Yesterday, with eager anticipation, I trudged off to the far-flung regions of Greater Peterborough to play my first competitive game of the season. Our opponents? A side from a small hamlet. The pitch was well covered with green grass and was rock hard. Our skipper duly won the toss and choose to field. And when we had them at 40 for 4 the decision looked the right one. Their skipper had confessed to being a better bowling side that lacked definition to their batting. But something went wrong. And it went wrong badly. By the time we had reached 40 overs out of 45 they were 315 for 9. I suddenly realised just how all those hopeful opposition sides felt against the might of the Baggy Greens. So what went wrong?
Well, we didn't take the chances we should have done. Simple as that. In the very first over their big opener clipped one to square leg; a tough one-handed chance went to ground. He was then dropped at Long On - a chance that should have been taken. Two more chances were missed as well as being trapped plumb in front - their umpire was having none of it, stating that it was missing the stumps but wouldn't say if it was going down leg or past off. So five chances to get the big opener out missed. I felt that he had a weakness against a slower ball and was given my chance to prove it. My first ball was flighty affair, straight and on a good length which he tried to charge only to misfire completely. That was the ball. But whenever I tried to replicate it he was there. Two massive 6s in one over, one of which left the ground completely and was last seen bouncing off the tiles of a house in a neighbouring street. He finally fell to a very slow top-spinner bowled from the back of the hand just back of a length. His eagerness of his charge ensured that he was through the shot before the ball even landed and was stumped whilst still three feet out of his ground. He was on 149. Now, I wouldn't have minded if he had played some chanceless innings. But it wasn't. It was simply carefree - Matthew Hayden style. Rarely did he wait for the ball or pick it out of the hand. His more fluent shots were selected on length because of the slowness of the pitch. But the damage was done. 319 all out was always a big ask. We were skittled for just 137 in near darkness.
But the lesson from that is that one man can make a difference. Take him out of the equation and their batting did lack definition. Sadly this is the case more often than not with England's ODI side; one player carries the rest. Sometimes this means a win and sometimes a loss. The question remains however - how do England match Australia at ODI level? Simple really: get the same definition in the top six batting as Australia have. Time for a change? I think so. As RB's comments suggest in my previous post we have the players to do the job. Forget opening with three 'touch' players like Strauss, Vaughan & Bell. We need on-form Freddie, KP & Bopara opening up, setting the pace and sparing the lower order from keeping up with the run rate.
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6 comments:
Well, I am pleased you got him out. Expensive, maybe but that is the risk you take with spin against a hitter.
I don't mind admitting that I think it was Hussein or Willis who had the idea of putting Freddie up the order in OD cricket, al la Gilchrist. They observed that he was much better against faster bowling, and that by the time he usually got in, the spinners and medium pacers were on.
You'd have thought we figure that out for ourselves. Dare I say it - we are just to Conservative and risk averse.
Nice blog and I noticed that you're a spin bowler. How different is your bowling to a leg spin bowler or more to the point do you bowl flippers and if so (And this applies to any of your spin bowling that gets the ball to deviate off it's assumed natural line) what are the variables that you encounter that dictate how much you can make the ball turn?
Hi MPA,
Generally I work on the basis of off-spin ie turning the ball into the right handers. I try to mix it up with variations in speed and length and on the right pitch I can turn it in about 18inches. I try to lull batsmen into driving through the covers. so generally I would give them 3 balls that pitch on a length outside off stump to encourage the drive. Then let them have a flatter straight one that doesn't turn and pitches on middle and off. Next ball might come out the back of my hand as a leggie that turns away from the right hander. If that doesn't do them then an ultra slow flighty ball that is very full and drops in front of their feet usually gets them thinking.
In terms of variables I first look at the batsmen's stance - is he a bottom hand player? I also take careful note of the guard he takes - 2 legs will often suggest that he will play across the line and is therefore open to LBWs. Some bats take a middle and off guard which will make me protect mid-off region. The pitch is always important. A dry dusty pitch is my favorite for turn and bounce together but a green pitch that is hard makes me bowl slower and look for the ball to grip a little more. Unlike swing or seam bowlers who look for consistance bounce, I like to get inconsistant bounce. Quite often I get decent bounce if I realease the ball high above my head.
The factors that cause the ball to deviate (for me) are grip and the rip of the fingers upon release. I tend to use a slightly unusual off-spin grip because I keep it in my finger tips rather than in the ball of my hand. The position of the thumb at point of release is also important - across the seam so that when you 'rip' the ball the action is in the thumb which aids a top spin action. Of course, it doesn't always work! The best advice is knowing when to take yourself off. If you go for runs early and then pull it back stay on. If you start well and the batters start to 'pick' you out of the hand or on length then ask the skipper to take you off before you go for lots of runs. Set your field accordingly: Deep Backward Square half way up; Long On; Mid Off half way back. A man on the drive at Short Extra Cover and a Sweeper on each side of the field.
Hi, MPA.
I'm a batsman and I just hit it!
Trouble is Richard, as usual, you hit it straight to Backward Point!
Rubbish.
On Saturday, I hit it straight back to the bowler.
He took a good catch high right. It was going like a bullet.
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