The Reverse Sweep

County Championship XI of the week #5

Matthew Boyce (Leicestershire) – Hit a defiant near six hour ton as his side followed on against Yorkshire but was ultimately unable to prevent an innings defeat at Headingley.

Alviro Petersen (Essex) – Made a triumphant return to Cardiff with 145 out of a first innings total of 259, although rain denied him victory over his former team mates.

Joe Denly (Middlesex) – His promising start at Middlesex continued with 134 to help set up a win over Worcestershire at Lord’s – see also Our County XI to watch in 2012

Ian Bell (Warwickshire) – 2012 had thus far been an annus horribilis, but his 120 on a difficult Edgbaston pitch where the next best score was 45 not only helped his side win again but proved the old adage true of form being temporary and class being permanent.

Kane Williamson (Gloucestershire) – The overseas star saved his side from defeat with a patient and classy 128 after his side had followed on at Derby.

Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire) – Helped the Yorkshire faithful forget Ajmal Shahzad with 182 brisk runs to set up the win at Headingley and underline his credentials as a candidate for the number six spot in the Test side should the selectors choose to look beyond Ravi Bopara.

Anthony McGrath (Yorkshire) – Made an impressive start to his reinvention as an all-rounder batting down the order with an innings of 90 and four for 21 to help enforce the follow-on against Leicestershire.

Keith Barker (Warwickshire) – Took his maiden ten wicket haul as Durham were thumped at Edgbaston to set the early pace in the running for the Most Improved Player of the Season award.

Andre Adams (Nottinghamshire) – Broad, Swann and Anderson were all on show at Old Trafford, but Adams upstaged them all with a first innings seven for 32 to wrest the initiative from the title holders and then three more to wrap things up and continue Nottinghamshire’s and his flying start to the season.

David Willey (Northamptonshire) – Brought his side’s depressing start to the season to an end with eight wickets as Hampshire were put to the sword at Northampton.

Simon Kerrigan (Lancashire) – His side may have made a disastrous start to the defence of their crown but the left arm spinner continues to impress and his seven wickets in the defeat to Notts suggests he at least will enjoy the move back to Old Trafford.

Where next?

Read our previous County Championship XIs

The mystery of Ajmal Shazad's sacking solved

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

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

A mention in Wisden? Surely not...

Trying to juggle a busy job, young family, two houses and occasionally updating this blog can at times prove demanding, which means that by yesterday evening we had only managed to reach page 161 of this year’s Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack despite receiving the parcel containing the sacred tome over ten days ago.

This particular article was one we had been especially looking forward to given it was written by one of our fellow bloggers - the excellent and entirely deserving Leg Side Filth aka S A Rennie – being a rather splendid and entertaining review of the year in blogs.

So, we poured ourselves a goblet of a rather excellent 2006 Chateau Grand Pontet and settled down to read. Just as we were thinking that “this is rather good”, we got a pleasant and wholly unexpected surprise.

Near the bottom of the page was a reference to this blog and our little contretemps last summer with Alviro Petersen, which we at this point should add was amicably resolved a couple of days later. Rennie used it as an example of how even mild criticism of an image conscious cricketer on an obscure (and let's be honest fairly insignificant blog) could provoke a response.

It was only a couple of sentences but there we were in Wisden. It might not rank with scoring a hundred for England in a Ashes series decider – Jonathan Trott does that far better (whatever Bob Willis might say) – but for a micro-second at least, it did impress the long suffering Mrs Reverse Sweep.

Where next?

County Championship XI of the week #3

West Indies' losing battle with the IPL

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

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

County Championship 2012 Preview: Division 2 - Glamorgan

The slightly acrimonious departure of Alviro Petersen saw a second successive winter of discontent in Wales. Can they improve on last season's sixth place finish?

Strengths

With the loss of Petersen, the batting will depend heavily on opener Gareth Rees, captain Mark Wallace and William Bragg - the latter two who both reached 1,000 runs last year. The addition of Marcus North and Moises Henriques to share overseas player duties should help lighten the load. England prospect James Harris and spinner Dean Cosker lead the attack.  

Weaknesses

A huge load is placed on the young shoulders of Harris as the rest of the seam attack has a pedestrian look to it. The loss of Petersen will only slightly be reduced by the arrival of North, who unlike the South African is past his best.

