The Reverse Sweep

ECB get the County Championship finish they don't deserve

The final round of County Championship matches started yesterday with three teams battling it out to be Division 1 champions. After losing their last two matches, Nottinghamshire are fading fast and will hope that their slender two point advantage over Somerset proves crucial in the final reckoning.

Somerset have never won the title, but if they can overcome Durham then captain Marcus Trescothick could get the reward that his glittering career deserves. His counterpart at Yorkshire, Andrew Gale, would also be a worthy holder of the trophy should the White Rose county overhaul the two teams above them.

Not so worthy of recognition are the ECB who have served up a real hotch potch of a season. No test matches for England at the height of summer in July, an overlong Twenty 20 competition and a further degradation of the championship have been some but not all of the blunders served up by Giles Clarke and his fellow clowns.

As the season reaches its conclusion we've remembered that we've been as absent-minded as the ECB in not posting an update of our County Player of the Season table in the last few weeks. Anyway the penultimate table is below and it looks like Steve Finn is going to win another (albeit obscure) award in his breakthrough season.

Player	County	Played	Points		Points awarded*
Finn	Middlesex	13	231		County Appearance	5
Kieswetter	Somerset	27	186		Lions Appearance	10
Rashid	Yorkshire	15	180		Test appearance	20
Hildreth	Somerset	15	170		T20I/ODI/Lions one day	3
Bopara	Essex	19	155		Score of 40-49	3
Taylor	Leics	18	154		50-99	5
Gale	Yorkshire	17	150		100-199	10
Woakes	Warks	16	144		200+	20
Panesar	Sussex	15	122		3 wickets in an innings	3
Hamilton-Brown	Surrey	15	119		4 wickets	5
Stokes	Durham	13	109		5 or 6 wickets	10
Northeast	Kent	15	105		7wickets+	20
Tremlett	Surrey	11	99		Catches	1
Hales	Notts	11	98		Stumpings	3
Borthwick	Durham	9	61
Wainwright	Yorkshire	5	29

Regular visitors to this site will know that just before the start of the county season, we named our dozen players to watch (see Part 1 and Part 2 here). We thought it would be fun to see how the 12 fared over the 2010 season, so devised what is probably a flawed points system to help assess their progress. We later extended this list to 16, adding Andrew Gale, Chris Woakes, James Hildreth and Ben Stokes to the mix.

Chris Tremlett & Monty Panesar give England selectors an Ashes nudge

With just the final test at Lord's to go, the England selectors will soon have the test after that on their minds. The small matter of the first Ashes test against Australia at Brisbane, which starts on 25th November.

Despite a poor performance at The Oval, the XI who have featured in the three tests to date against Pakistan are racing certainties to be included in the Ashes party to be named some time in September. But spots are up for grabs for extra pacemen and a second spinner.

It is a big season for Chris Tremlett and Monty Panesar with their respective new counties Surrey and Sussex. Tremlett played three tests against India in 2007 and did reasonably well, but since then inconsistency and above all injury, has seen him slip off the selectors radar. A feeling that he lacks the inner fire of a Stuart Broad has also not helped his cause. But his season for Surrey is getting better and better and match figures of 38.1-12-87-8 last week against Worcestershire seem to suggest he is back to his best. He now has 38 championship wickets at 19.6 this season. Is it too late for him as far as England are concerned? Or will the selectors take a gamble on a bowler whose height and bounce would seem to be ideal for Australian conditions?

Panesar would seem to be the favourite for the second spinners role ahead of the untried Adil Rashid. After an annus horribilis in 2009, Panesar seems to have got his mojo back at Sussex where his 43 wickets at 24.11 have helped Sussex top the Division 2 table. Like Tremlett, Monty too is coming into form at the right time and last week took match figures of seven for 122 as Derbyshire were humbled at Horsham.

Elsewhere in our County Player off the Year table, Steve Finn extends his lead despite a poor game at The Oval with second placed Rashid only bowling nine overs on a seamers wicket at Chester-le-Street. Other players to shine in the latest round of county championship matches were James Hildreth, who continued his fine recent form with 84 and 59 in Somerset's victory over Essex, and Andrew Gale, who rediscovered his early season form with a rapid 70 not out in Yorkshire's run chase against Durham.

The latest table is below:

Player	County	Played	Points		Points awarded*
Finn	Middlesex	11	203		County Appearance	5
Rashid	Yorkshire	13	164		Lions Appearance	10
Kieswetter	Somerset	24	162		Test appearance	20
Hildreth	Somerset	13	160		T20I/ODI/Lions one day	3
Taylor	Leics	16	143		Score of 40-49	3
Bopara	Essex	14	130		50-99	5
Gale	Yorkshire	15	130		100-199	10
Panesar	Sussex	13	112		200+	20
Hamilton-Brown	Surrey	13	104		3 wickets in an innings	3
Stokes	Durham	12	104		4 wickets	5
Woakes	Warks	14	103		5 or 6 wickets	10
Northeast	Kent	13	89		7wickets+	20
Tremlett	Surrey	9	86		Catches	1
Hales	Notts	8	69		Stumpings	3
Borthwick	Durham	6	37
Wainwright	Yorkshire	5	29

Regular visitors to this site will know that just before the start of the county season, we named our dozen players to watch (see Part 1 and Part 2 here). We thought it would be fun to see how the 12 fared over the 2010 season, so devised what is probably a flawed points system to help assess their progress. We later extended this list to 16, adding Andrew Gale, Chris Woakes, James Hildreth and Ben Stokes to the mix. 

