So, after a few months and 122 matches, an encouragingly big crowd at Edgbaston were treated to a dry (but cool) day and a home side victory in the inaugural NatWest T20 Blast tournament. Personally I think the more structured scheduling over a longer period has been a plus. If some of the big international names couldn't commit to the summer, that's a price worth paying to preserve the perfect mix of fun stuff and proper cricket in the form of the County Championship, which in turn breeds the England Test stars of the future.
As for the domestic T20 competition climax, my interest was somewhat diminished by the rare absence of Somerset and the qualification of Surrey. However I was glad to see the likes of Pietersen (13 runs in 16 balls), Dernbach (0-56!) and Batty knocked out by the Birmingham Bears (henceforth to be referred to as Warwickshire) in the first semi-final. Will Porterfield is not renowned as a big-hitting limited over specialist but his unbeaten 81, featuring five sixes, was the highest score of the day and, with the tight spin bowling of Ateeq Javid, was crucial to the Bears' progression. Jason Roy's brisk half-century for Surrey was ultimately in vain.
In the other semi, Lancashire fielded current England Test players Jimmy Anderson and Jos Buttler, along with other internationals past and present in Prince, Khawaja, Kabir Ali and Parry. Smith (Tom) fell to Smith (Will) first ball but Ashwell Prince and Karl Brown rescued the innings. Hampshire's response was a disaster. Jimmy Adams made 53 but Carberry's 10 was the next best as all Lancashire bowlers took wickets steadily throughout the afternoon. The perennial semi-finalists were not to win this year.
The final was to prove a much more exciting affair, heightened by the inclusion of celebrity Lancashire all-rounder Andrew Flintoff in place of the injured Ali. That he took Ian Bell's wicket with his first delivery and, after two consecutive sixes, threatened to complete the fairytale script and clinch an unlikely victory, merely added to the already heady atmosphere under the floodlights. However, the likes of Bears skipper Varun Chopra, Chris Woakes, Boyd Rankin and man of the match Laurie Evans saw Warwickshire home by four runs with Parry, not Flintoff, needing to hit the last-ball six needed to take the trophy in front of the home fans.
As for the tournament as a whole, Jason Roy and Luke Wright were the stand-out batsmen while a whole clutch of spinners and a few seamers caught the eye for bowling consistency across the summer. Wright's spell as an England T20 specialist seems to have ended but he is still under 30 and his 153 not out at Chelmsford Essex in July was the second of his Blast hundreds this season. Tim Westley of Essex also delivered two centuries but, while making no three-figures scores, Surrey's Roy did his future England credentials no harm by aggregating 677 runs from fifteen games, including nine 50s, at a strike rate of 157. That's way ahead of Hales, Carberry, Taylor, Morgan, Trego and Bopara, to name but six other contenders.
With the ball, Dirk Nannes was one of the few globe-trotting pros to deliver value for money, this year in the service of Somerset. His tally of 24 wickets led the table before Jeetan Patel pipped him by one on Finals Day. Over fifteen matches, the Warwickshire Kiwi conceded scarcely a run a ball. Michael Hogan (Glamorgan), Kabir Ali and Junaid Khan (both Lancashire) also led the fast bowler brigade but for a combination of wickets and economy, the stellar performers were Patel, Hampshire's Danny Briggs and relative bowling novice Will Smith plus Middlesex's new left-armer Ravi Patel. Watch out for his rise over the next few years. Briggs hasn't progressed from T20 promise to first-class finished product but maybe this 23 year-old will buck the trend of T20-only bowlers like Parry.
Well done, Warwickshire/Birmingham, and my T20 Blast team of the year is as follows:- Roy (Sur), Wright (Sus), Westley (Ess), Allenby (Glam), S Patel (Not), Stevens (Kent), Wilson (Sur +,*), J Patel (War), Briggs (Ham), Nannes (Som), R Patel (Mid).
Your name doesn't have to be Patel to be a successful T20 slow bowler, but it seems to help! Now for the England-India ODIs and the Championship finale...
Showing posts with label Dirk Nannes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dirk Nannes. Show all posts
Monday, 25 August 2014
Sunday, 30 March 2014
Dutch defend 100% record against England
While most eyes will presumably be focussing on the teams still competing for the trophy, I'll be interested in how a dispirited England will fare against near-neighbours the Netherlands in their dead rubber. The Dutch may never play Test matches but they have had a few memorable moments in limited-overs cricket, including a couple against England.
