Shane Warne's columns
May 16, 2005
PK still building on favourable initial impression
By Shane Warne
KEVIN PIETERSEN may have been left out of the England squad yesterday, but I’ve been really impressed with him so far at Hampshire. Until last Friday he hadn’t scored the runs he would have liked, and probably everybody expected, but his sheer talent was there for all to see against Kent and I would have him in the England team to face Australia.
It’s a harsh call on Graham Thorpe. He has done pretty well since he came back into the side and will do a decent job. The difference is that PK (we’ve given him that nickname by reversing his initials) hasn’t played against Australia before. He will come in fresh and unscarred. With Pietersen and Ian Bell, it means that five out of the top seven would be facing us for the first time.
The problem PK faces now is that Bangladesh are quite weak, so all of the England batsmen will finish the series with runs to their name and will then be difficult to drop. Cricket, though, is hard to predict. PK’s chance is sure to come because he’s such a good player and it will probably come when he doesn’t expect it.
I just think the cricket gods have been testing him this season. Don’t ask me to explain that. I just think that things happen for a reason. He had a great time over the winter and this is a mini-challenge to him to make sure he doesn’t lose his self-belief. Technically, there’s nothing wrong with his batting. All batsmen get out early from time to time and he’s had bad luck with things like inside edges.
This has been my first chance to look at him properly. I’d say he is the most dangerous batsman in the country, Freddie Flintoff included. But what has really struck me is his attitude. When he comes back into the dressing-room you wouldn’t know whether he has scored nought or a hundred. He doesn’t get fazed, just goes off to do his fitness training or joins the rest of us on the balcony and gets stuck in with the banter.
He reminds me of Michael Clarke in the way he goes about his game. They’re roughly the same age, similar bouncy personalities and very confident in their own ability. And they’ll both be around for a long time. They want everything now and are both hungry. It’s no secret that I’ve taken Clarke under my wing a bit and I’ve quickly struck up a good friendship with PK as well.
The first month has been very enjoyable from a Hampshire point of view.
We’ve played some excellent four-day cricket and poorly in a couple of one-day matches. I’m thoroughly enjoying the way we’re playing, continuing on from last year. The first division is a bit harder because teams seem to battle for longer — as Kent showed on Saturday.
Of the players I’ve come across this season, I’d say that Ed Joyce, of Middlesex, has most impressed me so far. He looked very calm at the crease and seemed to be in control of his game. Our own Chris Tremlett deserves his place in the England development squad. He is improving all the time and when he gets a little bit of what I think of as “Australian” in him, he’ll be even better. I hope I can help him there. His bowling against Kent was international class.
There have been a few issues in county cricket. It was disappointing that Chris Adams decided to make sledging an issue after we beat Sussex, but that matter is closed. He has had time to reflect and no doubt I’ll be giving him a ring in due course.
I couldn’t believe that Surrey were penalised five runs for tampering with the ball. If that’s all that happens I think I should start carrying sandpaper in my back pocket to give the ball a good scrape and get it hooping around. I don’t mind giving up five runs if we can get a couple of wickets.
Seriously, you won’t see any of that from Hampshire. I want us to play hard and tough and be in the faces of the opposition. But that will not stop us playing fairly and in the spirit of the game. Whenever a guy gets a fifty or a hundred against us, we give him a clap. He’ll have deserved it. And talking of hundreds . . .
At last, after 15 years in the game, I finally know how if feels to raise your bat on three figures. Since the innings last Wednesday I’ve had lots of messages from my buddies in Australia. Ricky Ponting suggested I’d want to bat higher than No 8 in the Ashes series. As the guy at No 7 is Adam Gilchrist, I reckon he was probably joking.
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It's over and out: this may be my last Ashes tour
By Shane Warne
IF ANYBODY tells you that India or Sri Lanka are the best tours in cricket, they’re telling fibs. I love both of those places and the memories they hold. But any true Aussie will say that England in England is a special experience and for the 16 of us named in the squad last week, the Ashes trip cannot begin too soon.
The history and tradition of England tours help to bond a squad together. You get to see the place because you travel by bus — far more relaxing than having to go everywhere by plane. You can sit back and really get to know each other. Of course, it goes without saying that I love England. That’s why I’m coming to live here.
I guess the squad was pretty straightforward. There is usually one “bolter” who gets a place unexpectedly, but not this time. Anybody who puts Shaun Tait in that category on the basis of two games for Durham last year is seriously out. Durham treated him disgracefully and if we play them up there I’ve no doubt he will want the new ball.
There was a whisper that a young off spinner called Dan Cullen might have made the cut. He is definitely one for the future and to be around the Australia squad in England would have been great experience. But Stuart MacGill deserves his chance. Every time he has come in as a second spinner he has done well.