James Hildreth enjoys the joy of six

Whilst we've been away some teams have played two county matches (and have started their third this week), which means that the Reverse Sweep County Player of the Year table is in need of a bit of an update.

Steve Finn is still out in front thanks to the extra points available for those lucky enough to play test cricket and because he keeps taking wickets. Though maybe we need to readjust the points given that the Pakistan batting line-up would probably struggle against a Division Two county attack at present?

Of those in close pursuit, Adil Rashid had a quiet match against Nottinghamshire a couple of weeks ago, which has allowed Craig Kieswetter and James Hildreth to close the gap in third and fourth. Hildreth has now hit six championship hundreds this season and may yet prove Justin Langer's opinion that the Somerset batsman was "an extraordinary talent" correct.

Elsewhere Scott Borthwick has managed to move off the bottom of the table thanks to him being picked by Durham. The much vaunted David Wainwright is now bottom of the pile ridiculing suggestions by some at the start of the season that he could move up the blind side to be named as the second spinner in this winter's Ashes party. Watch out though for Chris Tremlett, who is close to his best now that both fitness and rhythm have returned.

Player	County	Played	Points		Points awarded*
Finn	Middlesex	10	183		County Appearance	5
Rashid	Yorkshire	12	159		Lions Appearance	10
Kieswetter	Somerset	23	152		Test appearance	20
Hildreth	Somerset	12	145		T20I/ODI/Lions one day	3
Taylor	Leics	16	143		Score of 40-49	3
Bopara	Essex	13	124		50-99	5
Gale	Yorkshire	14	120		100-199	10
Panesar	Sussex	12	99		200+	20
Hamilton-Brown	Surrey	12	99		3 wickets in an innings	3
Stokes	Durham	11	97		4 wickets	5
Woakes	Warks	13	95		5 or 6 wickets	10
Northeast	Kent	12	84		7wickets+	20
Tremlett	Surrey	8	71		Catches	1
Hales	Notts	7	61		Stumpings	3
Borthwick	Durham	6	37
Wainwright	Yorkshire	5	29

Regular visitors to this site will know that just before the start of the county season, we named our dozen players to watch (see Part 1 and Part 2 here). We thought it would be fun to see how the 12 fared over the 2010 season, so devised what is probably a flawed points system to help assess their progress. We later extended this list to 16, adding Andrew Gale, Chris Woakes, James Hildreth and Ben Stokes to the mix. 

Steven Finn is back in charge

With Adil Rashid and Yorkshire not having a game, Steven Finn eased back to the head of our County Player to Watch 2010 Table with five wickets in England's demolition of Pakistan at Trent Bridge. Finn must now be hot favourite to win this title given that he has three more tests to come against Pakistan's fragile batting line-up over the next few weeks.

Elsewhere it was a quiet week with six of our sixteen's counties not in Championship action. Three players did impress however. James Hildreth hit his fourth championship ton of the summer, a season's best 142, as Somerset trounced Nottinghamshire. Craig Kieswetter also got amongst the runs with 73 in the same match. The other player to shine was Chris Tremlett who bowled a fiery new spell to take three wickets in five balls against Middlesex and ended up with four for 90. He also scored 53 not out, but was unable to avert an innings defeat for his county Surrey.

Regular visitors to this site will know that just before the start of the county season, we named our dozen players to watch (see Part 1 and Part 2 here). We thought it would be fun to see how the 12 fared over the 2010 season, so devised what is probably a flawed points system to help assess their progress. We later extended this list to 16, adding Andrew Gale, Chris Woakes, James Hildreth and Ben Stokes to the mix. 

 

 

Adil Rashid is knock, knock, knocking on England's door

As is often the case, we found ourselves agreeing with a discussion on Test Match Sofa during coverage of the Australia-Pakistan test at Headingley. This particular debate related to Adil Rashid and whether he should be elevated to the Englandtest and/or one day squad. So far this season, Rashid has taken 49 championship wickets at 27.87 and scored 524 runs at 52.40. These are stats that the likes of Tim Bresnan, Luke Wright and James Tredwell, all of whom seem ahead of Rashid in the England pecking order, could only dream of.

In our humble opinion, Rashid should go to Australia (just ahead of Monty Panesar) as the second spinner where he could expect to play at Adelaide and/or Sydney. The Yorkshire leg-spinner should certainly go to the World Cup, where three spinners will be required. But will the England selectors go where their Australian counterparts have already trod by picking fellow young leg spinner (but inferior to Rashid) Steve Smith?

Whatever his fate over the winter, Rashid stretches his lead at the top of our County Player to Watch in 2010 table, despite the return of erstwhile leader Steve Finn from his strength conditioning course. Rashid took five for 87 and scored 52 not out as Yorkshire drew with Essexin Division 1. That is Rashid's third successive championship five for and he has now amassed 24 wickets in those three matches - a rich vein of form indeed.

