The Story of an Awful Cricket Player

At this moment, I am a very happy man indeed.

Why?

Simple, Ravi Bopara is not fit enough to be included in the Blighty squad that are playing West Indies in just a few days time.

He has suffered a muscle injury in his right thigh which will keep him out of the matches.

Now, I don't hate Bopara as a person, he's probably a top lad, he's probably got brilliant banter. But he isn't a very good cricket player. Sure he's better than me (which isn't hard - I'm awful) but no way is he worthy of another chance in the international spotlight.

I really don't understand all the disappointed faces of people who wanted to see him playing for England again. He had his chance, remember?

2007. The England selectors decided to take Ravi on a little holiday to Sri Lanka to play in a test series.

Bopara Bowled in England Colours...

3 ducks. In five innings Ravi managed to get 3 ducks. In the other two innings that he managed to get of the mark in he mustered up 42 atogether. For a guy in his first test series trying to stamp his mark on the game, this was definitely not the way to go about it. It wasn't as if he was really up against an amazing bowling line up either. Sri Lanka had Malinga and Murali but apart from that they didn't have any stand out bowlers. But still Bopara couldn't get any runs...

England lost the test series 1-0 and Bopara looked way out of his depth.

But don't worry, as the England selectors were on hand to give Ravi another shot at glory in the Blighty test side... (Nobody knows why)

It came in 2009, against a very ordinary West Indies side. In his first innings he scored his first ever test century. And then when England played Windies at home he played again... And in the first and second test he scored test centuries.

At this point a lot of people thought Ravi was the next best thing. He was the next Tendulkar. England's new star!

But no, we were playing West Indies who's bowling attack is terrible to say the least.

These centuries set him up to play in the Ashes. The test series between two brilliant nations with fantastic histories. Players such as Don Bradman, Shane Warne, Ian Botham and Graham Gooch have played in this series where the winner is congratulated with the urn. And now... Ravi Bopara...

Oh dear, in six innings Ravi didn't put on a total of anymore than 35. Including a duck and a one, it's fair to say he didn't frighten the Aussie bowlers in to submission. He was dropped for Trott who got a century on his debut.

Trott... More Impressive Than Ravi

England went on to win the Ashes that year, no thanks to Ravi. Trott saved it for us in the last test with his fantastic century on his debut. Note to self Ravi, that's the way to introduce your self for your country.

Because Trott has been so succesful since, Ravi has been out of the spotlight, until he was meant to be in the Blighty squad that were going in to a very feeble battle against The Windies. But now he is injured, and he's out.

If you're reading Ravi, I don't dis-like you. I just think your utterly awful and you definitely don't deserve to pull on an England shirt ever again. Unless your in the crowd watching that is. That would be ok.

Because of these chances Ravi has had, I don't think he deserves another throw of the dice. There are a lot of good players waiting in the England Lions side who I think deserve there shot now. And I'm glad Bairstow has got his shot. It's just unfortunate that his chance has come along because of a injury to Bopara...

So come on Bairstow, score several ton's and keep Ravi out of the test side.

Cheers

How Times Have Changed

In just under two weeks Blighty (England) take on West Indies. Blighty are top in the world rankings for now, in tests. And West Indies are 8th.

Every pundit, fan and player expects England to defeat them without too much trouble. And I also expect England to trounce the guys all the way back to the sunny Caribbean. But only a handful of years ago it was so different...

In 1984 a West Indies team led by Clive Lloyd visited England to play five test matches and three ODI's.



The Windies won 2-1 in the ODI series, victories at Old Trafford and Lords were enough to see WI through.



Don't Mess With These Guys



And then along came the tests. Andy Lloyd made his test debut for England. It didn't last long. Half an hour in, Marshall stormed in and bowled a bouncer which hit him on the ol' noggin. He spent several days in hospital and never played another test.



This set the tone for the series and West Indies white-washed Blighty on their own turf. 5-0. Viv Richards was outstanding. Every Windies player was outstanding. Blighty were humiliated.



How times have changed.





The glory days of the 70's and 80's and to some degree, 90's are over for the guys from the Caribbean. The lad that is Brian Lara came in the 90's and early 00's has now been and gone like our dreams of playing some cricket at the start of the cricket season in England. And they have now slipped to 7th in the ICC test rankings (8th if you count Zimbabwe)



They now rely on Chanderpaul to score their runs. And he does most of the time.  He is a brilliant batsman and West Indies only major threat. Kiemar Roach is also a good bowler. But I don't expect him to drill through the England batting line up because simply, he isn't that good.

Darren Sammy is their skipper. He's no Clive Lloyd. He is a good captain in an average team. Lloyd was a great captain in a great team.





The Current WI Skipper

Chris Gayle is also a brilliant player. He fell out with the WI cricket board and he hasn't played for a long time in international cricket. However, in the last week, he has made himself available for selection . But because of IPL 'commitments' he can't play in the test series. Which is a great shame because he could have made the Windies batting line up more competitive. I really do hope he plays in the short ODI series though. I can't think of anyone (apart from knobs) who wouldn't want to see the big huggable bear playing cricket on English soil.

Barath, Brathwaite and Powell are their three opening batsman. There nothing to shout about. In the recent series against the Aussies there only achievement was making sure the middle order got a bat.

