County Championship 2024

[Durhamfootman]

I mean I get where Key is coming from. He wants bowlers to work hard at their game to improve their skills in order to get the kind of results that county trundlers can get with a dukes ball and a green top..... except that county trundlers still have to bowl well to get their rewards. If they put the ball in crap areas, batsmen will flog them all over. I guess Chris Rushworth would fall into Key's definition of a 75mph trundler, but Chris Rushworth has been a remarkably consistent, skilful bowler for years, always putting the ball in good areas and asking questions of a batsman's technique. Getting 50, 60, 70 wickets a season for 10 years is not an indication of a systemic aberration in county cricket, it's an indication of a very, very good bowler. Could he ever have been a test bowler in overseas conditions? Probably not, but his consistency and control gives his captain the opportunity to play young gun fast bowlers who might not have that control or consistency yet, without unduly harming his team's chances in the match. As with everything in life, it's about getting the right balance, not imposing the latest hobby horse

It might help future test bowlers to play at times of the year when great overhead conditions for bowlers and lousy underfoot conditions for batters aren't the defining feature of half or two thirds of the championship season

I get what he wants to do and there were more overs of spin bowled, but a fair chunk of those overs were from occasional slow bowlers who, with the exception of Root, wouldn't get anywhere near a test tour of Australia or India. I said it a few days ago, but most of the bowlers who might benefit from this experiment either now or in the future weren't playing, partly because England restrict their appearances and so counties don't waste a precious resource like that on a dog ball and road, and partly because counties want to protect their rising bowlers from the huge volume of cricket scheduled by the ECB and the best time to do that is when they aren't playing with a dog ball in a batters paradise

It isn't necessarily a stupid idea, but they are doing it stupidly

[Durhamfootman]

the leading wicket taker in div 1 is an occasional leggie who can't believe his luck

he had 37 wickets in 56 FC matches before this season, he now has 14 wickets from his two matches this season

Opening bat Rob Yates bowled 76 overs in total last year picking up 2 wickets. In the match against Durham he bowled 74 overs picking up 7 wickets from assorted full tosses, long hops and pies with the occasional ragging spinner.

How does any of that help England in the future? Hartley didn't play, Leach didn't play, Rehan didn't play and Bashir didn't bowl in the second innings because Surrey were left having a punt at chasing 205 in 20 overs or something and Somerset didn't want to make it easy for them

[Durhamfootman]

Ando thinks the standard of county cricket is really high

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hpz19x

[Durhamfootman]

you'll notice that he wasn't playing with the kookaburra

[sussexpob]

I mean I get where Key is coming from. He wants bowlers to work hard at their game to improve their skills in order to get the kind of results that county trundlers can get with a dukes ball and a green top.....

To be frank, I have no idea wht he is banging on about. He is saying that in order to improve the skill of bowlers, he wants bowlers to stop being skillful and just bowl quickly. He then criticises bowlers who use craft instead of pace to take wickets, and equates skills to brute pace. In short, his point makes him sound like a moron.

There is pretty much zero proof that pace alone makes someone a better test cricketer. Where does this idea that bowlers of skill, craft and intelligence cannot play test cricket? Do we not rememeber when Anderson stopped trying to throw the ball as hard as possible, and instantly became world class just beating batsman with his wrist and accuracy? I guess not, because idiots like Key still have a hard on for it.

[sussexpob]

I mean, lets just compare Ollie Robinson with Mark Wood and how they are treated.

The press have attacked Ollie Robinson's attitude, fitness, lack of pace, blah blah...Robinson got a prove it deal for a year, and if you listen to the press, probably wont play for England again. I think he is the only player that McCullum has singled out for direct criticism in his tenure.

Mark Wood was offered the longest central contract a bowler has ever received from the ECB

Who has the better FC average.... Robinson. Not even close at 7.5 runs each wicket better.
Who has the better test average... Robinson. Again, its not close. Nearly 10 runs in it.
Who has the better test strke rate... Robinson.
Who has the better econ rate.... Robinson.
Who bowls better with the Kookaburra away from home..... Robinson.
Who has a better average in Australia where slower bowlers cant apparently take wickets....Robinson
Who has missed more games through injury... Mark Wood

Of all pace bowlers post WWI to play for England, only Fred Trueman and Frank Tyson have better averages than Robinson. Hes played over 3/4s of his games against the three teams in his career span that made the test championship final, so his stats arent padded vs crap teams.

So yeah, hes the best statistical bowler to play for England in 60 years, but because he bowls at 75-80 miles an hour, he is obviously crap and not worthy of his spot.

Meanwhile, they gave Carse a two year deal... the guy who averages 13 more in FC than Robbo.... great idea.

Yay for fast bowling!!

[sussexpob]

I never get the thinking behind it.

If a slow medium pacer takes wickets at cheaper averages than some lightspeed bowling quick, why exactly would we assume the latter will do better against better players? What is the reasoning behind it?

Carse averages 33 in an era of declining bowling averages, and has a lot of wickets in Division 2, so not even against the elite of English county batting. His bowling record is very average...so why, if he struggles against Division 2 bats with all that shiny, sexy pace behind the ball, is he going to suddenly tear Steve Smith apart at the SCG??

Not fit to lace Rushworth's boots.... the two play in the same team, on the same pitches, against the same opposition... one does brilliantly, the other does not.

[Durhamfootman]

most Durham fans I talk to think of Carse as a batting allrounder. I don't rate his bowling much at all, yet Harmy goes on as if he's the great new bowling hope for England

[sussexpob]

BBC Sussex commentary on the CC game is currently discussing the fact that the livestream is being watched in 9 countries, and expressing shock that one person was even watching in Belgium

"Who likes cricket in Belgium"

That would be me haha....

[Durhamfootman]

very good

[Durhamfootman]

I've heard nothing more on the Khushi bat

[sussexpob]

I've heard nothing more on the Khushi bat

Rob Key thought it was a great idea, and decided to award Essex 100 points

[captaincolly]

I've heard nothing more on the Khushi bat

Rob Key thought it was a great idea, and decided to award Essex 100 points

[Durhamfootman]

[alfie]

To be fair to Key , it is pretty obvious what he is after is development of bowlers capable of performing well in overseas conditions - notably Australia and India , both not just strong teams at present but also places in which England have hugely struggled in recent years.

I think it is reasonable to assert that high pace and serious spin are often important in those lands. Obviously the pace has to be allied to the skills to deploy it effectively - pace is of course not everything ; but if you don't have at least one or two bowlers capable of delivering at high speed (and/or bounce) you are at a considerable disadvantage in Australia. (The England side of 2010/11 was successful without an extreme speed option , yes : but Tremlett's height was a very significant factor - and that side had an unusually dominant batting lie-up) Look at previous wins in Australia and you think Willis Snow Tyson... I think looking for effective high speed options is a worthy cause with an eye to Ashes tours so will not mark Key down for that intent.

Whether using a Kookaburra ball (designed for hard Australian surfaces) for selected parts of the English county season is the best way to achieve this is another matter I think will withhold judgement for now.

As for spin I think the more important factor will be playing CC games in the appropriate parts of the summer. Not holding my breath for the fixture juggling to accommodate The Hundred allowing that to happen !