Elsewhere, Ravi Bopara continued his resurgence in form with a hundred in each innings in the aforementioned clash with Yorkshire. He too must be in serious contention for a place in England's Ashes squad. Monty Panesar also is right back in form, taking his second successive five for (including the wicket of England captain Andrew Strauss) as Sussex just failed to beat Middlesex in Division 2.

Other notable performances included a swashbuckling hundred from Rory Hamilton-Brown in Surrey's innings victory over Northants plus fifties from James Taylor and Alex Hales for Leicestershire against Glamorgan and Notts in their win over Warwickshire respectively.

Regular visitors to this site will know that just before the start of the county season, we named our dozen players to watch (see Part 1 and Part 2 here). We thought it would be fun to see how the 12 fare over the 2010 season, so devised what is probably a flawed points system to help assess their progress. We recently extended this list to 16, adding Andrew Gale, Chris Woakes, James Hildreth and Ben Stokes to the mix. 

It's Spin City as Rashid and Panesar impress

The race for the Reverse Sweep County Player of the Year Award heated up this week as Adil Rashid and Monty Panesar spun their sides to victory in the County Championship.

Rashid took his season's tally to 42 wickets with nine for 208 in the match as Yorkshire returned to the top of the Division 1 table. With Steve Finn still on his strength conditioning course (which, will doubtless last until Ricky Ponting and his men board their Qantas jet back to Sydney), Rashid takes over at the top of the table.

Meanwhile, Panesar took his first five for since September 2008 as he inspired his side Sussex back to the top of the Division 2 table. Both will be eyeing a spot in the Ashes squad and are surely each a better bet than James Tredwell as a potential second spinner at Adelaide and Sydney?

Regular visitors to this site will know that just before the start of the county season, we named our dozen players to watch (see Part 1 and Part 2 here). We thought it would be fun to see how the 12 fare over the 2010 season, so devised what is probably a flawed points system to help assess their progress. We recently extended this list to 16, adding Andrew Gale, Chris Woakes, James Hildreth and Ben Stokes to the mix.

Elsewhere, Ravi Bopara and Andrew Gale took advantage of their opportunities with England A to make a move up the table. Bopara had an extraordinary match against West Indies A hitting 168 and then taking four for 43 - surely he should be playing as the number six in the full England ODI side? Gale hit 90 in the final as England A beat India A to the title.

Finally, the immensely promising Sam Northeast hit a fifty for Kent against Hampshire, but all to no avail as Kent slipped to a heavy defeat.

Player	County	Played	Points		Points awarded*
Rashid	Yorkshire	10	132		County Appearance	5
Finn	Middlesex	7	129		Lions Appearance	10
Kieswetter	Somerset	18	107		Test appearance	20
Gale	Yorkshire	12	104		T20I/ODI/Lions one day	3
Taylor	Leics	12	101		Score of 40-49	3
Hildreth	Somerset	8	90		50-99	5
Bopara	Essex	10	88		100-199	10
Woakes	Warks	11	84		200+	20
Stokes	Durham	8	76		3 wickets in an innings	3
Panesar	Sussex	9	74		4 wickets	5
Hamilton-Brown	Surrey	9	73		5 or 6 wickets	10
Northeast	Kent	9	66		7wickets+	20
Hales	Notts	4	38		Catches	1
Tremlett	Surrey	5	38		Stumpings	3
Wainwright	Yorkshire	4	24
Borthwick	Durham	4	22

England ODI healthcheck - how are things shaping up for the World Cup?

5-0 would have been quite a statement, but given England won the first three matches and Australia had an under strength bowling line-up, 3-2 to England probably left honours even. That said it is quite a turnaround for England having lost 6-1 to the same opposition less than a year earlier. Following on from the improved display in the Champions Trophy and series wins in South Africa and Bangladesh, England have certainly made a Lazarus like recovery in the 50 over format.

 

But, just how healthy is the England line-up ahead of the big one - the World Cup next spring on the subcontinent? Dr Reverse Sweep casts an eye over the team below and provides the possible remedies where necessary.

 

The openers

Andrew Strauss quashed the murmurs before the series that he wasn’t worth his place, but there is still a slight question mark whether his favourite run-getting areas will allow him to flourish in a World Cup on subcontinent pitches. But he will be there and will probably open with Craig Kieswetter, who had an inevitable fall after a meteoric start to his international career. Surreykeeper Steven Davies and young Alex Hales of Nottinghamshire (an opener in the Marcus Trescothick mould) are perhaps the unlikely alternatives here.

Verdict: healthy, but caution is required.

 

The middle order 

Kevin Pietersen’s position as the star of the side has now been usurped by the quite remarkable Eoin Morgan. The Irishman’s hundred at the Rose Bowl was one of the best ever scored for Englandin the one day game, and he should do well on the slow pitches of the subcontinent. Pietersen had a poor series and is maybe suffering a hangover from starring in the World T20 and becoming a new father. But as he normally does, Englandfans can be confident Pietersen will raise his game for the big one. Sandwiched between them in the batting order is the irrepressible Paul Collingwood, who just seems to get better and better. This is a middle order that rivals the best in the one day game worldwide.

