King, as he’s known over here at Six and Out, gets our Hero spot this week, above all the Phils, Husseys, and Yuvrajs, for his could-have-been match-winning 192.

I’ve posted this before, but I am going to post his sledging video again, which is a classic in itself.

When Panesar & Co. walk out to the fields this winter, Sangakkara is going to be one man they would want to beat.

Post from: EveryJoe

Hero of the Week: King Sangakkara

As soon Monty heard he’s Coach’s fave, his hypothalamus is activated (actually, he’s trying to do just that here in the above pic), and it sends signals across the body and his adrenaline is send gushing through it. See how profusely he sets himself to practice.

–

England vs. Sri Lanka

Actually, this is a time in England’s cricketing history when players are actually competing hard to get in. That Steve Harmison was flown in to join the squad meant bad news for the other pace battery prospects. Ryan Sidebottom is one who looks good, and his impressive runs in the recent past will stand him in good stead. They might want to wait on Broad, though (my left brain complies with the idea, but right brain kicks it hard in the rear). James Anderson looks bad, and worse, he’s faced with fitness issues, which, if not resolved, will ensure Broad’s Test debut. (right brain neurons firing at abnormal speed).

I’ll bet on Alastair Cook as far as the batting side of things is concerned.(Hey, Betfair guys, whadya say?)

England would definitely have an edge over the SL side, since they beat the Lankans in the ODI series, and we aren’t sure how much Jayawardhane’s boys have learned from their Australian debacle. Plus, England’s pace line-up looks darn strong, and Monty’s ready to spin them around.

Photo Credit: BBC

Post from: EveryJoe

Why Monty looks so happy?

Sadly, the match that was truly poised for a thrilling finish, came to nothing as England’s shoddy weather intervened. Day 5 started with India needing some 250 runs for the win, or to save 7 wickets to ensure the draw. England were in a strong position after day 4 following some terrific batting from KP, which he subsequently described as his best batting performance to-date, and some equally terrific bowling from James Anderson and Monty Panesar. Late in the day, Monty yet again claimed the prize wicket of Sachin Tendulkar to set it all up.

In fairness, that there was even as much play as there was nothing short of a miracle and is, in part, testament to the quality of the £1.2m drainage system at Lord’s. Play was uninterrupted until midway through the middle session when bad light forced an early tea. Rain then stopped play for good. At the time, India were perilously close to losing, with 9 wickets down, but some spirited batting from Mahendra Dhoni in particular, saw them do just enough to stave it off.

England do look the stronger side, despite a massively inexperienced bowling attack, but once again, people have stepped up when it mattered. Sideshow Bob has moreorless cemented his place for the foreseeable future and Jimmy Anderson repaid the selectors’ continued faith with a well earned 5fer. Chris Tremlett looked good enough, but didn’t do enough to keep his place when the likes of Hoggard and Flintoff are fit again. However, with both out for at least the next test, Tremmers will certainly get another chance to prove himself. Runs for Strauss and Vaughan in the first innings were welcome and overdue, and Matt Prior continues to illustrate the type of consistency that is required, and has been severely lacking, in the England wicket keeper – it’s a massive relief to have the questions over that position finally put to bed.

The 2nd Test gets underway at Trent Bridge on Friday.

Post from: EveryJoe

1st Test peters out

First things first, Australia were skittled in 71 overs for 244. The damage was done by Monty Panesar (5-92) and Steve Harmison (4-48). England were then 51/2 by the close of play, with Strauss not out 24 and Paul Collingwood not out 10. Far be it from me to point how extraordinary this was, as I saw posted on one forum “the debate over Giles and Panesar was decided in 7 balls this morning”. All eyes were on Monty Panesar. Would he buckle? Or would he shine? He most certainly shone, becoming the first Englishman and only the fourth ever to take a 5fer at Perth.

