The Reverse Sweep

The mystery of Ajmal Shazad's sacking solved

Perplexed? So were we. Just what made Yorkshire jettison the bowler that only last week coach Jason Gillespie described as "a fantastic bowler"? We've been investigating the possible reasons here at the Reverse Sweep.

Secret Texts

In a routine check on Shahzad's mobile phone, several congratulatory texts sent to Lancashire players in wake of their championship triumph last September were discovered and brought to the attention of Colin Graves. The chairman concluded it was a "bloody disgrace" and immediately reached for his axe.

Names

As a proud Englishman, Graves had previously presented Shahzad with an ultimatum to change his christian name on account of the wreckage caused to England's batting over the winter by one Saeed Ajmal. Shahzad refused - et voilà.

Upsetting Sir Geoffrey

It is little known that Shahzad is a bit of a prankster and an expert computer hacker. Having surreptitiously gained access to new Yorkshire president Geoffrey Boycott's iPad, Shahzad uploaded a virus, which meant that every time Boycott tried to open an application, a replay of that fearsome over to Boycott in 1981 from Michael Holding played. This proved too much for Boycott, who still bears the psychological scars and sticks of rhubarb to this day. 

Enraging Bres

Not content with incurring the wrath of Boycott, Shahzad frustrated by the knowledge that Tim Bresnan would be given the new ball at Scarborough against Leicestershire, was caught out enacting Tanya Aldred's witty line in this year's Wisden that Bresnan "still has the air of a man with an emergency cheese sandwich in his back pocket". Shahzad was caught red handed by his irate team mate with a baguette filled with camembert in one hand and Bresnan's cricket whites in the other.

Mind the hair

Shahzad could normally have counted on the support of his usual new ball partner Ryan Sidebottom, but an hour before being apprehended by Bresnan, he had been exposed as the culprit who sabotaged Sidebottom's beloved curling tongs during last week's numerous rain breaks at Chelmsford.

Morgan's solitary friend

Never ones to like a scab, Yorkshire's players were furious when they discovered that Shahzad was the only one of their number to have registered his support in the recently published survey by the Professional Cricketers' Association of the Morgan Report.

Dizzy

The final straw was when Shahzad's last supporter - Gillespie - finally tired of Shahzad humming the irritating early nineties tune by Vic Reeves and The Wonder Stuff whenever he was in his presence.

Don't believe any other rubbish you might hear.

Where next?

County Championship XI of the week #4

County Championship 2012 Preview: Division 2 - Yorkshire

Yorkshire chairman Colin Graves gets straight to the point

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

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It's surreal: Kieron Pollard fires a first ODI hundred; David Warner cracks a maiden Test ton

Having an opinion is pretty much a prerequisite to writing a cricket blog that is interesting enough for people to enjoy and as our two readers will no doubt testify that means there are times when we get it a bit wrong at The Reverse Sweep.

In the last few days, two familiar targets of our ire have done rather well. Firstly, Kieron Pollard, whom we have previously opined to be the most overrated cricketer in the world scored his maiden ODI hundred (at the 51st attempt) against India in Chennai (in a dead rubber, it should be noted).

Since conjuring up an improbable win (and consequently a lucrative IPL contract) against New South Wales in the inaugural Champions League, Pollard was become a very rich man indeed through essentially whoring himself around the World’s T20 leagues whilst consistently disappointing for the West Indies (for whom he still hasn’t played a single Test).

Many feel that Pollard epitomises everything that is wrong with cricket in 2011 - Michael Holding certainly isn’t keen having famously suggested that “Kieron Pollard, in my opinion is not a cricketer”.

But it seems that Pollard may have more about him than either we or Holding had hitherto imagined. We’d already noted that throughout the India-West Indies ODI series, Pollard appeared to be trying to play himself in before trying to hit the ball onto the next continent.

We were reliably informed that Sunday was the first occasion since March 2009 that Pollard faced more than 100 balls in a single innings. That should provide him with a sobering thought and together with the memory of his maiden hundred provide the basis for his approach at the crease in future.

However, Pollard would be advised to remember that one swallow does not make a summer, and an ODI average with the bat of 23 and a T20I one of 12 clearly requires drastic improvement.

