Horses for courses

The recent performances of the England cricket team in Sri Lanka, have been abysmal, a disgrace to English cricket.How much longer are we going to look towards the future? We've been picking the side on building for the future, we've been doing this for a while now, and where has it got us? Nowhere. It's about time the team was picked purely on performances, we should pick the best team available at the time based on performances, not building for the future. Australia, number one side in both formats of the game, and current World Champions, what do Australia do? They pick the best available side for the job in hand, the ECB should take note. I don't agree with bringing in players young, to build a side for the future, what about the present for the gods sake! Young talent should be left alone to play the county circuit, and master their trades so that when they are eventually brought into the international arena, they are ready. I hope the likes of Adil Rashid, Billy Godleman and Steven Finn are left alone, and are allowed to mature on the county circuit, before being called up. Back to current affairs, the test series in Sri Lanka has been a shambles, I'm hoping the ECB and the selectors show some bottle, and pick a side for the New Zealand tour that is purely for the job in hand, and not on building for the future. So I'm looking for them to play Owais Shah, Graeme Swann and Mark Ramprakash. Ramprakash should have toured Sri Lanka, but was over-looked most probably due to age, and the fact he never really hit top form for England on previous attempts, despite the fact he's smashed over 2000 runs a season in the last two seasons, averaging over 100, what more can the guy do? I hope the selectors see sense, if not then if English cricket continues the way it is then we could soon find ourselves even further down the ICC table next year, as I can't see New Zealand and South Africa being push-overs can you?

And you call yourself a keeper?

Throughout the English summer, and now the winter in Sri Lanka, Matt Prior has failed to impress me. There is no way he is an international standard wicket-keeper, his glovework is appalling. England need to decide whether they want a batsmen who can keep, or a keeper who can bat. I'm all for the latter, it's alright having a extra batsmen who keeps, but if the keeping is not up to scratch, then no matter how many runs you make with the bat, these wont make up for the dropped catches, runs conceded as byes and other opportunities, this is the main reason I don't like Prior, yes he can bat on his day but he can't keep. I would much rather we have a keeper who can bat, this is why I'm a fan of Chris Read, without doubt the best gloveman in the country, and on last seasons stats, he scored the most runs by a keeper and was the only keeper to score over 1000 runs, the only reason I can see of why Read was dropped for the Ashes was because Geraint Jones is Fletchers 'boy' so to speak, he did nothing to earn a recall, just like Matt Prior did nothing to warrant his place in the side, the only reason Prior was picked is because he's a mate of Moores's from the academy and Sussex, no matter what Moores says he can't possibly think Prior is the best man for the job. There should be no place for Prior in the test side, until he improves his technique with the gloves, and also applies himself, he seems to lack concentration after the first session of a days play. However there may be a place for Prior in the ODI setup, but with the 'pinch-hitter' role he's given he needs to be able to draw the line, between attacking the bowling, and using his brain, the shots he plays which cost him his wicket, shows he's some what lacking a brain. And there's Mustard plays a similar role to Prior, spices up the innings, slightly better with the gloves, but not international standard with the bat, it's all well and good hitting county opposition all over the park, but as the series in Sri Lanka showed hitting international bowlers all over the park is much harder, and as Mustard posted no scores of any real significance, I don't see anything to warrant the hype.

What goes around comes around

Remember the old saying 'what goes around comes around?' That was what sprung to mind when New Zealand refused to clear the action of Australian pace bowler Shaun Tait ahead of the first ODI, when asked whether he was happy with Tait's action Vettori said: "You ask Braces (John Bracewell) that one. The comments sparked several responses from Australians, none more so than Tait himself who said angrily: "They can question me and I can go and do the tests but I can't see a problem with my action at all. Maybe they should watch the ball more." Personally I see the comments as nothing more than a attempt to wind up the Australians, as it's not the first time Bracewell has tried to stir things up ahead of a series with the Australians, yet he remained tight-lipped on the subject of Tait. It seems to me though, that the Australians are more than happy to dish out the comments, but don't like recieving any in return. They seem to always question Murali due to his action, yet when one of their own has their action scrutinised they jump straight on the defensive, I'll let you take from that what you please.

The show must go on

As proceedings in Sri Lanka after the first test drew to a close, I can imagine the main talking points would have consisted of a below-par England performance and the small matter of a certain Muttiah Muralitharan breaking Shane Warne's record. It is easy to forget that amongst the chaos that had descended over Kandy, a pioneering cricketer ending an illustrious career that had escaped much of the cricket world.