In the 50-over format, England enjoy a 3-0 record. Their first meeting took place at Peshawar in the 1996 World Cup. On that occasion, Mike Atherton's side suffered early jitters before Graeme Hick (104 not out) and Graeme Thorpe (89) powered England to 279-4. The opposition - featuring county players Roly Lefebvre, Bas Zuiderent and Pul-Jon Bakker - managed a respectable 230-6 in reply. They went on to lose all their group matches, including a hammering by the UAE, while England were knocked out in the quarters by eventual champions Sri Lanka.
Seven years later, in South Africa, England triumphed easily. A 20 year-old Jimmy Anderson took 4-25, then half-centuries by Nick Knight and Michael Vaughan steered the favourites to a six-wicket victory. Andrew Flintoff suffered the embarrassment of falling second ball to van Bunge for nought, but by then the game was practically over.
The most memorable ODI encounter between the nations came at Nagpur three years ago. Zuiderent was still there for the Dutch, fifteen years after the first, but it was Ryan Ten Doeschate who really shook England to the core. His 110-ball innings of 119 scared the hell out of Andrew Strauss' team and Anderson and Broad conceded 137 runs between them. All six England batsmen made decent contributions but it was Kevin Pietersen. of all people, whose slow scoring threatened to cost England the match. In the end, Ravi Bopara and Paul Collingwood had to thrash some boundaries to close the run chase with only eight balls to spare. Ireland went even further a few weeks later by actually beating England, but it was the latter who qualified for the knockout stage. Just as in 1996, Sri Lanka proved far too good on the day. The Dutch? That gallant effort against England was balanced by some humbling defeats at the hands of South Africa and the West Indies and once more they finished winless.
But let's get back to Twenty20 cricket. Here, the Netherlands have a 100% record against England! OK, it's based on just one fixture but it's a statistic the Dutch will be keen to maintain tomorrow. They have deserved their spot in the global limelight, achieved partly as a result of that tremendous onslaught on the Irish bowlers a few weeks ago. Of course, 20-over cricket is much more likely to yield a surprise; one six blitz and a few tight overs can decide a game. Alternatively, two sides can struggle to impose themselves and it goes down to nerve and luck in the final over. It was the latter situation on 5th June 2009 when T20 World Cup hosts England opened the tournament at Lord's expecting an easy ride against the Netherlands.
Jeroen Smits won the toss and put England in to bat. It all looked straightforward as Ravi Bopara and Luke Wright shared a first-wicket century partnership against an attack featuring Aussie-born debutant Dirk Nannes. Already in his 30s, Nannes was just starting his international career which was soon jettisoned in favour of one of the most successful T20 specialist spells of any fast bowler. However, he managed no wickets and leaked 30 runs in his four overs.
England racked up 162-5, awkward but by no means impossible to overcome. Alex Kervezee skied a catch to Broad in the first over but, slowly but surely, the Dutch advanced. Wickets fell at intervals, three to Anderson, and Ryan Sidebottom was just as economical. Nevertheless, when Tim de Grooth was dismissed for 49 in 30 balls, his side needed just 47 in seven overs. That brought in Ten Doeschate and he and Peter Borren kept the scoreboard ticking over for more overs. However, the Netherlands still needed seven from the last six balls. By then Tendo had been joined by bowler Edgar Schiferli. Stuart Broad was the bowler and, while he succeded in preventing any match-winning boundaries, he contrived to mess up a run-out chance and drop a difficult caugt-and-bowled. Schiferli faced the last delivery needing two to win. He got bat to ball and ran. Broad picked up in his follow-through and shied at the stumps and missed. The ball whizzed past 'keeper James Foster and the batsmen ran an overthrow to win in the most dramatic of fashions.
England certainly won't want a repeat, but if the future does prove to be orange, Ashley Giles, Broad and co will have faces of scarlet. The turbulent trials in Australia were bad enough but humiliation in Bangladesh will cap a forgettable winter for England.
In the 50-over format, England enjoy a 3-0 record. Their first meeting took place at Peshawar in the 1996 World Cup. On that occasion, Mike Atherton's side suffered early jitters before Graeme Hick (104 not out) and Graeme Thorpe (89) powered England to 279-4. The opposition - featuring county players Roly Lefebvre, Bas Zuiderent and Pul-Jon Bakker - managed a respectable 230-6 in reply. They went on to lose all their group matches, including a hammering by the UAE, while England were knocked out in the quarters by eventual champions Sri Lanka.