After Australia had declared that they would look to take Monty apart, it seems their plan backfired after a series of reckless shots led to the demise of their first innings. And let’s not overlook Harmison’s performance. He was without doubt a different man than the one we’ve seen previously in this series. Sharp, fast and bouncy, he did what all fast bowlers should do. He put the top order batsmen under pressure and then ripped through the tail. It was quality fast-bowling, despite getting the sense that he’s still nowhere near his former best. But it certainly reminded us all why he has been the number 1 fast bowler in the world. And Fletcher’s continued confidence in him certainly paid off, when Steve could quite easily have been one of the names on the chopping block. Mahmood bolwed just 7 overs and intriguingly Flintoff just 9. Their 4 run economy rates indicate why they might have bowled so few overs, but when you’ve got the likes of Panesar bowling at the other end, at one point having bowled 18 overs on the trot (maybe more) it’s no real wonder. To see Harmison have an extended spell was also great news.

How must Ashley Giles be feeling right now? Sick to the back teeth I expect. But, do we care?

Australia for the mostpart really helped the cause with most of the top order getting themselves out to questionable shots. Mike Hussey was the only man to really settle himself and was left stranded at the end of the innings on 74.

England have made a great start to this match, but we must not get carried away. It’s only Day 1 of a 5 day match and in the context of the series there are a further 10 days to be played after these.) England must look to win every day. The warning signs are there though. The pitch certainly seems to favour the bowlers, and Shane Warne on Day 5 could be a lot to handle. Additionally, each of Australia’s batsmen (with the exception of Ponting and Gilchrist) got a start and whilst no-one went on to score big runs, there was certainly the intent and the possibility of it happening. England have done well to bowl them out cheaply, but now they must capitalise on it. We need big hundreds from Strauss and Collingwood tomorrow and for England’s bowlers to do what they did today all over again. Should that happen, England’s plight might not seem quite so bad after all.

Post from: EveryJoe

Perth : Day 1 : All hail King Monty

And despite Monty not getting the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, which is a travesty in my book, it doesn’t matter because Fletcher cannot possibly ignore the boomingly loud voice from those people who are as pissed off as I am about the series so far and the inclusion of Giles in the side.

Those cheeky chappies, well Nicky Campbell, at Radio Five Live have organised a petition to see Monty included in the Third Test at Perth. See for yourself at the Five Live Breakfast Petition! (warning, the page takes a while to load). As I check it at the moment, there are 1687 electronic signatures. 1687 people united in their call for Monty to be in the side. 1687 who say Giles should go.

Come on Fletcher! Do the right thing.

* It would be 1688 signatures on the petition, but when I tried to add mine, I was told I wasn’t allowed. Apparently using a comment form to make a comment isn’t the way to do things over there.
** Thanks to Boony for the heads up.

Post from: EveryJoe

The mob speaks: Monty in; Giles out!

Jones drops an inside edge off Anderson. I’m not bothered, I don’t even like cricket. Hussey then swings Anderson away for four before pushing one into the covers to complete a crushing six-wicket victory.

That was the biggest load of rubbish I have ever seen. Lots of Aussies going berserk in Adelaide, lots of Englishmen looking like they’ve arrived home to find the French doors have been smashed and their new plasma TV’s been stolen. Thanks for staying with me for the last 10 days – it’s been a mix of emotions, but mainly depression and boredom, with a bit of anger and embarrassment thrown in. I’m off to Venice this weekend though, that should be nice, they don’t even know what cricket is there. Bye.

And the fans of Test Match special were no less ashamed of their teams performances. Fortunately, though, due to the profanity filter, the worst words repeatedly uttered were “atrocious”, “abysmal” and “abject”. I would make a joke about all the words beginning with “a”, but then “spineless” has cropped up on more than one occasion.

Predictably, though, those with an axe to grind and have started calling for the heads of a few key personel of the England set up. Far and away first on the chopping block is England coach Duncan Fletcher. He is being criticised for many things, notably his team selection, his apparent lack of any cricketing knowledge whatsoever and his defensive and negative tactics:

• This drivel from Fletcher about batting down to number 8.
• Fletcher is too conservative and now that has cost us the Ashes
• For the first time Fletcher has to take some of the blame
• Will Fletcher admit he got it wrong? I doubt it

I’ve seen calls for Fletcher to resign – or be sacked. Some people are also advocating sweeping changes to the side. The debate over Read/Jones and Giles/Panesar has rared up again, not to mention cutting any of Strauss, Cook and Anderson from the side. The irate pundits seem to be in favour of bringing in Mahmood, Panesar and Read convinced that had these players been picked from the start that things would have gone completely differently.

