The Reverse Sweep

Kevin Pietersen has grown up

Despite our parodies of Kevin Pietersen in his Ashes and Summer cricket diaries, we've always been firm supporters of him here at the Reverse Sweep.

An immensely talented batsman, Pietersen has brought a sprinkle of stardust to the England side ever since making such a big impact in the one day series in South Africa in 2005 and then the never-to-be-forgotten Ashes series a few months later.

Sure, KP appears to be a little too in love with himself at times, but the ridiculously bad press he gets at times would seem to be more down to jealously and a hidden agenda at his South African background rather than anything to do with his cricket.

The one fault that could be laid at his door was that at times he could seem a little immature and even naive, hence his ill-advised criticism of Peter Moores during his short-lived stint as captain and thinking he could ride out the storm he had created whilst on safari in South Africa.

But recent evidence suggests that Pietersen has grown up. Mature double-hundreds at Adelaide and Lord's set the foundations for crucial England wins early in the respective series with Australia and India.

Moreover, the quiet dignity he has maintained since the negative comments Graeme Swann made about his captaincy have shown the true mettle of the man. No toys have been thrown out of the pram and not even a glimmer of a bust-up between the two has been detected by a no doubt disappointed press.

And who was the star of the show on Saturday when an England side skippered by Swann of all people finally won a match in India? None other than KP.

England can only get better with a mature, motivated and fit Pietersen in the side.

Where next?

Andy Flower and the curse of autobiographies

India v England ODI series: England marks out of 10

Ten reasons to love Graeme Swann

Eight reasons to love Kevin Pietersen

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Cricket Zeroes: John Emburey (a.k.a. Val Doonican)

 
Back in the wastelands of the 1980s, spinners were generally about as exciting as chamber music, especially to a young Reverse Sweep fascinated by the rock and roll on offer from a legion of brilliant fast bowlers.

The epitomy of this was John Emburey. Oh how we groaned when the Middlesex off-spinner came on to bowl. Whereas Bob Willis, all hair and arms, looked mentally unhinged when he ran in and Ian Botham was the ultimate cricket comic book hero, Emburey was the bowling equivalent of Val Doonican. He was boring and just like Doonican with his fetish for bright jumpers and log fires, Emburey was insipidness personified.

Granted spinners weren't exactly helped much by pitches in the 1980s, but was that any excuse for Emburey's negative tactic of boring batsmen (and spectators) out? Abdul Qadir showed how exciting spin bowling could be, but thanks to the fact that the opportunity to see him on television screens in the UK was only fleeting, his appearances were as brief as the fuss created by the New York Dolls.

Being boring was only one negative aspect of Emburey - who at this point it should be mentioned did take 147 wickets in his 64 Tests at 38 and 1608 first-class wickets.

Cricketers in the 1980s weren't paid what they are today, so the temptation to make a quick buck was probably higher, but that does not excuse Emburey's unique participation in not one but two rebel tours to South Africa.

Going for the first time in 1982 was bad enough - although it did mean that we didn't have to tolerate Emburey featuring in the England side again until 1985. But taking the soiled rand for the second time was unforgiveable especially as the Apartheid regime was on its knees by 1989 and even more desperate for any opportunity to legitimise it. 

Of course the misconception that spin bowling was boring was cast aside by the arrival of a blonde Victorian leg spinner. Warne's arrival was akin to the revolution of a tired music scene by The Sex Pistols, The Clash and Punk Rock in 1976. It made Emburey seem even more like a dinosaur - albeit a toothless, docile and grass eating one.

NB: Occasionally, one of our readers (or should that be reader?) nominates an unwilling victim to be a Reverse Sweep zero. This was the case here, so thanks to @PaulFrame85 for reminding us just how boring Mr Emburey was.

Where next?

An XI of Cricket Heroes

Cricket Heroes: Graham Dilley R.I.P

Ashes 100-1: 81 - Botham's Ashes

Cricket Heroes: Bob Willis

10 reasons why Ian Botham may have worn sunglasses at the premiere of 'From the Ashes'

Check out all our other Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Sri Lanka know what they had and they know that it has gone

We're not sure in the case of Sri Lanka that they didn't know what they had until Muttiah Muralitharan had retired and gone, but even they probably didn't realise how bad it would be without their spin genius.

If things carry on as they are, then Sri Lanka's fall from cricket's top table may make the demise of the West Indies look positively pedestrian in comparison.

With no Murali, no Chaminda Vaas and no Lasith Malinga for Test matches, Sri Lanka's bowling attack is about as dangerous as a pack of chihuahuas trying to take on an especially large, vicious and hungry tyrannosaurus rex.

