Windies v England - ODI Cricket is a Funny Old Game

Chewing the fat over the completed one-day international series in the Caribbean, it’s difficult to make any intelligent summary other than – er – “Cricket is a funny ol’ game!”

Before the start of the tour, England may be forgiven for expecting to win the Test series and the ODIs with their hosts liable to nick the ever-unpredictable T20. So far it’s not turning out that way. Joe Root’s men were dealt a heavy blow to their collective egos by crushing defeats at Bridgetown at North Sound before Wood and Root inspired a consolation victory at St Lucia.

Then, in the past fortnight, the ODIs have thrown up a right topsy-turvy quartet of games. The first-innings totals have been 360 (WI), 289(WI), 418 (Eng) and 113 (Eng) with two successful chases and two failures. All very ‘even-Stevens’ and the Grenada washout ensured a respectable 2-2 draw even if it deprive the West Indies a chance to gain their first series win since 2014.

The first and fourth were entertaining run-fests which suited this world-leading England squad down to the ground. On Barbados, Jason Roy and Root hunted down a grand Gayle-inspired target with style, then at St George’s it was a barnstorming 150 in 77 balls from Jos Buttler, supported by his captain Eoin Morgan, which took the visitors past 400, no longer a rare occurrence.

Then it all came undone in the final fixture, as England collapsed against the short ball, notably bowled by young Oshane Thomas. Player after player perished to mistimed hooks, pulls and slashes, allowing the Windies to cruise past the finishing line like Usain Bolt in a field of primary schoolchildren on Sports Day. Instead of Bolt it was his fellow Jamaican Chris Gayle who reminded us what cricket will be missing when he retires after the World Cup. 77 in 27 balls was sensational even by Gayle’s high standards. Add that to his previous scores of 135, 50 and 162 and you get an amazing series for the veteran opener. He resembles a maroon-clad statue these days but when he can slog 39 sixes in four innings, who cares?

As for that World Cup, I don’t think this weekend’s humiliation will have much of a bearing. England’s match pitches will be prepared nice and low to enable Roy, Hales, Stokes, Buttler and Bairstow to do their thing, and the hosts will surely progress to the semis at the very least. This series has also demonstrated that the West Indies have their best chance of success for many years. Gayle looks hungry to bow out with a bang and with Hope and Hetmyer showing promise with the bat and a useful pace attack, the West Indies look more than capable of mixing it with the likes of India, Australia, Pakistan and, of course, England.

Virat Kohli – The Best ever?

This week, Virat Kohli reached the landmark of 10,000 runs in ODIs. In fact, he didn’t reach the barrier so much as smash through it. The achievement came with a century against the West Indies, which was duly followed by another, his third in succession.

Much has been made of his joining the five-figure club in only 205 innings, by far the quickest to do so. In particular, he needed 54 fewer innings than his illustrious former India team-mate Sachin Tendulkar. As EspnCricinfo’s analysis illustrates, a straightforward comparison of statistics is meaningless; you need to factor in the evolution in one-day batting during the past twenty years.

Without get bogged down in numbers, suffice it to say that, when comparing each player’s scoring records with their contemporaries, there isn’t a lot to separate Tendulkar and Kohli. Both are legends of their respective generations and those of us who have seen them both play should savour the experience. Of course, Kohli should have many more years ahead of him. His 30^th birthday may be looming but if he maintains the fitness, appetite and skill for another decade, he could yet surpass SRT’s formidable world record of 18,426 runs.

Both had their fallow periods but Kohli’s purple patches seem to stretch on and on. In the past three years, he has accumulated well over 3,000 runs at more than one a ball. In 2018 his average is an astonishing 144 and, unlike various other pretenders to his throne, has the great ability to convert 50s into centuries. He rarely throws his wicket away, knows how to judge a chase and all this while bearing the weight of his nation’s captaincy.

Only twelve others have passed 10,000 ODI runs, and already Kohli has eclipsed his long-time colleague and captain MS Dhoni. Dilshan, Lara and Dravid may well be overtaken during the winter, then Ganguly, Inzamam and Kallis are in his sights by the end of 2019. The big five are further ahead but, unless something unexpected happens, all bar Tendulkar will surely be hunted down by the time Kohli is 35.