“My gramps just wanted to get this in: ‘Giles is the worst spinner in Tests ever. Gramps should know, he’s pushing 90…’”

According to some, a half-fit Vaughan and Simon Jones on crutches would be better than the current lineup. A lot of people are rueing Strauss’s early and incorrect second innings dismissal. Most are blaming the loss on Giles’s first innings drop of Ponting. King Freddie has had his captaincy questioned, but for the mostpart has come through relatively unscathed.

My verdict?

Without wishing to sound like I’m on the fence, but I think it’s impossible to pin this defeat on an individual. I believe a lot of mistakes have been made all over the place, each one culminating in this epic loss.

So here are my thoughts:

1. Fletcher has made errors in selection but he can’t be blamed for batsmen, such as Strauss and Cook, failing to score runs
2. The likes of Giles and Jones shouldn’t be expected to clean up the top order’s mistakes and relied on to score big runs
3. Fletcher’s plan to have Giles and Jones in on the strength of their batting was erroneous, since so far they’ve given no sign that they could have done any better than their replacements
4. It’s impossible to say whether Panesar and/or Read would have had a significant or sufficient impact on the game to alter the outcome
5. Neither Giles nor Jones have vindicated their inclusion in the side
6. Panesar is almost certainly not the answer to England’s problems. Despite showing some excellent form in the series he has played in, were he to be included in the side now, the amount of hype and buildup surrounding him, not to mention the not inconsiderable amount of barracking from the Australians will affect his performance
7. He probably couldn’t do a lot worse than Giles, though
8. Flintoff’s captaincy has been uninspired
9. Flintoff’s captaincy has been detrimented by the overall poor performances by and lack of support from his bowlers
10. Strauss wouldn’t necessarily have done any better as captain, but it perhaps would have eased the pressure on Fred to allow him to think more about his batting
11. One or two players have had moments of genius, but moments alone do not win 5 day test matches
12. Fletcher truly is in between a rock and a hard place – either make big changes and risk the team getting much worse, or not make the changes and see no improvement in England’s fortune. Either way he’s going to cop a lot of stick over the coming weeks
13. Fletcher will certainly not be England coach beyond this series
14. England as a unit have not significantly changed from the 90’s era where losing was par for the course, despite some successes in recent times

I could go on and on. There is no easy solution to the problem. Despite the impossible situation that England now find themselves in, I’m certainly no fair weather fan and I’m still behind England. I’m certainly not cancelling my subscription to Sky Sports or complaining about being let down having spent my hard earned money on a holiday to Australia like a lot of “fans” I’ve seen.

I’m still clutching on to that last glimmer of hope that England might feasibly snatch a draw from the series. As this test match has shown, anything is possible.

Post from: EveryJoe

Ashes backlash begins

A knee injury that has kept him from playing for the best part of a year. That’s right – no cricket in a year. It’s bad enough that Michael Vaughan thinks he’s going to be available to play, but now Gilo as well?

That’s not to say he’s a shoe-in as newboy Monty Panesar has earned his wings and fortunately Gilo knows he needs to earn his place.

“He’s the guy who has done well, he’s in possession and it’s up to me to try to win that place back. If I don’t, I support.

Here’s hoping his knee can handle the weight of holding up Monty, whose stature suggests he comes from the Shane Warne school of salad-dodging, as I hope to see Monty in the side for years to come.

Post from: EveryJoe

Gilo to play in Australia. Maybe.

