Scrumpy & Sixes

What a satisfying game. I wish I’d had the money and the desire to thread my way through to the Rose Bowl for a thoroughly entertaining match.

Hampshire’s 286-4, with KP contributing 62, seemed a tall order and one frankly I thought we’d not manage. But manage it we did, thanks to 79 from De Bruyn and a sublime knock of 112* from James Hildreth.

Somerset are now top having won two and had one game rained off in the South West division of the Friends Provident Trophy.

* Meanwhile, as the bigwigs of the county game meet to discuss the idea of an English EPL, there’s clear division on the makeup of any future tournament. Predictably, the fault line seems to be counties with Test grounds against those without. Though it’s not as simple as that. Some are happy to plump for city-based franchises but others such as Somerset’s Richard Gould are firmly opposed:

“We are hugely against regionalising - that would lead, eventually, to the domestic game being reduced to eight regional franchises for all forms of the game,” he said.

Good for you Richard… city-based franchises won’t work…and it would start a precedent leading to the extinction of the county game. Never….

Five years. Good to know that this is what you get for wrapping a cricket bat round a team mate’s head, flouncing around the place and generally being a bit of a prima donna. Shoiab Akhtar is not getting his international ban rescinded - meaning that he will probably end up playing IPL, if he’s not already, followed by a stint for Lashings or an English county. These are profitable times not to be playing international cricket and the Rawalpindi Express can expect to cash his chips in thanks to that 70 yard run-up and 95mph yorker of his.

Justin Langer’s latest column on the beeb is an interesting one. He is full of respect for Flintoff who bowled a terrific spell against him and Trescothick. The Lancastrian is ‘back’ apparently, runs or no runs and if he really is fit then both him and Hoggard should be reunited for the first Test. Anyhow, here’s what JL had to say:

“For about an hour I could have been in the boxing ring with Joe Calzaghe and by the end of it I had literally copped a hammering.  My ribs, elbow and chest were so bruised I could have been confused for Bernard Hopkins in Las Vegas! Both Marcus and I agreed his spell was one of the great ones either of us had ever faced and while it was ugly - and at times intimidating - it is what we miss about playing international cricket on its toughest days.”

Meanwhile, Dimitri Mascarenhas has jetted off to pick up his Indian pay cheque and….been left out. There are only 4 overseas players in each side so he misses out.

One of Taunton’s least favourite commentators, Jonathan Agnew, has come riding to the resuce of the counties by dismissing the idea of city-based cricket franchises in England, proposed to mirror the Indian model. I can’t agree enough.

If anyone remembers, it was done in rugby union (and might still be) but this time in addition to club rugby, there were county rugby sides. With a Somerset county rugby side playing against Cornwall in a county championship. It didn’t work or create great support because fans had already deep-rooted support for their clubs.

Likewise with cricket, a Bristol city side won’t work because fans of Gloucestershire and Somerset won’t want to merge, not should they. There are hundreds of years of history and tradition in each county and there’s no way this should be swept aside because of a concept currently flourishing in India. As Agnew mentions, this mania for Twenty20 needs embracing and incorporating around Test cricket:

Having had a cyber rumble of my own recently, I thought I’d preview tomorrow’s game against Hampshire and also round-up other cricket news. The main issue for Somerset seems to be the fact that as it has rained so badly, the match at Worcester and the first two days of the 2nd XI game have ruined any chance of players staking a claim or getting into form.

Brian Rose has spoken on the official site of his selection problems for this season with younger players such as Munday and Turner already having excelled in the drawn match against Lancashire. Omari Banks and Zander de Bruyn add quality to the squad and it’s a group of players that have enough ability to more than stand their ground in the division. Nonetheless, who misses out will be a fascinating sub-plot to events at Taunton.

From Rose’s quotes, the squad have been told that yes, it’s been raining so no one has had the chance to impress the coaches but there will be opportunities for all at some point. By signing overseas players, Somerset are stronger but from the sounds of it, no-one is above the selectorial axe and the players on form will get picked. All very sensible.

