The Reverse Sweep

The pursuit of greatness & the England cricket team

In our view true greatness in sport is rare, although the last two Sundays have seen superlative performances from arguably the best tennis player of all-time and one of the best sides to ever grace a football pitch.

But if Roger Federer's and Spain’s places in the sporting pantheon are assured, what of England’s cricketers who but for rain washing out the ODI game at Edgbaston against an outclassed and confused looking Australian side would likely have been sitting at the top of the ICC Test, ODI and T20 rankings?

That is the subject of our piece for All Out Cricket’s rather fab website this week. Have a read of England In Pursuit Of Greatness and see if you agree.

Where next?

The Plan by Steve James | Book review

England vs Australia ODI series: Why do we feel so underwhelmed?

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We Need To Talk About Durham - we really do

We were reminded last weekend by an amused Lancashire supporting friend that we predicted Durham would be County Champions prior to the start of the season.

Given that his tottering champions had just registered the first victory of their faltering campaign at Chester-le-Street of all places to leave my tip languishing at the bottom of Division 1 he was particularly sarcastic and downright irritating in his sanctimonious baiting.

But we grudgingly did concede that he had a point. Our prediction was up there with Neville Chamberlain's on his return from Berlin in 1938 when he confidently declared 'peace in our time' after supposedly securing guarantees from Adolf Hitler that he had no intention of invading any other territories in Eastern Europe.

So, the trials and tribulations of Durham's puzzlingly disastrous start to the season seemed as good a topic as any for our latest piece for All Out Cricket's sparklingly good website.

Of course since then Durham have had the better of a tight clash with the previously indestructible Warwickshire and given good weather and a strong final day could finally register their first win of the season. Durham's position has been created by two typically battling innings by Paul Collingwood - a player whose struggles we highlighted in our piece and a five wicket haul from Chris Rushworth - a bowler we failed to mention.

Irrespectively, we still believe that We Need To Talk About Durham.

Where next? 

The Plan by Steve James | Book review

Cricket heroes: Paul Collingwood

County Championship XI of the week

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Who gets in an England-South Africa composite XI?

Yes, we know the West Indies series is only one Test old and that there is still the small matter of the limited overs matches before the Australians arrive for a completely unnecessary five match one day series - stay awake at the back there. But the return of Test cricket and the hot weather has got us thinking about the South African series later this summer.

Of course, everyone was awaiting the tussle with India last summer with baited breath and that turned out to be a bit of a damp squib with only Rahul Dravid actually bothering to turn up. The series with the Proteas is also being criminally played over just three matches, rather than the four or heaven forbid five encounters it should be.

Notwithstanding all this however, we believe a classic is in the offing and the hair's breadth between the sides is revealed in our piece this week for All Out Cricket where we put our selector's hat on and pick a composite XI from the sides led by Andrew Strauss and Graeme Smith.

Have a read of Who Gets In An England-South Africa XI? to see if you agree with us.

Where next?

Kevin Pietersen is innocent (and right about Nick Knight)

1st Test: England vs West Indies - England marks out of 10

Hedley Verity - a proper hero with 'no breaking point'

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

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Hedley Verity - a proper hero with 'no breaking point'

In an era where footballers, pop stars, actors and for heaven's sake reality TV nonentities are too easily accorded hero status, it is worth remembering that there was a time when some of our sports stars were really worthy of being called heroes - and not just because of what they did on the field of play either.

One such man was Hedley Verity of Yorkshire, England and the Green Howards who was born this week in 1905 and who is the subject of our latest piece for All Out Cricket's rather fab web site.

Read Cricket Hero In The Field: Tribute to Hedley Verity to find out why the unyielding master of spin puts today's pampered 'stars' in the shade.

Where next?

Cricket XIs: A team of cricketers that died young

All-time England Ashes XI - Spinner

Heroes - Douglas Jardine

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Who should bat at six for England?

It may not have quite attained quite the same gravitas as other great questions of our time such as Boris or Ken, Redknapp or Hodgson, or indeed Who shot JR, but with the 1st Test against West Indies just one week away, the identity of England’s number six is the topic of fevered speculation – well it is in our neck of the woods anyway.

So, what better for our latest piece for All Out Cricket then to mull over the likely runners and riders, which include in our view the current Surrey captain (that’ll get the inverse snobs going). Have a read of Who Will Be England’s Number Six? and see whether it will be amongst others Mr Unlucky, Mr Splinter, Mr Orange or Mr Rank-Outsider.

Where next?

Is Ravi Bopara the unluckiest cricketer in the world?