If it wasn't for the fact that in Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka possess two of the finest batsmen of their generation then we would already be talking about the 1996 World Champions in the same breath as Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

But for some particularly bad weather in England and a gem of an innings by Sangakkara at the Rose Bowl, the series with England would probably have ended as a whitewash in favour of the home side.

Then a rebuilding Australia built them more comfortably on their home patch then the 1-0 scoreline suggests.

Now they are struggling badly against an improving but still limited Pakistan side with Sangakkara again saving their skins in the 1st Test with a battling double hundred. Their last win came in Murali's final Test at Galle - 13 Tests ago.

Sangakkara himself highlighted that the Sri Lankan board have taken their eye off the ball in recent years and succession planning for the likes of Murali, Vaas, Sangakkara and Jayawardene seems to have been completely forgotten.

The success of Sri Lanka in winning the World Cup and then reaching the last two finals as well as regularly being high up in the ICC rankings for the last 15 years has been a case of David triumphing regularly over Goliath.

Sadly, it seems those giantkilling days are long gone and the future looks very bleak indeed.

Where next?

Kumar Sangakkara's captivating story of cricket in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan cricket heroes: Aravinda de Silva, Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan

All hail King Mahela of Colombo

Who writes Muttiah Muralitharan's scripts?

800 wickets for Murali - what a way to go

India and Sri Lanka star in Groundhog Day remake

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

They also played cricket - an XI of illustriously named Cricketers

Christ

Not the Son of God, but slow-left armer Charles who played 24 First-Class matches for Queensland from 1937-47, and of whom Keith Miller once said “I didn’t mind getting out in the first innings, after all Christ caught and bowled me!”

Julius Caesar

Nearly two millennia after leading the Roman invasion of Britain, batsman Julius Caesar made three centuries for Surrey during the Victorian era. Like the first Roman Emperor, he also came to a sudden and rather unfortunate end in the month of March – nine days before the Ides -throwing himself underneath a train in 1878.

Chris Martin

When Mr Gwyneth Paltrow isn’t creating tuneful little ditties on the piano, picking at macrobiotic food or giving his children incongruous names, he also opens the bowling for New Zealand. Former Creation label boss Alan McGee, who famously described Coldplay as music for “bedwetters” would doubtless say that Martin’s bowling was even more insipid than his band.

William Shakespeare

To bat, or not to bat? This possibly was the question that crossed the mind of one William Shakespeare during his 26 matches for Worcestershire in the period immediately after the end of World War I.

Napoleon Einstein

Probably hailing from a family of Francophile scientific geniuses, this young all-rounder was part of India’s 2008 under-19 World Cup winning squad. Yet to play against England’s pace attack where doubtless he would meet his Waterloo - unless it was in India of course.

Charles Dickens

The selectors of Griqualand didn’t heed this namesake of the famous Victorian author when he asked “please sir, can I have some more?” with his first-class career being restricted to just four matches despite one hundred in his eight innings.

Dick Whitington

Just one ‘t’ short of being Lord Mayor of London, this Mr Whitington went much further afield to seek streets paved with gold but had to make do with Adelaide and a cricket career with South Australia. Also had the quite remarkable middle name of ‘Smallpeice’ – no further comment necessary.

Thomas More

Lord Chancellor of England, author of Utopia and canonised saint was beheaded in 1535 for refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to Henry VIII as part of the King’s struggle to divorce Catherine of Aragon. Despite this minor inconvenience he was still able to forge an albeit less eventful cricket career, kicking wicket for Minor County Shropshire.  

George Bernard Shaw

A giant of literature he may have been, but he also lived a secret double life as a little known left arm spinner who played just 16 matches for Glamorgan in the early 1950s. No, really.

Nat Old King Cole

Not Nat, not Old, but just plain King Cole was a member of the pioneering Aboriginal touring team of England in 1861. Unfortunately, Cole’s talents as a cricketer will never be known as he sadly died of tuberculosis on the trip.

Robert Kennedy

And you thought that the brother and Attorney General of JFK had been assassinated when running for President in 1968? If he had taken the care to change his name then no-one would have realised the cover-up when he turned up as a fast-medium bowler for Wellington who played four Tests for New Zealand in 1995-96. How’s that for a conspiracy theory?

12^thman: Yasir Arafat

Just a couple of letters short of being the former head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the nemesis of Israel, this Pakistani fast bowler has sampled life in the far less oppressive Garden of England with Kent as well as spells with Sussex and Surrey.

Where next?

An XI of Cricket Tragics who were also Rugger Buggers

Cricket XIs: Cricketing Criminals

An XI of cricketers that died young

10 reasons why neutrals should be glad Lancashire won the County Championship

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Jonathan Trott - The Case for the Defence

Last week in the wake of England's narrow defeat in Mohali we wrote a piece exonerating Jonathan Trott from the opprobium that had been flung his way despite him scoring 98 not out and Craig Kieswetter doing a passable impression of Kamran Akmal at his worst behind the stumps.

