And it begins....

Its the same old story these days, and no I don't mean Sebastian Vettel winning all the time, I'm referring to Shane Warne's usual pre-Ashes series prediction which always has Australia to win the series. This time, his 2-1 prediction is based on Alastair Cook's captaincy.

According to Warne, Cook can be 'negative, boring and not very imaginative'. Traits he believes could cost England the series. He went on to claim 'Cook would never have a leg slip in place'. Except then Mr Warne, at Lords last summer when he put himself there and caught Michael Clarke. 

Here's one for Shane Warne, Cook's 'negative' captaincy has seen him to a record (as of November 4th 2013) of 16 tests, 9 wins, 6 draws with just one defeat and is yet to lose a series. 

Cook fulfilling a childhood dream-an Ashes winning captain. (Daily Telegraph)

Warne carried on, claiming Cook 'lets the game drift and waits for the game to come to him'. Was Warne watching England in India where Cook, on three consecutive occasions, took the fight to the Indians. Or what about the test in Dunedin where Cook led by example by in the second innings by scoring a hundred and giving England a foothold in a game they drew. Perhaps Shane Warne wants Cook to employ lose-to-win more often. But, I'm really struggling here to think of an occasion when England had a chance of doing that. Lords against Australia with a first innings lead of 233? Was Cook supposed to go after a quick 50-odd runs and set Australia a target of 280? Which captain would be foolish enough to do that in a test match? What about the last test in India on a dead pitch? Dhoni declared a few runs behind with a day left. With England 2-1 up in the series and on the brink of a historic win in India what did England have to gain by offering 'joke bowling' and setting up a result? Nil. 

Perhaps if anything is boring and unimaginative it's Shane Warne's comments on Cook. He was never overly impressed by former England captain Andrew Strauss either.

Sports Personality shout outs

2013 Sports Personality of the Year? (Daily Telegraph)

Its getting near that time of year again as the BBC start to turn their attention to Sports Personality of the Year nominations. As well the main award, every region has their own local award. My nomination for the East's SPOTY? David Willey. As great as Andy Murray winning Wimbledon was, I know who I'll be voting for. Anyone who thrice defies the Aussies is a deserving winner in my book. As for team of the year? Its got to be Northants.

2013 Team of the Year? (itv.com)

The Northants turnaround

It was a cloudy evening in central Northampton. The back of Somerset's run chase of a modest 116 has been well and truly broken by Richard Levi and Craig Kieswetter and Jos Buttler and James Hildreth simply take the sting out of the attack to see Somerset home. It was one of 7 defeats for Northants in the 2012 Friends Life t20 group stage. In fact, the Steelbacks won 4 games in all forms of cricket in 2012. This year, things seemed different. It started in the County Championship and YB40 as they more than doubled their wins tally from 2012 by the end of June. So when I made my first visit of the year to Wantage Road to see Northants take on Warwickshire in their second home game of their t20 campaign, in the sun I might add, there was a sense of positivity around the ground.

Northants chose to bat first and all four required batsman scored at over a run a ball. Kyle Coetzer carried his bat. Richard Levi, who as mentioned earlier played for Somerset against Northants last year, also played a useful knock as the Steelbacks racked up 161 off their 20 overs. Over to the bowlers. Mohammad Azharullah was excpetional taking 4-25 and rightly being named man of the match. It was a fantastic all round performance and in complete contrast to 2012.

The Warwickshire game

I returned to Wantage Road a few weeks later for the Somerset game. A brilliant innings from Steven Crook saw Northants to 150-8. It turned out to be enough as Mohammad Azharullah was again in the wickets taking 3-16 from his 4 overs.

Somerset under lights

After several impressive performances in the group stage, Northants are in the Friends Life t20 quarter finals. I'll be there for the Durham game on Tuesday. Northants are the surprise package in the England domestic game this year. I hope people write us off. I hope we continue to surprise teams. What a turnaround in just over twelve months if we get to Finals day...

A Day at the Cricket

There are few better things to do on a Saturday in April than watching some cricket. Especially when one of the teams has a player as dynamic as Jos Buttler and the other is captained by the leader of the best cricket team in the world. As soon as the weather forecast looked good and the day dawned bright and sunny, my mind was completely made up. I was going to the fourth day of Surrey vs Somerset at the Oval. The Oval is relatively convenient for me. A short trip to Huntingdon station followed by quick train to London then a stint on the Northern line down to Oval station.

It was a beautiful day for cricket. Completely blue skies, with so few clouds you could count them on one hand. To get in for the day, an adult ticket was, Football take note, £12. For juniors it was just a pound. One pound! About an hour or so before the start of play, there was still a fair bit of action going on. Somerset were warming up in nets on the outfield, with Marcus Trescothick and then Alviro Petersen practicing their slip catching. Surrey meanwhile were having a game of football (careful lads!). Despite being a hot day, it was cold in the
shade. Especially when all your wearing on your top half is a shirt and a jumper thats half way between full-on knitwear and a long sleeved top.

The tranquility of the day is pierced by the odd low flying aircraft, the occasional "oooh" as the ball misses the outside edge as well as the solid, unmistakable tone, of leather making contact with willow. The occasional cry of "Come on the Reeeey" comes from the Laker stand.

Somerset resumed on 6-0, a lead of 24 after Surrey declared 18 runs behind. Stuart Meaker bowled well all day (he'd finish with 5-60) and Trescothick departed in the 6th over. 3 more wickets fell before lunch and at 100-4 there was a slim chance of a result if Surrey could take quick wickets. Alviro Petersen played extremely well for his 91. There is no home or away end in cricket so each milestone is applauded and respected as if the player or team was being supported all round the ground.

At lunch, and tea, fan
s are allowed onto the outfield. The equivalent of being allowed on the pitch at Wembley at half time in the FA Cup final. After sitting in the shade (cold) in the morning session, I moved closer to the pavilion for the afternoon session and to the Bedser stand for the final session. The Bedser stand is situated right in front of the dressing rooms meaning the players walk right past you. Being a raised stand, the view is fantastic.

Somerset went into the final session 8 wickets down with a lead in excess of 200. This ensured the draw was the only realistic result. So after Jos Buttler was out for 94 (knowing he was facing the last over went for a six to try and bring up his hundred and got caught on the boundary) Marcus Trescothick declared, ensuring the draw.