The notion of one swallow applies as much to David Warner as it does Pollard.

Warner’s brave, glorious and unbowed maiden Test ton in Hobart may have proved to be agonisingly futile in the final reckoning, but it did suggest that we were premature and ok we’ll admit it irrefutably wrong in rubbishing Warner’s Test credentials.

Indeed, Warner’s reinvention of himself for the longer form of the game is to his credit. The very suggestion of him carrying his bat in a Test match would have provoked much laughter not that long ago, but Warner did it in his second Test, in a run chase on a devilishly tricky surface.

Whilst he would do well to remember that his opening partner in Hobart also made a stunning impact in his second Test match, unlike the hapless Phillip Hughes, Warner doesn’t seem to lack self-belief nor possess a fatally flawed technique.

Moreover, he also seems to have heeded the advice of Virender Sehwag who as The Old Batsman reminded us last week told Warner that if he played his natural game “you'll be a better Test cricketer than you are a Twenty20 player”.

We shall see about that, but Warner has certainly made an immensely impressive start.

Where next?

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

Virender Sehwag scores 219 in a ODI to spark interest from Boris Johnson

Cricket Zeroes: The Twenty 20 harlot

The farcical Champions League and its band of cricket mercenaries

Cricket Heroes: Michael Holding

Top 20 cricket blogs: The Old Batsman

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Our all-time West Indies XI to celebrate the release of 'Fire in Babylon'

 
As we wrote yesterday, we're pretty excited at the prospect of seeing 'Fire in Babylon', the film about the great West Indies cricket side of the 1970's and 80's.

The comparison between that team and the current sorry outfit is frightening and hopes cannot be high for the team is it embarks today on a home Test series with Pakistan having not won any of its previous 18 Tests.

But as Fire in Babylon retells, the West Indies has a rich heritage of magnificent cricketers. To coincide with the release of the film, here is our all-time West Indies XI:

1. Gordon Greenidge (108 tests, 19 hundreds, average 44.72) - A vivid memory of our childhood was Greenidge's brutal unbeaten 214 at Lord's in 1984, which made mincemeat of a victory target of 344. Immensely powerful and destructive, Greenidge was the template for the modern breed of attacking openers like Sehwag and Dilshan. Formed two of the greatest opening partnerships of all time with Desmond Haynes for the Windies and Barry Richards for Hampshire.

2. George Headley (22 tests, 10 hundreds, average 60.83) - One of the greats of the game. In 22 tests, when he pretty much was the West Indies batting, Headley hit ten centuries including eight against England. His test match average is one of the best in history, and the tag of the 'Black Bradman was certainly justified. Indeed, Headley's admirers responded by calling Bradman the 'white Headley', and the fact that is a compliment to the Don shows just how good the pioneering Headley was.

3. Sir Viv Richards (Captain, 121 tests, 24 hundreds, average 50.23) - The most devastating batsman in the history of the game, Richards was absolutely unstoppable on his day. His style was a mixture of swagger and intimidation, and bowlers visibly cowered when faced with an on-song King Viv. It is fitting that he has the fastest-ever Test century, from just 56 balls against England in Antigua during the 1986 tour. With Worrell and Lloyd not making the cut, Richards is captain of our all-conquering Caribbean XI.

4. Brian Lara (131 tests, 34 hundreds, average 52.88) - Holds the record for the highest Test and First Class scores of 400 not out and 501 not out respectively. When he started his career, the West Indian era of dominance was on the wane. By the time he finished it, his side was in the doldrums. As a result Lara spent most of his time trying to keep his side afloat, which makes his record all the more remarkable. Perhaps his best achievement was in 1999 at home to Australia, when he single-handedly won the second and third tests with scores of 213 and 153 not out. He scored a century too in the fourth test, but couldn’t prevent Australia squaring the series.

5. Everton Weekes (48 tests, 15 hundreds, average 58.61) - One of the immortal 'three Ws', Walcott believed that Weekes was the best all-round batsman of the three. An attacking batsman with a vast array of strokes, Weekes made an electric start to his test career reaching 1,000 runs in only his 12th innings; one fewer than Bradman. During this run he also scored five centuries in consecutive innings against England and India - still a Test record.

6. Sir Gary Sobers (93 tests, 26 hundreds, average 57.78, 235 wickets at 34.03) - Cricket’s greatest all-rounder. With the bat, Sobers mixed elegance with power and for a long time held the record for the highest Test score until he was usurped by Lara. Perhaps his best innings though came for the Rest of the World against Australiain 1972 when Sobers played an innings of 254 described by Bradman as "probably the greatest exhibition of batting ever seen in Australia". Batting wasn't his only talent either. Indeed, he could bowl left arm fast medium as well as both orthodox and leg spin.

7. Sir Clyde Walcott (44 tests, 15 hundreds, average 56.68, 53 catches, 11 stumpings) - Ok, Walcott wasn't as good a keeper as Dujon and even relinquished the gloves following back trouble (not that he would have to bend over too much keeping to this attack). But how can you leave out someone this good? Walcott played an instrumental role in the first West Indian victory on English soil at Lord’s in 1950 scoring 168 not out. Along with Weekes, he was arguably the best batsman in the World during the mid-1950s, reaching his peak with an incredible five hundreds and 827 runs during Australia’s first Test series in the Caribbean. This team bats deep!

8. Malcolm Marshall (81 tests, 376 wickets at 20.94) - If picking the batsmen was hard, whittling down a long line of brilliant West Indies fast bowlers is even harder. Including Marshall though wasn't difficult as he was arguably the best of the lot. Fearsomely fast and with the ability to swing the ball both ways, Marshall was often unplayable and England in particular were frequent victims. His strike rate of 46.22 was as phenomenal as his premature death at the age of 41 was tragic. No doubt, Marshall has reduced Bradman's average of 99.94 since he joined the heavenly all-time greats on the elysian cricket field.

9. Curtly Ambrose (98 tests, 405 wickets at 20.99) - The most menacing bowler of his generation and given his dislike for speaking to the media, was like a silent if giant assassin. Once took seven wickets for one run in the most devastating of spells against Australia, but as England fans we remember him blasting out Mike Atherton's side for just 46 in Port of Spain more.

10. Joel Garner (58 Tests, 259 wickets at 20.97) - Can anyone imagining having to face Ambrose and Garner on the same bouncy wicket? When we picked this side last time, we opted for a spinner (Sonny Ramadhin), but this time partly in honour of 'Fire in Babylon' we go for four quicks. 'Big Bird' was a legend and unleashed one of the most devastating yorkers the game has ever seen from his monstrous 6'8" frame.

11. Michael Holding (60 tests, 249 wickets at 23.68) - It could have been Roberts, Hall, Walsh or even the pioneer Constantine, but we settle for Whispering Death as our final quick. Could well be the fastest bowler in history and he certainly had the longest run-up. His run-up and delivery were poetry in motion for all who watched except for the terrified batsman at the other end. Now an erudite and forthright commentator, Holding is perhaps best remembered for his monumental 14 for 149 at The Oval in 1976.

12th man - Sonny Ramadhin (43 tests, 158 wickets at 28.98) - Wins a toss-up with Lance Gibbs, although we never saw either of them bowl live in the flesh. Ramadhin could spin the ball both ways and bowl off and leg breaks and it is this versatility that tipped the scales in his favour. Was the hero when West Indies won their first test at Lord's with 11 for 152 in 1950. 

Where next?

Fire in Babylon - relive the glory years of West Indies cricket & weep at its current parlous state 

Cricket heroes: Malcolm Marshall

Cricket heroes: Viv Richards

Cricket heroes: Michael Holding

Time for a coup d'etat at the WICB over Chris Gayle cock-up

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Fire in Babylon - relive the glory years of West Indies cricket & weep at its current parlous state

We’re pretty excited at the prospect of watching the ‘Fire in Babylon’ film (see trailer below) about the legendary West Indian side of the 1970's and 80's here at The Reverse Sweep.

It will certainly be a trip down memory lane to see the likes of Holding, Garner, Marshall and Richards in full flow and putting the jeepers up opposition batsmen and bowlers once again.

In our view that West Indies team is the greatest cricket side of them all – better than Bradman’s Invincibles, better than the England side that toured Australia in 1928/29, and better than Steve Waugh’s formidable Australian unit of 1999-2003.

And we don’t think we are looking through rose tinted spectacles either. Between 1980 and 1995 (yes, we know the film covers 1974-84 only), the West Indies played 29 Test series, winning 20, drawing 9 and losing none. To dominate for that long without losing a single rubber is not only phenomenal, it is unparalleled.

 

That makes all the sadder still the state that West Indies cricket finds itself in today. Their best batsman and premier all-rounder prefer to play the IPL to a home Test series with Pakistan. The team is in a lowly position in the rankings (and has been for some time) having not won a Test for 18 matches. And perhaps worst of all the WICB is in such a disgraceful and parlous state that it makes Ijaz Butt’s PCB look like a well-run organisation.

Whilst talented youngsters like Devendra Bishoo, Andre Russell, Adrian Barath and Darren Bravo suggest that there may be some light at what has been an extremely long tunnel; hopes cannot be high for the future of West Indian cricket.

So the prospect of watching ‘Fire in Babylon’ is an even more enticing and nostalgic prospect than it otherwise would be.

Where next?

Cricket heroes: Malcolm Marshall

Cricket heroes: Viv Richards

Cricket heroes: Michael Holding

Time for a coup d'etat at the WICB over Chris Gayle cock-up

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Time for a coup d'etat at the WICB over Chris Gayle cock-up

 
Judging by the pitiful batting performances from the West Indies in the first two ODIs with Pakistan, it would seem that they are missing Chris Gayle more than he is missing them.

Such is the scarcity of talent in West Indies cricket that the WICB can ill-afford an undignified slanging match with its best batsman and former captain.

Gayle really rubbed salt into the wound by scoring a blistering 55 ball hundred in his first match for Bangalore having just arrived by plane from the Caribbean – it would seem that Gayle is far too cool for jet lag.

The IPL versus international cricket conundrum could easily be solved by inserting a window for the IPL into the international schedule, and whilst we certainly have no love of the IPL here at The Reverse Sweep, this does appear to be the most sensible thing to do.

But until it does cricket boards like the WICB would be well advised to apply a more intelligent approach to its best players.

For example, the WICB could have publicly suggested to Gayle that they would allow him to miss the ODI series with Pakistan to play in the IPL, providing that he committed to participate in the Test series that follows.

Faced with the probable uproar that a refusal of this compromise would likely have provoked, Gayle would doubtless have complied.

As it is, the WICB is now faced with the very real prospect of a long-drawn out stand-off with its best batsman and possibly his premature retirement from international cricket. If even half of what Gayle says about the lack of communication from the WICB is true, then the WICB has made yet another colossal cock-up.

Whilst Gayle is not entirely innocent in this sorry tale, it is the WICB who should take most of the blame for the way they have completely mishandled the situation. Sadly, the lunatics took over that particular asylum a long, long time ago.

It takes a lot to make the PCB appear competent, but the continued ineptitude of the WICB is doing just that.

A coup d’etat at the WICB is long overdue. Now is the time to hand over the reins of power to the likes of Sir Viv Richards, Michael Holding and Clive Lloyd.

Like Obi-Wan Kenobi was for Princess Leia, that really is West Indian cricket’s only hope.

Where next?

The IPL? No thanks...

Cricket Heroes: Chris Gayle

An all-time West Indies Test XI

Check out all our Cricket heroes and zeroes

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

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Michael Holding doesn't like Yorkshiremen

Judging by these two videos that we relived once again today, Michael Holding didn't care too much for Yorkshiremen. First of all, there is some brutal bowling at a resolute Brian Close in 1976:

Ouch! Then there are the highlights of an over he bowled to Geoff Boycott in 1981, which is widely acknowledged as one of the best in test history:

Where next?

Fire in Babylon - relive the glory years of West Indies cricket & weep at its current parlous state 

Cricket heroes: Malcolm Marshall

Cricket heroes: Viv Richards

Cricket heroes: Michael Holding

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Heroes: Michael Holding

In a sad week for cricket perhaps the most touching moment was provided by the great former West Indian fast bowler Michael Holding.

As the full impact of the spot-fixing allegations became clear and more so that of Mohammad Aamer's supposed involvement, the Sky Sports commentary team discussed the implications for Pakistan and cricket in general. But Holding could only think of Aamer. Having obviously been captivated by the sheer talent, enjoyment of the game and mastery that such a young bowler had exhibited all summer, the emotion was too much for Holding and he lost it for a moment. Given the "hang 'em high" views of many other (mostly non-cricket) commentators this week, it was refreshing to see how much Holding cared.

Having been a fearsome fast bowler for the great West Indian side of the late 1970s and 1980s, we grew up with Holding. He may have terrorised and outclassed England's batsmen throughout his career, but we always admired his effortless and graceful style as he ran into the wicket. Allied to his sheer pace, it is no wonder that Holding acquired the 'Whispering Death' nickname.

Funnily enough, being too young to have witnessed his 14 for 149 at The Oval in 1976 and despite his 249 test wickets at under 24, one of our most vivid memories of Holding is as a batsman. He only made 12 not out at Old Trafford in 1984, but he was at the other end from perhaps the greatest one day innings of them all as Viv Richards smashed an unbeaten 189 as the last wicket pair added 106 in the last 14 overs.

Holding has taken the effortless style and class from his playing days into the commentary box where his wonderful Jamaican drawl and incisive comments have continually shone amongst the sometimes bland words of his colleagues.

Michael Holding was already a Reverse Sweep hero, but his compassion for a young lad who seems to have been led astray by others just topped things off for us. 

An all-time West Indies Test XI to inspire the current dismal bunch

West Indies' home test series with South Africa kicks off today at Port of Spain with the hosts in utter disarray after a dismal World T20 and then seven straight defeats to today's opponents in the recent Twenty 20 and one day internationals.

Rarely can the once great West Indies side have been in such a negative mind set with captain Chris Gayle admitting that "Losing has become a habit, but we have to put that behind us and look forward to the Test series." It will be a major surprise should they even draw the series with Graeme Smith's side and for people like us who grew up with the dominant West Indian team of the 1980s, that is still quite hard to get used to.

We believe that a strong West Indies side is important for the world game and the brand of cricket they play is always one that is good on the eye, so in the vain hope that it may inspire Chris Gayle and his troops here is our all-time West Indies test XI. Unsurprisingly, none of the current team were even close to making it, and when you consider that the likes of Sir Frank Worrell, Desmond Haynes, Clive Lloyd, Richie Richardson and Rohan Kanhai also didn't make the final cut, then the rich heritage of Caribbean cricket is abundantly clear. And that was just the batsmen. Jeff Dujon, Joel Garner, Courtney Walsh, Andy Roberts, Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith, Learie Constantine, Lance Gibbs and Alf Valentine were also regretfully ruled out.

1. Gordon Greenidge (108 tests, 19 hundreds, average 44.72)- A vivid memory from our childhood was Greenidge's brutal unbeaten 214 at Lord's in 1984 against England to make mincemeat of a victory target of 344. Immensely powerful and destructive, Greenidge was the template for the modern breed of attacking openers like Sehwag and Dilshan, but this West Indian was better than them all. Formed two of the greatest opening partnerships of all time with Desmond Haynes for the Windies and Barry Richards for Hampshire.

2. George Headley (22 tests, 10 hundreds, average 60.83) -The 'Black Bradman' (or was Bradman the 'White Headley'?) has a claim to be the Windies best batsman ever. Despite single-handedly being the West Indian batting line-up on his own, Headley still scored an astonishing ten centuries in his 22 tests. Normally batted at three, but is picked as an opener here as no doubt his supreme brilliance could have easily be transferred to this role.

