Wello's Cricket World

For those who hold the fortunes of English cricket close to their hearts, Sunday August 3rd 2008 has been a particularly sombre day and an inescapable mood of depression has descended. The loss of a game that seemed ripe for the winning allied to the emotional resignation of Michael Vaughan has, temporarily one hopes, knocked the stuffing out of the England team.

Like his predecessor Nasser Hussain, Vaughan put his heart and soul into captaining the England side and assisted by the combination of an excellent coach (Duncan Fletcher) and the emergence of some truly world-class players, he helped mould a team capable of beating all comers whilst playing some truly inspirational cricket. When he took over the reins from Hussain, Vaughan was rated the best test batsman in the world. He had single-handedly put the vaunted Australian attack to the sword, scoring 3 magnificent hundreds whilst amassing 633 runs in the the 2002/3 Ashes series averaging 63. These were the statistics of a truly great batsman and a golden era beckoned for Vaughan with the Aussies themselves saying no player had ever batted better against them with the notable exception of Sachin Tendulkar.

A big hundred saving the Edgbaston test in 2003 against, ironically, South Africa seemed to confirm the opinion that Vaughan was a very special player. And then he became captain. Without a hugely noticeable shift in his batting, Vaughan's halo started to wobble. He began driving at balls away from his body and offered more slip catches than before. However, England started to win and win well. 2004 saw a whitewash of New Zealand and West Indies followed by the superb achievement of winning 2-1 in South Africa. Vaughan's batting was only ok but since England were winning, it didn't matter.

The superlative Ashes victory in 2005 is remembered as the high point in Vaughan's captaincy with his innovative fields and astute bowling changes causing untold problems for an over confident Australian batting line up. However, his batting at the start of that series gave cause for concern because of one very major problem - he kept missing straight balls. Time and again, Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath found ways through Vaughan's defensive technique with balls that really ought to have been kept out.

His superb 166 at Old Trafford seemed to have sorted the issue out and for the rest of the summer, the nation's attention was focused exclusively on the most compelling test series one could ever wish to see. The hangover from 2005 has affected the whole of the England team and since those heady days the team has trod water, beating average sides such as Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand whilst playing terribly in the Ashes rematch and losing home series to India and now South Africa.

Yesterday's loss at Edgbaston hurt Vaughan deeply, more deeply than his relaxed demeanour might suggest. Under intense scrutiny for his lack of runs and tame dismissals in the past year, Vaughan was clearly feeling the pressure despite the calm authority he exudes in the field. Playing badly is one thing but playing badly when your team is losing - particularly when it should have won - is an entirely different matter. Cricket can be a cruel game and those of you who've seen the film Sliding Doors will appreciate how one decision can have such dramatically altered consequences for an individual. Graeme Smith's 154 not out in chasing down the target of 281 was a truly magnificent effort but he was out twice before he reached his hundred to Monty Panesar without umpire Aleem Dar raising his finger. On such decisions do careers and lives change.

If Dar had decided that Smith was as palpably LBW as he appeared and given him out in the eighties or agreed that he had gloved to short leg 10 runs later, South Africa would have been 6 wickets down still needing over 100 to win and next week's Oval test would have been set up as a thrilling series decider. Unfortunately for Vaughan, the door slid the other way and a likely victory was instead turned into a shattering defeat. In truth, his own performance was the ultimate reason why Vaughan decided he could go on no more. Regardless of his superb captaincy, Vaughan's main role is to get runs and with each low score his place in the side became ever more parlous.

Today's tears showed the commitment Michael Vaughan has given to England and there was more than a hint of regret in the air - regret that Vaughan had lost a home series with a very tough opponent and regret that he could no longer reproduce the magisterial batting that he was once capable of. Time away from the pressures of captaining a misfiring England side is essential for this proud man and with a rested mind and some hard work he can return, perhaps to open the batting in next year's Ashes series - do not rule that out.

For now he leaves the scene having given everything he could and all supporters of England should be thankful they had such a dedicated and resourceful skipper who lead his side with honesty and integrity throughout.

