In the latest world rankings, released after the Joburg and Hobart Tests, England are without a single batsman in the top 20 for the first time, by my reckoning, since 2002.

Andrew Strauss has slipped seven places over the course of the series with South Africa to No 21 and Kevin Pietersen’s fall has been sharper: down from No 4 at the start of the year to No 26 now.

Pietersen has fallen behind Paul Collingwood (up to No 22 despite not scoring a hundred in his past 11 Tests) and he is only one bad innings away from falling to England’s fourth best batsman with Alastair Cook in 28th place.

Heck, by the end of the Bangladesh tour, Pietersen could even have slipped behind Ian Bell, who is at No 32 and rising.

Four, or even five, batsmen in the top 30 isn’t in itself a bad thing. We’ve had as few as three in recent memory - and no more than six. Sri Lanka and Australia have only four each at the moment. South Africa have five and India have six, but England have two more than New Zealand or Pakistan and one more than the Windies.

That reflects our overall world Test ranking of fifth. The problem is the lack of one or two superstars. Depth is one thing, class is another. There are six different nations represented in the present top ten and England’s finest is 11 places outside that list.

This may be only temporary - Strauss could slip back into the top 20 next week if VVS Laxman (No 17) pays for a poor match against Bangladesh - but it has been a long time since we were without any top 20 representative. Pietersen had been in the top 20 since 2006 and was as high as No 3; before him there was a Trescothick or a Vaughan to fly the flag and, apart from a slump in 2000 and a brief dip in 2002, Graham Thorpe was in the top 20 between 1995 and 2003.

Before him, Mike Atherton and Alec Stewart were regulars in the top ten - and briefly, in 1992, we even had the No 1 and 2 batsmen in the world, in Graham Gooch and Robin Smith. Read more…

Administrator Views Alastair Cook, Alec Stewart, Andrew Strauss, Bangladesh, England, Hobart, Ian Bell, Joburg, Mike Atherton, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paul Collingwood, Pietersen, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thorpe

South Africa coach Mickey Arthur has yet to be convinced by the controversial Umpire Decision Review System, admitting he has ‘misgivings’ over its application.

The newly-adopted system was at the centre of a handful of flashpoints during England’s tour to South Africa - with TV umpire Daryl Harper criticised for his review decisions and the length of time taken to decide.

And Arthur, an early champion of the review policy, concedes he has yet to be convinced by the UDRS in its current form.

Arthur told the The Wisden Cricketer magazine: “I was always in favour of the UDRS but now that we have seen the system in operation for a decent period of time, I have mixed feelings.

“Incorrect umpiring decisions can affect the results of matches and also players’ careers so I felt that anything that could bring more correct decisions had to be good for the game.

“The system is definitely more good than bad but I do have some misgivings. We have to standardise the use of the UDRS across the world by using all the tools available. If ‘Hot Spot’ and ‘Snicko’ are used in one series but not another then the system is half-baked.”

Arthur has also raised questions over the fallibility of Hawk-Eye, suggesting the predictive system has yet to win over all cricket professionals.

“I’m not 100% convinced about the predictive element of Hawk-Eye and I don’t think many players are either.

“The other issue that needs to be clarified is the amount of time taken to decide whether to call for a review. I understand that in Australia it has been 10 seconds.

“In our series against England we were given 25. I think it’s fair to say that both Read more…

Administrator South Africa, Views Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Daryl Harper, David Richardson, England, Hawk-Eye, ICC, Mickey Arthur, South Africa, UDRS

As always, the Test XI of 2009 will be a major talking point as the merits of those who made the side and those left out are debated.

Choosing a Test team of the year can be hazardous. So far no lives have been lost, though it was a close run thing last year after Sachin Tendulkar was omitted. No amount of sweet words could convince offended parties that selection had been based on 12 months and not an entire career. In hindsight the criteria may have become too cut and dried, allowing the inclusion of one-year wonders. Accordingly, an adjustment has been made.

Only those performing well in 2009 have been considered but thereafter heed has been taken of records. Alas that has meant the exclusion of Thilan Samaraweera, the most productive batsman of the year (1234 runs at 72.6) and a miracle worker. It’s not so long ago that he was shot and almost killed when terrorists attacked the Sri Lankan bus. As usual, though, the side has been selected to win cricket matches, not as a slap on the back.