Virat’s average, not necessarily as significant a stat as in Tests, is an astonishing 59.90. Nobody else, past and present, has come close. The likes of Sehwag, Shahid Afridi, Brendon McCullum and AB De Villiers boast superior strike rates but Kohli looks the complete one-day batsman without the need for wild slogging.

I remember when he made his debut in 2008, he was seen as a one-day specialist and it was another three years before breaking through into the Test team. Questions were asked, and it took him a while before establishing himself. Could he succeed in the five-day format?

Could he hell?! I’m not sure what switch was tripped in 2016 but, alongside his ODI career, his Test figures went stratospheric. He currently tops the rankings in both formats and also  at 12 in the highly specialist T20 field. The man can do no wrong. Get him in the Brexit negotiating team immediately! Put him in charge of eliminating global plastic use right now!

Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Steve Smith and Hashim Amla are all magnificent all-round batsmen but at the moment Kohli is untouchable. Where he sits in the all-time pantheon of limited-overs strokeplayers is a different matter. I wonder how incredible blazing bladesmiths like Viv Richards, Everton Weekes, Gary Sobers, Zaheer Abbas or even the more recent Javed Miandad, Brian Lara or Adam Gilchrist would have fared in this era of short boundaries, helpful fielding restrictions and a T20-led mindset. Pretty well, I fancy. I may be biased but reckon my idol Sir Viv would have eaten Kohli for breakfast.

I have read comments about is character and personality which express contrasting opinions. I don’t really know whether he is a lazy egotistical tyrant or a well-meaning team player. He can’t be both! All I can say is that a haughty remote cricketer wouldn’t be so ready to acknowledge the “Kohli, Kohli, give us a wave!” brigade as I have seen him do in Cardiff. As for his position amongst the all-time greats, I think it best to wait for his retirement before passing judgment. In the meantime, I rate him above everybody other batsman playing at the moment so let’s just enjoy watching a superb player in his absolute pomp.

An England World Record!

England. 50-overs. World record. Three words and phrases I never expected to appear in the same sentence! And yet this was just one of the many records which tumbled this week at Trent Bridge.

The match result states boldly but barely that England beats Pakistan by 169 runs, but that conceals a multitude of amazements. Just about everything Eoin Morgan’s side did worked a treat. Jason Roy may have gloved a catch behind in the sixth over but Alex Hales finally delivered on his promise. He not only reached three figures but also proceeded to whack the Pakistani attack all over the place to notch the highest ever ODI score by an England player. His 171 eclipsed Robin Smith’s 23 year-old 167 not out.

What surprised me was not Hales’ own performance, but that it had taken an England player so long to knock Smith off the top. In these days of short boundaries, high-tech bats and a more attacking mindset, 23 years is a long time to hold a batting record.

When Hales finally fell LBW, he and Joe Root had compiled the highest partnership scored against Pakistan. Root himself achieved his fifth successive score of 60 or more, itself no mean feat. And then the fun really began!

Jos Buttler, returning after a long layoff, came together with Morgan and together they plundered 161 from a mere 12 overs. Buttler struck the fastest ever England 50, in 22 balls, and the skipper would also have equalled the record had Jos not broken it minutes earlier! Sixes were flayed from Azhar Ali, Shoaib Malik and Wahab Riaz, whose 110 runs conceded was the second highest in ODI history.

Buttler’s last ball boundary then took England’s total past the best ODI innings total by any international side, ever! 444-3! There had been 16 sixes in all, in contrast to the way Sri Lanka had recorded the previous world best ten years previously against the Netherlands at Amstelveen. Then, despite rapid centuries from Jayasuriya and Dilshan, only three of the 59 boundaries actually cleared the ropes.

As for Pakistan’s reply, it was never going to come close to the target. Chris Woakes bowled well for his four wickets, but Sharjeel Khan did at least go for his shots, taking 54 of his 58 runs in boundaries. However, the last record of the day was a positive one for a Pakistani player. Mohammad Amir’s final ‘what the hell’ onslaught brought him 58 from 28 balls, he first ever ODI half-century for a number eleven!