Verdict: in a rude state of health.

 

The number six spot

This is the main worry in the side as Luke Wright is a place too high at number six and arguably is not worth his place in the side with bat or ball. If Kieswetter opens, then there is merit for having a specialist batsman at number six in the order especially as Collingwood and Pietersen can provide sixth bowler duties if necessary. We’d also argue that Englandcan not accommodate Wright and Tim Bresnan in the same side with the latter’s batting impressing far more than what is supposed to be his strongest suit with the ball. The candidates here are Ian Bell (back in the side for the Bangladeshseries to replace the injured/rested [take your pick] Pietersen), Matt Prior (who could also take the gloves, and who is impressing for Sussexin the FP t20), Ben Stokes (probably too young) and our choice Ravi Bopara. Bopara is a good batsman who can rebuild or embellish an innings in one day cricket and his bowling adds another string to his bow.

Verdict: in need of some medicine from Bopara

 

The spinners

Graeme Swann’s remarkable success story continued in the Nat West series and he will be the key man if Englandare to repeat their Caribbean success in the World Cup. Mike Yardy did a good job in the World T20 and was England’s most economical bowler in the Nat West series. His left hand style complements Swann and as an opener in domestic cricket, he adds batting strength to the lower-middle order. The only doubt concerns his lack of wickets. James Tredwell has come into the squad for the Bangladeshseries in place of the rested Swann, but surely Adil Rashid is the next best option to the two incumbents.

Verdict: in excellent health, but  Rashid should be held in reserve in the First Aid box

 

The seamers  

Stuart Broad returned from his strength conditioning in fine fettle and was England’s leading wicket taker in the series, whilst putting a marker down against Ricky Ponting in particular ahead of the Ashes. James Anderson was his usual hot and cold self – brilliant at Old Trafford but woeful at Lord’s. Tim Bresnan only took one wicket for 255 in the series and one wonders whether he will be even more ineffective on the subcontinent. A more potent opening bowler is required as early wickets are crucial in one day cricket. Steve Finn should probably be kept just for test cricket at the moment, which means that Ryan Sidebottom, who would probably survive a nuclear explosion such is his ability to stay in the mix, comes back into the equation. Ajmal Shahzad is also worth a look.

Verdict: Mixed. Broad looks in good health, but maybe Anderson could also do with some extra vitamins and strength conditioning? A new opening bowler is urgently required otherwise England could quickly get sickly on the subcontinent.

 

Conclusion

Things are looking pretty healthy with eight or nine spots looking nailed down. A new number six is required with either Wright or Bresnan (or both) dropping out. And a more potent opening bowler should also come into the mix. As it stands, England must be amongst the favourites and who thought we’d have been saying that just ten months ago?

Adil Rashid stalks Steven Finn as Championship returns

The County Championship returned on Monday without any fanfare after a three week break, during which domestic cricket has been devoted to the never ending saga of the FP t20 competition.

Contradictorily the shortest form of the game lends itself to a competition longer than War and Peace and unbelievably we are still only about halfway through the league part of the tournament, so the Championship will have to settle for second place on the bill until the end of July.

Still the return of the Championship plus England's Nat West series with Australia and the parallel England A tri-one day series with India A and West Indies A means that the table to determine our leading county player of the season has resumed with relish.

Regular visitors to this site will know that just before the start of the county season, we named our dozen players to watch (see Part 1 and Part 2 here). We thought it would be fun to see how the 12 fare over the 2010 season, so devised what is probably a flawed points system to help assess their progress. We recently extended this list to 16, adding Andrew Gale, Chris Woakes, James Hildreth and Ben Stokes to the mix.

Anyway, with Steven Finn off having strength conditioning, Adil Rashid took advantage to move within 18 points of the 'new Glenn McGrath' with an excellent all-round performance in the Roses match; why the leg spinner is not in the England A squad, we will never know. Craig Kieswetter also moves up the table thanks to five matches in England one day colours against Scotland and Australia, despite disappointing returns against the latter. Elsewhere, Chris Tremlett's four for 94 saw Surrey prevail against Derbyshire, James Taylor's 43 not out saw Leicestershire past the post against Worcestershire and Ravi Bopara's bowling continued to impress for England A.

Player	County	Played	Points		Points awarded*
Finn	Middlesex	7	129		County Appearance	5
Rashid	Yorkshire	9	111		Lions Appearance	10
Kieswetter	Somerset	16	100		Test appearance	20
Taylor	Leics	10	94		T20I/ODI/Lions one day	3
Gale	Yorkshire	10	93		Score of 40-49	3
Hildreth	Somerset	8	90		50-99	5
Stokes	Durham	8	76		100-199	10
Woakes	Warks	8	74		200+	20
Hamilton-Brown	Surrey	9	73		3 wickets in an innings	3
Bopara	Essex	7	62		4 wickets	5
Panesar	Sussex	8	56		5 or 6 wickets	10
Northeast	Kent	8	55		7wickets+	20
Tremlett	Surrey	5	38		Catches	1
Hales	Notts	3	32		Stumpings	3
Wainwright	Yorkshire	4	24
Borthwick	Durham	4	22

  

Finn consolidates lead as championship takes a break

Another fine performance from Steven Finn in England colours consolidated his lead at the top of our table of county players to watch this season. For the second successive match, Finn took a five for as England eased to a 2-0 series victory.

