Posted in August 2009 …

Aug 30 2009
2 Comments
Australia, Bowlers, CricInfo, Cricket, Kumar Sangakarra, murali, New Zealand, Test Match, Uncategorized

Daniel Vettori Should Switch To A Different Team

Was just watching the Sri Lanka-New Zealand series (because someone should). My heart feels for Daniel Vettori, who may not be as brilliant as Shane Warne or Muralitharan, but deserves at least a better team to captain than the lot he currently has.

Take a look at the series stats: Vettori took the second highest number of wickets (after Murali and before latest spin sensation Herath), and he scored the fourth most runs (the only Kiwi in the top 5).

In fact, watching him score 140 runs in the 2nd innings put me in mind of his counterpart, Kumar Sangakarra, who valiantly tried to stave off defeat against the Australia in 2007 with a brilliant 192, most of them made with tail-enders. You had the sense that this man was bigger than all of his colleagues put together.

(Interestingly, the Australians won that game with the same margin as the Sri Lankans did in this one.)

At that point, Sri Lanka was at the start of its transition, with a weak batting line-up and a retiring bowling one. Now, they’re the second in the world. The hope is that Vettori, the suffering martyr of New Zealand cricket, will be able to cobble together Taylor, Oram and Guptill into a competitive team at some point, but I’m not holding my breath.

Aug 26 2009
1 Comment
Andrew Flintoff, ashes, Bowlers, Cricket, England

Best Anti-Flintoff Post Of The Month

From Professor Chaos of We’ll Have a Bowl:

10927 runs at 51.06? 98 wickets at 37? That’s when you can start raising your arms like you just parted the Red Sea you fucking douche.

To be fair, Flintoff decidedly said he did not belong to the “greats” at his retirement conference. Still, that part-the-sea thing started to annoy even me, and I’ve had a soft spot for the big man for too long now.

Then again, for whatever reason, Flintoff enjoyed a visceral relationship with the crowds, both feeding off each other and, somehow, helping the team as a whole to rise as well. Don’t mean to smear God or anything, but given where England were in 2006, or even at Sabina Park, or, hell, even at the Fourth Test — well, parting the Red Sea doesn’t sound like much compared to their Ashes victory.

Aug 26 2009
5 Comments
Adam Gilchrist, Australia, Cricket, England, Indian Players, Kevin Pietersen, Sachin Tendulkar

Stats That Prove Tendulkar’s The Best

I was never Sachin Tendulkar’s biggest fan growing up (no doubt because my grandmother, a pure Tendulkar hater, reminded me again and again of the customs duties he tried to waive on some Ferrari he bought). But Outside Edge has taken a lot of time and effort to put Tendulkar’s performance in some context. Check out the many tables and charts.

This one particularly struck me. Notice the extent of Tendulkar’s contributions in the 1990s, regularly topping above 20% of the team’s total runs. Neither Ponting nor Gilchrist, no tail-enders they, could manage the same proportion, just showing off their superior outfit. (But while we’re at it, look at Pietersen’s 2004 percentage! Incredible!)

Percentage of team runs

Tendulkar Ponting Pietersen Lara Gibbs Gilchrist Sehwag
1990 12% 6%
1991 17% 12%
1992 20% 22%
1993 12% 26%
1994 21% 14%
1995 20% 13% 31%
1996 25% 14% 30% 12% 4%
1997 14% 36% 23% 8% 17%
1998 30% 21% 22% 4% 15%
1999 19% 18% 13% 18% 15%
2000 17% 16% 17% 15% 14% 8%
2001 32% 22% 21% 17% 18% 13%
2002 23% 18% 20% 17% 15% 18%
2003 26% 20% 21% 19% 16% 15%
2004 17% 16% 46% 17% 10% 18% 11%
2005 11% 18% 29% 13% 23% 14% 13%
2006 20% 15% 19% 15% 15% 16% 12%
2007 19% 31% 19% 18% 20% 14% 14%
2008 17% 10% 21% 13% 14% 21%
2009 20% 13% 10% 17% 22%
Aug 26 2009
2 Comments
ashes, Bowlers, Cricket, England, Test Match

Stuart Broad And Malfoy

An unoriginal point, I know, one that even Shane Warne made after a Sky camera spotted Malfoy and Harry Potter at The Oval. But for kicks (and hits), here you go:

Malfoy:

Aug 26 2009
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Andrew Flintoff, ashes, Cricket, England, Kevin Pietersen

Flintoff Subtly Disses Pietersen

Nothing more than an unnecessary attempt on my part to stir trouble, but this caught my eye. Via The Guardian:

“One comforting thing is, having seen yesterday and the past five Test matches, is that I’ll disappear and the England side will be in good hands,” he said. “The likes of [Jonathan] Trott [have] come in and everybody’s forgetting about KP. Our best player has not played the bulk of this Test series. So the future of the side is in good hands.”

