Michael Jeh
Why are only spinning wickets classified as poor?
Several seam-led collapses in the last few years have seemingly escaped censure
Michael Jeh
05-Mar-2017
So what are the criteria for a Test pitch to be reported to the ICC as "poor"? Is it a game finishing inside three days? Is it a pitch where one type of bowling dominates? Is it a pitch that produces low scores in the second innings (as the surface deteriorates), or sub-100 scores in the first innings (when it is fresh)?
According to the ICC's pitch and outfield monitoring process, a pitch is said to be poor if any of the following apply:
- The pitch offers excessive seam movement at any stage of the match.
- The pitch displays excessive unevenness of bounce for any bowler at any stage of the match.
- The pitch offers excessive assistance to spin bowlers, especially early in the match.
- The pitch displays little or no seam movement or turn at any stage in the match together with no significant bounce or carry, thereby depriving the bowlers of a fair contest between bat and ball.
Wrong place, wrong time
All too many cricketers do not make it to the big leagues for reasons that are not to do with their performance on the field
Michael Jeh
12-Feb-2017
At a time when the youth selection policy of Australian cricket was being dissected following the Cameron White / Trevor Hohns / Dan Christian / ACA comments, quiet achiever Chris Hartley, the evergreen Queensland wicketkeeper, true to the traditions of his craft, where the best keepers are barely noticed, made his 547th first-class dismissal, and in doing so, probably scaled a peak that may never be surpassed.
Given the focus on selecting young players ahead of proven, battle-hardened veterans, coupled with the inevitable diminution of first-class cricket, I can't see another wicketkeeper being allowed to enjoy a career that, like Hartley's now, approaches 15 years. And yet, despite being widely acknowledged as the best keeper in Shield cricket in the last decade, Hartley will probably end his career without a baggy green on the mantelpiece.
In 2004, on a cricket tour of India, I recall sitting next to him on a flight from Chennai to Bangalore and compiling a list of all the cricketers we could remember who might otherwise have enjoyed long international careers - or longer than they did, at any rate - if they hadn't been the wrong place at the wrong time. The catalyst for the conversation was my observation that Hartley was lucky his Queensland career blossomed towards the end of Wade Seccombe's tenure, and how Seccombe himself was desperately unlucky that his career overlapped those of Ian Healy and Adam Gilchrist. Seccombe was arguably the best wicketkeeper in the world who didn't ever playing on the international stage.
Full postMight cricket ban close-in fielders some day?
The question won't sound so absurd if you think back to the history of helmet use in the game
Michael Jeh
21-Jan-2017
Following Matt Renshaw's concussion injury, a respected cricket writer posed the question: will we ever get to the point where short leg, bat pad and silly mid-off are banned in international cricket?
In junior cricket in Australia that is already the case. I'm not sure if it is the same in places like India, where the art of spin bowling (and batting against it) will be poorer for such rules. More realistically, given the litigious climate we inhabit, can a fielder refuse the captain's instructions to field in a position that compromises his or her safety? Especially in professional cricket, where livelihoods are at stake, what are the health and safety implications of deliberately putting an employee in a dangerous position, knowing full well that serious injury is a possible outcome?
Barely 40 years on from when Tony Greig wore a motorcycle helmet while batting, it is almost as rare to now see a first-class cricketer batting in a hat or cap.
Full postHow about penalising umpires if they get two decisions wrong every 80 overs?
Players are only allowed to make two unsuccessful referrals for nearly an entire Test match day. How about subjecting the officials to a similar rule?
Michael Jeh
20-Dec-2016
Charles Davis' excellent statistical analysis of appeals prompted me to look back on recent internationals and contemplate some hypothetical rule changes that cricket might wish to embrace.
I have watched almost every ball of the recent series in India, Australia and New Zealand involving the home teams versus England, South Africa and Pakistan respectively. It is apparent now that the referral process has moved light years away from its original mandate of being a safeguard against the howler. It is now a very valuable strategic tool that can change the momentum of a match if used judiciously (or vice versa - used poorly, it can significantly negatively impact a team). To see Joe Root backing up at the non-striker's end, almost directly in line with the umpire, so he can get a better angle on lbw decisions, presumably to advise his partner on whether to review or not, just shows how the thinking around the DRS has developed an acute strategic focus.