More than ever it is necessary to look beyond the statistics. Averages have been distorted this year by the free-scoring series between Sri Lankan and India. Four of the five highest scorers of the campaign are Sri Lankan. The Indian top order averaged variously 90, 70, 87, 67, 67 and 92.

They cannot all play. Even to concentrate on them means forgetting about Ross Taylor, Graeme Smith, Younus Khan, Chris Gayle, Michael Clarke, Jacques Kallis and so forth. As it happens, none of them made the cut anyhow, but all deserved consideration. Anyhow, here goes!

1 Virender Sehwag
Impossible to omit provided he has a presentable season. His ability to take attacks apart and to sustain his domination sets him apart. Sehwag is a great batsman and among the most devastating openers the game has known. His defence is immaculate and mostly mothballed as he plays his full range of shots from the first over. Impudent but rarely imprudent, his madness conceals a shrewd cricketing brain.

2 Andrew Strauss
Pipped higher scorers like Gautam Gambhir and Tillakaratne Dilshan due to the part he played in recovering the Ashes. Simply, he was the most influential batsman in a tight series. Read more…

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Sometimes we focus so much on what is wrong with Test cricket that it is easy to forget the joy it continues to provide, never more so than in this particularly frenzied period of Tests.

The recent series between India and Sri Lanka may have been too batsman-friendly but it provided some extraordinary passages of play. Who could not have wished to see Virender Sehwag’s assault in the third Test, elegant and brutal in equal measure? For Sri Lanka, Tillakaratne Dilshan’s innings were also moments when you had to bin ideas of work and focus on some ball-by-ball Test cricket. There were personal narratives too – Sreesanth, suddenly the grounded, almost geeky bowler of immaculate line and length, Murali suddenly lacking in fizz and accuracy. And Angelo Mathews – doing an Atherton when on 99 and in sight of his first Test hundred.

The Ahmedabad pitch immediately came under fire in the first Test of that series and rightly so: it failed to offer the bowlers enough on day five. But up until that point it was a good, subcontinental Test match. India will not provide the seamer-friendly conditions found elsewhere but that is the appeal of Test cricket around the world – players must adapt to different conditions and this brings a rich variety to the cricket.

Over in Australia, the prospect of a series against West Indies underwhelmed the local media, but there were things to admire about the visitors even in that first Test drubbing: Kemar Roach bowling at 150kmh, and pitching the ball up admirably (as he has done all series); Adrian Barath, a 19-year-old debutant, making an attacking hundred in the second-innings and scoring half of his side’s runs.

In the second Test the West Indies would hold the upperhand throughout. Chris Gayle, who apparently has no time for defensive shots or for Test cricket, played with fascinating constraint to set up possible victory and Dwayne Bravo, outstanding in both disciplines throughout the Test, nearly conjured a win on the final day.

The New Zealand-Pakistan series is the ace in the pack. Two sides entirely uncertain of themselves and bowler-friendly conditions have produced tumbling wickets and Read more…

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Almost un-noticed, Paul Harris has sneaked his way into the world’s top ten in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers. Helped by his match figures of nine for 161 against Australia at Cape Town this March, he now sits pretty on 669 points – the highest-rated left-arm spinner in the world. He was even higher in May of this year – peaking at seventh place before the resurgence of Mohammad Asif and Shane Bond in the recent series in New Zealand. A veteran of only 24 Tests since his debut in January 2007, he has so far taken 71 wickets, so is still qualifying for a “full” rating.

South Africa has hardly been a hot-bed of spinning talent since their return to the international cricketing fold in 1991. In fact, over that period of time, just 15% of all the Test wickets taken by their bowlers have gone to spinners. In contrast, over the same period of time, spinners for the other Test playing nations have taken 34% of their total wickets – more than twice as many. This is partly due to the lack of high-quality spinners in South Africa, but also due to the exceptionally high standard of the pace-bowling in that country. Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock and Dale Steyn have all spent time at the top of the bowling tree in recent years, Makhaya Ntini reached number 2 and Jacques Kallis and Andre Nel both featured in the world’s top ten at various stages of their careers.

The pickings have been slimmer slow-bowling-wise. In fact, Harris is the first South African spinner to reach the top twenty – let alone the top ten – since their re-admission. Paul Adams and Nicky Boje both played more than forty Tests and took more than a hundred wickets each, but never made a big impact on the rankings. Adams peaked at 588 points and 23rd position while Boje managed 545 points and 22nd position. So – if Harris is unchallenged as the top achieving South African tweaker in recent years, if we push the boundaries back, how does he stack up historically with his fellow countrymen?