Main man

Injury restricted him last season, but having had an operation over the winter James Harris is set and raring to go. Glamorgan's fortunes depend heavily on him continuing to impress leading the line and providing useful lower order contributions.

Look out for

Plenty of rancour if Petersen returns to Cardiff with Essex for the Championship game on may 2nd.

Prediction

7th - A season of struggle.

Where next? 

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

Division 2 previews: Derbyshire, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Leicestershire, Northants and Yorkshire

2011 County Cricket Review: including Heroes of the Season, Best and Worst XIs, and a whole host of other nonsense

County Championship 2011 Preview - Glamorgan

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

County Championship 2012 Preview: Division 2 - Essex

Seventh was a hugely disappointing return for a side that had been in Division 1 the season before last. Can they mount a promotion challenge this season?

Strengths

Charl Willoughby joins to offer support to David Masters who took 93 wickets in Division 2 last season - both should prove excellent mentors for young tyros Tymal Mills and Reece Topley. Another acquisition is Alviro Petersen following his acrimonious departure from Glamorgan who will add steel to the batting line-up in the first part of the summer. James Foster is still the best keeper in the country and was also the County's leading run scorer in 2011. Ravi Bopara and Owais Shah add class to a batting line-up, which also features the promising Adam Wheater.

Weaknesses

No-one reached 1,000 Championship runs last season and with Alastair Cook and Bopara lost to England, Shah to the IPL and Petersen to the South African tourists, a lot will once again depend on Foster. Tony Blair wouldn't approve of the distinct lack of spin. If Masters gets injured they could struggle to take wickets.

Main man

With apologies to Masters, the main man as ever at Chelmsford is the superlative James Foster - captain, keeper extraordinaire and a much better batsmen than many give him credit for - including sadly the England selectors over the last ten years.

Look out for

Changes to the breakfast menu at Chelmsford. After the Mervyn Westfield trail, Danish pastries are likely to have been removed from the menu.

Prediction

4th - The two teams coming down from Division 1 look particularly strong so whilst Essex will improve on 2011 they will probably fall short of promotion.

Where next? 

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

Division 2 previews: Derbyshire, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Leicestershire, Northants and Yorkshire

2011 County Cricket Review: including Heroes of the Season, Best and Worst XIs, and a whole host of other nonsense

County Championship 2011 Preview - Essex

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

County Championship Division 2 XI of the season

 
Rory Hamilton-Brown (Surrey, Captain) – 1039 runs at 37.10: We’ll probably get it in the neck for this pick, but in our view the boy king (and one of our ten to watch in 2011) had a tremendous season. He took on the challenge and added responsibility of opening the batting with gusto and led his charges back into the top division. Chris Adams reckons his young skipper will captain England one day – we’re not sure about that, but he pips Stephen Peters, Alviro Petersen and the resurgent Joe Denly to an opening berth in this XI.

Sam Robson (Middlesex) – 885 runs at 59.00: His season’s entry was delayed by the presence of Andrew Strauss, but the 22 year old more than made up for the wait with a string of impressive performances to lay a solid foundation for his side’s climb back into the top flight.

Chris Rogers (Middlesex) – 1286 runs at 58.45: His runs propelled Middlesex’s title success and once again left this observer scratching his head as to how the Australian selectors only gave the Victorian just the one solitary Test cap.

Zander de Bruyn (Surrey) – 1383 runs at 55.32; 15 wickets at 39.26: Proved a canny acquisition with four hundreds and nine fifties to be the leading run scorer in the division. Having taking a risk in dropping a division when moving from Taunton, he is now back where he belongs. If that wasn’t enough, he chipped in with some useful wickets too.

Tom Maynard (Surrey) - 1022 runs at 40.88 There’s certainly a Surrey flavour to our batting line-up, with Maynard immediately fulfilling his promise at The Oval following his acrimonious departure from Glamorgan. Of his three Championship hundreds, none would have given him more pleasure than his maiden first-class ton, which came at of all places – Cardiff. Beats Chris Taylor, Will Durston and James Taylor (who despite being the best number four in county cricket was generally a bit below par in the Championship) to the final batting slot.

James Foster (Essex) – 931 runs at 46.55: Stephen Davies and Mark Wallace may have scored more runs, whilst John Simpson also impressed, but Foster’s superiority with the gloves and a decent tally of runs gets our vote.