So a sensational day for England, and it was almost incidental that they wrapped up a series win with just three matches gone. I expect some team changes on both sides now that there is no trophy to play for. However, the way teams are playing, more records are sure to follow in quick succession, not necessarily in England this summer. There have now been 18 scores of 400 or more, eight of them in the past two years. Can 500 be far away….?

2013 One-day Players of the Year

With just a few days to go in 2013, here's the first of my reviews of the past calendar year. South Africa are firmly esconced as the leading Test nation in the ICC rankings, while India's dominance in the Champions Trophy helped them to top spot in the ODI table, albeit closely followed by Australia, England and the Proteas. The West Indies have looked sadly meek and Sri Lanka have a tired reliance on Sangakkara, Dilshan and Jayawardene, even if it were Chandimal and Malinga who helped them to a consolation victory over Pakistan today. But who would make my ODI Team of 2013?

This was the year which brought two very different opening batsmen to global attention. Shikhar Dhawan announced himself on the Test scene with a blistering 187 on debut, very different from the two-ball duck he suffered on his first ODI appearance three years earlier. In 2013, he built on that record-breaking innnigs against the Aussies by outscoring every other batsman in the 50-over format and all bar four in ODIs, notching five centuries in the process. I watched his silky hundred in that Champions Trophy opener at Cardiff with particular pleasure. Accompanying him at the crease should be South Africa's new kid on the block, Quinton de Kock. As well as relieving AB of some of the 'keeping pressure, he has produced some superb innings, highlighted by three successive three-figure scores in the recent series against India. He keeps out Dhawan's usual partner Rohit Sharma from the team, but only just.

Virat Kohli and Misbah-ul-Haq each represented their contries 34 times during 2013. The Pakistani captain may be, at 39, nearing the end of his career but nobody in world cricket was more consistent at scoring valuable half-centuries. Incredibly, he has never reached three figures in ODIs but this year alone he reached 50 fifteen times! Not a big hitter he has carefully kept the scoreboard ticking over while others have gone for their strokes. At 1,373 runs, nobody scored more in ODIs. Not even Kohli who, aged 25, may not yet be in his prime, an ominous thought for opposing bowlers. Scoring at almost a run a ball, and also a brilliant fielder, Kohli is an obvious choice for my middle-order.

So is AB De Villiers, who edges out Sangakkara from my team this year. Topping both Test and ODI rankings, he is simply the best batsman in world cricket right now, despite his wicketkeeping duties in most games. Mohammad Hafeez's late burst of runs for Pakistan and Shahid Afridi's occasional all-round fireworks have pushed for selection but I've gone for Australia's promoted captain George Bailey as another specialist batsman. In 22 matches, he produced more than a thousand runs at exactly a run a ball, including some impressive scores in India a few months ago. Somehow I can't find room for MS Dhoni. Maybe next year....

Hafeez and Sharma offer the option of fill-in spin bowling but India's Ravindra Jadeja was the outstanding ODI all-rounder of 2013. 52 wickets at 25 and almost 500 runs at a respectable lick bring him in to my side as left-armer. Topping the ICC ODI rankings as well as the wicket table for 2013 is Saeed Ajmal, once again the most successful off-spinner in world cricket.

Junaid Khan of Pakistan has developed in to a very useful one-day swing and seam merchant and his 52 victims and average of 21 propel him into my XI of the year, if not yet the ICC top ten. Aged 24, he has the young legs which Umar Gul no longer possesses, and hopefully he has a long future ahead of him. England's Finn and Anderson both sit in the official top ten but that relies on past glories. Two Mitchells, McClenaghan and Johnson each enjoyed great years but the sheer brilliance of Dale Steyn makes him a definite new-ball man. He played only 13 ODIs yet took 27 wickets at just 16 apiece, conceding fewer than four an over. End of argument. My final choice is another Pakistani late developer, Mohammad Irfan. Not just a giant fast bowler, he took cheap wickets all around the world throughout 2013.

