Cricket Champs update

This is the latest update from our mates over at Cricket Champs.

If you are interested in helping spread the word, you can find the slideshow at the following link.

Justin Sambell has invested a lot time and energy into this organisation and has even had Cricket Champs featured on Fox Sports during a Ryobi Cup match. It's certainly going places!

Michael Hussey and Tom Moody are involved in the organisation and the W.A.C.A has provided outstanding support for the cause.

Cricket champs presentation

View more PowerPoint from JustinSam

If you wish to contact Cricket Champs directly, here is their website where you can then find the Facebook and Twitter pages.

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Australian cricket news: McDermott quits and ODI Squad announced

Quite a few events have taken place over the last few days in the Australian cricket scene.

Most importantly is the upsetting news that Craig McDermott has quit as Australia's bowling coach. It's a huge loss after the terrific work he did with the bowlers. He focused on the fundamentals, redeveloped the foundation for our bowlers and then built things up by focusing on each and every bowlers core skills and how they could execute their abilities as a team. The results show.

He's been given plenty of public support from the players and I wish him all the best as he has clearly done a brilliant job. Cricket Australia has a huge void to fill!

The reason given for Craig's departure was purely due to the demands of touring and the overall work schedule which was affecting his family commitments. Family comes first in life and if you have the opportunity to walk away feeling you've done a damn good job at what your were doing and can afford the chance to have some time out, go for it.

It interesting though as I figured with his knowledge having played cricket (although in a different era) he would know the demands and that the support staff share the same demands as the players. In any case his decision has been made.

For more information regarding his departure, here's the official article at Cricket Australia: Click here.

Now, for the Squad announcements - Australian ODI Squad and Australia A Squad.

What are your opinions?

I am really pleased with the ODI squad. The fact I am a little upset some players weren't included in the side over some players, at the same time I feel it's great because it shows the depth that has been brewing in our limited overs setup for some time. The key is that these guys show some guts and play their hearts out!

I am excited that Mitchell Johnson has been recalled. A few months back I wrote a heartfelt piece that expressed my unquestionable belief that he has the goods to deliver for us in ODI cricket. My opinion differs come Test cricket, but Mitch is an extremely talented sportsman and throwing him out the system would just be plain stupid, so well done to Mr Inverarity and his cronies.

He hasn't played a lot of cricket in a while but with the right preparations and the return of passion for his cricket, I am certain Mitchy will come out to give it his absolute best for the UK Tour.

Steven Smith has shown a big step up during the IPL and did get some strong performances behind his name during the summer having been dropped from the team a while back. A part of me feels he could be held back a while longer but he'll be stepping in as the chosen all rounder to fill in for Dan Christian who did not make a recall to the side.

Patrick Cummins is back in which is great news! Can't wait to see him cruising in to pick up his Australian career again. Hope the injuries keep at bay.

Anyways, here's the Squad:
Michael Clarke (captain), Shane Watson, George Bailey, Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty, Ben Hilfenhaus, Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Clint McKay, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade (wk), David Warner.
As for the Australia A, here's their announced squad which sees the return of Tim Paine (adding the competition in the wicket keeper zone) and is a wonderful blend of experience and youth. It's setting a great example moving forward and looking at this side on paper it really does uplift my confidence seeing Australian cricket move forward.

Australia A Squad to tour the UK:
Ed Cowan (capt), Peter Forrest (vc) , George Bailey, Jackson Bird, Joe Burns, Tom Cooper, Patrick Cummins, Ben Cutting, Liam Davis, Jon Holland, Mitchell Johnson, Michael Klinger, Nathan Lyon, Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc.


For the Australian UK limited overs tour, click here to check those fixtures.

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Ben Hilfenhaus: The journey of the working class bowler

On 5th January 2007 Ben Hilfenhaus was rewarded for his outstanding achievements at the Allan Border Medal award ceremony where he won the Bradman Young Cricket of the Year Trophy. He won it convincingly receiving 97 votes in total. His performances for Tasmania sparked a fair bit of interest from the National Selection Panel and on that night it was clear that Hilfenhaus was well on track for a future with the Australian cricket team.

The award was one suited to the young working class man who had been a bricklayer prior to becoming a full time cricketer. He is man who knows about hard work and as humble a man as Hilfenhaus is as well, he had plenty to boast about after the 2006/07 Pura Cup.

After 11 matches he sent down 509.1 overs taking 60 wickets, the most for the season at an average of 25.38. Andy Bichel took the second most for the season with 45 wickets. Even Glenn McGrath stated that he viewed Hilfenhaus to be “very impressive”.

