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1) I don't understand how Luke Wright can be preferred to Ravi Bopara in England's one-day side. On TMS, Marks and Agnew were saying much the same. Marks said it couldn't be for his batting it must be the bowling, though Wright was a hit the deck merchant like the main seam attack. I think the real reason is that Wright plays for Sussex. Foster and Read are the better keepers and at Test level Foster is probably the best bat, but we have to put up with Prior and Ambrose. The coach is an ex-Sussex wicketkeeper and this must be an undue influence. As Marks went on to say, Bopara is the future Test player. However, the one-day side is looking more balanced with all-rounders down to nine. I still don't think Harmison is a one-day player, as he is liable to go for an awful lot. Bresnan of Yorkshire would add another all-rounder to an already successful mix. Mind you, South Africa look like a team ready to go home. The intensity with which they played the Test series away from home must have taken a lot out of them. It is a good advertisement for playing the one-dayers first or even having Bangladesh over at the end of a summer. 2) I don't understand why Surrey did not make every attempt to get a result - either way - in the recent championship game against Sussex. With their first innings lead, they could have treated the 2nd innings as if it were a 40 overs game and sent Benning in first. Apart from Surrey being the worst team, with the now split championship season it has been difficult to gauge who are the best side. Notts seemed to have a good start and Kent a settled side, which is one bonus for having a small squad. 3) I don't understand why TMS have dropped Mike Selvey and kept a clutch of boring summarisers. Angus Fraser leads that field and is a poor man's Selvey. Alec Stewart, as we all know, can only state the bleeding obvious. Graham Thorpe seems to have had the most successful re-incarnation since the later stages of The Bible. They have more summarisers than commentators. Mind you, Sir Ian Botham has prospered at Sky. I spend most of my time counting the numbers of times he says "away". 4) I don't understand why I'm still only 18th in the latest Oval World fantasy league table and yet when I look at the papers I always find my players doing well. It's actually one of the things about fantasy leagues in that you can never remember all of your team, only the ones that are doing well. Mind you, it could be worse. I could be watching cricket professionally and still be about fourth from bottom. Woody has made a magnificent effort for a three-timer and The Weary Bankers look like they will be buying lunch. 5) I do understand why we signed Alex Tudor. He had been performing consistently for Essex when getting a game, but having little chance with the bat with their team of all-rounders. Very rarely was he the most expensive for us in one-day cricket, but never got a game in that sphere for Essex. 6) In his message to the Surrey members, Roger Harman said he deeply regretted the poor displays this year. Deep regret sounds like he was writing the obituary for Alan Butcher's tenure in charge while trying to keep his own job, like a bank chairman during the credit crunch. Al Butch has had two successful seasons before this one. This year the lack of a settled side has not helped. No opening partnership in bowling or batting. Reading the tributes to Arthur McIntyre for reaching 90, many of us will recall that he was coach for 18 seasons and only won something in the 13th. A lot of young Surrey cricketers were developed, many of whom made career bests against Surrey. How long would he have survived in the job in today's environment? BACK TO: |
