So farewell Brendon McCullum, at least as far as Test cricket is concerned. He hasn’t necessarily been a red-all legend; most of his greatest achievements have come in limited-overs. And yet he retires from the five-day format as the man with New Zealand’s highest score (302), the most number of Test sixes of anyone in history (107) and, courtesy of his first innings onslaught at Christchurch, the fastest ever Test century, eclipsing Viv Richards’ 30-year milestone of 56 balls.
Sadly for his Black Caps side, there was to be no winning finale to his 101-cap career. Australia are on a ruthless unbeaten run at the moment, winning seven and drawing two of their last nine matches en route to the number one world ranking.
New Zealand’ s 2015 progress may have run into a green-yellow brick wall, but for the Aussies, this was another excellent couple of performances. McCullum apart, this short series was all about the Australian top order making hay with the bat. Warner flopped but Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Adam Voges and skipper Steve Smith each made hundreds.
At the age of 36, Voges can claim a career average of 95.5 from his 15 Tests. Since the start of December, he has racked up 684 runs in just five outings, including two double-centuries and dismissed only twice. Sir Don who?! But can he and his colleagues repeat this kind of form in Sri Lanka this summer? Probably. They then host South Africa and Pakistan which will probably cement their position at the top, especially given the way the Proteas played at home to England.
As for the English, they went from Test heroes to one-day zeroes in just a few weeks. Becoming only the second side ever to lose a five-match ODI rubber from a 2-0 lead wasn’t anything to shout about. De Kock struck two centuries but the familiar De Villiers/Amla axis polished off the decider.
And yet the ace batsman of the series was Alex Hales, the man who I always descrie as grossly over-rated! Well, I haven’t changed my mind with regard to Test cricket, but he passed 50 in each of the five innings in South Africa. Joe Root matched his two hundreds but his genuine world-class is well-known. Before his embarrassing fumblings a week or so later, Reece Topley emerged as the top bowler from either side, which is encouraging for England’s one-day summer.
The T20 contests were not really significant, regardless of the forthcoming World Cup, but SA will be delighted to come out on top. Eoin Morgan did nothing to enhance his shaky international reputation and none of his bowlers showed much consistency. But this Twenty20; one all-out attack from a De Villiers or Morris can transform an economy rate from 6 to 10 in a matter of minutes. This is not really a proper World Cup warm-up but it raises more questions than answers for England.
Showing posts with label Reece Topley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reece Topley. Show all posts
Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Saturday, 7 June 2014
Team of the Week ending 6th June: All Hales to - er - Mankad?
It was a week of the IPL final, prolific opening batsmen and a controversial run-out. Yorkshire's openers Adam Lyth and Alex Lees put on 375 in the Championship and, with the former's astonishing acrobatic catch 'assist' in the T20 win over Lancashire accompanying his 230, Lyth is a shoo-in for my first position. Lees doesn't join him, and neither does Durham's Mark Stoneman (187) because Alex Hales produced a couple of peaches. Given carte blanche to go for his shots by Notts skipper Chris Read, Hales thumped 167 in 133 balls in a first-class game, followed by a more familiar T20 blast against Derbyshire.
Stoneman's partner and occasional England leg-spinner option, Scott Borthwick almost hit a 'double' in the rain-truncated Middlesex draw, and is my number three. At four I was even tempted to include Vinoo Mankad. His name was mentioned more often than just about any other cricketer this week, as the alleged originator of the bowler-runs-out-non-striker dismissal in the 1940s. However, he misses out only because he has been dead for nearly 36 years. He is eclipsed by my wicket-keeper selection. No, not Jos Buttler. His brilliant ODI 121 for England took him close but his failure to heed two warnings of excessive backing up by Senanayake let him down. Instead, Wriddhiman Saha's IPL final heroic innings of 115 in 55 balls merits recognition. No winners' medal but he can look back proudly on his place in my Team of the Week!
Samit Patel keeps on scoring runs and taking wickets for Nottinghamshire, and this week was no exception. Yet he still can't get anywhere near the England set-up. His 156 was narrowly overtaken by Ed Joyce's unbeaten 164 for Sussex in the same match, and both players keep out other high run-makers in Moeen Ali and Alviro Petersen.