People will know Brad Hodge from Leicestershire. He has scored hundred after hundred on both sides of the world for the best part of five years and would have walked into any other batting line-up in the world by now.
The interesting one could be Brad Haddin, because he has probably not received a lot of attention in England. Although he is the reserve wicketkeeper he is also a fine batsman in his own right. Nobody can replace Adam Gilchrist, but when I say that Brad is almost as dangerous as Gilly in the way he bats, I’m not exaggerating. He has the potential to be near that level and his wicketkeeping has improved out of sight over the past two years.
I’ve concentrated on these guys because the core of the squad is so familiar. By definition, that means a few of us have a bit of experience. But I think people might overplay the fact that the majority of us will finish the tour aged 30 or over. I think it could work to our advantage.
Never say never, but for the likes of McGrath, Hayden, Gilchrist and myself this will probably be our last Ashes tour. In fact, I’d take a punt that less than half the side to finish the 2005 series will be back in 2009. Well, a last Ashes tour is going to be a great motivation and the fifth Test at the Oval could be quite emotional.
Fitness levels are so high these days that a 30-year-old cricketer has the body of a younger guy. Graham Gooch showed that with hard work you can enjoy great success well beyond that age. In fact, Glenn McGrath told me the other day that he thinks he’s bowling better now than ever, and I am not going to disagree.
My immediate priority, of course, is with Hampshire. The way the Test matches have been scheduled means that I think I will miss only five championship games. It seems weird that in an Ashes summer I will play almost as much as I did in 2004. All being well I can go into the Tests with a good rhythm and with Hampshire well clear in the table.
Meeting Kevin Pietersen again will be fun. I’ve decided that I’m going to bowl nothing but very obvious wrong ’uns in our nets at the Rose Bowl so he thinks he will be able to read me when he plays for England. I’m going to call him “No 600” — my 600th wicket in Test cricket. Then again, I probably don’t want to rattle him too soon.
I WAS at Singapore airport when I heard that I’d been named as the Leading Cricketer in the World by Wisden. It is a huge honour and took me completely by surprise. Everybody in cricket back home knows about Wisden in England and it was big news when Ricky Ponting won it last year.
Without turning this into an Oscar speech, I have to say thanks to all of my team-mates for making everything possible when I rejoined the side. Individual awards are always nice to receive but cricket is a team game and I could not have done anything without guys bowling at the other end and holding great catches.
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The Ashes? Don't get your hopes up too high
By Shane Warne
BRING on the Ashes — I could hear the cries even before they began. The reaction was inevitable once England beat South Africa on Tuesday and it seems as though we’re in for a really long build-up towards next summer. I just hope people aren’t raising their hopes too high. There are going to be some seriously disappointed folk if England don’t perform.
Yes, they are going well at the moment. World cricket needs a decent England team and their improvement is good for the game. But before everyone gets carried away I ought to point out — because I don’t know whether it is attracting much publicity in England — that Australia are also doing pretty well. This week in Perth we beat Pakistan by almost 500 runs in three days and a session.
Glenn McGrath took eight wickets in the second innings and is bowling as well as ever. After a couple of serious ankle operations it was always going to take time to find his old strength and rhythm. But the thing about champions is that they always come back. McGrath is one of the all-time great champions. He has that extra something you can’t quite finger.
Over the past few months we have won a series in India for the first time since I was out of nappies and bowled out New Zealand for 76 and Pakistan for 72. I am not a great one for facts and figures so, off the top of my head, I don’t know how England have gone on against those three recently. I do know that, with such high expectations, there will be a lot of pressure on them to deliver when we come over.
I have absolute respect for a team that can win eight successive Test matches. We could not receive the game from Port Elizabeth on television in the hotel while we were in Perth, so I only watched the final day, when Andrew Strauss and Graham Thorpe knocked off the runs. It has to be an excellent result. South Africa are very difficult to beat at home, even though their bowling is not what it was.
We have not been talking about the Ashes in our dressing-room. Our job at the moment is to beat Pakistan. We then have a one-day series against them, followed by Test and one-day matches versus New Zealand. There is a lot of cricket to be played before we go to England, but thoughts are bound to drift in that direction before long. We all know the Ashes are special.
So much can happen before the first Test at Lord’s in July in the way of injuries or loss of form. England must do everything in their power to make sure that Andrew Flintoff and Stephen Harmison are fit for the series. They have some other decent players — Strauss looks quite impressive — but those two are the A-graders, the trump cards. If they are not right, I think Australia will win as convincingly as in previous series.
Flintoff can be destructive with the bat and Harmison can knock over a side with the ball. With Matthew Hoggard to do some of the donkey-work and Ashley Giles to keep things tight, there is the basis of a pretty good attack. I reckon that Chris Tremlett, who is even taller than Harmison and gets that awkward bounce at 80-odd miles an hour, ought to come into contention for the final place.