Wello

A first home series defeat to South Africa since their return to international cricket is a bitter pill to swallow for England's many supporters but yesterday's victory at the Oval confirmed that with the right personnel and a collective desire to win, England can beat anybody at test cricket.

Would that they could produce such performances on a more consistent basis. 2-1 to South Africa is just about a fair reflection of the quality of cricket that both sides have produced this series though fortune has played its part and the celebrations that Graeme Smith's side enjoyed at Edgbaston could very easily have been undertaken by England had decisions gone with the home team. However, losing to South Africa, far from precipitating a futher period of fallow performances from England, might well be a real blessing in disguise and the catalyst to spur their misfiring team on to far greater heights.

From the heady days of 2005's Ashes victory, England have stuttered along with no clear sense that they are capable of regaining their all-conquering style of play. Victory at the Oval in the last test of the series, regardless of it being a 'dead rubber', showed England's true potential when they pick the right team. Steve Harmison's return after a necessary absence when England fans and perhaps the man himself questioned his commitment to the cause was a revelation. South Africa's batsmen found themselves under constant pressure not only to protect their wicket but also their physical wellbeing as first Harmison then Andrew Flintoff attacked them with high pace and steepling bounce.

Facing bowling of this kind causes mental exhaustion in batsmen and Harmison's role in shaking the South Africans out of their relative comfort zones should not be under-estimated. Ashwell Prince for one went from being the compact, organised player he had been in the previous tests to a man who looked all at sea. Backed up by decent performances from Monty Panesar, Stuart Broad and the excellent James Anderson, there is no doubt that come the end of the series it was England - not South Africa - who looked to have the better pace attack even taking into account the injured Dale Steyn.

Kevin Pietersen has stamped his authority on the captaincy in a way only he can, smashing a superb hundred and getting the best out of his players. Things may get tougher for England's best player but at least he can look at the balance sheet and see a list of players he can trust to take England forward. Assessing players is always a subjective matter but England's list of genuine, test class players who are capable of winning games could be surmised thus:

Batting: Cook, Strauss, Bell, Pietersen, Collingwood, Vaughan - A solid though perhaps not spectacular line up but one certainly able to accrue decent totals. The loss of Marcus Trescothick has been a huge blow to the attacking potential of England's batting and the back up of Key, Shah and Bopara is steady rather than brilliant.

Bowling: Anderson, Flintoff, Harmison, Sidebottom, Broad, Simon Jones, Panesar - England's strongest suit. The pace attack has the potential to be the best in the world and was the main reason England swept all before them from 2004 onwards. Flintoff and Harmison as the 2 definites plus any 2 from Sidebottom, Jones and Anderson and you have a serious quick bowling unit that has swing, pace and bounce all nicely balanced. Add Monty into the equation and England have what all test captains pray for - an attack that can bowl the opposition out twice.

Wicketkeeper - Ambrose - but for how long? After his superb century rescuing England from a very precarious position in Wellington, Ambrose's place has increasingly come under scrutiny due to some average glovework and unconvincing batting. England have so many potential keepers to choose from that they only find out if they're good enough when they've picked them. Matt Prior is clearly good enough with the bat but his keeping is suspect whilst the best glovemen are Read and Foster yet neither of them can realistically bat in the top 7 of a test match line up meaning England can only play 4 bowlers including Flintoff. The solution is likely to be Prior batting at 6 allowing Freddie to bat at his more natural position of 7 and a 5 man bowling attack.

Fielding/Catching - Better than it was despite too many chances in the slips being wasted. Strauss, Flintoff, Collingwood and Cook are all good slippers but to beat the best England have to hold on to more of their catches. The ring and ground fielding is quite good with Jimmy Anderson the best fielder of any bowler in the world and Stuart Broad very athletic. Monty's comedic fielding needs attention still - despite its obvious humour value.

Thus a better England test side should await those long suffering supporters who yearn for a return to the standard of cricket they played several years ago. Based around a formidable pace attack which offers options for every condition and a decent batting line up who will need to score enough runs to give the bowlers a chance, there is no good reason why England cannot build from the good work they showed at the Oval this week.

Wello