England's favourite homes

Old Trafford, the venue for this week's 2nd Test against New Zealand, has been one of England's favourite grounds in recent years. With this in mind I thought it would be interesting to see which home venues England have enjoyed most Test Match success at in recent years.

The period I have chosen is the 2000s, during which England have played extremely well at home. However, some places have proved happier hunting grounds than others. England's overall record in the 2000s is an impressive 31 wins out of 57 Tests, with only 12 losses and 14 draws.

They have won all 3 matches played at Chester-le-Street, though the opposition have been the weakest in the recent Test arena - Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and West Indies. More impressive are England's performances on their quickest and bounciest pitches at The Oval and Old Trafford, where they have played 8 and 7 Tests, respectively. They have won 4 and lost just 1 match at each ground.

Lord's reputation for lifting England's opponents and not being a favourite ground for the home team is a false one. In 17 Tests since 2000 England have won 8 and only lost 3, drawing the other 6. It is Trent Bridge which is actually England's worse venue in recent years, having yielded just 3 wins out of 8 matches, with 3 losses and 2 draws.

Headingly, long thought of as having the most typically English pitch, justifies its reputation, giving England 5 victories to just 2 losses in 7 matches. It also lives up to its billing as a result pitch, with no draws so far in the 2000s. Edgbaston rounds off the home grounds, producing 4 wins for England out of 7 Tests, with only 2 losses.

On this basis England can look forward to this week's Test Match, but should beware the Third Test against the Kiwis. They should also feel confident about the forthcoming series against South Africa, with matches at Lord's, Headingly, Edgbaston and The Oval.

Of course, Test cricket is never as simple as that, but England's overall record at home in recent years is an excellent one and proof that home advantage is perhaps more prevalent in cricket than any other sport.

Does it need fixing?

The explosion in 20:Twenty cricket and the Kolpak controversy has brought forward a run of people all telling us what is wrong with county cricket. Some of these have some merit, but are tinkering around the edges, whereas others are just plain crackers, reversing the positive changes that took place years ago. To my mind, the questions that need to be asked are What is Wrong with County Cricket? And what can be done to fix it?

I started thinking about this at the end of the last county season. It was the most exciting in years for most of the counties. In Division 1 five counties were still in with a shout of the title for the last round of matches, whereas relegation was only confirmed for Warwickshire along with safety for Kent and Surrey in the penultimate week. In Division 2, Somerset and Notts showed their class (and in Notts case continue to show their class) while Middlesex and Essex were both highly competitive.

The performance of Notts was despite losing Ryan Sidebottom to England. Supposedly a county journeyman who wasn’t quick enough to play for England under Duncan Fletcher, he graduated to become England’s player of the year and leading bowler. Proof, if ever it was needed, that county cricket produces players of international standard.

But what of the other counties. Worcestershire were quickly relegated, but the flooding at New Road meant that the season was about survival off the pitch rather than on it. For the counties at the wrong end of Division 2, however, there was little to play for and little interest in their performance. And herein lies the rub. Once you are out of the promotion challenge in Division 2, you are back to the bad old days of single division cricket where players were just playing out the season from July onwards.

Clearly the logistics needed to set up a first class county set up means that relegation from Division 2 is a non-starter. It would also push counties down the short-term fix route of more and more Kolpaks rather than building for the future with their own youth players.

Reducing the number of counties would also not address the issue at the bottom of the pile. The Kolpak ruling means that there are more county standard players to go around, a situation which would be further improved by removing the restriction on overseas players. The game would be improved by more of Jacques Rudolph or Jacques Kallis with less Jacques du Toit. If the ECB structures their handouts to reward those bringing through their own players, while still allowing counties to strengthen from a wide pool of overseas talent would improve the current standards of cricket while encouraging the development of young players.

However, the Kolpak argument doesn’t help to make the bottom end of the 2nd Division more competitive. For that we may have to look to other sports. Rugby and football have both benefited from the play off system in that it keeps more teams interested for longer. It has an inherent unfairness in that it reduces the season to a single match, but if the second promotion place was to be decided by play-offs, 2nd to 5th would be involved in post season action with 6th to 9th much closer to the possibility of promotion to the end of the season.

This would necessitate two extra weeks at the end of the season in Division 2. This could be created by reverting FP Trophy to a knock out competition and a more formal structure to the county structure. Alternatively, it could also be created by having a less even structure to the leagues. A ten team top division, with eight in Division 2 would add two games to the top division by removing off weeks. It would also allow all of the teams to play together at the same time rather than having one team finish early.

In the end, very little is wrong with the county game. Kolpakkers generally raise the standards of a team and removing the restrictions on overseas players would raise them further by allowing higher quality players into the game. However, expanding Division 1 to ten teams, and creating play-offs in Division 2 means that more teams will remain interested in the season for longer, playing higher intensity cricket and becoming better prepared for the international game.