Will Gidman (Gloucestershire) – 51 wickets at 21.33; 1006 runs at 45.72: Topped the Gloucestershire averages with both bat and ball and was the only player in either division to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 50 wickets. Gareth Berg, Darren Stevens and Andrew Hall also impressed, but it was Gidman who was head and shoulders above the pack.

Stuart Meaker (Surrey) – 44 wickets at 22.56: With the other seamers we’ve picked, we needed a pace weapon and Meaker was anything but mild. His team-mate Tim Linley may have taken more wickets (73 at 18.34), but Meaker’s came from only 10 matches at a strike rate of 38 and it was his devastating spell at Northampton that gave his side the vital initiative in a must-win game. Born in Durban, so seems to have all the qualifications required to play for England too!

David Masters (Essex) – 93 wickets at 18.13: The highest wicket-taker in the country despite playing in a struggling side and an absolute master of line and length, as well as miserliness. Leicestershire’s batsmen must still be having nightmares about his eight for 10 against them in July – one of eight times he took five wickets or more in an innings.

Tim Murtagh (Middlesex) – 80 wickets at 20.98: The primary weapon in Middlesex’s arsenal had a magnificent season taking a wicket every 36.4 deliveries and clearly enjoyed bowling with the Tiflex ball. Will he be as successful next summer with the Duke ball against Division 1 batsmen? Other seamers considered included the wily old Chaminda Vaas (70 wickets at 21.44) and David Balcombe (33 wickets in five matches for Kent at just 17.81).

Pragyan Ojha (Surrey) – 24 wickets at 12.95: What would have been a close battle between Dean Cosker (49 wickets at 33.67) and James Middlebrook (43 wickets at 30.39 as well as 644 runs at 42.93) became no contest after Ojha’s devastating four match spell for Surrey. Four wins , 24 wickets and one promotion later, one has to ask how Amit Mishra was preferred to Ojha in India’s Test squad this summer.

Where next?

County Championship Division 1 XI of the season

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

Ten to watch in 2011: Half-Term report - Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

County Championship XI of the week: Division 1 Half-Term XI

County Championship XI of the week: Division 2 Half-Term XI

Read our 2011 County Championship XIs of the week

Read all our County Cricket coverage

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

County Championship XI of the week #13

 
The vagaries of the frankly bizarre fixture list means that our XI this week covers the round of matches that started with Northamptonshire’s trip to Essex on June 25th and concluded a week later with Warwickshire wrapping up victory against Sussex at Arundel.

Alviro Petersen (Glamorgan) – The captain was the only Glamorgan batsman to show any resistance in the 1st innings against Derbyshire, before eventually being ninth out for a battling 93.

Chris Rogers (Middlesex) - Shunted down to three to accommodate the misfiring Strauss, it was Rogers’s six hour 148 and the weather that ensured the game with Gloucestershire at Uxbridge was drawn.

Dale Benkenstein (Durham) – In the low-scoring top of the table clash at Aigburth it was Benkenstein that shone brightest, first with an unbeaten 83 to earn a crucial 1st innings lead and then 60 not out in a tense run chase to steer Durham over the line. Scored a shade under 20% of the game’s runs on his own.

Ian Cockbain (Gloucestershire) – Scored a patient 127 to give his side the initiative at Uxbridge to pip fellow centurion Wes Durston of Derbyshire to a spot in our XI.

Adam Wheater (Essex) – The 21 year old hit a career best 164 to help give his side a surprise win over Division 2 pacesetters Northamptonshire at Chelmsford. Now has a first-class average of just under 50.

James Foster (Essex) – Shared a 253 run 6th wicket partnership with Wheater to put Essex in command after the game looked to be swinging back in Northamptonshire’s favour.

Luke Wright (Sussex) – His side may have lost the festival match at Arundel, but Wright gets into the XI ahead of fellow all-rounder Rikki Clarke by virtue of his counterattacking 116 off 124 balls backed up by 3/54 with the ball.

Jeetan Patel (Warwickshire) – Monty Panesar may have shown impressive control to take 3/88 from 44 overs in Warwickshire’s 1st innings, but it was Patel who proved the match winner with his maiden five wicket Championship haul.

