A question of sport?

It’s to her continual annoyance that when I recount to friends how it was that my wife and I came to meet it isn’t the stars aligning that I thank, nor a wondrous one-in-a-million against all odds chance that we met in a country neither of us hold a passport for.  Instead I put the thanks squarely at the feet of cricket.  Cricket, luvly cricket.

I pitched up in Sydney to witness the final throws of England’s disastrous 5-0 defeat in early 2007 & soon after cast eyes on her at a BBQ – where else?  Such was her insouciance towards sport that despite having lived in Australia for two years she didn’t know who Shane Warne was.  She does now.  Albeit begrudgingly.  

She's about as interested in sport as she is in reading my 'blog.  As hard as she tries to escape games as easily as she did as a teenager marrying a sports journalist has put paid to that.  It has invaded her life in ways she could never have imagined as she made her way to a party in the south west of Sydney on a balmy night; unaware of what life changing event was about to unfold.

In our first four years together she drew sympathy from all quarters as I travelled off for weeks on end to ‘work’ on the cricket.  I missed her birthday in Auckland to watch England lose in Hamilton & the following year opted for five weeks in the Caribbean rather than being by her side for another birthday, our anniversary & Valentine’s Day.  She got me back by burning down our kitchen.

While she put the final touches to our wedding preparations (which coincidentally took place in New Zealand ten days after the 2010/11 Ashes) I spent it on a two month stag do in Australia as England atoned for that 5-0 defeat with a thoroughly enjoyable 3-1 win.  And then we got married.

Payback began that same year.   While I knuckled down to my new job producing Keys & Gray she landed a five month singing gig in Macau.  KAPOW!  A twelve hour flight just to be able to see her!  BANG!  This was followed up the following winter with a four month stint on a Musical in Frankfurt.  KABOOM!  At least I didn’t have to move back to the folks this time.  BLAAAAAM!!!!

However after a hiatus of two and half years (feel free to skate over the three weeks I spent in Poland for Euro 2012 and the six Champions League trips to Europe) where I’ve been on the UK receiving end of the Skype phone calls I’ve re-joined cricket’s media circus for the Ashes summer.  

It may be 12 hour days & weekend breaks rather than month long excursions but it’s nice to be back on the road getting paid to watch something live that I would only be watching on TV anyway.

I’m earning my money though.  Following cricket at your own leisure allows you to dip in and out depending on whether England is getting battered or not. Working in cricket is rather different. 

The days are long with 6am alarm calls the norm & re-appearances back at the hotel rarely before 9pm.  Like the game itself it’s a bit of a slog at times.  And they say nurses have it hard.

Not that the opening test of the summer at Trent Bridge required any diversion.  It was perhaps the greatest test I’ve ever seen. Five days of action in its true sense. Wickets, runs, controversy, record breaking, astounding feats, dramatic collapses with the lead switching hands repeatedly.  It was a game that had simply everything apart from a comedy run out involving Shane Watson.  You can’t have it all.

It is the first test I have ever seen without a passage of play following its expected path.  A game that’s only consistency was its ability to confound.  I was spellbound for its entirety & so rooted to my chair that I trapped a small nerve in my back which has left me hobbling around ever since.

The second test started off in the same fashion with twenty three wickets falling in the first two days, more DRS incidents, another epic Ian Bell hundred and even a comedy run out.  And then?  Snooooooze.   

Day two was the day the Aussies lost the Ashes.  Day three was the day England gave them time to think about it.  Day four when they rammed it home.  After seven frenetic days of topsy-turvy cricket the last two offered no deviation from the script.  For the first time since the tour started I needed something to keep me entertained.

   

Test cricket is a sport that takes up six hours a day, five of them in a week, meaning at times there is a skill to watching it.  There are similarities between seeing off a particularly dull session & getting through a health & safety meeting. 

During particularly painful sessions patience, an active imagination & the ability to take an interest in life’s minutiae is crucial.  Two flies having sex will see you right for an hour or so, a plane writing a message in the sky as excellent excuse as any to avoid watching Ricky Ponting move inexorably towards his double hundred.  

Not that it’s always this bad.  The morning session usually zips by regardless of score or incident.  The novelty of a new day, the day’s first drops of caffeine, fresh articles to consume, emails, Twitter & Facebook to peruse mean that even the more turgid Paul Collingwood innings can be assessed with a pleasant frame of mind. 

The first 45 minutes after lunch is normally a pleasant experience as food settles & you get re-introduced to the game.  And then it can get difficult. The coffee stops working as the oxygen in your brain heads towards the stomach in a bid to break down the tasty yet sometimes stodgy luncheon.

It's around this time I usually venture away from the press corps to submerge within the fans.  To get a reminder of what it means to those who have taken time off work and spent a lot of money to attend.  To soak up the conversations in the stands, take in the smells, the sights, the sounds of the Barmy Army singing their familiar songs.  Then there’s the sun a constant companion overseas & for one summer only a visitor to these shores as well. 

There is no better place to let the mind pleasantly wander, to strike up a chat with a stranger (cricket fans are an approachable & amusing bunch) to cheer loudly at an England four or the fall of an opponent’s wicket.  In essence to be a fan again.