On that evening in Melbourne Hilfenhaus declared, “it's been a fast ride”. The ride had been a fast one for the working class bowler to get his name on the radar and although it was going to be a ride that would continue, there would be many, many bumps along the way. This article takes a brief look at this journey.

Given the massive workload in that breakthrough period, stress fractures and injury niggles caused minor setbacks to his emerging career. He returned the following season with modest figures in 2007/08 claiming 28 wickets at an average of 43.82.

Having debuted for Australia in Twenty20 and ODI cricket and shown reasonable consistency in First Class cricket, he was given the nod to join the Test Squad during periods of 2008 but lucked out due to injury concerns, an unfortunate pattern that would mean he’d have to wait until 2009 to receive his Baggy Green cap. He continued to do what he could do best and that was to take as many wickets as possible for the Tasmanian Tigers when he was fit.

The missing class

Just a decade ago, many Australian fans and most importantly the selectors could name a handful of batting replacements to fill in or even take over the spots of the current batting lineup. How things have changed in the space of a decade with no player in their late 20′s knocking the door down for selection.

When talking about unlucky batsmen from the past decade in Australian cricket, names such as Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Phil Jaques, Michael Bevan, Chris Rogers, Martin Love and Michael Di Venuto were mentioned. A decade ago these were the players putting pressure on the incumbents with their First Class averages well above 45. The thing each of these guys have in common apart from missing the boat in regards to Test cricket is each of them were in their late 20s a decade ago.

Back then the selectors and fans were debating over whether to pick a young promising player such as Michael Clarke and Shane Watson or go with the guys mentioned above. Times have changed substantially since then with no such luxury for the current selectors. The batsmen in their late 20s have First Class averages between 35-40 and while there are some promising youngsters on the scene, they have not been able to established themselves at Test level yet.

If we go back to the 2005/06 season where the batsmen in their late 20s now would have been in their early 20s, Mark Cosgrove made 736 runs at 66.9, George Bailey 778 runs at 43.22, Shaun Marsh 676 runs at 37.55, Callum Ferguson 506 runs at  36.14 and Cameron White 482 runs at 30.12.

2006/07 was awful for the guys mentioned above with Cosgrove the best of the lot with 703 runs at 37. Andrew McDonald actually made a fair amount of runs this season which I did not pick up on previously with 750 runs at 57.69.

The 2007/08 season showed some promise with Luke Pomersbach putting his name on the radar with 743 runs at 61.91 and it was also Philip Hughes’ first season where he ended up with 559 runs at 62.11. Shaun Marsh and Cameron White also put in some solid numbers and interesting enough neither of them would play this amount of games again (7 and 9 respectively). McDonald backed up his previous season with a solid 545 at 49.54.

2008/09 saw the emergence of the other young leftie who is currently in the Australian setup in Usman Khawaja. Hughes had a massive second year to back up his first one while White had another solid season but like Khawaja and Hughes, he did not play enough games to push the 1000 run barrier. Pomersbach copped the second year syndrome, from which he would never recapture the heights of his 07/08 season. McDonald was not required as much this season but still produced 356 runs at 44.5. The thing to notice is his lack of 100s which was noticeable when he was picked for Australia.

The next season was our first sighting of Steven Smith who had a mammoth season with four hundreds for 772 runs at 77.2. Hughes also had a big year almost cracking the 1000 run barrier and Khawaja backed up his first season. This was also Peter Forrest’s first noticeable production.

The mark of the new decade also brought about a change in the run scorers. Gone were Martin Love and Brad Hodge and the veterans left struggled with age appearing to catch up with them. Two seasons have gone in this new decade with a lack of big runs and no batsmen has crossed the 1000 run barrier since the 2008/09 season. McDonald may well have cracked this mark if he did not get injured after he started the season with a bang with 458 runs from 8 innings including 3 hundreds at an average of 76.33.

Of the players I mentioned who are in their late 20s now, Mark Cosgrove is the only one that has a respectable First Class record. Shaun Marsh has been producing runs in the past few seasons but his lack of matches either through injury or national duty has meant he is still yet to play a full season and his First Class average is well below 40. Cameron White is in the same boat however his First Class average is acceptable at 40 but his recent demotion from the National setup coupled with a lackluster return in Shield cricket means White won’t be adding to his test tally anytime soon.

George Bailey has been consistent in producing season averages of 40 but this season is the first time he has cracked an average of 50 and this is reflected in his overall FC average which is almost dead on 40.