Graham Onions (Durham) – Took six wickets as first beat second in the crunch Division 1 clash at Liverpool and also added a vital 79 with Benkenstein for the ninth wicket in Durham’s 1st innings.

Callum Thorp (Durham) – Conditions may have suited him but even so Thorp’s first day 6/20 demolished Lancashire and gave Durham a crucial advantage. Grabbed another couple of wickets in the 2nd innings too.

Boyd Rankin (Warwickshire) – After proving too quick for Somerset’s batsmen the week before it was Sussex’s turn to suffer at Arundel as the Irish spearhead took a seven wicket haul to help his side to another Championship win.

Where next?

Read all our County Cricket coverage

See if you agree with our other County Championship XIs of the week

Dale Benkenstein is definitely not a mercenary

Brigitte Bardot is the support act to Lancashire in our debut column for All Out Cricket

The secret of Paul Collingwood's success

Ten to watch in 2011: Adam Lyth, Jade Dernbach,  Rory Hamilton-Brown, Samit Patel, Alex Hales, Danny Briggs, Ben Stokes, James Harris, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

County Championship XI of the week #11: Division 2 Half-Term XI

 
Yesterday we named our County Championship Division 1 Half-Term XI. Today we turn our attention to Division 2 and an XI that seems to be comprised of a number of unsung heroes:

Will Jefferson (Leicestershire): 609 runs at 46.84 – Division 2’s leading runs scorer thus far was once talked about as a possible England player when he was at Essex. Those times have long since gone, but the 31 year old has scored freely in a struggling side.

Chris Rogers (Middlesex): 479 runs at 47.90 – It remains a mystery why the Victorian has played just the one Test, but Australia’s loss has proved to be Derbyshire’s and now Middlesex’s gain. Pips Glamorgan pair Gareth Rees and Alviro Petersen, as well as former team mate Wayne Madsen for his spot.

James Taylor (Leicestershire): 461 runs at 46.10 – Others have scored more runs, but has anyone showed their mettle and had their technigue and bottle tested as much as Taylor did when facing down a fearsome Surrey attack on a rare Oval greentop? Taylor’s innings that day proved once and for all that a long Test career awaits.

Rory Hamilton-Brown (Surrey, Captain): 587 runs at 48.91 - One of our ten to watch in 2011. Despite the distraction of the captaincy and having volunteered to open, Hamilton-Brown has shone with the bat, is Division 2’s second highest run scorer and has a Sehwagesque strike rate of 78. That Surrey appear to have woken from their slumber and are challenging for promotion makes it a doubly good first half of the season for the young skipper.

Tom Maynard (Surrey): 560 runs at 56.00 – After his explosive departure from Glamorgan, Maynard has really sparkled in his first season at The Oval and had the pleasure of serving his revenge cold by scoring his maiden first-class hundred against his former county at of all places Cardiff.

Niall O’Brien (Northamptonshire): 417 runs at 83.40 – Ireland’s wicketkeeper has ably demonstrated that there is more than one cricketer in the O’Brien family and pips the likes of John Simpson, James Foster and Mark Wallace to wear the gloves in this XI.

James Harris (Glamorgan): 26 wickets at 21.96, 224 runs at 37.33 – Another of our ten to watch in 2011, Harris is developing into a useful bowling all-rounder. Would have more wickets but for injury restricting him to just five Championship matches and pips Will Gidman and Andrew Hall given he is by far the best bowler of the three.

Claude Henderson (Leicestershire): 26 wickets at 28.26, 321 runs at 40.12 – A slightly contentious pick as Glamorgan’s Dean Cosker has taken more wickets to put his side in the promotion shake-up, but Henderson has done well in a struggling side and offers the added bonus of runs in an XI with an otherwise long tail.

Stuart Meaker (Surrey): 23 wickets at 18.78 - Another contentious pick as many would probably go with the old warhorse Chaminda Vaas. But Meaker’s wickets have come in only four games and his phenomenal strike rate of a wicket every 32.4 balls is just too good to ignore.

Jack Brooks (Northamptonshire): 30 wickets at 22.03 – The benefit of opening the bowling with Vaas has been all too clear for Brooks who is having a glorious season thus far to help inspire his side to the top of the table.

David Masters (Essex): 40 wickets at 20.77 – The leading wicket taker in either division, the experienced opening bowler has once again been the model of consistency despite a faltering return to Division 2 for Essex.