And then when it gets a little too sweaty & the songs a little too repetitive it is back to the coolness of the press room sated, inspired and deeply satisfied.  Sometimes accompanied with plenty of fresh material for another of my other constant travelling companion; my old trusty ‘blog.

For it was while staring at my pasty reflection on the black backdrop of a tube window on the way back from Lord’s that my mind drifted to this ‘blog.  From 2006 to 2010 I updated it regularly while on my travels & every now and again while at home.  Maybe now was the time to get it back up and running.  

As the cricket slowed down, England began to dominate and the action started following a path well worn (albeit in reverse) it gave me time to contemplate writing again.  It was just a question of what?  

I’m following this tour alone and in a far more professional capacity than in tours gone by when all I had to do was look to my left for inspiration.  And as interesting as Nottingham & London are they are far too familiar to get that excited by.  A tube ride to Lord's doesn't conjure quite the inspiration a ferry trip to the SCG.

However there is a real sense of achievement writing a ‘blog and creating the tiniest little slice of something that didn’t exist before.  While it sure is enjoyable having all my memories of over the last six years so readily to hand.  Being able to dip in and out of moments that I could otherwise forget.

As soon as an article is posted there is a temporary feeling of calm (almost relief) that an idea that has been squirreling around in my head for the past few days has been put to bed.  That feeling lasts for a while before the desire or urge to write again begins anew.  Or something happens that just leads itself immediately to being described.

I’m not the fastest writer but pieces like these can be done and dusted within half an hour. Others can take forever to complete with re-writes, re-jigging of paragraphs & ripping up of the introduction.  I began this article on day two of the Lord’s test now it’s the night before I head up to Manchester.  I’m a little rusty.  

However when in the zone, with an idea that wouldn't look out of place as a glint in the eye, then writing a 'blog is an absolute pleasure.  And while the words haven’t flowed as I know they can do with this entry, while I’ve crunched through the gears rather than clicked I know once I get this one out there the next will be easier to produce.  All of which just leaves the question of what to write about and will my wife read it? 

England must beware the West Indies threat

The 1st Test of the summer gets underway next week and the West Indies have already been written off. Former England captain Michael Vaughan is tipping our bowlers to steamroller them for less than 250 an innings & that only bad weather will save them from a 3-0 drubbing. But is rain really the only way this proud cricketing nation can take England to a fifth day? talkSPORT’s cricket correspondent JON NORMAN doesn’t think so.
Let’s be clear. Over the course of three Tests cricket’s 7th best team should not pose a problem to the world number one; especially at home in conditions conducive for swing &  seam bowling. However to dismiss an improving West Indies side before they completed a whole day’s warm up isn’t something Michael Vaughan would have done as captain. For amongst the West Indies ranks are three players with a point to prove & the talent to ram his words down his throat.

SHIVNARINE CHANDERPAUL

In a squad which boasts only five players with experience of playing Test cricket in England the chances of West Indies going past 300 in a single innings appear to rest squarely on one man’s shoulders, Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

In a Test career spanning more than twenty years ‘Shiv’ has developed quite an appetite for scoring big runs against the best the English can serve up. In 31 Tests against England he averages over 50 with the bat and it rises to nearly 65 on these shores.

Incredibly this will be Chanderpaul’s SIXTH England tour the pick of which came back in 2007 when Michael Vaughan was captain. Then the Guyanese five innings were 74, 50, 116*, 136* & 70. A year later he climbed to the top of the ICC Test Championship batting rankings.

A lot can happen in five years but one thing that has remained constant is Shiv’s dedication to scoring runs. He recently became only the tenth batsmen to go past 10,000 Test runs. In doing so he also repeated what he achieved following that inspired run back in 2007. For Shivnarine Chanderpaul is officially once again the best batsman in world cricket.

KEMAR ROACH

Is there a sight in world cricket to set the pulse racing quite like a pace bowler steaming towards the wicket, a hard red cherry in hand, and a new batsman at the crease? Nothing typified the West Indies approach during their glory days than the battery of fast bowlers they employed to bludgeon opponents. And where Holding, Marshall, Garner & Ambrose once stood now stands Kemar Roach.

At five foot eight Roach is more Malcolm Marshall than Joel Garner but consistently bowls over 90mph & is fast developing as a bowler of real menace. Many point to a spell on his first overseas tour where Roach had Ricky Ponting hopping around before forcing him to retire hurt as the moment the Aussie great first showed signs of mortality.

Further proof of Roach’s great promise once again came against the Aussies last month when he became the first West Indian to take ten wickets in a match since 2005 & the first against Australia since Curtly Ambrose nineteen years ago.

DARREN BRAVO

During the 1990’s one of the greatest batsmen the game has ever seen waged war against English bowlers. As the side he marshaled began to deteriorate around him he was the Caribbean’s shining light. In smashing 375 & 400* against England, Brian Lara broke cricket records nearly as frequently as he did their hearts, minds and backs.

