“Dan, you haven’t posted a blog for three months now! I don’t know where to turn for my monthly fix of topical cricket content”. I have had this from a lot of people (one friend really) and I can only apologise. A hectic summer away from cricket was not what I had intended. Consequently it has left me with the head scratching dilemma of which of the many cricketing topics that surfaced over the English summer should I talk about.
With so much to take in from The Ashes, the conclusion of the County Championship, Metro Bank Fever and the build up to England’s World Cup defence, it felt natural to start with my favourite format of the game – club cricket! When Taylor Swift wrote ‘Cruel Summer’ she must have been thinking about the 2023 English Cricket season because I have never known so many games, both professional and amateur, succumbing to the weather.
It’s a short enough season as it is without the weather gods choosing to mock me on a weekly basis. The only thing worse than receiving that dreaded “Game’s off” text on a Friday night/Saturday morning is actually turning up and waiting for hours before the umpire has decided it’s time to call it off. Eight of our twenty scheduled league games fell to the weather and if you think I am going to use that as the excuse for my poor form and the clubs relegation, you would be absolutely correct.
The season was not all doom and gloom though. I did provide my teammates with some moments of joy. For example, when I dropped what was without a doubt the worst drop in the history of cricket fielding at short square leg. Or exactly one week later when I put down the second worst drop in the history of cricket fielding at short square leg. It wouldn’t be club cricket if one doesn’t leave the field of play threatening to retire at least three times a season.
Enough about me. There’s real cricketers who played watchable cricket this summer and it would be remiss of me to write anything without acknowledging the retirement of one of the all time greats. I had just sat down with a pint following our game when my mate checked his phone and dropped the news. The biggest shock was that the test match he was playing in was still not concluded. Typical Broady! Even more typical of one of the games greatest characters to bow out with a last ball 6 and a last ball wicket in an Ashes Test winning cause. A genuine legend in a world where that word is terribly overused.
The Ashes of course was much bigger than just Broady or any individual cricketer. It’s incredibly difficult to look at an Ashes series through neutral eyes but it’s easy to imagine just how good this series must have been for those with no horse in the race. The tone was set from ball one when Zak Crawley creamed one through the covers. Neither Zak nor the team reduced the tempo from that point onwards.
We all watched and we all know what happened and how it happened so I shall not boring any readers with yet another review or summary. Instead I’ll answer the question myself and others were either asking or thinking in the build up. Will BazBall work against the best or would the Ashes be the beginning of the end of it? It was generally accepted that the Ashes & the upcoming series in India will be the real next level challenge and without a deep dive in to it, the fact BazBall still remains unbeaten suggests it is here to stay.
Brendon & Ben didn’t flinch once despite going 2-0 down and a relatively toxic social media response. Rightly so if you ask me. We played some excellent cricket in those first two tests. Naive undoubtedly but we will learn how to fine tune the approach. One could argue that if we’d played the series again immediately after that an England whitewash would have been on the cards. But that would be speculating so I won’t…
It’s incredibly frustrating that the urn had a seat on the first post Ashes Qantas flight out of Heathrow but that lot left the northern hemisphere knowing they threw away a 2-0 lead and were lucky the aforementioned weather hit Manchester hard. Whereas the hosts have an abundance of positives to take going in to an equally huge winter series in India. A series for which I am certain the selection headaches for Baz & Ben have already begun. A good headache to have though and when you consider just our grim our test prospects were looking during that hideous tour of the Caribbean last year, it’s a pleasant twist of events!
Other business in India will of course take priority before that series however. Starting tomorrow (05/10/2023) with our defence of one of two World Cup trophies we hold. It feels like we watch so much T20 cricket that we can safely predict 3 of the 4 semi finalists before a T20 tournament even begins. Not so much the case with ODI cricket of which it feels there is so little of. A recent post on X (formerly Twitter) from my friend @CricketIsSimple provided the perfect summary of my thoughts going in to the tournament;
“This World Cup is going to be interesting. Not one team has prioritised 50 over cricket in the last 4 years. There is no form guide. Just a shoot-out to see who survives”
It’s a wonderful prospect and a tournament full of surprises and twists would do wonders for a format which seems to be under constant attack. From the angle of having to make a prediction it is somewhat of a nightmare. I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge so let’s take a stab at it.;
England will be fine. A wonderful blend of talented experience and youngsters who are flying. The fact that Harry Brook was a last minute addition to the side tells you everything you need to know about the sheer volume of talent in the side. I’ll not be handing over my savings to the bookmakers backing us to retain the trophy but I would be amazed if we don’t make the final 4. I’d be almost equally as confident that we will be joined by the hosts. They are a capable of a calamity which we all enjoy but with that relentless home support, coupled with the fact I fancy Kohli & Sky to drop some iconic knocks, I’m putting them comfortably in the final 4.
What has worried me is the lack of backing from pundits & journalists given to the Aussies. They were poor throughout the 2021 T20 World Cup and next thing you know they’re lifting the trophy. I can’t shake off this horrible nagging voice in my head that’s telling me Warner is going to have an unbelievable farewell tournament and with Marnus sneaking in last second, it feels like it’s set up for him to finally do something overseas. I hope I’m wrong but I’m handing the 3rd spot to them.
Quite a head scratcher for the last spot. I’ve leaned towards Pakistan for three reasons. Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam & Pakistan being constantly fired up playing in India where they will likely play no games with the crowd backing them. It just feels like the perfect platform for the box office batting of Babar and the terrifyingly aggressive bowling of SSA. Apologies to my friends in South Africa and any readers from the better Oceanic nation. You were both very close and will most likely make my predictions look silly anyway.
It often feels like these competitions are too frequent and maybe they are. Yet when they come around the excitement levels remains the same. If India have more joy with the weather than we did this summer, it is set up to be an incredible month. Lots of cricket, lots of drama, celebrations and tears. It’s why we love the sport.