KP who? My former captain? Can’t be.

Aug 26 2009
1 Comment
Cricket, Sri Lanka, Test Match

How Did Sri Lanka End Up Second In Test Rankings?

Not to begrudge the achievement, or write yet another post criticizing the ICC’s inscrutable rankings, but what did Sri Lanka exactly do to get to No. 2? (Count this as a “what the…” post. Nothing new in analysis, but a very scratched head.)

Aug 24 2009
1 Comment
ashes, Australia, Cricket, England, Test Match

Ashes Predictions Results

All accounatability and transparency here at Ducking Beamers. I made some Ashes predictions, now it’s time to see the strength of my cricketing brain. Appalling, apparently. Out of 19 queries, I only got four right. In my defense, that includes the overall 2-1 result. What else matters?

Predictions are first, followed by what actually transpired:

Most Runs Overall: Simon Katich — Wrong. Andrew Strauss takes the cake.

Most Runs England: Kevin Pietersen — Wrong once more. See above.

Most Runs Australia: Simon Katich — I was obviously obsessed with Katich. He did well, but not as well as Michael Clarke, who scored 448 runs at 64.

Most Wickets Overall: Jimmy Anderson – Nope. Ben Hilfenhaus! Who?

Most Wickets England: Jimmy Anderson — Alas, no. He’s third behind Stuart “I Won The Ashes” Broad and Graeme Swann.

Most Wickets Australia: Mitchell Johnson — Gosh no! But who could have foreseen this after that marvelous South Africa series?

Best Tosser (captain who wins the most tosses):  Ricky Ponting – Strauss called right, 4-1.

Man of the Series:  Ricky Ponting — His counterpart won the title, and deservedly so.

1st Test Result: Um, a draw. No, an Australian victory! — First guess right. We’ll discount that last bit.

2nd Test Result:  Australia — England.

3rd Test Result: England (Edgbaston, no?) — Draw.

4th Test Result: Draw — Australia.

5th Test Result: England (2-1, my friends, 2-1.) — Yes!

Overall series result:  2-1 — Double yes! I got the one that counts, right?

THE TRIVIALITIES

Number of Tests that lose overs to rain (note, not bad light): Five. Can’t trust English summers. — Can’t remember, but I think the answer’s four.

Number of Tests that Flintoff will be able to manage: One, as it turns out. — He managed more than that, thank all the ECB’s commercial sponsors.

Number of Tests won by an innings: One. — Ah, that fourth Test saves my day.

Number of Tests played by McDonald: Don’t know, and don’t care.

Number of Tests played by Lee: He was only dropped from the first Test because of any injury, yes? So, let’s give him three. — No. None.

Aug 24 2009
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ashes, Australia, Bowlers, Cricket, England, Test Match

Highlights Of England’s Ashes Win

The Channel Five highlights of England’s 2005 Ashes win can be seen in all their glory here. In the last part, Mark Nicholas interviews England captain Andrew Strauss and asks him if he was worried at any point when Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey were going strong. “It didn’t look like they were going to get out,” Strauss said.

Incidentally, during lunch, Shane Warne held a seminar with two English spinners on the art of bowling. Found it mostly boring, but some people may like it. Here you go.

Aug 23 2009
4 Comments
ashes, Australia, Cricket, England, Test Match

Ricky Ponting Should Resign

I don’t mean to be cruel, but I think this is a perfect time for Ricky Ponting to diplomatically hand over the reins to Michael Clarke and focus on his batting. Maybe he wants another victorious series to save face, but he should make his intentions clear and give the Australian team a break.

It’s not as if he had a disastrous captaincy; in fact, by most standards, he’s one of the modern game’s greatest. And it’s not as if he would leave his team in tatters; he’s done much in recent years to build a new one. His work done, he should take the final leap.

That way, he may come closer to taking on an even more lasting contribution to his cricketing legacy: Sachin Tendulkar’s record.

Aug 21 2009
2 Comments
ashes, Australia, Bowlers, Cricket, England, Test Match

Stuart Broad Has Ponting’s Number

Lord’s Test, 2nd innings:

23.4 Broad to Ponting, OUT, got him – bowled him! Lord’s has erupted! That’s Anderson’s wicket as much as Broad’s – outside off, Ponting goes to cut but it’s too full and he destroys his stumps!

RT Ponting b Broad 38 (88m 69b 6×4 0×6) SR: 55.07

Oval Test, 1st innings:

26.6 Broad to Ponting, OUT, bowled him! Broad’s bowled him! Ponting goes back and chops it on, his off stump pegged back

RT Ponting b Broad 8 (15b 1×4 0×6) SR: 53.33

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