The strategic element has come about because of the limited number of unsuccessful referrals available to each team. It is now common to see captains doing the arithmetic to calculate how many overs they have left before they get their full quota of referrals back and then deciding on whether to challenge an umpire's decision or not. That pragmatic decision-making process is so far away from the original raison d'etre of the DRS as to make everything else that sits around it redundant too.
Full postWhich was a better Test: Hobart or Rajkot?
The first produced a series win, the second a draw. Only one kept both seamers and spinners in play
Michael Jeh
22-Nov-2016
For a disciple of Test cricket, the last few days have been heaven on the big screen. Vernon Philander and Kyle Abbott nipping the ball about in Hobart, the New Zealand and Pakistani fast bowlers doing likewise in Christchurch,while over in India, Haseeb Hameed's and Alastair Cook's brilliant defensive techniques provided a magnificent contrast to their dazzling, wristy strokeplay.
It would be true to say that the last fortnight has provided as much breadth and variety as a Test purist could hope for in terms of pitches, techniques and skills.
The unique beauty of Test cricket is that a tense draw can be as riveting as an outright result. So long as at least one team is trying to win the match, a pitch that produces a draw is not necessarily a poor one. And a pitch that produces a fourth- or fifth-day result is arguably better than one on which a game finishes on the third day.
Full postSelection at the lower levels: it's complicated
When you're trying to make it up the ranks to first-class cricket, it's not as straightforward as the numbers you put on the board
Michael Jeh
06-Nov-2016
In a recent piece in the Australian, the peerless Gideon Haigh described the life of a fringe first-class cricketer, Steve Cazzulino. The beauty of the story is that the most powerful words come from Cazzulino himself and not the wordsmith.
It is that time of year in Australian cricket when representative careers are made or broken, sometimes forever. For Cazzulino, a damn fine cricketer who played 13 first-class games, it sounds like he harbours lingering regrets that his career did not kick on. In some senses, when you get close enough to being selected for Australia, the equation becomes simple. If you're in the frame, it mostly boils down to runs and wickets, allowing for incumbency rights. Shaun Marsh v Joe Burns v Usman Khawaja v Cameron Bancroft. Jackson Bird v Peter Siddle v Joe Mennie.
Auditioning for the first-class stage, though, is not quite as straightforward as comparing apples with apples. For many talented youngsters, like Cazzulino when he was an elite junior, making it into the representative ranks and being selected in Under-17, U-19 and development squads can be make or break. If your card is not marked, if you're not identified in the talent ID pathway, if you're not looked at by the selectors, it is not as simple as just scoring big runs or taking wickets.
Full postHow can Australia promote inclusivity at the grass roots?
Though progress has been made in getting more migrants to play cricket, certain barriers - largely to do with cultural differences - persist
Michael Jeh
12-Oct-2016
On a cultural level, Australia has been forced to confront the harsh reality of a federal politician called Pauline Hanson, who has touched a raw nerve by questioning what it means for migrants to embrace "Australian values". No one is quite sure what these values are meant to be, who drew up the list of these values, and how far back in time you have to go to determine the source of these values, but Hanson has done what she set out to do - embroil the nation in a testy debate around notions of inclusivity and diversity as it applies to her monocultural frame of reference.
Much of the focus of her wrath is seemingly directed at ethnic and religious migrants from Asia and the Middle East. For many of those who may feel the sting of her words, cricket is their sport, their passion, their sense of cultural identity. Having had the privilege of being on both sides of the fence - first as a migrant in 1984 and now as a long-time resident, with children born in this land (weaned on cricket), and working as an educator in the field of diversity and inclusion, I believe firmly that cricket represents a bridge that can span the chasm between Hanson's rhetoric and the history of a nation built on migration.
That Cricket Australia promotes a culture that is wholly inclusive is not in doubt. I have personally witnessed their commitment to making the sport accessible to all. It is not lip service but a genuine recognition of cricket as a truly global sport that is richer for the broad church it draws from. It may yet be another generation before the proliferation of South Asian names seen in junior cricket scorecards is reflected in senior Australian teams but most of that is beyond CA's influence at this early point in time.