Where next?

Geoffrey Boycott apologises to Michael Yardy

County Championship XI of the week #10: Division 1 Half-Term XI

Ten to watch in 2011: Half-Term report - Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

Read our previous County Championship XIs of the week

Ten to watch in 2011: Adam Lyth, Jade Dernbach,  Rory Hamilton-Brown, Samit Patel, Alex Hales, Danny Briggs, Ben Stokes, James Harris, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid

County Championship Previews - Division 2: Derbyshire, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire,  Kent,  Leicestershire,  Middlesex,  Northamptonshire,  Surrey

County Championship Previews - Division 1:  Yorkshire,  Worcestershire,  Warwickshire, Sussex,  Somerset,  Nottinghamshire,  Lancashire,  Hampshire,  Durham

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

County Championship XI of the week #8

 
Marcus Trescothick (Somerset) – Hundreds in each innings against Yorkshire, and his brutal 2nd innings knock of 151 (off just 131 balls) led Somerset’s charge to victory. Narrowly failed to reach cricket’s Holy Grail.

Alviro Petersen (Glamorgan) – When we made-up with the Glamorgan captain after our spat on Twitter, we implored him to score a double hundred. He did just that at The Oval in what by all accounts was a wonderful innings. Good on you, Alviro.

Will Smith (Durham) – A sad tale with a happy ending. Smith abruptly resigned the Durham captaincy halfway through 2010 and didn’t play again last summer. But he is back now and his 179 set up an innings victory against Warwickshire.

Karl Brown (Lancashire) – The likes of Dale Benkenstein, Usman Khawaja and Sam Robson may have scored tons, but Brown’s anchoring innings of 96 on a tricky Rose Bowl pitch gets him the nod for this XI.

Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire) – His golden summer continued with 136 and 80 in the defeat at Taunton. A good long-term bet to eventually replace Matt Prior in the Test side.

Andrew McDonald (Leicestershire) – The game with the Division 2 leaders may have petered out to a draw, but not before McDonald had exhibited his all-round abilities with 164 and 51 not out with the bat and three wickets in Northamptonshire’s only innings.

Ben Stokes (Durham) – Normally more of a batting all-rounder, but starred with the ball at Edgbaston taking seven wickets as Warwickshire were trounced by an innings. One of our ten to watch in 2011.

Adil Rashid (Yorkshire) – In a poor week for spinners, Rashid bagged four first innings wickets and then an unbeaten 51 at Taunton. However, his is a fortunate selection given that he went for 88 in 10.1 wicketless overs in the second innings as he was punished severely by Trescothick.

Kyle Hogg (Lancashire) – Took a stunning 11 for 59 as the leaders cruised to victory at the Rose Bowl including a first innings seven for 28. Not bad for his first Championship outing of the season.

Tim Murtagh (Middlesex) – Eight wickets in the match to nearly help Middlesex to victory at Chelmsford.

Ashley Shaw (Kent) – The 20 year old bagged a five-fer on Championship debut at Canterbury.

Where next?

Marcus Trescothick so close to cricket's Holy Grail

County Championship XI of the week #7

County Championship XI of the week #6

County Championship XI of the week #5

County Championship XI of the week #4

County Championship XI of the week #3

County Championship XI of the week #2

County Championship XI of the week #1

Ten to watch in 2011: Adam Lyth, Jade Dernbach,  Rory Hamilton-Brown, Samit Patel, Alex Hales, Danny Briggs, Ben Stokes, James Harris, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Our response to Alviro Petersen accusing The Reverse Sweep of lying on Twitter

 
It's been a bit of a strange weekend.

Quite inexplicably, the Reverse Sweep has been involved in a bit of a spat on Twitter with new Glamorgan captain Alviro Petersen.

It all started on Friday night when we saw some comments Petersen had made on Twitter. At the time we thought he had made these in the wake of Glamorgan's defeat at Chelmsford where Essex chased down 360 to win by six wickets. We've since found out that Petersen actually posted his Tweets at the close of the second day's play on April 27th.

This is what he said:

"I'm playing the worst cricket of my career, people always upset with me, responsibility, some like it when I fail. Can't get worse."

"I will never quit though, and will only take those with me who support me. Its (sic) a lonely place when things aren't going well."

