The cricket paper 23 december 2016

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Friday, December 23, 2016

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THE WINTER WARMER !

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AUSSIES DELIVER DOWN UNDER...

And we gear up for this year’s Big Bash! page 26-27 Pringle: Root must be his own man as England skipper

Adams: James Vince still has a future in Test cricket

page 9

’t forget, we ’r on sale over e Christmas!

page 10

D E S S A L C T U O No more excuses!

Our inquest begins into England’s latest shambles From page 4

OOD W K R A M EW INTERVI s return

man eye e c a p m a h r Du tback e s y r ju in t s after late PLUS gland’s r on En Peter Hayte es ■ Tom Abell ch greatest coa ptaincy reins at takes the ca ernon Philander V Somerset ■ Sussex ■ Paul heads to oores M r e t e P n o s Frank www.ebook3000.com

Maynard takes aim at ECB over Leach leak

By Jeremy Blackmore SOMERSET Director of Cricket Matt Maynard has expressed disappointment in the ECB at the way news about spinner Jack Leach’s bowling action emerged in the media this week.

Maynard said the club had been assured that the information would be kept private to support Leach as he carried out a slight remodelling of his action prior to the recent Lions tour to Dubai.

Leach admits he was “as shocked as anyone” when routine tests at the Performance Centre in Loughborough at the end of the season suggested that his action needed remedial work.

After working with the England Pathway in Loughborough and Dubai, the 25-year-old used his slightly amended action for the first time in fixtures against the UAE and Afghanistan and is now looking forward to honing it further on the Lions tour of Sri Lanka in the New Year.

Reports in the press this week suggested that the issue had led to Leach being overlooked for an England call-up this winter after Zafar Ansari was injured in India.

Maynard told The Cricket Paper: “I’m very disappointed in the way the news has come out. I really feel for Jack.

“The information we were told at the end of the year was that this would be kept private to support Jack, and obviously that’s not happened. This happened back in October and he then passed the test after a little abnormality.

“Three weeks later he was fine, he was bowling with a slight adjustment to his action in the UAE prior to Christmas and obviously selected now for Sri Lanka in the New Year with the Lions. It goes to suggest that the ECB know he’s Continued on Page 3>

Friday, December 23, 2016

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2 NEWS

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County Archives – We look at Worcestershire in 1964 Page 16

Derek Pringle Asks whether Trevor Bayliss’ gentle approach needs to change for future success Page 9

James Vince Jimmy Adams believes the dropped Hampshire man can win back his England place!

Page 10

County News Reaction to Tom Abell taking the captaincy at Somerset, while Vernon Philander joins Sussex Page 18

Paul Nixon On the challenges that lie ahead for Alastair Cook Page 19

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ACCOUNTS

Moores can show me the way, says Franks

By Jimmy Booker

PETER Moores is the perfect man to lead Nottinghamshire out of the doldrums, according to county legend Paul Franks – and if anyone should know it is him.

Moores started working with Notts on a consultancy basis last year but was appointed as head coach – a newly-created position – in September to work alongside longstanding director of cricket Mick Newell.

One of Moores’ first actions was to rubber-stamp the decision to make Franks, who worked closely with the second XI and academy last year, his assistant.

And the former all-rounder is adamant Moores can sprinkle the same kind of County Championshipwinning stardust over Trent Bridge as he did during his time with Sussex and Lancashire.

“I was lucky enough to work under Peter Moores as a player,” said Franks.“He was coach of an England A tour to the West Indies that I was on several years ago.

“We’ve known each other for a long time and always had quite a strong relationship. His appointment was only ever going to be a positive one for Notts.

“His enthusiasm for developing players and developing teams to compete for silverware is outstanding at every level.

“He’s made a lot of good county

Leader: Paul Franks, inset, says Peter Moores can guide him and Notts to success PICTURE: Getty Images

players become international players, and you see a lot of today’s international players referring back to him when they refer to improvements that they’ve made in their games.”

Franks spent his entire 19-year playing career with Notts but has already broadened his horizons as a coach, having briefly taken charge of the UAE’s national squad in July.

But he believes he will receive no

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better tutelage than under former England coach Moores as the duo aim to return Notts to Division One of the County Championship at the first time of asking.

“Peter is very keen to help me as a coach,” said Franks. “Certainly I’m sure any experiences he’s had will do that, be they good or bad.

“I’m keen to learn and he’s great fun to work with. No two days are the same which makes it very interesting

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and lively.

“We’re under no illusion that we’re just going to stroll back in and do as we please in Division Two, that would be very wrong of us to think that, but what we have to do is earn the right.

“That’s certainly been our message – by working hard now in the dark, cold winter months, we give ourselves a chance to be in a great place come the start of the season.”

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Friday, December 23, 2016

FEATURE 3

Wood hopes ‘tweaks’ will solve injury woes Jimmy Booker discovers that a member of England’s formidable pace battery is ready for his comeback

E

ngland and Durham fast bowler Mark Wood is determined to put himself ‘back in the shop window’ after being selected as part of England’s North-South games in the United Arab Emirates in March.

Wood, 26, is coming back from a third ankle operation in 12 months, which ruled him out of England’s tour of Bangladesh and India.

The seamer burst onto the international scene in 2015, with his genuine pace playing a key role in Test series victories over New Zealand and Australia.

He has played eight Tests and 11 ODIs for England, but has been restricted to just 36 first-class games in his career due to persistent injury woes.

However,Wood is now determined to put an injury-plagued 2016 behind him, and is relishing the chance for game time in the UAE. “It’s a bit of match practice, a chance to catch the eye again and prove to people I’m fit and strong and raring to go,” said Wood, who will also head to South Africa in January as part of the ECB’s pace programme.

“My main intention is to get back into the England fold – I’ll be among the England coaches in a competition against ex-and current international players, so it’s a good chance to put myself back in the shop window.”

The three-match one-day series in the UAE, which pits players from northern and southern counties against each other, will be played on March 7, 19 and 21, with England selector James Whitaker saying it was an important addition to the selection process for limited overs cricket for the national side.

Durham’s Keaton Jennings, who made a century on Test debut against India this month, will skipper the North, while fellow England man James Vince, of Hampshire, will captain the South.

Wood added he had made a couple of tweaks to his bowling action in order to minimise the risk of future injuries.

“The ankle is not feeling too bad,” he said.“After the disappointment of the third operation, I’ve done some work with Kevin Shine, the England fast bowling coach, and some gym work, to tweak my action into a better position, in order to put less stress on my ankle.

“It’s not a drastic change, but little modifications to help me in the long term.

“The three injuries were a build-up, which came about almost because of bad technique habits, and because I’d had the previous knocks, I was trying to get back onto the park to bowl as fast as I could.

“After the third operation, I sat down with medics, physios and coaches, and

they said that if I kept bowling in this position, it would continue to hurt me.

“It’s just trying to make sure my alignment is better – if you imagine the face of a clock, at the end of my stride, the front foot was actually nearer the ten-totwo position, so if I can get that more five-to-one, I’ll be in a good position.”

The paceman is positive about his latest recovery and a trip to Potchefstroom with the likes of James Fuller, Jamie Overton and Reece Topley early in the New Year is enticingly close.

“You can get back into the training bubble, so I can get back full tilt, and then back getting some game time,” he said.

And after productive talks with both Trevor Bayliss and Andrew Strauss, the 26-year-old Durham seamer knows exactly where he stands with the international set-up.

“I had a great meeting with Strauss and Bayliss, who both said I was in the plans for the next 12 months, so that gave me a big confidence boost,”Wood said.

“It gives me a huge bit of self belief that I can contribute for England

“

At his best: Mark Wood has played eight Tests for England, and is on his way back to full fitness PICTURES: Getty Images

I had a great meeting with Andrew Strauss and Trevor Bayliss who said I was in their plans for the next 12 months

”

and I can do well for myself. If I can just get this right, hopefully, I can take off.”

The Ashington-born player added that England Test skipper Alastair Cook and ODI captain Eoin Morgan had also messaged him, as had all-rounder Ben Stokes, assistant coach Paul Farbrace and England bowling coach Ottis Gibson.

“I’ve been in touch with Stokesy, but you tend not to want to pester them when they’re on tour, as I know what it’s like being in that England bubble,” Wood said.

“It’s good they’re still thinking about me, a couple of them said they’re missing my contribution in the dressing room, which was nice to hear.”

NORTH SQUAD: Keaton Jennings (Durham, capt), Ben Duckett (Northants*), Sam Hain (Warks), Joe Clarke (Worcs), Liam Livingstone (Lancs), Jack Leaning (Yorkshire), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire*), Josh Poysden (Warks), Graeme White (Northants*), Mark Wood (Durham), Saqib Mahmood (Lancs), Richard Gleeson (Northants), Harry Gurney (Notts*) SOUTH SQUAD: James Vince (Hants, capt), Daniel Bell-Drummond (Kent), Tom Alsop (Hants), Dawid Malan (Middlesex), Sam Northeast (Kent), Liam Dawson (Hants*), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Tom Curran (Surrey), Lewis Gregory (Somerset*), Tim Groenewald (Somerset*), Matt Coles (Kent*), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Mason Crane (Hants) (*selected through the PCA MVP rankings system)

Comforting words: Ben Stokes, right, has sent Mark Wood messages of support

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Leach will come back stronger says Abell > Continued from Page 1 clean and therefore to come out and hang him up like I believe they have done this week was just very disappointing.

“We all make mistakes along the way. If they haven’t got the selection right [for England’s tour to India] in the first place, well just acknowledge that. I think people will understand that a bit better.

“I don’t think this has done the ECB any favours, certainly from the conversations I’ve had.

People can’t believe the treatment of Leachy. So I don’t think the ECB have been shone in a good light on this occasion.

“It hit him yesterday as it would any young player, believing this was all sorted.”

New Somerset skipper Tom Abell added: “I think it’s an issue created when there wasn’t really an issue. Leachy has got the ability and the character to come back a better player than ever.”

In a statement issued by the club, Leach said: “When I did the test and they told me, I was as shocked as anyone.

“It was only a very small thing in terms of my body position and it wasn’t helping me bowl a doosra or anything like that. I’ve made a hell of a lot of progress and I was pleased with the way it went out in the UAE. “The important thing is that I’ve come to terms with it and I feel like I’m going to be a better bowler in the future for sorting it out.”

Friday, December 23, 2016

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4 ENGLAND TOUR OF INDIA India 759-7d beat England 477 & 207 by an innings and 75 runs

Cook* Jennings Root Ali Bairstow + Stokes Buttler Dawson Rashid Broad Ball Extras Total BOWLING

U Yadav I Sharma Jadeja Ashwin Mishra Nair

c Kohli b Jadeja c Patel b Sharma c Patel b Jadeja c Jadeja b Yadav c Rahul b Jadeja c Patel b Ashwin lbw b Sharma not out c Patel b Yadav run out (Rahul/Patel) b Mishra 1w 4b 5lb 5pens all out O M R W

21.0 21.0 45.0 44.0 25.2 1.0

3 73 6 42 9 106 3 151 5 87 0 4

2 2 3 1 1 0

6s

4s

Balls

Runs

ENGLAND 1ST INNINGS 10 38 1 0 1 17 0 0 88 144 10 0 146 262 13 1 49 90 0 3 6 32 0 0 5 17 0 0 66 148 5 1 60 155 8 0 19 23 2 0 12 18 0 1 15 477 (157.2ovs)

FALL OF WICKETS

7 21 167 253 287 300 321 429 455 477

Jennings Cook Root Bairstow Stokes Buttler Ali Rashid Broad Ball

6 80 2 93 1 190 2 76 1 153 4 129 0 12 1 20

2 0 1 1 1 2 0 0

6s

4s

Balls

Runs O M R W

27.0 23.0 41.0 20.0 29.4 43.0 2.0 5.0

199 311 16 3 71 112 7 0 16 29 3 0 15 29 1 0 303 381 32 4 29 76 4 0 67 149 6 1 51 55 1 2 1 2 0 0 7 759 (190.4ovs)

FALL OF WICKETS

52 181 211 372 435 616 754

Patel Pujara Kohli Rahul Vijay Ashwin Jadeja

Golden arm: Ravindra Jadeja took seven England wickets

BOWLING

I Sharma Ashwin Jadeja U Yadav Mishra

O M R W

10.0 25.0 25.0 14.0 14.0

2 6 5 1 4

17 56 48 36 30

1 0 7 1 1

4s

6s

c Rahul b Jadeja c & b Jadeja lbw b Jadeja c Ashwin b Jadeja c Jadeja b Sharma c Nair b Jadeja not out b Mishra c Jadeja b Yadav c Pujara b Jadeja c Nair b Jadeja 1w 12b 8lb all out

Balls

Runs

ENGLAND 2ND INNINGS Cook * Jennings Root Ali Bairstow + Stokes Buttler Dawson Rashid Broad Ball Extras Total

Only cold comfort as dust settles on 5th Test, Chennai, Dec 16-20

Rahul c Buttler b Rashid Patel + c Buttler b Ali Pujara c Cook b Stokes Kohli * c Jennings b Broad Nair not out Vijay lbw b Dawson Ashwin c Buttler b Broad Jadeja c Ball b Dawson U Yadav not out Extras 1w 2b 4lb Total for 7 declared Did not bat: Mishra, I Sharma BOWLING

Umpires: M Erasmus (SA), SD Fry (Aus)

By Chris Stocks

INDIA 1ST INNINGS

Broad Ball Ali Stokes Rashid Dawson Root Jennings

Toss: England, who chose to bat

49 134 4 54 121 7 6 22 0 44 97 4 1 6 0 23 54 4 6 50 0 0 7 0 2 18 0 1 16 0 0 3 0 21 207 (88ovs)

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

FALL OF WICKETS

103 110 126 129 192 193 196 200 207 207

Cook Jennings Root Bairstow Ali Stokes Dawson Rashid Broad Ball

THIS Sub-continental nightmare was undoubtedly England’s worst overseas experience since the 2013-14 Ashes tour.

Unlike then, though, the 4-0 humiliation in India is not the end for a once-great team but a significant bump in the road for a developing group of players, who, everything being equal, should come back stronger.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of Kevin Pietersen’s banishment following the last Ashes tour, there is no doubt England’s dressing-room was broken and divided.

Alastair Cook, whose captaincy is likely to be the major casualty of a winter that has seen his side win just one of seven Tests against Bangladesh and India, alluded to the togetherness of this current dressing-room in adversity.

“I think Australia 5-0 was as low as I could go,” he said in the aftermath of England’s second innings defeat inside a week in India.

“I can’t fault the effort in the dressing-room. We’ve stayed together as a team. Naturally when things go badly, things can break up. But the guys have been brilliant in committing to the cause.

We just haven’t been good enough to put India under pressure for long periods.”

That is some understatement. In the final Test in Chennai, India plundered 759-7 declared on day four, the most runs England have conceded in a single innings in 139 years of Test cricket.

Karun Nair’s unbeaten 303 earned him the man of the match award. His runs alone were 96 more than England managed in their entire second innings.

They are now fifth in the latest Test rankings. It is a fair reflection of where they are following a year that has seen them lose eight of their 17 Tests. No England side has lost more in a calendar year, and only three have equalled that number.

“We’ve played some good cricket at times and played some pretty average cricket,” Cook said.“We haven’t been very good when we’ve been behind in games, in finding a way to survive in tricky situations.

“But when we’ve been in front we’ve dominated. It’s been a frustrating year and to lose that many

times with the players we’ve got is disappointing.”

In the fourth Test against India in Mumbai, England became only the third side in Test history to lose by an innings after posting 400 or more in their first innings.

That they managed that dubious feat for a second time barely a week later in Chennai is a significant black mark against this team.

“I think everyone can see we are suited to playing in seaming conditions,” said Cook.

“There’s no point hiding behind that fact. These conditions have

tested us to our limits. In other conditions with our seamers and spinners, who are decent without being completely world-class, we’ll compete with anyone. But this is as hard as it gets for this side at the moment.

“It’s been a tough tour. When you lose games of cricket it becomes very hard and it can be quite a lonely place.

“Blood, sweat and tears went into this tour but the bottom line is we weren’t good enough to compete with India and that’s hard to take.”

Triple ton: Karun Nair hit an unbeaten 303

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Friday, December 23, 2016

ENGLAND TOUR OF INDIA 5 England series ratings

Test series results & stats INDIA WON SERIES 4-0

Alastair Cook (c)

for Cook defeat

Down and out?

England look on as the hosts beat them with the bat, with the ball and in the field PICTURES: Action Images

The one big difference between this series in India and the one England won in 2012 is the quality of their spinners.

With Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar four years ago, England out-performed India in the spinbowling department.

This time Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid – let’s not get onto the others – were no match for Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

“I really don’t want to be disrespectful to Mo and Adil but they are not as good as Ashwin and

Ravindra Jadeja yet,” said Cook.

“They haven’t quite got the control and consistency, certainly in the first innings when there’s not much happening.

“Mo has done an amazing job for us over a long period in terms of becoming England’s No.1 spinner. He’s two wickets away from 100 so he’s done amazing things and will only get better and better.

“Without being disrespectful, without two gun, world-class spinners, winning in these conditions is going to be hard.”

The one plus point for England was the emergence of top-order batsmen in Haseeb Hameed and Keaton Jennings. Like London buses, after waiting for four years for a decent opening partner two came along on the same tour.

Hameed, the teenager whose debut series was ended after three Tests by a broken finger, will certainly partner Cook next summer after showing maturity beyond his years.

Jennings, too, impressed, scoring a century on debut in Mumbai and a second-innings half-century in Chennai. The No.3 role could be his next summer if, as hoped, Moeen exits the top six and Root moves back up to No.4.

Assistant coach Paul Farbrace says: “The one thing we came here needing to find was top-quality players to bat with Cooky and Rooty at the top of the order.

“Haseeb has shown he can do that, that’s one huge plus from this series – there’s a young man with an unbelievable technique, a fantastic attitude and more importantly he looks like he’s got the right mental approach to play for a long time to come.

“We came with a couple of gaps in our batting order, and we think we’ve probably got the right people now so that’s a real bonus.”

Next summer’s Test series against South Africa and the West Indies will offer a far different, and far more palatable, proposition than that which England have faced this winter in Asia.

“What we know we’re going to face in the next few series is pace bowling, and that’s something the team have got plenty of time to adjust to and work towards,” said Farbrace, also aware England’s next away series is the Ashes in Australia next winter.

“The key is you always try to improve your team against all aspects in all conditions. South Africa at home in the summer will be a very different prospect. But there’s a lot of learning to be taken from this series.”

One ton and a 50 was not bad. But England needed more from their captain, particularly in the field 6/10

First Test, Rajkot, Nov 9-13: England 537 & 260-3d drew with India 488 & 172-6

Fourth Test, Mumbai, Dec 8-12: England 400 & 195 lost to India 631 by an innings and 36 runs

Haseeb Hameed Fine debut series, scoring two half-centuries, including one in Mohali with a broken finger 8/10

Second Test, Visakhapatnam, Nov 17-21: India 455 & 204 beat England 255 & 158 by 246 runs

Keaton Jennings One hundred and a 50 in his first four innings counts as a decent start to life in Test cricket.

7/10

Joe Root England’s leading runscorer and a 50-plus score in every Test. But just one ton will frustrate him.

7/10

Moeen Ali Two centuries were a good return but usurped by Adil Rashid as his side’s frontline spinner on this tour. 6/10

Ben Duckett Two Tests, 18 runs and an average of six. Could not handle Ravichandran Ashwin.

3/10

Jonny Bairstow A few errors behind stumps but keeping largely good.

Scored 352 runs at 44 with the bat.

7/10

Ben Stokes Tailed off with bat and ball after scoring a hundred in the first Test at Rajkot. 6/10

Jos Buttler Half-century in Mumbai suggests he can be a specialist batsman in Test cricket.

6/10

Adil Rashid England’s leading wickettaker remains frustrating.

