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Nickzi

Listed below are comments made by Nickzi between Wednesday, 7th January 2009 and Tuesday, 19th May 2009.

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England player ratings 4:27pm on 19 May 2009 I'd suggest that we would be delighted to have Chanderpaul playing for us as a batsman - incredibly resilient, refuses to quit, difficult to remove. Yes, unwatchable at points, because he has one of the ugliest techniques in the game. BUT, any team in the world would take him in a flash. Now, if you consider Collingwood, he basically does the same job for England. Do you really want to lose that sort of player? For my money, Collingwood is the most consistently underrated of the English batsmen, and is a superb fielder. How would we replace that?

The marks are basically pretty fair, although I'd probably give Broad 7.5. But maybe you don't do halves?
England player ratings 01:15am on 11 Mar 2009 I suspect this might be the turningpoint for England. They improved steadily as the series went on, and by the end were clearly the better side. Doubtless the moment of madness in the first Test will be a source of regret, since they lost the series, far more than the Windies won it.

The good news:

Batting:

Strauss looks like a reborn batsman, while Prior is clearly good enough to bat at 6. Collingwood performed well, as did Pietersen.

Bowling:

Swann gets better with each series, and Anderson and Broad are much improved.

The bad news:

Batting:

Ian Bell/Owais Shah failed. Sorry, but Shah looks far too nervy for number 3, although 5 might have worked for him. What can you do when the poor lamb can't even grip the bat without getting cramp? I don't see Bopara at 3. The solution is probably to make KP move up one, although he will resist this. Nonetheless, the command should be given and enforced. No, Flintoff was not, is not and never will be a number 6. File under: delusions of grandeur, Flintoff, A.

Bowling:

Harmison and Sidebottom are done. For whatever reason, neither of them looks up to Test standard. Harmison's whining must also be annoying everyone around him. Amjad Khan looks like the return of Sajid Mahmood, but wilder. Still, he is quick, which would make a welcome change with the new ball. Panesar is improved, but hardly where he should be.

Overall:

Strauss 8
Swann 8
Anderson 7.5
Broad 7.5
Pietersen 7
Collingwood 7
Prior 7
Bopara 7
Ambrose 7
Cook 6
Khan 4
Sidebottom 3
Harmison 3
Bell 3
Shah 3

A bonus prize for "Most idiotic comment" goes to patliputra for:

"The pitches were ok"

No, they were not. Flat, slow and pointless is not ok, however many times second-rate sides use them to get bore draws. See: India in the eighties. the Windies in 2009 as examples.
Hugely respected, much admired... but loved? 2:10pm on 15 Jan 2009 Appy arry, maybe you should curb your own abusive tendencies. And please don't tell me you are English - your comments simply reflect your unconvincing attempts to disguise an Australian identity. Also, we are discussing Australian cricket and its problems, despite your attempt to weasel off-topic. Since you ask, yes,English cricket also suffers from abusive and racist fans, although strangely enough we don't seem to get the complaints that Australian cricket does year in year out. Perhaps we just police the crowds more effectively? As for the connection to the Cronulla riots, surely that was obvious? Racism in sport reflects a wider racism in society as a whole, and the Cronulla riots were a graphic and unpleasant demonstration of just where Australia stands at this point. Anyone who knows anything about racism knows that unless we are open about it and face up to its existence, it will continue to harm society and sport. The worst people are those who pretend it doesn't really exist, or it's just people having fun, or it doesn't happen very often. Racism harms Australia and India and Britain, and until we admit that fact, we won't get very far in dealing with it.
Hugely respected, much admired... but loved? 06:04am on 15 Jan 2009 Craig, you can't have it both ways, either Murali is a chucker, or he is a great bowler. One or the other, not both. As for the racism prevalent in Australian sport, if you won't listen to me, perhaps you'll listen to an internal document produced by Australia’s Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC):

http://infosports.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/racism-in-cricket-refer-to-australian-report-just-out/

Didn't the Cronulla riots teach you anything?
Hugely respected, much admired... but loved? 04:42am on 15 Jan 2009 Craig, as you well know, Murali's action has been cleared, repeatedly, by the biomechanics scientists. Calling him a chucker is a cheap lie, one used by the Australians to attack the greatest spinner of the modern era. And no, I don't think "sledge for your wickets" Warne was ever as good. Murali carried a weak Sri Lankan attack for years, which is more than Warne was ever asked to do. And Australian crowds have long been notorious for their boorish and racist antics, Murali is not the only cricketer to be abused by them over the years, simply one of the greatest. He handled their vicious thuggery with grace, and set an example that Australians would do well to learn from.
Hugely respected, much admired... but loved? 01:50am on 15 Jan 2009 'appy arry, did it ever occur to you that Atherton faced a devastating Windies attack, not to mention some of the greatest bowlers Pakistan and South Africa ever produced - in their prime? Hayden failed the acid test every time he faced top quality pace bowling, which is something you conveniently ignored.
Glazed Ham, Hayden was not just innocently defending Symonds - another character with his share of problems. Remember how he expressed a wish to beat up Ishant? And if we are going to talk about racism, maybe you'd better leave Murali out of your discussion, given the abuse the Australians heaped on him.
Hugely respected, much admired... but loved? 10:44pm on 14 Jan 2009 Given a choice of any available opener, I'd prefer to see either Sehwag or Smith over Hayden, if we have to choose a non-English player. Sehwag is every bit as good as Hayden, and nobody ever complains about his unpleasant character. Smith has played against better bowling attacks than Hayden, is every bit as accomplished and has matured greatly over the last 5-6 years. That's more than Hayden has managed.
Hugely respected, much admired... but loved? 10:05pm on 14 Jan 2009 Eddie, how many of the admired greats before this past 15 years made cheap runs against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe? How many of them played on covered pitches? How many of them had access to modern bats? It's silly to assume that the greats of the past would not have vastly better averages under those circumstances.
Moores set to lose Pietersen battle 06:55am on 07 Jan 2009 Anyone claiming that Moores has a good record should remember that he has never won a series against good quality opposition, and came perilously close to losing against New Zealand when England's batting disintegrated. Moores has failed to develop new players, and the old ones have regressed. Also, given that Moores failed to get on with Vaughn and has now got into a fight with KP, I'd suggest he might have some personality problems rather than the captain.

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