Seven years later, in South Africa, England triumphed easily. A 20 year-old Jimmy Anderson took 4-25, then half-centuries by Nick Knight and Michael Vaughan steered the favourites to a six-wicket victory. Andrew Flintoff suffered the embarrassment of falling second ball to van Bunge for nought, but by then the game was practically over.
The most memorable ODI encounter between the nations came at Nagpur three years ago. Zuiderent was still there for the Dutch, fifteen years after the first, but it was Ryan Ten Doeschate who really shook England to the core. His 110-ball innings of 119 scared the hell out of Andrew Strauss' team and Anderson and Broad conceded 137 runs between them. All six England batsmen made decent contributions but it was Kevin Pietersen. of all people, whose slow scoring threatened to cost England the match. In the end, Ravi Bopara and Paul Collingwood had to thrash some boundaries to close the run chase with only eight balls to spare. Ireland went even further a few weeks later by actually beating England, but it was the latter who qualified for the knockout stage. Just as in 1996, Sri Lanka proved far too good on the day. The Dutch? That gallant effort against England was balanced by some humbling defeats at the hands of South Africa and the West Indies and once more they finished winless.
But let's get back to Twenty20 cricket. Here, the Netherlands have a 100% record against England! OK, it's based on just one fixture but it's a statistic the Dutch will be keen to maintain tomorrow. They have deserved their spot in the global limelight, achieved partly as a result of that tremendous onslaught on the Irish bowlers a few weeks ago. Of course, 20-over cricket is much more likely to yield a surprise; one six blitz and a few tight overs can decide a game. Alternatively, two sides can struggle to impose themselves and it goes down to nerve and luck in the final over. It was the latter situation on 5th June 2009 when T20 World Cup hosts England opened the tournament at Lord's expecting an easy ride against the Netherlands.
Jeroen Smits won the toss and put England in to bat. It all looked straightforward as Ravi Bopara and Luke Wright shared a first-wicket century partnership against an attack featuring Aussie-born debutant Dirk Nannes. Already in his 30s, Nannes was just starting his international career which was soon jettisoned in favour of one of the most successful T20 specialist spells of any fast bowler. However, he managed no wickets and leaked 30 runs in his four overs.
England racked up 162-5, awkward but by no means impossible to overcome. Alex Kervezee skied a catch to Broad in the first over but, slowly but surely, the Dutch advanced. Wickets fell at intervals, three to Anderson, and Ryan Sidebottom was just as economical. Nevertheless, when Tim de Grooth was dismissed for 49 in 30 balls, his side needed just 47 in seven overs. That brought in Ten Doeschate and he and Peter Borren kept the scoreboard ticking over for more overs. However, the Netherlands still needed seven from the last six balls. By then Tendo had been joined by bowler Edgar Schiferli. Stuart Broad was the bowler and, while he succeded in preventing any match-winning boundaries, he contrived to mess up a run-out chance and drop a difficult caugt-and-bowled. Schiferli faced the last delivery needing two to win. He got bat to ball and ran. Broad picked up in his follow-through and shied at the stumps and missed. The ball whizzed past 'keeper James Foster and the batsmen ran an overthrow to win in the most dramatic of fashions.
England certainly won't want a repeat, but if the future does prove to be orange, Ashley Giles, Broad and co will have faces of scarlet. The turbulent trials in Australia were bad enough but humiliation in Bangladesh will cap a forgettable winter for England.
Monday, 28 October 2013
Jones and Jadeja - A Last Lucrative Hurrah?
Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes started the rot four to five years ago. A few physical injuries and mental exhaustion took their toll on budding first-class careers so the two Aussies went for the easier and more lucrative route to fame by becoming specialist T20 fast bowlers. Let's be honest, they haven't done too badly. Apart from Australia and his native Netherlands, Nannes has plied his trade for no fewer than eleven top teams around the world, taking 214 wickets in 181 matches over six seasons, compared with 93 in a mere 23 first-class fixtures before that.
Tait, still only 30, did at least have a decent grounding in proper cricket, including three mediocre Tests and 35 ODIs. However, it's now thirty months since he played even a 50-over game, but at least he retired with Sachin Tendulkar his final victim. He has represented nine senior sides in a ten-year career and, with only a few four-over stints, albeit at a fearsome pace, he probably has several more years left in him.
So what about Simon Jones. I did scoff and splutter when reading about his decision to concentate all his efforts on winning contracts for T20 franchises around the world. With no reputation in that form of cricket at all, and living entirely on fans' memories of his mid-2000s England heyday, that did sound mighty optimistic to me. He made no impact in Glamorgan's one-day final this summer and, for all his media appearances and talking the talk, I do wonder why he thinks the Big Bash, IPL etc will come hammering on the door of such an injury-prone bowler, eight years past his prime.