In our view, by posting these comments on a public social networking site like Twitter, Petersen left himself open to comment from his near 9,000 followers or anyone else who saw his Tweets for that matter. Whether those comments were supportive, indifferent or critical; or even mildly critical in our case.

We retweeted Petersen's comments and added "Just what Glamorgan needs. A sensitive captain."

We were surprised to receive a response from Petersen that told us in no uncertain terms "its (sic) called honesty David", before asking rather strangely "Nice to hear from you David. You've been hiding or what?"

The Reverse Sweep is a cricket blog and here was a cricketer responding to one of our Tweets. Clearly, we were going to write a post about this.

Our subsequent post "Alviro Petersen gets too honest on Twitter" wasn't the best post we've ever written, but neither was it our worst.

Whilst it was mildly critical of Petersen for going public with what we construed as problems in the Glamorgan dressing room - and how else were we supposed to take comments such as "some like it when I fail" and that Petersen "will only take those with me who support me" - it was hardly damning. Indeed, in some sense we admired his candour and the article was also supportive of Petersen and clearly expressed a hope that he unifies the dressing room and takes the county forward.

In any case, we weren't the only ones to pick up on the story - the BBC ran an article also referring to Petersen's outpourings on Twitter and Short Midwicket has written an excellent post about Petersen's subsequent rants against this site.

Having not looked at Twitter yesterday we were surprised and mildly amused this morning to see that Petersen had continued to Tweet about our post:

"Just had a look at the article in the reverse sweep. Now that guy David Green would be the sly ones (sic) I'm talking about."

"David Green, if you have your facts right, then write mate. Shit journalism. Its (sic) the reverse sweep!"

"David Green, @TheReverseSweep, now that is trying to sell whatever. This guy must get his facts right"

Apart from kindly referring to us as a journalist, this is a man who would seem to see enemies at every turn.  (Read @AlviroPetersen for the full lowdown).

As we've said our article was fairly mild in its criticism and we are surprised that Petersen even cares what a pretty obscure cricket blog has said - but hey, just like us he is entitled to his own opinion. Even if he is wrong.

Indeed, we don't really care what Petersen thinks about us or this site, but we do mind when he accuses us of being liars. 

We've not told any lies about Petersen. We have merely opined that his comments would have been best kept behind closed doors and surmised about what Petersen could have meant when he said "some like it when I fail". As we said these are Petersen's words, not ours and certainly not lies.  

Nevertheless. we are not going to descend into name calling, even if we will offer some final thoughts.

One, by going public on Twitter with comments that could easily be construed as alluding to problems in the Glamorgan dressing room, Petersen left himself open to comment and to criticism.

Two, can anyone imagine an experienced captain like Andrew Strauss, MS Dhoni or Petersen's own international skipper Graeme Smith going public with comments such as these? Put it this way, Mike Brearley is unlikely to be adding a new chapter to his "The Art of Captaincy" opus as a consequence.

Three, our original response to his comments suggesting that Petersen may be over-sensitive (and perhaps too over-sensitive to be a leader of men) seem to be pretty close to the mark.

And finally, are Petersen's subsequent personal comments about this site on Twitter really the sort of behaviour and decorom that one would expect from a County Cricket captain?

On that note, it is probably best to consign this sorry affair to the wastepaper basket of history.

Where next?

Alviro Petersen gets too honest on Twitter

Ten to watch in 2011: Adam Lyth, Jade Dernbach,  Rory Hamilton-Brown, Samit Patel, Alex Hales, Danny Briggs, Ben Stokes, James Harris, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid

County Championship Previews - Division 2: Derbyshire, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire,  Kent,  Leicestershire,  Middlesex,  Northamptonshire,  Surrey

County Championship Previews - Division 1:  Yorkshire,  Worcestershire,  Warwickshire, Sussex,  Somerset,  Nottinghamshire,  Lancashire,  Hampshire,  Durham

Read about our cricket heroes and zeroes

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Alviro Petersen gets too honest on Twitter

 
"I'm playing the worst cricket of my career, people always upset with me, responsibility, some like it when I fail. Can't get worse."

"Its [sic] a lonely place when things aren't going well."

"I will never quit though and will only take those with me who support me."

That's the series of Tweets posted by Glamorgan's new captain Alviro Petersen yesterday evening in the wake of his side's defeat by six wickets at Chelmsford after Essex chased down a formidable target of 360.