We're not sure we went far enough as Trott was still getting stick in the Sky Sports post mortems of the series even though he was England's leading run scorer in the series with 202 runs at 50.5 with a strike rate just below 80.

Lest it not be forgotten that Trott is rated in the top three one day batsmen in the world and as we explain in our column this week on All Out Cricket, he is also the member of an exclusive club.

Read In Defence of Jonathan Trott here and join our campaign 'Not Trott's Fault' by leaving a comment on the site.

Where next?

India v England ODI series: England marks out of 10

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the King of Cool

Is it really Jonathan Trott's fault?

Are Cook, Trott and Bell more impressive than Pippa Middleton's derriere?

Jonathan Trott is a good starter

BREAKING: Bob Willis attacked; Jonathan Trott arrested

Jonathan Trott proves us wrong for the 4th and final time

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

India v England ODI series: England marks out of 10

Alastair Cook - 4 (133 runs at 26.60, SR 84.71): A pair of sixties sandwiched three failures in the middle three games. His honeymoon as captain is well and truly over and as leader must take share of blame for England's poor discipline and negative body language in the field.

Craig Kieswetter - 4 (135 runs at 27.00, SR 101.50): Shocking performance with the gloves cost England the game in Mohali and with his batting flattering to deceive his place will come under scrutiny. Did bat well in Kolkata, though should have dug in to see his side over the line.

Jonathan Trott - 6 (202 runs at 50.50, SR 79.84): Received ridiculous and undeserved criticism after his 98* at Mohali - the only game that England ran India close in. Does need to find another gear, but it is churlish to call for his head when he has a one day average in excess of 50. Definitely not Trott's fault.

Kevin Pietersen - 6 (170 runs at 42.50, SR 82.52): Dealt with the furore of Swann's autobiography with dignity and looked close to his best in Delhi and Mohali but still couldn't pass 64 despite reaching 40 on three occasions. Hasn't scored a one day hundred for three years now.

Ravi Bopara - 2 (80 runs at 16.00, SR 62.99): Went horribly backwards after taking what seemed to be several significant steps forward in the summer. His dreadful dismissal bowled behind his legs in Kolkata could prove his international epitaph.

Ian Bell - 2 Endured a frustrating time on the sidelines before being part of the woeful collapse in Kolkata.

Jonathan Bairstow - 3 (49 runs at 12.25, SR 59.75): After all the hype from to his remarkable debut in Cardiff, the youngster looked woefully out of his depth against spin and the slower Indian wickets. Needs to learn from the experience. 

Samit Patel - 6(160 runs at 40, SR 91.95; 4 wickets at 45.50, ER 6.03): One of the few plus points - memorable innings at Mohali and was as good if not better than Swann with the ball.

Tim Bresnan - 3(5 wickets at 49, ER 5.65; 61 runs at 15.25, SR 87.14): Out of sorts with the ball and proved a poor leader of the attack in the absence of Anderson and Broad, which perhaps explains his fractiousness. Useful knock in Mumbai at least gave England a slither of hope.

Graeme Swann - 2(2 wickets at 95.50, ER 5.30): Being dropped for the Mumbai game must have been a chastening experience for the side's budding Shakespeare. His performances and mood were as bad as the timing of the release of his autobiography, and the success of Ashwin and Jadeja puts his poor form even more into context.

Scott Borthwick - 2: Came in for Swann at Mumbai but didn't look even close to an international class spinner. Has plenty of promise though and the Durham leggie's time will come again.

Steven Finn - 6 (8 wickets at 31.62, ER 5.27): England's lone star with the ball was up on pace and at times the Indian batsmen found him too hot to handle. Needs to channel his temper better.

Jade Dernbach - 2(1 wicket at 168, ER 6.54): Struggled badly and completely lost the plot in the final overs at Mohali and was consequently dropped for the last two games. However, given it was his first venture on Indian pitches, should be persevered with.

Stuart Meaker - 5 (2 wickets at 55, ER 5.78): Came in at Mumbai and Kolkata, showed immense promise and character and didn't let anyone down - even if his final over at Kolkata proved to be a MS Dhoni masterclass. 

Where next?

Virat Kohli - The (Little) Master's Apprentice

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the King of Cool

England are as bad as India

Is it really Jonathan Trott's fault?

They also played cricket - an XI of illustriously named Cricketers

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Virat Kohli - The (Little) Master's Apprentice

We have long held the view here at The Reverse Sweep that Virat Kohli is by far the best of the new generation of Indian batsmen.