Sanath Jayasuriya in his own right has been one of the most exhilarating players to have graced a cricket field in modern times. He along with a handful of others, has revolutionised the way teams set about match planning. A flamboyant batting style has not gone unnoticed, demonstrating the impact Jayasuriya has had over his 18 year career.

In both ODI and test cricket, Jayasuriya has enjoyed a huge amount of success. A healthy, departing test average of 40.07 is credit to a man undeterred by traditional batting techniques. A unique style and approach has allowed Jayasuriya to be the spearhead of a Sri Lankan batting lineup that has featured the likes of Ranatunga, de Silva and Jayawardene; all world class performers in their specialist field. The man's ability speaks a thousand words!

I'm sure I'm not the only one wishing Jayasuriya a happy retirement and all that is left for me to say in traditional English style: "Fair well old chap! You played a blinder!."

A final bite at the Kandy?

The equation couldn't have be easier. 341 runs to win. 9 wickets in hand. England should cruise that surely?

If only that were true. In a test match dominated by the magic of Murali and the supremacy of Sangakkara, Michael Vaughan's army last Tuesday conspired to set up an inevitable defeat. After dominating proceedings on the first day, one can't but help wonder how it is possible to go from the dizzy heights of the first day where the brilliance of Hoggard outwitted a Sri Lankan line up, still fresh from their debagging by Australia, to the fourth day where the infamous pressure cooker situation got the better of a bowling line up short of confidence. What a difference three days make!

We should however not allude from the small matter of Muttiah Muralitharan. Whilst the lack luster England performance with the ball second innings reared it ugly head once more; it's impossible to forget what an impact Murali has had on the first test match. The matter of him overtaking Shane Warne's goliath haul of 708 test wickets was a matter of when, not if. The inevitableness had surely been playing on England's minds prior to the commencement of the test match so in a way it's no wonder they must have felt under pressure. On his own, Murali scripted a dream scenario that he playied to the full. There was never going to be talk of anybody apart from the little magician who claimed the scalp of 6 Englishmen in what can only be named as "Muralitharan's Test". Nobody can take the limelight away from such a man. One of the greats of the game. A true gentleman perfecting his craft on the world's greatest stage.

It is that "gentleman", England failed to keep out. On a deteriorating Kandy surface, England failed to make the most of the non-Muralitharan overs The likes of Bell, Vaughan, Pietersen and Collingwood must have felt the jitters as a whole day to bat and save the test match loomed. Composure was the key, and was poorly implemented by England in their attempt to pull off an unlikely draw. It was down to the batsmen to correct the bowlers second innings errors, and counter attack in a way Sangakkara demonstrated so majestically on the fourth day. Oh how they failed miserably!

Full Steyn ahead!

It has been a pleasing sight of late, to see fast bowlers once again dominating the game, it's a rarity these days, with a game which seems to suit the batsmen more and more. Dale Steyn is the man leading the pace revival. In the 6 test matches Steyn has featured in this year, Steyn has taken 39 wickets, which works out at under 15 each wicket, and a wicket every 26 balls. Steyn is looking like he has what it takes to become one of the great fast bowlers, bowling at express pace and combining that with swing, he will trouble the best of batsmen. Having only played 15 test matches, many would argue the best is yet to come from Steyn, his performances against New Zealand, where he destroyed the batting line-up, taking two 10 wicket hauls in consecutive test matches, showed what he is capable of. He has took the second most wickets by a South African in 15 tests, taking one more than the great Allan Donald, and being just two behind Fanie De Villers, yet his strike rate, is what makes him stand out from the two greats mentioned, a strike of just 38.1 which is just 6.1 overs, and currently places him third in the all-time list. Steyn has the ability to become one of the all-time greats, a bowler who will strike fear into the best of batsmen, I for one will be counting on Steyn to cement his place among the greats, and return the art of fast bowling to the dominating force, it once was.

Drop the gloves, Son

What a bold move by Sri Lanka, to forfeit the superb wicket-keeping of Kumar Sangakarra, for the sake of his batting, but what a move it has been, certainly brought out the best in him. His stats since he handed over the gloves to Prasanna Jayawardene, are truely remarkable, 1,529 runs in nine Tests, with 7 hundreds at an average of 152.9 In the 22 Tests he has not kept wicket he averages 96.4 In the 47 Tests where he has, it is 41.24 And just to clarify, he's one of the best keepers in the world with the gloves also, but profilic batsmen when not keeping. In his last 4 test matches he has passed the 150 run mark on 4 occations, making him the only man to do so, leaving the likes of Wally Hammond and Don Bradman in his wake. His record breaking innings, was a joy to watch even from an England fans point of view, featuring a wide range of shots, the effortless flicks of the legs, superb square cuts and his drives where at there fluent best, you couldn't help enjoy it.