Fast forward to 2012 and the man who could now be king has arrived. Lara’s cousin and fellow left-hander Darren Bravo is heir to the Caribbean throne. He announced his arrival with back to back centuries in India last year, and already averages a shade under 5o in Test cricket. Alongside Chanderpaul he is the wicket the English bowlers will prize the most.

The family resemblance is never more noticeable than when Bravo is at the crease. His stance, timing, cover drive & pull shot are all straight out of the Lara textbook. While in one of those eerie coincidences that cricket statistician’s love it was noted that after their first twelve Tests Bravo & Lara had scored exactly the same amount of runs (941) & had an identical average (47.05). England and Michael Vaughan will pray the similarities end there.

If the West Indies are to pull off a heist or even just compete then they will need to rely on more than just three men and if the weather is kind then the omens are good. Captain DARREN SAMMY (whose middle names Julius Garvey suggest he was put on this earth to lead) posted his best bowling figures in England. His 7/66 in 2009 at Old Trafford included that of Michael Vaughan. Fast bowler FIDEL EDWARDS bunny is Andrew Strauss. The Barbadian has taken the England captain’s wicket five times in 12 innings and KP’s four. While recently recalled wicket-keeper DENESH RAMDIN has hit three of his eight Test fifties and his only century against England. Will any of this be enough to prove Michael Vaughan wrong? We have less than a week to wait until we find out.

Four questions England must answer in Sri Lanka

Unedited version of the article that went up on talkSPORT.co.uk

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Traditionally, overseas Test tours spanned months, involved long drawn out days of travel, warm up matches in obscure cricketing outposts, evening functions with local dignitaries & two or three week gaps between the actual test matches. Not any longer. England’s ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it’ series with Sri Lanka will be over and done with inside 30 days. However the ramifications of a second successive series defeat could last much, much longer for those involved. And there are four unanswered questions that this tour may answer once and for all.

WILL THE CAPTAIN HAVE A RETURN TO FORM?

Andrew Strauss may not be aware the last Test of the summer against the touring South Africans will be his 100th as an England player. What he will be aware of though, is that in 2003 the same opposition saw off Nasser Hussain’s reign as captain & the 2007 version signalled the end for Michael Vaughan.

Make no mistake about it Andrew Strauss is under pressure to perform. Since steering England to a career defining Ashes victory in Australia the captain’s form has dipped alarmingly. He hasn’t hit a century since Brisbane in 2010 & has hit only two fifties in 16 innings over the past calendar year. With his opening partner & new ODI captain Alastair Cook continuing to churn out the runs a big score at either Galle & Colombo is a necessity. The last thing Strauss will want come July is to be facing the best new ball bowling attack in the world with questions marks over whether his 100th Test will also be his last.

WHO IS ENGLAND’S NUMBER ONE SPINNER?

It’s a question that would have seemed ridiculous just over a year ago as Graeme Swann led the sprinkler dance in front of a delirious Barmy Army at the MCG. An Ashes victory capping off a tremendous year which saw Swann rise to 3rd in the Test & top of the ODI bowling ranks. But will Graeme Swann be in the side for the first Test of the English summer?

England built their ascension to the top of the ICC Rankings through the tried and tested formula of one spinner & three fast bowlers. They will revert to this as soon as the Sri Lanka tour comes to an end. But will it be Swanny at nine or Monty at eleven in the batting order?

Despite protestations from Panesar that he sees himself as the secondary spinner in the side his figures more than match up with Swann’s. In the UAE despite playing one match less than Swann, Monty bowled more overs and took more wickets. Was that a sign that Andrew Strauss has more faith in the Sussex man? Tellingly England have yet to win a test with both in the side. Sri Lanka could be a straight bowl out to decide which one starts against the West Indies in May.

WHO IS ENGLAND’S NUMBER SIX?

Ever since Freddie Flintoff’s legendary all-round powers starting to wane in 2007 the chink in England’s impressive armour has been the lack of an all-rounder. Ravi Bopara is favourite to stake a claim at number six but there’s a feeling Samit Patel or Matt Prior could give England more natural balance.

Prior’s proved he’s good enough to bat at six which would allow for a five strong bowling attack. Ravi Bopara would be a straight swap for Morgan and could bowl 5-8 overs towards the end of the innings. While the inclusion of Samit Patel could provide the most interesting call up as it would allow England to play just the one spinner and keep together the three-pronged seam attack that has served England so well.

CAN ENGLAND PLAY SPIN?

England horror tour against UAE will still be fresh in the batsmen’s minds ahead of another tough examination of their abilities to play spin. KP averaged less than 12 & Ian Bell only 8.50 against Pakistan. Ultimately it was Morgan who carried the can scoring just 81 runs in six innings as Saeed Ajmal & Abdur Rehmann did a passable impression of Shane Warne & Muttiah Muralitharan.

Not for the first time since his retirement Sri Lanka will wish they still had Murali in their ranks. Without him they have won just one Test in 17 attempts. It is unlikely Sri Lanka will ever see a bowler quite like him but England will still have to show marked improvements from last month if they are to pass this trial by spin. Regana Herath or Suraj Randiv will pose the questions. Whether KP & Bell have learned the answers will determine whether their fate follows that of Eoin Morgan.