A good spread of top performances this week, with wicketkeepers and slow bowlers to the fore. First name on my team sheet is Worcestershire captain and opener, Daryl Mitchell. This is his tenth summer with his home county, and it must be one of his best starts to a first-class season. I once saw him fall two runs short of a triple-century at Taunton but when set he is one of the best county openers around. Against Glamorgan, he was last man out for 109, then unbeaten on 151 in the second innings, taking his career average close to 40 and season average well into three figures. Durham's Mark Stoneman has been around almost as long, but with less success. However, his 131 did much to keep Durham in the match against Yorkshire and certainly eclipsed debutant Kumar Sangakkara, whose first outing for his new county lasted only two balls. Good practice for the Sri Lanka tour then!
Mike Yardy showed the way for Sussex with a first innings century against Lancashire but I've gone for Kent's Brendan Nash at number three. He shared a 197-run partnership with Rob Key, scoring the same number of runs (126) but at a much brisker rate. The Aussie-born West Indian international is proving to be one of Kent's best signings of recent years.
It doesn't matter where AB De Villiers plays; he'll produce the goods on any pitch, in any country, in any format. As the IPL shifted from the UAE back to India, the Bangalore number five took advantage and smashed an 89 and 53. He's still way behind the current leading scorer in he tournament, Glen Maxwell, though. Shane Watson has flattered to deceive in recent years but it was with his bowling that he made the headlines his week, including a hat-trick against Kolkata and taking another three wickets against the Sunrisers.
Back in Blighty, another Aussie, Phil Jaques, outscored his fellow Notts batsmen in the draw against Somerset. However, team-mate Samit Patel made 132 arguably when it mattered most, on the opening day. He took a couple of wickets, too. The same wicketkeepers always seem to appear in contention. Chris Read hammered 17 boundaries in 96, alongside the aforementioned Jaques and Patel, James Foster propped up the Essex batting, and Tim Ambrose delivered a fine 167 for Warwickshire. He pipped Ned Eckersley to a place in my team of the week; the Leicestershire batsman donned the gloves in O'Brien's absence and also struck 110 runs.
On the bowling front, spinners took the plaudits, and not only in the IPL where Pravin Tambe was once more Mr Economical for the Royals. He doesn't quite make it this week, displaced by a couple of slowies in the Championship. Kent's young Alex Riley (4-77 and 5-78) and Glamorgan's nothing-like-as-young Dean Cosker (5-39 and 4-94) deserve the selections at a time of year when seamers usually hoover up the wickets. The final bowling spot goes to Bhuvneshwar Kumar of Sunrisers Hyderabad. His 4-14 against the Royals was his best in a T20 contest, and in the 2014 tournament so far has conceded fewer than 6 an over across eight games, and nobody has taken more wickets. Not bad for a fast-medium pacer!
To re-cap: Daryl Mitchell (Worcs), Mark Stoneman (Dur), Brendan Nash (Kent), Phil Jaques (Notts), AB De Villers (Banga), Samit Patel (Notts), Shane Watson (Rajas), Tim Ambrose (Warks, +), Adam Riley (Kent), Bhuvi Kumar (Hyder), Dean Cosker (Glam)
Showing posts with label Brendan Nash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brendan Nash. Show all posts
Saturday, 10 May 2014
Wednesday, 17 July 2013
Afridi, Nash and Goodwin back in business
Shahid Afridi has for a long time been one of the most irrepressible characters in world cricket. However, as his form began to fade beneath the shadow of his reputation, it became inevitable that the Pakistan selectors would wield the knife. Perhaps surprisingly, he never established a lasting career in Test cricket but with over 7,000 runs and 350 wickets in ODIs, his place in history was complete. If his nation had performed well in the Champions Trophy, maybe his international retirement would have been confirmed at the age of 33.
However, that didn't happen and he was recalled to the team for the West Indies tour. Wow, did he grab that opportunity! In Guyana, he began with a typical 'boom-boom' innings of 76 in 55 balls. That could have won him the Man of the Match award on its own, but he wasn't finished there. The home batsmen completely capitulated to his looping leg-breaks and googlies, and Afridi finished with 7-12 in nine overs! It's an ODI innings aggregate beaten only by Chaminda Vaas' 8-19 against Zimbabwe (including the Flower brothers) twelve years ago. Maybe there's plenty more cricket to come from the 'star man'!
