I’ve just received my first update for my Cricinfo Fantasy Cricket teams.
| Teams | Points as of today | Overall position as of today |
| Jacqui Smiths Kleenex Shop | 1115 | 257 |
| Norfolk And Chance XI | 1024 | 472 |
Graham Onions’ call up to the England test team means I need to look at my team selections as I will need to replace him. I get 30 changes per team for the season.
Yes, my teams really are called Jacqui Smith’s Kleenex Shop and Norfolk And Chance.
Having recently named Surrey as one of my selections to win promotion to the first division of the County Championship this season, I noticed how my curse struck and after following on against Gloucestershire they lost to Derbyshire. If you’d have said that would happen at the start of last season people would surely have questioned your judgement.
Maybe it’s just a slow start to the season. Contemplating this luck and discussing it with folk over at Nightwatchgirl’s blog gave me an idea. I’ve entered two teams into the Cricinfo Fantasy Cricket competition for the 2009 County Championship. Not for me the “Lamb slam thankyou man!” of the IPL. Four day cricket is where the skills for the longer game, the test match, are honed.
Usual sort of fantasy league rules apply: you’ve got a maximum budget to buy players, only one player in your team can be a registered overseas player and one player can be named as a trump player. The cash limit made things a little more interesting as anyone who’s had even a sniff of international honours got priced towards the top of the scale.
I’ve gone for players who I don’t think will be selected (in Chris Rogers’ case I hope he won’t get picked) for international games so will (should?) play more championship games.
This is my first team selection: The Norfolk And Chance XI
In batting order this team is: Chris Rogers, James Hildreth, Jim Troughton, Dawid Malan, James Middlebrook, Ryan ten Doeschate, Craig Kieswetter, Chris Schofield, Graham Onions, Martin Saggers, James Kirtley
If Chris Rogers isn’t going to play in the Ashes series then why not play for me? First class average of 50. Dawid Malan is someone I’ve heard and read plenty about. Ryan ten Doeschate is a huge talent and were he English qualified I’m sure he would be in the reckoning for international places. Graham Onions is someone well mentioned in dispatches. I’m thinking perhaps there’s a bit too much reliance on swing in this bowling attack with Saggers and Kirtley being swing bowlers. Schofield’s selection might raise a few eyebrows. I like his determination and as a legspin bowler in division two I’m hoping he will pick up some wickets. Trump player at the moment is Graham Onions. Early season conditions and all that.
My second team selection: Jacqui Smith’s Kleenex Shop
In batting order this team is: Justin Langer, Ian Westwood, Paul Horton, Dawid Malan, Faf du Plessis, Zander de Bruyn, Mark Wallace, Andre Adams, Graham Onions, Steve Finn and Jason Lewry.
I’m a great admirer of Justin Langer, so he’s my trump player in the Kleenex Shop. As a Brummie it’s only right that my “home” team of Warwickshire should have a presence in one of the teams. Paul Horton and Faf du Plessis are Lancashire players and both look pretty good from what I’ve seen. Dawid Malan is in there again because I think he will have a very good season. Zander de Bruyn gets the all rounder’s slot because I couldn’t afford Mark Ealham. A bowling attack of Onions, Andre Adams, Steve Finn and Jason Lewry seems ok given the cash limit. Lewry is left arm over, did well for Sussex last year. Onions has been a good performer for the last couple of years, Adams might not look much but his stats are better than I expected and Steve Finn is well talked about at Middlesex. Mark Wallace is my keeper.
I really thought about putting Ryan Sidebottom in there too. Another left arm over bowler, swings it a bit. Serious hair. Siders is definitely up there as a potential selection if someone else starts to misfire.
I wonder how this lot will do?
As The Doctor likes to say, “Time will tell. Always does.”
Because the weather is cold, wet and windy. Damn sure I wouldn’t want to be fielding at slip at Chesterfield today!
It’s been a bit parky chez Jamie for the last couple of days since the boiler pump started making noises which really belonged in a foundry. Not quite thermals under four layers stuff but it’s been on the nippier side of cold here. Thanks to Nick at Plumb Perfect for his prompt service and for educating Jamie in some of the dark arts of plumbing.
I think I know where Douglas Adams might have found the inspiration for Grunthos the Flatulent too. An encounter with a certain make of boiler pump which was making noises like Jamie’s stomach after he’s had a Pot Noodle (you really don’t want to know) might well have inspired him to name a character after it.