Before anybody thinks I’m just pushing one of my own mates from Hampshire, I should add that it doesn’t do much for my reputation to say that somebody is good enough to play for England when that isn’t the case. I am trying to be objective. There is no doubt in my mind that Tremlett will play Test cricket, just as Dimitri Mascarenhas should be in the one-day side.
I just wonder what sort of pitches England intend to prepare. People may not have thought of this yet, but it is absolutely crucial. If they go for green seamers to help their bowlers, they could be in for big trouble. Those pitches might help Harmison and Flintoff, but we have a potent and disciplined attack ourselves as well as experience and depth to our batting order.
There will be a lot of pressure on the England batsmen to match us in those conditions. I think we would end up winning a series of short matches. To my mind their best chance is on flat surfaces. It would be a statement of intent, that they believe they can beat us fair and square. Harmison is good enough to cause problems whatever the conditions and they would just have to back themselves against our spinner.
I am not saying that England would win — far from it. But the games might be closer and would certainly provide a more even contest between bat and ball. Above all else, that is what people want to see — a contest.
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Best of friends: Lara and Warne, two of the greatest cricketers in the game's history, have a mutual respect that shows whenever they are together
Photo: Graham Morris
Brilliant Lara leaves little margin for error
By Shane Warne
YOU NEED THREE THINGS to be able to bowl to Brian Lara: plan A, plan B, and a lot of character. Don’t underestimate that last one. I’m a pretty positive guy, but there was one occasion when he was smashing the Australia bowling to all parts and I thought that the only way to get rid of him would be to run him out. And that’s what happened — Damien Martyn ran him out.
The game was in Sydney in 1992 and Lara had made 277. I can’t imagine anybody batting better. But for that bit of magic from Marto, he’d probably still be there now. If you look at Lara’s record, he has the gift of moving from 100 to 200 and beyond. He can do that because he scores at such a pace once he’s set and he never tires of dominating the bowlers.
During my 14 years of playing international cricket, the two batsmen reckoned to be the best in the world have been Sachin Tendulkar and Lara. A few others have had a good season now and again, or hit a hot streak, but those two have done it year after year, hitting runs in style under tremendous pressure of expectation.
Perhaps Lara has not quite had the same consistency as Tendulkar, but when he gets on a roll he can be unstoppable. For the punters, I imagine he must be the most exciting batsman to watch because he has so many strokes and that extra gear. You do not know what is coming next, but you don’t want to miss it.
From my own perspective, West Indies batsmen are reckoned to be relatively vulnerable against leg spin. They tend to hit or block. Lara, though, deals amazingly well when the ball is turning. Like all the great players, he picks the length early and moves decisively either forward or back. In a weird way, it is a pleasure to bowl to him.
The key is to try not to worry about what he is doing. Work out a method and concentrate on sticking to it — but have an alternative up your sleeve just in case he gets on top. Batsmen as good as that sometimes get bored if you can cramp their scoring. In that situation, there is a chance that they could whack it to a fielder out of frustration.
Of the Aussies, I’d guess that Glenn McGrath, with his great discipline in bowling line and length, has had the most success against him. But even he has taken some punishment because there is less margin for error against Lara when he is on song. His timing is incredible and I would say that particular contest is just about even.
Tendulkar and Lara have become good friends of mine. They are different characters, idolised in their own countries. A billion people know Sachin in India. He cannot go to the movies without putting on a false beard and a hat. Brian is the king of Trinidad, but he does get a bit more space.
Lara once said that cricket ruined his life. I’m sure he was exaggerating to make a point, but I think I know what he meant. Brian enjoys going to restaurants and bars and having a dance in a nightclub, but he also likes the quieter life. Because of who he is and what he has achieved, there is sometimes a conflict. As with all of us, I am sure that Lara, with hindsight, would have handled a few things differently.
He has taken more than his fair share of criticism down the years, but he is a loyal friend who will go out of his way to help people who need help. He does that away from the media, so he never gets the credit he deserves.
When an unfavourable, one-sided story appears in a newspaper, you become angry and naturally want to fight against it. The more you do that, the more upsetting it can become. It is unfortunate and probably unfair, but the quicker you accept it and move on, the better. Maybe Brian has struggled at times to handle publicity.
All he really wants is to be a successful cricketer in a successful team. Along with Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, I think his fantastic performances helped to camouflage the decline of the West Indies team in the mid-1990s. Lara cares deeply for West Indies cricket and desperately wants to lead them back towards the top of the tree now, but sometimes people see ulterior motives that just aren’t there.
