Oval and out (nearly)

One of the risks inherent in blogging is your words coming back to haunt you. The Ancient Greeks called in hubris, but I prefer to think of it as invoking the spirit of Shane Watson, for rather like Watson it was not so much that many of my pronouncements were proven to be wrong, rather that they were never given a chance to be proven at all. It may well be that keeping wicket will have a negative impact on AB De Villiers’ batting and there is no doubt that it is a long tail, but if you make 637-2 then such matters are a mere trifle.

The historic failure of South African batsmen to make test triple centuries has long been a statistical anomaly, but anyone watching the early stages of Hashim Amla’s innings on Friday afternoon could have been forgiven for thinking that it was an anomaly that would remain in place for some time. After the rain, however,he batted with an assurance and range of shot that was delightful to watch - by any reckoning this was a fantastic innings. He stands with his feet closer together than almost any modern batsman with a long backwards trigger movement and a flourish of the bat in the backswing that is no longer as exaggerated as at the start of his career, when he resembled a majorette as much as an international batsman, but which still gives his technique a dash of individuality and flair and from which he scores all around the wicket. Of all the batsmen in test cricket at the moment he is among the easiest on the eye.

No one could ever accuse Graeme Smith of being enjoyable to watch, but there is no doubting his effectiveness and sheer bloody mindedness.  I once sat through a long partnership between Smith and Gary Kirsten that was like watching ugly paint dry and which drove large numbers to the bar, but there was a sense of inevitability about his hundred here. If ever there was a man who made the most of limited talented it is Smith and he should be applauded for it. As for Jacques Kallis here, truly, is a great cricketer. There is little joie de vivre about anything that he does on the cricket field, which may be why he is so consistently underrated, but his test record is up there with Sobers as the greatest all rounder of all time, although there’s no doubt as to which would make a better companion for a night out.

As for England, this was a truly horrible few days, especially after having controlled the first day so convincingly. They will re-group and come back, for they are a resilient group, but I fear that all is lost for this test. For every Cardiff or Centurion there is a Perth or Abu Dhabi and it is hard to see how they can escape today. This further shows the stupidity of scheduling just a three test series: if there were five tests then this would be a mouth watering opening act to go along with Cardiff in 2009 or Lord’s in 2005, but instead it is a massive step towards winning the series for a South African side who for three days have played cricket as good and remorseless as I have seen for a very long time.

It's preview time

It takes a lot to shift the fundamentally pessimistic nature of an English cricket follower. Those of us who lived through the ineptitude of the second half of the eighties, during which time England won only one test, through the tenures of Ted Dexter, Ray Illingworth and David Lloyd and who remember the boos echoing round the Oval in 1999 bear scars that have taken a long time to heal. For those whose stock in trade is jokes about the state of English cricket the events in the UAE in the winter must have come as a blessed relief, but there is no doubt about it: this is a formidable cricket team. 

A year ago it was the all conquering Indians who were going to put us firmly in our place. One glance at the cricinfo message boards would have sent England scurrying for cover such was the misplaced optimism of the Tendulkarati, but by the end of the summer it was England who were leaping about in slightly embarrassing fashion as the World champions (credit where credit is due) slunk out of the back door of the Oval. 

A few short weeks ago the bloggerati were at it again, convinced that England’s run of success in fifty over cricket was about to brought to a juddering halt by an Australian juggernaut boasting Xavier Doherty and Peter Forrest. Shane Watson took it upon himself to take on the Glenn McGrath role with some ill-advised observations about England’s balance (which may, of course, have been proven correct had Australia managed to get down to England’s number seven), but the outcome was decidedly chastening for a side that suddenly found that they had rather more problems than they had previously thought. 

And so we come to the South Africans. They have a rich vein of talent running through their side, but I can’t help feeling that they are being talked up in the way that both India and Australia were before them (although I would be amazed if the series turned out to be as one-sided). For all of Gary Kirsten’s pronouncements about their ‘perfect’ preparation (and, to be fair to Kirsten, it’s hard to know what else he could have said), they feel undercooked, a victim both of the schedule and of the poor weather, and in a three match series you have to hit the ground running, as England found to their cost in the winter.  There are also vulnerabilities – for all of Graeme Smith’s capacity for proving the aesthetes wrong the opening partnership feels slightly sketchy, Jacques Kallis has a poor record in England although, of course, he will be seeking to address that and there is a very real risk that the decision to give the gloves to AB De Villiers will reduce his effectiveness as a batsman while also saddling the Proteas with a sub-standard keeper and taking away their best fielder. Even through the selection of JP Duminy theoretically strengthen the batting and protects a rather long tail, his record against England is poor and he has only played one test in the last two years. 