Whilst the likes of Murail Vijay, Suresh Raina and to a lesser extent Abhinav Mukund have all been handed earlier and more frequent opportunities to cement a place in the Indian Test line-up, it is blindingly obvious that in terms of talent and technique all should lag someway behind Kohli in the pecking order.

Kohli has certainly made a big impact in the one day international arena and already has seven hundreds and an average a tick under 47 from his 68 matches thus far. He has simply been too good for England in the current series with his hundred at Delhi being an innings that his English counterparts could only dream of compiling on slow Indian wickets.

Yet Raina also has a good one day record, so what makes Kohli stand a class apart in our opinion?

Both are talented without a doubt, but it is Kohli who seems to have by far the better temperament and it is Kohli who looks to have a technique that would flourish on different types of wickets - be they slow turners, or fast and bouncy.

Kohli's Test career may have started inauspiciously in the Caribbean earlier this year with just 76 runs in three Tests, but we'd put a fairly substantial wager on those stats being vastly improved sooner rather than later with Kohli likely to supplant Raina in the side in the not too distant future.

The likes of Tendulkar, Laxman, Dravid and even Sehwag may not have that much gas left in the tank, but the future of India's batting seems in fairly safe hands with the Little Master's Apprentice.

Where next?

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the King of Cool

England are as bad as India

Is it really Jonathan Trott's fault?

Virender Sehwag was brilliant, but don't forget Virat Kohli

An XI of youngsters to shine in 2010 and beyond

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

The slow death of Test cricket?

Like many long-suffering cricket fans, we’re getting a bit tired of the sheer amount of international one-day cricket that is being played nowadays. And so are Indian crowds judging by the empty seats we’ve seen throughout the current one-day series with England.

But what does this all mean for Test cricket? Against a backdrop of the ICC backtracking over its plans for a World Test Championship in 2013 and the ECB announcing a schedule for next summer, which sees a mind-numbing THIRTEEN one-day internationals but only a three Test series with South Africa, the omens don’t look good.

Andrew Strauss said as much in The Times this week and our column for All Out Cricket this week ponders on this very worrying issue.

So have a read of "Strauss' Test Cricket Concerns Must Be Heeded" and let us know whether you agree (or disagree) with us.

Where next?

The India vs England ODI series: Time for vengeance or an utter waste of time?

The farcical Champions League and its band of cricket mercenaries

Archie Jackson: The light that burns twice as bright, burns half as long

England are playing THIRTEEN ODI next summer. Oh joy...

Andy Flower and the curse of autobiographies

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the King of Cool

You've got to hand it to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, he really is the Fonz when it comes to batting in one-day cricket. Indeed, we have now officially designated Dhoni as the King of Cool.

There's been a lot written about Wales' impeccable preparation for the Rugby World Cup, which featured cryotherapy whereby the players would have to tolerate two five-minute spells per day in a freezing chamber where temperatures drop to-101C.

Dhoni doesn't need anything that - he just strolls to the middle with ice cool nerve in the midst of a tension filled run chase with his side requiring anything over seven runs per over.

After his masterful 91 not out and final flourish of a six won India the World Cup Final earlier this year, yesterday's chase in Mohali was but a mere inconvenience to the man who is as cool as a cucumber.

Jade Dernbach may be having a torrid time in this series, but he was correct in his assessment that Dhoni is India's key batsman in the one-day game, it's just that he neither his colleagues can get the Indian skipper out.

In the run-up to this series we suggested that Dhoni's crown had slipped on account of his previously unblemished captaincy record being badly dented in England this summer, but irrespective of what the rankings say we regard Dhoni as the best one-day batsman in the world at the Reverse Sweep.

Last week in Hyderabad he skilfully led India from a position of parity to a total of 300, and yesterday he once again displayed his unrivalled ability to time a run chase.

So, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, we crown you the King of Cool.

Where next?

The India vs England ODI series: Time for vengeance or an utter waste of time?

England are as bad as India

Mahendra Singh Dhoni - A born leader

Andy Flower and the curse of autobiographies

Our best XI of the 2011 World Cup

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Is it really Jonathan Trott's fault?

Forget the death of Colonel Gaddafi, the main topic of conversation on Twitter last night was Jonathan Trott.

Remarkably many were blaming him for England's defeat in Mohali despite Trott scoring 98 not out and leading England to 298 - their first decent batting effort of the series.

The main criticism seems to be that Trott can only bat in one gear. Well his unbeaten 98 came off 116 balls at a more than useful strike rate of 84.48, which is hardly shabby and his partnership with Samit Patel, which saw 103 runs added in 11.5 overs should have given England enough runs to win. Ajinkya Rahane's 91 came off 104 balls at a similar strike rate to Trott's of 87.5 and he was given the man of the match award.