County Cricket 2011 Heroes: Rory Hamilton-Brown

Geoff Boycott's dose of Yorkshire humour on England's 72 all out

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An XI of cricketers who also played in the FA Cup Final

Tomorrow our Liverpool side will take on Chelsea in the FA Cup Final, a game which we are not exactly confident that the men in red will emerge victorious.

To quell our nervousness, for our piece All Out Cricket this week we compiled an XI of cricketers that also played in the FA Cup Final.

Have a read of FA Cup Final Cricketers and be surprised at the identity of our 12th man - who incongruously came close to participating in the inaugural final of the FA Cup.

Where next?

Fry and Ranjitsinhji - Brothers in Arms

They also played cricket - an XI of illustriously named Cricketers

An XI of Cricket Tragics who were also Rugger Buggers

Cricket XIs: Cricketing Criminals

An XI of cricketers that died young

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Sachin Tendulkar & Jack Hobbs: Masters with much in common

We learnt something new this week having not known before that Sachin Tendulkar's birthday falls on the same day - April 24th - as the first-class debut of Jack Hobbs in 1905.

This piqued our interest especially as in parallel the realisation dawned, that this was just one of many spooky coincidences linking The Master and the Little Master - even if unlike the modern day custodian of the mantle of the game's greatest batsman, Hobbs never became an MP - although his near contemporary C B Fry was offered the role of King of Albania.

The lineage of these two doyens of batting mastery is the subject of our latest piece for All Out Cricket's damn fine website, and if you read Sachin Tendulkar and Jack Hobbs: The Masters, you'll find out that the spooky coincidences go even further with Hobbs' first-class debut and the identity of the opposition captain.

Where next?

The 30 Greatest Batsmen Ever: Part 1 (30-21), Part 2 (20-11), Part 3 (10-1)

Cricket heroes: Jack Hobbs

Fry and Ranjitsinhji - Brothers in Arms

A mention in Wisden? Surely not...

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West Indies' losing battle with the IPL

The Test series currently going on in the Carribbean between West Indies and Australia has been as intriguing as it has been attritional.

Australia are still a work in progress, but they have managed to forge a 1-0 lead with one Test to play in part to their renowned never say die attitude, but also due to Michael Clarke's attacking captaincy and Darren Sammy's side for their habit of having a poor session when ahead or level in the game.

But as Clarke acknowledged last week, his hosts have been severely weakened by several West Indian players putting a domestic league in India over the chance to beat Australia in a home Test series.

This is the topic of our column for All Out Cricket this week, and before we get accused of heresy it is not intended to be a dig at the IPL. Read West Indies v IPL: Cricket's Crucial Contest and let us know what you think.

Where next?

It's not jealously KP, it's pure and simple indifference

Cricket Heroes: Darren Sammy

The redemption of Michael Clarke

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It's time to end the farce of Two-Test series - Johnny Rotten agrees

Did anyone feel a bit short-changed when the Test match in Colombo finished the other day? England may have won after enduring a winter nearly as arduous as the German Sixth Army in frozen Stalingrad during World War II, but we couldn't feeling it was all a bit of an anti-climax.

The reason? Well, it's simple really. We cannot abide two Test 'series' - even calling it a series seems absolutely ridiculous.

Indeed, it was the third successive two Test series this winter (we're on English time here) to have end one Test all.

All very unsatisfactory, we hope you'll agree and a good excuse for our latest piece for All Out Cricket, which we've also managed to get in a famous quote from Johnny Rotten during his time with The Sex Pistols. We're still congratulating ourselves about that one. Well, someone has to.

Have a read of End Two-Test Series Farce and let us know if you agree with us.

Where next?

2nd Test: Sri Lanka vs England - Sri Lanka marks out of 10

2nd Test: Sri Lanka vs England - England marks out of 10

County Championship XI of the week #1

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

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Wayne Rooney, County Cricket, the IPL, Luke Wright and loyalty

We've managed to get all of the above-titled motely crew into our latest piece for All Out Cricket. It's essentially a piece about loyalty, or the lack of loyalty and how the preference for mammon over honour and loyalty is becoming increasingly prevalent in cricket.

It's not as profound as we've just described but it is timely as Sussex kick off the county season shorn of their top all-rounder in Luke Wright, who is instead enjoying the balmy conditions in India, a wad of cash for his contract with Pune Warriors and the attractions of IPL Nights and assorted Bollywood actresses, not that we're jealous you'll understand.

Anyway have a read of Is Home No Longer Where The Heart Is? and see what you think...

PS: Since we wrote the article we've discovered that Paul Collingwood isn't in India with Rajasthan Royals after all, but is effectively on stand-by in the event that they need him, but the sentiment of the point we are trying to make still holds.