I commend my recommendations to the blog!!

FP Trophy Weekly Round-up

There were ten FP matches this week and so to the round-up…

We begin at Stormont Belfast, where Warwickshire continued their abysmal start to the season against Ireland. Opting to bat first they could only muster a paltry 211-7 from their fifty overs, Tony Frost top scoring with 56. West Indian Ravi Rampaul took 2-53 while there were also two wickets for Gary Kidd (2-37). The Irish made it home with 3.2 overs to spare, William Porterfield laying the foundations up top with a patient 69. James Anyon (2-47) was the pick of the Bears’ attack.

Essex were in buoyant mood at Chelmsford following their demolition of Surrey. Unfortunately they were a bit too confident and were well and truly thrashed by Kent. The Spitfires made 230-7 from their allotted fifty overs, Justin Kemp top scoring with 51. Graham Napier (3-29) and Ravi Bopara (3-49) each took three wickets. That total should have been gettable given the location, however, the Eagles were shot out for just 124, with Yasir Arafat (4-29), Robbie Joesph (3-30) and Simon Cook (2-35) all impressing.

Justin Langer (117) was in sublime form yet again at Taunton where Somerset racked up 278-9 against Worcestershire. He shared in a match winning 100 run partnership with Ian Blackwell (53), whilst there were 3 wicket for Steve Magoffin (3-36) and two apiece for Kabir Ali (2-54) and Gareth Andrew (2-46) against his old side. The Royals were all out for 194 in reply, Daryl Mitchell by far and away the top scorer with 92. Peter Trego followed up his 31 from 16 balls with 3-37, while Steffan Jones (3-36), Charl Willoughby (2-21) and Zander de Bruyn (2-20) did the rest.

Scotland were unable to do to the White Rose county what they had done to the Red Rose county, as they totally only 193-8 against Yorkshire at The Citylets Grange. Darren Gough (2-40) and Richard Pyrah (2-30) led the way for Yorkshire. Craig White was able to take his time and hit 69 not out in reply at a strike rate below 50, while Gerard Brophy’s 61 not out came from just 45 balls, as Yorkshire cantered home with just 3 wickets down, the impressive John Blain (2-17) taking two of them in his economical ten overs.

There was a low scoring affair at Trent Bridge, where Warwickshire looked to be in serious trouble yet again when they totalled only 173 against Nottinghamshire, Ian Westwood’s patient 64 the sole score of real note. It was that man again, Darren Pattinson 4-29, who did the damage, while Samit Patel (3-19) finished things off. In reply though Notts collapsed, with Will Jefferson making 41 in their total of just 121. James Anyon impressed again with 3-6, while Neil Carter (3-25) and Naqaash Tahir (2-47) were also in good form.

Complete contrast now as 657 runs were scored at Canterbury, 337 of them by Kent, for the loss of just three wickets, all of them to Surrey’s Chris Jordon (3-53). Martin van Jaarsveld (113* - can anyone stop him in the FP Trophy?) and Darren Stevens 119* each notched up unbeaten centuries as the Surrey attack was devoured yet again. Surrey looked on course for a remarkable victory after Mark Butcher (139) and Usman Afzaal (74) shared a rapid 126. However, Surrey old boy Azhaar Mahmood (4-40) proved decisive as he did earlier on in the season at The Oval, with four wickets at the death, Surrey carrying a rather long tail. He was backed up by Ryan McLaren (3-75) and Yasir Arafat (2-55) as Surrey fell short, all out for 320 with only two balls left.

Ireland were unable to follow up their victory over the Bears with victory over the Foxes. Opting to field first, hopeful that a repeat performance was on the cards, Ireland could only restrict Leicestershire to 245-5, HD Ackerman (54) and Boerta Dippenaar (69) each making fifties, while Kyle McCallan was this time the best Irish bowler, taking 2-46. The Irish reply was again led by William Porterfield (65), but there was no real support for him as Claude Henderson (4-30) ran riot and the Irish were all out for 164.

The Swalec Stadium saw Glamorgan take on Hampshire (pics below). The Dragons made 229-5 with Michael Powell (114) and Matthew Wood (64) the main men. Dimitri Mascarenhas, back from his IPL excursion, took 2-38 from his ten overs, while Sean Ervine took a more expensive 2-38 from six overs. Michael Carberry led the Hawks’ reply with a rapid 65 and was given good support by Michael Lumb (35), Chris Benham (39) and Michael Brown (35*), as they made it home with ten balls to spare, despite the best efforts of David Harrison (2-46) and Jamie Dalrymple (2-48).