The effects of the loss of Mark Boucher will provide a fascinating sub-plot. His was a horrible injury and an awful way for his career to finish, but in truth he has never been in the top bracket as a keeper batsman. His keeping, although it improved through his career, was good without being outstanding, the Akmal-esque comedy of his early career being superseded by high competence and his batting, while very effective on its day, patchy and has largely fallen away over the last couple of years. Where his influence was felt most, and will be most keenly missed, was as the focal point of the team, the gutsy character who acted as a confidante to the captain and whose importance in the dressing room, we are told, was inestimable. 

South Africa’s bowling has been the most hyped facet of their play, and with a certain amount of justification. Dale Steyn is a truly excellent fast bowler with natural pace, the ability to move the ball and a nasty, skidding bouncer. Not for nothing is he the number one bowler in the world. Vernon Philander has made a stellar start to his test cricketer, bowling an excellent line and, at times, obtaining extravagant movement, but facing England in England represents an entirely different challenge. The conditions should suit him but he will also be against batsmen who are more at home against pace than spin and it should be the biggest hurdle of his career so far – if he thrives then South Africa will be right in the series. Morne Morkel had the worst imaginable start to his tour and probably wakes up in the night thinking of Peter Trego’s extravagant tattoos – he is a very handy bowler, generating uncomfortable bounce, but there is a touch of the Steve Harmison about him and England will look to score off him. Finally there is Imran Tahir, who ironically came to prominence playing county championship cricket, a useful leg spinner but, again, a bowler that England will look to attack. 

None of this, of course, is to say that England are perfect or that the series will be a walk in the park. Ravi Bopara gets another chance to kick start his test career and England look stronger with him at six rather than Jonny Bairstow – he looks a more mature and compact batsman than he did even a year ago but the South African pacemen will look to target him early in his innings, especially playing away from his body outside off stump. The only other sub-plot is whether England will go with Steven Finn or Tim Bresnan – the likelihood is Bresnan, but Finn would add another dimension to the attack and his chance will have to come sooner or later. 

The final imponderable, of course, is the weather, but assuming that the deluge ceases at some point then 2-0 to England is the prediction. Bring it on.

Number One - Day Four at Edgbaston

At the start of the series there were two main topics of conversation: could England make it to number one and would Sachin Tendulkar make his hundredth international hundred? England, of course, have achieved their goal in the grandest manner but for Tendulkar, one of the true greats of the game, the wait goes on.

There have been glimmerings of the Sachin of old. In the second innings at Trent Bridge he was the only member of the much vaunted batting line-up to offer any resistance and the same was true here. He had played fluently for his forty as the innings lay in ruins at the other end and his dismissal, run out by a deflection from Graeme Swann’s hand, rather summed up his tour so far. 

Unfortunately, so did the rest of the top order batting, which rolled over in the face of a sustained burst from Jimmy Anderson. On the same pitch on which England had scored over 700 they looked all at sea, although Rahul Dravid seemed to be a little unlucky. MS Dhoni, for the second time in the match, showed some character and Praveen Kumar’s innings entertained everyone except the increasingly exasperated Graeme Swann, but the game was wrapped up by tea by a humiliating margin and the celebrations were well and truly underway.

So, England are number one in the world. Lord MacLaurin was overly optimistic in his original desire to have got there by 2007 but a lot of hard work by a lot of people has got them to the pinnacle and they thoroughly deserve it. The challenge now is to stay there.

Cook at the Double - Day Three at Edgbaston

On 27^th July 1990 I was lucky enough to be at Lord’s when Graham Gooch turned the first ball after tea, from Ravi Shastri, behind square on the leg side to bring up the only test triple century scored by an Englishman in my lifetime. I was especially lucky since it was only seen by spectators in the ground: the BBC, showing their usual sense of priorities where cricket is concerned, were busy showing the expectant millions the runners and riders at Doncaster. 

Since that happy July day, so Englishman has exceeded 250, let alone challenged Gooch’s score, but for much of today it appeared that Alastair Cook, the protégé of Gooch, was going to change that. In the end he had to settle for 294, rather surprisingly caught near the point boundary, but spectators at Edgbaston can at least say that they were there when England passed 700 for the first time since Hutton’s test at the Oval in 1938. For those of us who have been watching England play test cricket for a while this is taking some getting used to. 

It is hard for any bowler to emerge with much credit when the opposition make 700, but Praveen Kumar and Mishra at least kept going and the attack kept their discipline to the extent that England didn’t take the game away in the way that Kevin Pietersen had threatened to do yesterday. Instead Cook, ably supported by Morgan, simply went on and on, and when Morgan, Bopara and Prior departed in quick succession he found a worthy ally in the ever-impressive Tim Bresnan, who started watchfully but seemed to be rather enjoying himself by the end. 