Therefore, at risk of being a batsman short (make Rohit Sharma or Afridi the twelfth man), my ODI XI is as follows:-

Shikhar Dhawan (Ind), Quinton de Kock (SA), Virat Kohli (Ind), George Bailey (Aust), AB De Villiers (SA +), Misbah-ul-Haq (Pak*), Ravi Jadeja (Ind), Dale Steyn (SA), Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, Mohammed Irfan (all Pak).

So what about Twenty20 in 2013? Best summarised thus: Brisbane Heat, Mumbai Indians, Northamptonshire and Chris Gayle. Special mentions to veterans Azhar Mahmood (top wicket-taker), Brad Hodge and Alfonso Thomas, Sunil Narine (whose 54 wickets came while conceding barely five an over) and Aaron Finch, who plundered that world record 156, including 14 sixes, for Australia against England last summer.

Time to redress the ODI bat v ball balance?

Indian cricket must have been a bit bewildered today. They managed to bowl out the opposition twice for under 400. Yes, that's 20 wickets in 132 overs. Although the hapless West Indies may beg to differ, welcome back to REAL cricket!

The recent ODI series against Australia reached new heights in terms of consistent run-scoring but new depths when it comes to allowing bowlers a chance to demonstrate their art on a level playing field. Scrub that. One of the problems was that the playing field was too level. The pitch, anyway. The rest of the playing field could have resembled the Himalaya foothills for all it came into play in some of the matches. Nearly 3,600 runs in 11 innings makes for an average of around 330, incorporating an IPL-like 107 sixes.

However, for 330 to become the new 250 so quickly must go beyond specially prepared strips and bringing in the boundary rope. The men who excelled in the series were not surprising. Virat Kohli and George Bailey were magnificent, while Shikhar Dhawan, Glenn Maxwell and MS Dhoni also showed their class on more than one occasion. Then, of course there was Rohit Sharma's Bangalore masterclass and one-off century cameos from Shane Watson and James Faulkner. These are players who have sharpened their batting skills in the T20 era and, of these, only Dhoni has a lasting reputation in the Test format. Mind you, Sharma and Dhawan each have three-figure averages from their three matches between them!

Who remembers the bowlers from the ODI series? The only names that springs to mind are Mitch Johnson (for one good spell at Mohali) and Ishant Sharma (for his shocker in the same game). Nobody took ten wickets across the entire series; Ravi Ashwin's nine topped the table, albeit at 37 apiece while leaking a run a ball. Only this week's debut hero, Mohammed Shami, averaged under 30 of the main bowlers. Bhuvi Kumar and Xavier Doherty took a mere two wickets apiece and in terms of economy, Watson, Vinay Kumar and Faulkner each suffered a long-lasting pasting.

Following any other series, their places would be under serious threat. However, all you can do in the wake of such a run-fest is shrug your shoulders and hope that the next series will offer a fairer contest between bat and ball. I fear the worst, particularly in India. After all, when you have a limited-over batting order like that, the selectors and Dhoni can pretty much rely on hunting down every target set them and, if they lose the toss, put the game beyond most opponents.

Also, the series made fifty-over cricket major news around the world. Big scores make big headlines and these days big money, too. South Africa's victory over Pakistan today went way below the radar as the two sides could muster just seven sixes between them. Never mind the 43 fours which probably took more skill to achieve. The India-Aussie competition was certainly exciting, helped by circumstances leaving the final match as a winner-takes-all decider. Australia were no pushovers and will be genuine contenders come the next World Cup but I look forward more to ODIs in the MCG than Mohali and Newlands rather than Nagpur.

Should or could cricket's law-makers rewrite the books? All the tinkering with field restrictions and Powerplays have helped make mid-innings periods more lively but do they really help when the dice is loaded so much in the batsman's favour? Why not abolish such regulations altogether? Bowl to a 9-0 leg field? Then Kohli can just step inside and aim for the covers. If he misses, that's his problem! Place everyone on the boundary? Then nudge the ones and twos and score ten and over that way instead, with little chance of being caught!

It won't happen, of course. Modern innovations shouldn't be dispensed with on the evidence of five games in a single country. However, if ODIs continue to evolve into Fifty50 slugfests, then I will finally be convinced that the format has no future. And that really will be a shame.