1. Dimitri Mascarenhas bowls to centurion Mike Powell.
2. Powell reaches a one day ton at last, congratulated by his big pal Mark Wallace.
3. Michael Carberry gets Hants off to a good start.
4. Mascarenhas and Michael Brown see Hants home. (Pics c/o RTE)

Essex were in action again at Chelmsford, this time against Middlesex. The Crusaders made 259-7, Eoin Morgan’s 100 the highlight, while Captain Ed Smith’s 75 was also key. Graham Napier (2-60) and Ryan ten Doeschate (2-57) each took two wickets. Jason Gallian was imperious in reply hitting an unbeaten 111, while Varun Chopra (50) and Ravi Bopara (85*) also found conditions to their liking, as Essex crossed the finishing line just two wicket down and with seven overs remaining.

Our final game took place at The Riverside, where Durham made 205-8 from their fifty overs against Lancashire, Dale Benkenstein (64) and Gary Park (42*) the main contributors, as Kyle Hogg (2-19) impressed yet again and was backed up by youngster Stephen Cheetham (2-39) and Gareth Cross (2-26). Mal Loye led the Lightning reply with 77, but there was no support for him, aside from Cross (48), and they fell short with 199-9 from their fifty overs, Steve Harmison (3-44) and Graham Onions (2-44) reminding the selectors of the talents.

Player of the Week: Justin Langer, Darren Stevens, Martin van Jaarseveld, Jason Gallian, Azhar Mahmood, Yasir Arafat and Claude Henderson all stood out this week with match winning performances. Yasir Arafat’s 6-84 across two matches ultimately make him the stand out performer of the week as he destroyed the Essex top order of Mark Pettini, Ravi Bopara and Grant Flower and then took the key wicket of Alistair Brown in the high scoring triumph over Surrey.

England's quartet of promise

It seems that England have finally found a bowling unit again. After a lot of fiddling around and numerous injuries and losses of form in recent years, the quartet who now hold the England bowling positions are starting to look like they work well together.

Even the usually inconsistent Anderson has started to perform for more than one Test in a row, perhaps starting to fulfil his early promise, though he has a long way to go to completely convince. What is good is that he seems to enjoy bowling with Sidebottom, Broad and Panesar and Vaughan has started to have much more faith in him.

There is little doubt that both Panesar and Sidebottom have firmly established themselves in the team. Both left-armers have the skill and spirit necessary to succeed at the highest level and have produced several match-winning performances.

Broad is by no means the finished article, but has shown the priceless ability to learn with each bowling spell. This continual improvement should take him on the road to success in the five day game, though he will, no doubt, have many stern tests ahead.

England may have failed to push their advantage in the First Test against New Zealand, which ended in the damp and murk today, but the bowlers showed that they can fire, both individually and as a unit. With better support from their fielders and better umpiring they could have forced a serious wobble from the New Zealand line-up and given the England batsmen a late chase for victory.

Roll on the Second Test and another interesting installment in the development of England's new look quartet.

Championship Review - Week 5

The most meaningless game for English cricket takes place in Division 2 while in Division 1, Notts are beginning to open a gap at the top and Yorkshire put in the sort of performance to give my Sunday team a run for their money.

Division 1
Starting with the early pace-setters, Nottinghamshire as they hosted Lancashire without their England opening bowling pair of Sidebottom and Broad. One of the replacements, though, Darren Pattinson, took six wickets as Lancs made just 113, Stuart Law and Steven Croft scoring most of those in a 5th wicket stand of 85. In reply, Notts salvaged a batting point and a decent first innings lead with 202 before Lancs scored 233 second time round, Charlie Shreck taking 5-fer. Needing just 147 to win, Saj Mahmood took three early wickets, but a century stand between Mark Wagh and Adam Voges gives Notts a healthy lead at the top of the Championship.

Taunton looked to have rediscovered some of its characteristics from last season as Somerset racked up 557 for 8, James Hildredth getting a hundred while Neil Edwards was run out for 99. In reply Sussex managed just 202, despite Michael Yardy and Carl Hopkinson putting on a hundred for the 2nd wicket. Yardy and Hopkinson did exactly the same during the follow on before a Murray Goodwin ton led the Champions to safety. Sussex have started the season poorly, but they did last year as well.

Performing worse than Sussex were Yorkshire, who allowed Durham to reach 406 in their first innings, largely due to 184 from Michael Di Venuto with Tim Bresnan taking four wickets. Yorkshire’s total of 194 was something of a recovery, from 50 for 6, with Adil Rashid and Bresnan putting on 85 for the 6th wicket, Rashid making 70 and Graham Onions taking 5 wickets. Durham batted again, declaring on 205 for 6, setting Yorkshire an unlikely 417 to win. In an agonising finish, they ended up just 295 runs short, scoring an abject 122 and losing Matthew Hoggard to a broken thumb.

