midwinter-midwinter
Submitted by rickeyre on August 29, 2009 - 8:13pm
As announced on Twitter last Monday morning following the conclusion of the Fifth Test, Graeme Swann made a late run to win the 2009 Midwinter-Midwinter by one point.
On day four at The Oval, Swann earned 3 points following his 2 and 1 on the two previous days to finish the series with a total of nine points. Mike Hussey scored two points on Sunday for his backs-to-the-wall hundred, with one point to Steve Harmison.
The Midwinter-Midwinter is the best on ground (BoG) award for the best player for both sides across the whole Ashes Test series. It is determined by me on the basis of deciding the three best players each day on a 3-2-1 basis. If a day is shortened for any reason (eg bad weather, end of game), then less votes will be allocated, either 2-1 or 1 only, depending on the number of overs bowled and the state of play. The prize for winning the Midwinter-Midwinter is the honour of being named the winner of the Midwinter-Midwinter. There is no actual trophy or medal.
Past winners: 2005 - Shane Warne; 2006-07 - Shane Warne.
The final tally:
9 - Graeme Swann (England);
8 - Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood (England), Michael Clarke (Australia);
7 - Andrew Strauss (England);
6 - James Anderson, Andrew Flintoff (England), Ben Hilfenhaus, Marcus North, Peter Siddle (Australia);
4 - Brad Haddin, Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting (Australia);
3 - Matthew Prior, Jonathan Trott (England), Nathan Hauritz, Michael Hussey (Australia);
2 - Ian Bell, Alistair Cook, Graham Onions (England), Stuart Clark (Australia);
1 - Steve Harmison, Kevin Pietersen (England), Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson (Australia).
0 - Ravi Bopara, Monty Panesar (England), Phil Hughes, Graham Manou (Australia).
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Submitted by rickeyre on August 23, 2009 - 6:21pm
"They've got a debutant playing this week, which I think will play in our favour a bit. What does it say to us? It probably shows a bit of desperation I guess on their behalf, to be doing that."
- Ricky Ponting on Jonathan Trott, 19.8.09 (source: ABC)
Despite all the "Australia on top" rhetoric on Thursday night, the first day of the Fifth Test at The Oval was about as close to a statistical "honours even" as you can get.
Then came the seismic shift on Friday afternoon. Australia's batting turned to mush. Stuart Broad was looking more like the new Sir Ian Botham or new Andrew Flintoff MBE. (The 2nd Lord Broad of Notts, perhaps?) It was enough to make one forget about that groundbreaking moment from Friday morning - Jimmy Anders0n's maiden Test duck.
But to bring us up to date, Australia is 80 for 0 in their second innings, needing a total of 546 to win the game with two days remaining.
The Ashes are as good as England's. But if it's an omen, it wasn't the fat lady preparing to sing in the Test Match Special booth yesterday, rather an appearance by Lily Allen.
466 runs in a maximum of about 180 overs, ten wickets in hand to save the Ashes for Australia. It's just tantalisingly plausible... isn't it?
Jonathan Trott's Test debut hundred is the standout highlight of the match thus far, and is an event destined for cricketing folklore as long as England goes on to win today or tomorrow. There was something perversely fitting about Andrew Flintoff's last Test innings ending with a six-and-out swipe.
Ricky Ponting is about to enter the history books as the first Australian captain to twice lose the Ashes since the 19th century (Billy Murdoch to be precise). His smug pre-match sledging of Trott is worthy of epitaph status. In future, Ricky, take the less-is-more approach to press conferences so ably demonstrated this week by Darius Boyd. Or better still, leave the statements to your future captain, Michael Clarke.
Points so far in The Oval Tine, er, Test for the 2009 Midwinter-Midwinter:
Day One - Siddle 3, Bell 2, Strauss 1;
Day Two - Broad 3, Swann 2, Katich 1;
Day Three - Trott 3, Strauss 2, Swann 1.
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Submitted by rickeyre on August 9, 2009 - 7:23pm
Ravi Bopara has been an absolute batting genius for England against the West Indies. Three Test innings for three hundreds (104, 143, 108). Now take those three innings out of his career record, and what are left with?
Against Sri Lanka in 2007: 8, 34, 0, 0, 0.
Against Australia in 2009 to date: 35, 1, 18, 27, 23, 1, 0.
That's 147 runs at 12.15. And three of those four quackers were solid gold, including Saturday afternoon's demise.
Those numbers may have as much to say about the state of West Indian cricket as they do about Bopara's inappropriateness for the England number three position. Bopara hasn't played a single game for Essex this season. Make a date for the Championship Division Two game at home against Surrey starting August 19. He surely won't be playing at Surrey's home ground that weekend in the Fifth Test.
