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simonk133

Listed below are comments made by simonk133 between Sunday, 22nd June 2008 and Sunday, 2nd November 2008.

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Stanford parade raises serious concerns 02:30am on 02 Nov 2008 This week has seen a great sport reduced to the level of a tawdry prize show.

There was no need for the ECB to accept the Stanford dollar so hastily. With the advent of the IPL and the new money coming into the game, the ECB would have had myriad financial opportunities to exploit had they taken their time and properly surveyed the options.

Instead, they bowed down immediately at the feet of a Texan entrepreneur whose main interest was obviously to boost his own ego and bank balance. This betrayed a desperation which the circumstances did not justify.

While some might find the money involved in the IPL unsavoury, at least the tournament itself had some competitive integrity and provided an entertaining spectacle. In that instance, the money was spent to attract talent and raise the standard of competition. The Stanford competition, by contrast, used its finance as a crude prop, a means of manufacturing interest. They forgot that supporters care about watching good cricket, and not about the players' level of remuneration.

If this contest is to continue in future years, it needs to become just that - a contest. That means a proper tournament structure (league or cup), a more sensible distribution of pay so that the game and not the prize money is the focus, and perhaps the involvement of more international sides. Oh, and tell Stanford to behave like an adult and not a child with a new toy.
Pietersen has the midas touch - for now 1:25pm on 25 Aug 2008 I've long been a fan of Shah and was always frustrated by his batting down the order where he rarely had a chance to show what he was capable of. For a couple of games last year he was batting down at 7 which is an absurd position for a specialist batsman. Yes he is a good finisher of an innings, but he can be so much more than that.

It's good that Pietersen has shown confidence in him and given him a proper opportunity to bat in a position where he will be able to make runs in every innings. All Shah has to do now is take that opportunity.
Pietersen fails to complete rescue operation 8:27pm on 01 Aug 2008 Well done to Collingwood, though I would now like to see him (and Bell, and Strauss, and Vaughan) go on and perform consistently well to justify his place and not assume that his selection is now guaranteed for another year or so. We need the upper order to perform all the time and not just when they are about to be dropped.

His and Pietersen's innings have slightly disguised what was another somewhat lacklustre overall effort from the top order, with Cook and Bell getting out to bad shots, Vaughan failing yet again and Strauss apparently going through another run of mediocre scoring.

As things stand, if England do go on to lose this game I can see a bowler being made the scapegoat yet again, if any of them underperform with the ball in the SA second innings.
Brilliant Flintoff brings Test back to life 9:41pm on 31 Jul 2008 It is good to see Flintoff back to something approaching his best, which we haven't really seen since the 2005 Ashes.

Nonetheless, for England to win this game still requires a good second innings batting performance and it is not clear that our top order are capable of this. I would actually push Flintoff up to 6 for the second innings on the basis that at that position, he can actually change the game in the event of another top order collapse. At 7 he is doomed to batting with the tail and being left high and dry as happened first time round. Collingwood is lucky to be in the team at all and is batting like a number 10 at the moment so he should not complain about his one-off demotion.

If Flintoff succeeds at 6 I would then move him up there for the next test, drop Collingwood and recall Broad.

In the longer term there are still questions to be answered about the balance of the side, Vaughan's captaincy and the weakness of our upper order, but the priority at the moment is to ensure a series win, and that means making the best possible use of Flintoff, our most valuable asset.
Frail batting costs England again 7:26pm on 30 Jul 2008 The only plus I would take from today - which is a big one - is that Flintoff looks to be firing on all cylinders again with bat and ball, though opportunities with both were only short today. For England to get back into this game Flintoff might have to go on and deliver the type of virtuoso performance we saw at Edgbaston 2005, which is probably asking a bit much in only his second test back.

So long as there are apparently no consequences of failure for the upper order then complacent batting performances like today's will continue. Yes, Collingwood and Strauss were dropped, but apparently with a guarantee they would return before long. Meanwhile Broad - whose test batting average is actually higher than Collingwood's now - is 'rested' to play county cricket, Hoggard's career is apparently over and Harmison is deemed worthy only of carrying the drinks. Oh and let's not forget poor Darren Pattinson, an odd selection no doubt but more a victim of Michael Vaughan's closed shop than any particular failings with the ball.