It would be a significant triumph for him if West Indies could beat England, and there is a lot of personal responsibility on him to try to make that happen. England are a well-drilled side who beat them convincingly only a few months ago and they will be familiar with Lara’s strengths and weaknesses. They know he will be the key wicket. Stephen Harmison did pretty well against him over the winter, but Lara will have thought about that and come up with a plan of his own. And nobody should forget the way that he ended that series — by scoring 400 not out.
In English conditions, I think that Andrew Flintoff could be the one to cause him the most problems. Flintoff is a little bit different and will be able to shape it away from the left-hander rather than swing it in.
I generally think that the best batsman in a side should bat at No 3, but this one is a difficult call. Given Lara’s importance to the West Indies side, he may drop down a place or two so that batting is a bit easier when he comes to the crease. That will give him the best chance of scoring big runs. We all know he is more than capable of putting up a big score.
Head to head
Lara has faced Warne in 16 Test matches — 28 innings — and been dismissed by the Australian four times
1994-95 Jamaica c I A Healy b Warne 65
1996-97 Adelaide c G S Blewett b Warne 9
1996-97 Adelaide c I A Healy b Warne 78
1996-97 Perth c I A Healy b Warne 132
Lara has faced Warne in 21 one-day internationals — 20 innings — and been dismissed by the Australian three times
1996-97 Perth c S G Law b Warne 90
1998-99 Trinidad b Warne 6
2000-01 Melbourne c D R Martyn b Warne 0
PHIL MYERS
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Confident Flintoff is 'the man' but sterner challenges loom
By Shane Warne
COMING to the end of the season there seems to be one name on people’s lips: Andrew Flintoff. He has had an amazing summer and I don’t think anybody was surprised when he was named one-day player of the year at the ICC awards on Tuesday. Ricky Ponting had a good year as well, but you won’t hear any players complaining about the choice.
Flintoff has the personality to be “the man” and I think he gets off on that. He isn’t pretending to be a character. And he gets the odd break because of his confidence and self-belief. It is no coincidence. Players who change games are the ones who back themselves and have an aura that sends signals to the opposition.
So far, so good. But there are some tougher tests of his ability in the 12 months to come. The fact is that he has played Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, West Indies home and away, and a New Zealand side without their best bowlers, over the past year.
If you bowl badly to him, he destroys you. That is what we have discovered. It will be interesting to see how he copes when the pressure builds up against sustained bowling, when he does not get a half-volley or a short, wide ball too often. South Africa will be a tougher challenge because Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis are a good pair, supported by Makhaya Ntini. Pollock in particular can keep it tight. I think Flintoff and most batsmen are fortunate to be playing in an era that is dominated by batsmen because of the lack of consistent quality bowling in international cricket.
You can go through attacks. Most countries have one or two good bowlers. A few years ago they had two or three, in some cases four, and runs were harder to come by. I am not in this to talk up Australia, but I think we are still the best overall in this area.
There are a couple of small questions. Flintoff has suffered runs of poor form in the past, but the next one will be different because the expectations on him are now much greater. It is a fact of cricketing life that you suffer the odd blip now and again. We do not yet know how he will respond.
Flintoff is exactly the type of player I like to watch and play against — he’s a genuine match-winner. And he would walk into the Australia team. That is generally a guide people use to assess the strength of any player because we are the benchmark.
Being a young all-rounder in England cannot be easy. The rubbish about “the next Ian Botham” has been around for so long it is not funny.
Given all that, Flintoff has handled the press pretty well and everything he has achieved over the past year has been on his terms and executed his way. It is refreshing to see that.
Whether he is a better all-rounder than Kallis is a difficult question. I would rank Kallis a little higher as a batsman but put Flintoff slightly ahead with the ball. Kallis has played at a very high standard for longer. It is academic, really. You have two world-class players with their own, different styles.
England have to make sure now that they don’t destroy Flintoff. Because he is hard to score off with his height and angle there might be a temptation to use him as a stock bowler. That would be wrong and could have terrible consequences. Like Steve Harmison, he should be employed to make a short, sharp impact.
I know from experience how easy it can be for a captain to give a bowler that one more over when he is going well and causing problems. Then it becomes another, then another. Flintoff should be aiming at three five-over spells in a day — perhaps one of six, maximum, with the new ball.
There is an important piece of psychology here. A batsman will know that Flintoff is joining the attack to be aggressive, not to give the previous bowler a rest. It is a statement of intent that the next 45 minutes or so are going to be very awkward and unpleasant. Batsmen don’t feel like that against a stock bowler.
I am looking at him as an outsider. I’ve bowled to him a couple of times that I can remember, in a one-day international at Melbourne when I came back after dislocating my shoulder, and a county championship game at Liverpool in 2000. So I don’t have much first-hand experience.
All being well, we will both be around for the Ashes series next summer. He will want to get after me and I will certainly want to test myself against him. And I dare say we’ll have a beer and a smile about it afterwards. He seems that type.