Callum Ferguson was one I thought could do a Michael Clarke and make up for his sub par First Class stats by stepping up at the next level. The signs were promising early with Ferguson averaging 41 in ODI cricket but the selectors never pulled the trigger in taking a punt on him in the Test arena and since then Ferguson has struggled to put any sort of numbers up. All things considered, his First Class stats are even poorer when you consider his home ground is the Adelaide Oval.

There are other names in their late 20s who have been producing recently such as Rob Quiney, Peter Forrest, Ed Cowan and Liam Davis but apart from Cowan none of them have a First Class average over 40. Andrew McDonald is another whose FC average has taken a battering due to his poor start to his career but from 06/07 onwards he has produced solid numbers in a strong Victorian batting lineup. It is a shame his 10/11 season got cut short else he might be in the frame right now.

It is clear players from the class of early 2000s have not lived up to the hype and failed to kick on like many would have hoped. George Bailey and Peter Forrest are next in line for the Australian batting lineup which shows how far the standards have dropped as apart from this season (2011/12) and 09/10 for Cowan neither has made an significant impression in the runs department during their First Class cricket span.

There is still hope that the current youngsters on the scene will bring Australia back to the glory days where batsmen like David Hussey, Martin Love and co could be left out and the side still remained strong.

In around 5 years Philip Hughes, Steven Smith, Usman Khawaja, Glenn Maxwell, Joe Burns, Chris Lynn and Tom Cooper (Netherlands/ South Australia) will be in their late 20s and one can only hope they kick on and don’t follow their predecessors.

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My "welcome back Chris Gayle" masterpiece

If you didn't get around to checking the last post at the Baggy Green Blog, give it a look. We're now on Youtube and the first video is a mix of my favourite Australian moments of the 2012 Frank Worrell Trophy.

As some of you know, I keep a close eye on what goes on with the West Indies and the latest news is that Chris Gayle is set to return for the ODIs against England. Massive boost for their side and will be even better if they get back a few other batsmen, notably Ramnaresh Sarwan and Lendl Simmons.

Besides the West Indies Cricket Board's questionable antics, I hope Chris will fit back into the side where I strongly believe Darren Sammy and Otis Gibson have tried to build a stronger sense of unity and the overall attitude is far better. Exciting news in any case and glad that this lengthy ordeal is slowly but surely getting rectified.

Given his third person references and ultra-cool ego, I thought this is how Chris Gayle would want to celebrate the almighty comeback as the Rock Star of the Cricket World.

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Video: Top Aussie moments of the 2012 Frank Worrell Trophy

Here's a video featuring a few of my favourite moments for a recap of the 2012 Frank Worrell Trophy. I have a stack of recorded footage of my own and from various sources that I aim to make into worthwhile content for you to check out.

You can subscribe to the Baggy Green Blog Youtube page, via this link: BaggyGreenBlog



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Australian ICC rankings update

Great news for Australian supporters. The Baggy Greens have edged ahead of India to the number 3 position in the ICC Test rankings. Outstanding achievement after being booted down the rankings in such a humiliating manner. The road to recovery is well on its way and although there is still a massive amount of work ahead, the boys can be proud.

Here's the usual update for you after each series.
Batting:
Michael Clarke still remains in the top 10 rankings for both Test and ODI formats. Ed Cowan has moved to #60 as well. Matthew Wade also enters the rankings for the first time with the bat.
Bowling:
Ben Hilfenhaus has climbed to number #07 and Peter Siddle stays in the top 10 despite having played just 1 Test in the West Indies. Nathan Lyon is steadily making progress as well.
All rounders:
Impressively Shane Watson still remains in the top 50 for each and every player ranking.

Don't forget to check Sylvester's post from yesterday!

Australian Test rankings:

Team: #3 (India in #4, South African in #2, England in #1)

Test Batting:
08 - Michael Clarke (top 10) - dropped from 03
16 - Michael Hussey - dropped from 18
21 - Ricky Ponting - dropped from 16
30 - Shane Watson - dropped from 29
43 - David Warner - dropped from 37
44 - Brad Haddin - dropped from 40
54 - Phillip Hughes - dropped from 53
60 - Ed Cowan - climbed from 65
69 - Matthew Wade - first time in ICC Test batting rankings
78 - Steven Smith - dropped from 72
82 - Usman Khawaja
88 - Mitchell Johnson - dropped from 80
97 - Peter Siddle - dropped from 88

The Technical Failings of the Younger Generation

There have been a number of young Australian batsmen that have come and gone from the Test scene well before their test tally hits double digits. Chris Rogers wrote an interesting piece regarding the technique of these batsmen.