I like Fiedel Edwards, he's one of their strike force bowlers and he seems to have a pretty cool personality from what you can see on your TV screen. Shame he isn't actually that good. His bowling average of just over 37 tells you that he isnt Glenn McgGrath.

The rest of the side are under-achievers, plenty of talent, not enough to show for it.  But they don't appear to have the stomach for the fight that is needed to cut it at the top of international cricket if they are to step up the world rankings.





Prediction - England win without doubt. Don't stick a bet on it though. I havn't checked but I'm pretty sure the odds would be absolutely terrible.

This series is a bit of a warm up for South Africa. So watch it, think about it and enjoy your prawn sandwiches, stereotypical English cricket fans.

Cheers





What's Happening In The IPL?

Over half of the IPL league games have been played in the season so far...

But what's happening?!

Who are the team in form?

Who are the teams I think will succeed, fail and bottle it?

Well, where to start? The bottom of the table would probably be a good place to begin...

Deccan are at the foot, sitting uncomfortably on 5 points, three behind any opposition. It's been a tough year for them so far, apart from Dale Steyn (who has been outstanding, watch out Blighty in the summer) none of their players have stepped up to the challenge that the IPL posses. They need another consistant performer along with Steyn and Sangakkarra to win these guys matches. There bottom for a reason.

To summarise, they just haven't been good enough. Hop along to your trainings camps and put in some hard work Deccan.

The Kings XI are sitting just above Deccan in the table at the moment, Punjab have never really had a massive impact on the IPL, there best achievement was getting to the semi-final in 2008. Compared to other teams they don't have any massive names in their team. They have, Gilchrist, Ryan Harris and David Hussey but none of them are world-beaters. For this reason they are destined for a mid table finish in my book. Sorry Kings fans. You are the Average Joe's of the IPL.

Pune Warriors are only above the Kings on net run rate as they are on the same amount of points. Like KingsXI they are quite an average side in my opinion. Ganguly is their captain and there is no question that he is a good player. (Although he is getting on a bit!) There squad is more or less made up from young Indian players who are good. But not in the same league as your Hussey's, Gayle's or Dravid's...

They are in awful form at the moment, losing four of their last five games... Not good Pune...

But Pune aren't the only franchise out of form. The Royals are also dreadfully out of form.

After a great start to the 2012 season Rajasthan have gone into freefall. Losing four in a row has brought them down to 6th in the table. But with quality in their side in the shape of Dravid, who I view to be a wonderful player. Although he is not as effective in the T20 format of the game, he is still a very useful man to start an innings. Rahane is the leading runs scorer in the league and can't be over looked. Shah is also an effective T20 player. Although recent talk of him getting an England call up is total tosh (I hope) he had his chance, and if he gets a call up I'm moving to South Africa and becoming a fan of them.

Owais Shah talk aside, I think RR have a very good chance of getting in the top 4.

Bangalore next. They've been runners up twice. And they could better this 2nd place finish this year. They have a good team of players. There is no doubt about that. Chris Gayle is their star, as I mentioned in a earlier post I think he is one of the best batsman in the IPL. AB de Villiers is also a cracking player in my mind. They have a very strong batting line up. They have been consistent all season. But are they as good as Dehli?

CSK... Victorious Last Year...

The Super Kings are my team, and were awesome. We have won two IPL titles. Dhoni is our skipper. But this year we have been a bit off the pace. Yeah were sitting nicely in the playoff places in 4th. But we haven't been dominating as of yet. We should be a certain for a top 4 place. But another title? Pffft I'm not so optimistic...

Mumbai are in 3rd. They have the little master in their roster. They also have Harbhajan as captain. These two players bring a lot of experiance into their team. Malinga has been a great death bowler aswell. (Even if his stupid hair makes him look like a prat) And for this reason I expect them to finish in the top 4. And maybe get in the final.

The Knight Riders are second in the standings. Winnings four out of their last five with one of them being a no result has lifted them firmly into the play-off's. They have a good bowler in the shape of Narine, and Brett Lee has guided their bowling performances through out the last few games. I expect them to finish in the play-offs because of this great form. But I don't think they will win the comp. I don't know why. I just have a hunch... You heard it hear first.

Dehli are top. This year, they have been the top dogs. They have so many good players in their side. Sehwag has been unbelieveable, four fifties in a row! Take a bow my son. Take a bow. Pieterson has been awesome the first half of the season. But he's gone now. Back to Blighty. They may have dominated the league so far but things could change in the second half of the season. Play-offs for sure. The title, this journo isn't so sure...

My man of the league so far:

Morkel has impressed me. He may not be the obvious choice. With Rahane, Sehwag and Gayle playing so well. But his wickets for Dehli have won them matches, he is on course to win the purple cap and he has one of the best economy rates in the IPL. He is one of the major reasons why the Daredevils are where they are. Well done Morkel. Top lad. Proper naughty cricket player.

The team I think will be victorious:

Quick answer - Dehli OR Bangalore. I fancy Dehli if they recover after losing KP. If they go on a bit of a dodgy run, I fancy Bangalore to sneak in and win the tournament. Stick a tenner on that. I just have the magical journo touch about Bangalore... Up the Royal Challengers! Up Chris Gayle, he's going to have to hit a lot of 6's to win them the cup.

Cheers