Six bowlers from the Rainbow Nation have topped the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers – the three mentioned above plus Peter Pollock, Aubrey Faulkner (who uniquely topped the batting Rankings too!) and Hugh Tayfield . Tayfield first achieved top spot after the 1955 Oval Test in which he took 8 wickets, and really made his name by bowling a record 137 dot balls in a row to the England batsmen in the Durban Test of January 1957. He ended Read more…

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The transition has been so swift there’s hardly been enough time for fans to make the adjustment, forget about the players. From the sedate pace of the Test series – and even here Virender Sehwag was marching to a separate tune – the players have swiftly moved to big bash mode.

Watching the first Twenty20 match brought the difference between the formats into sharp focus. Just last week, there was time for India to lay down careful plans and implement them well enough to keep Sri Lanka at bay. Field positioning was deliberate, each bowler had a specific plan and if things didn’t work out there was always the opportunity to try something else.

In the Twenty20 match, however, there was barely time to breathe. It’s not as though the team had fewer plans or that they were any less prepared. But once the action got under way, especially with Kumar Sangakkara getting his act together, there was little India’s bowlers could do. With fielders fetching the ball from all parts, the sight of Mahendra Singh Dhoni trying to marshall his troops amid the carnage brought a stark reminder of why the longer forms are so endearing.

In Tests, and to an extent even 50-over games, the viewer has a chance to get involved in the on-field action, to the extent that he guesses what the bowlers are trying to achieve and how the batsmen attempt to counter this. A viewer has the time and space to wonder what would have happened had something been done differently. In Twenty20s, it’s hard enough trying to keep track of the score, forget about trying to get in the minds of the players.

There seems to be a growing concensus that the shortest version of the game is the best vehicle to attract new fans to the game and expand viewership in existing areas. Not a week Read more…

Administrator Views Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sri Lanka, Twenty20, Virender Sehwag

Mark Benson’s inability to complete the Adelaide Test match – “for a combination of health and pressure problems,” according to David Richardson, the ICC’s general manager – is a reminder of the intense demands placed on the world’s elite umpires.

Benson flew home to England with unusual haste for a man who was said to be unwell. Such a long flight was surely not the best thing for someone with a history of heart problems and apparently suffering from stress after a bad day at the office. Surely better that he lay up in bed in his hotel room or even in hospital.

But then home is place that must hold special appeal for ICC umpires because they are very rarely there. Barred from standing in “home” Test matches for fear that they might be accused of favouring their own nation, they spend an inordinate amount of time in foreign climes.

No wonder they have been haggling with the ICC about their new contracts. No wonder they have just extracted what Richardson concedes are significantly improved terms. Even the cricketers get to play in their own country for decent chunks of time.

But however much umpires are paid, surely it is time for them to be allowed to come home. It is eight years since the elite panel was set up and the decision taken that every Test should be policed by neutral umpires.

It was always the ICC’s intention that this would be only an interim stage during which umpires could establish themselves as truly independent — umpires first and citizens of a particular country second. Once that was felt to have been achieved, a gradual return to umpires Read more…

Administrator Views Aleem Dar, Billy Bowden, Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, David Richardson, ICC, Mark Benson, New Zealand, Pakistan, Perth, Referral system, Sydney, Umpire, Umpires

There has been of late a spirited debate between The Times’s distinguished present and former cricket correspondents about the meaning of the Spirit of the Game. Not surprisingly there has been a divergence of opinion among them. It is a difficult concept to nail down, but none the worse for that.

The point of the Spirit of Cricket is not to override the Laws of the game. It is there to supplement the Laws and assist in their interpretation, application and development by players, officials and administrators. In some instances, it will not be in the Spirit of the Game to rely upon the strict rigour of the law — a formalistic adherence to the letter of the law may result in an injustice being done to an opponent. Players should have regard to this in the way they conduct themselves on the field of play.

The game is heavily institutionalised, with governing bodies, cricket boards, countless committees and members’ clubs. At this level, too, the Spirit of the Game should mandate particular decisions — decisions that are designed to conserve and enhance the best interests of the game. This would include a consideration of the extent to which the traditional structure of cricket is at risk of being changed at the behest of commercial interest designed to produce a soap-opera spectacle rather than the consolidation and maintenance of the essential hallmarks of the game.

