Jonathan Up The Creek? Trott On!!

If people think that taking Jonathan Trott out of England’s One Day International side will result in a transformation of England’s fortunes in this form of the game, they’ve clearly not been watching much One Day cricket lately.

Trott scored 98 of England’s 298 runs at Mohali in the 3rd of this 5 match One Day International series against India, yet all I’ve read about since the match is that his place is in jeopardy!

Never mind the fact Alastair Cook fell cheaply again. Never mind “The Next Gilchrist”, Craig Kieswetter can’t get past 30 and keeps dropping sitters. Never mind England are playing 3 seamers on slow, flat wickets and only one front-line spinner. Yup, if Trott was dropped, things would be alright!

For me, Trott is the key man in this One Day side along with Eoin Morgan, who is sorely missed in India by the way.

Morgan can win a game from nowhere, killing opponents in seemingly dominant positions, and you cannot underestimate the loss of a player like that on this tour. India have Dhoni, an equally capable “finisher”, and he has won 2 of the 3 games in this series for India almost single-handedly.

Morgan can attack even when facing spin from both ends, a pre-requisite for excelling on the sub-continent and something all England’s other players struggle to do, even Trott.

But, Trott is so hard to get out. Even Morgan goes cheaply sometimes and in those situations, it’s essential Trott is there, otherwise England’s innings can and usually do fall apart.

If Trott is in, the players at the other end can go for their shots. Pietersen and Patel both filled their boots yesterday, and 298 is actually a decent total. The fact England didn’t defend it isn’t attributable to Trott in my opinion.

England’s fielding has been abject in this series, a surprise given recent high standards, but at the risk of sounding like a broken record, you’re never going to excel in India playing 3 seamers and only 1 decent spinner.

I know it extends the tail, but I honestly think Scott Borthwick needs to play in the last 2 games. England are desperate for more spin options, so why not give Borthwick a go, he has already played international cricket and done well, albeit at T20 level.

I like Ravi Bopara but there is an ongoing debate as to whether he has the stomach for cricket at this level and with a change in fortunes required, perhaps Rav is the man to step aside? his part time medium pacers don’t seem to be fancied by Cook and he just isn’t delivering runs on this tour.

Kieswetter is also a question mark. He looks good in home conditions, but a delicate touch is required on the sub-continent, and I’m not sure Kieswetter possesses one. Ian Bell has to return to the side now, he is too good a player to sit on the margins and, incredibly, bring the drinks out, as he did in the last game. He could replace Kieswetter and Bairstow could keep wicket.

Finally, let’s play a fast bowler who is suited to these conditions. Stuart Meaker is a skiddy bowler who should be able to serve up plenty of yorkers at the death, something amazingly England’s current attack seem incapable of doing, so give him a chance too.

There’s plenty of changes that could and perhaps should be made to this England side to make them more competitive, certainly on the sub-continent anyway, but Trott isn’t one of them.

They’re up the Creek, but Jonathan Trott must stay.

Tom Huelin for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Tom on Twitter @tomhue1

Pom Pom Pom: Every Donkey has a Day !

Mission Accomplished !

Team  India’s graph and my blogging curve seem to be related; though unintentionally. The World Cup victory had left me contented for some time and I wrote on IPL only because it was relaxing to write when you didn’t have to worry about ‘One Team’ you love.

I was disappointed by the defensive Cricket played in West Indies and the whole of England tour was a nightmare to be best forgotten as soon as possible. But somewhere during the series, I had tweeted, “Every dog has a day and today belongs to Pomeranian“.

Their Test series win was comprehensive though too many things went wrong for India. But their ODI win was plain lucky. The arrogance of the Neo-No.1 team was oozing and pouring from every orifice as the humbled Team India’s body language went down to Antarctica.

I stuck to my tweet and was pretty sure Team India will see better days soon. Exactly during the slump of Team India, I too was not able to follow Cricket the way I usually do, thanks to some personal issues apart from a hectic professional life. Hence the posts here dwindled and perhaps saved me from writing much negative about my favorite team.

After having thumped England thoroughly, Team India have vindicated my faith in them and that of millions of fans. All good things will have to come to an end and all bad things too will have to come to an end. Dhoni and his boys are back and they are bleeding blue !

Considering the fact that Team India have Sachin, Viru, Yuvi, Zaheer and Nehra missing from our best possible 11, this win augurs well for the future. Add the first choice replacements like Rohit, Ishant, Sreesanth, Munaf, Vijay, Dinesh Karthik and Badri to the list. And due to form and selection issues, Yusuf Pathan and Bhajji too are not playing. That means this is at best India B-Plus Team, not even India-A !

For all the criticism they faced during the English tour, Team India showed exemplary behavior during the whole tour. We are witnessing how the English players are behaving when the fortune has taken a ‘U’ turn. Dhoni very slyly yet very rightly pointed out during post-match presentation during the second ODI.