Like Saha and Buttler, Darren Christian's blistering short-form innings with Middlesex was in a losing cause. His T20 assault of 129 in 57 deliveries included twelve fours and no fewer than ten sixes. He even added a pair of wickets, too. Two other all-rounders were in fine form for their respective counties. Glamorgan's Jim Allenby contributed almost a hundred runs in the Championship then blitzed 96 not out at Taunton in a classic T20 encounter. They won despite a typical Trego onslaught, as Peter plundered 94 in a run chase which fell just a few runs short. His 3-37 and 3-25 in the four-day game versus Lancashire showed he is more than just a limited-overs specialist. But then we Somerset fans have known that for years!
My team bats well down the order this week but my final two are bowling specialists. Danny Briggs has played T20 for England but his Championship 5-50 and 2-22 for Hampshire against Derbyshire make him the top spinner of the past seven days. Palladino and Shantry had their moments but Reece Topley made it a return from injury to remember. He claimed ten wickets for Essex against Glamorgan, including a first innings 6-41. In my view, he is a left-armer with more potential than Gurney.
To summarise: Lyth (York), Hales (Nott), Borthwick (Dur), Saha (Kings, +), Patel (Nott), Joyce (Sus, *), Christian (Mid), Allenby (Gla), Trego (Som), Briggs (Ham), Topley (Ess). Twelfth man: Mankad (Ind)....
Stoneman's partner and occasional England leg-spinner option, Scott Borthwick almost hit a 'double' in the rain-truncated Middlesex draw, and is my number three. At four I was even tempted to include Vinoo Mankad. His name was mentioned more often than just about any other cricketer this week, as the alleged originator of the bowler-runs-out-non-striker dismissal in the 1940s. However, he misses out only because he has been dead for nearly 36 years. He is eclipsed by my wicket-keeper selection. No, not Jos Buttler. His brilliant ODI 121 for England took him close but his failure to heed two warnings of excessive backing up by Senanayake let him down. Instead, Wriddhiman Saha's IPL final heroic innings of 115 in 55 balls merits recognition. No winners' medal but he can look back proudly on his place in my Team of the Week!
Samit Patel keeps on scoring runs and taking wickets for Nottinghamshire, and this week was no exception. Yet he still can't get anywhere near the England set-up. His 156 was narrowly overtaken by Ed Joyce's unbeaten 164 for Sussex in the same match, and both players keep out other high run-makers in Moeen Ali and Alviro Petersen.
Like Saha and Buttler, Darren Christian's blistering short-form innings with Middlesex was in a losing cause. His T20 assault of 129 in 57 deliveries included twelve fours and no fewer than ten sixes. He even added a pair of wickets, too. Two other all-rounders were in fine form for their respective counties. Glamorgan's Jim Allenby contributed almost a hundred runs in the Championship then blitzed 96 not out at Taunton in a classic T20 encounter. They won despite a typical Trego onslaught, as Peter plundered 94 in a run chase which fell just a few runs short. His 3-37 and 3-25 in the four-day game versus Lancashire showed he is more than just a limited-overs specialist. But then we Somerset fans have known that for years!
My team bats well down the order this week but my final two are bowling specialists. Danny Briggs has played T20 for England but his Championship 5-50 and 2-22 for Hampshire against Derbyshire make him the top spinner of the past seven days. Palladino and Shantry had their moments but Reece Topley made it a return from injury to remember. He claimed ten wickets for Essex against Glamorgan, including a first innings 6-41. In my view, he is a left-armer with more potential than Gurney.
To summarise: Lyth (York), Hales (Nott), Borthwick (Dur), Saha (Kings, +), Patel (Nott), Joyce (Sus, *), Christian (Mid), Allenby (Gla), Trego (Som), Briggs (Ham), Topley (Ess). Twelfth man: Mankad (Ind)....