Now even his home county Glamorgan have shut the door in his face, quite rightly preferring to place their hopes and slender cash reserves on young talent. Jones commented that he would have to seek employment 'over the bridge', presumably meaning the Severn crossing. However, unless he has relatively low expectations, pay-wise I can't see many counties fighting for his services. Perhaps he can prove me wrong but it would be a gamble for any side.
Over in India, Ajay Jadeja has made a comeback at 42, nearly seven years after his final first-class appearance for Rajasthan. It wasn't a senior game, but a Buchi Babu tournament one-dayer for Haryana. Nevertheless, as one of India's top 50-over batsmen of the 1990s before involvement in match-fixing cost him dear, eyebrows are being raised. Is he just helping out a former side, mentoring the youngsters or actually testing the waters for a Warne-like comeback payday? I'm probably too much of a cynic by steering towards the latter. After all, if Tendulkar finds his powers waning at 40, what hope does his former team-mate Jadeja have?
In the end, it's a commercial world and if someone has the cash and nerve to make an eye-catching big-name signing in Jadeja, then I don't blame him for trying. As for Simon Jones, I wish he had simply bowed to the inevitable and made a dignified exit from the senior cricket field and used his experience to benefit youngsters as a coach. I'm sure he'd make a great one.
Tait, still only 30, did at least have a decent grounding in proper cricket, including three mediocre Tests and 35 ODIs. However, it's now thirty months since he played even a 50-over game, but at least he retired with Sachin Tendulkar his final victim. He has represented nine senior sides in a ten-year career and, with only a few four-over stints, albeit at a fearsome pace, he probably has several more years left in him.
So what about Simon Jones. I did scoff and splutter when reading about his decision to concentate all his efforts on winning contracts for T20 franchises around the world. With no reputation in that form of cricket at all, and living entirely on fans' memories of his mid-2000s England heyday, that did sound mighty optimistic to me. He made no impact in Glamorgan's one-day final this summer and, for all his media appearances and talking the talk, I do wonder why he thinks the Big Bash, IPL etc will come hammering on the door of such an injury-prone bowler, eight years past his prime.
Now even his home county Glamorgan have shut the door in his face, quite rightly preferring to place their hopes and slender cash reserves on young talent. Jones commented that he would have to seek employment 'over the bridge', presumably meaning the Severn crossing. However, unless he has relatively low expectations, pay-wise I can't see many counties fighting for his services. Perhaps he can prove me wrong but it would be a gamble for any side.
Over in India, Ajay Jadeja has made a comeback at 42, nearly seven years after his final first-class appearance for Rajasthan. It wasn't a senior game, but a Buchi Babu tournament one-dayer for Haryana. Nevertheless, as one of India's top 50-over batsmen of the 1990s before involvement in match-fixing cost him dear, eyebrows are being raised. Is he just helping out a former side, mentoring the youngsters or actually testing the waters for a Warne-like comeback payday? I'm probably too much of a cynic by steering towards the latter. After all, if Tendulkar finds his powers waning at 40, what hope does his former team-mate Jadeja have?
In the end, it's a commercial world and if someone has the cash and nerve to make an eye-catching big-name signing in Jadeja, then I don't blame him for trying. As for Simon Jones, I wish he had simply bowed to the inevitable and made a dignified exit from the senior cricket field and used his experience to benefit youngsters as a coach. I'm sure he'd make a great one.
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Dutch too Much for the Counties
The Netherlands are hardly new to cricket. Their first national association was formed in 1886, predating even the West Indies. They've enjoyed ICC Associate membership since 1966, been amongst the 'best of the rest' in recent one-day and T20 tournaments and regulars in the English domestic limited-over competitions for two decades.
On the major international stage it's not surprising they have made little impact but their one success against a Test playing nation came in the World T20s in 2009, when they beat England at Lord's off the last ball. Of course they came close to pulling off an even greater upset in the 50-over World Cup two years later thanks to a wonderful century by Ryan Ten Doeschate, easily the best batsman to have represented the Netherlands. He has the most runs, wickets and probably the biggest bank balance of any man still representing the country.
Other Dutch passport holders include Dirk Nannes. Although born in Australia, Nannes did play for the land of his forefathers in that groundbreaking victory over England. However, Australia snapped him up soon afterwards and he continued to make his mark as a superb T20 fast bowler, a reputation which has made him a top-earner in the IPL and other franchise tournaments but a has-been at international level.