The Spirit of Cricket is an attempt to define how the game should be played having regard to its rich history, traditions and practices. “It’s not cricket” has taken on a meaning synonymous with fair play but it has other connotations that relate to the intrinsic nature of the game and that can be applied to other areas of human activity.

That is a significant insight into the perception of what cricket is and how it ought to be played. To many it is a fundamental aspect of its attraction. The Spirit of the Game is an applied concept — it varies from sport to sport in its content and interpretation. But it is nonetheless an essential characteristic of all true sporting activity that should be the very nature of all sports — fair competition, respect for the game, its traditions, practices and for all those who participate in it respecting that spirit. The word “spirit” is key. It connotes more than a formalistic application of laws. It conjures up more than the playing of a game in accordance with its rules. Read more…

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A total of 241 men have taken the gloves in Test Match cricket and 203 in One Day International cricket. Historically it has always proved very difficult to combine both jobs of batting well and keeping wicket. However, a number of players have bucked the trend in these forms of the game and here we pay tribute to them.

The rapid onset of the one-day game in the recent years has persuaded international teams that they need to consider their wicket-keeper more as a front-line batsman, with the admission that they wouldn’t necessarily take the chances that the pure stumpers of old may have done. Long gone are the days of the wicket-keeper hidden away down the batting order in case of emergencies.

One of England’s finest glovemen was Bert Strudwick who played 28 Tests between 1910 and 1926 but ended with a Test batting average of 7.93 and a highest batting rating of just 104. George Duckworth replaced him in the team and held his place for most of the next decade but he ended with an average of 14.62 and a highest rating of 127. Other examples of the ‘all-field, little-bat’ keeper include Ken James (highest rating 41 in 11 Tests), Gil Langley (highest rating 223 in 26 Tests), and Narendra Tamhane (highest rating 251 in 21 Tests).

To illustrate this paradigm change, in the 1980s Test wicket-keepers averaged 23.61 with the bat. In the 1990s it was 27.29 and in the 2000s it had risen to 30.76.

Of course, some have flourished despite keeping wicket for the vast majority of their careers. Andy Flower managed to combine his role as key batsman and wicket-keeper and became the first keeper to reach the number one spot in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen in 2001. He was followed the following year by Adam Gilchrist, who hit 17 Test centuries and single-handedly revolutionised the way wicket-keepers are viewed in the longer format Read more…

Administrator Views Alan Knott, Alec Stewart, Andy Flower, Bert Strudwick, Blogs.CMDN.com, Brad Haddin, Clyde Walcott, Cricket Blogs, England, Gilchrist, ICC, Jamshedpur, Kumar Sangakkara, Mark Boucher, MS Dhoni, Rod Marsh, Tatenda Taibu, Test Cricket, Test match, Wayne James, Zimbabwe

Recently I invented a time machine. I wouldn’t want to bore you with the details, but it involves wormholes and gaffer tape. While I was in the future I had a look at how cricket had changed.

On the field:

72.2 Is this out? Dawson pushed at a straight one and there was a noise as it passed the bat. Wade took the catch and Paul Reiffel has given it out. Dawson asks for the review. After playing and missing Dawson has twisted his bat intentionally to show the Pepsi hot-spot camera that there was no edge, overturning Reiffel’s decision. Reiffel smiles. Dawson retakes his guard. 346/7

In the online press:

Batting guru Tillakaratne Dilshan is now urging young batsmen to practise the technique of Phil Hughes as a way to take away LBW decisions. Hughes’ technique came under fire when he first played international cricket – he now averages 62 in Division One Test Cricket. Dilshan says: “It has been three years since Hughes has been out LBW – the man is the Jackson Pollock of batting. Kids can learn from him.”

From the commentary box:

Kevin: Looks like he wants a change of bats.

Michael: Hill was saying on iboo that he has nine different kind of bats, all weighted and shaped for different batting conditions, and that he uses them in much the way a golfer would.

Andrew: Nine different kinds of blades, but how many bats altogether?

Michael: He has three of each, 27 in total, but Cricket Australia also have two professional bat-makers as part of the team, in case one breaks.

Andrew: In case 26 break.

Kevin: Seems like a waste of kit space, but I suppose players don’t carry their own bags these days.
Read more…

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