Appears to fold under pressure 7/10

Third Test, Mohali, Nov 26-29: England 283 & 236 lost to India 417 & 104-2 by 8 wickets

Batting STATS - MOST RUNS Mat V Kohli (Ind) 5 JE Root (Eng) 5 CA Pujara (Ind) 5 MM Ali (Eng) 5 AN Cook (Eng) 5 M Vijay (Ind) 5 JM Bairstow (Eng) 5 BA Stokes (Eng) 5 KK Nair (Ind) 3 R Ashwin (Ind) 5 KL Rahul (Ind) 3 RA Jadeja (Ind) 5 J Yadav (Ind) 3 H Hameed (Eng) 3 PA Patel (Ind) 3 KK Jennings (Eng) 2 JC Buttler (Eng) 3 AU Rashid (Eng) 5 CR Woakes (Eng) 3 LA Dawson (Eng) 1 AM Rahane (Ind) 3 WP Saha (Ind) 2 JT Ball (Eng) 2 SCJ Broad (Eng) 3 UT Yadav (Ind) 5 ZS Ansari (Eng) 2 Mohammed Shami (Ind) 3 G Gambhir (Ind) 1 JM Anderson (Eng) 3 BM Duckett (Eng) 2 B Kumar (Ind) 1 GJ Batty (Eng) 1 A Mishra (Ind) 2

Inns NO 8 2 10 0 8 0 9 0 10 0 8 0 9 1 10 1 3 1 7 0 4 0 7 1 4 1 6 1 4 1 4 0 6 2 9 1 5 0 2 1 5 0 4 0 4 0 5 1 6 2 3 0 4 3 2 0 6 2 3 0 1 0 2 0 1 0

Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 0 4s 6s 655 235 109.16 1076 60.87 2 2 0 72 1 491 124 49.10 901 54.49 1 4 0 51 1 401 124 50.12 757 52.97 2 1 0 52 2 381 146 42.33 796 47.86 2 1 1 35 3 369 130 36.90 840 43.92 1 1 0 39 0 357 136 44.62 822 43.43 2 0 1 35 7 352 89 44.00 683 51.53 0 3 0 27 5 345 128 38.33 740 46.62 1 1 0 44 3 320 303* 160.00 403 79.40 1 0 0 35 4 306 72 43.71 564 54.25 0 4 1 37 1 233 199 58.25 388 60.05 1 0 1 22 3 224 90 37.33 356 62.92 0 2 1 19 6 221 104 73.66 488 45.28 1 1 0 27 0 219 82 43.80 640 34.21 0 2 0 23 2 195 71 65.00 282 69.14 0 2 0 25 1 167 112 41.75 358 46.64 1 1 1 20 0 154 76 38.50 319 48.27 0 1 0 12 2 113 60 14.12 322 35.09 0 1 1 17 0 70 30 14.00 160 43.75 0 0 1 7 0 66 66* 66.00 155 42.58 0 1 1 5 1 63 26 12.60 167 37.72 0 0 1 5 0 49 35 12.25 115 42.60 0 0 0 4 1 45 31 11.25 99 45.45 0 0 1 4 1 44 19 11.00 88 50.00 0 0 0 4 0 38 13 9.50 90 42.22 0 0 1 5 1 36 32 12.00 103 34.95 0 0 1 4 0 35 19 35.00 32 109.37 0 0 0 1 4 29 29 14.50 78 37.17 0 0 1 4 0 20 13* 5.00 32 62.50 0 0 2 2 0 18 13 6.00 52 34.61 0 0 1 3 0 9 9 9.00 17 52.94 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0.50 20 5.00 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 2 0.00 0 0 1 0 0

MOST catches

Chris Woakes

RA Jadeja (Ind) UT Yadav (Ind) JC Buttler (Eng) JE Root (Eng) BA Stokes (Eng) V Kohli (Ind) H Hameed (Eng) CR Woakes (Eng) KK Nair (Ind) AM Rahane (Ind)

Bowled well in first Test but just three wickets at 81 overall. Underperformed with bat, too 4/10

Liam Dawson An unbeaten 66 and a couple of wickets in his only Test was not the worst return.

6/10

James Anderson Four wickets in first game back at Vizag but none thereafter. Below his best.

4/10

Jake Ball Bowled better in the Two Tests he played than his figures suggest. Has a bright future.

6/10

Zafar Ansari Tough tour but bottom line is that neither his bowling nor batting was good enough.

4/10

Gareth Batty One Test, one run, no wickets for the 39-year-old spinner. Enough said. 1/10

CHRIS STOCKS

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Mat 5 5 3 5 5 5 3 3 3 3

Inns 10 10 4 8 8 10 6 5 6 6

Ct 6 6 5 5 5 5 4 3 3 3

MOST keeper dismissals

Stuart Broad Eight wickets at an average of 31 was a respectable return during an injury-hit series.

7/10

Fifth Test, Chennai, Dec 16-20: England 477 & 207 lost to India 759-7d by an innings and 75 runs

Thumbs up: India captain Virat Kohli dominated with the bat

PA Patel (Ind) JM Bairstow (Eng) WP Saha (Ind)

Mat Inns Di Ct St 3 6 13 11 2 5 8 13 11 2 2 4 6 6 0

BOWLING STATS - MOST WICKETS Mat In Ov Mdn Runs Wkt BBI R Ashwin (Ind) 5 10 307.1 45 847 28 6-55 RA Jadeja (Ind) 5 10 290.1 67 672 26 7-48 AU Rashid (Eng) 5 8 232.2 19 861 23 4-82 Mohammed Shami (Ind) 3 6 103.0 22 252 10 3-63 MM Ali (Eng) 5 8 188.1 21 649 10 3-98 J Yadav (Ind) 3 6 81.3 17 266 9 3-30 SCJ Broad (Eng) 3 5 89.0 24 248 8 4-33 BA Stokes (Eng) 5 8 106.2 16 357 8 5-73 UT Yadav (Ind) 5 10 143.5 23 464 8 2-58 A Mishra (Ind) 2 4 75.5 12 275 5 2-60 JM Anderson (Eng) 3 5 79.0 17 214 4 3-62 I Sharma (Ind) 1 2 31.0 8 59 3 2-42 ZS Ansari (Eng) 2 3 43.0 3 163 3 2-77 CR Woakes (Eng) 3 5 77.0 16 244 3 1-6 JE Root (Eng) 5 4 16.0 2 57 2 2-31 LA Dawson (Eng) 1 1 43.0 4 129 2 2-129 B Kumar (Ind) 1 2 17.0 1 60 1 1-11 JT Ball (Eng) 2 2 41.0 7 140 1 1-47 KK Nair (Ind) 3 1 1.0 0 4 0 KK Jennings (Eng) 2 1 5.0 1 20 0 GJ Batty (Eng) 1 2 19.2 0 65 0 -

BBM Ave Econ 12-167 30.25 2.75 10-154 25.84 2.31 7-178 37.43 3.70 5-100 25.20 2.44 4-107 64.90 3.44 4-68 29.55 3.26 5-82 31.00 2.78 5-89 44.62 3.35 3-109 58.00 3.22 3-158 55.00 3.62 4-95 53.50 2.70 3-59 19.66 1.90 3-118 54.33 3.79 1-63 81.33 3.16 2-31 28.50 3.56 2-129 64.50 3.00 1-60 60.00 3.52 1-47 140.00 3.41 4.00 4.00 3.36

SR 65.8 66.9 60.6 61.8 112.9 54.3 66.7 79.7 107.8 91.0 118.5 62.0 86.0 154.0 48.0 129.0 102.0 246.0 -

5 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

10 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Friday, December 23, 2016

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6 FEATURE & VIEWS Somerset ‘lost’ Dawson SIXTEEN years ago, during the Bath Cricket Festival, I told the chief executive of Somerset that we had a brilliant ten year old boy in Calne, who would one day play for England.

I was ignored, and that boy

joined Hampshire. Now, as Liam Dawson gets his first Test cap, I feel vindicated – only I wish that he had been signed

by Somerset.

JACK ENDACOTT via email

Your shout...

Send your comments to: The Cricket Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: newsdesk@thecricketpaper.com

Blame the ECB for dearth of spinners ENGLAND win 4-1!

Unfortunately that was just the toss; things went downhill from there and, although there were questionable decisions made by England both on and off the field, it was poor performance that was England’s undoing.

There were regularly four failures in the top-order, making a nonsense of the mantra that England bat deep, and our (sic) spin-bowling attack is laughable, and for the latter it’s ECB to blame.

After the departure of Graeme Swann they chose a batsman to do the spin-bowling and they have persisted (Moeen Ali, Samit Patel, Zafar

Ansari, Liam Dawson). Adil Rashid, the only genuine spinner in England’s line-up, gets taken out of the cupboard for Asian tours but has been largely ignored for years. And he is probably not England’s best spin option.

The ECB is making the right noises about developing spinbowling but that all seems rather hypocritical when they don’t have a space in the England team permanently reserved for a spinner, so if a head has to roll in the aftermath of this tour it should belong to someone higher up than Alastair Cook.

BILL PRICE via email

Jimmy and Wayne can’t dictate when they play for England READING between the lines it would appear that England’s problems in India are partially self-inflicted.

We don’t have the best spinners in the world and they really could have done with a full time spinner coach to help them through a difficult tour. Jonny Bairstow is not a great keeper so he also could have done with some extra help particularly on tour.

However things, are not as bad as they seem. India were expected to win the series and in Kohli and Ashwin had two players who were the difference between the sides.

England now have to decide whether to let Cook carry on as captain or give the side fresh impetus by promoting Joe Root.They also have to decide if Jimmy Anderson has run his course. It’s fine for him to say he wants to carry on but he has to deliver regularily. The England football team has a similar situation

regarding Wayne Rooney who wants to carry on for England for the next 18 months.

But they can’t dictate if they are part of the team or not.They have done great jobs for their country and we are grateful but careers do not last forever and there are other players who want their chance.

They both probably have not yet played their last game for their country but the end must be near for them to be automatic choices.

I am looking forward to the summer Tests because I believe we may have found a batting line-up to go forward with: Cook, Hameed, Jennings, Root (our best batsman must bat No.4), Ali, Stokes, Bairstow and four quality, fit bowlers.

I’m disappointed how the winter has turned out but optimistic for the future.

PAUL MUNNERY Waterbeach

A cracker starts my festive gift list but then we talk turkey Chris Stocks takes a look at who’s been naughty and nice before handing out gifts and brickbats

A

s England bid farewell to the Subcontinent after seven Tests in ten weeks, it’s probably time to hand out some Christmas presents in the form of my awards for the highlights from the tours of Bangladesh and India.

These really aren’t binding, just the subjective opinion of someone who has been with England every step of the way from Chittagong to Chennai.

You may agree or disagree with some of these choices and if you think some of the awards a bit random then that’s because they are. Anyway, after 71 days on tour, here goes…

Best Test: Bangladesh v England, Chittagong The first ended up being the best and not just because it’s was England’s only win.

Heading into the final day this match was delicately poised, with Bangladesh needing 33 runs to win and England two wickets. Alastair Cook’s side got there in the end by 22 runs thanks to Ben Stokes’ double strike. It was a fitting end to a thrilling Test that proved Bangladesh were going to be no pushovers.

Standout performance by an England player Stokes, whose second-innings 85 and six wickets proved crucial to the Chittagong win, could have taken this award. But it has to go to Haseeb Hameed for his unbeaten 59 in the second-innings at Mohali, an innings he played with a broken finger. England lost the game that day but they knew in teenager Hameed they had a Test opener with the character to thrive for years to come.

Standout performance by an opposition player Virat Kohli’s double hundred in Mumbai and Karun Nair’s triple in Chennai would be obvious choices. However, I’m going for teenage off-spinner Mehedi Hasan’s 12-wicket haul in Dhaka that propelled Bangladesh to their first-ever Test win against England. Six came inside the final session on day four to spark a collapse that saw England lose all ten second-innings wickets inside the session. It was one hell of a performance from Mehedi.

Best debut Mehedi’s seven wickets in Chittagong and Keaton Jennings’ hundred in

It all started so well: England celebrate winning the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong PICTURE: Getty Images

Mumbai make them strong contenders. But this is another award that goes to Hameed, whose performance in Rajkot, including a second-innings 82 that was the highest Test by a teenager for England, was composure personified and suggested the four-year search for Alastair Cook’s opening partner was finally over.

Biggest England disappointment Hameed’s broken finger that ruled him out of the final two Tests in India is in the running, as is England’s meek performance in Visakhapatnam. But Gareth Batty, the 39-year-old spinner heralded for his performances in county cricket, takes it. Alas he was not going to be a latter-day Shaun Udal.

Best ground The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai wins it, this modern cricketing theatre provided the best atmosphere too as it was practically full for the final three days of India’s seriessealing win.

Best Press conference James Anderson on the fourth evening of the fourth Test in Mumbai, when he

effectively accused Kohli of being a flat-track bully. It led to heated scenes when Anderson walked out to bat the next day.

Worst Press conference Liam Dawson wins this hands down for his performance after the second day at Chennai. Maybe it was nerves from the debutant or maybe he’s just not very interesting.

Either way, as opposed to the unbeaten 66 that earned him the audience with the media, he had a shocker. The Put his highlight included the immortal reputation line: “We need to bowl well to on line: Reg take wickets and if we do that Dickason we’ll…take wickets.”

Best lunch The food at Chittagong’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium was sensational, the highlight being a prawn curry. Mohali, with their own tandoor ovens outside the Press box, ran it close.

Unsung hero award This has to go to Reg Dickason, England’s security chief, who put his reputation on the line to ensure the tour of Bangladesh went ahead when it might have been easier to cancel it.

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Friday, December 23, 2016

OPINION 7

AAKASH CHOPRA FORMER INDIA TEST OPENER

THIS INDIA OUTFIT IS SET FOR LONG STAY AT SUMMIT E ngland won four out of five tosses. Result – India winning the series 4-0. The lesson to be learnt – winning the toss isn’t akin to winning the match, even

in India.

India posted their highest Test score ever when the three most successful batsmen in the side didn’t fire. The lesson – this team has serious batting strength.

Indian seamers bowled faster, looked more penetrative and took more wickets than their English counterparts. The lesson – India didn’t need, and won’t need, to make dust bowls to win at home.

Also, it’s making us believe that India will be better prepared when they tour overseas next, where wickets will not always be suited to spinners.

The Indian lower order stood tall in almost every single innings and the tail certainly wagged.

The likes of Jayant Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja changed the momentum of the innings and the match more than once.

Lesson – India can toy with the idea of playing five bowlers more often, which in turn would give them more chances of winning overseas.

India started as the best Test side in the world and throughout the series they showed why the top spot was rightfully theirs.

England have been India’s bogey team, for they came to India on the back of winning three bilateral series, which included one in India.

Therefore the hosts had a score to settle and they did it in style.

There were two key protagonists in shaping India’s fate – Virat Kohli and Ashwin but since there’s nothing left to be said about these two, let’s try to focus on the players who received lesser attention...

The rise of two young batsmen KL Rahul and Karun Nair made their first-class debuts a few years after the birth of the Indian Premier League and

Positive: KL Rahul has been scoring prolifically despite always being prepared to attack PICTURE: Action Images

it’s only fair to assume that their formative years were spent hoping to be a part of the IPL. The biggest criticism of the T20 format is that it doesn’t encourage younger generations to work on the skills suited for the longer format but these two batsmen have proved that, perhaps, the assumption is slightly misplaced.

The modern-day batsmen have found ways to stay relevant in all three formats.

“

England have been India’s bogey team, therefore the hosts had a score to settle and they did it in style

”

Also, it must be worth noting that their success highlights the success of the Indian domestic structure.

Both Nair and Rahul feature in the top five run-scorers in the last three seasons of first-class cricket in India, so they’ve been piling on the runs on the domestic scene.

It’s quite heartening to see that they’ve amassed thousands of runs in the longer-format without compromising their attacking instinct.

Jayant Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja Jadeja has been around for a while but somehow kept losing his spot in the national side from time to time. He was drifting in and out a lot.

His bowling is ideally suited for Indian pitches, for he keeps it extremely tight and that in turn has helped Ashwin to pick up many wickets when he has been selected.

But his batting blew hot and cold too often and that’s one area he has improved drastically in this home season thus far. He got a couple of half centuries

against New Zealand and grew more in stature against England by scoring the tough runs in Mohali and Mumbai.

In addition to Jadeja, India unearthed another talent in Yadav, who will be quite handy in their home series against Australia early next year.

Since the Australian batting line-up has lots of left-handers, India can play with two off-spinners and Jayant’s batting, once again, allows them to field five bowlers.

Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav Even though they weren’t dust bowls, pitches were ideal for spinners

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Improved: Ravindra Jadeja

throughout the series and therefore it’s imperative to acknowledge the contribution of the two Indian seamers – Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav.

Both have not just allowed India to break partnerships in this series but their presence allowed India to hope for a better showing next time they venture away from the Sub-continent and face bouncier, quicker wickets.

With this emphatic series victory, India has widened the gap between themselves and the remaining Test teams, and with five more Tests at home before the long home-season ends, their stay at the top is assured for a long time.

Friday, December 23, 2016

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8 NEWS

TCP SAYS...

Alex Narey @anarey_NLP

England must front up if we are to believe

A

s 2016 draws to a close, we’ve had plenty to reflect on here at The Cricket Paper with five weeks of international cricket that has failed to catch the imagination of the English public.

A little over a year ago I can remember writing about the anticipation with a series in South Africa looming. Despite England being underdogs, there was genuine belief that a young side led by an improving skipper in Alastair Cook could go there and win. They did that in style; two months later, they came within four half volleys of claiming their second major limited-overs title at the T20 World Cup in India.

But there were signs of wear and tear as the summer began.

Seeing off a desperately poor Sri Lankan side didn’t convince the masses, and when the more penetrative attack of Pakistan got things moving in the first Test at Lord’s, the comfort blanket of playing on English seaming wickets began to slip away. Cook’s side did play solid cricket with comeback wins in the second and third Test, but their shortcomings were evident again as Pakistan won the fourth to claim an honourable and richly deserved draw from the series.You sensed there was a lot of papering over the cracks.

I spoke to TCP’s contributor Marcus North about playing spin in the sub-continent before England travelled there in September. He said it is the toughest test in cricket. So for me, losing a Test match in Bangladesh and being beaten in India – even heavily – was no great surprise. But the frustration comes from England’s lack of fight, and the basics of survival that are not being applied.

There appears to be an acceptance – almost an inevitability – when a player throws his wicket away. For all the talent Ben Stokes has, I have little faith in him grinding out an ugly 35 when it is most needed.

England remain great winners, but no side is capable of making defeat look so ugly. The public and the fans can’t be fooled anymore with statements that claim this to be a developing side. It isn’t, and England need to stop using that as an excuse.

Nice work: India's Karun Nair is congratulated by Alastair Cook on making his triple century PICTURE: Getty Images

Farby: Skipper will make the right call

By Chris Stocks

PAUL FARBRACE, England’s assistant coach, says Alastair Cook has earned the right to decide his own future as Test captain ahead of talks with Andrew Strauss in the new year.

Cook admitted he has to decide “what’s the right decision for English cricket” after his side’s innings defeat in Chennai on Tuesday condemned them to a 4-0 series defeat in India.

That’s a result that has piled the pressure on Cook and could see him decide to walk away from the captaincy and hand over the reins to Joe Root, his deputy, after more than four years in the job.

The opener will make up his mind without consulting coach Trevor Bayliss before meeting Strauss in the second week of January. But it’s a decision Farbrace insists must be down to Cook alone.

“All the conversations I’ve been party to – with Straussy, Trevor and Cooky – have always been about working towards the Australia series

next winter. That’s something we’ve been very clear on.

“If Cooky feels that it isn’t right for him to continue for the good of the team – and that’s what the decision is based on – then of course Trevor and Straussy have a decision to make as to where they move to next.