Charl Willoughby made a good point for BBC Sport:

“I think it can only make the guys who get to play better cricketers and make English cricketers put up their hand. But it’s a big debate and as long as we keep performing nobody can argue why we’re here,”

As for Hampshire, they go into Friday’s match on the back of a walloping by Yorkshire with Hoggard in excellent form (a dead cert for the first Test if ever there was one). Dimitri Mascarenhas is off to India but Kevin Pietersen plays in the day-nighter which kicks off at 2.30pm.

Hampshire have form in the competition, having won in 2005 and got to the final last year before losing to Otis Gibson’s Durham.

Tickets are 20 quid on the day for adults and my main concerns are: a) the weather and b) the location (which looks a hassle to get to if you don’t drive. A bus from Southampton Railway (8a) looks the best though no return leg if you last the distance so the advice on the Hants site is to make arrangements.

Having definitely said I was going to this, it boils down to costs, weather and whether they let my camera in. Just kidding. Will see how I feel on the day, if not, will report on here before heading to Lundy island to check the cricketing habits of the puffin population.

ROSE BOWL LOCATION: http://www.rosebowlplc.com/assets/Image/venue/stadium_maps/locationmap.jpg

FRIDAY WEATHER:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?id=3471

Failing that…it’s on the radio (BBC Solent):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/hampshire/content/articles/2005/04/15/cricket_commentary_feature.shtml

The great thing about a blog is that you have the right to rant. Ok, you might ensure no one ever reads your wise words but it’s a cleansing process that is highly satisfying. So, when I posted on the Middlesex unofficial site (Middlesex Until We Die - http://www.cricketnetwork.co.uk/boards/read/s66.htm?67,9235699,page=4) about my experience with a Lord’s steward at the Kent Spitfires game on Sunday, I wasn’t expecting full-on abuse back…

It really isn’t a big deal. I got grumpy for a while feeling like my experience at Lord’s had been tainted a little then I smelt the pie from the chap sitting in front of me and that’s all I could think of from then on. Anyhow, I shouldn’t take it all so personally…if you write a blog then people will disagree with you and sometimes tell you exactly what they think of you…which is what happened here. Unfortunately, not on here but the Middx site. Anyhow, here’s what ‘loverboy’ (his nom-de-plume, not mine) wrote. I have not corrected his literary masterpiece so the bit about me coming all over a steward ought to be treated with a pinch of salt…didn’t actually happen:

“People on official tours are permitted to take photos with approved cameras as they are deemed to be for personal use,they are NOT however permitted to take photos of play in progress.
The use of mobile phones is not permitted in any area of the ground with a view of play and which are likely to cause annoyance to other spectators,as is how it should be.
You really do need to familiarise yourself with the regulations properly, before you come on her ranting and raving when you clearly don’t know what you’re talking about.

Stewards at Lord’s have a difficult job to do as it is without people like you making it harder for them. Yes ,it is me complaining again TeddyTown,and I paticularly dislike it when people come on here critiscising those who have no right of reply and are merely trying to do their job.  So watch out in future, because if I see you transgressing any ground rules in future I’ll report you personally to the ground authorities.”

Well, there you have it folks. From the horse’s backside, so to speak. If you have a camera and take it to Lord’s to harmlessly photograph your favourite player then be prepared for sniper squads and 42 days in a cell without being charged. Like I say, bloody idiot.

When I wasn’t being chased round Lord’s by a menacing steward with a stare that could slice through titanium, I had the chance to stroll by a number of the new posters for England’s new kit by adidas. It’s not the Englan’s team’s fault, they do what their sponsors say, but what’s the need for tanned, shiny, gloomy poses? In stark contrast to a beaming Matthew Hoggard for John Smith’s or whatever.

Several things bother me about England’s new kit. Firstly, the ECB was selling the old kit describing it as the 2007/2008 Test kit on their official site and my long-suffering lady bought me a Test shirt as I had banged on about having one during the winter. It doesn’t bother me that a new one now supercedes mine but that there was no inference it was about to be redundant. No matter, I will wear mine with pride whilst watching my bowling being flayed around London.

My second gripe is the fact that wooly jumpers worn by cricketers throughout the land since the dawn of time are suddenly not good enough for the national team. Did WG Grace’s performance get seriously hampered by an absence of climacool technology. Er, no. Climacool? Give me a break, it’s not an air conditioning unit, for goodness sake.