Is it Trott's fault that Craig Kieswetter fluffed running out Mahendra Singh Dhoni? Or is it Trott's fault that Jade Dernbach bowled like a drain and conceded a wide and a no-ball off the penultimate over? And indeed is it Trott's fault that England's bowlers were generally poor and served up a tasty diet for the Indian batsmen?

Trott averages 53 in his one-day career at a decent enough strike rate of 78.58. It's time that people got off his back and admit that this time it simply wasn't Trott's fault.

Where next?

Andy Flower and the curse of autobiographies

Jack Hobbs by Leo McKinstry | Book review

England are as bad as India

The ICC: More U-Turns than Nick Clegg and David Cameron put together

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Australia's bizarre retention policy

As their side has been knocked off their perch, the Australian selectors have become famous for their increasingly bizarre selections - Xavier Doherty, Michael Beer and Peter George to name but three.

But it is their retention policy - especially when it comes to one-day cricket - that perhaps warrants more scrutiny.

One would think that with Australia co-hosting the next World Cup in 2015, their strategy would be focussed on picking a team that can grow over the next four years and reclaim the trophy that they won three times in succession until 2007.

So we were surprised to say the least that Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey (both 36) as well as Brad Haddin, who will be 34 by the end of the year, were in the XI that beat South Africa at Centurion yesterday.

All three are fine players, but none of them will still be around in 2015 so should have been thanked for their service and relieved of their yellow pyjamas at the end of this year's World Cup.

It's not as if the Australian selectors don't discriminate against age given their ruthless sacking of Simon Katich from the Test side for that very reason, which makes their retention of Ponting et al all the more difficult to fathom.

England may be getting royally hammered in India at the moment, but at least they are doing so with a squad of players who will all be available for selection in 2015 and not collecting their pension from the post office.

Where next?

Can Ricky Ponting do a Dravid?

Ricky Ponting falls on his sword, but leaves with his head held high

The real reason why Ricky Ponting smashed that TV

Cricket Zeroes: Andrew Hilditch

Shane Watson wins lots of awards for nearly being good

How England won the Ashes: Part 4 - Runs, runs, runs...

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Andy Flower and the curse of autobiographies

Living as we do in the age of celebrity, it is perhaps no surprise that many top-level sportsmen and women cash in by publishing an autobiography long before they retire thus providing at least one opportunity for an updated edition when they finally do.

So, Graeme Swann is by no means the first and will certainly not be the last cricketer to do this and being the straightforward and honest man that he is, his forthcoming autobiography ‘The Breaks are Off’ have certainly ruffled a few feathers.

In the extracts of the book to be published to date, Swann gives a pretty damning indictment of Kevin Pietersen’s leadership qualities and brief spell as England captain.

We’re not sure that this is a sensible route for Swann to take as such a move could threaten the team spirit and togetherness of the squad, which has been a major factor in achieving home and away Ashes wins, this summer’s thrashing of India and the subsequent rise to the top of the Test rankings.

And it seems that Andy Flower agrees with us, saying just a few days ago that:

"I personally don't think that it's a good idea for current players to be talking about their fellow players. The written word does come across very, very differently - when you can't judge a person's tone.”

Once again Flower is spot on with his assessment and it is perhaps fortunate that Pietersen’s reaction has been dignified and the morale and unity of the dressing room doesn’t seem to have been affected.

But there will come a time when such an episode leads to a falling out between two or more players and that could have a devastating effect on the future performance of the side, so it is to be hoped that other England players planning books heed the words of their coach and put the pen to one side until their time representing their country has ended.

But we won’t be holding our breath...

Where next?

Jack Hobbs by Leo McKinstry | Book review

Ten reasons to love Graeme Swann

Eight reasons to love Kevin Pietersen

Cricket Heroes: Andy Flower

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

England are as bad as India

That's not something we thought we'd be typing just a couple of weeks ago.

England didn't just beat India on the latter's recent tour of the British Isles, they royally thrashed them. 4-0 in the Tests by huge margins of victory - 196 runs at Lords, 319 runs at Trent Bridge, an innings and 242 at Edgbaston and then finally by an innings and 8 runs at The Oval - and then 3-0 in the one day series.

India looked demoralised, tired and vastly inferior - especially in the bowling department.

But that has now been well and truly flipped on its head after just two matches of an albeit pointless five match series on Indian soil.

It is now India applying the merciless beatings - by 126 runs at Hyderabad and by eight wickets in Delhi yesterday with 80 balls remaining.