There needs to be a change in culture at the top, and if that means a change in personnel so be it.
Controversy reigns on opening day 9:44pm on 18 Jul 2008 Watching Pattinson on the (admittedly edited) highlights he looks like a journeyman. Not much pace and no movement in the air, although a little bit off the pitch. No evidence that he is going to seriously threaten even an average test batsman let alone the likes of Smith or Kallis.

Vaughan's opinion of Pattinson's selection was clear in that he gave him three overs at the start - perhaps to get them out of the way - and didn't return to him.

In a way it doesn't matter much, because he will presumably be dropped for Sidebottom in the third test and that will be that, but in another sense it does matter, because it is important that players have confidence in the selection process and know that people are being chosen on merit and not on a random hunch. Otherwise they may conclude - like Hoggard and perhaps Tremlett - that it doesn't matter how well you perform, if you are going to be leapfrogged by also-rans who have had a good couple of games.
Pattinson selection causes a stir 4:54pm on 18 Jul 2008 Well, Vaughan has so much confidence in him that he pulled him off after 3 overs for 16.

Let's hope things improve in his second spell (if he gets one)
Pattinson selection causes a stir 3:03pm on 18 Jul 2008 I don't care about Pattinson's upbringing or nationality. A more important issue is that he appears to have leapfrogged several players who are much better qualified to fill the space created by Sidebottom's injury.

When Sidebottom was called up, it was a surprise in some respects, but ought not to have been given that he had been one of the best bowlers in the county game for a number of years. He clearly had improved much since his first and only test in 2001 and deserved his opportunity when it arose.

Pattinson is some guy who played club cricket until a few months ago and has admittedly been in very good form in the handful of games he has played, but where is the evidence that he has what it takes at test level?

England need to establish a coherent selection strategy, both for the sake of building a strong and stable side and so that players and supporters can have confidence in the process.

The selection of Pattinson looks more as if someone is having a bit of a punt on a guy they vaguely like the look of, and who will presumably get dropped again if he doesn't perform. This isn't the behaviour of a test side who until recently were the second best in the world.
First day to the hosts 9:41pm on 10 Jul 2008 I must say I was pleasantly surprised by Bell today. This must be his first England innings where he has been responsible for winning back momentum in quite difficult circumstances. Previously he has always looked very good but rarely demonstrated that he has been able to adapt his batting to the circumstances of a game, and even more rarely performed well under pressure.

Overall this was a great day for England and a poor one for South Africa - Graeme Smith once again demonstrated himself to be a fairly poor strategist, and Steyn and Morkel were deeply underwhelming save for a few patches. To dwell on the England negatives as is our wont, Cook was clearly rattled by Morkel's pace once he got his line and length right and Vaughan was bowled in a manner he has been bowled far too many times before.
The Dark Night to Incredible Hulk 1:52pm on 22 Jun 2008 I was at this game and yes, the conditions had worsened dramatically by the end of the 19th over - with reference to the comment above, they were much worse than at the end of the 18th, the rain started pouring down, umbrellas were going up rapidly and they had no choice but to go off.

But did Graeme Swann seriously not know that 20 overs were needed for a result until the team walked off? I don't necessarily blame him for not knowing this himself, but why didn't someone tell him before the end of the match?

I would have thought that a competent captain or coach would have made this rule quite clear to the team in a game where it looked like 20 overs a side might not be possible, as it had potential to affect the result (and indeed did so). Either Swann is making things up or there are serious team management issues here.

More generally I think the England team still don't quite understand that people who are paying £55 a ticket expect some entertainment. They often rather give the impression that they are playing the game for their own benefit and that the spectators who pay their wages are an incidental irritation who can be messed about by whatever means they find appropriate, be it slow over rates or whatever.

At least 2020 is starting to sweep this attitude away, shame England haven't caught up with it yet.

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