Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 60 i Wisden Cricket Monthly

“Hales missed the 2019 World Cup and deservedly so, but the agonies he must have felt watching on were surely punishment enough For all his riches, Jason Roy can’t buy a run. One of the sadder motifs of the summer has had Roy bent-double at the crease, his torso slumped over a collapsed front leg, palms loosely outstretched to break the fall. When Roy is bowled, which is often, pitilessly soul-crushingly often, the whole edifice is castled with him. His walk-offs have gotten slower over time, degenerating from the casual shrugs of early spring, to the sardonically philosophical (midseason), and finally to this: the horror, the horror. I have a theory about form in the age of whacking it: form in the age of Jason Roy. It goes like this.…

Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack editor and Daily Mail writer @the_topspin 1 When Brendon McCullum met the media at Lord’s six days before the first Test against New Zealand, there was something in the air. Wearing trainers, turned-up jeans and no socks, he calmly played down the idea that Moeen Ali had retired. Soon, it emerged Stuart Broad had shelved plans to call it a day after the second Test at Trent Bridge. Somehow, McCullum had turned a bunch of easy-beats into the cool kids everyone wanted to play for. They hadn’t even taken the field. 2 New Zealand finished the third day of that Lord’s game on 239-4, a daunting lead of 230. Under Chris Silverwood and Joe Root, England might have gone on the defensive next morning, but McCullum –…

Derbyshire NEXT MATCHES: Glam, CC (A), Sep 20-23; Leics, CC (H), Sep 26-29 Last summer, Anuj Dal found himself trapped in what he describes as a “downward spiral”. In the final year of his contract at Derbyshire and struggling to do himself justice on the pitch, anxiety began to take hold. He remembers arriving at the ground in tears and not wanting to get out of his car “because I didn’t want the day to start and happen all over again”. “I was under pressure, I didn’t really have communication from our coach at the time, I didn’t know what my role was,” the 26-year-old all-rounder tells WCM. “It was all building up and I didn’t know how to resolve the situation. I’ve never been in that situation in my…

Essex NEXT MATCHES: Lancs, CC (H), Sep 20-23; Northants, CC (A), Sep 26-29 Essex have form with South African cricketers. The Gooch era was adorned by the great strokemaker Ken McEwan, who made over 18,000 first-class runs for the club; and in recent years Simon Harmer has bestrode the top tier as its preeminent matchwinner, captained for the most part by club legend Ryan ten Doeschate, himself born and raised in Port Elizabeth. Despite boasting a fine record in South African domestic cricket, Grant Roelofsen was barely known on these shores when he rocked up in April to play for Billericay CC in the Essex League. But an extraordinary run of form – at the last count he’d plundered seven league tons from 16 knocks – alerted Essex to his…

Middlesex NEXT MATCHES: Leics, CC (A), Sep 20-23; Worcs, CC (A), Sep 26-29 Five years after leaving Middlesex in search of more first-team opportunities, Ryan Higgins will return to Lord’s as one of the premier all-rounders in the county game. The 27-year-old has re-signed for the club on a four-year deal which begins at the conclusion of the season after a hugely productive spell at Gloucestershire that has brought him nearly 4,000 runs and more than 250 wickets. Higgins was pivotal to the club’s promotion campaign in 2019, when he hit four centuries and claimed 50 scalps. The Seaxes were bitterly disappointed to lose Higgins – who was born in Harare but came through the club’s academy – at the end of the 2017 season, but it proved a shrewd…

Somerset NEXT MATCHES: Northants, CC (H), Sep 20-23; Kent, CC (A), Sep 26-29 705 matches across formats, 54 centuries, more than 27,000 runs, and all for one club. James Hildreth’s illustrious Somerset career has come to a close after he announced his retirement in August. Initially set to finish his career at the end of the season, a hamstring injury suffered while playing in the One-Day Cup against Durham led to Hildreth retiring with immediate effect. “I left school at 18 and have spent the last 20 years with the club,” he said in a statement. “It’s been my life and I’ve loved every minute of it.” Somerset director of cricket Andy Hurry was there for most of the journey, having first joined the club’s coaching set-up in 2001. “I…