The gap between the sides is just as big as it was in England. Only the other way around. Virat Kohli played an innings yesterday that England's batsmen can only dream about replicating on a subcontinental pitch, and their bowling attack looked every bit as toothless as India's had only a few weeks ago.

England lost 5-0 the last time they played a one day series in India, and the smart money must be on a repeat this time around.

We bet Alastair Cook wishes he'd stayed at home to attend the umm public err speaking course he so obviously requires.

Where next?

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's crown has slipped

Virender Sehwag was brilliant, but don't forget Virat Kohli

The India vs England ODI series: Time for vengeance or an utter waste of time?

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

What the ICC can learn from Sam Warburton's red card in the Rugby World Cup semi-final

Sport at the top-level is often decided by the slenderest of margins through a flash of genius or an individual error and sometimes a combination of the two.

If Shane Warne hadn't put down a fairly straightforward chance to repreive Kevin Pietersen at The Oval in 2005, Australia would have gone on to the level the most tumultuous of Ashes encounters and there would have been no urinating in the garden at 10 Downing Street, no flag-waving celebrations in Trafalgar Square and no MBEs.

Instead, Pietersen made the most of his lucky escape to score the most thrilling of maiden Test hundreds and Warne, who had been so magnificent in Australia's defence of the Ashes was left to rue the one that got away. That is how sport should be.

However, when the individual error is down to a match official especially in the rarified atmosphere of a World Cup semi-final then defeat is all the harder to take. The decision of Ireland's half-French referee Alain Rolland to send off Welsh skipper in the 17th minute of a thunderous semi-final on Saturday was just plain wrong.

Even with 14 men, Wales were still by far the superior side. This made Rolland's decision all the more galling. With their inspirational talisman, it is not inconceivable that Wales would have marched onto their first World Cup final by a 15-20 point margin such was the gap between the sides. Instead, a poor French side that was beaten by Tonga and has only performed well in the tournament for 40 minutes against England will fight for the sport's biggest prize next Saturday.

Ironically, Rugby is the sport that pioneered the use of technology to help eradicate human error from its officials. If Rolland had resisted the temptation to make a hasty decision, he could have gone to his touch judges or video referee to consult and consider and most importantly given himself time for the emotion of the incident to die down.

He would have then learnt that although Warburton's tackle appeared to be dangerous on first viewing, the fact that it wasn't malicious nor did the open-side fling Vincent Clerc to the floor with murderous intent meant that the right decision was a penalty to France and at most a yellow card for Warburton.

Rolland should have made use of the technology at his disposal and so should the ICC, whose u-turn on making the use of DRS mandatory was announced last week at the behest of the all-powerful BCCI. Technology is not perfect, because it doesn't capture everything and the final interpretation is still down to a human being, but it does reduce the number of mistakes and this has to be the key point.

Warburton and a nation of dragons would surely agree.

Where next?

The ICC: More U-Turns than Nick Clegg and David Cameron put together

Farewell and a tribute (of sorts) to Shane Warne

Dhoni’s no-ball and the case for or against technology

Eight reasons to love Kevin Pietersen

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's crown has slipped

There was a time just a few months ago when Mahendra Singh Dhoni couldn’t do a thing wrong.

Not only was he captain of the India team that had just won the World Cup on home soil, India were also unbeaten in his 11 Test series at the helm and sat proudly at the top of the ICC Test rankings.

If that wasn’t enough he also led Chennai Super Kings to their second successive IPL crown, having also claimed the Champions League for his franchise in 2010.

In short, Dhoni was the main man and a leader that was held in the upper echelon of leaders that inludes the likes of Genghis Khan and Napoleon.

But just as invading Russia proved a step too far for France’s diminutive Emperor, so the tour of England proved for Dhoni.

India weren’t just beaten. They were royally hammered.

Losing the Test series 4-0 was humiliating enough. But the magnitude of the defeats was staggering for a team that had been number one in the world: England won by 196 runs at Lords, 319 runs at Trent Bridge, an innings and 242 at Edgbaston and then finally by an innings and 8 runs at The Oval.

Dhoni’s own form suffered too – a couple of fifties at Edgbaston apart – and his performances behind the stumps were dreadful where it seemed his gloves were made of iron.

Things didn’t get much better in the limited overs matches with England winning the solitary T20 and the one day series 3-0 even if Dhoni’s upsurge in form earned him the man of the series award.

Then if all that wasn’t enough, no sooner had Dhoni returned home to India than Chennai lost their grip on the Champions League and finished embarrassingly bottom of their group.

So as much as Dhoni deserves a rest after an arduous schedule over the last six months, part of him may be glad for the chance to seek immediate retribution against England in the one day series that starts today.

As we wrote yesterday, the series may be pointless on most counts, but if it enables India to repair a few bruised egos and Dhoni to rebuild his reputation as a leader, he and his men will probably take that.

