Archive for the ‘June’ Category:
One Day Cricket Rules – OK?
The ICC has released rule changes to the game of One Day International (ODI) cricket which will be broadly introduced for a long term trial on 31 July.
However, Australia and England will trial those rule changes from 7 July in the NatWest Challenge. I hadn’t absorbed this until recently but there is a NatWest Series – the triangular series being played at present and it is also deemed necessary to have a NatWest Challenge. This is the traditional three match head-to-head ODI series between Australia and England. Now, I like ODI cricket and all, but I have to wonder if all this one day cricket and just a single first class warm up is the ideal preparation for an Ashes series.
I have been having a read of Steve Waugh’s Ashes 2001 diary and note that the NatWest final was 23 June 2001. There were then three day matches before the first Test and no NatWest Challenge. I had thought of doing the odd “what they were doing four years” ago flashback. But on 30 June 2001, Steve Waugh and his family went to Euro Disney with his family. So I’ll be sticking to 2005.
Anyway, back to the rule changes. They are:
1. An extension of the fielding restrictions that apply for the first 15 overs to 20 overs. But there is a twist: It will be mandatory for the restrictions to apply for the first ten overs. The other ten overs will be applied at the fielding captain’s discretion, in two blocks of five overs. These blocks will be known as Powerplay (which I think is an ice hockey term) overs and just two fielders will be permitted to field outside of the “circle”. However, the two men in catching positions rule will not apply.
2. The 12th man will become a substitute. At any time in the match, the twelfth man can be introduced, replacing one of the starting eleven for the remainder of the match. He will have full rights playing rights, being able to bat and bowl.
For those of you who don’t care about ODI cricket, the first Test starts on Thursday, 21 July. I’ll be all-nighting at andrewg’s on the Gold Coast to see it in.
Stick that in your pipe and smoke it
One would presume that yesterday’s performance by the English will have left the British tabloids gagging on their headlines. Their boys couldn’t beat the “team that couldn’t even beat the worst team in the world”. They couldn’t even take a LOSER’S bonus point from a bunch of sheilas!!
And so it was that as the moon and sun aligned, order was restored to the cricket universe.
But in all seriousness, it’s only one game. Perhaps Australia will kick on from here and dominate but I expect not. The English one day team is a very good team and may well inflict more damage and yet win the tournament. A One Day match is exactly that – “one day”. The fuss from the British press over a couple of losses by the Aussies has been immense, if not unexpected.
Sure it has been a long drought for the Brits and we would expect them to rejoice when the opportunity presents but I’m pleased that the Aussies won for the sake of the tabloids. That aside, I was rather enjoying the Aussies suffering a bit of humiliation. It’s good for their character and will make them much harder to beat in the battle for The Ashes!
Brett Lee and Andrew Symonds made welcome returns. Symonds looked very focussed (and sober) as he compiled a controlled 73. Lee impressed with his pace and venom as McGrath and Lee had England three down for just six runs after six overs.
Probably most encouraging for the Aussies was Dizzie Gillespie’s return to some sort of form. He was been very ordinary but yesterday bowled with more pace and better everything (line, length, less wides, less no balls…).
And congratulations to Darren Gough. In posting 46 not out (from just 47 balls with seven x 4) coming in at number ten, he made his highest ODI score, top scored for the innings and shared a new England ODI record last wicket stand with Steve Harmison (50 runs unbroken). All of that while keeping some interest in the match as England tried to gain a bonus point (failing by 4 runs).