I ought, at the risk of sounding like Middlesex CCC are winning me over, extend this argument to Somerset. I am a proud Somersetonian, or whatever the correct term might be, and wear a Somerset shirt round the cricket fields of London, daring anyone to turn up their nose. However, I much prefer the traditional range that Middlesex CCC have, complete with traditional wooly jumper. Somerset’s kit make players look like extras from Schwartzenegger’s The Running Man.

So, at a time when tradition is going out the window from pink balls to the IPL to the advent of climacool, I hope we keep some noble traditions in our beloved game safe.

image copyright: ecb.co.uk

Ok, so I had ran like a demented nutter down the concourse at Paddington with an alarmed girlfriend in tow, hoping for a break with the train times to Worcester. Today, however, was not my lucky day. Not only have prices for a day return jumped in the five years since I was at Worcester but on Sundays, the trains go via North America and take three weeks. I had a choice. I could sell a kidney to fund a trip to Worcester knowing in my heart of hearts that it would probably rain and I would miss the first three hours of play…or go to Lords instead. It was, sadly, a no-brainer. I knew I was heading to the Rose Bowl on Friday anyhow so Worcester would have to wait until later in the summer. If I had made the trip, it would have been a lottery as to where I’d have ended up anyhow. We were told by two information points two different times, routes and costs.

Still, on the positive side, I went to Lords instead and watched it rain for a few hours before the clouds were empty and the groundsmen hoovered up the water. My good lady was suitably impressed with the hover (covers) machine the size of the QE2. Sadly, a particularly austere steward was not impressed with me taking photos. Admittedly, we had both come armed with digital cameras and zoom lenses but we were hardly cricket’s first paparazzi couple.

I was asked to stop photographing as the steward suspected I was a professional photographer who was clearly going to sell grainy images of Andrew Strauss’ square cut for vast sums. Without a press pass, I was obviously an imposter. This angered me immensely. I had paid my £16 to watch it chuck it down and then got harangued by a club official who was towing a misguided party line on copyright. A startled elderly lady asked quietly if it was ok to take photos (which it was for her), apparently sporting Canon’s oldest model of digital SLR is sufficient evidence of my misdemeanour. I could rant on this for ages but the point is that if I was a secret photographer then I would hardly be snapping the cricket from the back row with paper, fizzy drinks and sandwiches strewn all over my camera kit.

Forgive the non-Somerset photo (when I upload it properly) but it’s the game I attended in the end. For the record, fans will have known the score before me but the game was called off in the end with Worcester 154-8. Willoughby, Jones and strike bowler, James Hildreth, each taking two wickets. A good one to miss…

JF PHOTOS: http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/8096958

I am the only person who could get sunburn in the North Pole. And so it proved at Lord’s today. A few hours of glorious sunshine and I am glowing like a ribena character. I was there to try and take some shots of Middlesex cricketers. Lucky I got there at 11.30am as a few overs after I’d settled in to watch Andrew Strauss, he’d tickled one down leg and trudged off for 49.

In many ways, the Middlesex match mirrors the Old Trafford clash with both games seemingly heading for a score draw. Somerset declared on their overnight score of 221-9 and in reply, Somerset were well set before slumping a little to 188-5. A score of 76 from Langer is good to see but no one else has stood out in this innings. For the record, (as it will be all that’s reported tomorrow anyhow…) Flintoff’s 8 overs so far cost just 13 runs.

On other issues, Brad Hodge has deserted Lancashire to join the IPL for five weeks. The official line is that the club are not seeking a replacement and are confident in their strength in depth. Privately, they must surely be fuming at this. With players heads being turned by the money in India, it’s refreshing that two players who would definitely have been on the Indian list to recruit are Ramprakash and Langer who both stuck with Surrey and Somerset respectively. How often this type of loyalty is displayed remains to be seen.

Never so starkly has this been seen than in the results from the survey done by the Professional Cricketers Assoc with 320 of its members taking part. Worrying….

- A third of England players say they would consider quitting the national team early to play in the Indian Premier League.

The survey also found that nearly 20% of PCA members would risk a 12-month ban from county cricket to play in the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League.