NEXT MATCHES: Gloucs, CC (A), Sep 20-23; Hants, CC (H), Sep 26-29 Paul Farbrace, Warwickshire’s head of sport, has announced he will be leaving the club at the end of the season to spend more time with his family in Kent. The former England assistant coach arrived at Edgbaston in 2019 and, alongside head coach Mark Robinson, delivered an unexpected Championship title last summer. The Bears have found the going tougher this season and find themselves in a relegation battle, but Farbrace insists his departure is purely down to personal reasons. “With my family in Kent, it’s time for me to focus on them and look at other opportunities,” said the 55-year-old. “It’s been a great privilege to work at Edgbaston, for Warwickshire County Cricket Club, and with some incredibly…

Jon Hotten’s explanation of how he went about his collaboration with Geoff Boycott [‘Boycott and me’, WCM58] showed a logical mind. It also compelled me to buy the book. The game-to-game diary was skilfully described, with Boycott’s voice coming through via Hotten. Despite the odd factual blemish, it is a tour de force. It was a privilege to read. Early on, Boycott discusses his fear of failure in “this capricious game”. It explains his disdain for people whom he perceived as a threat to his career. They included Mike Denness and Doug Insole. As a 10-year-old, I can remember Denness’ strictures about not hooking before the 1973/74 tour [of the Caribbean] and Boycott described how he felt insulted by the Kent captain’s remarks, which he believed applied to him. As…

UK-based freelance writer published in the Financial Times @amermalik12 What attracted you to county cricket? Hassan Ali: Well, they are so professional, especially in the way the way they look after and respect their players. And the county system has such a rich history. Our senior players would always say that if you get a chance to play this format then you should take it with both hands. It’s an amazing chance to learn. I’ve personally been offered county opportunities a few times, but finally this year there was a free period after the Australia series, so I decided to take up the offer at Lancashire. When I heard it was them, one vital question arose, and I put it forward to them: “Is Jimmy Anderson bhai also available…

August 1992 was the best of times and the worst of times for 27-year-old opener Ross Salmon. His club, Ashcombe Park, were closing in on their sole North Staffs and South Cheshire League (NSSCL) title, while just his third Minor Counties Championship appearance for Staffordshire brought twin unbeaten hundreds against Bedfordshire as the Eastern Division title was sealed. Three weeks later – during which he played in the MCCA knockout final defeat to Devon at Lord’s, “the most nervous I’ve ever felt for a game” – he was left out of the Championship final as the long-established opening pair were reunited. It was symptomatic of a minor counties career in which ‘Roscoe’ perennially seemed to be carrying the drinks, despite being comfortably the most prolific batter in North Staffs, finishing…

RED BALL RETURNS Oh, how we’ve missed you! Despite the inevitable gnashing of teeth with the publication of Andrew Strauss’ high-performance review, which recommends yet another structural shake-up (see page 20), and the permanent sense of a game being attacked and squeezed, it’s still a genuine thrill to buckle up for the last few weeks of the summer with only the Championship for company. Focus will naturally be on the top division, and Surrey, Hampshire and Lancashire. But Division Two’s promotion race brings its own stories. Can Mickey Arthur’s Derbyshire pull it off? Will Shubman Gill propel Glamorgan to the line, or can Middlesex hold them at bay? This is the stuff right here. Long will it continue, in whatever form. YES…. NO… WAIT… SORRY OK, so this is a…

Wisden Cricket Monthly columnist, UK editor of ESPNcricinfo and former editor of The Cricketer @miller_cricket Woooooaaaaarrghhh!” Apologies for the in-your-face introduction, but I’m just giving you a taste of what it felt like to be a viewer of Sky’s dedicated cricket channel, shortly after the conclusion of England’s rousing victory in the second Test against South Africa in Manchester. The clue should have been in the rebranding – channel 404 had been ‘Sky Hundred’ for the duration of the competition. And so, not long after a few basic pleasantries had been exchanged at Old Trafford, Sky’s feed jumped with minimal warning straight into the midst of Kevin Pietersen’s bombastic commentary at Lord’s, as a perfectly decent London Spirit boundary was greeted like the second coming of Andrew Flintoff’s ‘Hello Massive’…

