Noffke or Katich?
The main question going into the First Test against the West Indies is who will replace Michael Clarke. This is assuming he doesn't play which is a safe bet considering he arrives in the Caribbean a day or so before the Test. A name being thrown into the ring is Ashley Noffke.
Noffke topped both runs and wickets for Queensland last summer. He's an all rounder in the mould of Shane Watson except he doesn't get injured in a stiff breeze and is actually good . It would be an exciting and aggressive choice by the Australian selectors - an extra bowling option for the flat West Indian pitches and some extra batting starch to bolster the long tail. Plus he's a Queenslander. Nuff said!
However, Australian selectors have rarely been known for aggressive or exciting choices. Far more likely is they opt for Simon Katich, the middle order batsman who dropped his bundle during the 2005 Ashes when we needed a stout middle order to withstand the reverse swinging Duke ball. I figure the reasoning will be there's not enough New South Welshman in the side.
| Posted by JC on Thu 15 May |  2 comments |
The first game of the season..
This is the day that I’ve spent looking forward to over the long cold winter months; the first day of the cricket season. Last season I had a good year with my bowling taking 48 wickets. This was during one of the worst summers we’ve ever had over here with virtually June and July totally wiped out. I would like a few more runs this season, I always consider myself as more of a bowler but I’m a fairly good batsman.
The season starts with an U15 match against local rivals Elvaston. The wicket looks good considering the rain we’ve had. I never really bowl very well at this ground so to get some wickets today would be great. We bat first which was the plan. Once informed that I’m opening I get padded up and have a few throw downs. The quality of these throws seem to vary from beamers, full tosses and Yorkers and not the ego-boosting half volleys I would of liked.
We start well with a good build up of pressure through singles and the odd boundary to shake of the indoor nets shots. Wickets start to fall however with a combination of good tight bowling and bad shot selection things go from bad to worse as we finish on just 56 for 5 of 20 overs. These games aren’t Twenty20 slog outs but we always look for more than 100 as a completive target. The mood in the dressing room isn’t great. We know we’ve got to bowl tight and take wickets but also field well and take catches.
The first few overs pass with us taking a couple of early wickets and then a run out. Then the time comes for me to roll my arms over and bowl. What happens next is the most successful spell of bowling I’ve ever had. The first few balls beat the bat and are slowly pushed back to me, which is a decent start. After that everything seems to just go right. My first wicket is taken three balls into the over. It's a good leg break which pitches well and bowls the batsman. The next over I pick up two more wickets and suddenly everybody really believes that we can win this game. For saying I never bowl well at this ground I'd say I'm doing alright at the moment. My third over is probably my best. I have a man caught close and bowl two other batsman out. With eight wickets down the chance to win the game is massive.
The contrasting mood of their supporters is also visible but our crowd seem to be enjoying every moment. My fourth over hosts a catch which puts them nine down and then the fifth ball is another bowled to win the match. Figures of 7 for 11 are my best yet. The contrast of moods in the dressing room after is incredible as endless people keep saying well bowled Isaac and shake my hand. It’s been an incredible evening. Talk in the dressing room after seems to revolve around how good a game it was and also how hot Gemma Atkinson is. She’s a model over here in England who is incredibly gorgeous.
Driving back in the car I know its important to keep my feet on the ground as I know not every game will be like this and games will come when I get hammered around the ground. But for today I can safely say its been awesome.
| Posted by Isaac on Wed 14 May | 2 comments |
New Cricket-Blog author: Isaac Crowson
A new author has joined the Cricket-Blog ranks - Isaac Crowson hailing from the Old Dart. He may be English and a generation younger than most of the Cricket-Blog authors but he is a member of a group that transcends nationality, age or religion: the legspinner community. Here's what he has to say for himself:
At 14, I've already had a lot of cricketing experience. The new 2008 cricket season has just got under way in England and I'm hoping for better weather so my leggies can get more than the 48 wickets they got last year. As a future occupation I'd like to be a cricket writer and journalist. At the time of writing the sun's beating down and this summer looks a lot better than the washout we had last year. I'll be blogging a diary of my season. Playing for the U15's, U17's and men's cricket, this should be fairly frequent. I'll blog once a week, maybe sometimes more and I'll also try and make a few blog posts about the England team. Over here every cricket fan is looking forward to the 2009 Ashes which should be an awesome series.