There's a chap by the name of Jonathan Trott who was named in the England squad this week, then sent back to Warwickshire where scored 78, well below his season's average to date of 91.00. And who's this 39 year-old lad from Surrey who's on the brink of his 108th first-class hundred this morning?
The apparent revelation that a member of Australian yobbistas "The Fanatics" set off the fire alarm at the England team hotel at 4am on Friday morning is simply dumbfounding. While it would be churlish to blame England's first innings performance on interrupted sleep, this was a very, very unfunny thing for any so-called cricket fan to be doing. Especially after the violent attack on the Sri Lankan Test team at Lahore in March. Whoever was responsible should be turned over to the Yorkshire Police and transported to Australia to perform compulsory armed service such as targeted air strikes on feral camels.
Having written next to nothing about another amazing day's play at Headingley, I give you the day's Midwinter-Midwinter votes: Marcus North 3 pts, Michael Clarke 2, Mitchell Johnson 1. Clarke now joins Paul Collingwood as joint leader on 8 pts with a truckload of players on 6.
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Submitted by rickeyre on August 4, 2009 - 4:14pm
Captain-in-waiting Michael Clarke and Mister-Cricket-in-waiting Marcus North saved Australia's bacon in the Third Test at Edgbaston yesterday. With, it should be noted, the assistance of Mr Cricket himself, county-cricketer-in-waiting Mike Hussey, and chronic injury-in-waiting Shane Watson.
[What should have followed was a lengthy but probably dull discourse on the prospects of both teams for the remaining two Tests of the series. It vanished, unsaved, when I accidentally hit the "back" button on the wrong tab of my Firefox window. Suffice to say that I doubt England's ability to take twenty wickets in either of the Headingley or The Oval Tests, and that Australia can only do it if they recall Stuart Clark. Thus I'm now predicting that the England players will be heading back to the Palace next spring for an upgrade on their 2005 MBE's.]
Midwinter-Midwinter points for Day Five at Edgbaston: Michael Clarke 3, Marcus North 2, Mike Hussey 1. CIW Clarke has taken an outright lead on nine points, one ahead of Paul Collingwood MBE. I'll do an updated summary of the Midwinter-Midwinter before the start of Test Four.
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Submitted by rickeyre on August 3, 2009 - 6:19pm
Think of Saturday's day of inaction at Edgbaston not so much as a washout as a pause for half-time at the two-and-a-half Test point of the 2009 Ashes. It hasn't been a series of great science, but it's not dull. And we still don't really know how it's going to finish up.
These definitely are not two of the great Ashes teams, certainly neither is a patch on the 2005 lineups. Only Flintoff and Pietersen could be considered historically great England players. KP had an erratic start to the series before succumbing to injury. FF is still rocking on what ostensibly is his valedictory Test tour, but word is that he could fall to pieces at any minute. England will miss him. On the Douglas Jardine captaincy scale out of 10, Strauss would barely muster a 1.
Ricky Ponting continues to be an enigma as Australian captain. Two World Cups, and an 06-07 Ashes whitewash to his name, yet he is widely acknowledged as the worst Australian captain since Kim Hughes. Is this his final tour of England? It is easy to imagine that he will be back in 2013 at the age of 38, but I really do hope that he won't be captain by then - or anytime after this September.
Another Australian whose use-by date has come is chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch, who has presided over some ghastly decisions, including the lack of a third opener on the current tour. The hasty chopping and changing of spinners in the past twelve months is likely to stand as Hilditch's worst legacy. (Have we forgotten Beau Casson, Cameron White, Bryce McGain and Jason Krejza already?)
Shane Watson seems to be kaput as a bowler, but can we take him seriously as a specialist opening batsman, ahead of Phil Hughes? I'll repeat what I said on Friday - regardless of how many runs Watson has scored, I am not convinced that Hughes couldn't have done better. We'll see what transpires in T4 if Mr Cricket fails today.
Perhaps the most pleasing observation of the Third Test to date has been the wicketkeeping of Graham Manou. Heaven forbid, a wicketkeeper chosen, not as a big-hitting batsman who can play backstop, but as a genuine custodian who can bat a bit. What does this do to the balance of the Australian team if Haddin is indeed out for the remainder of the series? At least we can't use the mantra "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", especially if Australia is two-down by Monday night...