Regular visitors to this site will know that just before the start of the county season, we named our dozen players to watch (see Part 1 and Part 2 here). We thought it would be fun to see how the 12 fare over the 2010 season, so devised what is probably a flawed points system to help assess their progress. We recently extended this list to 16, adding Andrew Gale, Chris Woakes, James Hildreth and Ben Stokes to the mix.

Elsewhere, Alex Hales impressed again with a quickfire 95 at the top of the order in Notts draw with Kent whilst James Hildreth continued his rich vein of form with another fifty in Somerset's defeat of Warwickshire. The others of our 16 to shine were Ravi Bopara, who scored 61 to help steer Essex out of a hole against Hampshire and James Taylor, who followed up his double hundred against Middlesex with 63 as Leicestershire beat troubled Surrey by an innings.

The championship now takes a break until the end of June as the Friends Provident T20 takes over. As a purist we don't like to see what should be the centrepiece of the domestic game taken over by the hit and giggle of Twenty20, but money talks and it seems that the counties are as greedy as the next man in the street.

Player	County	Played	Points		Points awarded*
Finn	Middlesex	7	129		County Appearance	5
Hildreth	Somerset	8	90		Lions Appearance	10
Rashid	Yorkshire	8	89		Test appearance	20
Taylor	Leics	9	86		T20I/ODI appearance	3
Gale	Yorkshire	8	85		Score of 40-49	3
Woakes	Warks	8	74		50-99	5
Kieswetter	Somerset	11	70		100-199	10
Stokes	Durham	7	68		200+	20
Hamilton-Brown	Surrey	8	65		3 wickets in an innings	3
Panesar	Sussex	8	56		4 wickets	5
Northeast	Kent	8	55		5 or 6 wickets	10
Bopara	Essex	5	48		7wickets+	20
Hales	Notts	3	32		Catches	1
Tremlett	Surrey	4	28		Stumpings	3
Wainwright	Yorkshire	4	24
Borthwick	Durham	4	22

 

 

 

Who should be in England's one day cricket squad?

For England, the two test series with Bangladesh was as flat a follow up to the World T20 triumph as 'The Second Coming' was to The Stone Roses' magnificent self-titled debut album. And just as Ian Brown delivered a famously flat performance at Reading in 1996, the same was true of some of England's stars in the Caribbean at Lord's and Old Trafford. Kevin Pietersen and Tim Bresnan to name but two.

Talk of anti-climaxes leads us to the forthcoming five match one day series against Australia. Yes, we can't believe it either that after the never-ending seven match Nat West series between the same two sides that followed the Ashes last summer, Australia are back again for an encore. But at least it will help Messrs Strauss, Flower and Miller dot a few I's and cross a few T's ahead of the World Cup on the subcontinent next year.

One of the reasons England won the World T20 was that the selectors made some uncharacteristically brave and audacious picks in Michael Lumb, Craig Kieswetter, Michael Yardy and Ryan Sidebottom. All of their punts came off, but will they employ similar ruthlessness when it comes to the England one day side? 

Since the nadir of the 6-1 reverse to Australia in the aforementioned Nat West Series last autumn, the fortunes of the one day side have greatly improved. First they reached the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy with a new attacking approach. Then they won back to back series in South Africa and Bangladesh. Now with the success of the Twenty 20 side, the selectors have some interesting decisions to make.

 

The first is the biggest. Do they retain Andrew Strauss as captain of the one day side knowing that aggression at the top of the order will be critical in the subcontinent next year? Anyone who remembers the 1996 World Cup would agree that Lumb is much closer to Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana than the more obdurate Strauss. However, Flower has given unequivocal support to Strauss following some confused signals from Miller, so we guess this question has been answered for now. Lumb would also need to show that he is capable of scoring hundreds as quickfire 20s and 30s are not enough for an opener in 50 over cricket. So it will be Strauss to partner the hugely impressive Kieswetter at the top of the order.

 

Then it gets a bit easier for the selectors as barring injury or serious loss of form, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan are certainties for the next three spots in the batting order. Presumably Collingwood, now forever the ginger Bobby Moore, would take the captaincy should the selectors make the brave and unlikely decision to leave out Strauss.

 

Luke Wright did very well in the Caribbean, but the feeling that he is a place too high at number six in Twenty 20, is probably even more the case in 50 over cricket. Assuming that Andrew Flintoff’s time as an international cricketer is over, then this position is up for grabs with Wright, Ravi Bopara and Matt Prior (allowing Kieswetter to concentrate on just his batting) the main candidates. If the selectors are feeling really adventurous, then they may want a look at the hugely impressive Ben Stokes of Durham.

 

Tim Bresnan has surprised many (including us) with the way he has performed with bat and ball in limited overs (if not test) cricket and seemed to have the number seven spot nailed down until his recent injury. This will probably earn Wright a reprieve for now. Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad are also certainties barring injury, loss of form or in Broad’s case suspension for upsetting one umpire or match referee too many.

 

That leaves two seam and one spin vacancies, as two spinners will clearly be required on the slow turners of the subcontinent so surely should be employed now in the run up? Yardy was the right horse for the T20 course offered up in the West Indies, but we are not sure whether this is the case for 50 over contests in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. With the selectors likely to require a second spinner that can bat, Monty Panesar will be deemed surplus to requirements, which leaves James Tredwell and Adil Rashid to battle it out. If Rashid can continue to rediscover his mojo with the ball this summer, then we’d go with his leg-spin option. He should certainly be recalled to the squad for the games with Australia.

 

 

Ryan Sidebottom’s incredible renaissance in the World T20 showed that the variety he offers could also prove valuable in 50 over cricket. That said we will be very surprised if James Anderson, the erstwhile leader of England’s attack, is not back in the side for the World Cup. With Steven Finn hidden from the Australians on an 'intensive strengthening programme' and Bresnan and Graham Onions injured, Ajmal Shahzad - so impressive at Old Trafford, should get a chance in the 50 over format.

 

So our 15 man squad for the games against Australia (with our first XI in bold), as well as the one off match with Scotland and the three games with Bangladesh that sandwich the battles with Ricky Ponting's men would be:

 

Strauss, Kieswetter, Pietersen, Collingwood, Morgan, Bopara, Stokes, Rashid, Wright, Swann, Broad, Sidebottom, Anderson, Shahzad and Yardy.

 

  

  

Steven Finn roars back to the top of the table

Steven Finn roared back to the top of our table of county players to watch this season with his nine wicket haul in his first home test match at Lord's over the weekend.

Regular visitors to this site will know that just before the start of the county season, we named our dozen players to watch (see Part 1 and Part 2 here). We thought it would be fun to see how the 12 fare over the 2010 season, so devised what is probably a flawed points system to help assess their progress. We recently extended this list to 16, adding Andrew Gale, Chris Woakes, James Hildreth and Ben Stokes to the mix.

Finn now has a big lead at the top of the table as the points system is weighted towards test appearances and performances. He was helped by the weather decimating the programme of county matches, which meant only two of our 16 were able to star. Prior to the game against Middlesex, James Taylor has not been able to repeat the excellent consistency of 2009, but he came back to form with a bang with an unbeaten double century.

And for the second successive match, Adil Rashid took four wickets and hit a fifty as the Roses petered out to a draw. Rashid seems to have regained form and confidence and with the World Cup being on the subcontinent next year, maybe now is the time that the England selectors gave him a run in the side for the forthcoming one day matches with Australia and Bangladesh.

The Reverse Sweep's County Players to watch 2010 - League Table
Player	County	Played	Points		Points awarded*
Finn	Middlesex	6	99		County Appearance	5
Rashid	Yorkshire	8	89		Lions Appearance	10
Gale	Yorkshire	8	85		Test appearance	20
Hildreth	Somerset	7	77		T20I/ODI appearance	3
Taylor	Leics	8	75		Score of 40-49	3
Stokes	Durham	7	68		50-99	5
Woakes	Warks	7	66		100-199	10
Kieswetter	Somerset	10	59		200+	20
Hamilton-Brown	Surrey	7	59		3 wickets in an innings	3
Northeast	Kent	7	50		4 wickets	5
Panesar	Sussex	7	50		5 or 6 wickets	10
Bopara	Essex	4	38		7wickets+	20
Wainwright	Yorkshire	4	24		Catches	1
Tremlett	Surrey	3	23		Stumpings	3
Borthwick	Durham	4	22
Hales	Notts	2	21

16 County players to watch in 2010 - Round 8 League Table

Just before the start of the county season, we named our dozen players to watch - see Part 1 and Part 2 here. We thought it would be fun to see how the 12 fare over the coming season, so devised what is probably a flawed points system to help assess their progress. Last week we extended this list to 16 adding Andrew Gale, Chris Woakes, James Hildreth and Ben Stokes to the mix.

With Steve Finn called up for the England test match, Gale, Hildreth and Adil Rashid have stolen a temporary march on the tall Middlesex paceman to fill the top three places. Gale scored another 50 in Yorkshire's draw with Hampshire as did Rashid, who also took four for 62 in the first innings to finally look like his confidence is returning with the ball. Hildreth continued his fantastic recent run with 131 in Somerset's comfortable victory over Warwickshire.

Elsewhere Stokes smashed a defiant quickfire 50 in Durham's heavy defeat by Kent, whilst Rory Hamilton-Brown hit an equally rapid 45 in Surrey's successful run chase against Northampton. Hamilton-Brown will be happier that the victory was his first as Surrey skipper and indeed the county's first in 17 championship matches.

The next round of championship matches, which begin on Saturday are the last for a while with the FPT20 competition kicking off next week. So stay tuned to see how we fit the T20 into this league, if at all...