Shahid Afridi gives another Zimbabwean, Murray Goodwin, seven whole years. The vastly experienced batsman, whose brief Test career had ended prior to that humiliation at the hands of Vaas, is now seeing out his time at Glamorgan. Despite his shedful of runs made for Sussex over the years, to be honest I didn't expect that much from him in 2013. However, after 86 and 56 not out against Hampshire last week, he trumped that with 194 at Old Trafford yesterday. He has a whopping 36,000 runs under his belt in all forms of the sport so, like Afridi, there would appear to be life in this old dog yet.
Brendan Nash is another man in the latter stages of his cricketing career. An interesting player, particularly because he is one of the rare white men to have represented the West Indies in recent years. Born in Australia with a Jamaican father, he blazed a trail in Oz before transferrig to his father's island. There he played his way into a Test batting line-up featuring Gayle, Chanderpaul and Sarwan and was far from disgraced. Indeed, he became vice-captain in 2011 but after a poor series in India, he was jettisoned, but is now wnjoying a new lease of life with Kent.
Last week, his 199 was instrumental in winning a match which should not have been Kent'sn after Gloucestershire racked up 562-5 declared in their first innings. What made that performance especially extraordinary was that the heat at Cheltenham forced him to retire ill. On 199! Could he not have kept going for just another single?! Fortunately, Charlie Shreck kept the innings moving and Kent won by two wickets late in the afternoon. To Nash's credit, he didn't rest up for a week and, with temperatures again in the high 20s, he notched another century. His 126 played second fiddle to Rob Key's 180 but at least Nash seems to have galvanised the worst team in the Championship so that their season may have turned for the better. Just goes to show you can never write off a star performer. Shahid Afridi and Murray Goodwin will echo that.
However, that didn't happen and he was recalled to the team for the West Indies tour. Wow, did he grab that opportunity! In Guyana, he began with a typical 'boom-boom' innings of 76 in 55 balls. That could have won him the Man of the Match award on its own, but he wasn't finished there. The home batsmen completely capitulated to his looping leg-breaks and googlies, and Afridi finished with 7-12 in nine overs! It's an ODI innings aggregate beaten only by Chaminda Vaas' 8-19 against Zimbabwe (including the Flower brothers) twelve years ago. Maybe there's plenty more cricket to come from the 'star man'!
Shahid Afridi gives another Zimbabwean, Murray Goodwin, seven whole years. The vastly experienced batsman, whose brief Test career had ended prior to that humiliation at the hands of Vaas, is now seeing out his time at Glamorgan. Despite his shedful of runs made for Sussex over the years, to be honest I didn't expect that much from him in 2013. However, after 86 and 56 not out against Hampshire last week, he trumped that with 194 at Old Trafford yesterday. He has a whopping 36,000 runs under his belt in all forms of the sport so, like Afridi, there would appear to be life in this old dog yet.
Brendan Nash is another man in the latter stages of his cricketing career. An interesting player, particularly because he is one of the rare white men to have represented the West Indies in recent years. Born in Australia with a Jamaican father, he blazed a trail in Oz before transferrig to his father's island. There he played his way into a Test batting line-up featuring Gayle, Chanderpaul and Sarwan and was far from disgraced. Indeed, he became vice-captain in 2011 but after a poor series in India, he was jettisoned, but is now wnjoying a new lease of life with Kent.
Last week, his 199 was instrumental in winning a match which should not have been Kent'sn after Gloucestershire racked up 562-5 declared in their first innings. What made that performance especially extraordinary was that the heat at Cheltenham forced him to retire ill. On 199! Could he not have kept going for just another single?! Fortunately, Charlie Shreck kept the innings moving and Kent won by two wickets late in the afternoon. To Nash's credit, he didn't rest up for a week and, with temperatures again in the high 20s, he notched another century. His 126 played second fiddle to Rob Key's 180 but at least Nash seems to have galvanised the worst team in the Championship so that their season may have turned for the better. Just goes to show you can never write off a star performer. Shahid Afridi and Murray Goodwin will echo that.
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