In truth, Dhoni is not a leader of the calibre of a Napoleon, but neither is he an Ian Duncan-Smith either and England will find India a much tougher proposition on their own pitches than they did in England over the summer.

We’re just not sure that we will be paying much attention to it.

Where next?

The India vs England ODI series: Time for vengeance or an utter waste of time?

Dhoni’s no-ball and the case for or against technology

Mahendra Singh Dhoni - A born leader

Our best XI of the 2011 World Cup

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

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The India vs England ODI series: Time for vengeance or an utter waste of time?

The one day series between India and England, which starts tomorrow in Hyderabad, is being built up by the Indian press and sponsors as a grudge match that makes the most antagonistic of boxing bouts seem small fry in comparison.

According to Adam Mountford’s blog on BBC Sport, the Hyderabad Times contained a full page advert using the picture depicted above with the banner “Time for Vengeance – The war between India and England resumes on October 14th.”

If India’s recent tour to England was truly a war, then the visiting side were given the most royal of routings and didn’t even win one single battle – so billing the five matches as “the Payback series” is patently ridiculous.

In truth the series is at best wholly unnecessary and at worst utterly pointless coming as it does in the midst of a hectic schedule for both sides. We say as much in our column this week for All Out Cricket.

So is the series a “time for vengeance” or a waste of time? Go and read it now and offer up your opinion in the comments section.

Where next?

The ICC: More U-Turns than Nick Clegg and David Cameron put together

Jonny Bairstow: Let's not get too over-excited...

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi - a Tiger with vision R.I.P

When Gower and Gavaskar were kings

England v India Test series: India series marks out of 10

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The ICC: More U-Turns than Nick Clegg and David Cameron put together

In terms of the number of u-turns it presides over, the ICC would make the likes of Nick Clegg, David Cameron and perhaps even Tony Blair blush with embarrassment.

But this week they have surpassed even themselves by making not one, but two major u-turns.

The announcement that they have gone back on their decision three months ago to make the Decision Review System mandatory is no great surprise given India’s sustained opposition. That doesn’t make it right of course, but what the BCCI wants, the BCCI usually gets.

However, the likely delay of the World Test Championship from 2013 to 2017 did come as a shock and major disappointment, particularly as the prospect of such an event was a) almost universally welcomed, and b) seemed intrinsic to the manifesto of Haroon Lorgat.

The reason for its postponement is certainly cause for some concern. It seems that the ICC’s contracted broadcaster ESPN Star Sports does not see the merits of a World Test Championship, with the ICC releasing a statement saying:

"Without the support and consent of the ICC's broadcast partner, ESPN Star Sports, the financial implications on the members and the development of the game would be significant."

Whilst this may or may not be true, one might have thought that the ICC would have sought ESPN’s opinion BEFORE announcing its detailed plans for the Championship. Imbecilic is the word that comes most readily to mind.

And what do we get instead? Why the Champions Trophy, of course. A tournament that nobody cares for but that refuses to die. If the world suddenly suffered a holocaust, it is probably safe to bet that the cockroaches and any other survivors would form themselves into teams, don some coloured clothing and play for the Champions Trophy on what remains of Lord’s Cricket Ground.

We’ve stopped being exasperated by the ICC at the Reverse Sweep because it is simply futile, but we will garner that if the ICC was to develop a car, it would probably have four reverse gears and only one forward one.

Where next?

Abolishing runners in international cricket: has the ICC joined the Health & Safety brigade?

Dhoni’s no-ball and the case for or against technology

Arrogant ICC takes the magic out of the World Cup by killing the Associates

Netherlands 1 ICC 0

Revealed: The ICC's new plans for the 2015 Groundhog Day Cricket World Cup

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

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Jonny Bairstow: Let's not get too over-excited...

 
Yorkshire’s Jonny Bairstow seems to have taken to playing for England as an Ian Thorpe trained duck would eagerly take to water.

Not content with blasting 41 not out off just 21 balls to see England to a hitherto unlikely win at Cardiff on his one day debut, he warmed up for the return one day series in India in even more blistering fashion yesterday.

Granted it was just a warm-up match and the Hyderabad XI hardly represented the strongest of opposition, but 104 not out off 53 balls with eight towering sixes is pretty good in anyone’s language.

All this confirmed the positive impression Bairstow made throughout the summer when he was a shining beacon of hope in an otherwise black season of despair for Yorkshire.

But let’s not get carried away.

Bairstow has  made a good start. That is all.

If he repeats the trick in a couple of games in the forthcoming series, then it may be time to get a bit excited.

That’s if you can possibly get excited by an entirely unnecessary and pointless series.

But that is another story...