Was it just disappointment getting the better of him after his side had lost a game that they had been in control of for the first three days? Genuine frustration at his own poor run of form? Or was it a cry for help from an exasperated man who feels that certain forces within the club are working against him?

Whatever the reason, The Reverse Sweep believes that Petersen's public utterances were ill-advised and his feelings would be better kept within the club.

That's why we Retweeted his comments adding "Just what Glamorgan needs - a sensitive captain".

Petersen responded to that telling us that "It's called honesty, David...". That's fair enough and in a way he was right. It was an extremely honest and heartfelt set of Tweets. Perhaps too honest, which is why, we guess, he has since removed the comments from Twitter.

It wasn't quite in the realms of other cricketers erroneous comments on Twitter: Michael Clarke's apology for not walking at Adelaide, Dimitri Mascharenhas' rant at Geoff Miller or Azeem Rafiq's foul-mouthed tirade at John Abrahams. But all the same, it probably wasn't the most sensible thing Petersen has ever done.

The Reverse Sweep is not privy to all that is going on at Glamorgan. And we certainly have plenty of sympathy for Petersen as he would have walked into a real hailstorm at Sophia Gardens after the night of the long knives that saw the removal of Director of Cricket Matthew Maynard and captain Jamie Dalrymple over the winter.

As part of the new regime, it would seem that certain factions within the club have been openly hostile to Petersen and perhaps the frustration and unhappiness that this has doubtless caused lay behind the South African Test player's airing his dirty laundry on Twitter.

The Reverse Sweep hopes that Petersen sorts out the dark forces within the club and soon has everyone on the playing and management side fully on board and all pulling in the same direction. What happened over the winter was not his fault.

However, in our humble opinion, Petersen would do better to do this behind closed doors - handing out rollickings, cajoling the youngsters and dispensing with those that are not with him - rather than going public on Twitter.

It would seem that these are interesting times at Sophia Gardens.  We recommend you all follow @AlviroPetersen.

Where next?

County Championship XI of the week #3

County Championship XI of the week #2

County Championship XI of the week #1

Ten to watch in 2011: Adam Lyth, Jade Dernbach,  Rory Hamilton-Brown, Samit Patel, Alex Hales, Danny Briggs, Ben Stokes, James Harris, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid

County Championship Previews - Division 2: Derbyshire, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire,  Kent,  Leicestershire,  Middlesex,  Northamptonshire,  Surrey

County Championship Previews - Division 1:  Yorkshire,  Worcestershire,  Warwickshire, Sussex,  Somerset,  Nottinghamshire,  Lancashire,  Hampshire,  Durham

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County Championship Preview - Division 2: Glamorgan

 
Agonisingly pipped at the post by Worcestershire for the second promotion slot in 2010, Glamorgan will be hoping to go one better this summer despite a winter of upheaval.

Strengths

Largely unknown given the departures of captain James Dalrymple, Tom Maynard and the rotund Mark Cosgrove (save T20) over the winter. New skipper Alviro Petersen is an interesting pick as overseas player and James Harris has always looked a dangerous bowler whenever we have seen him.

Weaknesses

Harris lacks support in the seam department and the batsmen that remain are inconsistent to put it mildly. With this many changes, the team may need a season of consolidation.

Main man

Petersen looks a decent batsman at Test level so should do well against Division 2 bowlers, but we go for James Harris here. England has a stock of talented seamers at the moment, but Harris has youth on his side and talent in abundance so could gatecrash the party over the coming seasons.

Look out for…

The eternally youthful Robert Croft. He may be touching 41, but the old warhorse can still be relied upon for wickets and late order runs.

Prediction

7th - a season of consolidation awaits for the Welshmen

Where next?

County Championship Preview - Division 2: Derbyshire

County Championship Preview - Division 1: Yorkshire

County Championship Preview - Division 1: Worcestershire

County Championship Preview - Division 1: Warwickshire

County Championship Preview - Division 1: Sussex

County Championship Preview - Division 1: Somerset

County Championship Preview - Division 1: Nottinghamshire

County Championship Preview - Division 1: Lancashire

County Championship Preview - Division 1: Hampshire

County Championship Preview - Division 1: Durham

2010 County XI of the season

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