A much tighter finish happened at the Rose Bowl where all eyes were on Mark Ramprakash and his quest for his 100th 100. Surrey batted first and Ramps could make just 17 as Surrey made 278. Chris Tremlett took 5-fer to put his name in the frame for the 2nd test, although the back spasms wich kept him out of the rest of the match probably put paid to that. Hampshire replied with 227, despite a century partnership between the Michaels Brown and Lumb. Surrey declared on 229 to set Hants a target of 281 to win in 75 overs. Brown’s 94 gave the home team hope, but with Saqlain taking 5 wickets, Hants were holding on for a draw at the end, finishing on 247 for 8.

Division 2
The Kolpakshire derby took place at Grace Road, with Leicestershire scoring 527 in their first innings, Jacques du Toit scoring a ton, while Nicky Boje took four wickets for Northamptonshire. The weather intervened so Northants could only manage 302 for 3 in reply before the end of the match. However, with only nine Englishmen playing in the match, the interest outside of the counties focussed on the Kolpak regulations.

Glamorgan have deliberately gone against the Kolpak route and are putting their trust in their youngsters, a policy that is beginning to pay off. Having restricted Derbyshire to 289, the Welshmen scored 384 in their first innings, with centuries for 23 year old Gareth Reed and 37 year old David Hemp, Charl Langeveldt taking 5 wickets. Derbyshire struggled second time round, but dogged resistance from Dan Birch (43 from 136 balls) and Karl Klokker (19 from 88 balls) and poor weather meant Glamorgan weren’t able to claim the victory.

Finally to New Road where Worcestershire had Gloucestershire in all sorts of trouble at 85 for 5. However, centuries for Chris Taylor and Stephen Snell in a stand of 222 took Gloucester to 444, Simon Jones taking 5 wickets and bowling 24 overs without getting injured. In reply Worcester also had the poor start, but without the recovery, they made just 214. Batting again, they reached 194 for 3 before the game fizzled out into a draw. Stephen Moore scored 84 of these and he is the first batsman to 500 runs this season.

England Player watch
Matt Prior failed for the first time this season with 1 while Luke Wright only managed 3 more. Michael Carberry scored 8 runs, albeit in two innings. Adil Rashid top scored for Yorkshire with 70, and is currently looking like his batting is his strongest suit.

Bowling-wise, the injury to Matthew Hoggard means that there is a chance for someone to get into the next England squad. Chris Tremlett bowled well, but there are doubts about his fitness due to his back spasms. Talking of crocks, Simon Jones took five wickets, but it is far too early to think about throwing him back into the mix. Graham Onions and Charlie Shreck both took 5-fer, while Tim Bresnan is currently the highest rated English player by the PCA ratings. He took 6 wickets and scored 78 runs in Yorkshire’s abject performance at Durham.

Player of the week
Lots of good performances this week, with Tim Bresnan’s virtually solo resistance for Yorkshire, Michael Di Venuto's big hundred in the same game, Gareth Rees’s fluent hundred for Glamorgan and Simon Jones’s five-fer all worthy of a mention. However, for setting Nottinghamshire off on their victory in the absence of Broad and Sidebottom with six wickets, the player of the week is Darren Pattinson.

Three-day cricket is not the answer

The latest idea to revolutionise the county game comes from Jack Simmons, who wants a return to three-day championship cricket in order to make way for more Twenty20. But it is a ridiculous idea.

Few would dispute that standards have risen in recent years with, first, the introduction of four-day cricket and then the introduction of two divisions. While the plethora of Kolpaks is a major irritant, they have, too, helped to raise standards. The best young players are still making their way; it does them no harm that competition for places is sterner than was once the case.

While there are flaws with the county game, the championship is certainly not one of them. The idea to cut back to three-days, while flogging bowlers into the ground with 120-over days, is clearly designed for no reason other than money. The current system is faring commendably in ensuring players who begin in Test cricket are immediately ready - from youngsters like Panesar and Cook to relative stalwarts like Sidebottom.

Simmons' idea is laden with flaws. Principally, the intensity of the county championship, which many players say has never been higher (certainly in Division One) would clearly suffer. Bowlers could not possibly operate anywhere near full capacity over such long days. Concern would switch from how to dismiss the opposition to maintaining a good over rate. Above all, the county championship would be vastly dissimilar to the model it is meant to mirror. Its number one function should be to prepare future internationals for the Test game. This would be a retrograde step in achieving that goal, and would only serve to devalue the championship.

There could well be scope for increasing the Twenty20 and making county cricket more self-sufficient. However, there are much better ways to do that. Scrapping the Pro40 to make room for more Twenty20, or extending the season into October to allow for both more Twenty20 and rest between games during the season are two possible ways forward. Simmons' suggestion, however, has no merit if England are serious in their intention to become the world's number one Test side.