Batting Begins

If I might start with an apology – I may have given the impression that I was somewhat lacking in faith as far as Warwickshire County Cricket Club’s chances of regaining their rightful position at the top-table of English cricket. But with a 6 from Ian Salisbury (age 94) off the penultimate ball against Northants last week, to win a game that I was so confident was going to be a draw, I turned off ceefax and went out to buy a shiny new batting helmet, only to check it was a draw some time later but finding only victory, I think the Bears might be in with a chance of promotion. Just so long as the team of wet fish that shuffled off the field against Worcestershire the other week, don’t reappear (or should that be resurface?) Sadly, nothing is ever that straight forward for Warwickshire. As soon as the players start looking the business in 4-day cricket, they start playing like a bunch of geriatrics in the Friends Provident Trophy. I went to the rain-reduced affair at Edgbaston against Leicestershire. Reduced to 23-overs-a-side, the Foxes posted a very meagre 148. Now, logic may not be my strong point, but if in 20 over cricket, teams easily post 160-180, in 23 overs, 148 is a fairly piss-poor effort. So when Carter and Maddy come swaggering out of the pavilion, I’m thinking, this is going to be easy. Of course the punch-line here is that it was nothing of the sort. Less the Warwickshire Bears more the Warwickshire roll-over-and-tickle-my-tummy-pussy-cats. Feebly bowled out for 103, I was left head-in-hands, muttering darkly about taking an active interest in fishing. If you play well and lose, fair enough, but to capitulate to a not that impressive Leicestershire quite so lamely, is just a bit embarrassing. I wouldn’t normally condone jeering your own team, but on this occasion, the chants of ‘what a load of rubbish’ echoing around Edgbaston, were more than justified. (As was the assessment of the old duffer I was sitting next to – ‘fucking useless’ he said. ‘Quite’ I replied.)Then, just as things can’t get any worse, they do. After holding on for a draw at Derbyshire, and going to the top of LVCC Division 2, Warwickshire’s FP Trophy ‘campaign’ disintegrates further, this time at the hands of Northants. Apart from a timely ton from Trott and a 3 wicket burst from the in form Carter, there was nothing from the batting again and the bowling was hardly setting the world alight. Trott’s 120 was a better effort than all the others put together (120 plays 92, just for the record), in fact, Mr Extras put down 20 runs to be joint 2nd in the runs department, which rather says it all.

The 1st nPower test kicks off on Thursday this week. The selectors have some decisions to make, but with Flintoff doing his side in, the trickiest one has been put on ice for a few weeks, at least. Were it up to me, and it is English cricket’s loss that it isn’t, I’d probably go for the following:

Strauss
Cook
Vaughan
Pietersen
Collingwood
Bell
Ambrose
Broad
Sidebottom
Hoggard
Panesar

Which, as always, looks great on paper, but will probably fail to deliver in reality.

The Flintoff conundrum is an interesting one. He clearly has no form with the bat. In the Lancs/Durham game last week, he face 6 balls and scored precisely 0 runs, but bowled 22 overs, conceding just 42 runs and taking 7 wickets. He was, apparently unplayable at times. He would waltz into any team in the world as a bowler but couldn’t bribe a game with the under-12’s as a batsman. His fitness is unknown and if he breaks down on the first morning of a test match and England are playing him as one of four bowlers, they would be well and truly buggered. I think they need to leave him at Lancashire, to genuinely prove his fitness and try and regain some form with the bat, or at least remember which end to hold. Then, unleash him on the Saffers later in the summer, but leaving the selectors with a real headache, who’s place does he take?

Peace.