Here is quick summary of the technical flaws he noted in some of the recently dropped batsmen.

Usman Khawaja - Points his back foot to the bowler rather than to point causing him to be squared up and prone to the away-swinging ball.

Phil Hughes - Swivelling into a front-on position which led him being b. Martin c. Guptil.

Shaun Marsh - Lack of trigger movements hence the reason why he has been labeled a confidence player. When he is down on confidence like he was against the Indians, the lack of footwork meant he was a walking wicket.

Callum Ferguson - Backswing heads towards gully meaning he struggles to play in the 'V' especially when forced to defend.

This is one of the better articles you will find floating around and very rarely do you find an article written by a current player regarding the flaws of their opposition. It does bring about one interesting question of whether opposition states should be sharing these flaws they have found to help the national team.

It is hard to comment on who is at fault for these flaws not being fixed, Khawaja for instance had this flaw during his County stint in 2011 which was carried on to his second tasting of Test cricket. If an opposition can spot these weaknesses, you would hope your batting coach could do likewise.

The final part of Chris Rogers' article talks about how difficult it is for batsmen to adapt between T20 and Test Cricket. This isn't a problem which only plagues the younger batsmen, the older batsmen have also shown a more aggressive streak. Jacques Kallis not known for his quick scoring, blitzed 54 runs from just 41 balls in the 2nd Test against Australia last year. As mentioned by Rogers, it certainly is worth considering finding a batting coach who can convert a batsmen technique from T20 back to Test cricket.

I did find it interesting that the guy whose technique is most like a T20 technique in Steven Smith was given glowing praise by Rogers. With 492 runs at 41 for the season including 86 of NSW total score of 208 against Chris' team, I can see why he gave him a good review. Smith also seems to be adapting well, he had a solid Big Bash series including leading his side to the title and currently is in career best form in the IPL with 220 runs at 37 with a strike rate of 157.

One worrying thing he mentioned was teams splashed out on bowling coaches but not so for batting coaches. I don't know what teams he is referring to but if he is talking about the State teams then that is a worrying sign.

Going by his article, Rogers may well have a future in coaching. I do hope our current coaches have already picked up on these flaws and are looking at rectifying them.


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On this day: 2007 World Cup Final, Australia vs Sri Lanka

*For the write up and statistics for the 2012 Frank Worrell Trophy, please click here or scroll down to the article if you're on the Baggy Green Blog homepage.

If you were also a Glenn McGrath fan then in a way this would have been a sad day as it was Glenn’s last match for Australia, but there was plenty to celebrate and smile about as Australia won the World Cup for the fourth time. Most impressively it was the third title in a row.

It’s fitting to write this article not only because it was on this day 5 years ago that Ricky Ponting lifted the Trophy but also due to the fact we’ve just completed a tour of the Caribbean where the 2007 World Cup was held.

The 2007 final was overshadowed (literally) by bad light. We recently saw a thrilling Test match at the Kensington Oval where the Baggy Greens won in a tense final over before bad light would have resulted in the Umpires calling it a match. Fortunately the winning runs were scored but it certainly brought back memories of a chaotic, slightly embarrassing, conclusion to the 2007 World Cup.

The Umpire’s even had a shocker where confusion came about as to whether the required amount of over’s had been bowled to “make it a  match” so the teams didn’t have to come back the next day to complete it. It was an anti-climax.

Besides these factors, the tournament couldn’t be called an outright success. Many West Indian cricket fanatics were kept out of their own World Cup due to the greed and high pricing of the ICC for ticket prices and the atmosphere was very dark and gloomy after the shocking death of Bob Woolmer in his hotel room. Woolmer was coaching Pakistan at the time.

The final did have something special though. It was a scintillating innings of extraordinary power hitting, yet another entertaining innings by an Australian in a World Cup final. It was the Adam Gilchrist show as he smashed the Sri Lankan bowlers to a breathtaking individual total of 149 runs.

Matthew Hayden had dominated the tournament with brutal batting, absolutely brutal! However, Haydos had a quiet final scoring 38 runs - his overall tournament tally resulting in 659 runs at 73.27 - and gave his long-term batting partner Gilly a chance to explode having had a well under par series. His duck in the semi-final against South Africa was quickly forgotten and we all remember this final as Gilly’s 149, the fastest century in a World Cup final!