Full postWhat I learned watching the CPL
A few surprises from this year's tournament
Michael Jeh
08-Aug-2016
Having watched a bunch of older West Indian men win the World T20 title a few months ago, I was curious about the next generation of Caribbean superstars coming through. Test cricket may be dead but was the CPL the answer to keeping the game alive and healthy in the region? So I decided to watch every game of CPL 2016.
Initially I was surprised at the abundance of overseas players, many of them now too old for international cricket but still keen to top up their superannuation coffers. Here I was looking for young local talent, but instead we had a Dad's Army comprising Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy, Dwayne Smith, Kumar Sangakkara, Shoaib Malik, Sohail Tanvir, Brendon McCullum, Mike Hussey, Shane Watson and Brad Hodge. With exceptions like Rovman Powell (he is special) and Evin Lewis, I saw precious few youngsters coming through to suggest that the future of West Indies cricket is rosy. Having said that, the nature of T20 cricket is such that it is entirely possible to be world champions without "owning" depth.
The other surprising thing for a competition that did such a good job of showcasing the region was the seeming lack of pride in promoting local talent; or at least providing them with the opportunity to get international exposure. The selection of umpires and match referees, for example. Why bring in foreign match officials when your own people can gain invaluable experience? Neutrality is not an issue, so why not provide opportunities to Caribbean umpires to highlight that cricket offers more career opportunities than merely playing the game. The IPL apart, do other domestic leagues fill their ranks with foreign umpires? Is this something that can be rectified to ensure the development aspect of the game extends further than just finding new on-field talent?
Full postWhere does Amir's comeback rank?
From returning after jail terms to dodging bullets: there's no shortage of stories of redemption and players being granted second chances in cricket
Michael Jeh
17-Jul-2016
A poignant moment, a redemption like we've never seen before in Test cricket - Mohammad Amir bowling again at Lord's. After that fateful day in 2010 when he crossed a white line and endured the loneliness of isolation in gaol, he must surely have wondered if the game would ever afford him a second coming. But so it has come to pass.
Cricket has a history of redemption stories, not all of them as dramatic as Amir's, though. For Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, co-conspirators on that infamous day, one wonders whether there will ever be another postscript to their careers. Asif's sublime talents will be more of a loss to the game than Butt's, a decent enough batsman though he was without ever threatening to be one of the greats of Pakistan cricket. Perhaps advancing years will conspire against them making an international comeback.
Old age has done nothing to curb Brad Hogg's amazing return to a cricket career that was all but written off a few years ago. That Western Australia coach Justin Langer is sorry to lose a 45-year-old to another franchise speaks volumes for the success of Hogg's renaissance. To think that a cricketer of that vintage can still command bargaining power to negotiate bigger contracts.
Full postWhy I'd pay to watch neutral Tests
One way to deal with unequal contests is to make the conditions equally alien for both sides
Michael Jeh
12-Jun-2016
Perhaps there has never been a better time in Test cricket history to think outside the box about the format. A few months ago I floated the notion of Test cricket one day becoming a franchise model, drifting away from the pure country v country model. More recently, the future of Tests has been debated in relation to a two-tier championship, and there was protracted discussion about whether to play another day-night Test in Adelaide and whether Brisbane would also get the nod. While those two matches, against South Africa and Pakistan, are scheduled to go ahead, it appears that the Ashes is still immune to the need to deviate from tradition.
Watching England score 298 against Sri Lanka at Headingley and still win by an innings and 80 runs made me wonder what the headlines would have been if a team from the subcontinent playing at home won by a similar margin, also inside three days. Hopefully, like at Headingley, where it was widely acknowledged that England were superb, Jimmy Anderson sublime, and Sri Lanka completely at sea in alien conditions, cricket fans around the world would be equally forgiving of visiting teams and home conditions if, for example, Sri Lanka were to beat Australia in Colombo soon.
Ashes series and Border-Gavaskar Trophy notwithstanding, Test cricket is generally on the decline when it comes to crowd attendances, although TV viewer numbers may still be at acceptable levels. What ideas might we come up with to negate home team advantage, in terms of pitches, crowds, weather, curators and local knowledge? Is Test cricket ready for a concept where the skills of players from both teams are tested in alien conditions, adding to the intrigue but removing home-town bias?
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