Cricket article compilation blog

My brief post-Mortem on England's World Cup 2015 campaign


Where to start on England's disappointing showing at the ODI World Cup 2015? After going out at the group stage, having only beaten Scotland up to their loss, once again, to Bangladesh in the must-win game; England completed a bland victory over Afghanistan that didn't prove much of anything.

There are a variety of excellent articles on the subject, and plenty of ideas about how to fix the problems we face, to be found from the sources at ESPNcricinfo. I particularly like Dobell's and Nicholas's articles. Here is the link to the source referencing them.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/story/847789.html

I think most of the blame must go on the management and selectors. Peter Moores' attitude has been some way from ideal for a while now. His bland excuses don't hold much truck with me, and his throwaway comment about having to "look at the data" to see if 275 was a chase-able score in the Bangladesh game, was incredibly infuriating as a fan.

No Peter, you don't need to look at any data, just open your eyes and the problems in the side will become glaringly obvious. 275 was very chase-able, or at least it should have been to most half decent sides. England's middle order yet again failed to capitalise on a reasonable start, and settling for slow middle-overs progress cost them in the end.

And what to say about Paul Downton? If Moores is indeed "the coach of his generation" then he must also have incredibly bad management skills, because his coaching work is obviously not rubbing off yet. And it's quite apparent that Moores would be better suited to coaching youth players than managing the already well-coached full England side, who appear to desperately need better management, if not psychological counselling. Downton is failing in a self-appointed and unnecessary role.

Hopefully Colin Graves, the new ECB chairman, can bring some much needed sanity back. He could start by shaking up the selectors and ousting James Whitaker, for instance. Bringing back Pietersen, if it happens, may help in the short term but he's not exactly going to be around for much longer. Eventually we'll need other solutions.

It's good to see Trott back into the frame in the test series against West Indies, which will be interesting I'm sure.

There's also a great satirical article on Moores' obsession with data. It's hilariously insightful.

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T20 Cricket

Why T20 cricket in England, for the upcoming season at least, is not going to be considered among the big tournaments for those in the know. This is why we need a franchise EPL T20 league, and have done for the past 5 years or so.

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Cricket - my bit for feminism

Media interest in "girls of cricket" is mostly focused on looks (big surprise), not players
As if we needed more proof that the media's more interested in women's looks than their abilities...

While reading this very good Michael Vaughan article in the Telegraph about England's world cup woes, I spotted an advert below for this article:

"12 hottest girls of cricket you've got to see"

Wow, I thought.

Could they be referring to Meg Lanning's amazing batting, Ellyse Perry's bowling, Deandra Dottin's hitting or Sarah Taylor's incredible wicketkeeping feats?

No?

Kathryn Brunt's short ball? No?

Dani Waytt maybe?

Smriti Mandhana?

Sophie Devine?

Marizanne Kapp?

Nat Sciver?

No?

Hmm...

Nah. It's the WAGS.

Of course. What was I thinking, eh?

Silly me.

Now here is the link, if you must.

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Over exuberant, "matey" commentators are ruining coverage of the game

This link is a pretty superb article detailing how the inherently unprofessional attitude of some ex-player commentators, particularly on Australian TV networks, is dumbing-down cricket commentary. It's turning coverage of the game from an informative and professional exercise, into a chummy joke between best friends more eager to offer insight into their private lives and previous accomplishments, many of which have little to do with the game, than analyse the ongoing action.

The introduction of more diverse characters, such as knowledgeable journalists, sports presenters and including more women into the mix would force the offenders into a more professional attitude in their commentary.

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