Haydos had a front row seat as Gilly stepped into the spotlight.

Gilly belted 8 sixes and carved 13 fours, scoring 100 runs in boundaries. The innings also sparked some amusing controversy after Gilly let it out that he had batted with a squash ball in his glove.

The Squash ball was a suggestion made by Gilly’s long term batting Coach, Bob Meuleman. Given Gilly’s high grip on the bat and the way his bottom hand would sometimes unusually grip too far around the handle, the squash ball resulted in the bat not turning as much in his hand and gave him far better control.

Prior to the World Cup he had used the squash ball in a one day game versus Queensland where he scored a century, but it was left until the World Cup final for him to give it a go. Despite the daft controversy, it was simply a way to help him control his grip and tighten his technique. It was legal. Case closed.

When asked what he thought of the tournament upon receiving the Player of the match during the finals post-match presentation, I remember Gilly simply stating, “long”!

It was a long tournament but even though this particular World Cup would be discussed negatively amongst cricket enthusiasts, it was a special day for Australian supporters and an extra special day for Gilly. Today we can recall that classic century by Adam Craig Gilchrist in the 2007 World Cup Final played on the April 28^th in Barbados. He was such an entertainer for Australia in every format. 

Here’s a video highlights package for you of that innings from a legend of the game, a man who revolutionised the role of a wicket keeper in the modern day game. Take a bow!

Sources:

1

2

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2nd Test, day 5: The Baggy Greens win the 2012 Frank Worrell Trophy 2-0

Congrats to the Baggy Greens! They have won the 2012 Frank Worrell Trophy 2-0 and the result means two things. The first being that the scoreline is the same as the 2008 and 2009 series (Win, Draw, Win) and the other is that it is another series win for the team under Michael Clarke's leadership.
It could have been over relatively quickly but there was some entertaining resistance once again from a lower order duo. Been a pattern for both teams this series with some really good batting from the lesser recognised batsmen.

Darren Sammy offered some power hitting for his side, fighting until the end. The Windies fought hard against us in the limited overs series and although they were a little of their depth in the Tests, they still challenged us and it was good in a way to see how Sammy didn't give up.

Well done to Darren and also the good amount of vocal spectators who showed up for the bit of entertainment on the final days play of the series. He has gained the respect of not only the West Indian supporters but the cricket world in general as well. Many doubted him as captain but his leadership skills will get better and the attitude of their team is starting to change. The Windies team is on track for better things.

Proud of the Baggy Greens though as we enter a lengthy break in Test cricket, but there is some limited overs cricket just around the bend. I will still be writing fresh content for the Baggy Green Blog though until then.

Player of the match: Matthew Wade for his maiden Test century of 106 runs. Well done Matt, well done!
Player of the series: Shivnarine Chandperaul for another series of pure class. He scored 346 runs.

- 1st Test: Won by 3 wickets (view the match summary)
- 2nd Test: Match drawn (view match summary)
- 3rd Test: Won by 75 runs (Day 1 & 2, Day 3, Day 4)

3rd Test Full scorecard via ESPN Cricinfo.com

- Australian 1st innings: 328 all out. Matthew Wade 106, David Warner 50, Shane Watson 41.

- West Indies 1st innings: 218 all out. Nathan Lyon 4-69, Mitchell Starc 2-29.

- Australian 2nd innings: 259 all out. Ricky Ponting 57, Ed Cowan 55, Michael Hussey 32.

- West Indies 2nd innings: 294 all out. Michael Clarke 5-86, Nathan Lyon 3-87.

Michael Clarke took a 5 wicket haul and yesterday he was the key ingredient to put us on track for victory as he claimed 3 unexpected wickets for his team. The 5fer was his second of his career to go alongside his 6/9 versus India. He has that knack to get key wickets for the team. The other memory being against India at the SCG in 2007/08.

The catches taken were epic! Ricky Ponting showed us he still has those freakishly sharp reflexes in the field and Michael Clarke took an absolute beauty in the slips, diving with an outstretched left hand. It played a massive role in showing the team was not going to let the opportunities slip by as they did in the 1st Test. It helped in getting the job done.

So that is the end of the 2012 Caribbean tour. It has been an extremely tough one but at least we came out victorious in the most challenging form of the game as our boys continue to push ahead to reclaim that number 1 spot in Test cricket. The more the Baggy Greens win, the stronger they become...so beware!

What were some your best moments of the series?

*Statistics available via the Stats page. Caribbean Tour statistics at the bottom of the page.

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