ISSUE 60 October 2022 Sometimes it’s what’s left unsaid that really tells you the full story. You could (and you imagine, when he’s done, Alex Hales probably will) fill a whole book with the juicy details of the last five years, starting from that night in Bristol, through the drug tests, the breakdown of trust, the attempts to win back that trust – we’ve always imagined Hales standing outside Eoin Morgan’s window blasting Soul Limbo from a boombox – the blackface apologies, pretty much anything else you can think of. But the ECB statement announcing Hales’ recall ahead of the T20 World Cup came in at just 61 words. “Hales, 33, last represented England in March 2019,” it explains. Anything else worth mentioning? No? Crack on then. Anyway, on to…

Durham NEXT MATCHES: Sussex, CC (H), Sep 20-23; Notts, CC (A), Sep 26-29  James Franklin, Durham’s head coach, will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the season after an underwhelming campaign. Speaking to WCM in April, club captain Scott Borthwick said it would be a “massive disappointment” if his side failed to secure promotion this summer, but Durham could only muster one win from their first 10 matches, leaving them sixth in Division Two. They endured similarly disappointing returns in white-ball cricket, finishing bottom of Group A in the One-Day Cup and eighth in the North Group of the Blast. In a statement, Durham emphasised that Franklin had “overseen a period of transition” and that “progress [had been] made on the field and behind the…

Gloucestershire NEXT MATCHES: Warks, CC (H), Sep 20-23; Yorks, CC (A), Sep 26-29 Marchant de Lange, the exuberantly moustachioed South African uberquick, will take up the cause for Gloucestershire next season after signing from Somerset. It’s a big coup for the Bristol club, who fought off other suiters to secure his services, and they anticipate that the right-armer will qualify as a local player. His backstory is indicative of the problems faced by South African cricketers in county cricket in the post-Brexit era. He initially signed for Glamorgan as a local player through a spousal visa, but joined Somerset on a two-year deal from the end of the 2020 season when changes to registration rules after Brexit saw him become an overseas player. Steve Snell, Gloucestershire’s performance director, said: “I…

NEXT MATCHES: Yorks, CC (H), Sep 20-23; Lancs, CC (A), Sep 26-29 In celebration of Micky Stewart’s 90th birthday, the Kia Oval will be renamed the Micky Stewart Oval for the crucial Championship match against Yorkshire commencing on September 20. The game, Surrey’s penultimate match of the season and their last home fixture, may well go a long way to deciding the destination of the trophy. Their final match takes place at Old Trafford against fellow title chasers Lancashire. Micky Stewart OBE has served Surrey as a player, captain, coach, cricket manager and president. The grand old pavilion at Kennington was named the Micky Stewart Members’ Pavilion in 2017. He has been a member of the club since 1947 and made his playing debut in 1954, becoming a mainstay of…

NEXT MATCHES: Notts, CC (H), Sep 20-23; Middx, CC (H), Sep 26-29 Mitchell Stanley sounds like one of those Australian bolters who explodes via the Big Bash and two years later demolishes England’s top order, except that this fast bowler is from Shropshire, for whom he was playing in the National Counties Championship as recently as last summer. At the start of the season he was unknown. He hadn’t featured for England at youth level and any talk of his talent had been confined to Worcestershire’s coaching stable, who duly offered him a two-year contract at the end of last term. After his T20 debut in June, and seven wickets in five matches, it was clear what they saw in the 21-year-old. Height, strength and extreme pace instantly elevates a…

In some ways I am reluctant to join the cacophony around The Hundred. But I do think there is a point worth making which I have yet to hear. Most people seem to accept (albeit grudgingly) that the women’s Hundred is indeed a ‘good thing for the game’. So what if The Hundred is a costly exercise – perhaps even one which is genuinely damaging to the men’s domestic game – precisely because it needs to be? Is The Hundred the price that a colonial, privileged, and, dare I say, often rather misogynistic sport must pay to turn itself around? Twitter is full of die-hard fans of ‘proper cricket’ bemoaning the monstrosity that is this new competition, but I wonder whether English cricket lost the right to complain by failing…

