Cricket

Sometimes I wonder if I’m the only person who ever defends Ian Bell. Not that this will do him much good since it seems probable that he’ll be dropped for the second test against the West Indies tomorrow. An odd consensus appears to have emerged that Bell is especially culpable for England’s failures in the first test and that, accordingly, his is the head that must roll. Mike Selvey fires his Katyushas at Bell today: Last Saturday, before lunch on what was to prove the final day of the first Test at Sabina Park, Ian Bell played a stroke of such staggering ineptitude that it alone should be reason enough

Apologies for the radio silence. I’m still struggling to comes to terms with England’s Jamaican debacle. Matters were scarcely improved by an ill-considered trip to Murrayfield yesterday. Back to the drawing board then. Still, while there was a certain grimness to Scotland’s sluggish performance against Wales, at least it didn’t plumb the depths of England’s cricketing fiasco against the West Indies. When the tourists stumbled to 15/3 I suggested, jokingly, that they might lose by an innings. But I didn’t actually expect them to go ahead and do it. Right now the Ashes look as though they will be contested by two pretty mediocre sides (though Australia should, alas, still

English cricket in shambolic farce. It’s like Scottish football, except more important.

In general, I suppose I don’t have too much against the idea of a cricket Hall of Fame though given that we’ve managed to get along fine without one for centuries there doesn’t seem any pressing need for one. But if you are going to have such a Hall, then for god’s sake include the right people. Via Patrick Kidd, I see that the ICC’s new venture has found room for an initial class of 55 inductees that, bewilderingly, fails to include Victor Trumper. While it’s fine to ignore players who only retired in the last ten or so years the lack of recognition of chaps from the Golden Age

As a member of the English cricket team’s supporters club (vital for snaring Ashes tickets next summer) I was pleased to receive this email from the ECB today: ‘Tests are best’ say fans – We received a fantastic nearly 3,000 responses to the recent online TwelfthMan survey where, amongst many other things, you indicated that although you love the razzmatazz and big-hitting of the Twenty20 game, Test cricket still gets the majority vote – a staggering 94% of you in fact. Full survey results will be with you in the new year. Thanks to all who took part as it really does help us at ECB understand the game from

Accounts of cricket in the United States are always endearing, generally on account of the enthusiasm of the converts to the greatest game and the manner in which the poor old journalist charged with scribbling this account labours to explain the game to a generally uncomprehending audience. This piece from the Baltimore Sun about a school in Charm City that has taken up cricket, is an excellent example. Best bit? A former pitcher, Cardinal Gibbons senior Will Foy says the national pastime simply can’t compare with the age-old sport of cricket. “It’s pretty much baseball, minus the boring parts,” he said. Despite its mainstream popularity in dozens of countries, cricket

Regular readers may have noticed – but not necessarily been disheartened by – the absence of much cricket-related commentary here. There are a couple of reasons for its absence. First, I’ve been reading a lot in preparation for what I hope may become a longer-term project. Secondly, so much of the news these days is sufficiently depressing as to make one think that the game – that is to say, the game one knows and loves – is scarcely worth the candle. And yet, despite this, there are occasional sparks of light. Consider the comments of Darren Ganga, for instance. The West Indian is no-one’s idea of a titan, but

Like Norm, I am entirely unsurprised by this: The Phrase “it’s not cricket” is reverberating again around state school classrooms. Good old-fashioned cricketing values have prompted an improvement in behaviour in schools, according to the evaluation of a project to promote the sport in schools to be published later this week. The “Chance to Shine” scheme, designed to promote cricket in state schools by sending in club coaches to teach the game, has had a spin off beyond PE lessons. According to researchers at Loughborough University, schools which have taken part in the scheme report improved behaviour in school generally as a result of participating in it. Admittedly even cricket

On to more important matters than the Democratic convention. Today marks the centenary the birth of Sir Donald Bradman, perhaps the greatest sportsman who ever lived and a man whose brilliance becomes more, not less, mysterious as the years pass and no fresh pretender emerges to challenge his claim to the crown. The numbers peak for themselves: Bradman’s test average of 99.94 runs per innings is a summit beyond reach. No-one before, or since, has come close to his record of scoring a century every 2.75 innings. His closest comeptitor – of those who have played a serious amount of top-class cricket – is George Headley and even the great

the London papers, Mike Atherton at the Times, Selvey at the Guardian, Angus Fraser at the Independent and Derek Pringle at the Telegraph. Atherton is new to the post but shows signs of becoming, as one might expect frankly, an excellent addition to the press box. There is nothing wrong, per se, with former test cricketers moving into the press box. After all, it has long been the case that former players have found fresh and comfortable berths in the press corps. Scyld Berry, the Sunday Telegraph’s man who edited Wisden this year was not a great cricketer himself, but I was disappointed that he thought it

There’s the theory – and history –  of cricket in Scotland. Then there’s the reality…  Scotland vs England, The Grange, Monday August 18th, 2008. Match abandoned.

So, after a nip and tuck South African affair, Norm and I finish the week by selecting our teams to represent a post-1945 England. As always, players need only have played for England after 1945 to be eligible for inclusion and the merits of their inclusion are to be judged on the totality of their career, not just the part of it that took place after Hitler’s War. As alaways, you can follow the action here or at Norm’s Place

Lovely story told by Simon Hoggart in his Guardian column at the weekend: The death of Simon Gray lets me reprise a favourite story. He was a close friend of Harold Pinter, a great cricket lover. Once Pinter wrote a poem about his hero Len Hutton. It read, in its entirety “I saw Hutton in his prime / Another time, another time.” He sent it to several of his friends. Soon afterwards Pinter and Gray were at the same dinner party and Pinter asked what he thought of the poem. “I don’t know, Harold,” said Gray. “I’m afraid I haven’t finished it yet.” [Hat-tip: Stephen Pollard]

Readers awaiting the announcement of my M XI of test cricketers should fret not. It will appear. And soon. In the meantime the estimable Norm has challenged me to a game of fantasy cricket. As he explains, the idea is that we shall each select a side, playground style and then see how the XIs may match up against one another in a subsequent, enjoyably imaginary, series. You can follow – as I imagine you’ll want to – the game here and at Norm’s place.

So, as expected, Kevin Pietersen will captain England against South Africa at the Oval. A dubious gamble in my view, given the potential for the captaincy to adversely impact impair (thanks mystery commenter!) his batting, just as it did Michael Vaughan. Then again the selectors ensured that they had very few options, thanks to their criteria. As Geoff Miller said today: “In choosing a new captain, we were keen to identify a player who could lead the team in all three forms of cricket and bring fresh enthusiasm and ideas to the role of captain.” In other words slap and tickle 20/20 cricket helped determine the choice of a captain