There is a huge gulf of class between these two teams. One knows how to behave even when the chips are down. The other is downright arrogant and almost vainglorious. Having criticized Dhoni’s calling Bell decision, I feel the laws of natural forces have caught up with the Poms quite very soon.

Some of the statements by English experts and press during the England tour went like this…

Geoffrey Boycott: “India look a pale shadow of an ordinary team”
Nasser Hussain: “There were a few donkeys out there in the field today…”

Some extremely inconsiderate Indian critics and tweeters have called some of the players in this English team, donkeys. That is unfortunate and totally abusive. Some went to the extent of tweeting, “Some of the English players looked like pale shadows of donkeys out there“

We should respect our guests. “Athithi Devo Bhava” – Treat the guest like God.
So please stop this nonsense now !

Post Script: The animal kingdom isn’t very proud to be associated with the English Team that has turned out in this series so far ! And the hardworking and efficient donkeys have protested saying, “We consider this blasphemous. We are always well behaved even if people consider us sloppy. We wouldn’t be rude and obnoxious when we know we are in deep shit. So we want all this abuse to stop immediately”

Every Donkey has a Day !

Govind Raj Shenoy for DieHard Cricket Fans

Payback Series: Game 3 – Thoughts

The Payback Series moved on to Mohali after a crushing win in Delhi. And though the match was much closer, the end result was still the same.

Here are the thoughts  for the day.

• Team selections. I am bored of saying it. Bell should be playing. Given Kieswetter’s Kamran Akmalese  performance today behind the stumps, it would be wise to give the gloves to Bairstow and bring Bell in as the opener.
• Team wins toss. Bats first. Bats well. Posts a big total. Total gets chased down easily due to some unimaginative bowling and shoddy fielding. This was the basic template for India’s ODI losses in England (except for the toss part). Today it was just the other way round.
• The Indian bowling lineup with Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar & Virat Kohli looks straight out of the Kiwi dibbly-dobbly-wibbly-wobbly template
• The game was close. But somehow the result wasn’t ever in doubt. Maybe its the T20 effect. Any total seems chaseable with 2 decent batsman in the crease.
• The fist pump by Ravindra Jadeja after edging a boundary as a gesture must be unparalleled.
• Dhoni’s lost luck seems to have been found (:D) as he provides the finishing touch to an almost perfect team chase.
• Rahane & Trott missed out on well deserved 100s, as Mr. Gavaskar would have said. Maybe it was this obsession with centuries that made Sunil Gavaskar one of the greatest run accumulators of all time.

The series has been won. But the Payback is not done yet.

Nishant Kumar for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Nishant on Twitter @NishantSKumar

This is not payback

Welcome to India, laddie!

Over the last two weeks, there has been an inundation of reports on how the on-going series between India and England is a payback series, for India to extract some revenge over their savage manhandling in the recent Test series in England. Given the way the series has gone so far, the tag is being gleefully justified by most of the media outlets, even the English ones.

What a load of rubbish.

Winning an ODI series at home against a 5th ranked side (4th at the start of the series) is in no way the perfect riposte to the humiliating whitewash in a Test series in the opposition’s backyard, which by the way resulted in conceding the Number 1 crown as well. Sure, the victories in the first two ODIs of this series has somewhat made Indian supporters cheerful again; but we always knew that England were generally rubbish in the 50 over version. The ODI series in England would have been tighter if it wasn’t for old friends Duckworth and Lewis, who had to poke their noses in just about every game of that series. So, defeating England in this series, even in the absence of so many regulars, is not payback enough.

The chance for a real payback comes next year when, apparently, England tour India for a Test series. England used their home advantage well to inflict heavy defeat on an under-prepared Indian side in the last series; therefore, it only makes sense that India churn out some ‘turners’ to test the adaptability of this English side. If and only if India whitewash England then, I will accept it as payback. Till then, will just have to do with tossing them around in ODIs. Sigh.

PS: This has nothing to do with the rest of this article, but had to address this -

Trott’s record in ODIs is better than Bell’s, both in terms of average and strike rate. So get over his inclusion already!

Why is everyone piling on poor Trott, bru?

Benny for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Benny on Twitter @tracerbullet007

Simon Jones comes back home: Fast bowler re-joins Glamorgan

Colin Metson (Managing Director of Cricket), Simon Jones and Matthew Mott (Head Coach) (c) Huw John Photography

Today (Wednesday 19 October), pace bowler Simon Jones has announced his return to Wales after signing a new two-year contract with his boyhood club, Glamorgan.

The 2005 Ashes winner, from Llanelli, originally left the Dragons in 2007 to join Worcestershire. He signed for Hampshire in 2010 but returned to Glamorgan on loan earlier this year taking part in the Friends Life t20 and Clydesdale Bank40 campaigns.

During the t20 campaign, Jones put his past injury woes behind him by becoming one of only three county cricketers to hit bowling speeds of 94 m.p.h. He figured in ten t20 and three CB40 matches for Glamorgan and took 13 wickets during his six-week loan spell.