Where next?

County Championship Division 1 XI of the season

Yorkshire chairman Colin Graves gets straight to the point

The Reverse Sweep's County Cricket 2011 Awards

Check out all our other Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

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Ashes to Ashes: England's Rugby World Cup team fail to take inspiration from their cricket brethren

 
The last England side to travel to the Antipodes for a major sporting event were thoroughly prepared, impeccably behaved and executed well-laid plans to perfection to bring home the Ashes.

The difference between the cricket side expertly cajoled by Andy Flower and the car-crash that was Martin Johnson's bumbling Rugby World Cup squad could not be more stark.

There can be no excuses on the quantity of preparation time allowed to Johnson and his coaches. But it would seem that they didn't use it well: with inconsistency in selection, regular indiscretions off the field and a seeming lack of belief amongst the squad leading to the inevitable early exit - against a disunited France of all teams.

On a weekend when England's football side stumbled over the qualification line for next year's European Championships and its star player showed a level of indiscipline that beggared belief, it made Englishmen all over the world say thank God for Andrew Strauss and his merry men. 

Where next?

An XI of cricketers who were also Rugger Buggers

Why it is much easier to support England's cricket rather than football side

If cricketers were footballers...

Check out all our other Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

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An XI of Cricket Tragics who were also Rugger Buggers

 
CB Fry

The ultimate multi-sports genius. Fry captained England at cricket, played 26 Tests and scored nearly 31,000 first-class runs. He also set the world long jump record, played football for England and rugby for Oxford University, Blackheath and the Barbarians. He even nearly reputedly became King of Albania. Hardly surprising then that even in his seventies he was still able to perform his party piece: jumping backwards onto a mantelpiece from a standing position

Martin Donnelly

Widely recognised as one of New Zealand’s greatest ever batsmen even if War and his country’s fledgling status restricted him to just seven Tests. His one appearance at fly half for England though resulted in a resounding and then record win for Ireland at Lansdowne Road.

Monkey Hornby

The incongruously named Hornby, who was known as Monkey because of his small stature and energetic persona, was one of only two men to captain England at both cricket and rugby as well as being Lancashire’s skipper for 20 years. He led England to defeat at the Oval in 1882, about which the famous Sporting Life obituary was penned and the Ashes born.

Andrew Stoddart

The other man to captain England at both sports was the leading centre of his era and led England on two Ashes expeditions Down Under despite not taking up cricket seriously until he was 22. Beset with health and financial problems, he took his own life at the age of 52.

Tuppy Owen-Smith

Over 75 years before South African born Kevin Pietersen made his Test debut for England, Owen-Smith arguably went one better when having already scored a hundred for his country against England at Headingley in 1929, he turned out for and eventually captained England’s rugby side as an attacking full-back just one year later. A leg-spinner, his maiden first-class wicket was none other than the great Wally Hammond.

Sammy Woods

Representing South Africa at cricket and England at rugby is one thing, but playing Test cricket for BOTH Australia and England as Sydney born Woods did is quite another. A tremendously fast and strong wing-forward, he was also capped 13 times for England at rugby.  

Rob Andrew

The hero of England’s last-gasp win over Australia in the 1995 World Cup Quarter Final was also a very good cricketer, captaining Cambridge University and scoring a first-class ton against Notts. He also snared a young Mike Atherton with his off-spin whilst turning out for Yorkshire seconds.

Rudi van Vuuren

The only man to represent his country at the cricket AND rugby world cups and he did it in the same year too – 2003, starring in the former with five for 43 for Namibia against England and making a late cameo in the rugby world cup against Romania. It wasn’t all good for van Vuuren though with Darren Lehmann taking 28 runs off one of his overs.

Jeff Wilson

The legendary full back scored 44 tries in his 60 Tests, but this Double All Black’s international rugby career was also sandwiched by four one day internationals for the Kiwis as a precocious 19 year old and two more 12 years later.

Maurice Turnbull

Long-serving Glamorgan captain Turnbull, not only played Test cricket for England and rugby for Wales, he also represented Wales at hockey too. Sadly, his youthful vigour was snuffed out by a German sniper in Normandy in 1944.

Dusty Hare

The Leicester full back was an unlikely hero of the young Reverse Sweep, with Hare’s trusty boot helping England to the Grand Slam in 1980. His cricket career was less successful however, with only a modest 171 runs at 12.21 from his ten games for Notts.

Where next?

An XI of Cricket Heroes

Cricket XIs: Cricketing Criminals

An XI of cricketers that died young

An XI of unlikely World Cup heroes and a not so heroic 12th man

10 reasons why Ian Botham may have worn sunglasses at the premiere of 'From the Ashes'

Check out all our other Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep