Coaching is a Tough Gig

Today is a bad day in the history of cricket coaches, with Bob Woolmer passing away, but it is an appropriate day to highlight the plight of the modern day coach.

The modern cricket coach is possibly the most under-appreciated and over-criticised position in world cricket, particularly the head coach of an international side. Bob Woolmer was a great example. Rarely was there praise for his coaching methods or his input to the team, but he was one of the first men to be lampooned after Pakistan's shock loss to Ireland.

There is talk of Greg Chappell getting the sack if India doesn't reach the Super 8s stage of the World Cup. Chappell seems to cops flack for everything, when really it is the players or selectors who are most at fault. Indian fans have been heard complaining that their squad has many of the same players as 2003, implying that they are over the hill. But they forget that Greg Chappell is not a selector, he only coaches the players he has. Dilip Vengsarkar is in charge of selections. How often do selectors get sacked? Way less than coaches, I'll bet.

When a team goes on a hot streak, how often does a coach get the credit? Hardly ever, it is the players in form who get the kudos. Don't get me wrong, players deserve 95% of the praise, but how hard would it be to give the coaching staff a bit of credit for some well thought out plans every now and then?

Getting back to Pakistan's performance the other day. Is it really Bob Woolmer's fault that the batting was absolutely shocking? I say no.

It is my belief that a coach has more effect on the bowling and fielding units that on a batting unit. It is here that the knowledge of tactics, field placements and access to data on opposing players can make a real difference. Contrast this with coaching batsmen. A coach can spend all the time he has trying to improve a players technique with the bat, but it is hard to coach batsmen to eliminate rash strokes from their game, as often it is just a maturing process.

The post World Cup shakedown for teams that underperform will be interesting. Who will take the blame? Watch out for coaches to get the chop first.

World Cup Predictions

Yes, we are on the eve of the 2007 World Cup, one of my favourite events on the cricket calender - along with the Ashes. Every man and his dog seems to be making some predictions, trying to guess who might make it through to the Super 8s, the Semi finals and ultimately who will lift the ICC World Cup trophy. So I'm going to bow to peer pressure and make some fearless predictions:

The best minnow? I like the chances of Bangladesh, but it is arguable to call them a total minnow. Half a minnow...anyway. Shahriar Nafees is a classy left handed opener. But their bowling could surprise more than their batting. Fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza and left arm spinner Abdur Razzak are their top rated bowlers and both of them took 4 wickets against NZ in the warm up game last week. Razzak took 3 more against Scotland. They also have Mohammad Rafique, who is another wily left arm spinner. The Rafique/Razzak combo could be suffocating during the middle overs.

They are in Group B with India, Sri Lanka and Bermuda. Forget Bermuda straight off, but the games between the 3 Asian nations will be fascinating. If Bangladesh upsets either of the big 2, the game on March 23 between India and Sri Lanka would be crucial and could be a virtual knockout game. If Bangladesh can't manage a win by then, the game won't matter two hoots.

The most surprising real minnow? Might just be the Irish. They are in probably the weakest group - with Pakistan and West Indies. Both of these teams have suffered humiliating World Cup defeats to bad teams in the past and given that neither are playing brilliantly at present, perhaps the Irish might be able to sneak a win and shock the world.

The leading run scorer in the group stages? I'd say a guy like Mohammad Yousuf looks like a good pick. None of the teams in group D have a good attack, so run scoring should be pretty easy. Yousuf has been in great form in the last couple of years and he should enjoy the conditions at Sabina Park.

The leading wicket taker in the group stages? Shane Bond, if he can stay fit should have a great time against Canada and Kenya. He bowled pretty well at England too during the summer, taking 7 wickets in 4 games.

Semi Finalists? Australia and South Africa would seem like locks to make it this far. It would need a major upset (or maybe just some poor reading of the Duckworth/Lewis sheet) to deny either of these 2 a spot. My other 2? India have too many good players not to make it this far and Pakistan will play some exciting cricket to fend off challenges from New Zealand and Sri Lanka for the other spot.

Finalists? India could surprise and make it here, but their recent form has been poor. South Africa wiped them down in SA recently and if they meet again, you'd have to favour the South Africans again. Australia have never lost a semi final (although they tied one in 1999...ahhh seems like just yesterday) , so if they make the semis - you can pencil them into the finals straight off. So I can see Australia v South Africa playing in the final (yeah a little boring I know, but they are the 2 best teams).

And...Winner? Australia of course...it would be un-Australian of me to pretend that South Africa might not choke and have a real chance of taking the cup. Seriously though, Australia has more top quality stars than South Africa and it is often those stars that will be relied upon in a Final.

Ponting and I think alike - great minds...

Ricky Ponting hit back at Sunil Gavaskar yesterday, implying he was a hypocrite. And he bought up an incident which I'd forgotten about, but which illustrates the point I tried to make the other day perfectly.

That was when Sunny tried to drag his opening partner, Chetan Chauhan, off the ground with him in protest after he had received a bad umpiring decision at the MCG in 1981. People in glasshouses don't throw stones.

Sunny is a sour has-been loser

Yesterday I read a story about Sunil Gavaskar giving the Aussie team a bit of verbal in an Indian magazine. He said that "Australia's comeuppance at the hands of England and New Zealand has gladdened the hearts of not just the other aspirants for the World Cup but also the followers of the game".

He also said the Australian team, while being a champion side, "have also been awful in the way they have sometimes behaved on the field much to the chagrin of the traditional fans of the game".

Speaking about annoying the fans, lets flash back to 1975 World Cup when the great Sunny really pissed off the Indian fans. England had made 334 from their 60 overs, but Sunny 'played for the draw' and made 36 from 174 balls as India replied with 3/132. It was terribly ugly batting and totally selfish. In fact a few times during his innings, Indian fans broke onto the pitch and pleaded with him to put some effort in and try to chase the runs. But Sunny batted out the innings in one of the World Cup's darkest moments. So lets not hear any crap from Sunny about keeping the fans satisfied.

Australia on the other hand has promoted positive cricket, with way fewer draws and faster scoring rates than when Sunny and Indians were playing out 0-0 Test series' with Pakistan in the 70s and 80s.

While he was a great batsmen in his day, I'm afraid that Mr Gavaskar coming out and saying that he enjoyed Australia's last few losses just makes him seem like a sour has-been loser, just like Bob Simpson whenever he gets an interview.

Gilly should give up Test cricket

Adam Gilchrist is talking tough, saying that he still loves cricket and that this World Cup won't be his retirement event. I still think he has a lot to offer the one-day game and while Brad Haddin has shown that he is a quality batsmen as well as a solid 'keeper, Gilly is still my first choice in ODIs.

But, I can't say the same in Test cricket. His record over the last 2 seasons is pretty poor - not as bad as say, Geraint Jones, but still bad. Let's look at his figures starting at the 2005 Ashes series. Since then Gilly has played 22 Tests, 32 innings, 2 not outs, 901 runs, highest score of 144 v Bangladesh, 2 100s and 4 50s, at an average of 30.03. If you take out the 144 v Bangladesh (and let's face it, Jason Gillespie made 201* against them), his average comes down to 26.10. Quite frankly, this is NOT GOOD ENOUGH- maybe for England, but not for us. I'll admit Gilchrist has spoiled us with his production between 1999/00 and 2004/05, but i think we still need a guy who averages at least 30 batting at #7.

Contrast Gilly's recent record, with the first class record of his main competitor Mr Brad Haddin. In 2004/05, Haddin scored 916 runs at an average of 57.25, in 2005/06 Haddin scored 675 runs at an average of 45, and this season he has scored 669 runs at 55.75. Yes, it might be a bit easier to score runs in the Pura Cup than against England, but it still shows that Haddin is a player hitting his peak and Gilchrist is declining. Haddin should be the man for the 2009 Ashes tour, so why not start playing him now?

So while I love watching rapidfire 100s as much as anyone, they are pretty rare these days from the bat of Gilly - so do the wise thing Adam, and retire from Test cricket, or get ready to face the axe.

Leverock shows a lot of guts

The world cricket media has fallen in love with the tubby Bermudan spinner Dwayne Leverock and I've got to say that I have too. According to big Dwayne, he's currently 270lb (123kgs) and is proving that fats guys are needed to add some weight to the World Cup spectacle. The interesting thing is that he's actually slimmed down for the tournament. Love ya work Dwayne.

And Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood - shame on you - a fat guy from Bermuda knocked you over.

NZ - Shocking effort that

With all the concern about the form of the Australian team leading up to the World Cup, someone better keep an eye on the Kiwis too. Despite the match being 'only' a warm-up, they went down the the lowly ranked Bangladesh with a shabby batting display by the top order and not enough fire power with the ball to knock over the 'Deshi's .

Another problem for the Kiwis is with their fiery fast bowler Mark Gillespie. Apparently he has some nerve problems in his shoulder after his arm 'went to sleep' on the flight over. They could have used him yesterday as the tame James Franklin got tonked by #9 - Mashrafe Mortaza for a couple of big sixes.

Look out NZ, as Kenya or even Canada could spring a similar surprise when the real games start.

Welcome to my cricket rants

G'day there fellow cricket lovers,

This blog is devoted to the great game of cricket (as you may have cunningly guessed). Basically, I'll be coming here quite often and having a good old fashioned rant about something that has caught my attention in the world of cricket.

Feel free to leave some comments and generally stink up the page as you see fit, after all I'm not right ALL the time, just close to it...