• I Bell
• P Collingwood
• A Cook
• A Giles
• A Flintoff
• S Harmison
• M Hoggard
• S Jones
• K Pietersen
• M Panesar
• A Strauss
• M Trescothick
• M Vaughan

Monty Panesar and Alastair Cook are both new additions to the list, with Geraint Jones missing out. The question marks ultimately concern Giles, Vaughan and Simon Jones, since both have been out of any form of cricket for the best of a year. It obviously demonstrates how much faith the England selectors have in these players. Personally I think it’s a little short-sighted, nay, dangerous, but any of those three ever regain full fitness then you’d expect them to be England side shoe-ins anyway, so the worst it can be is a very expensive mistake for the ECB – the contract can be worth up to £250,000 per player.

It seems like a reasonably fair list, none of the more recent additions to the team have done enough to yet merit a contract, and Chris Read was unlikely to get issued the contract in favour of Geraint Jones having only been in place for a couple of games. No doubt their respective performances down under this Winter will determine whether Summer contracts are awarded.

Post from: EveryJoe

England name central contracts list

Our top 6 batsmen all got “starts”, but none of them, and I’m including Pietersen and Bell (who both scored centuries), went on to score a big, match-winning hundred. That was the obvious difference between the sides – Pakistan are a weaker batting side than England, but they still had a first innings lead thanks to the quality of Yousif Khan and Mohammad Yousuf, who both made big hundreds and shared in a stand of 363.

I still have mixed feelings about Kevin Pietersen. I’m not doubting his talent – he has something very special – but he’s still too, I don’t how best to describe it – egotistical. He’s in it for the praise, the glory and the attention. Everything he does is ridiculously overstated. Compare his century celebrations to the likes of Yousuf – Yousuf kisses the ground, thanks God, acknolwedges the crowd and then gets back down to business. KP screams, jumps and shouts like a little girl. His helmet is off, his arms-outstretched as he soaks up the applause. But as the crowd grows weary, he’s still soaking it up. He’s still showing his bat. He’s hugging the other batsmen. He makes a big deal out of it. And in todays style of test cricket, where single centuries are fairly ordinary (there were 5 in this test alone), he really ought to keep his concentration. When he scores a double or triple century – then he can accept the praise so gladly. Seriously – the woolly jumper over the cramp in his arm – three times the physio had to come on to the pitch, as KP hunted the crowd for the sympathy vote. 136 on that wicket in this match was not a match-winning score and although it set England up, it could have been so much more.

That’s not to say the match (and series) is not without its plus points – certainly the general performance of the batsmen was promising – lots of people almost scoring runs. But by far the biggest boon has been the bowling – Harmison looks to be approaching some kind of form – still wayward in places, but fast and frequently unmanageable, Hoggard was his usual best, swinging and moving the new and old ball all over the place. Sajid Mahmood was disappointing in the 1st Test, but career best figures of 4fer in the 2nd innings of the 2nd test, really sealed the deal for England. Which leads me neatly to Monty – Monty, Monty, Monty. He’s taken wickets but it’s important to note who he has been getting out – he hasn’t been simply removing the tail enders with a few flukey dismissals – he’s been taking the key wickets – the top order and the likes of Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam (1st innings dismissal where he sat on his stumps exempted!). The question over whether Monty will replace Giles in Australia this Winter has surely been answered. And Chris Read in his albeit brief return to the International fold has looked very comfortable. Bad for Geraint Jones, but good for England.

The only unanswered question, in my mind, is the captaincy. Strauss will be pleased with the victories, but I still can’t help feeling he’s not an England captain. And I’m afraid I don’t like Freddie as captain. He already does do too much, and with his injury, it’s simply an extra burden that shouldn’t be placed on the great man. But who is the alternative? (I don’t know. I wouldn’t be surprised if Monty’s not on the list of potentials though.)

The important thing now is to win the final match of the series and then see about winning a couple of the one-dayers. Without getting any more injuries.

Post from: EveryJoe

England v Pakistan, 3rd Test, Headingley

Admittedly, you don’t have to be Monty… you could be Freddie, or Hoggy, or if you’re feeling really fruity, Pieter, er, Pietey, er… Pieteyrsenny, but really, given the opportunity, what kind of England cricket fan isn’t going to pick Monty?

Halloween this year could take on a bizarre new twist.

Post from: EveryJoe

Now that’s scary