3. Sir Viv Richards (Captain, 121 tests, 24 hundreds, average 50.23) - Regarded by cricket aficionados as probably the most devastating batsman in the history of the game, King Viv was absolutely unstoppable on his day. His style was a mixture of swagger and intimidation and most bowlers seemed to visibly cower when faced with an on-song Richards. It is befitting that he is the scorer of the fastest-ever Test century, from just 56 balls against England on his home island of Antiguaduring the 1986 tour. With Worrell and Lloyd not making the cut, Richards also captain's our all-conquering Caribbean XI.

4. Brian Lara (131 tests, 34 hundreds, average 52.88) - The man with the highest Test and First Class scores of 400 not out and 501 not out respectively. When he started his career, West Indies' era of dominance was on the wane. By the time he finished it, his side was in the doldrums and as a result he spent most of his time trying to keep the side afloat making his record even more impressive. Perhaps his best achievement was in 1999 in the home series against Australia, when he single-handedly won the second and third tests with scores of 213 and 153 not out after his side had been obliterated in the first test. He scored a century too in the fourth and final test, but couldn’t prevent Australia squaring the series.

5. Everton Weekes (48 tests, 15 hundreds, average 58.61) - One of the immortal 'three Ws', Walcott believed that Weekes was the best all-round batsman of the three. An attacking cricketer with a vast array of strokes, Weekes made an electric start to his test career reaching 1,000 runs in only his 12th innings; one fewer than Bradman. During this run he also scored five centuries in consecutive innings against England and India - still a test record.

6. Sir Gary Sobers (93 tests, 26 hundreds, average 57.78, 235 wickets at 34.03) - Widely regarded as Cricket’s greatest all-rounder. With the bat, Sobers mixed elegance with power and for a long time held the record for the highest Test score until he was usurped by his fellow West Indian Brian Lara. Perhaps his best innings though came for the Rest of the World against Australiain 1972 when Sobers played an innings of 254 which was described by Bradman as "probably the greatest exhibition of batting ever seen in Australia". But batting wasn't his only talent. Indeed, he could bowl left arm fast medium as well as both orthodox and leg spin.

7. Sir Clyde Walcott (44 tests, 15 hundreds, average 56.68, 53 catches, 11 stumpings) - Ok, Walcott wasn't as good a keeper as Dujon and even had to relinquish the gloves following back trouble, but how can you leave out someone this good? Walcott played an instrumental role in the first West Indian victory on English soil at Lord’s in 1950 scoring 168 not out. Along with Weekes, he was arguably the best batsman in the World during the mid-1950s reaching his peak with an incredible five hundreds and 827 runs during Australia’s first Test series in the Caribbean. This team bats deep!

8. Malcolm Marshall (81 tests, 376 wickets at 20.94) - If picking the batsmen was hard, whittling down a long line of brilliant West Indies fast bowlers is even harder. The decision to include Marshall though wasn't difficult as he is arguably the best of the lot. Fearsomely fast and with the ability to swing the ball both ways, Marshall was often unplayable and England in particular were frequent victims. His strike rate of 46.22 was as phenomenal as his premature death at the age of 41 was tragic. No doubt, Marshall has reduced Bradman's average of 99.94 since he joined the heavenly all-time greats.

9. Curtly Ambrose (98 tests, 405 wickets at 20.99) - It was a split decision with big bird Joel Garner, but it's the equally large Ambrose who just sneaks our vote. Once took seven wickets for one run in the most devastating of spells against Australia, but as England fans we remember him hustling out Mike Atherton's side for 46 in Port of Spain more. 

10. Michael Holding (60 tests, 249 wickets at 23.68) - It could have been Roberts, Hall, Walsh or even the pioneer Constantine, but we settle for Whispering Death as our third quick. Could well be the fastest bowler in history and he certainly had the longest run-up. His run-up and delivery were poetry in motion for all who watched except for the terrified batsman at the other end. Now an erudite and forthright commentator, Holding is perhaps best remembered for his 14 for 149 at The Oval in 1976.

11. Sonny Ramadhin (43 tests, 158 wickets at 28.98) - Wins a toss-up with Lance Gibbs, although we never saw either of them bowl live in the flesh. Ramadhin could spin the ball both ways and bowl off and leg breaks and it is this versatility that tipped the scales in his favour. Was the hero when West Indies won their first test at Lord's with 11 for 152 in 1950.