The Reverse Sweep's County Players to watch 2010 - League Table
Player	County	Played	Points		Points awarded*
Gale	Yorkshire	7	79		County Appearance	5
Hildreth	Somerset	7	77		Lions Appearance	10
Rashid	Yorkshire	7	72		Test appearance	20
Finn	Middlesex	5	64		T20I/ODI appearance	3
Stokes	Durham	6	62		Score of 40-49	3
Woakes	Warks	6	61		50-99	5
Kieswetter	Somerset	10	59		100-199	10
Hamilton-Brown	Surrey	6	54		200+	20
Northeast	Kent	7	50		3 wickets in an innings	3
Panesar	Sussex	7	50		4 wickets	5
Taylor	Leics	7	49		5 or 6 wickets	10
Bopara	Essex	3	28		7wickets+	20
Wainwright	Yorkshire	4	24		Catches	1
Borthwick	Durham	3	17		Stumpings	3
Hales	Notts	1	16
Tremlett	Surrey	2	15

 

12 (now 16) County players to watch in 2010 - Round 7 League Table

Just before the start of the county season, we named our dozen players to watch - see Part 1 and Part 2 here. We thought it would be fun to see how the 12 fare over the coming season, so have devised what is probably a flawed points system to help assess their progress.

It's been a momentous week. First, all English cricket fans are basking in the the success of the England team winning the World T20. Secondly, test cricket returns next week with the start of the England-Bangladesh test series. And third, the English summer has finally arrived (even if we only get to enjoy the sun in our home of the South of France instead :-)

To mark this, we have decided to add four players to our original 12 to watch for this season. It probably isn't cricket, but it is our league and we'll admit we erred in including these four before the season.

The first of the four is Andrew Gale, the 26 year old Yorkshire captain, who has made a fine start to the season both with the bat and in the unique challenge that is skippering Yorkshire. He is already being talked of as a future England captain.

Then we have James Hildreth of Somerset, who has promised much over the years without delivering the final surge required to put him in line for England selection. He has also had a good start to the season and scored a remarkable hundred off 68 balls this week to help Somerset beat Yorkshire.

Next up is Chris Woakes, the Warwickshire all-rounder, who represented the Lions this week and could soon challenge Tim Bresnan and Luke Wright for thier places in the England one day and Twenty 20 sides.

Finally, we have 18 year old Durham all-rounder Ben Stokes. We have hung our heads in shames many times this week for our failure to include him in our original dozen. He is perhaps the most talented of the lot and he had us salivating over his potential when he saw on Sky his hundred against Kent this week (see our 1st and 2nd posts of the week on Stokes).

All this, means it's been a bumper week of movement in the table. All 16 played, even Ravi Bopara who took seven wickets for the Lions and Alex Hales, who made his first championship appearance of the season for Notts and proceeded to score 136 against Hampshire.

Of course, the performance of the week even eclipsing Stokes, was Craig Kieswetter's man of the match performance in the World T20 final. It's been quite a week. 

	The Reverse Sweep's County Players to watch 2010 - League Table
	Player	County	Played	Points		Points awarded*
	Gale	Yorkshire	6	69		County Appearance	5
	Finn	Middlesex	5	64		Lions Appearance	10
	Hildreth	Somerset	6	61		Test appearance	20
	Rashid	Yorkshire	6	57		T20I/ODI appearance	3
	Woakes	Warks	5	56		Score of 40-49	3
	Stokes	Durham	5	52		50-99	5
	Kieswetter	Somerset	9	52		100-199	10
	Hamilton-Brown	Surrey	5	46		200+	20
	Northeast	Kent	6	45		3 wickets in an innings	3
	Panesar	Sussex	6	45		4 wickets	5
	Taylor	Leics	6	44		5 or 6 wickets	10
	Wainwright	Yorkshire	4	24		7wickets+	20
	Bopara	Essex	2	21		Catches	1
	Hales	Notts	1	16		Stumpings	3
	Tremlett	Surrey	2	15
	Borthwick	Durham	2	12

 

An England under-23 XI - the future looks bright

It's been a tremendous week for English cricket. Not only did the England team end its 35 year quest for an ICC limited overs trophy, but several young England qualified players have had shone in the county championship.

In this week alone of England qualified players under the age of 23, Craig Kieswetter was man of the match in the World T20 final whilst Ben Stokes, Alex Hales and Adam Lyth all showed that they are potential England players of the future in matches for Durham, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire respectively.

To emphasise just how strong England's supply of talented under-23's is, we thought it would be fun to select an England under-23 side. This side follows, but when you consider that Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire, 20), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire, 22), Luke Fletcher (Nottinghamshire, 21), Oliver Hannon-Dalby (Yorkshire, 20) and Scott Borthwick (Durham, 20) all miss out it just goes to show the extent of England's resources.

The future looks bright.

1. Adam Lyth (Yorkshire, 22)- Lyth already has 622 first-class runs this season and scored 142 and 93 against Somerset this week. Can the left-hander follow the other great Yorkshire and England openers like Sutcliffe, Boycott and Hutton into the pantheon?

2. Sam Northeast (Kent, 20) - Has had a tough start to the season with Kent after impressing in 2009, but big things are expected of the Harrow educated Kent batsman.

3. Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire, 21) -  Reverse Sweep favourite Hales broke into the Notts side last season and scored an unforgettable 150 in a 40 over match against Worcestershire. Had been biding his time on the sidelines this season but made an instant impression with a composed 136 against Hampshire this week.