| Posted by JC on Tue 13 May | 3 comments |
The Experiment Part I
Last summer, I came out of retirement, playing club cricket for the first time in 20 years. In my first game, the captain asked "so do you bat or bowl?" While my thought was "neither", I went with bat. However, as the season unfolded, it turns out my passion was for legspin bowling. But being assigned the role as top/middle order batsman, I never got much of a bowl. So this winter, I'm attempting an experiment, reinventing myself as first and foremost, a legspinner.
I joined the local cricket club and at the first practice, the captain asked that fateful question, "so are you a batsman or bowler?" This time I answered bowler. Turning up to net practice each week, my legspin improved dramatically (although I still haven't mastered the googly let alone the flipper). This weekend was my first game for the new team.
We batted first in a 35 over one-dayer. I came in with 11 overs to go and decided to forego my usual Jason Gillespie defensive technique. After all, I'm a tailender now! I threw the bat at everything. The corridor of uncertainty, usually left well alone, was now dominated by big, booming cover drives (few of which connected). Full balls were swiped at. Length balls were driven back over the bowler's head. Finally, my stumps were knocked over going for one slog too many. Out for 22 - in much quicker fashion than my tortuous accumulations for the Cavs (and 2nd highest score of the innings). I think I'm going to like being a tailender!
We took the field having to defend 152. Smaller than we'd like but defendable. The opposition batsmen spent several overs getting their eye in then took the long handle to both our opening bowlers. Boundaries were coming thick and fast. The captain informed me I was coming in first change. Just as the batsmen were hitting their straps!
My first two balls were short, punched through the covers. No long hops, I told myself. The next ball was too full, a full toss sent into the trees over the mid-wicket boundary. Another full toss was sent for six plus a four to finish off. 18 off my first over! The umpire commented on my full tosses: "you paid for the pitch - you may as well use it". Sledged by the umpire, a new low!
By my second over, the batsman was seeing it like a beach ball. My length balls went over my head for four - one nearly went through my head. He advanced on my short of a length balls and sent those for four. He hit a full toss straight to deep midwicket who was standing over the line by the time the ball reached him. 19 runs off the second over!
So two overs for 37 - an auspicious beginning to my new legspin career. I'd gone from middle-order batsman and expensive legspinner to, well, more of the same. I can only take comfort in the fact that the batsman was the best I'd ever bowled to. He smashed every bowler, notching 138 not out in about 60 balls. They chased down our total in 16 overs.
But I haven't given up on the experiment yet. Taking a John Buchanan philosophical approach, I remind myself that I can bowl better (eg - sometimes land it on the pitch) and most batsman shouldn't show the same devastating form (otherwise God help me). So things can only get better from here, right?
| Posted by JC on Sun 11 May | 3 comments |
Ricky loves watching himself on TV
Ricky Ponting is thrilled with the new innovation of a huge plasma screen next to the nets while he practices batting.
In fascinating scenes at Brisbane's Allan Border Field, an enormous plasma screen television was hauled into the practice net next to Ponting as he was video-taped facing deliveries from a bowling machine.
The video footage was fed through the plasma screen, on a five-second delay, enabling Ponting to play a stroke and then watch it replayed immediately on TV.
Ponting, who endured a run of low scores in last summer's one-day series and then failed to fire for Kolkata in the Indian Premier League, emerged delighted and declaring it as possibly the most valuable net session ever.
I can just imagine Ricky playing a graceful cover drive, then fidgeting with the remote control, admiring replays of his strokeplay in normal speed, slow motion, backwards, etc.
Of less practical use was Michael Clarke's net session with the plasma TV showing video footage of Lara Bingle.
| Posted by JC on Fri 9 May | 2 comments |
