No ball games

Stat | Spotted | Quote | Six Sense | Turnfurlong 4ths

Hammersmith – A combination of poor weather and the necessary manoeuvrings of a house move have kept me away from the action this week, but I was looking forward to listening to the opening match of the NatWest Series on the radio. Is that odd? Should I instead have had a flag of St George hanging from my window, been extolling the virtues of St Wayne and wondering whether the diamond formation or the 4-4-2 would work best against Portugal? If I were going to watch the match at Old Trafford – that's the name of a cricket venue, by the way – would I be annoyed that Lancashire have no plans to screen the football in the middle of the one-day international? Should I have been glad when the rain ruined the cricket so I could experiencde the rest of the nation's sporting passion instead? Buy me a pair of fingerless gloves because I'm with Ebeneezer Scrooge on this one.

And no I don't feel more charitable after the most highly-paid sportsman in the country failed to hit a big net from 12 yards away.

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Stat of the week

When Graeme Hick was bowled by Middlesex's Lance Klusener for 86 on Monday he was 14 short of recording a 125th first-class century, which would have moved him ahead of WG Grace in the first-class list. Nine Englishmen have more, with Graham Gooch's 128 and Len Hutton's 129 in sight.

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Spotted

Craig McMillan, having replaced his Gunn and Moore bat with a new British-made model called "Smasher" for the one-day portion of New Zealand's tour. He averaged 30.62 during the first-class matches but since the swap has hit 43, 52 and 22, all at around a run a ball.

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Quote of the Week

"I still have a job back home as an accountant with a natural gas company, so it's a case of juggling the two."
West Indies one-day bowler Ian Bradshaw gives a fascinating insight into life off the field.

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Six sense

1. New Zealand and West Indies present contrasting approaches to one-day cricket going into the NatWest Series. While Kiwi skipper Stephen Fleming preaches the need to find a bowler who will take wickets in the middle of the innings, the Windies will rely on two out-and-out pace bowlers, a seamer as back-up and then a load of part-timers – not to under-rate Chris Gayle, whose off-spin has run through England before. When Carl Hooper was in charge his rationale was the fourth seamer usually went for plenty anyway so why not bolster the batting? It didn't do him much good. Black Caps to win.

2. It is good to see England's selectors clarifying their criteria, and hopefully stopping a repeat of the Chris Read debacle. It is also good to see an admission that one-day cricket is only really important when it is World Cup time. There is only so much "building for 2007" guff one can take. Meanwhile it provides a bit of fun for the fans and the opportunity for budding Test players, like Andrew Strauss, to ease themselves onto the international stage. It is something Pakistan have been doing for years, although I doubt they have the exact formula on paper.

3. A shame that Andrew Flintoff will miss the NatWest Series with, reportedly, the same injury that kept both Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath out of action for long periods of time. However, it may help England deal long-term with the fact that without him they are hopelessly unbalanced. All other candidates are either batting or bowling part-timers at the highest level. Neither Anthony McGrath nor Rikki Clarke flick my switch at the moment but Graham Napier of Essex is a similarly hard-hitter and Gloucestershire's Alex Gidman a decent batsman with a similar line in bowling economy.

4. I was intrigued by a press release from the United Cricket Board of South Africa last week stating that Nantie Hayward is available for selection again and that former Zimbabwe all-rounder Neil Johnson, now 34, has also naturalised. It even carried quotes from Johnson, who was delighted at a new long-term goal. A quick query with the UCB revealed no obviously ulterior motive – they don't even know when the touring squad for Sri Lanka will be announced. Johnson isn't pulling up trees in domestic cricket, but he does play for Western Province – home of Smith, Gibbs, Kallis, Adams, Kirsten ...

5. Opinions are, admittedly, like arseholes in that everyone has one, and the same is true of visions for English cricket. Let's not call this a vision, then, but an idea after last weekend's England v Wales match and the C&G quarter-finals. Take the 18 first-class teams, split them into four regional sides and play 12 matches – each side home and away. The top three venues in each area host the matches – increasing the motivation to upgrade facilities. Allow five overseas players to keep the standard high and either integrate England players or include the England side in the schedule as a tune-up for the triangular tournament. Squeeze it into a single week and you have another short-season tournament that could gain the same degree of popularity as the Twenty20 Cup.

6. Farewell Jack Russell, a great wicket-keeper and a great character – kept his hat on a biscuit tine, blindfolded visitors to his house, took Weetabix with him on tour etc. Admittedly his England career was brought to a premature end as England's desperation for extra batting took them in Alec Stewart's direction instead. I wouldn't want to suggest anyone without an England chance should retire forthwith, and I don't wish to devalue Russell's part in Gloucestershire's one-day side of the last five years. But a 2003 season in which he suffered back and thumb injuries climaxed in another C&G Trophy victory at Lord's. Maybe that would have been a better place to call time than three months after signing a contract extension to the end of 2005, and having failed to play a match all season.

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Turnfurlong 4th XI update

I'd forgotten why Pooley is always the first name on the team sheet. He goes in at eight, can barely hold a bat and umpires sometimes miscount the number of balls in an over to put him out of his misery. I only realised 15 overs in on Sunday while rolling around mid-pitch in agony. After an influx of ringers – blame the good weather – I "rested" Pooley for the weekend, suggested he take the opportunity to work on his shot selection (for which read "try something other than the forward defensive"). He declined, went on a Dungeons and Dragons bender instead, and took his box with him.

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