PK still building on favourable initial impression
By Shane Warne
KEVIN PIETERSEN may have been left out of the England squad yesterday, but I’ve been really impressed with him so far at Hampshire. Until last Friday he hadn’t scored the runs he would have liked, and probably everybody expected, but his sheer talent was there for all to see against Kent and I would have him in the England team to face Australia.
It’s a harsh call on Graham Thorpe. He has done pretty well since he came back into the side and will do a decent job. The difference is that PK (we’ve given him that nickname by reversing his initials) hasn’t played against Australia before. He will come in fresh and unscarred. With Pietersen and Ian Bell, it means that five out of the top seven would be facing us for the first time.
The problem PK faces now is that Bangladesh are quite weak, so all of the England batsmen will finish the series with runs to their name and will then be difficult to drop. Cricket, though, is hard to predict. PK’s chance is sure to come because he’s such a good player and it will probably come when he doesn’t expect it.
I just think the cricket gods have been testing him this season. Don’t ask me to explain that. I just think that things happen for a reason. He had a great time over the winter and this is a mini-challenge to him to make sure he doesn’t lose his self-belief. Technically, there’s nothing wrong with his batting. All batsmen get out early from time to time and he’s had bad luck with things like inside edges.
This has been my first chance to look at him properly. I’d say he is the most dangerous batsman in the country, Freddie Flintoff included. But what has really struck me is his attitude. When he comes back into the dressing-room you wouldn’t know whether he has scored nought or a hundred. He doesn’t get fazed, just goes off to do his fitness training or joins the rest of us on the balcony and gets stuck in with the banter.
He reminds me of Michael Clarke in the way he goes about his game. They’re roughly the same age, similar bouncy personalities and very confident in their own ability. And they’ll both be around for a long time. They want everything now and are both hungry. It’s no secret that I’ve taken Clarke under my wing a bit and I’ve quickly struck up a good friendship with PK as well.
The first month has been very enjoyable from a Hampshire point of view.
We’ve played some excellent four-day cricket and poorly in a couple of one-day matches. I’m thoroughly enjoying the way we’re playing, continuing on from last year. The first division is a bit harder because teams seem to battle for longer — as Kent showed on Saturday.
Of the players I’ve come across this season, I’d say that Ed Joyce, of Middlesex, has most impressed me so far. He looked very calm at the crease and seemed to be in control of his game. Our own Chris Tremlett deserves his place in the England development squad. He is improving all the time and when he gets a little bit of what I think of as “Australian” in him, he’ll be even better. I hope I can help him there. His bowling against Kent was international class.
There have been a few issues in county cricket. It was disappointing that Chris Adams decided to make sledging an issue after we beat Sussex, but that matter is closed. He has had time to reflect and no doubt I’ll be giving him a ring in due course.
I couldn’t believe that Surrey were penalised five runs for tampering with the ball. If that’s all that happens I think I should start carrying sandpaper in my back pocket to give the ball a good scrape and get it hooping around. I don’t mind giving up five runs if we can get a couple of wickets.
Seriously, you won’t see any of that from Hampshire. I want us to play hard and tough and be in the faces of the opposition. But that will not stop us playing fairly and in the spirit of the game. Whenever a guy gets a fifty or a hundred against us, we give him a clap. He’ll have deserved it. And talking of hundreds . . .
At last, after 15 years in the game, I finally know how if feels to raise your bat on three figures. Since the innings last Wednesday I’ve had lots of messages from my buddies in Australia. Ricky Ponting suggested I’d want to bat higher than No 8 in the Ashes series. As the guy at No 7 is Adam Gilchrist, I reckon he was probably joking.
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It's over and out: this may be my last Ashes tour
By Shane Warne
IF ANYBODY tells you that India or Sri Lanka are the best tours in cricket, they’re telling fibs. I love both of those places and the memories they hold. But any true Aussie will say that England in England is a special experience and for the 16 of us named in the squad last week, the Ashes trip cannot begin too soon.
The history and tradition of England tours help to bond a squad together. You get to see the place because you travel by bus — far more relaxing than having to go everywhere by plane. You can sit back and really get to know each other. Of course, it goes without saying that I love England. That’s why I’m coming to live here.
I guess the squad was pretty straightforward. There is usually one “bolter” who gets a place unexpectedly, but not this time. Anybody who puts Shaun Tait in that category on the basis of two games for Durham last year is seriously out. Durham treated him disgracefully and if we play them up there I’ve no doubt he will want the new ball.
There was a whisper that a young off spinner called Dan Cullen might have made the cut. He is definitely one for the future and to be around the Australia squad in England would have been great experience. But Stuart MacGill deserves his chance. Every time he has come in as a second spinner he has done well.
People will know Brad Hodge from Leicestershire. He has scored hundred after hundred on both sides of the world for the best part of five years and would have walked into any other batting line-up in the world by now.