‘It’s really the most miraculous confluence of flukes that this still works’ I’m writing this from an open office overlooking the People’s Ground. It’s a beautiful late-August day. The groundstaff hover by an olive-coloured pitch. A fortnight from now, a Test match will be played on it, tickets for which are impossible to find. Day five, should it go that far, will be free entry – with a donation to a Lambeth food bank – and a sell-out; just as it was last night, for a jolly, youthful Invincibles-Phoenix double header which featured 26 internationals across the day. In front of the sumptuous new stand by the pavilion, workmen reattach old sets of advertising boards to the perimeter, burying any lingering evidence of what took place the night before. The…

Wisden writer @Taha_Wisden In New Malden, a pocket of south London not far from the lawns of Wimbledon, Surrey seconds are in action on a June Wednesday. It’s a county second XI game, a 50-over friendly, so I can count the number of spectators on one hand. But there’s still jeopardy here; these are players fighting to make the step up to the big leagues. This all matters, even if there’s barely a soul to take it in. And there’s a bit of class on show, too. I see Surrey left-arm spinner Dan Moriarty – 36 first-class wickets at 26.36 – take a caught-and-bowled to leave the opposition 54-2. But with all due respect to Moriarty and his teammates, I’m here to learn more about the side who are batting:…

At the heart of club cricket Freelance sportswriter and stalwart club cricketer @reverse_ sweeper I saac Newton’s First Law of Club Cricket Rivalries states: “Wheresoever two teams dominateth that county’s league, mortal enemies shall they become.” The Second Law elaborates: “Whosoever playeth for these clubs shall be schooled into a great disregard for The Other Lot.” Compulsory mutual antipathy: practically laws of physics, since time immemorial. But what if you are besties since childhood who one day find yourselves in opposing trenches? How does the friendship endure the edge and intensity of those testosterone-fuelled adult battles? Boyhood mates John Jordison of Sandiacre Town and Neil Smith of Ockbrook & Borrowash were fiery opening bowlers for the Derbyshire County Premier League’s (DCPL) two pre-eminent clubs. Situated less than four miles apart…

October 2022 EDITORIAL T: 0203 696 5737 E: editorial@wisden.com Editor-In-Chief: Phil Walker Magazine Editor: Jo Harman Editor-At-Large: John Stern Staff Writers: Ben Gardner, Taha Hashim, Yas Rana, James Wallace Reviews Editor: Jon Hotten EDITORIAL BOARD Paul Allott, Lawrence Booth, Mark Butcher, Isa Guha, David Lloyd, Suresh Menon, Alison Mitchell, Daniel Norcross, Christian Ryan Contributors: Lawrence Booth, Jeremy Coney, Vithushan Ehantharajah, Mel Farrell, Isa Guha, Michael Holding, David Lloyd, Amer Malik, Andrew Miller, Raf Nicholson, Scott Oliver, Mark Ramprakash, Matt Roller, Glenn Turner, Richard Whitehead, Andy Zaltzman DESIGN Chief Designer: Joe Provis Designer: Rob Whitehouse PHOTOGRAPHY All photography by Getty Images (unless stated) COMMERCIAL T: 0203 696 5732 E: sales@wisden.com Commercial Manager: Toby Phillips MARKETING T: 0203 696 5730 E: contact@wisden.com Marketing Director: Sam Stow MANAGEMENT T: 0203 696 5730 E:…

1 Rudi Koertzen, the South African umpire, has died at the age of 73 after being involved in a car crash near Cape Town. He officiated in 331 international matches, a record at the time of his retirement in 2010. “He was not only very good as an umpire but also an excellent colleague,” Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar told ESPNcricinfo. “Because of the way he was, he was also well respected by players.” 2 Australia captain Meg Lanning has announced she is taking an indefinite break from the game. “After a busy couple of years, I’ve made the decision take a step back to enable me to spend time focusing on myself,” said the 30-year-old. “I’m grateful for the support of Cricket Australia and my teammates and ask that my…

Managing editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly and the Nightwatchman Ed Smith was national selector from spring 2018 to spring 2021. Over that period, England’s three teams – Test, ODI and T20I – played 116 matches, winning 71 and losing 36, with the remaining nine drawn or ‘no result’. That is a mighty fine record, indeed it could even be described as England’s most successful period ever. And yet, at the end of it, the experiment of having a fully independent selection process was summarily abandoned, with captain and coach given the responsibility of picking squads and teams, although the talent identification network remained in place. Almost two seasons on, Smith has brought out a book, Making Decisions: Putting the Human Back in the Machine, in which he analyses his time…