4. James Taylor (Leicestershire, 20) - Has faltered a bit this season after a stellar 2009 saw him win two accolades in the Cricket Writers' Club and PCA Young Player of the Year awards, and he wintered with the Lions. Most judges would back pint-sized Taylor to come good though.

5. Ben Stokes (Durham, 18) - Thanks to Sky's coverage of the Kent-Durham match this week, we had the pleasure of watching Stokes confirm the belief that he will play for England in the next few years. His unbeaten hundred in the first innings and rapid 42 not out in the second marks him out as potentially a very special player and he is apparently already on the selectors radar.

6. Rory Hamilton-Brown (Surrey, 22, Captain)- Is having a tough baptism as Surrey skipper, but we've seen enough quality to suggest that RHB could force his way into the England set-up one day. He certainly doesn't lack fight or fear a challenge.

7. Craig Kieswetter (Somerset, 22) - Yes, he needs to improve his work with the gloves, but England could just find they have their own version of Adam Gilchrist. The fact that he was born in South Africa doesn't worry us. Matt Prior must be extremely worried about his position in the test and one day sides.

8. Adil Rashid (Yorkshire, 22) - Still only 22, Rashid may have lost some confidence thanks to his year of carrying the drinks for England in various parts of the world, but he has plenty of time to hone his leg-spin and live up to the plaudits that have flooded his way over the last few seasons. England need to be patient with him and if they do, England could have a gem on their hands. And he has a first-class batting average of nearly 40 too.

9. Chris Woakes (Warwickshire, 21) - Woakes has impressed with both bat and ball for Warwickshire this season and could quickly emerge as a challenger to Tim Bresnan and Luke Wright for the number seven spot in the Twenty 20 and one day sides.

10. James Harris (Glamorgan, 20) - Burst onto the scene as a seventeen year old when he took seven wickets in an innings in the county championship. Has continued to impress and the fact he was in the Lions team that faced Bangladesh this week shows he is on the selectors radar too.

11. Steve Finn (Middlesex, 21) - The giant quick made a good impression on his test bow in Bangladesh, has started the season well and must have a real chance of going to Australia in the winter. Could he become as good as Steve Harmison? We'll have to wait and see. 

Hungrier than Yuvraj Singh

You are 18 years old and as you walk to the crease in only your sixth first-class match you find your side 55 runs short of victory with six wickets left.

The experienced batsman at the other end is well set and despite scoring an unbeaten century in the first innings, you realise that chasing a winning target in the fourth innings is another challenge entirely.

The opposition have a bowler who has taken nearly 400 test wickets and another one who has played for Pakistan. They also have Amjad Khan who played one test for England, but you are not too worried about him.

So what do you do? Are you nervous when you take guard?

For most batsmen, especially those of tender years and such little experience the answers would be to give the strike to your batting partner as much as possible, and yes you are bloody nervous.

But Ben Stokes is not a normal inexperienced eighteen year old cricketer. He is not nervous and he is not cowed. In fact he is as cool as a cucumber.

He moves serenely to a run a ball 16. And then he sees that Joe Denly is about to bowl an over of part-time leg spin and he realises he is as hungry for runs as Yuvraj Singh would appear to be for his food.

Bang! Crash! Wallop! And five fours and a six later he has taken 26 off the over and won the game.

Ben Stokes, Future England Player, take a bow. That's the second time in two days we've said you will play for England. 

An exciting future England cricketer

Sky Sports are really serving us up a treat with their live coverage of the county championship match between Kent and Durham. And no I am not talking about the commentary skills or otherwise of Charles Colville.

On the first day, we saw an excellent exhibition of fast bowling from Steve Harmison overshadowed by a fabulous 261 from Reverse Sweep favourite Rob Key. Yesterday's second day was just as good as we saw Ben Stokes hit a magnificent unbeaten 122 as county champions Durham fought back from 26 for two to close just 77 runs behind Kent's 424 all out.

We first caught sight of 18 year old Stokes during coverage of the under-19 World Cup in New Zealand earlier this year, where he was England's undoubted star of the show.

Stokes seems to have transferred his obvious talent to the first-class game with consummate ease  and yesterday's 100 was his second in six days following his maiden first-class century against Nottinghamshire last week.

His innings was a sumptuous one with 15 fours and two sixes against a strong Kent attack including Makhaya Ntini, Amjad Khan and Azhar Mahmood. Stokes drove and pulled particularly well and seems to have abundant confidence for one playing in only his sixth first-class game. He certainly dominated a stand of 143 with fellow centurion Dale Benkenstein.

It would appear that we erred somewhat when omitting Stokes (and Chris Woakes for that matter) from our dozen county cricketers to watch in the 2010 season (see Part 1 and Part 2), so we will remedy that now by declaring that we will eat a cricket ball (thanks Shahid Afridi) if Stokes does not go on to play for England. He also bowls decent right arm medium, so England may well have another all-rounder in the making here.

Our confidence that he will play for England is enhanced by the fact that Stokes was actually born in New Zealand, so as well as probably following in the footsteps of Caddick Pietersen, Morgan, Kieswetter, Prior, Strauss and Lumb et all, he will also upset the Little Englanders into the bargain too. Which is never a bad thing.

Let's hope he can keep going when the play resumes later today.