In the ICC World Cup qualifying tournament (where the Associate nations play each other to determine who gets places in the next World Cup), Scotland have saved their One Day International status but by a very small margin indeed. Bermuda have lost their ODI status, so we may never see Dwayne “Sluggo” Leverock (he of that slip catch against India – photos do not do it justice, it was a blinder of a catch) on our tv screens again. Ireland are through to the World Cup and Afghanistan have achieved ODI status for the first time in their history.
Huge congratulations to Afghanistan. The Netherlands’ Ryan ten Doeschate showed his class in a few games before heading back to Essex where we all hope he will have another great season. Yes, I’m a Brummie in Kent and I support Essex. Have done for years. Next year will mark 30 years as an Essex supporter.
Now I feel old.
Anyway, to the new cricket season and what’s going to attract my attention.
Now the England coach issue is settled and Andy Flower has got the job I’m more confident about the upcoming test series than I was previously. Andy Flower is one of the two men (the other being Henry Olonga) who stuck a huge middle finger up at Robert Mugabe by wearing black armbands to mourn the death of democracy in Zimbabwe. I think we can take it as read that he has plenty of bottle.
As a cricketer he was the best batsman in the world. Not an easy feat when you’re captain, opening batsman and wicketkeeper for the weakest test team at that time. Not for him the media friendly soundbites in the aftermath of a collapse. By dropping Steve Harmison and Ian Bell he has shown that complacency and mediocrity have no place in his squad. Whether or not England have the firepower to win the upcoming Ashes series is a good question. I’m not sure they do unless the ball is swinging, but time will tell. My gut reaction is a 2-1 win for Australia, 3-1 if we lose the first test of the series.
Domestically the fight for promotion from Division Two is what will interest me. Surrey and Essex are my selections to go up. Chris Adams, newly installed as Director of Cricket at Surrey, backed up by Alec Stewart, Graham Thorpe and Martin Bicknell, will be looking for a huge improvement over last season. And any chance to watch Mark Ramprakash is well worth seizing. Middlesex might be in the hunt (Yay for Shaun Udal still going strong) but I think Surrey’s firepower will be too much and I feel that this is Essex’s year to win promotion.
Division One looks to me like a two horse race – Lancashire and Somerset – unless Steve Harmison can show some decent form and bowl all season like he did in that first test match at Lord’s against the Aussies in 2005. Pace, bounce and fire is what a strike bowler is supposed to bring. Harmison is a bowler who needs to bowl lots of overs to keep his machine working. Can Durham prove their title win last year was not a fluke?
With Langer and Banger at the top of the order (sorry, couldn’t resist that one), Somerset have lots of experience, nouse and barring injury, two key players who will be available all season. This could be their year. If the weather holds in the North West then Lancashire are in with a shout, although they will miss Stuart Law (now with Derbyshire) and James Anderson when he’s on England duty.
Hampshire are my dark horse team. No Shane Warne and Kevin Pietersen on England duty. Imran Tahir reported to be injured. They are a team to keep an eye on in all forms of the game. New captain Dimi Mascharenas says he has learned much from Shane Warne.
Warwickshire are also worth a look. I’m a great admirer of Ashley Giles. Criminally underrated as a cricketer, Gilo has set about rebuilding Warwickshire. It will be interesting to watch their progress.
The one day stuff is a bit like a lottery – whichever teams turn up on form will be the ones who win. Hampshire, Somerset, Lancashire and Essex are my choices to be in the mix for the one day trophies.
But then of course, the English weather may well have a few things to say.
Twenty20 England captain? I’d go for Dimi Mascharenas. Gut feeling. It will be interesting to see what things the English players taking part in the IPL bring back from the tournament.
Time will tell. Always does. One thing’s for sure – I’m looking forward to this season.
While the media is going loopy over the KP-DMW split there has been some good news from Hove.
Sussex CCC have announced today that Pakistani leg-spinner (and cult hero down in Sussex) Mushtaq Ahmed will be their coach for 2008.
Mushtaq clearly loves things down at Hove and there is a lot of love down there for him. Mushtaq was almost certainly the deciding influence in gaining Sussex their County Championship titles. There was always a joy in watching him bowl (partly envy as I can barely land my leg spinner on the cut pitch and don’t even ask about googlies!) and he played the game with a smile.
On this cold day my heart is warmed by this news. You never know, he might just be tempted out of retirement for a game or two if players get injured…
Nic Pothas threatens legal action over ICL ban while Jamie examines the detail behind the name of Indian cricket’s governing body and previous warnings.