An alternative prize will be provided if the winner is aged under 18, or if requested LETTER OF THE MONTH Diamonds are forever I found Phil Walker’s article (‘Diamonds in the Mine’) in the September issue very interesting and in my eyes correct. I am a bit of an oldie at 66 years and have concerns for the County Championship and the respective counties. Although the game needs the Blast and The Hundred for finance, could it finish cricket as the older section of the community know it? I remember at the age of seven going with my father to the St Lawrence ground to watch Kent play a Championship game. We travelled down in my father’s Hillman Minx, and the excitement I had in anticipation of the day to…

It appears I’m not the only one who isn’t in thrall to Bazball (Marcus Tapley-Peabody, Mailbox, WCM58). I fear that what we are witnessing is not a joyful reinvention of Test cricket. Rather, with a shrug of the shoulders, the artful, patient and skilful application of the five-day game is being sacrificed at the altar of careless crash-bang-wallop. Isn’t that what The Hundred is for? This comes as no surprise, however. Cricket is not an island. We as a people appear to have lost the ability to concentrate on anything for more than a millisecond. It’s rather sad. As well as unhealthy in the long run. Chris Natural CONTACT US AT Wisden Cricket Monthly, The Kia Oval, London, SE11 5SS editorial@wisden.com @WisdenCricket…

Wisden Cricket Monthly editorat-large @SternWords THE SERIES 1st Test, Multan Pakistan 274 (Butt 74, Inzamam 53; Flintoff 4-68, Harmison 3-37) & 341 (Butt 122, Inzamam 72; Flintoff 4-88, Harmison 3-52) v England 418 (Trescothick 193, Bell 71; Shabbir 4-54, Akhtar 3-99) & 175 (Kaneria 4-62, Akhtar 3-49) Pakistan won by 22 runs 2nd Test, Faisalabad Pakistan 462 (Inzamam 109, Afridi 92, Yousuf 78; Harmison 3-85) & 268-9dec (Inzamam 100*, Butt 50; Hoggard 3-50, Flintoff 3-66) v England 446 (Bell 115, Pietersen 100, Jones 55; Afridi 4-95) & 164-6 (Flintoff 56; Naved 3-30, Akhtar 3-61) Match drawn 3rd Test, Lahore England 288 (Collingwood 96, Vaughan 58, Trescothick 50; Malik 3-58) & 248 (Bell 92, Collingwood 80; Akhtar 5-71, Kaneria 4-52) v Pakistan 636-8dec (Yousuf 223, K Akmal 154, Inzamam 97) Pakistan…

Wisden Cricket Monthly editorin-chief @Phil_Wisden Sachin’s gift MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai India v England, First Test December 15, 2008 INDRANIL MUKHERJEE In the wake of the Mumbai terrorist atrocities, Sachin Tendulkar bequeaths the Indian public an unforgettable century against England in a match which only goes ahead after Pietersen’s tourists agree to return to the grieving country and resume the tour. Chasing 387 on a wearing pitch after a brace of Andrew Strauss hundreds, the target seems impossible, but Virender Sehwag’s 68-ball 83 on the fourth evening blows the chase open, leaving the stage for Sachin on a highly charged final day. “I would like to dedicate this hundred to all those people who have gone through such terrible times,” Tendulkar said. “In no way am I trying to say…

Afrustrating second half of the season ended on a positive note, with our first and second teams narrowly avoiding relegation. The twos secured survival with consecutive home victories in what proved to be must-win encounters against fellow relegation contenders. The satisfaction after those wins made all the hardships of mid-season feel worthwhile – there are few feelings quite like enjoying the first sips of a cold drink under the setting sun after a hard-fought victory. A whopping 65 players represented the second team alone over the course of the season – to perform respectably with such levels of fluctuation in personnel was an achievement worthy of celebration. This has been the most league cricket I’ve played across a single summer. I played 12 of the 18 Saturdays, and while I’m…