The interesting one could be Brad Haddin, because he has probably not received a lot of attention in England. Although he is the reserve wicketkeeper he is also a fine batsman in his own right. Nobody can replace Adam Gilchrist, but when I say that Brad is almost as dangerous as Gilly in the way he bats, I’m not exaggerating. He has the potential to be near that level and his wicketkeeping has improved out of sight over the past two years.
I’ve concentrated on these guys because the core of the squad is so familiar. By definition, that means a few of us have a bit of experience. But I think people might overplay the fact that the majority of us will finish the tour aged 30 or over. I think it could work to our advantage.
Never say never, but for the likes of McGrath, Hayden, Gilchrist and myself this will probably be our last Ashes tour. In fact, I’d take a punt that less than half the side to finish the 2005 series will be back in 2009. Well, a last Ashes tour is going to be a great motivation and the fifth Test at the Oval could be quite emotional.
Fitness levels are so high these days that a 30-year-old cricketer has the body of a younger guy. Graham Gooch showed that with hard work you can enjoy great success well beyond that age. In fact, Glenn McGrath told me the other day that he thinks he’s bowling better now than ever, and I am not going to disagree.
My immediate priority, of course, is with Hampshire. The way the Test matches have been scheduled means that I think I will miss only five championship games. It seems weird that in an Ashes summer I will play almost as much as I did in 2004. All being well I can go into the Tests with a good rhythm and with Hampshire well clear in the table.
Meeting Kevin Pietersen again will be fun. I’ve decided that I’m going to bowl nothing but very obvious wrong ’uns in our nets at the Rose Bowl so he thinks he will be able to read me when he plays for England. I’m going to call him “No 600” — my 600th wicket in Test cricket. Then again, I probably don’t want to rattle him too soon.
I WAS at Singapore airport when I heard that I’d been named as the Leading Cricketer in the World by Wisden. It is a huge honour and took me completely by surprise. Everybody in cricket back home knows about Wisden in England and it was big news when Ricky Ponting won it last year.
Without turning this into an Oscar speech, I have to say thanks to all of my team-mates for making everything possible when I rejoined the side. Individual awards are always nice to receive but cricket is a team game and I could not have done anything without guys bowling at the other end and holding great catches.
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The Ashes? Don't get your hopes up too high
By Shane Warne
BRING on the Ashes — I could hear the cries even before they began. The reaction was inevitable once England beat South Africa on Tuesday and it seems as though we’re in for a really long build-up towards next summer. I just hope people aren’t raising their hopes too high. There are going to be some seriously disappointed folk if England don’t perform.
Yes, they are going well at the moment. World cricket needs a decent England team and their improvement is good for the game. But before everyone gets carried away I ought to point out — because I don’t know whether it is attracting much publicity in England — that Australia are also doing pretty well. This week in Perth we beat Pakistan by almost 500 runs in three days and a session.
Glenn McGrath took eight wickets in the second innings and is bowling as well as ever. After a couple of serious ankle operations it was always going to take time to find his old strength and rhythm. But the thing about champions is that they always come back. McGrath is one of the all-time great champions. He has that extra something you can’t quite finger.
Over the past few months we have won a series in India for the first time since I was out of nappies and bowled out New Zealand for 76 and Pakistan for 72. I am not a great one for facts and figures so, off the top of my head, I don’t know how England have gone on against those three recently. I do know that, with such high expectations, there will be a lot of pressure on them to deliver when we come over.
I have absolute respect for a team that can win eight successive Test matches. We could not receive the game from Port Elizabeth on television in the hotel while we were in Perth, so I only watched the final day, when Andrew Strauss and Graham Thorpe knocked off the runs. It has to be an excellent result. South Africa are very difficult to beat at home, even though their bowling is not what it was.
We have not been talking about the Ashes in our dressing-room. Our job at the moment is to beat Pakistan. We then have a one-day series against them, followed by Test and one-day matches versus New Zealand. There is a lot of cricket to be played before we go to England, but thoughts are bound to drift in that direction before long. We all know the Ashes are special.
So much can happen before the first Test at Lord’s in July in the way of injuries or loss of form. England must do everything in their power to make sure that Andrew Flintoff and Stephen Harmison are fit for the series. They have some other decent players — Strauss looks quite impressive — but those two are the A-graders, the trump cards. If they are not right, I think Australia will win as convincingly as in previous series.
Flintoff can be destructive with the bat and Harmison can knock over a side with the ball. With Matthew Hoggard to do some of the donkey-work and Ashley Giles to keep things tight, there is the basis of a pretty good attack. I reckon that Chris Tremlett, who is even taller than Harmison and gets that awkward bounce at 80-odd miles an hour, ought to come into contention for the final place.