Simon, 32, says: “I’m really happy to return home and play for Glamorgan. This cricket club has played an integral role in my career and my life and I’m thrilled to be back to help achieve success with the club in the next two years and to play regular cricket. After four happy years over the border, there is no price tag on being nearer to family and coming home to Wales.

“It’s been a frustrating few seasons for me with injuries, but I’ve put this behind me and I’m thrilled to be moving on with my game. Also in the back of my mind, I haven’t given up on the dream of playing for England again. I’m confident that I still have the form that got me selected in the first place and prove some critics wrong.”

Colin Metson, Glamorgan’s Managing Director of Cricket, adds: “We’re thrilled to have Simon Jones back on board with us at Glamorgan Cricket. He impressed us all both on and off the field when he returned during a brief loan spell earlier this season and we’re delighted that he is now a permanent fixture here at The SWALEC Stadium.”

Simon, fiancée Justine and sons Harvey (4) and Charlie (3) have since left the South of England and returned to live in St Nicholas, Vale of Glamorgan. Simon and Justine are due to get married in December.

Editor’s Notes

Simon Jones started his career with Glamorgan as a 16 year-old in 1998.

He is the son of former Glamorgan cricket star Jeff Jones, who also played 15 Tests for England.

He is a former pupil at Coedcae Comprehensive and Millfield School.

He made his test debut for England against India at Lord’s in July 2002

Payback Time For England: ODI Series Update

Indian fans and pundits alike were hurt by their teams’ capitulation in England this summer to the extent they named the return series that began in India last Friday as the “Payback Series”.

And if teaching England a ruddy good lesson in One Day cricket was India’s primary objective for this tour and let’s be honest, it was a little bit, then India have succeeded, with devastating effect.

India have won the first two One Day Internationals of the tour by a mile and have been better than England in every facet of the game. The likes of Dhoni, Gambhir and Kohli have scored big runs, Umesh Yadav and Vinay Kumar look dangerous with the ball, a far cry from the impotent attack that toured England this summer, and perhaps most surprisingly India’s fielding has been razor sharp – much better than their English counterparts.

But for as good as India have been, and they have been very good, England have been poor and have gifted India these first two games.

Alastair Cook believes his sides problems are partly psychological, and certainly with only 1 win from their last 15 One Day Internationals in India, England may have a mental hurdle to overcome, but more worrying for Cooks’ side is that the balance of the team doesn’t look right and their tactics seem to be just scratched in the sand, changing from game to game.

England have lost wickets regularly in both innings in this series so far, and that is of particular concern. One has to question why for example, after his captain was out for a duck having won the toss and choosing to bat first, Craig Kieswetter elected to prod at a wide ball that did very little, giving his wicket away without troubling the scorers himself in Delhi?

Surely England’s batsmen know that if you lose a wicket, it’s best to be disciplined and consolidate for a period, rather than carrying on and losing further wickets in quick succession?

England’s bowlers are not completely absolved from blame here either. Apart from Bresnan, who has been the pick of the bowlers in both games, the rest have struggled.

England have played 3 quick bowlers in both matches but with no pace in the pitches or movement off the seam of through the dry Indian air, 30 pretty tame overs have been sent down which, once the new balls have worn soft, give the Indian batsmen time to set themselves before using the pace of the ball to earn easy runs. As bowlers tire, so the more expansive shots become easier.

England should have learnt all this from the World Cup here earlier this year. During that competition, the teams that fared best took pace off the ball almost all of the way through the innings to make it harder to score runs. Its fundamental stuff on the sub-continent.

England have Scott Borthwick in their squad, a young and talented leg-spinner from Durham, why not give him a go? Dropping a seamer for a second spinner may not rest that easily with England, but they have to adapt to the conditions and playing three seamers in a One Day International in India into opponents hands.

Cook mentioned a mental block that England need to overcome to triumph in India, but perhaps the issue is more deep-rooted than that. 40 overs-a-side cricket matches are played on the county circuit in England as opposed to 50 over matches at International level and perhaps that 10 over disparity has an effect on England players, to the extent they rush and panic when batting and try and force the issue when bowling?

It’s a theory, but by playing these One-Day-specific tours regularly going forward as the ECB plans to, England players will surely learn how to pace an innings better, when to push and when to consolidate, not to mention how to bowl to the conditions available to them; it still astounds me how few yorkers English bowlers bowl at the death when opposition attacks send down seemingly little else during the final few overs for instance.

There are fundamental flaws in the way England approach One Day cricket away from the comforts of home, particularly on the sub-continent, and these will take time to resolve. They might not win this series, in fact they might be on the end of a bit of a hiding from India, but if they can begin to develop a more savvy approach to One Day cricket, it won’t have been a wasted trip after-all.

Tom Huelin for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Tom on Twitter @tomhue1