Midwinter-Midwinter points for Day Two (Friday): Jimmy Anderson 3, Graham Onions 2, Andrew Strauss 1. Day Three (Saturday): No play. Day Four (Sunday): Andrew Flintoff 3, Ben Hilfenhaus 2, Stuart Broad 1. Collingwood still in front with 8, four players (Clarke, Hilfenhaus, Anderson, Flintoff) on 6.
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Submitted by rickeyre on July 31, 2009 - 11:34am
A Twitter timeline (AEST, GMT+1000):
FOXSPORTS_BRK: Hughes dropped for Edgbaston: Young opener Phil Hughes has reportedly been dropped and replaced by Shane Watson .. http://bit.ly/AiDAx
10:02 AM Jul 30th from twitterfeed
PH408: Disappointed not to be on the field with the lads today, will be supporting the guys, it's a BIG test match 4 us. Thanks 4 all the support!
4:53 PM Jul 30th from web
bumblecricket: hughes out ...watson in....you heard it first here! bumble exclusive!!!!
6:14 PM Jul 30th from web
It seemed too good to be true when Phillip Hughes began appearing on Twitter on the morning of the First Test as PH408 (being the 408th bearer of the baggy-green in Australian Test history). Considering the strict terms of their contracts regarding comments on the public record, and considering the ICC regulations concerning use of mobile phones, it was a big surprise when such deep philosophical gems as:
enough jokes about my catch, you either catch it or drop it, I caught it...just ...hahahha (source)
and
BTW, I think its fair to say its 'game on' in the 2009 Ashes!!!!! (source)
began to appear.
But the mirage was revealed when PH408 confirmed what all of Australia had been buzzing about during England's sleeping hours, that The Australian's cricket correspondent Peter Lalor had been told by "sources close" to the team, that Hughes had been dropped from the Third Test team and replaced by Shane Watson. A confirmation that pre-empted the official announcement by the Australian camp. It didn't take long to follow the blame trail. It was Hughes' words all right, but he didn't tweet them. As, most of the time at least, is the case.
For the explanation, allow me to quote from the report for the Fairfax media by Chloe Saltau and Jamie Pandaram:
However, Cricket Australia discovered the Twitter posting was made by Hughes’s coach and manager, Neil D'Costa.
‘‘The information on Twitter was clearly a mishap, I have spoken to the guy who put it up,’’ CA spokesman Peter Young said. ‘‘He was very apologetic and agreed to take it down. Phil Hughes was not aware it had gone up on his behalf. We encourage players to engage with the public and use those channels, but within the process and not before selectors have officially published the team.’’
In defence of the youngster, D’Costa – who was in India when he posted the offending tweet – said the incident was a simple misunderstanding.
‘‘I take full responsibility, it was the time frame that messed me up,’’ D’Costa said. ‘‘I was getting loads of messages from Australia that gave me the impression an official announcement had already been made. There was no malice in it at all. I would never put something out there jeopardising the Australian team’s plans. I’ve got too much respect for the game for that.’’
(Source: smh.com.au)
To date no one has taken the miscreant tweet down. It's possible, of course, though pointless now. D'Costa runs a sports management business called Redline Management. His clients include Michael Clarke and Simon Taufel, but the page for Phillip Hughes is currently "Under Construction". I strongly recommend reading the Moises Henriques page as a classic How-Not-To example of proof reading.
Oh there was some cricket eventually, but not before Brad Haddin busted his ring finger and enabled Graham Manou to become the 411th Baggy Greenster. The horror stories were true, though, and Shane Watson was sent out to open the batting with Simon Katich. The NSP need to be held to account for the fact that they chose a squad light on for specialist openers.
After thirty overs of action, Australia were 126 for 1 at stumps. Watson seemed to vindicate his selection, being 62 not out, helped by the friendliness of the England bowling. One can only wonder Hughes would have performed in the same situation. Sure, he might not have as many as 62 by stumps, but I'd have more confidence in him hanging around longer than Watto on Friday.
Ponting is unbeaten on 17. The fiction writers at the ICC stats department tell us that he is seven runs short of Allan Border's Australian Test record of 11174, but Ponting's total includes exactly 100 runs from that dubious Australia v ICC World XI game in October 2005. The reality is that Ricky Ponting currently has 11067 Test runs against all other ICC member entities.
The spectators paid full price for one-third of the action on Thursday, so for balance I'll give you one-sixth of the Midwinter-Midwinter votes. Only one point up for grabs (and allow me to invoke this occasion in 2005 as a precedent), and it goes, however begrudgingly, to Shane Watson.
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Submitted by rickeyre on July 22, 2009 - 10:20am
If Graeme Swann never bowls another ball, let him be remembered for that dipping, inswinging off-break which suckered Australian should-be-captain Michael Clarke on the final morning of the Second Test at the Home of Archery. Deify Andrew Flintoff if you will, but the Fredster's performance on Monday morning was as much Swan Lake as Swan Song.
It being 36 hours since the end of the Test as I write this, I'll just cobble together a few thoughts about the final day and related events. Firstly, that was a thoroughly deserving victory for England. Australia's fourth-innings target of 522 was historically well off the radar, and they deserve praise for making it as far as 406. Michael Clarke's innings was superb right up until his final defeat. Mitchell Johnson played an impressive knock whilst running out of partners, but that is not why he was chosen to represent Australia. I expect to see him, at best, carrying the drinks or running the fluorescent bats at Edgbaston.
While this series now has the tinge of 2005 Revisited about it, England's staying power is in doubt. Kevin Pietersen's fitness is questionable, as is Flintoff's, as, apparently, is Onions'. Ravi Bopara is a good five or six, why is he at three? Andrew Strauss' captaincy still doesn't cut it for me, I'm afraid. Not sure who I'd prefer though. Collingwood?
I'm not one to harp too much about umpiring (refer my T2D4 wrap), but I reckon one hundred Tests would be a good point for Rudi Koertzen to declare. I have some fairly left-field ideas about the future of umpiring mulling about in my head, maybe I can turn them into something rational and put pen to paper finger to keyboard on the subject before the start of the Third Test.
Finally, Lord's itself. I've been there twice, for a Middlesex county championship game and for the fourth day of a Test match that ended in three, and it's a beautiful place to watch cricket, but for me no pseudo-spiritual experience of a cricket ground matches visiting Broadhalfpenny Down. (Can't get thirty thousand spectators into that ground though, nor does it have any obvious spot for the third umpire cameras.)
While I have no time for the Marylebone Cricket Club culture, I love the hushed silence that is a trademark of Test matches played there. But it was disappointing to hear the booing at the post-match ceremonials, especially when directed at Ricky Ponting and Rudi Koertzen. But then, if they stage a bog-standard Indian-style tv-oriented post-match show, then that is what is to be expected. The good old days of the crowd milling around under the pavillion is sadly (but, with security in mind, necessarily) missed.
As the game finished before lunch, I award a reduced set of votes for the day in the Midwinter-Midwinter. Flintoff 2, Swann 1. Vikki Harber's Little Boy misses out despite his late-order 63. The Midwinter-Midwinter is a cumulative award over the whole series, and deliberately operating on a unique set of rules, but a big thank you to those who have provided feedback on Twitter. Your views will be heard, though probably not acted upon (a bit like the New South Wales government, really).
A catch-up on the daily Paper Rout is still on my to-do list, but I'll finish for now with this thought: the Second Test was the length of almost nine Twenty20 games. I dare you to name nine Twenty20 games as memorable as this Test match. Or even one.
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Submitted by rickeyre on July 20, 2009 - 5:51pm
Every time Kevin Pietersen miscues a sweep way outside off, every time Mitchell Johnson bowls a perfect line and length to the feet of second slip, every time Ricky Ponting chops the ball onto his stumps when Australia is in trouble, is a time to remember that cricket is a game for human beings.
Umpires are human, umpires make mistakes, more mistakes than we care to notice. And just as umpires who make the odd mistake continue to be chosen, so it is with the players themselves. So it is in life. Goodness, a lady who confused shallots for onions won Masterchef Australia last night!
That is why I have nothing to say about any one of the five Australian wickets that fell at the Home of Archery on Sunday. Never mind the sound of bat on pad that sounds too much like bat on ball, never mind the low catch that no slip fieldsman could honestly tell whether it touched the ground or not, never mind the stumps that Ian Chappell's favourite groundsman Mike Hunt maliciously positioned so that they would get in the way of Ricky Ponting's french cut. Never mind the way I contradict myself between those last two sentences.
And never mind the squillions of no-balls and wides that have been missed over the past 132 years because the umpires haven't spotted them, let alone the ones that were claimed as dismissals. Has anyone bothered to recalculate the scores of every Test match in (televised) history to see how many results would have been different if no-balls and wides had been called accurately? Has anyone called for Shane Warne to be retrospectively awarded a Test century against New Zealand in the Perth Test of 2001? No? Then stop being so bloody selective about the ball that got Simon Katich out yesterday.
Having said that, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that will make me happier than seeing Australia make the 522 required to win the Second Test. Especially if Michael Clarke continues with his outstanding captain's knock, with Mighty Mitchell Johnson at the other end.
Midwinter-Midwinter points for Day Four: Michael Clarke 3 pts, Brad Haddin 2 pts, Andrew Flintoff 1 pt.
Deep breath. Altogether now:
One Stuart Clark,
There's only one Stuart Clark,
One Stuart Clar-kie,
There's only one Stuart Clar-keeee....
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Submitted by rickeyre on July 19, 2009 - 9:56am
(Music adapted from "Guantanamera" by Joseito Fernandez. Lyrics adapted from a nightmare by R.Eyre)
One Stuart Clark,
There's only one Stuart Clark,
One Stuart Clar-kie,
There's only one Stuart Clar-keeee....
Two days to play at the Home of Archery. The only element of doubt is whether Australia will lose on Day Four or Day Five. Personally, I'd like to get some sleep on Monday night. What will the NSP-on-the-road do to the Aussie eleven for the Third Test? There's a disturbing possibility that England have Phil Hughes' measure. Mr Cricket has made one decent innings. Brad Haddin's wicketkeeping reminds us that Graeme Manou is in town. Mitchell Johnson is in meltdown. Sid Vicious' bowling belongs somewhere in the range from Johnny Rotten to Nancy.
You do have to hand something to the NSP-on-the-road, they showed their faith in Ben Hilfenhaus and Nathan Hauritz when the rest of us did not. But there is only one hope for Australia in the rest of the series. His name is not Brett Lee, and it's definitely not Shane Watson. There's only
One Stuart Clark,
There's only one Stuart Clark,
One Stuart Clar-kie,
There's only one Stuart Clar-keeee....
The Midwinter-Midwinter points for Saturday. Three points to Matthew Prior. Two to Paul Collingwood, as much for walking as anything else. He's making a real break for it at the lead of the pack. One point to Nathan "The Claw" Hauritz, but Lord('s) I wish it was
One: Stuart Clark,
There's only one Stuart Clark,
One Stuart Clar-kie,
There's only one Stuart Clar-keeee....
Never mind Freddie Flintoff's farewell tour, perhaps it's time for Ricky Ponting to announce that it is his final series as Australian captain. Unless, of course, he feels the need to go out on a winning note against the West Indies in the first half of the 2009-10 Australian season. (You know, those non-unionised West Indian players who are giving Bangladesh such a torrid time at the moment.) Of course, if Ricky wants to do something historic and unprecedented, he could fall on his sword mid-tour, ie, as soon as the Lord's Test is over. No great loss, of course, because there's
One Michael Clarke,
There's only one Michael Clarke,
One Michael Clar-kie,
There's only one Michael Clar-keeee....
Correction. There's actually
Two Michael Clarkes,
There's only two Michael Clarkes,
Two Michael Clar-kies,
There's only two Michael Clar-keeees....
Chorus one more time:
One Stuart Clark,
There's only one Stuart Clark,
One Stuart Clar-kie,
There's only one Stuart Clar-keeee....
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Submitted by rickeyre on July 18, 2009 - 7:02pm
Captain's knocks, you've gotta love 'em. Andrew Strauss was so deep in concentration, watching intently as the swinging ball from Mitchell Johnson took his off stump, no addition to his overnight 161.
Ricky Ponting, so determined to drive Jimmy Anderson to the fence, oops, off the pad, did Strauss catch it? Third ump says yes. But wait! It didn't touch the bat! It hit Ricky on the toe. No catch! Oh wee poo bum says Ricky. No catch! But wait! On the toe! Plumb in front! On yer bike Ricky. It's LBW even if the scoreboard doesn't say so.
Never mind Captain Grumpiest, what's the excuse for the rest of the Australian batsmen? Famed cricket groupie Queen Elizabeth Windsor made her annual visit to the Home of Archery yesterday. She has never been part of an England victory against Australia at the HoA. There was just one such victory in the 20th century, in 1934, the last before that coming in 1896. Will England fulfil their quota for the 21st century over the next three days?
Strauss doesn't instil a huge amount of confidence in me as a captain, as was demonstrated in Wales last week. I do hope, however, that he does not enforce the follow-on when Australia's inevitable dismissal for less than 226 takes place. Rub it in, give them a 500 target, let them cack it for 150 or so. Would the Met Office be so kind as to oblige with the requisite sunshine?
Midwinter-Midwinter pts for Day Two: Jimmy Anderson 3, Stuart Broad 2, Mike Hussey 1.
(I'm having problems getting a decent connection tonight. I'll add today's Paper Rout when I get the chance.)
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