Before anybody thinks I’m just pushing one of my own mates from Hampshire, I should add that it doesn’t do much for my reputation to say that somebody is good enough to play for England when that isn’t the case. I am trying to be objective. There is no doubt in my mind that Tremlett will play Test cricket, just as Dimitri Mascarenhas should be in the one-day side.
I just wonder what sort of pitches England intend to prepare. People may not have thought of this yet, but it is absolutely crucial. If they go for green seamers to help their bowlers, they could be in for big trouble. Those pitches might help Harmison and Flintoff, but we have a potent and disciplined attack ourselves as well as experience and depth to our batting order.
There will be a lot of pressure on the England batsmen to match us in those conditions. I think we would end up winning a series of short matches. To my mind their best chance is on flat surfaces. It would be a statement of intent, that they believe they can beat us fair and square. Harmison is good enough to cause problems whatever the conditions and they would just have to back themselves against our spinner.
I am not saying that England would win — far from it. But the games might be closer and would certainly provide a more even contest between bat and ball. Above all else, that is what people want to see — a contest.
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Best of friends: Lara and Warne, two of the greatest cricketers in the game's history, have a mutual respect that shows whenever they are together
Photo: Graham Morris
Brilliant Lara leaves little margin for error
By Shane Warne
YOU NEED THREE THINGS to be able to bowl to Brian Lara: plan A, plan B, and a lot of character. Don’t underestimate that last one. I’m a pretty positive guy, but there was one occasion when he was smashing the Australia bowling to all parts and I thought that the only way to get rid of him would be to run him out. And that’s what happened — Damien Martyn ran him out.
The game was in Sydney in 1992 and Lara had made 277. I can’t imagine anybody batting better. But for that bit of magic from Marto, he’d probably still be there now. If you look at Lara’s record, he has the gift of moving from 100 to 200 and beyond. He can do that because he scores at such a pace once he’s set and he never tires of dominating the bowlers.
During my 14 years of playing international cricket, the two batsmen reckoned to be the best in the world have been Sachin Tendulkar and Lara. A few others have had a good season now and again, or hit a hot streak, but those two have done it year after year, hitting runs in style under tremendous pressure of expectation.
Perhaps Lara has not quite had the same consistency as Tendulkar, but when he gets on a roll he can be unstoppable. For the punters, I imagine he must be the most exciting batsman to watch because he has so many strokes and that extra gear. You do not know what is coming next, but you don’t want to miss it.
From my own perspective, West Indies batsmen are reckoned to be relatively vulnerable against leg spin. They tend to hit or block. Lara, though, deals amazingly well when the ball is turning. Like all the great players, he picks the length early and moves decisively either forward or back. In a weird way, it is a pleasure to bowl to him.
The key is to try not to worry about what he is doing. Work out a method and concentrate on sticking to it — but have an alternative up your sleeve just in case he gets on top. Batsmen as good as that sometimes get bored if you can cramp their scoring. In that situation, there is a chance that they could whack it to a fielder out of frustration.
Of the Aussies, I’d guess that Glenn McGrath, with his great discipline in bowling line and length, has had the most success against him. But even he has taken some punishment because there is less margin for error against Lara when he is on song. His timing is incredible and I would say that particular contest is just about even.
Tendulkar and Lara have become good friends of mine. They are different characters, idolised in their own countries. A billion people know Sachin in India. He cannot go to the movies without putting on a false beard and a hat. Brian is the king of Trinidad, but he does get a bit more space.
Lara once said that cricket ruined his life. I’m sure he was exaggerating to make a point, but I think I know what he meant. Brian enjoys going to restaurants and bars and having a dance in a nightclub, but he also likes the quieter life. Because of who he is and what he has achieved, there is sometimes a conflict. As with all of us, I am sure that Lara, with hindsight, would have handled a few things differently.
He has taken more than his fair share of criticism down the years, but he is a loyal friend who will go out of his way to help people who need help. He does that away from the media, so he never gets the credit he deserves.
When an unfavourable, one-sided story appears in a newspaper, you become angry and naturally want to fight against it. The more you do that, the more upsetting it can become. It is unfortunate and probably unfair, but the quicker you accept it and move on, the better. Maybe Brian has struggled at times to handle publicity.
All he really wants is to be a successful cricketer in a successful team. Along with Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, I think his fantastic performances helped to camouflage the decline of the West Indies team in the mid-1990s. Lara cares deeply for West Indies cricket and desperately wants to lead them back towards the top of the tree now, but sometimes people see ulterior motives that just aren’t there.
It would be a significant triumph for him if West Indies could beat England, and there is a lot of personal responsibility on him to try to make that happen. England are a well-drilled side who beat them convincingly only a few months ago and they will be familiar with Lara’s strengths and weaknesses. They know he will be the key wicket. Stephen Harmison did pretty well against him over the winter, but Lara will have thought about that and come up with a plan of his own. And nobody should forget the way that he ended that series — by scoring 400 not out.
