4th ODI in Australia

This week's defeat in Australia was a less depressing one for England. The highlights on the Sky Sports web site were actually fun to watch (though they did not show the controversial edge by Hussey which was given not out). There was some great fielding, especially (Cameron White, lying on the ground, head pointing away from the wicket, managing to run out Ian Bell), and a couple of impressive shots by England's new discovery Mal Loye.

Loye presents a problem for England's selectors - evidently a problem of their own making. He may be England's best one-day opening batsman, but it will be difficult to get him into the 15-man World Cup squad, given that he did not make it into the current 30-man squad. I guess the good news is that maybe by the time England is done being thrashed in Australia and the World Cup, they may have a good sense of who their best ODI squad is for the coming summer season. With luck, they might even know who the captain is, too.

Scorecards Gone Wild!

Something is messed up with the live score feed from the Pakistan test match in South Africa:






It's not just Sky Sports - the BBC site is showing the same stats.

Better Late than Never

This week England got their first match win in Australia, on day 72 of their tour.

I'm a bit behind schedule myself. I just noticed a couple of interesting things in my January issue of The Wisden Cricketer (I should be getting the Feb. issue any day now).

First of all, cricket has now joined the world of the dummies.

If "dummy" isn't self-deprecating enough for you, how about "pervert"? That's the term used in a brilliant quote from Dave Kidd of the Sun to describe people who watch cricket in the middle of the night because of time zone differences:

During previous Ashes tours... there was something shameful about following the action live on TV in the wee small hours. Cricket perverts would tell their wives they were staying up late to watch porn, hoping not to be rumbled when she was woken up by the sordid sound of failed English lbw appeals.

You know it's going to be a tough World Cup when...

Your night watchman is selected as an all-rounder.

England has selected their 30-man squad for the World cup. The BBC has an article here. When I looked at the bowlers I noticed that not a single one of the Ashes-winning bowlers was in that group. It makes a lot of sense that Flintoff is in the all-rounders group (though lately he seems to struggle a bit with either bat or ball in each match), but I was quite surprised to find Matthew Hoggard there with him. Hoggy's a lovable character and a devastating swing bowler in the right conditions, but with the bat he's mainly known for blocking. His batting average in ODI's is 4.25.

Otherwise, the squad includes 8 of the 12 MBE/OBE awardees from the 2005 Ashes. No Harmison, no Trescothick, no Joneses. The young and the restless will compete for the other 4 spots. At least they will have a few guys who are happy to be there even if they have to witness some batting collapses. If Pietersen's rib heals well they may even get to see some fireworks.

I think World Cup 2007 will be a lot of fun, but probably not for England. The Aussies have to be favored. They look as good now as they were in 2003. They always seem to have a tailender or unsung all-rounder who steps up if the batting or bowling stars have an off day. Other teams to watch include the hosts (you never know what the Windies will do), and South Asian batting powerhouses Sri Lanka and Pakistan. You can never completely count out New Zealand, 2003 semi-finalists India, South Africa and England. It would be a shocker if any of these 8 teams fails advance to the super 8 round - unless there's a lot of rain. The unfair thing about the World Cup is that matches are generally not replayed (please leave a comment if you know whether this rule has changed since 2003). Each of the favored teams has two matches against weaker teams, but if those matches are rained out, they lose half the points they could have gotten by winning. So it just takes ! upset win and a washout or two to produce a shock result in the standings. The shock story of 2003 was Kenya, but they'll be far from home in the Caribbean. Bermuda will be near home, but they've never played in the World Cup before. Other possible Cinderellas include Bangladesh and Canada.

Full Circle: Michael Vaughan (OBE) becomes England Captain

On the surface it seems a bit crazy to anoint a captain who has not even played at the international level since last Spring. Add to that the recurring knee injuries, and it really seems wacky. But I thought it might happen because it allows England's star player, Andrew Flintoff, to save face. Selector chairman David Graveney's comment that Flintoff was "keeping the seat warm" for Vaughan was quite revealing. You can bet that if things had been reversed and Flintoff's team had won the Ashes 5-0, that seat would have burst into flames.

Vaughan really is a good captain, and if he survives the triangular series and bats reasonably well this choice will have been vindicated. But it reminds me a bit too much of the selection of Giles and Trescothick to the Ashes squad. They chose politics, continuity and personal sentiment over a realistic assessment of the situation. I believe the last overseas tour that went well for Michael Vaughan was 2 years ago in South Africa.

I was in favor of Strauss as captain from last Summer, and I still think it's the sanest choice. Flintoff didn't offer anything as captain that he didn't already offer as the team's most explosive player, and his ankle was also going to be a worry. Strauss did a good job in turning around the one-day series vs. Pakistan, and I thought he earned the job.

Langer, too

It's getting a bit dull writing about Australian cricketers retiring, but I had to say something nice about Justin Langer. Why? Well, as an American I had never been interested in cricket because there just weren't any opportunities to see it on the grand stage. As a tourist in Adelaide, Australia in 2001, I was on the bus from the airport to my hotel when a nice lady asked me whether I had come to see the cricket. I had no idea there was cricket in Adelaide, and I was afraid I would not understand what was going on, but I decided to check it out. It was day one of a test match vs. Shaun Pollock's South Africa side, and when I showed up Langer and Ponting were at the crease. After a while, they announced a 50 partnership. Then a 100 partnership. Then a century by Langer. After that, the wickets started falling, so I got to see, somewhat briefly, the Waugh brothers. But Langer's century, which the local papers called "Bradmanesque", was my introduction to this majestic sport. So, good on ya', Justin. Enjoy your retirement. It's been a long and beautiful innings.