Alfonso Stats

Current age 31
Major teams Dolphins, North West, Northerns, Somerset, Staffordshire, Titans, Western Province
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium

- 2261 first-class runs at 26.6 (72 matches)
- 239 wickets at 26.43

Given Cricinfo’s profile is 4 years out of date, I thought I’d turn to Cricbuzz.com for a sense of the man - though admittedly this was written perhaps even earlier given that he’s referred to as ‘young’ (sorry Alfie, only in cricketing terms. And I’m afraid Alfie did not turn out to be the next Shaun Pollock as the review suggested:

“Alfie” as he is affectionately known, has been one of the most consistent bowlers on the South African Domestic Circuit including best bowling of 7-63. Although Thomas is not extreme pace (averaging around the 130 – 132kph), he has the ability to swing the ball both out and in, as well as having very good abilities at reverse swinging the old cricket ball. Alfonso Thomas is also a very decent batsman, nothing extravagent, but is able to score runs, and can certainly make a contribution with the bat. 

JF View:
Again, Alfonso’s winter in SA should be as good a barometer as any as to how he’s doing with the ball. He’s currently through to the final of the Pro20 with the Titans having picked up 11 wickets in 6 first-class matches. I know some Somerset fans feel that investment in existing talent, English talent, is better than paying for Kolpaks. I’m a little less of a purist in my view. I want to see Somerset-born players in the team but only if they’re good enough. Let’s see how Alfonso, Zander and Omari all do first, the competition in the squad should be healthy.

Born: July 5, 1975, Johannesburg
Current age: 32 years
Major teams: South Africa, Gauteng, MCC, Titans, Transvaal, Warriors, Worcestershire
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium

- Test batting average of 38.75 in 3 Tests
- 6568 first-class runs at 42
- 136 wickets in 106 first-class games

Here’s what Cricinfo said about him (back in 2006):

Zander de Bruyn is reminiscent of the late Hansie Cronje at the crease; tall and elegant, the purveyor of crunching drives, but also with a question mark over his ability against fast, short-pitched bowling. And he is a useful medium-paced bowler to boot - able to break partnerships or keep an end tight for a lengthy period. In 2003-04, he emulated the great Barry Richards, by becoming only the second player in South African domestic cricket history to score 1000 runs in a SuperSport Series or Currie Cup season. Although he excelled at schoolboy level, de Bruyn’s career never really got off the ground until he moved to Easterns in 2002, where he joined forces with their ultra-competitive coach - and newly-appointed national team mentor - Ray Jennings. That season, he played a huge role in an improbable Series victory, averaging 60 and scoring 169 in the final as Easterns overturned a first-innings deficit against the international-strength Western Province attack, and he has gone from strength to strength ever since, until earning a call-up for the Test tour of India in November 2004. Despite scoring 83 on debut, he was dropped after only two Tests. He signed a two-year contract with the Warriors in May 2006 and was appointed captain of the domestic side in September.

JF View:

Inevitably, his stats playing for Worcestershire have been dug up by various media channels with his only century for them being against Somerset. Whatever that tells you. That he didn’t hit many centuries I guess…I prefer to concentrate on his winter form in SA. Different pitches admittedly and perhaps quality of oppo but a decent pointer nonetheless. An average of 35.85 with two centuries and four fifties in 11 games speaks solid, consistent - and hopefully as reliable as Mr Mckenzie, thank you very much.

So. A whole day lost to rain…Lancashire must be gutted as, for the record, are Somerset. I’m sure. Unless we see a case of cricketing dominoes tomorrow, it’s heading inextoriably for a draw. Honours even, Mr Horton. Should be interesting to see how the final day plays out if the good weather around the UK is seen in Lancashire.

* As something of an aside, might I suggest that Somerset take a leaf out of Lancashire’s book with a view to their website. An excellent LCCC effort having their own TV channel to watch the cricket and surely the way to go at Taunton. It wouldn’t stop people going to the cricket but might encourage those that missed out to go along for a day.

Fresh from the first few Championship points of 2008, Somerset will head to Worcester (with their wellies if they’re prudent) and buoyed by the confirmation of new recruits. SA allrounder Zander de Bruyn has been cleared to kick things off in a Somerset shirt and could start against Worcestershire on Sunday - while Alfonso Thomas is due in on Monday and might play against KP and Hants down at the Rose Bowl.