In English conditions, I think that Andrew Flintoff could be the one to cause him the most problems. Flintoff is a little bit different and will be able to shape it away from the left-hander rather than swing it in.
I generally think that the best batsman in a side should bat at No 3, but this one is a difficult call. Given Lara’s importance to the West Indies side, he may drop down a place or two so that batting is a bit easier when he comes to the crease. That will give him the best chance of scoring big runs. We all know he is more than capable of putting up a big score.
Head to head
Lara has faced Warne in 16 Test matches — 28 innings — and been dismissed by the Australian four times
1994-95 Jamaica c I A Healy b Warne 65
1996-97 Adelaide c G S Blewett b Warne 9
1996-97 Adelaide c I A Healy b Warne 78
1996-97 Perth c I A Healy b Warne 132
Lara has faced Warne in 21 one-day internationals — 20 innings — and been dismissed by the Australian three times
1996-97 Perth c S G Law b Warne 90
1998-99 Trinidad b Warne 6
2000-01 Melbourne c D R Martyn b Warne 0
PHIL MYERS
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Confident Flintoff is 'the man' but sterner challenges loom
By Shane Warne
COMING to the end of the season there seems to be one name on people’s lips: Andrew Flintoff. He has had an amazing summer and I don’t think anybody was surprised when he was named one-day player of the year at the ICC awards on Tuesday. Ricky Ponting had a good year as well, but you won’t hear any players complaining about the choice.
Flintoff has the personality to be “the man” and I think he gets off on that. He isn’t pretending to be a character. And he gets the odd break because of his confidence and self-belief. It is no coincidence. Players who change games are the ones who back themselves and have an aura that sends signals to the opposition.
So far, so good. But there are some tougher tests of his ability in the 12 months to come. The fact is that he has played Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, West Indies home and away, and a New Zealand side without their best bowlers, over the past year.
If you bowl badly to him, he destroys you. That is what we have discovered. It will be interesting to see how he copes when the pressure builds up against sustained bowling, when he does not get a half-volley or a short, wide ball too often. South Africa will be a tougher challenge because Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis are a good pair, supported by Makhaya Ntini. Pollock in particular can keep it tight. I think Flintoff and most batsmen are fortunate to be playing in an era that is dominated by batsmen because of the lack of consistent quality bowling in international cricket.
You can go through attacks. Most countries have one or two good bowlers. A few years ago they had two or three, in some cases four, and runs were harder to come by. I am not in this to talk up Australia, but I think we are still the best overall in this area.
There are a couple of small questions. Flintoff has suffered runs of poor form in the past, but the next one will be different because the expectations on him are now much greater. It is a fact of cricketing life that you suffer the odd blip now and again. We do not yet know how he will respond.
Flintoff is exactly the type of player I like to watch and play against — he’s a genuine match-winner. And he would walk into the Australia team. That is generally a guide people use to assess the strength of any player because we are the benchmark.
Being a young all-rounder in England cannot be easy. The rubbish about “the next Ian Botham” has been around for so long it is not funny.
Given all that, Flintoff has handled the press pretty well and everything he has achieved over the past year has been on his terms and executed his way. It is refreshing to see that.
Whether he is a better all-rounder than Kallis is a difficult question. I would rank Kallis a little higher as a batsman but put Flintoff slightly ahead with the ball. Kallis has played at a very high standard for longer. It is academic, really. You have two world-class players with their own, different styles.
England have to make sure now that they don’t destroy Flintoff. Because he is hard to score off with his height and angle there might be a temptation to use him as a stock bowler. That would be wrong and could have terrible consequences. Like Steve Harmison, he should be employed to make a short, sharp impact.
I know from experience how easy it can be for a captain to give a bowler that one more over when he is going well and causing problems. Then it becomes another, then another. Flintoff should be aiming at three five-over spells in a day — perhaps one of six, maximum, with the new ball.
There is an important piece of psychology here. A batsman will know that Flintoff is joining the attack to be aggressive, not to give the previous bowler a rest. It is a statement of intent that the next 45 minutes or so are going to be very awkward and unpleasant. Batsmen don’t feel like that against a stock bowler.
I am looking at him as an outsider. I’ve bowled to him a couple of times that I can remember, in a one-day international at Melbourne when I came back after dislocating my shoulder, and a county championship game at Liverpool in 2000. So I don’t have much first-hand experience.
All being well, we will both be around for the Ashes series next summer. He will want to get after me and I will certainly want to test myself against him. And I dare say we’ll have a beer and a smile about it afterwards. He seems that type.
posted by Sudhindra | Experience Elegance @ 4:33 AM
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