesar is that good. But what did the England coach actually say?

“A lot depends on what wickets we play on,” he said. “If we play on greentops will we need him? You have to look at the balance of the side and we need to see Monty bowl on wickets that don’t help him as much.”

“I have slight reservations about his batting and fielding but he is an outstanding bowler who is doing a job for us because there is no one else at the moment who can fill that role.”

Among the reservations you’ll have noticed that the quote does include the words “outstanding bowler.” All Fletcher is doing is taking the pressure off his star-find spinner by deflecting the media attention towards his own curmudgeonly public persona rather than overburdening Panesar with more words of praise. Fletcher is delighted with his find, but it’s important to come with the public words that help his players rather than make those thta make their jobs more difficult.

PICT1797

Originally uploaded by cyberdees.

Npower girl dressed up.

Shimla – Synthesis

Originally uploaded by KennethMoyle.

Ghandi and cricket juxtaposition

Good to see a fast wicket in England that gives fast bowlers and spinners an incentive. England’s bowlers made better use of it, but for reasons of comparison as well as spectacle  I would have liked to have seen Shoaib Akhtar on there – as would the Pakistani supporters I’m sure.

Monty Panesar is cemented in the team by his boots. He offers all that Giles ever did as a defensive bowler and more attacking options. He’s in, there’s a shift that’s taken place, similar to the move on in the batting – see below – and there’s no going back.

Cook is a fixture – his steady accumulation is something that England have lacked since the departure of Thorpe, and provides a steadying contrast to the top-order strokemakers. Fit Vaughan or not – leave Cook out at your peril. This is another move on.

Collingwood and Bell have established their credentials as test match batsmen. The return of Flintoff  will challenge their places in the team, but  the recent run of injuries confirms the need for  a pool of bastmen with test-hardened experience.

In the background to the Old Trafford test the match in Colombo lurked. The record-breaking stand between Sangakarra and Jayawardene provides some comforting retrospective context for England’s struggle in the latter past of the test series against Sri Lanka. The hammering of South Africa shows that the Sri Lankans are a better team than they looked in the first test at Lords.

Lastly, while it’s good to savour the first test victory for some time  it’s too early for the media  to go  into England triumphant revival mode: the absence of the two key pace bowlers weakened the Pakistani attack, Pakistan will bat with far more resolution in the next two tests, Danish Kaneria will bowl better, and Musthaq Ahmed is ready to play. It’s set up a good series.

Bell and Cook put the squeeze on Pakistan with both players playing some good strokes. If you can get in on this wicket then there’s runs to be made: an observation that will have struck the Pakistani batsmen as they chased around the field today. In the second innings they’re likely to bat with far more resolution, and Inzaman, Yousuf and Younis will all want to remedy the first innings capitulation.

For England Harmison looked afflicted by a side strain. He didn’t want to go off but the physio persuaded him to leave the field. If he’s not 100% then England are down to three frontline bowlers. So despite their lead of 300 odd England are far from home and dry in this match.

The Old Trafford wicket looked ideal for Harmison and his 6 for 18 today was his best performance since 2004 in the West Indies: not just in terms of figures but venom. The short stuff he bowled today,  caused the batsmen discomfiture, and when he pitched it up there was more than one occasion when the batsman was backing away, opting not to get into line. In this kind of form Harmison is world class.
It’s an extraordinary turnaround since Lords and his 10 overs for 97 in the ODI against Sri Lanka. Some of the work he has been doing with Kevin Shine has involved looking at footage of his previous best performances. Let’s hope the bowling coach gets some credit too.

After losing 2 early wickets Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf steered Pakistan to the calmer waters of 90-2. then both got out to not very good shots to Panesar and Harmison in the last 2 overs before lunch.

It’s the kind of thing that England do – working hard then gifting the initiative to the opposition. It’s kind of reassuring when you see other teams do this as well as your own. I know how the Pakistani supporters must feel.

Harmison has got the return for some good bowling this mornng.

Last night after watching the Somerset batting collapse in the pro-40 against Kent on Sky I took a look at the Stanford 20:20 – Barbados v Anguilla.

The first game in an English dusk looked like a subdued pyjama romp in the post-harvest hayfield with the Taunton church spires in the background. The West Indian game looked sc-fi stuff: shiny black bats, silver stumps, ( wood has been dispensed with) black pads with a yellow central stripe, the jerkin Star-Trek style sleeveless tops the players were wearing, the whole thing set off by the night-time backdrop. The lime green graphics on the screen and the clashing green of the umpires polo shirts added another layer on top. Anguilla played a couple of 15 year olds, and one of them Chesney Hughes played some great attacking shots.

What the two games had in common was the crowds, packed houses at both events, once again proving there is a tremendous appetite for a shortened version of the game that fits around work patterns in contrast to the longer format, designed to fit around the dining needs of the Victorian gentry.

In the West Indies v India test series there was hardly anyone there at some of the matches and there’s been quite a lot written on the declining interest in the game in the Caribbean. But what the West Indian 20:20 showed was the enthusiam for this innovation with Stanford moving through the crowd signing autographs, with the two knights, Richards and Sobers, distributing hugs and signatures in his wake.

Dan Cullen’s contract with Somerset has been cancelled by mutual consent. This comes from the Somerset official site.

It comes as no great surprise as his involvement with the Australian A squad has disrupted the second half of his county season, and even if he did return for the odd game there would be little continuity with only his air miles account reaping any benefit.

I don’t think he’s given an interview in the last couple of days but I’d be interested in knowing more about his brief time with Somerset and how he found it. From the little I saw of him he struck me as an interesting character with the spikey hair and cut-off sleeves. He had an astonishing record in the Pura cup last year , and he’s clearly going to be a great bowler, but at Somerset, with the exceptionof a 5-fer at Northants he probably didn’t do that much. You sense as well that it’s unlikely he will return, so you’re left wondering what happened and what was the story of his early summer in the county championship.