Sunday, 8 September 2013
Double delight for Durham and Derbyshire
Durham went 14 1/2 points clear at the top of the Championship, twice bowling former title contenders Sussex out for under 120. Onions, Claydon and Urshad claimed all but one of the wickets between them. At the other end of the table, Derbyshire put 2012 runners-up Somerset in even graver danger of relegation while granting themselves a lifeline. Groenewald and Palladino made a mockery of Trescothick's decision to bat on a dewy first morning at Taunton but credit to the home side for at least making a game of it second time out. Another 23 byes past Craig Kieswetter and a defiant 74 not out from Shivnarine Chanderpaul were enough to take Derby to the finishing line by two wickets on a tense Thursday afternoon.
Ollie Rayner had a game to savour as Middlesex gave neighbours Surrey another thumping at The Oval. The tall spinner took 15 wickets in the match and had a hand in all ten first innings dismissals: 8 while bowling and catching the other two! Surrey's own offie, Gary Keedy also claimed nine wickets, but finished on the losing side. If he does so again to Somerset next week, it looks like curtains for them in the top tier. However, their opponents are also enduring a nightmare season, so anything could happen. In the other Division One fixture, Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire played out a draw. Samit Patel made a century and bemoaned his treatment by England selectors. Maybe he has a point but he's beginning to look like yesterday's man despite being only 28.
In Division Two, leaders Lancashire sat it out while Northants and Essex were out for crucial points behind them. The former made little impression on a batsman-friendly Southampton pitch. Jimmy Adams returned to form with 218 but the opposition's young Robert Keogh went three better, more than doubling his entire first-class aggregate in the process! Meanwhile, rising Essex star Reece Topley boosted his Lions credentials by taking 6-29 and 5-56 in his side's eight-wicket victory over Worcestershire. With a game in hand, they can yet spoil Northants' promotion bid in the final furlong.
Glamorgan's Aussie paceman Michael Hogan took 6-65 against Kent, but the lowly visitors to Cardiff were too strong overall in a low-scoring match. The best individual all-round performance of the week, if not the whole season, came from Gloucestershire's Will Gidman. First he demolished the Leicestershire batting with 6-15 in 14 overs. He then thumped 146 to give his county a lead of 399 before returning with the ball to take 4-28 and wrap up a 24-pointer before day three was complete.
They could yet finish in the top two, but need both Northants and Essex to slip up badly in the run-in. At least Gloucestershire have done better than I predicted, and more outstanding efforts from Klinger, Gidman et al could make it a special summer for them. However their next fixture is at home to Lancashire, which is a daunting prospect.
Ollie Rayner had a game to savour as Middlesex gave neighbours Surrey another thumping at The Oval. The tall spinner took 15 wickets in the match and had a hand in all ten first innings dismissals: 8 while bowling and catching the other two! Surrey's own offie, Gary Keedy also claimed nine wickets, but finished on the losing side. If he does so again to Somerset next week, it looks like curtains for them in the top tier. However, their opponents are also enduring a nightmare season, so anything could happen. In the other Division One fixture, Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire played out a draw. Samit Patel made a century and bemoaned his treatment by England selectors. Maybe he has a point but he's beginning to look like yesterday's man despite being only 28.
In Division Two, leaders Lancashire sat it out while Northants and Essex were out for crucial points behind them. The former made little impression on a batsman-friendly Southampton pitch. Jimmy Adams returned to form with 218 but the opposition's young Robert Keogh went three better, more than doubling his entire first-class aggregate in the process! Meanwhile, rising Essex star Reece Topley boosted his Lions credentials by taking 6-29 and 5-56 in his side's eight-wicket victory over Worcestershire. With a game in hand, they can yet spoil Northants' promotion bid in the final furlong.
Glamorgan's Aussie paceman Michael Hogan took 6-65 against Kent, but the lowly visitors to Cardiff were too strong overall in a low-scoring match. The best individual all-round performance of the week, if not the whole season, came from Gloucestershire's Will Gidman. First he demolished the Leicestershire batting with 6-15 in 14 overs. He then thumped 146 to give his county a lead of 399 before returning with the ball to take 4-28 and wrap up a 24-pointer before day three was complete.
They could yet finish in the top two, but need both Northants and Essex to slip up badly in the run-in. At least Gloucestershire have done better than I predicted, and more outstanding efforts from Klinger, Gidman et al could make it a special summer for them. However their next fixture is at home to Lancashire, which is a daunting prospect.
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