All the plaudits, though, must go to Cook. He had looked scratchy and poorly balanced in the first two tests and wasn’t fluent at the start of this innings, but what he lacks in style he makes up for in concentration, shot selection and fitness. After batting for more than twelve hours he was still scampering singles and turning ones into twos without breaking sweat. Indeed, he went for much of the day without hitting a boundary, but such was his fitness and appetite for runs he as able to score at a reasonable rate anyway. At the age of twenty-six he already has nineteen hundreds, two of them doubles, and an average just under fifty: England’s batting records are there for the taking. 

Having reached the scarcely believable heights of 710-7, England then had the added bonus of removing Virender Sehwag first ball for a king pair. Anderson bowled just about the perfect ball to him, tempting him to drive but just shaping it away to take the outside edge. Had Swann had his leg before appeal against Gambhir upheld, as it should have been, then they would have been delirious – as it is they will have to settle for simply being ecstatic. India will have to bat out of their skins to come close to saving this match: the evidence of the series so far is that they haven’t got a hope.

A Lesson From History - Day Two at Edgbaston

In the autumn of 1958 an England side, unbeaten in test series since 1951, the undisputed world number one and described as ‘the best team ever to leave these shores’, set off for Australia. The following spring they returned having been thrashed 4-0. The Notes by the Editor in the 1959 Wisden bemoan the failure of the much vaunted batting line-up and is critical of the fielding while Peter May, the unfortunate captain, later admitted that the squad had grown old together and was now over the hill. Sound familiar?

Today was by far the ugliest day in what has been an ugly series for India. At Lord’s and Trent Bridge there were times when they looked ready to seize the initiative, but here there was no hope and precious little desire. With the honourable exceptions of Praveen Kumar, who ran in all day as those his life depended on it, Rahul Dravid, who at least looks as though he cares, and Suresh Raina, who is at least an international standard fielder, the rest were at best desultory and at worst an embarrassment. Mishra contrived to bowl no balls off a negligible run up, Laxman spent all day with his hands in his pockets and Sehwag eventually left the field apparently suffering from no more than a bout of ennui. The bowling lacked threat, the fielding was poor and the body language was abysmal: they’re not a dynamic side in the field at the best of times but for much of the day they resembled a team of bored schoolboys, viewing fielding as a necessary chore to be got through en route to the fun stuff rather than as a fundamental part of the game.

Praveen bowled extremely economically in the morning, although he didn’t force the batsmen to play as much as he might, but at the other end Ishant bowled too wide and Sreesanth too inconsistently. The ball moved, but Strauss and Cook played with soft hands and the Indian slip cordon were too deep for any chances to go to hand and progress to lunch was pretty serene, if unspectacular.

After lunch it looked for a time as though England would pile on the humiliation and go past India’s total without losing a wicket, but Mishra broke through, bowling Strauss round his legs from what turned out to (too late for Strauss) to be a no ball. Bell played breezily, although he should have been caught at slip, but by now Alastair Cook, who had struggled in the first two tests, had settled and was looking as remorseless as he had through the winter and the early part of the summer.

Bell fell to a beautiful delivery from the admirable Praveen Kumar which ripped out his off stump, but with India’s body language deteriorating there was to be no respite as Kevin Pietersen laid about him. In the run-up to tea India’s bowling and fielding deteriorated in the face of Pietersen’s aggression and the game finally ran away from them.

The final session saw the departure of Pietersen, a decision that would have appalled Bob Wyatt, after whom one of the stands at Edgbaston is named and who believed that no batsman should be given out LBW on the front foot, but which pleased this old bowler, but Cook and Morgan continued remorselessly to the close. We even saw Tendulkar bowl and some sharp turn from Raina, who was described as ‘right arm optimistic’ by Michael Holding during the morning, which will have excited Graeme Swann.

It’s impossible to see where India go from here in this match. They must try at least to improve, both in their performance and their attitude, but even if they do it is impossible to see them saving the game unless the weather intervenes.

Dhoni's Cameo but England's Day - Day One at Edgbaston

At tea the word ‘Perth’ was pushing itself to the forefront of my mind: England, following a convincing win, had India in trouble only to be hit by a rearguard action lead by a player whose form had been abject to that point. This is the best England team of my lifetime but the scars of the past are hard to shift even for this optimistic Englishman.

As with the first two tests it was a good toss to win, although the decision to bowl first was not the no-brainer it had been at Trent Bridge. India had Sehwag and Gambhir back to strengthen the batting and Mishra, arguably, strengthens the bowling given Harbhajan’s abject form of late, while Ravi Bopara came into the England side to replace Jonathan Trott.

According to many commenters on cricinfo, the return of Sehwag would make all the difference, leading India to the promised land of a massive first innings score, so they would have been bitterly disappointed to see him glove his first ball to a gleeful Matt Prior. It was a decent delivery from Stuart Broad, but Sehwag was slow to drop his hands.

Gambhir and Dravid then batted nicely against tidy bowling, with the ball doing a bit but certainly not going round corners, and it looked for a time as though England’s decision to bowl first may backfire, but Gambhir was bowled driving loosely, Tendulkar, having been greeted by the standard standing ovation, prodded meekly outside off stump and then, on the stroke of lunch, Dravid was the unfortunate recipient of the one unplayble ball off the session, a snorter from Bresnan ripping out his off stump.

India’s travails continued after lunch, Raina, as has been the case for much of the series, not hanging around for long and Laxman falling to the pull shot for the third time in the series. Laxman seems to be having real problems with building on starts, something that has dogged his whole career, for his conversion rate is poor for a player of such class. Maybe it is an issue with concentration, maybe it is an issue with fitness, but this was not the first time that he has got himself out when set.

Mishra didn’t hang around and India were in the mire at 111-7, but the pitch was losing whatever demons it had had and Dhoni, whose batting so far in the series had ranged from the abysmal to the merely weak, finally showed what he was made of, taking the attack to England in partnership with the swashbuckling Praveen Kumar and, for the first time in the day, causing some consternation in the England ranks. Andrew Strauss’s captaincy was questionable at times during the onslaught, as were the tactics of England’s bowlers, but it is not always easy to combat the kind of hitting that we saw here and credit must be given to the two Indians and especially the skipper.

It was too good to last, however. Kumar feathered an attempted hook to Prior, although it needed a review to send him on his way, Dhoni edged to slip where Strauss held on comfortably and then Ishant, summing up the way that the series has gone so far, fell to a freakish catch at silly mid-off from Cook, who didn’t know a lot about it.

The pitch had now flattened considerably (and, in truth, it was never a 111-7 pitch to start with) and England’s openers, neither of whom has been in great form in the series, played watchfully at first and then opened out into a broader range of strokes to leave them 84-0 at the close and firmly in charge of the game. If England can continue to build in the morning and if the loss of Jonathan Trott doesn’t hamper them too much, then it could be a long few days for India.

In praise of... Matt Prior

There was a time, not so long ago, when the thought of writing this would have been as far from my mind as a piece praising Zaheer Khan’s physical fitness. When Matt Prior first came into the England side he represented everything that was wrong about attitudes to wicket keeping: his batting was fine, although nowhere near the level that it is today, but his keeping wasn’t even first class standard, let alone test standard. His glovework was clumsy and his footwork non-existent. I, a fully paid up member of the Campaign for Real Wicket-keepers, watched, appalled, through my fingers as the ball rebounded from hard hands and he launched himself into another fruitless dive from an entirely static position. He epitomised Duncan Fletcher’s ludicrous assertion that you can teach someone to catch but you can’t teach them to bat and seemed to have bought wholeheartedly into the false notion that in order to be an effective keeper you also had to behave like an idiot, as the infamous jelly bean incident showed. He was the bastard lovechild of Geraint Jones and Kamran Akmal. You may have gathered by now that I wasn’t a fan.

How times change. After a poor run of form saw him ditched from the England side in favour of Tim Ambrose he starting working with Bruce French, a much underrated technician behind the stumps, and his keeping has improved spectacularly. His glovework is tidy and his footwork, an all too frequently neglected aspect of keeping (see Brad Haddin for details) is unobtrusive and effective. Balls that once would have prompted a desperate dive are now collected on his feet, although the departure of Steve Harmison from the England side may also have helped.

At the same time his batting, which was always handy, has blossomed. I have seen hm bat twice in the flesh this year, in the Lord’s tests against Sri Lanka and India, and on both occasions he made a hundred, piercing the offside field with aplomb and driving and pulling effectively when the bowling strayed onto his legs. When Michael Vaughan suggested during the first test that he is currently the best wicket-keeper batsman playing test cricket he was greeted with some derision from proponents of MS Dhoni, but there is no doubt that he was right. Such has been his improvement that he may even be the best pure keeper currently playing test cricket, something that would have been inconceivable a few years ago.

His importance to England now cannot be understated. To have a number seven who not only averages in the mid-forties with the bat but who also scores at such a rate that he can take the game away from the opposition in a session is a luxury that is afforded to very few sides. In both of the games mentioned above he came to the crease with England some way short of where they wanted to be but through a combination of scintillating stroke play and aggressive running he took the game away from the opposition in a manner that was almost Gilchrist-esque.

Of course there is still the odd blemish and he can still be vulnerable to the ball moving back into him, especially early in his innings when he can play rather waftily around off stump, but he has become a vital cog in an increasingly impressive England side. I can’t remember many cricketers who have improved so dramatically after making their test debut, for which both he and his coaches deserve the utmost praise. All hail Matt Prior.