Where next?

County Championship preview: Our XI to watch in 2012

Read our Division 1 previews: Durham, Lancashire, Middlesex, Notts, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex, Warwickshire and Worcestershire

Division 2 previews: Derbyshire, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

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Dropping Andrew Strauss

No, we don't actually mean drop England's Churchillian skipper from the team - we haven't entirely lost touch with what remains of our senses, we mean one place in the batting order.

That's the subject of our latest piece for All Out Cricket. And not before time either, as our creative juices have been thwarted for the recent past, which means that our weekly column for AOC has been non-existent these last couple of weeks. Birthdays, work, our lovely but challenging children and to be honest a bit of writer's block have all taken their toll on Reverse Sweep Towers.

We'll leave it up to our 11.5 readers to decide whether that block has extended to the aformentioned piece - but give Is It Time To Drop Andrew Strauss (Down The Order)? a chance before you scoff and shrug those shoulders. Yes, we mean you Monsieur Sarkozy.

Where next?

Sri Lanka's far from ideal preparation

England win the Carling Cup

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

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Sir Charles Colville and other cricket unthinkables

He may not have played in the first match of the series yesterday, but Alastair Cook's very presence in the England T20 squad would have been unthinkable just a few short months ago.

This prompted us to look into our crystal ball for our latest piece for All Out Cricket's jolly good website to see what other big cricket stories that may seem wholly implausible now but which may become unlikely reality during the remainder of 2012.

To read what the likes of Chris Gayle, Lalit Modi, Jonathan Trott and our old friend Charles Colville could be getting up to read The Year That Won't Happen (or will it?).

Where next?

Cricket Zeroes: Charles Colville

Are the BCCI about to solve its biggest 'problem'?

BREAKING: Bob Willis attacked; Jonathan Trott arrested

Chris Gayle may be cool, but we're not sure even he can carry this look off...

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

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It's time to get uplifted and inspired...

Alastair Cook’s hundred in Abu Dhabi (make that hundreds as he’s just hit another as we type) and Steve Finn’s splattering of Pakistan’s top order put a warm glow in us on Monday. It made us feel uncharacteristically positive and even a bit fluffy. Hence our feelgood piece for All Out Cricket this week about the twin fairytales served up by Afghanistan’s cricketers and Zambia’s football team last weekend.

We’re sure that an English batting collapse won’t be too long in coming and we’ll soon be back to our usual bitter and twisted selves. In the meantime, prepare to be uplifted and read Nothing Can Confound And Inspire In Equal Measure Quite Like Sport. You may even find yourself smiling at the end of it. Maybe.

Where next?

Alastair Cook takes a cue from Strauss as his ODI alma mater

Check out our Cricket XIs

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

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2013 World Test Championship - What might have been...

With Pakistan's 'green-wash' over England confirming that there is no dominant side in world cricket today, we decided to get the old crystal ball out of the loft, give it a good dusting and peer into it to see what might happen if the ICC performed yet another u-turn on staging a World Test Championship in England in the summer of 2013.

The results of our research are over at All Out Cricket's snazzy and wonderful site, so click on the link now to read 2013 World Test Championship: What Might Have Been.

Where next?

Pakistan vs England - Pakistan series marks out of 10

Pakistan vs England - England series marks out of 10

Resurrection: A drastic cure to England's spin woes in Asia

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

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Resurrection: A drastic cure to England's spin woes in Asia

England have seven more Test matches in Asia in 2012 and based on their abject batting performances in Dubai and Abu Dhabi over the last two weeks they may have to resort to a little bit of black magic in order to conquer their spin demons.

So that's what we've done in our regular column for All Out Cricket this week where we've revised, renewed, reformed and in one case resurrected an England top six capable of mastering spin in Asia.

To see if you agree with our selection, read We Are The Resurrection (yes, Stone Roses fans you have correctly spotted the slight rephrasing of the greatest of album closing tracks) and dream of English success in Asia.

Where next?

Cricket heroes: David Gower

An XI of Cricket Heroes

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

England's tale of woe against spin in Asia

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

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Pakistan's gripping yarn keeps on spinning but fails to enthral Hollywood

We once wrote that Pakistan had forced a dismayed Hollywood to tear up its script after they failed to renact that famous defeat to Australia in Sydney by beating the same opposition at Headingley in 2010.

Those with long memories may recall that this was Salman Butt's first Test as captain after Shahid Afridi had jumped ship after just one match. Of course, Butt's captaincy ended even more unhappily than Afridi's.

Whilst England's sorry defeat in Dubai last week left us like most England fans feeling a bit miserable, it did at least confirm that Pakistan - international cricket's most exciting team - are back where they belong at the top table of international cricket.

It has been an unlikely tale of redemption and one that we felt deserved the wider audience offered through All Out Cricket. So as England hope to redeem themselves in Abu Dhabi, read Pakistan's gripping yarn keeps on spinning and wonder if there are more twists and turns to come in the thriller that is the Pakistan cricket team.

Where next?

A canned Hollywood film about cricket, fixing and a homeless team

Is this the most blatant example of a fixed cricket match ever?

Win a brand new kit for your cricket team

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

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Annus Orior Oriri Ortus: The breakthrough Test XI of 2011

Well, we’ve already picked our best and worst Test XIs of 2011 at The Reverse Sweep and with (for once) perfect timing our final XI of 2011, which was published yesterday on All Out Cricket features those who made their bows in Test cricket and made an instant impression.

Why perfect timing, you may ask? Well, it may have escaped your attention that David Warner yesterday made the joint fourth fastest Test hundred in history and the quickest by an opener. Clearly though his inclusion in our XI is the biggest milestone he has yet achieved in his short Test career.

To see who else joins him in our XI having appeared for the first time on the Test stage and enjoyed an annus orior oriri ortus (the closest we could find in Latin to 'breakthrough' if you were interested) please head over to All Out Cricket to read our Breakthrough Acts XI of 2011.

Where next?

Annus mirabilis: The best Test XI of 2011

Annus horribilis: The Worst Test XI of 2011

Who are cricket's likely future greats?

Read our Cricket Review of 2011

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

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Australia - The Great Entertainers

In between the hysterical laughter that tuning into Australia’s ultimately futile run chase in Hobart provoked earlier this week, we were forced to admit that whilst they are certainly not the best cricket side in the world anymore, they are without a shadow of a doubt the most entertaining.

Indeed, one could sensibly describe the Australian cricket team as positively schizophrenic and wholly unpredictable and this is the subject of our column this week for All Out Cricket.

Have a read of The Great Entertainers whilst at the same time sympathising with Phil Hughes, who having withdrawn from the Big Bash League to concentrate on the longer form of the game is now doubtless in a darkened room rocking backwards and forwards in an erratic fashion muttering caught Guptill bowled Martin, caught Guptill bowled Martin, caught...

Where next?

2nd Test: Australia vs New Zealand - Australia marks out of 10

2nd Test: Australia vs New Zealand - New Zealand marks out of 10

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

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Zimbabwe: An example of where sport and politics should mix

The recent passing of Basil D'Oliveira reminded us that in extremis there are times when sport and politics have to mix and that sport can play its part as an accelerator of change.

With Zimbabwe having been readmitted to Test cricket earlier this year and several prominent players such as cricketer-for-hire Chris Gayle and Rory Hamilton-Brown participating in the domestic Stanbic Bank 20 Series, one could be forgiven for wondering what is going on.

Robert Mugabe is still firmly in control of the levers of power and Zimbabwe's people are still living under his tyrannical rule, but the ICC and the aformentioned cricketers seem oblivious to this.

As Ben Elton might say, "we like a bit of politics" and Zimbabwe is the subject of our column on All Out Cricket this week. Have a read of An Opportunity Missed To Influence Change in Zimbabwe and let us know what you think - particularly if you are from that once prosperous country. 

Where next?

Watch Zimbabwe bowler Keegan Meth losing four front teeth

Zimbabwe in quite good shock

"Your guys took one hell of a beating..."

Zimbabwean cricket heroes: Andy Flower, Henry Olonga, Duncan Fletcher

The Politics of Cricket

Chris Gayle may be cool, but we're not sure even he can carry this look off...

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

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Has Ricky Ponting lost his punch?

Amidst the wreckage of Australia's 47 all out in the 1st Test at Newlands last week was the sorry figure of Ricky Ponting.

Not only had he failed with the bat in both innings, but the manner and similarity of his dismissals were not becoming of Australia's best batsman since Bradman.

So is Ponting a busted flush? Or like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid - two other great batsmen of similar vintage, is Ponting just going through a trough and is it only a matter of time before he displays his consummate class once again?

This is the subject of our column this week on All Out Cricket. Read Has Ponting Lost His Punch? and then watch him go and score a ton in the 2nd Test at The Wanderers, which starts today.

Where next?

1st Test: South Africa v Australia - Australia marks out of 10

1st Test: South Africa v Australia - South Africa marks out of 10

Michael Clarke, Lara Bingle and Australia's 47 all out

Can Ricky Ponting do a Dravid?

The real reason why Ricky Ponting smashed that TV

Gideon Haigh speaks about Peter Roebuck

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

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