“A lot has been made about Joe Root being ready, and there’s been comments made

by Cooky and Trevor saying ‘Rooty is ready to be the next captain’.

“If at some point in the next month, that decision is taken, then we’ll all have to move on

and get used to that change. At the moment – and I’m not trying to be ultra-positive after a 4-0 defeat – the captain has everyone’s support. Everyone is behind him being the leader of this team.

“We’ll all need a bit of time to get away from this, go home.

It gives you time to reflect.

“I’m sure Cooky will do that and make use of that time.

He’ll chat to a few people around him, whose judgment he trusts, and he and Straussy will make that decision. The decision will be down to Cooky, and rightly so.”

Asked whether the time is

right for Root, 25, to take over, Farbrace said: “I don’t think that anybody who takes over as captain of England, you can ever really know whether they’re ready to do the job or not.

“It’s a huge job; a job that everybody in England thinks they can do better.Whether he will be the right bloke to lead England, until he starts doing it, you never quite know.

“Rooty hasn’t had a great deal of captaincy experience.

Until he actually does the job, no one’s going to know. It’s a bit of crystal-ball gazing, isn’t it?”

Vernon could be the perfect bait for hungry Sharks SUSSEX’S new all-rounder Vernon Philander hopes to make a big impact in a short space of time after signing on at Hove.

The South African will be the team’s overseas player for the first-half of next season, having recently starred in the series win against Australia.

Philander, 31, said: “I’m really looking forward to getting to Hove and playing for Sussex for

the first couple of months of the English season.

“Although I haven’t come up against Sussex much in my time playing in England, I’ve always heard good things about the club and set-up.

“Hopefully I can put in some good performances to help the team in both red and white-ball cricket and pass on my experience to some of the younger

players who I’ve heard such positive reports about.

“Mark Davis, the coaching team and Luke Wright are building an exciting squad and I’m excited to be a part of that in 2017.”

Philander has played 37 Tests for the Proteas, taking 142 wickets. He has also previously represented Kent, Middlesex, Notts and Somerset.

Sussex head coach Mark Davis said:“He is one of the leading bowlers in world cricket and to have him bowling in English conditions is a very exciting prospect.

“He is a genuinely world-class player and they are usually hard to get because of international commitments.

“The thing with Vernon is that he does not play white-ball

cricket for South Africa, so won’t be involved in the Champions Trophy next summer, and is not in the IPL (Indian Premier League) so he was available for the first half of the season.

“I expect a player of his quality would have had a number of options open to him, but he knows Stiaan (van Zyl) pretty well so I got him to put in a word and it obviously did the trick.”

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Friday, December 23, 2016

OPINION 9

DEREK PRINGLE

BE YOUR OWN MAN, JOE, IF YOU LAND THE CAPTAINCY W e don’t know if Joe Root is the right man to captain England – so says Paul Farbrace, England’s assistant coach, as if this was some kind of cosmic revelation rather than an utterance of the bleedin’ obvious.

Of course we don’t know, but given Root has been made Test vice-captain we have a jolly good idea that barring a social faux pas of the Donald Trump kind, he will succeed Alastair Cook when time is eventually called on the latter’s leadership.

Farbrace knows Root from his times as Yorkshire coach and it is possible that something may have stuck with him that makes him uneasy about the appointment. Far more likely is that he does not want to be seen siding with Root while Cook is still in situ.

Anyway, players change and Root, who has worked his way to becoming England’s best all-round batsman, has come a long way from the lippy tyro that David Warner thumped in a Birmingham night club four years ago.

More than in any other sport there is a stereotype of how an England cricket captain should be. In recent times, Andrew Strauss would have fitted the template best. His natural authority, coupled with a decent record and a well-spoken competency with the media, saw him respected if not universally admired. After all, he had his run-ins with Kevin Pietersen.

Yet, like Cook, he fitted the bill in respect to what Giles Clarke, the then chairman of ECB, referred to as: “Very much the type of people we want the England captain and his family to be.”

That criterion apart, Cook, a former chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral, became Strauss’ successor rather in the manner that Michael Atherton became England captain after Graham Gooch – that there were few credible alternatives.

Root similarly has a lack of competition though his credentials, as a problem solver who clearly thinks hard about the game, makes him a potentially better fit for the job than Cook ever

was, and he has so far captained England in a record 59 Tests.

If there are reservations over Root it will be in relation to his penchant for being the dressing-room prankster. For many in authority, such behaviour smacks of immaturity and in times past it would have been an instant bar on a leading position like captain.

Yet, Root is careful that his public persona contains less of the imp and more of the statesman, a ratio that will lean further towards the latter with age and responsibility.

Cricket captains still need to be autocratic, which can be difficult if you have spent your formative years being one of the boys. Cook managed the transformation, though you could see how isolating it was on the recent tour of India where he cut a very lonely figure out on the field as India racked up record scores.

Promoting someone to captaincy is

“

Yes, captaincy might affect Root’s batting, but as Virat Kohli and Graeme Smith have shown, it could well have a boosting effect

”

always a gamble. Given that it is, you wonder why there is nearly always a reluctance from the decision-makers to take the necessary steps.

Yes, captaincy might affect Root’s batting, but as Virat Kohli and Graeme Smith have shown, it could well have a boosting effect rather than a negative one.

The other day, a caller to talkSPORT reckoned England had only had three great captains since the War – Mike Brearley, Ray Illingworth and Michael Vaughan. It is hard to disagree though I would add Nasser Hussain to the list. He had less to work with than the others, in

Onwards and upwards towards the captaincy?

Joe Root makes a point during the India series

terms of player power, and took over when England cricket was at its lowest ebb (his first series in charge saw them ranked the worst team in the world).Yet he knocked them into robust enough shape for Vaughan to polish them into the team which won the 2005 Ashes in fine style.

Gooch achieved similar results against the West Indies when they were the best team in the world. His failure as England captain was to never give the Aussies a good run.

But otherwise, he made a motley team more competitive, not bad for a captain whose leadership qualities were once described by Ted Dexter, the chairman of selectors, as having all the charm of “being slapped around the face with a wet fish”.

Hussain was a big gamble, which for

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once the powers-that-be took in 1999.

When I retired from cricket six years earlier, I told the eminences grises at Essex that Hussain should be the county’s next captain after Gooch, that the tempestuous talent would respond favourably when given the extra responsibility.

The suggestion was met with incredulity and the advice that I should seek out a psychiatrist immediately.

Hussain, of course, became a fine and feisty leader, something Root could emulate albeit by employing different means.

Captains have to work closely with coaches. But is the best fit one where the personalities and philosophies are similar, or where they are different?

Trevor Bayliss likes to sit in the background and let the captain lead the

show, something Root will be comfortable with, at least until the internet trolls get to work on him. Otherwise, they look as if they will agree on most matters not least when it comes to finding a more aggressive tempo for Test cricket.

My only reservation about Root becoming captain is that he is too close to Vaughan, being a client of ISM of which Vaughan is a consultant. Advice from former players and captains is fine providing it is sought and not received unsolicited.

That way Root can captain his own way and not be a hostage to the ideas of others save for those emanating from coach and team mates. It is the best way for him to flourish in a job that is destined to be his, and which, given the sheer demands on mind and body, is still the most difficult in British sport.

Friday, December 23, 2016

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10 FEATURE Losing title will inspire us insists Sidebottom

By Seth Francis YORKSHIRE fast bowler Ryan Sidebottom is determined to regain the County Championship title next season.

Yorkshire, who had won the Championship in 2014 and 2015, missed out on a hat-trick of titles last season on a dramatic final day when Middlesex lifted the crown.

Sidebottom, 38, said:“What happened last season has only made us more hungry. I’ve witnessed it in the last few weeks that the lads have really got the bit between their teeth.

“When you have that winning habit, and when you’re a team that’s won things over the last three or four years, as we have, then, when you suddenly don’t win something, you have that desire and hunger to go one better and keep improving as a group of players.

“Consequently, we’re really excited by the prospect of next year and what we can potentially achieve.We can hopefully draw inspiration too from what’s happened to us in the past.

“When we finished second to Durham in 2013, we were bitterly disappointed, but we knew that we’d played some good cricket and then we won the Championship back-toback. I think the same sort of principle applies next year too.”

Sidebottom played in nine Championship games in 2016, claiming 31 wickets and ending the season with an average of 21.19.

But he is perhaps most remembered for being the final victim of Toby RolandJones’ hat-trick that saw Middlesex win the title at Lord’s in September.

Sidebottom, who made 22 Test appearances for England, added:“Middlesex deservedly won the Championship, and well played to them. They played some really good cricket throughout last summer.

“It made us realise where we need to be at come next year, particularly with other First Division teams getting stronger as well.

“They’re all signing players, and we will have to play well to be successful.”

TCP

With the recent history of Yorkshire, it would be foolish to rule them out of any contention for the title.

It will take a lot to get over the pain of coming so close to making it three in a row, but falling agonisingly short.What better way to heal those wounds than by making it three titles in four years?

VERDICT

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Adams backs Vince recall and then show Richard Edwards discovers the new role as Hampshire captain could help an England discard to an international return

J

immy Adams is backing James Vince to grab his second chance in 2017, if England hand him a recall after overlooking him for the tours of Bangladesh and

India.

The new Hampshire captain was an ever-present for England last summer, playing all seven Tests against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

A season that began full of promise, however, ended in disappointment at the Oval as Vince made just 0 and 1 in a heavy 10-wicket defeat for Alastair Cook’s side. Vince’s tally of 212 runs, scored at an average of just 19, was hardly the return that either him, or England, were after and led to him being left out of this winter’s Test touring parties.

With a winter’s break behind him, Vince will hope to hit the ground running in Division One following their last-minute reprieve as a result of Durham’s relegation.

And his predecessor as captain believes that Vince is perfectly placed to make the most of any opportunities that come his way after having his technique picked apart at the highest level – both on the pitch and in the commentary box.

“I’m hoping a quieter winter will do him the power of good,” says Adams. “I think that another opportunity will come, it won’t just happen but if he returns to the sort of form that you hope and expect then that second chance will be there.

“You’ve seen it with players in the past, second time round things come good. I just think there’s elements to stepping up a level that are different to first-class cricket, things that you haven’t come across before.

“That’s the off field stuff as much as anything – the scrutiny involved, and I can’t talk from experience, but the scrutiny over your mode of dismissal is a massive part of the game at that level.

If you get out twice in a similar way, the next thing you know you’re being picked apart.”

That was certainly the case this summer.

Vince’s attacking strength through the covers also proved to be his downfall at the rarefied heights of the Test match game. Suddenly balls that would routinely rocket through the off side in county cricket were being edged to slip against the Sri Lankan and Pakistan attacks.

And when he did get a start, in the first innings at Chester-le-Street against Sri Lanka and in both innings in the penultimate Test of the summer against Pakistan at Edgbaston, Vince was unable

to go on and prosper in the manner he has so often for Hampshire.

All of which left him cutting a frustrated figure when the curtain went down on England’s season at the Oval.

“James is more of a thinker than people give him credit for and that kind of thing starts to play a bit. Then you start playing without the clear head you’re used to playing with. All of a sudden you’ve got a few too many things running around your brain and that makes cricket even harder.

“I think he’ll come back stronger and better, there’s no doubt about that. You see people and they seem to have time and that’s very evident with him, probably more so than with some players who have been exceptional players for both their counties and

England. That will always be there and that’s why I’m confident that he’ll return and show people what he’s really capable of.

“He was desperate to do well (when he came back to Hampshire in August), desperate to prove people wrong and there was an Supporter: intensity there, almost an Jimmy Adams over-intensity. I think that has no doubts getting away and of Vince’s rediscovering a trust in a ability method will do him a lot of good. Sometimes you can try too hard and I sense that that may have been the case towards the end of last year.”

Vince’s first task next season will be to captain the South in their series against the North in the UAE in March. After that he can get back to task of ensuring that

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Friday, December 23, 2016

FEATURE 11

toearn England his real ability

my life in cricket

The day when I had Laurence Olivier bowling to Robert Redford ... david english

Bunbury Cricket and Bunbury Festival founder Ups and downs: James Vince on the attack in the second Test against Pakistan and, right, after dismissal in his last Test at the Oval PICTURES: Getty Images

I

top flight rather than attempting to recatch the eye of the selectors in the rather more tranquil surroundings of Division Two. Adams admits, though, that Vince and his team-mates might have to put up with more than the odd barb as a result of the Durham decision.

“It was very strange,” says Adams.

“

You see people who seem to have time and that’s evident with him, probably more than some who have been exceptional for England

“

Hampshire’s season isn’t dominated by the threat of relegation, as has been the case since their promotion back to the First Division in 2015.

“We’re lucky in that we’ve got the likes of JV and Daws (Liam Dawson) and a lot of guys who have a good feel for the way the game is going, they read the game quite well,” says Adams. “The longer he does it the better he’ll get, that’s the beauty of it, just as long as it doesn’t impact on other stuff. People always start to question whether it (captaincy) takes away from the primary skill but I don’t think that’s the case with James and he’s very keen to do it.”

Hampshire were handed an unlikely second chance last season following Durham’s relegation, meaning that Vince can look forward to testing himself in the

always loved cricket. In 1987, I started my own team called the Bunburys and the idea was to raise as much money for worthwhile causes while having fun.

As my day job, I used to manage the Bee Gees and Eric Clapton when I worked at RSO Records – they were our first signings. So once I started Bunbury, I went down to Clapton’s house in Surrey and said: “You’re the famous one, you can lead us out!”

The first game was at Ripley Court School, where Clapton used to go. Phil Collins was keeper, then we had Clapton, Bill Wyman and Ringo Starr in the slips, all looking the wrong way, drinking red wine and smoking cigars. David Essex played, as did Dennis Waterman and boxer Gary Mason.

About 5,000 watched this group of nutters prance about, and we raised £25,000 for The Royal Marsden Charity.

Since then, we’ve played 20 games a year for various charities and raised over £17m. It’s quite surreal to say:“Eric Clapton, please put the glass of wine down and move over to extra cover.”

One thing I’ll always remember is when I was in A Bridge Too Far, which starred the likes Dirk Bogarde, Anthony Hopkins, Robert Redford, Michael Caine, Laurence Olivier, James Caan, Sean Connery and Gene Hackman.

I went for an audition with director Richard Attenborough, and he was looking for a grenade thrower.

He said:“I know all about your cricket, you can hurl a cricket ball, so would like to be the main thrower and lead the charge?”

It was 1976, an incredibly hot summer in Holland and at the end of every take, I used to organise cricket games. Laurence Olivier said: “Give me that ball, my father used to take me to Hove, I’ll bowl off-breaks.”

So we had the greatest actor in the world bowling off-breaks to Robert Redford!

“You can’t keep using your get-out-ofjail card, you have to be significantly better than that if you’re going to survive at the end of the season.

“When we went down the general feeling was that we just had to crack on.

I can’t speak for anyone else but I had kind of prepped myself for what was to come. There was no real sense of joy when the decision came through, the whole thing just felt a bit weird.

“I think they’ll be a few wry comments at the start of next season but we can take that. We just have to make sure we get out of the blocks and don’t wait until the end of July to start performing.”

If Vince is to force his way back into England’s thoughts he’ll have to do likewise.

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As a teenager, I had a trial to be on the Lord’s ground staff, and was employed there in 1963 by Len Muncer, who was head coach of the MCC. I got paid three shillings and sixpence an hour and it was an honour and a privilege to go through the North Gate every morning.

To this day, Lord’s is my favourite place in the world – I even go there when there’s no cricket on, such is its magic.

My other passion was schools cricket. For 31 years, I’ve done the Bunbury Schools Cricket Association festival, and 77 Bunburys have played for England – Liam Dawson being the latest.

A total of 725 Bunburys have played first-class cricket.

That is the thing that’s closest to my heart.

To watch youngsters, such as Joe Root, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes when they’re 14 or 15 , and to see the excellence of their play, well, I’ve got so much pleasure out of that.

Paul Farbrace phoned me when they were playing Bangladesh and said: “David, I’m looking at the team now and they’re playing exactly as they did at the Bunbury Festival, with a smile, enjoying each others’ success.”

At the Bunbury Festival a few years ago, Root was a small lad, but chipper. Buttler played exactly as he does now, innovative and with all the ramp shots, and Stokesy was quite feisty – mini-versions of what they are today.

The Bunbury Festival is a festival and I try to make it festive. The boys come on the Sunday with their parents, and I say:“You’ve done so well to get here, enjoy your week.”

You play for your school, region, county and then Bunbury Festival – so they are the 56 best lads at U15 level in the country. There is always a 50/50 split between state and public schools, too.

They think I’m the loon, and I’m proud of being the loon.

Friday, December 23, 2016

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12 FEATURE

It’s a change of tact, rather than direction, for Bayliss...

Laid back and greatly respected, but are these traits enough for Trevor Bayliss to be a success, asks Derek Pringle

W

hile Alastair Cook contemplates his future as England captain preparing turkeys for Xmas on his wife’s farm, Trevor Bayliss, the team’s coach, is recovering from a hernia operation in Australia – clear evidence, if any were needed, that Bayliss has had a gut full of England’s limp performances in India.

As humiliation was being piled upon humiliation for England, Bayliss cut a curious figure as he sat impassive behind his sunglasses and a broad brimmed sunhat, watching the carnage unfold.

To the uninitiated, it might have looked as if he was hiding, or at the very least distancing himself from the horrors being enacted on the pitch.

Yet, he wears the same garb and expression even when England are winning which, in case the drubbing in India has brought on amnesia, includes series victories against Australia (at home) and South Africa (away).

The four-nil defeat at the hands of Virat Kohli’s India was his first serious setback as England’s coach in a year where the Test team has been on the slide following a record-equalling eight defeats. The team’s often toothless display in India, and the mistakes made, on and off the pitch with both tactics and selection, would have been a crushing disappointment for which he must accept some of the blame.

Bayliss has been England’s red and white ball coach for 18 months now, long enough for him to impose his philosophy on the players. But here is the thing: does he have any strong thoughts on how England should play Test cricket and if so, would he override Alastair Cook, the captain, should they

find themselves not singing from the same hymn sheet?

As a cricketer, Bayliss was a competent middle-order batsman and athletic cover fielder. Most of his cricket was played in the Sydney Grade for Penrith, but he did make 58 appearances for New South Wales, scoring 3,060 runs at an average of 35.5. It is probably fair to say that he had more influence on that team after he became their coach, than as a player.

His impact on the way England play cricket is less discernible, though he has had an impact on the one-day game, which under Eoin Morgan has embraced dynamism and risk, if not yet the advanced management of it. In Tests, though, Cook still appears to be the play-maker and shaper – England

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To succeed, Bayliss may have to become more ‘bad cop’ and leave the touchy feely stuff to his assistant coach, Paul Farbrace

Dynamic: Jos Buttler fits the bill for Trevor Bayliss

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cricket still giving primacy to the captain, and his instincts are distinctly ‘safety first’. The pair get on well, but there are likely to be differences over some matters, such as the timing of the declaration in Rajkot, which Cook delayed until the match was super safe.

Being an Aussie, Bayliss believes in aggressive, attacking cricket with bat and ball. Indeed, he said as much during the India series, calling for his batsmen to be “more attacking in style”.

In that respect, he is more comfortable forming an alliance with Morgan than Cook, which means there is also likely to be a difference in which players the pair see as delivering their particular vision. So whereas Cook, and his innate conservatism would opt for someone like Gary Ballance, Bayliss’ instincts would be to go for more dynamic players like Jason Roy or Jos Buttler.

Trouble was in India, both ways looked flawed. For Roy and Buttler read Ben Duckett, an exciting shot-maker but one shorn of a technique tight enough against spin to allow him enough time at the crease to do some damage.

Bayliss is very popular with his players. They even sang a song about him during the Ashes last year and not many coaches get that after so short a

Double act: But do Trevor Bayliss and Paul Farbrace need to change their ways?

PICTURES: Getty Images

time in the job. For his part, Bayliss likes to create an environment in which the players feel valued and supported. He values honesty and does not tolerate any nonsense from prima donnas.

He also likes to give players enough space to take responsibility and if needs be, to make their own mistakes.

Such minimal interference makes sense to those of us who played county and international cricket without coaches, but it might just spook a modern player, who likes to analyse and discuss their game before taking precise instruction on it.

The ‘light touch’ approach does not sit well with aspects of the media either, who equate the England cricket coach’s job to that of a football manager. In their eyes, responsibility and culpability need to be traceable to someone in authority. But whether Bayliss has been shrewd by design or by accident, he has so far managed to avoid the bulk of any criticism.

Having played Grade Cricket against Bayliss in the mid-1980s, when he was just another foul-mouthed Aussie sledging a Pom, I find his light touch approach to coaching desirable and mature, but then my generation were largely self-medicators when it came to

cricket cures.Whether England’s plight in India needed a more intense approach, like the one Andy Flower used to focus minds, is open to debate.

What is certain is that England, having won in India four years ago under Flower, got worse this time with every match.

Bayliss and Flower, the two coaches Cook has worked with most often during his captaincy, cut very contrasting figures. Flower is an intense zealot about the power of coaching and his belief that it can change players radically. By contrast, Bayliss is more relaxed about what coaching can achieve. Rather than Flower’s obsession for detail, he believes in the bigger picture for both team and player, of which coaching plays one part.

Flower took England to number one in all three formats, and it may be that Bayliss might need to become more ‘bad cop’, leaving the laid-back, touchy feely stuff to his assistant Paul Farbrace, to get the best from his teams. English players tend not to be as self-motivating as Australian ones and Bayliss, now that his honeymoon in the job is over, might need to factor that in if he and English cricket are to have a long and happy marriage.

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Friday, December 23, 2016

FEATURE 13

Christian signs up to be Outlaw once more

By Seth Francis

One-day skipper: Eoin Morgan has gelled with Bayliss

Get ready for 2017!

AS YOU continue to rip open the 24 tiny windows and guzzle down the chocolate hiding behind, leave some room over the next few weeks for a different kind of calendar.

Working closely with our army of top photographers, The Cricket Paper is proud to present to our readers our 2017 calendar, in association with Morrant – and it’s yours for the fantastic price of just £5.99 including postage and packaging within the UK. To order your TCP 2017 Calendar, fill out the form below and return it to us.

Here’s wishing you all the best for 2017! Happy cricketing...

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NOTTINGHAMSHIRE’S head coach Peter Moores can’t wait to see some more big hitting from Australia all-rounder Dan Christian next season after he signed up to play for them again in the T20 Blast.

Christian, 33, averaged 41 with a strike rate of almost 160 in the competition last season – helping the team to win nine matches in a row.

Moores said:“Dan is an explosive player who hits the ball miles and played really well for us.

“He’s also been around the T20 scene and around cricket for a long time. He brings all that experience to us, as well as a real calmness under pressure.”

Christian has played 174 Twenty20 matches during his career, scoring 2,549 runs and taking 130 wickets. He made three half-centuries for Notts last summer and equalled Alex Hales’ record for the county’s fastest half-century in T20 cricket by reaching fifty off just 16 balls against Leicestershire.

And Moores knows the impact he can have on the side again.

He added:“Anybody who has met Dan will know he’s a brilliant team-man. He gives everything and expects the same from his team-mates.

“He’s a great character to have around and that competitive nature that you find in a lot of Australians is certainly in him.“He likes to get on the front foot, to be aggressive and to play attacking cricket, which is exactly what we want in that form of the game.”

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14 FEATURE

BOWLING

Amir R Ali Shah Riaz A Ali

6s

4s

Balls

Runs

Renshaw Warner Khawaja Smith * Handscomb Maddinson Wade + Starc Hazlewood Lyon Bird Extras Total

c Ahmed b Riaz 71 125 9 0 lbw b Amir 32 70 2 0 c Misbah-ul-Haq b Shah 4 7 1 0 c Ahmed b Riaz 130 222 19 0 b Riaz 105 240 10 1 c Ahmed b Riaz 1 8 0 0 c A Ali b Amir 7 21 1 0 c Shafiq b Amir 10 7 1 0 c Shafiq b Amir 8 21 0 0 c Shafiq b Shah 29 24 6 0 not out 19 43 0 1 7nb 1w 5lb 13 all out 429 (130.1ovs) O M R W

31.0 22.0 43.1 26.0 8.0

7 97 5 74 6 129 4 89 0 35

4 0 2 4 0

FALL OF WICKETS

70 75 151 323 334 342 354 380 380 429

Warner Khawaja Renshaw Smith Maddinson Wade Starc Hazlewood Handscomb Lyon

4s

6s

Balls

Runs

PAKISTAN 1ST INNINGS Aslam c Wade b Bird 22 100 2 A Ali c Khawaja b Starc 5 10 1 Azam c Smith b Hazlewood 19 41 1 Khan c Wade b Hazlewood 0 1 0 Misbah-ul-Haq * c Renshaw b Bird 4 20 0 Shafiq c Khawaja b Starc 2 4 0 Ahmed + not out 59 64 6 Riaz c & b Hazlewood 1 14 0 Shah c Khawaja b Starc 1 2 0 Amir c Wade b Bird 21 69 2 R Ali run out (Warner) 4 5 1 Extras 1w 3lb 4 Total all out 142 (55ovs)

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

BOWLING

Starc Hazlewood Bird Lyon

O M R W

18.0 14.0 12.0 11.0

2 1 6 2

63 22 23 31

3 3 3 0

FALL OF WICKETS

6 43 43 48 54 56 66 67 121 142

A Ali Azam Khan Misbah-ul-Haq Shafiq Aslam Riaz Shah Amir R Ali

4s

6s

Balls

Runs

AUSTRALIA 2ND INNINGS Warner c Riaz b Amir 12 8 2 Renshaw c Khan b R Ali 6 15 0 Khawaja c Misbah-ul-Haq b R Ali 74 109 8 Smith * c R Ali b Shah 63 70 11 Handscomb not out 35 26 4 Maddinson c Azam b Riaz 4 3 1 Wade + not out 1 4 0 Extras 1nb 2b 4lb 7 Total for 5 declared 202 (39ovs) Did not bat: Starc, Hazlewood, Lyon, Bird

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

BOWLING

Amir R Ali Shah Riaz A Ali

O M R W

8.0 10.0 10.0 7.0 4.0

0 1 1 1 0

37 40 45 47 27

1 2 1 1 0

FALL OF WICKETS

12 24 135 188 199

Warner Renshaw Smith Khawaja Maddinson

BOWLING

Starc Hazlewood Bird Lyon Maddinson

O M R W

38.0 10 119 42.0 11 99 33.0 6 110 29.0 3 108 3.0 0 9

4 0 3 2 0

4s

6s

Aslam c Renshaw b Starc A Ali c Wade b Starc Azam c Smith b Lyon Khan c Smith b Lyon Misbah-ul-Haq * c Wade b Bird Shafiq c Warner b Starc Ahmed + b Starc Amir c Wade b Bird Riaz c Smith b Bird Shah run out (Smith) R Ali not out Extras 2w 5lb Total all out

Balls

Runs

PAKISTAN 2ND INNINGS 15 39 2 71 179 9 14 36 1 65 147 7 5 34 0 137 207 13 24 41 1 48 63 5 30 56 2 33 66 4 1 2 0 7 450 (145ovs)

0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0

FALL OF WICKETS

31 54 145 165 173 220 312 378 449 450

Aslam Azam A Ali Misbah-ul-Haq Khan Ahmed Amir Riaz Shafiq Shah

It’s such a shame so almost draw blood Alison Mitchell recounts the highs and lows of a remarkable day/night Test that opened the Australia-Pakistan series

F

irst it was Leicester City, then Brexit followed by Trump. The year 2016 has had its fair share of unlikely winners, but in the annals of Test cricket, no result would have been more remarkable than had Pakistan recovered from the loss of seven wickets for 24 in an abject first innings collapse, to complete the highest successful run chase the game has seen.

That Pakistan were chasing a world record 490 yet lost to Australia by only 39 runs in the first Test at the Gabba was testament to a proud team, determined to show the world they can fight, that they don’t want to give in, and above all that they can learn from recent mistakes.

Cricket is surely one of only few sports that can conjure a situation whereby at the end of a gruelling contest the losing captain is almost as pleased as the winning. If Misbah-ul-Haq was justifiably buoyed by his team turning their fortunes around and pushing Australia so close, Steve Smith’s relief at clinching the win was equally as well-founded.

Having had Pakistan on the ropes, opting to bat again then declaring with more than two days to go, a recordbreaking defeat could have left deep, lingering scars with the Australian skipper.

Pakistan’s hero in defeat was the compact and compelling Asad Shafiq, who met his team’s loss with smiling candour, admitting that even when he equalled his Test best score of 137 and Pakistan only needed 41 for victory, he never truly believed they would win.

His sentiment flew in the face of modern public utterances, where it seems you must believe you can win at all times, but Pakistan are refreshingly honest in their media appraisals, and what is more, it illustrated the sheer scale of the challenge they had been faced with. Shafiq’s dismissal, after five and a half hours and without adding to his personal best, eventually confirmed his own suspicion that the match would indeed slip away.

It didn’t happen, however, until the Gabba had been treated to an unforgettable run chase and an even more dramatic ending when Smith threw down the stumps at the striker’s end from second slip, exploding the woodwork with the ball and running out Yasir as he wandered out of his ground.

A remarkable Test match, then, but what of the day/night concept? Healthy crowd numbers on days one to three ensured a new attendance record was set for a non-Ashes Test at the Gabba. By

Ecstasy and agony: Asad Shafiq salutes his ton but, inset, looks despairingly skywards after being caught by an exultant David Warner, right PICTURES: Getty Images

the time the match reached its nail biting conclusion shortly before tea on the fifth day, 78,095 had passed through the gates. The previous record was 55,947 for a Test against Sri Lanka in 2007/8 when both teams were at their peak.

Days four and five remained poorly attended, however, despite the authorities flinging the doors open and inviting fans in for free to see the climax on the final day. The forecast of storms undoubtedly put off locals on day four.

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Days four and five remained poorly attended, however, despite the authorities flinging doors open for free on the final day

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AUSTRALIA 1ST INNINGS

Sunday church services are also a prevalent part of Brisbane life for many, although no one foresaw that it would be the Australian team needing a prayer or two 24 hours later.

The echoey stands on the final day were more akin to a Test match in Dubai, rather than Australia striving for victory in the ‘Gabbatoir’, a ground where they hadn’t lost a Test since 1988. A small, colourful cluster of Pakistan fans made their voices heard, however. The chanting and flag waving made for a focal point of vociferous patriotic fervour, adding to Australia’s final day angst in the field.

Despite the crowd swell of the first three days, doubts have surfaced again over the pink Kookaburra ball. Australia captain Smith lamented that the ball had gone soft very quickly.

His description of “the air” having gone out of the ball made it all the more remarkable that Mitchell Starc somehow found enough bounce to make one

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Friday, December 23, 2016

FEATURE 15

fewsawPakistan Final r e v o in the Gabbatoir jofra archer

Sussex fast bowler

On the Spot

Date of Birth: 01/04/1995 Marital Status: Girlfriend – Joanna

The Last

Bat you bought/used?

I haven’t bought a bat since 2011! Back then the Kookaburra was the choice but I’ve been given Newbery ones which I really like.

Five-wicket haul or century?

I took 5-42 in a one-day against Somerset at Taunton – including Mahela Jayawardene which was a big scalp, so I was very pleased!

Injury?

I suffered a stress fracture in my back which was pretty nasty, but that was back in 2014-15, thankfully, so it’s been a while, touch wood.

Trophy you won?

This one has been a while, but I won a trophy while playing at school in Barbados in 2013, so I’m certainly due another one soon!

The Jury’s Out

Opening night verve: a pleasing crowd at the Gabba on the first day

delivery rear up off a good length towards the throat of Shafiq, getting the key dismissal late on the final morning and thus paving the way for the win.

It is tricky to judge just how much the pink ball was to blame for the difficulty Australia’s bowlers had in taking their fourth innings wickets, and how much was down to their lines, lengths and the fields set by Smith, who began the final day with just one slip and numerous fielders in the deep when Pakistan still needed 108 to win, yet had just two wickets in hand.

Moreover, Pakistan acquitted themselves a thousand times better with the bat second time around, and the pace bowlers, Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Jackson Bird, were made to carry a heavy load, with no all rounder to give them respite and a captain who wasn’t inclined to give his off spinner many overs.

It is true, there was little swing or seam throughout, even under the lights,

and Smith said: “We saw in this game that once the pink ball got a little bit softer, probably after 25-30 overs, it was quite hard to get players out. You need to improve the product.”

The pink ball was also partly to blame, apparently, for Nathan Lyon’s poorer than expected return on a ground where he has a marginally better strike rate than Shane Warne.

“Bowling at the Gabba with the pink ball that was pretty soft does make it a difficult place to bowl spin,” Smith said.

“He has a great record at the Gabba in red ball cricket, where the ball stays harder for longer and he’s able to generate that bounce but he couldn’t get it with the way the ball was.”

Lyon may need a strong showing in the Boxing Day Test to convince his captain he is not a fading force.

As for this match, what threatened to be one of the shortest Tests in recent history, turned out to be one of the most memorable the game has ever seen.

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Tea or Coffee?

Definitely tea, I’m not really too fussy, I just like to have a regular cup of tea before a game – it just seems to hit the spot before I take to the pitch.

Beans on toast or pasta?

Definitely pasta, I like to throw a little bit of cream cheese and some chicken in there, too, for a great mix.

Caribbean with the missus or Magaluf with the lads?

I currently have a girlfriend, Joanna, so I’d take her back to Barbados because it’s such a beautiful country.

Red or white wine?

I’m not really a wine drinker, so I’d have to say neither!

Ginger beer is the better option for me. I’ll leave the wine to the other lads.

50-over, T20 or County Championship?

With the pace of the game and the atmosphere it provides, it has to be T20 cricket. It’s the form of the game that attracts the most people and when you get a full house at Hove it’s an electric place to play.

Time added on

Who did you support as a boy?

I was a big football fan when

I was younger and, like most people in Barbados, was a big fan of Manchester United because Cristiano Ronaldo was just magic!

Best coach you have ever played with?

My time with the West Indies U19s has given me a great chance to work with Roddy Estwick. I had never really had much coaching personally one to one and he was the first person who really helped me individually.

The most nervous when next into bat?

There is nobody who I have played with who is nervous before they go into bat, certainly not anybody who shows it anyway!

Person to avoid after being dismissed?

Phil Salt screams a lot and he might throw a bat or two so you have to beware that you might need to duck!

One rule you could change?

I would like to let the bowlers bowl more than two bouncers per over – batsmen have too much help!

Three words to describe yourself?

Quiet, outspoken, determined.

Which TV pundit makes you cringe and which do you really listen to?

I like Michael Holding and Bob Willis. They’ve been there and done it and certainly know their stuff when it comes to bowling. As a fast bowler coming through it’s great to hear what guys like that have to say.

Do you have any superstitions?

Not really but if I get a low score I will always change the bat for the next knock.

I’m not sure if it works but I feel better when I do it.

Hobbies?

Fishing in the Caribbean, playing football and playing video games – it’s quite a nice mixture and a good way to get me to relax.

Dinner party?

My granddad, Sachin Tendulkar and Jon Lewis – who else would you need other than those heroes?

And finally

Worst dressed?

I’m going to have to go with Chris Nash. He comes in wearing all sorts of stuff, it’s all very random.

Friday, December 23, 2016

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16 FEATURE

FEATURE 17

Worcesterhire 1964

Graveney’s grace; Kenyon’s guile and Flavell’s wickets Respected cricket writer Paul Edwards goes back 52 years to run the rule over the County Champions of 1964 Worcestershire

T

om Graveney played the cover-drive with the easeful resolve of a man leaning across the breakfast table to pick up his morning paper. There was a high backlift, measured footwork and the smoothest of downswings before the ball brushed the turf on its way to the off-side boundary. Fielders trotted after it, often more in obeisance than pursuit. Folk who watched Graveney play that stroke at Worcester were in thrall of cricket for the rest of their lives.

If you conducted a poll asking spectators to select the post-war English batsman whose style was easiest on the eye, there is a fair chance that the names of Graveney and David Gower would appear at the top of it.Yet there was great substance behind the elegance of both men.

Graveney, for example, represented Gloucestershire from 1948 until 1960 and Worcestershire from 1961 until his retirement in 1970. He played 79 Test matches, and his 47,793 runs in all firstclass cricket included 122 centuries. His natural ball-striking ability – many reckon he could have been a professional golfer – was preserved and enhanced by assiduous preparation.

Every morning saw Graveney practise his batting and each net session took the shape of an innings in which attacking shots were only attempted when the bowling and the pitch had been assessed. For all that he played the strokes which snobs thought the preserve of amateurs, he was a professional to his fingertips.

Both Graveney and Gower had their run-ins with authority and neither batsman was the favourite of one or two of the England captains under whom they played. Len Hutton and Peter May were not convinced Graveney had the resilience needed by a Test match batsman, and admissions by opposing skippers that he would be a regular in their sides could not sway the issue.

The perfect metaphors of Alan Ross captured that early vulnerability.

“Graveney is”, wrote Ross in 1955,“a player of yacht-like character, beautiful in calm seas yet at the mercy of every change of weather. There are no obvious faults in construction but the barometer has only to fall away a point or two from fair for way to be completely lost and the boat broached to, if not turned for harbour.”

Graveney had not played for England for over three years when, in 1966, he

Friday, December 23, 2016

was recalled to the colours at the age of 39 and made 459 runs in seven innings against Garry Sobers’ powerful West Indies team. The series was lost but Graveney had earned three more years’ Test cricket.

Worcestershire members needed no convincing about Tom’s class. Over the previous two summers the most loyal of them had seen Graveney make nearly 4,000 runs in Championship cricket. His tally of 2,271 in 1964 had taken Don Kenyon’s team to their first title and his 1,684 the following year had played a major role in ensuring that Worcestershire became the first team outside the big six to retain their title. It was a wonderful achievement for a county which, in 1919, had been so weak that it had withdrawn from that season’s Championship altogether.

To a degree Graveney’s remarkable gifts overshadowed those of some of his colleagues in 1964. For example, four other batsmen made over a thousand Championship runs that season and one member of that quartet, Don Kenyon, did so when opening the batting and captaining a side which had finished 14th in 1963.

“Don was calm and unruffled even when we lost three matches out of four,” recalled Graveney.“He maintained that we were not to be put off by defeat, providing we were beaten going for victory.

Events proved him completely right.”

Kenyon’s gifts extended beyond the tactical. As the skipper of a team filled with devout believers in the doctrine of playing as hard as one worked, it was his job to lay down guidelines regarding behaviour.

“Don was brilliant,” said Norman Gifford, the slow left-arm spinner who took 98 wickets in 1964.“There were some huge personalities in that side but Don handled them superbly. He was a quiet man but he had presence. He ran

“

Graveney’s remarkable gifts overshadowed those of some of his colleagues in 1964. For example, four others made over 1,000 runs

the show and there was no backchat from anyone.”

‘It was simple,” added the seamer, Bob Carter.“Don would either put his arm around you or place his hands on his hips and say,‘what are you? You are a professional and you know what you are doing’.”

Worcestershire’s bowlers did indeed know what they were doing in 1964. The new-ball pairing of Jack Flavell and Len Coldwell took 178 wickets that summer while Jim Standen, having kept goal in the West Ham United side that beat Preston North End 3-2 in May’s FA Cup Final, also played 11 matches for Worcestershire. “Our phantom seamer,” as Standen was described by Graveney, finished top of his side’s bowling averages with 52 wickets at 14.42 apiece and was also the best outfielder in Kenyon’s team.

The captain was well served close to the wicket as well. Roy Booth’s 87 catches and eight stumpings in Championship cricket reinforced his reputation as one of the most underestimated wicketkeepers on the circuit while close fielders Ron Headley and Dick Richardson added 91 catches to the thousand runs they each had scored with the bat.

All the same,Worcestershire’s powerful 15-man squad did not dominate the Championship until the last month of the season. Although champions Yorkshire were suffering a moderate summer and eventually finished a lowly fifth,Warwickshire maintained a stern challenge and were only overtaken by Kenyon’s side in early August.

And yet, insofar as one man can make the difference in a team game as complex and co-operative as cricket, Graveney was the chief reason why Worcestershire finished 1964 with a comfortable 41-point lead over their neighbours.“People say the bowlers won us the Championship in 1964 and 1965,” said the seamer Coldwell, in a conversation recorded in Touched By Greatness, Andrew Murtagh’s fine biography of Graveney.

“No, we didn’t. That bloke over there won it for us.”

Statistics back up Coldwell’s generous tribute while the fact that 11 of Worcestershire’s 18

wins were achieved away from New Road also helps dispose of the idea that the title was won because home pitches were prepared simply to benefit the home team’s strong attack.

In a wet summer and on uncovered pitches which frequently turned spiteful as a cat when merely damp, Graveney made five hundreds and 15 fifties in 48 Championship innings. One of those half-centuries was taken off Warwickshire’s attack at Edgbaston in July and it was, perhaps, his most valuable.

The game was played on a wicket which suited any bowlers who could pitch it on a length.Worcestershire were bowled out for 119 in their first innings, Graveney making 32 not out in over two hours.Warwickshire replied with 72, Standen taking 6-45, before Graveney compiled 95 in more than five hours’ work as the visitors extended their 47-run lead to 305 before declaring on 258-8.

The home side’s batsmen could make nothing of Gifford and Martin

Horton in their second innings and were dismissed for 86. The game did not decide the Championship but it offered an example of Graveney’s ability to apply himself in difficult circumstances and grind out the runs his team needed.

He took pains rather than liberties; he had steel as well as style.

And yet, it is that gorgeous style you remember. Something of this was caught quite perfectly in a piece Mike Selvey wrote for The Guardian about his first meeting with the 41-year-old Graveney in 1968. Selvey was 20 and playing his fifth County Championship match.“I knew nothing,” he admits. Then this…

“I bowled to Graveney and was primary witness to a single stroke that defined everything that has followed for me since. The delivery, such as it was,

contained no particular merit. It was on a length, lively enough in pace from a whippy youngster and not badly directed at around middle-and-off. At least it deserved respect.What followed is as clear as day.

“Tom eased himself forward and his bat came down straight. Then, without hitting around his front pad, which had remained inside the line of the ball, he turned his top hand (not the bottom hand shovel that so many use now) and caressed the ball away to the leg side.

There was no crack of leather on willow, no explosion from the blade…

“In the four decades since…I have witnessed every great batsman, from Sobers and Graeme Pollock…through to Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kall-

lis. And all the aesthetes too: Gower, Mark Waugh, Mohammad Azharuddin, VVS Laxman, a host of them. But that late August boundary of Tom’s, 42 years ago and in the twilight of his career, remains the single most sublime, beautiful cricket stroke I have ever seen.”

Other spectators, other images: Michael Holding’s run-up, Bishan Bedi’s bowling action, Mark Ramprakash’s forward defensive shot, Clive Lloyd’s swoop and throw from cover point.

Yet, as with Selvey, it was Tom who began it all for me. A cover-drive at Worcester and the soft enchantment of the ages.

WORCESTERSHIRE in the 1964 County Championship

HOW THEY LINED UP...

Played - 28 Won - 18 Lost - 3 Drew - 6 No Decision - 1

Don Kenyon (c)

All statistics are from the County Championship only

Matches: 28 Runs: 1310 Average: 26.73 Wickets: 43 Average: 24.18 Catches: 10

Matches: 27 Runs: 1402 Average: 30.47 Catches: 17

Martin Horton

Ron Headley Matches: 28 Runs: 1540 Average: 34.22 Catches: 45

Tom Graveney Matches: 28 Runs: 2271 Average: 55.39 Catches: 26

Dick Richardson Matches: 26 Runs: 1155 Average: 26.86 Catches: 46

Duncan Fearnley Matches: 20 Runs: 603 Average: 18.27 Catches: 6

Roy Booth (wkt) Matches: 28 Runs: 638 Average: 16.35 Catches: 87 Stumpings: 8

Doug Slade Matches: 19 Runs: 286 Average: 15.05 Wickets: 36 Average: 21.27 Catches: 10

Norman Gifford Matches: 26 Runs: 251 Average: 12.55 Wickets: 98 Average: 17.22 Catches: 11

Len Coldwell Matches: 19 Runs: 68 Average: 3.57 Wickets: 77 Average: 14.59 Catches: 8

Jack Flavell Matches: 18 Runs: 82 Average: 6.3 Wickets: 101 Average: 15.08 Catches: 8

12th Men Jim Standen Matches: 11 Runs: 167 Average: 9.82 Wickets: 52 Average: 14.42 Catches: 9

Bob Carter Matches: 11 Runs: 16 Average: 3.2 Wickets: 38 Average: 20.34 Catches: 3

John Ormrod Matches: 11 Runs: 148 Average: 9.86 Catches: 6

Brian Brain Matches: 8 Runs: 67 Average: 8.37 Wickets: 30 Average: 22.96

Friday, December 23, 2016

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16 FEATURE

FEATURE 17

Worcesterhire 1964

Graveney’s grace; Kenyon’s guile and Flavell’s wickets Respected cricket writer Paul Edwards goes back 52 years to run the rule over the County Champions of 1964 Worcestershire

T

om Graveney played the cover-drive with the easeful resolve of a man leaning across the breakfast table to pick up his morning paper. There was a high backlift, measured footwork and the smoothest of downswings before the ball brushed the turf on its way to the off-side boundary. Fielders trotted after it, often more in obeisance than pursuit. Folk who watched Graveney play that stroke at Worcester were in thrall of cricket for the rest of their lives.

If you conducted a poll asking spectators to select the post-war English batsman whose style was easiest on the eye, there is a fair chance that the names of Graveney and David Gower would appear at the top of it.Yet there was great substance behind the elegance of both men.

Graveney, for example, represented Gloucestershire from 1948 until 1960 and Worcestershire from 1961 until his retirement in 1970. He played 79 Test matches, and his 47,793 runs in all firstclass cricket included 122 centuries. His natural ball-striking ability – many reckon he could have been a professional golfer – was preserved and enhanced by assiduous preparation.

Every morning saw Graveney practise his batting and each net session took the shape of an innings in which attacking shots were only attempted when the bowling and the pitch had been assessed. For all that he played the strokes which snobs thought the preserve of amateurs, he was a professional to his fingertips.

Both Graveney and Gower had their run-ins with authority and neither batsman was the favourite of one or two of the England captains under whom they played. Len Hutton and Peter May were not convinced Graveney had the resilience needed by a Test match batsman, and admissions by opposing skippers that he would be a regular in their sides could not sway the issue.

The perfect metaphors of Alan Ross captured that early vulnerability.

“Graveney is”, wrote Ross in 1955,“a player of yacht-like character, beautiful in calm seas yet at the mercy of every change of weather. There are no obvious faults in construction but the barometer has only to fall away a point or two from fair for way to be completely lost and the boat broached to, if not turned for harbour.”

Graveney had not played for England for over three years when, in 1966, he

Friday, December 23, 2016

was recalled to the colours at the age of 39 and made 459 runs in seven innings against Garry Sobers’ powerful West Indies team. The series was lost but Graveney had earned three more years’ Test cricket.

Worcestershire members needed no convincing about Tom’s class. Over the previous two summers the most loyal of them had seen Graveney make nearly 4,000 runs in Championship cricket. His tally of 2,271 in 1964 had taken Don Kenyon’s team to their first title and his 1,684 the following year had played a major role in ensuring that Worcestershire became the first team outside the big six to retain their title. It was a wonderful achievement for a county which, in 1919, had been so weak that it had withdrawn from that season’s Championship altogether.

To a degree Graveney’s remarkable gifts overshadowed those of some of his colleagues in 1964. For example, four other batsmen made over a thousand Championship runs that season and one member of that quartet, Don Kenyon, did so when opening the batting and captaining a side which had finished 14th in 1963.

“Don was calm and unruffled even when we lost three matches out of four,” recalled Graveney.“He maintained that we were not to be put off by defeat, providing we were beaten going for victory.

Events proved him completely right.”

Kenyon’s gifts extended beyond the tactical. As the skipper of a team filled with devout believers in the doctrine of playing as hard as one worked, it was his job to lay down guidelines regarding behaviour.

“Don was brilliant,” said Norman Gifford, the slow left-arm spinner who took 98 wickets in 1964.“There were some huge personalities in that side but Don handled them superbly. He was a quiet man but he had presence. He ran

“

Graveney’s remarkable gifts overshadowed those of some of his colleagues in 1964. For example, four others made over 1,000 runs

the show and there was no backchat from anyone.”

‘It was simple,” added the seamer, Bob Carter.“Don would either put his arm around you or place his hands on his hips and say,‘what are you? You are a professional and you know what you are doing’.”

Worcestershire’s bowlers did indeed know what they were doing in 1964. The new-ball pairing of Jack Flavell and Len Coldwell took 178 wickets that summer while Jim Standen, having kept goal in the West Ham United side that beat Preston North End 3-2 in May’s FA Cup Final, also played 11 matches for Worcestershire. “Our phantom seamer,” as Standen was described by Graveney, finished top of his side’s bowling averages with 52 wickets at 14.42 apiece and was also the best outfielder in Kenyon’s team.

The captain was well served close to the wicket as well. Roy Booth’s 87 catches and eight stumpings in Championship cricket reinforced his reputation as one of the most underestimated wicketkeepers on the circuit while close fielders Ron Headley and Dick Richardson added 91 catches to the thousand runs they each had scored with the bat.

All the same,Worcestershire’s powerful 15-man squad did not dominate the Championship until the last month of the season. Although champions Yorkshire were suffering a moderate summer and eventually finished a lowly fifth,Warwickshire maintained a stern challenge and were only overtaken by Kenyon’s side in early August.

And yet, insofar as one man can make the difference in a team game as complex and co-operative as cricket, Graveney was the chief reason why Worcestershire finished 1964 with a comfortable 41-point lead over their neighbours.“People say the bowlers won us the Championship in 1964 and 1965,” said the seamer Coldwell, in a conversation recorded in Touched By Greatness, Andrew Murtagh’s fine biography of Graveney.

“No, we didn’t. That bloke over there won it for us.”

Statistics back up Coldwell’s generous tribute while the fact that 11 of Worcestershire’s 18

wins were achieved away from New Road also helps dispose of the idea that the title was won because home pitches were prepared simply to benefit the home team’s strong attack.

In a wet summer and on uncovered pitches which frequently turned spiteful as a cat when merely damp, Graveney made five hundreds and 15 fifties in 48 Championship innings. One of those half-centuries was taken off Warwickshire’s attack at Edgbaston in July and it was, perhaps, his most valuable.

The game was played on a wicket which suited any bowlers who could pitch it on a length.Worcestershire were bowled out for 119 in their first innings, Graveney making 32 not out in over two hours.Warwickshire replied with 72, Standen taking 6-45, before Graveney compiled 95 in more than five hours’ work as the visitors extended their 47-run lead to 305 before declaring on 258-8.

The home side’s batsmen could make nothing of Gifford and Martin

Horton in their second innings and were dismissed for 86. The game did not decide the Championship but it offered an example of Graveney’s ability to apply himself in difficult circumstances and grind out the runs his team needed.

He took pains rather than liberties; he had steel as well as style.

And yet, it is that gorgeous style you remember. Something of this was caught quite perfectly in a piece Mike Selvey wrote for The Guardian about his first meeting with the 41-year-old Graveney in 1968. Selvey was 20 and playing his fifth County Championship match.“I knew nothing,” he admits. Then this…

“I bowled to Graveney and was primary witness to a single stroke that defined everything that has followed for me since. The delivery, such as it was,

contained no particular merit. It was on a length, lively enough in pace from a whippy youngster and not badly directed at around middle-and-off. At least it deserved respect.What followed is as clear as day.

“Tom eased himself forward and his bat came down straight. Then, without hitting around his front pad, which had remained inside the line of the ball, he turned his top hand (not the bottom hand shovel that so many use now) and caressed the ball away to the leg side.

There was no crack of leather on willow, no explosion from the blade…

“In the four decades since…I have witnessed every great batsman, from Sobers and Graeme Pollock…through to Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kall-

lis. And all the aesthetes too: Gower, Mark Waugh, Mohammad Azharuddin, VVS Laxman, a host of them. But that late August boundary of Tom’s, 42 years ago and in the twilight of his career, remains the single most sublime, beautiful cricket stroke I have ever seen.”

Other spectators, other images: Michael Holding’s run-up, Bishan Bedi’s bowling action, Mark Ramprakash’s forward defensive shot, Clive Lloyd’s swoop and throw from cover point.

Yet, as with Selvey, it was Tom who began it all for me. A cover-drive at Worcester and the soft enchantment of the ages.

WORCESTERSHIRE in the 1964 County Championship

HOW THEY LINED UP...

Played - 28 Won - 18 Lost - 3 Drew - 6 No Decision - 1

Don Kenyon (c)

All statistics are from the County Championship only

Matches: 28 Runs: 1310 Average: 26.73 Wickets: 43 Average: 24.18 Catches: 10

Matches: 27 Runs: 1402 Average: 30.47 Catches: 17

Martin Horton

Ron Headley Matches: 28 Runs: 1540 Average: 34.22 Catches: 45

Tom Graveney Matches: 28 Runs: 2271 Average: 55.39 Catches: 26

Dick Richardson Matches: 26 Runs: 1155 Average: 26.86 Catches: 46

Duncan Fearnley Matches: 20 Runs: 603 Average: 18.27 Catches: 6

Roy Booth (wkt) Matches: 28 Runs: 638 Average: 16.35 Catches: 87 Stumpings: 8

Doug Slade Matches: 19 Runs: 286 Average: 15.05 Wickets: 36 Average: 21.27 Catches: 10

Norman Gifford Matches: 26 Runs: 251 Average: 12.55 Wickets: 98 Average: 17.22 Catches: 11

Len Coldwell Matches: 19 Runs: 68 Average: 3.57 Wickets: 77 Average: 14.59 Catches: 8

Jack Flavell Matches: 18 Runs: 82 Average: 6.3 Wickets: 101 Average: 15.08 Catches: 8

12th Men Jim Standen Matches: 11 Runs: 167 Average: 9.82 Wickets: 52 Average: 14.42 Catches: 9

Bob Carter Matches: 11 Runs: 16 Average: 3.2 Wickets: 38 Average: 20.34 Catches: 3

John Ormrod Matches: 11 Runs: 148 Average: 9.86 Catches: 6

Brian Brain Matches: 8 Runs: 67 Average: 8.37 Wickets: 30 Average: 22.96

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Friday, December 23, 2016

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18 NEWS & DISABILITY CRICKET

disability cricket

What would my life had been if not for cricket?

By Jeremy Blackmore

THIS WEEK...

CHRIS EDWARDS England Learning Disability all-rounder Age: 23 Role: All-rounder Clubs: England Learning Disability, Cheshire What’s your story?

I was diagnosed with autism at the age of three, and haven’t got the best social skills as a result of my disability.

When did you first get into cricket?

It was in school – I was about five. One summer it was too warm for football, so we got the cricket set out. I just picked it up straight away, and had a natural eye for the ball. It was love at first sight – it was something I enjoyed doing and that I could concentrate on. I was fortunate to play every lunch-time, outdoor and indoor during school.

How has playing cricket has improved your life?

I haven’t got the best social skills due to my autism, so for me the social interaction side helps a lot. You get to meet new people from around the world when you play for England. You’re making new friends all the time and you have that wider community of people with learning disabilities that you can relate to. I sometimes think, how different would it be if I’d not have had cricket in my life? It’s one of those moments that you look back on and I’m glad I’ve taken my opportunities.

What type of cricketer are you?

I’m an all-rounder. I open the batting and I’m also a handy

We’re staying on the attack, says new skipper Tom

medium-pace bowler. I’m a strike bowler for my club but for England I bowl a lot of overs, bore the batsmen and tie up an end which forces them to make a mistake.

Who is your cricketing idol?

When I started watching Test cricket it would have been Alec Stewart. He was such a role model, not just to players but to fans as well. More recently, I’d say James Anderson. I was fortunate to meet him in 2010 when I won disability cricketer of the year.

It was really good to chat to him about bowling – you want to try and take as much advice as you possibly can. We talked about swing bowling and how you go on instinct, regardless of the conditions.

What was your best moment?

We won the World Championships in Australia in 2015. Beating Australia in Australia is the hardest thing to do – you‘re 12,000 miles from home and conditions are so different.

How proud are you to represent your country?

It’s a proud, proud moment to represent the Three Lions.

Every time you walk across that boundary for your country you get the thrill and the buzz.

The ECB does a fantastic job for disability cricket – they give everyone a chance to fulfil our potential. It’s an honour to represent England – it’s something you dream of as a kid – and I’ve been fortunate to have that for nine years.

Winner: Chris Edwards poses with Graeme Swann, Katherine Brunt and his 2010 Player of the Year Award

TOM Abell canvassed his team-mates before accepting the Somerset captaincy at the age of 22 and then pledged to continue the aggressive style that worked so well for the county in 2016.

Abell’s appointment is a mark of the club’s belief in both the Taunton-born opening batsman and its group of homegrown players who helped take Somerset to the brink of a first Championship title last season.

He said: “I hope to lead by example and take what we created last year forward because the club is in a great place at the moment and the dressing room is a great place to be a part of.

“I’ll look to have a very positive mindset like we did last year, looking to win every game and being very aggressive. I don’t intend to change too many things about the way things were run last year, just hoping to carry that success on.

“I’m very proud and privileged to be asked to captain Somerset.

It’s a dream for me to play at Somerset let alone to captain the club.

I’m just overwhelmed.

“The support and the backing that I have received has been incredible. So I’m hugely excited at what’s to come and humbled to be asked.”

Abell was first sounded out about the role at the end of last season by director of cricket Matt Maynard after Chris Rogers announced his retirement. He later received a call in Australia, where he is representing Fremantle in grade cricket, to offer him the job.

“I had a chat with numerous people to make sure it was the right thing for the team and for the club and I said to Matt if it’s the right thing for Somerset, then I would love the opportunity to captain.”

Abell will captain in the County Championship while Jim Allenby will take the reins in white-ball cricket but did he have any reservations about assuming the captaincy at such a young age?

“Any reservations of mine were put to bed through conversations with Matt and teammates. Obviously I’m going to be an inexperienced captain, but I’m very lucky to have figures like Tres (Marcus Trescothick), Hildy (James Hildreth) and Tregs (Peter Trego) to be able to feed off, so I’ll be looking to take advantage of those characters to help me through.

Driven man: Somerset captain Tom Abell will be on the front foot thanks to support from his team PICTURE: Getty Images

“The support and backing from everyone at Somerset has meant the world to me and confirms for me that it’s the right thing for the club as well.

“Last year was the start of things. We’re hungrier than ever now, having a taste of what it was like to be at the top. We’re very driven to go one better next year and I’m fully confident in every-

Exceptional: Tom Abell has impressed all at Taunton

one at the club that we have the ability and resources to do so.”

He will continue his now established opening partnership with Somerset’s batting legend Trescothick. The former England opener was Abell’s first captain at Taunton when he announced himself with 95 on first-class debut in 2014.

Abell said: “He’s someone I’m very close with, getting to open the batting with and I see him almost like my right-hand man and I’m sure he’ll help me out a lot this year. The experience he’s got is invaluable and he’ll have my back at all times.”

After spending Christmas at home with his family in Taunton, Abell returns to Fremantle in early January before a busy pre-season period back home.

“Pre-season can’t come soon enough to be honest. I just can’t wait to get cracking with everything at Somerset. It’s such an exciting time for the club.”

Maynard said: “I’m hugely impressed by the guy. Tom is an

exceptional individual and he has all the characteristics of a top leader, the way he goes about things, the way he speaks to people, the way he’s admired in the dressing room.

“I’ve spoken to some of the senior players about his appointment, they were absolutely delighted. That just goes to show the mark of the man really.

“It’s like a player; if you’re good enough, you’re old enough. Tom’s got quite a bit of captaincy experience through the age groups and the seconds, so it’s a nice, natural progression and an opportunity to say we have a tremendous bunch of young players and we’re totally supporting you.

“We were blessed to have Chris Rogers last year. He was a fine leader. If we can remember how we played, the intensity we played with, the individual responsibility that the players took last year and build on that a little bit, then we should have an excellent year again.”

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Friday, December 23, 2016

OPINION 19

PAUL NIXON

NOT EASY BEING ON TOUR AT THIS TIME OF YEAR E

NGLAND have returned home from a disappointing tour just in time for Christmas, and though the majority of them will be back in India in the New Year, I can guarantee they’ll be glad to be home at this time of year.

It’s a bit surreal to be away and touring at Christmas, especially when you are somewhere hot. I had four winters in Australia and lying on a beach during the festive period is very different to being freezing cold and drinking some mulled wine in England.

Everybody is in the same boat though and you need to have some fun with it.

You have plenty more Christmas’s where you’re not a professional sportsman compared to when you are.

You can get a Christmas committee together and create something. Sometimes the media, players and even the fans will all get together on Christmas Day for a meal, though generally there’s a Boxing Day Test, so players are a bit wary!

I was never away at Christmas once my children were born, but it’s easy to see why players can get more homesick at this time of year compared to any others.

Generally families do come out at Christmas and it can be a couple of days where you can get away from the group.

During a long, arduous tour it can be exactly what you need because it just gets your mind off things.

When things are going badly on the field, you don’t always want to be surrounded by those players at the end of a day’s play.You want those home comforts and the support of your family is crucial.

www.paulnixoncricket.com

Christmas spirit: Phil Tufnell had fun on winter tours and you have to make the most of what you have got PICTURE: Getty Images

It’s why a lot of players perform well on their home Test – they can spend the evenings in their own bed and with their family.

Things like homesickness, which we’ve seen in the past with Steve Harmi-

“

The captain is the one who takes everybody else’s issues. A good dressing room is an open dressing room

”

son, don’t tend to happen when you’re having a good tour. If you’re doing well, you won’t think about the cricket as much when you’re back at the hotel and in the shower. But if it’s going badly, you can’t shift it out of your mind.

Alastair Cook has led a long tour, coming home for a few days early on to be at his wife’s side during the birth of his daughter.

That would have played on his mind, missing the first few weeks of the baby’s life, but it’s where social media and modern technology comes into play for communication.

I feel for Cooky because it always makes it worse when the team aren’t playing well collectively. Individuals have had good sessions, but England never nailed it for a long period of time.

QATAR WILL BE FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH I SPENT a few nights in Qatar last week, coaching the World Stars, featuring the likes of Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Graham Onions, against the Qatar Stars.

It was a brilliant experience and it blew me away with the popularity of cricket over there.The stadium holds 18,000 and it’s normally full for games.

It should be a future destination for counties to play some games, like they do in Abu Dhabi, and there are some decent facilities.

I’ve never seen so many motorways and monorails being built.The infrastructure being put in for the football World Cup in 2022 is incredible. It’s a country on the up, in every aspect.

We won by two runs, but there were

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some very good local players, but there were stifled celebrations.The next day was a public holiday but the government cancelled celebrations because of what was happening in Syria.

We’ve seen the rise of Afghanistan and Hong Kong, and I have no doubt that Qatar can follow in their footsteps over the next decade or two.

As captain, Cook is seen, rightly or wrongly, as a scapegoat. I was in the same position at Leicestershire when we went down the line of having a lot of youngsters in, trying to get some money from the ECB and build for the future.

But it’s tough when things aren’t going your way.

The captain is the one who takes everybody else’s issues. A good dressing room is an open dressing room and that’s a big part of the skipper’s job – managing people, not necessarily techniques.

But being away from home is all part of the territory. The guys are in a fortunate position to be doing what they love, but it could be a lot worse. Home is only a flight away and Cookie doesn’t need to make any quick decisions.

Friday, December 23, 2016

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20 FEATURE

‘Prehistoric’ England can lead way to modern age Tim Wigmore says England from now on must rethink their tour strategy to view Test and Lions as mega squads

W

Back in: Trevor Bayliss recalled Jos Buttler to the England set-up

notion of a clearly defined touring party at all.

The upshot was that, by the final three Tests of the tour, England were lumbered with three players who were effectively deemed unelectable: Gary Ballance, Ben Duckett and Steven Finn. Each was palpably and painfully out of form, and, with a ludicrous schedule depriving England of tour games and the chance for players to play competitive cricket mid-tour, they had no chance to regain it.

Even those who were selected in the final matches had it little better. By the time of his recall, for the third Test, Jos Buttler had played a solitary first-class game in the last year.When he was picked for the fourth Test, Jake Ball hadn’t played a first-class match since September 22.

A better way would not be hard to identify. And, by accident, England stum-

“

By the time of his recall Jos Buttler had played a solitary first-class game in the year while Jake Ball hadn’t played a first-class match since September 22

“

hatever England had done in India, they would surely still have lost the Test series, and comfortably. The fundamental forces that shaped the series – the wondrous batting of Virat Kohli, and the brilliance of India’s spin twins set against the comparative modesty of England’s spinners, a product of many years of spin bowling being marginalised in these shores – were simply too great.

Accepting as much, though, does not amount to saying that England did all they could to give themselves the best chance in the series. Even within the profound limitations England faced, they could have been more competitive over the five Tests. Questions, then, should be asked not just of Alastair Cook’s captaincy, but of whether Trevor Bayliss is guilty of prioritising white-ball cricket over Tests; whether batsmen lack the temperament to exhibit adhesiveness when it is required; and whether the lack of a permanent fielding or spin bowling coach has undermined England.

Something else should be questioned, too.Why did England approach a very modern tour with a selection policy straight out of the 19th Century?

There was an age when touring parties were inflexible because they had to be: it would take several weeks by boat to reach the destination of England’s winter tour. It was simply impractical for the squad to change mid-tour.

Today, any player is only a flight away.

And, where once selecting a player midtour meant summoning them from the depths of the English winter, now it just means calling upon someone who has been touring with the England Lions.

Yet the make-up of England’s squad betrayed prehistoric thinking. In the worst traditions of English cricket, it was rigid and in thrall to conservatism – less in the players picked, or not, than the

bled upon a template this winter. After Haseeb Hameed’s injury, Keaton Jennings scored a century for the England Lions against the UAE, in a 50-over match, then scored a Test ton on debut against India a week later.

Clearly, switching formats in this way is not ideal. But the salient point is that – unlike Ball or Buttler – Jennings had the huge advantage of actually having recently played competitive cricket before being picked for the Test team.

So should all players who are picked to play Tests for England abroad. And, because modern Test tours seem to have abandoned tour games once the series has begun, it is time for England to find an alternative approach to make sure that those outside the starting XI for the start of the tour have the best chance to thrive.

Rather than regard a touring squad as a fixed entity, unless injuries afflict players, it is time to regard the main squad as the basis for negotiation.

Here’s how it should work. England should select a streamlined squad – perhaps only 14, not 17 as here.

But this should be topped up with players from an England Lions trip, scheduled concurrently in similar conditions; in India, England could organise first-class matches against Afghanistan, whose home ground is now in Greater Noida, near Delhi, during the

Test series, and perhaps India A, too.

Ideally, England Lions matches would routinely begin on the second day of England Tests, allowing fringe players to travel to play in them. Six members of the squad were left out of every Test match during the winter; rather than carrying drinks, and moving further away from their last taste of competitive cricket, they – and England – would have been far better-served by playing first-class cricket.

It is already routine for England to send the Lions to a destination similar in geography and cricket conditions – they played out a hard-fought first-class match against Afghanistan in Dubai during the Test series – so this new system would just be the logical culmination of that thinking. Rather than leave selection of fringe players to be judged on how players look in the nets – if the coaches even

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FEATURE & OPINION 21

SIMON SWEETMAN

Remarkable reading: The scorecard

Shania-Lee’s feat is surely unbeatable The editor of Cricket Statistician analyses recent events

I Differing outcomes: As the England Lions prospered against Afghanistan, the Three Lions struggled in India PICTURES: Getty Images

see them in the nets at all, given how intensive the schedule of Test matches is – selection would instead be based on tangible runs and wickets against highquality opponents in similar conditions.

By treating the touring party not as a fixed entity, but one mega squad – the Test players and the Lions – the new system would also remove the stigma of players leaving a Test tour early.

Given that it was clear that, Hotly tipped: from the third Test, England did but not picked, not deem Ballance or Duckett to Sam Billings be viable selections, they would batting for the have been far better-served Lions playing for the Lions, and addressing their faults. To make them traverse India when they had no chance of playing cricket to return to form was perverse at best, cruel at worst.

England should also have more flexibility to react to circumstances mid-tour.

The opening gambit of the series made it patently clear – though really it should have been obvious long before – that Ravi Ashwin is supreme to left-handers, and right-handers had significantly better prospects of taming him.

But though England knew as much they did not act. A prudent option would have been to call up the right-hander Sam Billings, regarded by Graham Thorpe as the best player of spin in England beyond those already in the Test squad, fresh from some first-class runs.

In the modern age, touring parties should be adapted to fit different circumstances – players coming into and out of form, and specific conditions that call for one type of player.With their financial clout, England have the chance to be first-movers in shaking off the shackles of a selection strategy designed for an age before modern air travel.

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t may be the strangest scorecard ever seen. Mpumalanga Women U19s played Easterns Women U19s in a Cricket South Africa (CSA) Girls T20 match at Pretoria on December 11, so it was not just a knockabout in the park.

Shania-Lee Swart 160 not out.

Extras 9. Eight other batsmen 0. One 0 not out.

It is incredible on its own, but thinking about it only makes it worse. Shania-Lee managed to face 86 of the 120 deliveries, but must have had to deal with keeping the strike on her own, as none of her partners were able to take a single (there could have been byes, though three of the extras were no-balls). As 144 of her runs came in boundaries, there were probably a few singles.

She was, she said “very hungry” after the innings.When Nicholate Phiri came in, immediately following a hat-trick, the score was 108-8 with one ball left in the over. She survived it and had to face only two more in a partnership of 61.

Shania-Lee is apparently in the middle of a useful run which included a score of 289 in a 50-over match.

Some records seem destined to last for ever. Nobody can beat Garry Sobers’ 36 off a six-ball over, though it can be equalled (and has been).

AEJ Collins’ unbeaten 628 seemed like one such, only for Pranav Dhanawade to smash it with his 1009 not out earlier this year.

Minor cricket records are the stuff of fantasy: innings of over 400, partnerships of 600-plus, a one-day 50 over record individual score of 486.

Records in minor cricket once had to be scratched up from obscure sources, and I suspect that there were innings of 400-plus in school matches and the like that have dis-

Amazing: Shania-Lee Swart

appeared from view. Not any more, with the internet alive with reprinting the details of Shania-Lee’s innings.

In most cases, these record holders do not end up as superstars. The great exception is what was, for some years, the highest recorded partnership, an unbroken 664, between Vinod Kambli and Sachin Tendulkar.

This game, though, was a representative game rather than just a school or club match.

Shania-Lee has played for the 19s since she was 15 and she has learned to talk the talk, saying:“I knew that Easterners had a good bowling attack and therefore respected the good balls and attacked the bad balls. I was patient to see out their main bowlers and used their part-time bowlers to capitalise on.

“As I was the in batsmen I tried to face as many balls of the over as possible and at the end of the over, looked to rotate the strike to be on strike at the beginning of the next over.”

Which makes some kind of sense, since she faced 86 balls and hit only 30 boundaries.

Friday, December 23, 2016

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22 FEATURE

StewartdraggedEngland whileFletcherandFlower Peter Hayter, The Cricket Paper’s esteemed correspondent, looks back over his years of reporting on England Test cricket and identifies the greatest coaches over this period.

Micky Stewart On England’s 1986-87 tour to Australia, as he had done during most of his time as coach, the former Surrey batsman knew Upset: Micky to leave well alone and this softly, softly Stewart and the approach paid dividends.

England team After a hair-raising first month during celebrate after which The Cricket Paper’s Martin Johnson victory in the first wrote:“There are only three things Test against the West Indies in wrong with this team. They can’t bat, they 1990 can’t bowl and they can’t field.” Mike Gatting’s mixed bag of old hands and big personalities including Ian Botham, David Gower, Allan Lamb, Chris Broad, Bill Athey and Phil Edmonds somehow contrived to win the Ashes and all in the garden was rosy.

But it was not until the 1989 rematch had ended in chaos that Stewart was paired with a captain whose work ethic truly matched his own and he and Graham Gooch set about raising base levels of fitness far higher than those England’s international cricketers had been used to.

He once spelled out the change of culture that he believed was required, thus: e the best over th “Question: what is the next word Who have been Peter Hayter most people think of when you say past 30 years? rsonal the word ‘cricket’? Answer:‘beer’.” continues his pe With the help of Gooch, whose comassessment mitment to physical fitness was absolute, final of the 1992 the new approach almost paid rich diviWorld Cup, a run of dends straight away. success spoiled only by defeat in the When England travelled to the 1990-91 Ashes and, in his final series, at Caribbean in 1990, they did so as walkhome to Pakistan, dogged by controvering walkovers. They were without Gower sy over alleged ball-tampering by the and Botham and a host of others who had visiting fast bowlers. chosen to join the rebel tour to South Stewart’s emphasis on fitness, diet and Africa that winter instead, they had not video analysis seem commonplace now won a Test in West Indies since 1974, nor but, for the time, were quite revolutionary. a single Test overseas for three years and His impact on the future positive develhad won only one match against anyone, opment of England cricket should not be home or away, in their previous 26 underestimated. attempts.Vivian Richards, his explosive batsmen and his fearsome pacemen Duncan Fletcher were licking their lips.

England cricket in the mid-Nineties was But England caused a famous upset a car crash on a loop and the ensuing when they won the first Test in Jamaica, confusion extended to the role of the and they would have taken a 2-0 lead in coach, with no-one quite sure who should Trinidad which would have secured at be driving or how. least a share of the series had injury to Much of the good work done by StewGooch then torrential rain not stopped art had been undermined; Keith Fletcher their victory charge dead. was appointed to succeed him but found And though the tour ultimately ended it impossible to bring the canniness and in glorious defeat, it marked the start of a craft he had developed in a brilliant period of relative success in which, the county career with Essex to the internapartnership earned wins against New tional stage. Ray Illingworth came next Zealand (twice), India and Sri Lanka, batand by the end of his controversial reign tled to a 2-2 draw against West Indies in had somehow been elevated to the role 1991 – England’s best result against them of supremo, encompassing coach, manfor 17 years – and took their side to the ager, chief selector and “Ilytollah”, much

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ENGLAND’S. GREATEST..

to the discomfort of his captain Mike Atherton whose power and influence were steadily eroded in the process.

David “Bumble” Lloyd took over as England attempted to redress that balance, but fell out with his superiors and quit.

By the time England started to cast around for a new man they were in the process of completing their descent to the bottom of the Test rankings and Duncan Fletcher must have wondered what he had let himself in for when, at his interview for the job in 1999, one of the panel of ECB officials welcomed him with the words,“Hello, Dav”, confusing the Zimbabwean with his fellow candidate Dav Whatmore, a Sri-Lankan born naturalised Australian.

Undaunted, England’s first overseas coach proved an inspired choice.

Fletcher was unafraid to make instant calls over players, good and bad, and his disciplinarian nature claimed an early victim when, after his first England tour to South Africa in 1999/2000, Graeme Swann was jettisoned for regular infringements of discipline and what was seen as an unhealthy relationship with a certain Jack Daniel.

That possible error of judgment was more than compensated for by the selec-

tion and nurturing of Marcus Trescothick, the burly Somerset basher whose career seemed to be going nowhere until Fletcher saw him hammer his Glamorgan side at Taunton and determined to get him into the England side as soon as possible. Then again, Fletcher’s insistence on his pacemen being able to hit 90mph consistently left little room for manoeuvre and stretching for extra pace may have hindered the progress of one or two, including James Anderson.

A brilliant batting coach, Fletcher instigated the “press” a technique based on an initial small step forward, which allowed a batsman to make further movement back or forward from a moving start. Not all players were convinced but some swore by it.

His work, in partnerships with skippers Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan, was helped by the introduction of full-time ECB central contracts (Atherton and others had been calling for them for years), enabling them to build a team to take on the world and, more importantly, win the 2005 Ashes.Vaughan was the team’s leader, but Fletcher was its tactical guide, encouraging his players to get in the face of the Aussies, and stay there.

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FEATURE 23

into the new world put them on top

Experience: Andy Flower brought all his knowledge into coaching

Formidable duo: Duncan Fletcher and Michael Vaughan worked well together

Had Fletcher quit then, his status as England’s best ever coach would have been secured. But, because of injury and illness, the team that edged England in front of Australia at Trent Bridge never took the field again and he was unable to prevent its decline.

Encouraged by Andrew Flintoff’s success in leading England to a creditable 1-1 draw in India in Vaughan’s absence, Fletcher went against his instincts in supporting the questionable decision to ask Andrew Flintoff to lead the side into the 2006-07 Ashes instead of Andrew Strauss, who had guided them to a 3-0 win over Pakistan while Flintoff was sidelined.

That disaster Down Under was followed by another poor showing in the 2007 World Cup, with Flintoff sacked as vice-captain and dropped for a match after a late-night drinking session that ended with him falling off a pedalo.

By now much of the shine had faded from Fletcher’s star and, when he then revealed in his autobiography that Flintoff had also had issues with the bottle in Australia, many, including some former players regarded this as a betrayal of trust.

The consensus of opinion was that

Fletcher simply carried on too long, but those England supporters who joined in the mayhem at Trafalgar Square will remember him as the coach who brought England their sunniest moment for decades.

Andy Flower England’s second Zimbabwean coach came to the job in early 2009 with the national team in just as much of a pickle as the first had walked into.

Peter Moores had been a popular choice to succeed Fletcher and made brave calls as he set about dismantling the 2005 side, not least investing in Anderson and Stuart Broad as the firstchoice opening bowlers to replace Steve

“

Those who joined in the Trafalgar Square mayhem will remember Fletcher as the coach who brought England their sunniest moment in decades

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Harmison and Matthew Hoggard on the 2008 tour to New Zealand, going back into county cricket to fetch Swann and Matt Prior and appointing Flower as his assistant coach.

But when Kevin Pietersen made it plain he did not want to work with the former Sussex man, the ECB decided to sack both and Flower admitted he only agreed to take over the role for the tour to West Indies in 2009, at first on an interim basis, then later full-time, after Moores had given him his “blessing”.

Happily for England, in spite of a first Test defeat in Jamaica, an eventual series loss and a catastrophic failure to beat the Netherlands in the opening game of the 2009 World T20, Flower and his new captain Andrew Strauss were able quickly to instil a new spirit of team and personal responsibility that underpinned their efforts to pull of an unlikely Ashes victory.

A pre-series trip to the WWI battlefields at Ypres was seen by some as a PR stunt, and Flintoff’s poor timekeeping made sure it did not pass smoothly, but captain and coach hoped it might encourage the players to think outside their own personal experience and this remained a key part of the ‘Andocracy’ that helped England reach the No.1 ranking in Test cricket.

