England or South Africa?

Firstly, an apology.

I've been on holiday (yay) and since I haven't had a good opportunity to watch some cricket I thought I would disgrace my self and you the reader by blogging without having a clue what was going on.

But I'm back now so I can enlighten you all with my fantastic cricket views. (That was a joke by the way) 

Anyway, before I went on holiday I set a poll. England or South Africa...

The poll has now come to a conclusion and England have just nicked it. But considering only a few people have viewed this blog from South Africa it isn't surprising that Blighty won.

So it got me thinking, with the West Indies test series wrapped up, Andy Flower and his merry men must have started to set their sights on the big test in the summer.

And with them thinking about it, I thought I should as well. What do I, the most prestigious cricket Journo in the northern hemisphere think. By the way I think Jarrod Kimber is the best in the southern Hemisphere. His book, "When Freddie Became Jesus" is a pretty damn good read... I just love his take on things, and overall. He's got pretty good bant as well.

Anyway, I think that England's fait in the summer depends on the following factor...

Individual battles.

So many of these mini-wars are going to be taking place in the summer, and if Blighty's stars can shine brighter than their individual opponents then it could be all smiles for England.


But what are the battles, and what does each individual involved bring to the table?

The first battle is between two demons.

Two demons with a shiny red cricket ball in their right hand.

Dale Steyn and James Anderson.


Steyn or Anderson?



James Anderson is England's strike bowler, and his wicked swing at the start of an innings has gifted him 258 test wickets at an average of 30.  He strikes fear into most opening batsman and probably Matt Prior behind the twigs as well!

And his opponent, in the green corner...

Dale Steyn. South Africa's hit man. Like Jimmy he is in his prime at the ripe age of 28. (Jimmy is 29) With an average of just over 23 looking at the stats one could assume that Steyn is a much better player. But personally I think they are of a similar quality. Steyn is quicker than Jimmy but Anderson can swing the ball very well at the start of an innings.

The two skippers next. Graeme Smith and Andrew Strauss.

These two guys are both opening batsmen, both left handed opening batsmen both captains and look very very similar... (to me)

My theory is that they are lost twins, divided at birth on to different planes. One going to England and the other to South Africa. And now they are going to meet to settle there differences in a cricketing battle for the throne. The number one test team in the world.

Both are equal captains in my book (I don't actually have a book, and if I did, nobody would read it) and in terms of caps, Smith has more even though he is four years younger than the England captain. Batting wise Strauss has just hit a bit of form after hitting a couple of centuries against West Indies. But I wouldn't get carried away, Windies bowling is pretty shabby and the likes of Steyn will provide a much greater threat to Blighty's opening batsman than Edwards of WI ever will...

Never the less two centuries is two centuries and he hopefully has got himself in to some sort of nick.

Smith is also a very good opening batsman, with a impressive average of just under 50 he will surely relish the challenge of leading his South Africa side against England to try and gain the number one spot that both teams crave so much.

The last battle I'm going to touch on between these nations is the battle of the high order batsman. And in particular Amla and KP.

KP or Amla?

KP first, recently retired from limited overs cricket (I don't know why either) is the flamboyant number four in England's batting line up. Born in South Africa he is bound to get some stick from the South Africans but if he can shrug that off and play how the whole of England knows he can he could hit many match changing innings for Blighty.

Amla next, and this guy is pretty damn good. With experience of playing in England before and hitting a century at Lords and gaining him a place on the honours board, this guy is certainly no mug. And I expect him to hit at least 3 or 4 half centuries with 1 of these half centuries being converted in to another ton to add to his 14 test centuries. This battle is sure to provide us fans a lot of entertainment. May the best batsman win.

It's these three battles that I expect to win one of the sides the series. The tactics battle will be decided by the captains. The batting battle by KP and Amla. And the bowling battle between Steyn and Anderson.

England also have the home advantage. And this is sure to be quite a strong advantagen with most of the South African squad not playing regular cricket in England.

** My Prediction **

I'm going to go for a England win, had the series been in South Africa I might have gone for a draw or a South Africa win. But with both teams being very simular strength wise in my view I think the home advantage is just going to edge it.

Cheers

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