Paul-Jon Bakker became the first Dutch-born player to represent an English county back in the 1980s, and I remember seeing Roland Lefebvre and Adrian Van Troost playing for Somerset in the early '90s. Lefebvre could be a mean bowler in one-dayers, while Van Troost was just mean. A 6 ft 7 giant, he could extract awkward bounce, but he wasn't the tightest of bowlers. However, he conjures up find memories from the Somerset faithful. As well as Tendo and Nannes, Alexei Kervezee and Bas Zuiderent were also in the England-beating T20 side. The former was actually born in what is now Namibia and remains a useful Worcestershire batsman. Zuiderent scored a few centuries for Sussex a decade ago.
None of the aforementioned cricketers have been playing for the Netherlands in the 2012 Pro40 tournament, so it is some surprise that they lead Group A with four wins out of five. Perhaps it should not be a shock given the ICC Associate experience of the likes of Tom Cooper (born in Oz), skipper Peter Borren (New Zealand), Mudassar Bukhari (Pakistan) and Pietar Seelar (home-grown!), the national side should give counties a good game.
So far this summer they have beaten Gloucestershire ,Worcestershire, Lancashire and Essex, losing only to Middlesex. SA-born Stephan Myburgh is currently the competition's highest run scorer, with 255 and three half-centuries so far. Whether they maintain early season form and reach the knockout stage is doubtful. However, I welcome their inclusion in the premier domestic one-day tournament. They do more than make up the numbers, which possibly does apply to Scotland and the Unicorns, and it gives their players a chance to compete regularly against top players in between ICC tournaments. Apart from Cooper's stints for South Australia, they don't have other professional contracts, so this kind of experience is very important. Ireland and Afghanistan may have pipped them to the forthcoming World T20 Cup but I hope to see a Dutch team featuring Tendo and Kervezee on the biggest stage in the future.
On the major international stage it's not surprising they have made little impact but their one success against a Test playing nation came in the World T20s in 2009, when they beat England at Lord's off the last ball. Of course they came close to pulling off an even greater upset in the 50-over World Cup two years later thanks to a wonderful century by Ryan Ten Doeschate, easily the best batsman to have represented the Netherlands. He has the most runs, wickets and probably the biggest bank balance of any man still representing the country.
Other Dutch passport holders include Dirk Nannes. Although born in Australia, Nannes did play for the land of his forefathers in that groundbreaking victory over England. However, Australia snapped him up soon afterwards and he continued to make his mark as a superb T20 fast bowler, a reputation which has made him a top-earner in the IPL and other franchise tournaments but a has-been at international level.
Paul-Jon Bakker became the first Dutch-born player to represent an English county back in the 1980s, and I remember seeing Roland Lefebvre and Adrian Van Troost playing for Somerset in the early '90s. Lefebvre could be a mean bowler in one-dayers, while Van Troost was just mean. A 6 ft 7 giant, he could extract awkward bounce, but he wasn't the tightest of bowlers. However, he conjures up find memories from the Somerset faithful. As well as Tendo and Nannes, Alexei Kervezee and Bas Zuiderent were also in the England-beating T20 side. The former was actually born in what is now Namibia and remains a useful Worcestershire batsman. Zuiderent scored a few centuries for Sussex a decade ago.
None of the aforementioned cricketers have been playing for the Netherlands in the 2012 Pro40 tournament, so it is some surprise that they lead Group A with four wins out of five. Perhaps it should not be a shock given the ICC Associate experience of the likes of Tom Cooper (born in Oz), skipper Peter Borren (New Zealand), Mudassar Bukhari (Pakistan) and Pietar Seelar (home-grown!), the national side should give counties a good game.
So far this summer they have beaten Gloucestershire ,Worcestershire, Lancashire and Essex, losing only to Middlesex. SA-born Stephan Myburgh is currently the competition's highest run scorer, with 255 and three half-centuries so far. Whether they maintain early season form and reach the knockout stage is doubtful. However, I welcome their inclusion in the premier domestic one-day tournament. They do more than make up the numbers, which possibly does apply to Scotland and the Unicorns, and it gives their players a chance to compete regularly against top players in between ICC tournaments. Apart from Cooper's stints for South Australia, they don't have other professional contracts, so this kind of experience is very important. Ireland and Afghanistan may have pipped them to the forthcoming World T20 Cup but I hope to see a Dutch team featuring Tendo and Kervezee on the biggest stage in the future.
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