Try as they might, however, not every player committed himself fully to that philosophy and issues over Kevin Pietersen’s commitment caused by the rise of the Indian Premier League dogged the later stages of the partnership.

About as far removed in character as it is possible to be, Flower understood how vital Pietersen was to England’s cause and was at first supportive of his desire to maximise his potential to earn big.

He even sought to lessen his international workload, but in the end Strauss, Flower and other senior players grew tired of KP’s obsession with IPL and when, during the 2012 home series with South Africa, matters came to a head with textgate, coach and captain made the call to drop him for the final Test.

Pietersen was successfully re-integrated, helping England win in India that winter, then regain the Ashes in 2013 but the uneasy peace crashed again during the 2013-14 Ashes rematch Down Under and this time there was no going back for batsman or coach, who stepped into the role of the ECB’s Technical Director of Elite Coaching.

Pietersen claimed in his payback autobiography that Flower had it in for him and that he felt bullied and isolated.

It is a view not universally shared by his colleagues within the dressing room.

Far more comfortable working behind the scenes, his attention to detail and analytical approach better suited to a supporting role, Flower nevertheless achieved much on centre stage, even more creditable when you consider his star performer was sometimes reading from a different script to the director, the cast and majority of the audience.

Ireland to have Ed’s full-time services

By Seth Francis ED Joyce has set his sights on helping Ireland to become a Test playing nation after deciding to play for them on a full-time basis.

Joyce, 38, will also play in the Inter-Provincial series and be available for a certain number of games in the County Championship for Sussex.

He said:“Coming back to play full-time for Ireland and also play in the Inter-Provincial series was a big decision but also quite an easy one in the end.

“Test cricket is the pinnacle for any cricketer. Ireland has a huge opportunity in the next few years to play at the highest level and I want to be part of the team that plays Ireland’s first Test match.

“With Ireland’s fixture list growing year on year it makes sense to come back at this stage.

“Also now that the interpros have first-class and list-A status, I wanted to be involved right from the start and lend my experience to that competition.

“We’re at the stage where we need to be more consistent and competitive as an international side and we also require the inter-pros to improve and provide a steady stream of players ready to perform well.

“My focus in the next few years, while I’m still playing, is to help us achieve both of these goals. It’s a really exciting time to be an Irish cricketer and I can’t wait for the season to get going.”

Joyce is one of ten players to be handed Category A contracts by Cricket Ireland.

Cricket Ireland performance director Richard Holdsworth said:“We are delighted Ed has agreed to return home to play in Ireland’s inaugural season of domestic first-class cricket.

“It has been one of our strategic objectives to bring players back home from England and for Ed to be the first is very appropriate. He has given great service to Sussex as an outstanding batsman and leader, and we are grateful for their support to Ed’s Ireland career over those years.

“Ed will not only be based here in Ireland training with the national squad, but will also help our next generation of international cricketers in a specialist batting and leadership coaching role, working with the Shapoorji Pallonji National Academy and Ireland youth squads as well as mentoring some national performance squad players.”

Friday, December 23, 2016

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Friday, December 23, 2016

FEATURE 25

Leicestershire

Big Bash to be shown live on free-to-air television

County Champions 1998

AFTER more than a decade, live cricket will air on mainstream free-to-air television.

Channel 5, who broadcast highlights of England home matches, has made its first move into live cricket and will show five matches from Australia’s Big Bash League this winter.

The channel’s first game will be on Boxing Day when Hobart Hurricanes, where Stuart Broad plays, take on Kevin Pietersen’s Melbourne Stars.

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan, record Three Lions wicket-taker James Anderson and former internationals Michael Carberry and James Taylor will all be involved in coverage.

Channel 5 executive producer Mark Sharman said:“We’re delighted to give a terrestrial home to live cricket for the first time in over a decade.

“The competition comple-

ments our growing sports portfolio which includes international cricket, live boxing and top class motor sports.”

The last two seasons of the Big Bash have been shown on Sky Sports, but every game of the current campaign is live on BT Sport. They have also agreed a deal which also allows Channel 5 highlights of the final.

It’s the first time live cricket has been on terrestrial television since the 2005 Ashes, though freeview channels ITV4 and Dave have shown the Indian Premier League and Caribbean Premier League respectively in recent years.

England stars of past and present including ODI captain Eoin Morgan, Ian Bell, Jason Roy and Luke Wright are also contracted to one of the eight teams.

Crossword where are? they now

By Neil Fissler

ince Wells knows the exact point Leicestershire knew that they were going to challenge to win a second County Championship title in three years.

Every season has a pivotal moment and for Leicestershire it came when Northants visited Grace Road in the middle of July.

Northants won the toss and batted first scoring 322 before having the home side in trouble at 29-3 only for Ben Smith (153) and Aftab Habib (198) to put on 249 for the fourth wicket.

It got Leicestershire out of trouble and they eventually posted 484 while Northants added 363 second time around and the game appeared to be heading for a draw.

Leicestershire needed 204 for an unlikely win in just 20 overs on the final evening and 58 from Wells at the top of the order got them off to a perfect start.

Wells said:“Winning the Championship crept up on us in a way.We had some nice wins and were going along nicely and various players were winning us games.

“But it was that mad game we had against Northants when we chased that silly target in the second innings that kick started us.

“We wanted to bowl them out in their second innings but got held up by Graeme Swann’s maiden first-class hundred leaving us an unlikely target to get at the end of the day.

“Even the members had

V

gone home thinking it was a dead game. It was one of these where half the team wanted to give it a go and half didn’t. But we decided to give it a crack.

“We ended up knocking them off and we really kicked on from there and won the title after beating Surrey by an innings in the last game at the Oval.”

The club almost added another trophy to the cabinet that season but were soundly beaten in the Benson & Hedges Cup final by Essex.

Chasing 269 on a pitch that had been stuck under covers for almost a day because of rain Leicestershire were bowled out for just 76 handing Essex a win by 192 runs.

BACK ROW (left to right): Tim Mason: Spinner. Still based in Leicester where he runs a franchise of Premier Sport, a kids coaching company. Was previously a property developer.

Darren Stevens: All rounder who will celebrate his 41st birthday at the start of next season and has been playing for Kent since 2005.

Carl Crowe: Spinner. Went into coaching and has been England Women’s assistant coach. Worked at the Kolkata Knight Riders and last season coached Leicestershire’s seconds.

Steve Kirby: Fast bowler who was a recruitment consultant in Bristol before being appointed head coach of MCC in April.

Ashley Wright: Batsman. He went into coaching and worked at Ardingly College and is now Guernsey’s head of cricket. He also works in strength and conditioning.

Phil Robinson: Batsman. Is now living in New Zealand where he works as community development co-ordinator at Southlands.

Dominic Williamson: Batsman who is now a consultant with the Oliver James Mark Consultancy in Nottingham.

MIDDLE ROW: Graham York: Stepped down as scorer in 2011 and is now retired.

Craig Mortimer: Ran his own Leicester physiotherapy practice for 30 years.

Ben Smith: Batsman. Joined the coaching staff at Worcestershire, then Leicestershire.

Last January he was appointed director of cricket of Birmingham & District League Himley CC. Matt Brimson: Spinner who is now working as head of geography and hockey, as well as cricket coach, at West Buckland School in Barnstaple, Devon.

Jimmy Ormond: England pace bowler who has been a PE teacher and cricket coach at Stockport GS. Jon Dakin: All rounder. Now living in Hobart, Tasmania, and has worked in car sales for a Toyota dealership.

Iain Sutcliffe: Batsman who went on to teach economics at Wellington College in 2009 and three years later became a housemaster charge of The Murray house.

Aftab Habib: England batsman who became a cricket development officer for the Buckinghamshire Cricket Board. Is now a freelance coach based in Reading and coaches Berkshire Ladies.

Darren Maddy: An England all rounder who is director of cricket at Solihull School where for the last four months he has also been head of games and head of strength and conditioning.

Cliff Eaton: A physio is now a clinical specialist with DJO Global after spending 12 years with Northampton Saints.

Geoff Blackburn: The scorer who worked for the General Post Office and British Tele-

com died in December 2013 aged 92.

FRONT ROW: Vince Wells: England one-day all-rounder. Became master in charge of cricket at Sutton Valence School in Kent where he is also an assistant housemaster.

Paul Nixon: England one-day wicketkeeper. Runs his own cricket academy, he also writes for The Cricket Paper and features on the after dinner speaking circuit.

Chris Lewis: England all rounder. Since being released from a 13-year sentence for drug smuggling has been working for the PCA and has opened a cricket academy.

Roger Goadby: Chairman.

Ran a hosiery company and also has business interests in property.

Jack Birkenshaw: Cricket manager. Has also worked as a coach, umpire and ECB pitch inspector.

Brian Smith: Is now the county’s honorary life patron.

James Whitaker: Former England Test batsman who became coach and director of cricket at Grace Road. Is now the ECB’s head of selectors.

David Collier: Spent a decade with the ECB. Is now executive officer for the Rugby League International Federation.

Alan Mullally: England fast bowler who has spent the last 11 years since his retirement working in the media in both England and Australia.

David Millns: Fast bowler. His brother-in-law is Notts coach Andy Pick and has been on the first-class umpires list since 2007.

NOT PICTURED: Phil Simmons: West Indian all rounder, went into coaching with Zimbabwe, Ireland and was in charge of the West Indies until September 2016.

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ACROSS

1. Veteran Glamorgan ‘spin twin’ of 1 down for many seasons (6) 3. Kent legend who was the first great keeper-batsman (4) 6. Aussie leg-spinner whose only five-for came in NZ in 1977 (7) 8. Queensland opener Burns hit 170 against NZ in February (3) 9. Johnston won 14 of his 32 ODIs as Ireland skipper (5) 11. Left-armer who claimed 725 first-class wickets (3) 12. All-rounder who won two Lord’s finals with Hampshire (5) 14. Umpire whose Test debut was the famous 1981 Ashes match at Headingley (5) 17. Hit England for 291 in Barbados in 2009 (6) 18. Pakistan seamer who claimed 8-69 in an innings against India in 1979 (8)

last week’s ANSWERS

DOWN

1. Welsh spinner who played for England in 1999 World Cup (5) 2. Tikolo is only Kenyan to make 3,000 ODI runs (5) 4. His 158 in 1972 remains the highest Pakistani score at the MCG (5) 5. All-rounder who finished his 20th first-class season in September (7) 7. Guy starred for Somerset between the wars (5) 10. Aussie left-armer who made the Lord’s honours board with 5-40 in 1948 (7) 12. Ryder hit 201 against India at Napier in 2009 (5) 13. Somerset spinner in the Botham-Richards-Garner era (5) 15. Kambli was an ODI regular for India in the 1990s (5) 16. Skittled England with 6-32 at Lord’s in 1982 (5) See next week’s Cricket Paper for the answers

ACROSS: 1 Broad, 3 Dubai, 6 Reserve, 7 Ajmal, 9 Raja, 12 Saha, 13 Keedy, 16 Antigua, 17 Final, 18 Rouse.

DOWN: 1 Bird, 2 Durham, 3 Dyer, 4 Barnard, 5 Ingram, 8 Johnson, 10 Ashraf, 11 Dexter, 14 Hall, 15 Dale.

Friday, December 23, 2016

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26 FEATURE & BIG BASH LEAGUE

Thunder defence gets off to worst possible start BIG BASH ROUND-UP

By Joshua Peck REIGNING Big Bash champions Sydney Thunder have got off to the worst possible start to this season’s competition, losing their opening two games.

The Thunder lost the opening game of the tournament to city rivals Sydney Sixers, before flopping again against the Melbourne Renegades.

In the opening clash, Ryan Gibson’s 53 and Pat Cummins’ quickfire 30 had given the Thunder hope of starting the new campaign with a victory, as they posted 159-8. Eoin Morgan was the Thunder’s third highest scorer with 26.

But it was no match for the Sixers, with Moises Henriques unbeaten 76, off just 41 balls, guiding his side home for the loss of just one wicket.

Jason Roy had departed for 27, before he was the only wicket to fall, while Sam Billings never made it to the crease.

And while that defeat was definitely not the ideal way to start the tournament as defending champions, yesterday’s match against the Renegades showed that Thunder really are going to up their game if they want to lift the trophy again.

Winning the toss and electing to field, they allowed the Melbourne side to 179-7, mainly down to Aaron Finch’s return to form. The opener smashed four maximums in a knock of 63 which came off 37 balls and included three boundaries.

Thunder’s innings was doomed from the start when Tom Cooper had Kurtis Patterson caught at point off the first ball sent down. Fellow opener Gibson played well again for 39 but just two other batsmen reached double figures as the champions were all out for 130 in the final over.

In the only other match to be played

so far in the opening week, Brisbane Heat won a thrilling high-scoring encounter against the Adelaide Strikers.

Each Heat batsman fired, with Brendon McCullum going at a strikerate of 200 to score 42 while Alex Ross smashed 64 off 36 balls to set a commanding total of 206-5.

The Strikers came close though.

Ben Dunk hit five sixes as he made 85, with his team well on their way at 133-0 off 11 overs.

But the dismissal of Dunk slowed things down, with Samuel Badree bowling a crucial maiden to Travis Head, and the hosts eventually fell ten runs short, having needed 17 to win off the final over.

Extraordinary: Matt Renshaw, left, flourished again as Australia celebrated a wonderful win PICTURES: Getty Images

RESULTS

Sydney, Dec 20: Sydney Thunder 159-8 lost to Sydney Sixers 160-1 by 9 wickets (with 12 balls remaining)

Adelaide, Dec 21: Brisbane Heat 206-5 beat Adelaide Strikers 196-6 by 10 runs

Melbourne, Dec 22: Melbourne Renegades 179-7 beat Sydney Thunder 130 by 49 runs

how they stand Renegades Sixers Heat Hurricanes Stars Scorchers Strikers Thunder

P 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 2

W 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

L 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2

T N/R R/R 0 0 2.45 0 0 0.939 0 0 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -0.5 0 0 -1.696

Pts 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0

Pakistanrevival vibe to MCG’s Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon, from ABC radio, discuss the amazing first Test between Australia and Pakistan

Back on form: Aaron Finch smashed 63 for Melbourne Renegades

Adam Collins: A couple of days on and I’m still not sure how that happened. A Test that was inevitably going to be a shocker, then nearly ended up the greatest finish of all time. Really no exaggeration. I feel a bit empty.

Geoff Lemon: It’s the rush, then the comedown. Must be the reason so many rock stars clock out early. It’s safer from the crowd. It makes me love the game in a personal way. Like, sometimes cricket gives you a little present. Lets you be part of something, at least to people who speak the same sporting language.

I’ll always be able to say that I saw Pakistan make 450 batting last at the Gabba.

What a ridiculous sentence.

AC: And that there were so few people there to witness it, but the way those Pakistan fans filled the joint with noise like we were on the other side of the planet.

Extremely special, even if the ultimate pay-off wasn’t there. It was a bullet dodged for Steve Smith, though. After somehow cobbling the summer back together after the Hobart debacle, a loss like that would have left scars.

GL:Well, it would mean he’d always be nervous about setting targets. There would be a lot of 600 to win in two sessions kind of stuff.Which worked well enough against England for India this week, didn’t take long at all to wrap up 10 wickets. But 490 was 17 percent higher than the biggest winning chase in history, so I reckon it was a pretty safe bet from Sniff as a target. He just came up against a once-in-a-career chase.

AC: A preposterous chase in so many ways, too. Crippled by the moving ball under lights first time around, they mastered it like old pros the nights that followed. Speaking of old pros,Younis Khan’s most eccentric knock. Then the bowlers going bonkers with bat in hand.

All the while, Asad Shafiq steered the ship.You don’t see the man of the match coming from the losing team often, but you couldn’t begrudge him.

GL: Shaking my head at you, Adam.You spent half the match talking down Younis

New cult hero? Nathan Lyon made himself Mr Popular

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Friday, December 23, 2016

FEATURE & NEWS 27

McKay assumes one-day role to free up Pettini

By Andrew Lawton

brings anupbeat big holiday bash most of it, and whenever he gets a let-off he immediately tries some absurd shot.

It’s like he feels guilty. He looked more at home chasing declaration runs, when he was able to pull out the overhead smash and other oddities.

Handscomb, however, had no qualms, first innings or second, he just adapted.

AC: Aussie Matt Renshaw’s 71 at the top of the list is another selection triumph.

GL: Our Nicole. Our Kylie. Our Matt (he was English-born)?

AC: The prefix is because Aussie Hilton Cartwright (Zimbabwean-born) is into the squad for Melbourne. That makes three Australians born somewhere other than, you know, Australia, with Usman Khawaja, of course, a Pakistan native before he was Aussie Uzzie.

If they were all to play, it’d be the greatest instance of this since 1881-82. I

“

Hilton Cartwright is in the squad. That’s three born somewhere other than Australia. Poms will go wild after years of grief we’ve given them over that

“

Khan. Surely you should have learned after he stuck it up you and everyone else at The Oval. I kept saying, 33 Test hundreds, you don’t write that off. He looked in real trouble early, then found a way through it. Got more and more solid against the quicks, aside from those hook shots. Azhar Ali along with him. That whole batting order really will be bringing confidence to Melbourne that they can match it with Australia on this tour.

AC: So important when coming here, believing you can take down the home team. Melbourne should suit them better as well. In that, the Australian quicks are still their matchwinners. And can we take a moment to acknowledge the week that Nathan Lyon became a cult hero? This is the world I want to live in; the Land of the Lyon.What a delightful circus the Gabba was each evening, colour and idiocy.

Day/night Tests suit it well...

GL: Can’t have a circus without a Lyon.

Not sorry.

AC: I know. Should also mention Australia’s batting to set up the Test. A million years ago, but Smith’s ton was the ballast.

Meanwhile, Pete Handscomb looks like he’s been doing this forever, not a few weeks. Could be a lock for a decade.

GL: I reckon that was Smith’s worst hundred. Least convincing, I mean. He had to get himself out four times to leave the field, given Pakistan couldn’t hold a catch or make an appeal. But he was skittish for

truly, honestly hope it’s that way for the Ashes. The Poms will go wild after the years – decades – of grief we’ve given them for this.

GL: Uzzie Uzzie Uzzie. That was the flavour when the Pakistan fans were mixing up Australia’s highly original chant with their ‘zindabad’ alternative.

And how about the training story? I thought it was a headline from spoof digital publication The Onion, but one of the ground attendants tried to send Khawaja to the Pakistan dressing rooms. He’s the Queensland captain for Chrissake. Lucky he thought it was hilarious.

AC: Advance Australia Fair, my friend. To Melbourne we go. Must admit, while looking forward with excitement about what’s now possible in this series, I’m equally pumped about the 150th anniversary of the Indigenous XI versus Melbourne Cricket Club match.

They’ll commemorate that on the first day of the Test, and there’s an exhibit opening up in the MCC Museum. Should be brilliant.

GL: Mark that down for a wander through on the 26th. The grand tradition, Boxing Day. Every year I think, isn’t this a glorious thing to find in my home town right after Christmas? Here it goes again.

There’s grim news too among the cheer; hearts out to anybody hurting at this time of year, and here’s wishing everyone all the merriness we can.

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NEW Leicestershire head coach Pierre de Bruyn is convinced that removing the burden of limited overs captaincy from Mark Pettini will allow the veteran to flourish at the top of the order.

The South African boss has instead chosen Australian fast bowler Clint McKay to lead the Foxes in white-ball formats.

Pettini averaged 33 in the One Day Cup and 30 in the NatWest T20 Blast last term and De Bruyn hopes the combination of a fully-firing Pettini and exciting new signing Colin Ackermann can fire his side to higher totals.

“I felt that decision was tough on Mark Pettini, it’s not like he has done a bad job but I wanted him to focus on his game,” De Bruyn said.“I want him to play his own game and if he focuses on that next season, we will be right up there.

“Colin Ackermann was someone I looked at because he’s a quality all-rounder; off spin and a top batter across all formats.

“He works out scenarios, reads the game well and a type of guy that – under pressure – makes you feel very calm.

“I believe in the making of squad competition around the top order. It’s a squad game and I will bring that to the side.”

De Bruyn’s captaincy decision will, however, place added emphasis on McKay who carried the Leicestershire attack for much of last year with 56 wickets

in first-class cricket, 12 more than the county’s second-highest wicket-taker Charlie Shreck.

But McKay is currently competing in the Big Bash for the Sydney Thunder and will miss the Foxes’ pre-season tour to South Africa. A squad of 13 will travel in February and will be based in Pretoria with the Titans.

And De Bruyn, who remains confident McKay’s impact will not be diminished by missing the tour, is excited to implement his plans with the squad.

“He’s really experienced and I believe if we are to make an impact next season and going forward, I need someone like him to lead from the front,” said De Bruyn.

“I know what I am getting there (South Africa), it’s a worldclass environment and we will be based with the Titans and using their facilities.

“I want to use the competition to get some of the new guys together; get them to know each other. I have new coaching staff and I want to bring the players and coaches together.

“If I look back at what Andrew McDonald and Wasim Khan did, they had to start from scratch. It’s time for us to be up front and honest, how serious are we about winning?

“At home we were hard to beat and competitive and had a really good brand of cricket, that’s what I want the supporters to see – not talking about foundations.”

Friday, December 23, 2016

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28 FEATURE

Planning was key to success in England so why cut back?

P

akistan’s Test series against Australia has started off in an explosion of mixed emotions. The way the visiting side imploded on the first three days and then gathered itself to put in a sterling batting performance by the time the first Test reached its conclusion on the fifth day of the game is something only long-suffering followers of Pakistan cricket can full understand.

To many other bystanders, however, the glorious uncertainties as espoused by the Pakistan way is something which makes them possibly the most interesting side in Test cricket today.

Putting aside all romantic notions of what this chaos represents to the average fan, the matter of the current approach to an important series against Australia has raised a few questions which need to be addressed if Pakistan want to remain in contention for the No.1 spot in Test cricket’s rankings.

The largely successful England tour earlier this year is often mentioned as an example of the unlimited skills and talents Pakistan can bring to bear when they put their minds to it. The manner in which the preparations were undertaken for the tour seemed to indicate a welcome and long overdue beginning of a new chapter in the Pakistan Cricket Board’s professional competence.

The organisation of a special fitness camp in Pakistan where players’ physical condition was put to the test and improved, followed by the arrival in England a month before the first Test at Lord’s to allow for acclimatisation pointed to revolutionary pre-tour planning. During this period, the Pakistan team conducted a two-week training camp in Hampshire and played two three-day warm ups.

The result of this preparation was a confident looking Pakistan team which stepped into the first Test at Lord’s on July 14 and a handsome 75-run victory set the

Sharjah.With almost no time allowed for any adjustment to local conditions and a solitary warm-up game washed out, the Pakistan squad walked in with minimal preparations into the two Test series against New Zealand, losing both in a historic whitewash against the home-side.

The dazed Pakistan squad then proceeded to Australia and apart from admiring the Great Barrier Reef and some underwater photo opportunities, the sum total of Pakistan’s preparations for the all-important first Test was a three-day day/night game against local opposition which even many ardent followers of Australia cricket struggled to recognise as their own.

The quality of opposition aside, the fact is that Pakistan needed some good match time before the all-important first Test at The Gabba in a three-match series. One warm-up game against below par opposition was not what they had in mind. A tour of such importance Ton-up: Asad Shafiq celebrates should have required more warm-ups and possibly a request to Cricket Ausstandard for the rest of the series. tralia for better quality opposition.

Although England came back in the Pakistan, thus, walked into the following two Tests to take the lead, Brisbane day/nighter with that single Pakistan stayed in the frame and levelled three-day game to show for in terms in the fourth and final Test at the Oval. of match practice. The output of the The ascension to the top position in the Pakistan bowling attack with the pink ICC’s Test rankings then followed which ball, played in conditions totally different was considered a sign of things to come. to those the visitors encountered in From meticulous planning in terms of their previous game in Dubai with the training in Pakistan and then in England same type of ball, was then a foregone and subsequent warm-up games, it conclusion to many. appeared that Pakistan cricket was Unable to generate any swing of note, moving on to rival other top nations in the the Pakistan attack struggled to keep the way they handled preparations for their Australians from complete domination in international engagements. the first few days. The fielding left a lot to Clearly the same level of planning or be desired, as did the batting, and whilst detail went missing in all the subsequent the Pakistan fielding and batting coaches series. The reversal seemed to start would have spent countless hours trainagainst the West Indies where Pakistan ing and advising their players, they players seemed a shadow of their recent would be the first to agree that there is selves and ended up gifting a Test match no better place to put these skills into victory to the visitors in the final Test in use than in a proper game of cricket.

Sadly, the PCB failed in the preparation aspect of the tour but thanks to heroic second innings performances by Azhar Ali,Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq and the After meticulous planning lower order, Pakistan were spared to an in terms of training in extent in the first Test which had therefore become a slightly expensive warm-up for Pakistan and England it what now promises to be an entertaining seemed Pakistan cricket Melbourne Boxing Day match. was moving on to rival What the close loss in Brisbane also other top nations demonstrated was the slow deterioration in form for stalwarts Younis and Misbah-

“

“

Saj Sadiq questions why Pakistan made a U-turn in their strategy before the recent series after success in England

ul-Haq.Whilst Younis appeared to have redeemed himself with some runs in the second innings, the manner of his dismissal was diabolical and seems to vindicate a belief amongst his critics that retirement is fast approaching.

Pakistan captain Misbah, 42, for his part, is also struggling with the bat and his lack of contribution was a valid reason of concern for Pakistan. It is not clear whether advancing age is having a negative effect on the output of both but what is known is that there is scant regard for succession planning for both the senior batsmen and that is worrying.

As responsible Pakistan seniors, one would expect both to have informed the Board about their future intentions to allow planning by the team management instead of dragging this issue from series to series.

Pakistan did score a moral victory of

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Friday, December 23, 2016

FEATURE 29

young gun...

Sibling rivalry taught Tom how to battle tom keast

Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper

W Where was the swing? Rahat Ali and the other Pakistan bowlers generated little movement PICTURES: Getty Images

sorts by taking the game to the fifth day at Brisbane and putting enough doubts in Australian minds to ensure that they will treat the visitors with respect in the coming two Test matches.

Pakistan on their part would be looking for more than just respect from the opposition and their batsmen and bowlers will take courage from the result in Brisbane to make that happen.

What the PCB learn from this Down and out? series and how it goes about Younis Khan hits planning for the future is equally the deck as important and will show how questions mount determined they are to stay in over his form contention for the No.1 Test position.

What should ring alarm bells for followers of Pakistan cricket is the disregard shown by the PCB for proper and high quality preparation ahead of series against New Zealand and

Australia. Pakistan’s batsmen have always struggled on green tops and it wasn’t a major surprise that New Zealand prepared such tracks for the visitors.

Pakistan should have been better equipped and prepared for such conditions. What makes the lack of preparation in Australia even more mystifying is that Pakistan’s record in Australia is abysmal; having last won a Test match there 21 years ago. They have now lost their last 10 Test matches in Australia, so to go into the first Test with only limited practice against weak opposition was nothing short of incredible.

Many lessons can be learned from the Brisbane defeat for Pakistan, the biggest lessons, though, are for the PCB and the officials who plan and organise away tours and continue to show a disregard for the importance of proper and quality preparation.

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ith a twin and a younger brother for competition, Tom Keast is under no illusions that the hard yards to a professional contract were made in the back garden at home.

The Notts keeper, 18, has had to battle twin James and younger brother Nic all of his life. Now at Trent Bridge and looking to oust Chris Read and Tom Moores, the former Lincolnshire ace is working hard this winter to make the necessary improvements.

But after a childhood of fierce rivalry, Keast knows how to overcome long odds.

“There was a lot of backyard action growing up, some famous battles,” he said.

“James is a leg spinner and Nic is an off spinner. And because we all had a different skill it meant that we all got time doing what we wanted.”

Keast, however, was not always behind the stumps.

“In the U11s at Market Rasen the keeper couldn’t play one weekend so the coach asked me to do it,” he said.“And straight away I really enjoyed it. It made sense because my bowling wasn’t great – I couldn’t do it with a straight arm!

“You are involved every ball as a keeper so I knew it was what I wanted to be doing from then on.”

From then Keast’s progression has been meteoric – he played a starring role in the England Development Programme U17s Super 4s competition in 2015 – taking home the player of the tournament award.

“That tournament was massive for me – it really helped me to make my mark at Notts,” added the youngster.

Further recognition came

that winter with a call-up to the England development programme but this winter Keast is staying put at Trent Bridge with the aim of chasing down Read and Moores.

“Having the three of us is great, it means that you are learning every session – and they are great to learn off,” said Keast.“Tom is in Perth at the moment while I am over here for the winter but when he comes back there will be that added competition.

“Chris is so great to train with, he has an unbelievable amount of experience but he is also always experimenting, trying out new drills to find out what works and it has been invaluable for me to be around that.”

After a handful of appearances for the Notts 2nd XI in 2015 and a longer run in 2016, Keast knows that his run-scoring will need to improve to get him noticed.

But with Peter Moores now confirmed as head coach – Keast is confident that his chances will come.

“Next year the goal is to make a mark as a batsman first and foremost but, of course, I will continue to work on my keeping.

“But my batting will be the priority and hopefully I can make some runs and spend as much time as possible around the first team. If there is an injury, it is up to me to be ready to take the chance.”

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Friday, December 23, 2016

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30 FEATURE

I X M A E MY DR Welcome to our new, expanded, illustrated presentation with statistical summaries of the selected players 1. Craig Spearman I played with Craig at Gloucestershire and he was without doubt one of the most talented guys I have ever played with. He could have played for years on the international stage but gave it all up to come to play over here. He played in 19 Test matches in total, but New Zealand’s loss was our gain because he played for eight years and scored a lot of runs in all formats.

ws XI THe Matt Windoarm an Craig Spe

Clubs: New Zealand, Auckland, Central Dists, Gloucs NZ Test Runs: 922 ODI Runs: 936 FC Runs: 13,021

3. Michael Vaughan Michael was captain when I was in the England A side which toured Zimbabwe and South Africa in 1998/99.You could see then that he had the necessary leadership qualities. He always led by example. That squad had some great players, some of whom went on to be the backbone of that great 2005 Ashes winning team – which Michael captained.

4. Jonty Rhodes Jonty was a brilliant overseas pro. He was a great batsman and very talented fielder. Jonty made a big impact when he arrived at Gloucestershire in 2003 and helped us win the C&G Trophy.We were so good in that competition and won it four times in six years – and Jonty played a big role in that.

5. Mal Loye Mal was an excellent batsman, who did not quite enjoy the international career he could have done. Mal was very destructive at the top of the order but I am putting him a little lower down – such was his ability.

7. Jack Russell Jack Russell

Clubs: England, Gloucs Test Runs/Dsmls: 1,897/165 ODI Runs/Dsmls: 423/47 FC Runs/Dsmls: 16,861/1,320

Jack had a very long career and, although I was a lot younger, I played with him for most of mine. I stopped only two years after Jack – he was a major part of the team. His feat in South Africa, when he hit 29 not out in 274 minutes, was just unbelievable. His batting may not have been amazing but his keeping made up for that.

8. Ian Harvey Andrew Strauss

Clubs: England, Middlesex, Durham Univ Test Runs: 7,037 ODI Runs: 4,205 T20I Runs: 73 FC Runs/Wkts: 17,046

2. Andrew Strauss I played with Andrew at Durham University, so he has to go in. He was quite young in that famous 2005 Ashes series but he held his own and went on to have a great career after, leading England to Ashes success in 2009 and 2010/11. At university it was too early to see how great he was going to become but he was always very talented and it is good to see him still in the game.

Matt windows

Former Gloucestershire batsman

Michael Vaughan

Clubs: England, Yorkshire, Eng A Test Runs/Wkts: 5,719/6 ODI Runs/Wkts: 1982/16 T20I Runs: 27 FC Runs/Wkts: 16,295/114

Jonty Rhodes

Clubs: South Africa, Gloucs, KwaZulu Natal SA Test Runs: 2,532 ODI Runs: 5,935 FC Runs: 9,546

Mal Loye

Clubs: England, Lancashire, Northants ODI Runs: 142 FC Runs: 15,329

Andrew Flintoff

Clubs: England, Lancashire Test Runs/Wkts: 3,845/226 ODI Runs/Wkts: 3,394/169 T20I R/W: 76/5 FC Runs/Wkts: 9,027/350

6. Andrew Flintoff Andrew was also part of that England A squad, and you could tell straight away that he had all the attributes needed to become a world-class player. He was just tremendous. He was younger than I was, but he was an England player in no time and we all know what he did against Australia.

Star turns (l-r): Jonty Rhodes, Mal Loye, Andrew Flintoff, Jack Russell PICTURES: Getty Images

Ian Harvey

Clubs: Australia, Gloucs, Derbys.

Hants, Northants, Yorks, Victoria Aus ODI Runs/Wkts: 715/95 FC Runs/Wkts: 8,409/425

Ian came to play for us in 1999 and stayed for seven years. He was a good bowler and a dangerous batsman who offered so much – especially in the one-day game.

He was a good character to have around the dressing room as well.

9. Graeme Swann Graeme Swann

Clubs: England, Northants, Notts, Eng A Test Runs/Wkts: 1,370/255 ODI Runs/Wkts: 500/104 T20I Runs/Wkts: 104/51 FC Runs/Wkts: 7,811/739

Steve Harmison

Clubs: England, Durham, Eng A Test Runs/Wkts: 743/226 ODI Runs/Wkts: 91/76 T20I Runs/Wkts: 0/1 FC Runs/Wkts: 1,888/744

Courtney Walsh

Clubs: West Indies, Gloucs, Jamaica WI Test Runs/Wkts: 936/519 ODI R/W: 321/227 FC Runs/Wkts: 4,536/1,897

Graeme took a lot longer than some of the others from that 1998/99 England A tour to break into the senior international side but when he did he was fantastic. He was a talented spinner and an excellent bloke – always providing the entertainment both on and off the pitch.

10. Steve Harmison Steve was another who toured Zimbabwe and South Africa with me in 1998/99. He was a tremendous player, exceptionally talented and thrived on the international stage. He was probably the best bowler in the world at one time and certainly deserves to be in this team.

11. Courtney Walsh Courtney Walsh was the one who helped me make that breakthrough at Gloucestershire. He was an outstanding bloke in everything he did and he was a very good friend to me. He did look after us, but at the same time we had to perform for him because he put everything into the club over a 14-year period – he just did it all himself.

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Friday, December 23, 2016

OPINION 31

MARTIN JOHNSON

STREWTH, THAT AUSSIE TOUGHNESS HAS GONE WALKABOUT P

icture the scene. It’s England v Australia at Lord’s in the Women’s World Cup final next July, and with four to win off the final ball, the Aussie batter keels over in the crease. Out runs a lady carrying a medical bag, and the players huddle round.“What is it?” they ask.

“Hamstring? Cramp? Nerves?”“No” comes the reply.“It’s twins.”

It turns out that the lady providing the medical attention is not a doctor, or a physio, but a midwife. And when she finally leaves the field, waving her forceps to acknowledge a standing ovation, up in the TMS box Henry Blofeld gasps:“What a delivery!”While Vic Marks, from the summariser’s chair, speculates:“I wonder if they’ll name them Lily and Thomson?”

Far fetched? Well not entirely. Cricket Australia has just announced that any pregnant female cricketer is now required to declare as much before signing a central contract. Not, according to its chief executive James Sutherland, to stop them playing, but for “health and safety” reasons.

Ergo, if you’re going to become a mother while fielding at mid-off, the mother of all nanny states will make sure there’s someone in a nurse’s uniform getting the billy on to boil somewhere in the pavilion.

You don’t have go back all the way to Ned Kelly, or even Ian Chappell, to recall a time in Australia when men were men, and supper in the bush consisted of grabbing a salt water crocodile by the tail and tossing it onto the barbie. These days, though, the Northern Territory reptiles can splash away to their heart’s content, safe in the knowledge that the Australian government will have decreed that the sharpest implement a budding Crocodile Dundee can carry in his belt is a butter knife.

Cricket Australia’s pregnancy clause has already attracted the interested of something called the Fair Work Ombudsman, which apparently monitors unfair practices in the workplace. To whom, presumably, England can lodge a complaint if they get sledged during next winter’s Ashes tour, although in today’s namby-pamby Australia, anyone shouting

“’ave a go yer mug!” will probably be expelled from the ground and ordered to do several months community service.

I have a tip for any first-time visitors planning to watch some of the cricket out there next winter, which is, make sure you set off for the ground early. Especially in Adelaide, where nearly all the hotels are a short walk from the ground. Although when I say a short walk, I mean in distance rather than time, as a journey of, say, a quarter of a mile, can result in you missing an entire England batting collapse.

This is because no-one crosses a road until the little green man tells them to.You can grow a beard, or develop deep vein thrombosis waiting for the colour to turn from red to green, but you won’t see an Australian disobeying the instruction, and should any rebellious Pom makes a dash for it, there will be a collective howl of dismay from the locals.

All of whom, incidentally, will be wearing floppy hats and factor 2000 sun cream as

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This poor chap was frogmarched from the premises for – wait for it – having a sneezing fit on the grounds that he might spread his germs

”

per government advice on the perils of skin cancer.

So on match days you now know to set off in the middle of the night to ensure being there in time for the first ball, and you’ll need at least another half hour figuring out how to take your seat without terminating your own existence. Everywhere you go in Australia, there are notices confirming the government’s implacable belief that its citizens are all mentally retarded, one of which is in place at the Gabba in Brisbane.

“Ensure Seat Is In Position Before Sitting,” it reads, as though this is something

you may not have considered before lowering your posterior.

It was at the Gabba during my last visit that a spectator was evicted from the ground during the opening Test match.

Nothing unusual in this, you might think, especially after several hours of taking refreshments on board in the Barmy enclosure, except this poor chap was frogmarched from the premises for – wait for it – having a sneezing fit.

This was on the grounds – and you can’t make this up – that he might spread his germs all over his neighbours, and he was only allowed back once he’d met the reentry condition of remaining sneeze free for half an hour. So you can well understand why they’re worried about a lady batsman’s waters breaking while she’s asking the umpire for two legs.

You wouldn’t be surprised if Cricket

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Australia has banned its players from pulling crackers on Christmas Day on the grounds that they’re far too dangerous, and loud enough to scare the dog. And it will interesting to see what sort of team they pick for the first ever day-night Ashes Test in Adelaide next December.

There’ll presumably be unable to select any up and coming youngsters, on the grounds that they’ll have to be in bed by 9 o’clock. Imagine, if you can, the embarrassment for a player to have the leave the field because his mother has arrived on the boundary edge pointing at her watch and waving a teddy bear.

But, let’s not get too carried away with idea that the Aussies are getting so soft they’ll keel over in fright at the first glimpse of Ben Stokes’ tattoos, or Stuart Broad throwing a wobbler. If two separate stories involving Christmas are anything

to go by, the dreaded health and safety disease is also headed in our direction.

They both involve Father Christmas, with some health campaigner warning that the image of a fat Santa sends out the wrong message to children, and a government alcohol advisor asking whether it was time for parents to leave out a soft drink for the old boy on Christmas Eve rather than plonk his traditional glass of sherry next to the mince pie.

It’s a tough enough job delivering all those presents as it is, so it’s bit much when you emerge from the chimney (assuming your pot belly doesn’t get stuck in it) to find that the mince pie has turned into a Ryvita biscuit, and that all you’ve got to wash it down with is a diet Coke.Ye gods. The way things are going this could be the first ever Ashes series without a single shout (without risking being summoned to appear in front of the Fair Play Ombudsman) of “owzat!”

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