Graves' comments justified as Yorkshire begin to lick wounds

Colin Graves, chairman of Yorkshire CCC, has launched a scathing attack on the county's players after their relegation to Division Two of the County Championship was sealed by Worcestershire claiming a bowling bonus point in their match against Durham.

Graves, who also founded the supermarket chain Costcutter, has labelled the players' performances as "a disgrace", whilst he signalled out players who have been in and around the international team as those who have underperformed.

Some fans of the White Rose county have leapt to the defence of the players, citing other reasons for the team's failure to remain in Division One.

The main argument stems from the club's failure to secure a replacement for Jacques Rudolph. The South African, who had been the side's talisman for the previous few seasons, left the team in the winter after he expressed his desire to try and regain his place in the Proteas squad. 

Yorkshire's economic troubles are no secret, and therefore trying to find a replacement wasn't a viable option. Instead, the onus to try and repeat the relatively successful season of 2010 was put on a talented group of younger players, many of whom have played for or have been linked with international set-up.

However, it is these players who have ultimately performed consistently poorly throughout the season:

Anthony McGrath (485 runs @ 21.08)- After years of being Yorkshire's Mr. Reliable, the middle-order batsman has, this season, been in horrendous form, and I for one cannot understand why he was continuously selected. His statistics are boosted by a century that he scored on a Rose Bowl wicket that yielded 1,171 for the loss of only 13 wickets over four days, whilst he has only one other score of over fifty from his 23 innings'. A truly abysmal season for the ex-England man.

Adam Lyth (553 runs @ 26.33)- In 2010, Lyth was the first man in the country to reach 1000 first-class runs. Less than a year later, he was struggling to regain his place in Yorkshire's first eleven. Lyth's constant failure to convert starts into big scores has meant that he has gone from being a man who was touted as a possible Ashes tourist to a batsman who has to start re-building his career in the second tier of Championship cricket.

Rashid has had arguably his worst
season for the Tykes in 2011.

Adil Rashid (556 runs @ 24.17, 39 wickets @ 43.38)- Rashid began the season with a bang as he took eleven wickets at Worcester in a convincing victory for the White Rose. However, a return of 28 wickets from his next 15 matches would be poor by anyone's standards, and Rashid's hopes of forging a career in the national side seem to be fading fast. He seems to have developed a fear of tossing the ball up, and is instead bowling much flatter, meaning his chances of claiming wickets have diminished considerably. A relatively poor season with the bat hasn't helped lift the spirits of the leg-spinning all-rounder.

Ajmal Shahzad (25 wickets @ 41.00)- After a promising World Cup in the sub-continent, many Headingley patrons would have been excused for hoping that Shahzad could take the wickets that would propel the team towards the Championship title. However, a mixture of injuries and poor form has meant that the seamer has fallen down the England pecking order and needs a big season in Division Two to prove he isn't just a one-day specialist.

Other players, including bowlers Steven Patterson and Oliver Hannon-Dalby, have failed to live up to expectations, whilst Joe Sayers and captain Andrew Gale have had ordinary seasons at best.

It's not all doom and gloom though, as some of the younger players have impressed.

Bairstow's performances have put a
rare smile on Yorkshire fans' faces

Wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow passed 1000 runs for the season and was rewarded for his form with a call-up to the England one-day squad for the trip to Ireland, whilst Joe Root recovered from a slow start to finish the season with an England Lions call-up and a large group of admirers.

Gary Ballance has also had a good maiden season as he passed fifty at least once in almost every match he featured in, and a century at Edgbaston in the penultimate match of the campaign was just reward for an encouraging season.

At the other end of the age spectrum, the returning Ryan Sidebottom picked up 62 wickets, and his experience could be key as the Tykes look to return to Division One at the first attempt.

Graves' comments should be a wake-up call to those that have underperformed this season, and hopefully 2012 will not see a repeat of the car crash that was the 2011 campaign at the Headingley Carnegie stadium.

Why do England keep playing to Australia's strengths?

When England’s Ashes squad was announced just less than two weeks ago, eyebrows were raised over the selection of Surrey bowler Chris Tremlett. Despite not playing for the national side in any form of the game since June 2008, the selectors saw fit for him to be selected, mainly due to his 6’7” frame.

Tremlett’s height will, the selectors believe, be a huge advantage in Australian conditions. The extra pace and bounce that the pitches in Australia offer has meant that the 29-year old has gained selection over the likes of Yorkshire’s Ajmal Shahzad and Warwickshire’s Chris Woakes. Alongside Steven Finn, who is much more likely to be picked for the First Test at the Gabba, the former-Hampshire star should be the most suited bowler to the conditions Australia has to offer.

However, a selection that the ECB may have felt has strengthened their bowling options may also be looked upon with happiness by the home side. A man whose bowling is suited to Australian conditions is likely to be something not too threatening to the home side’s top six.

Tremlett’s similarities with Sajid Mahmood (a man picked for the 2006 Ashes whitewash) are alarming.

Mahmood is a tall, fast bowler who, like Tremlett, should be very much suited to the conditions Down Under. However, in 2006, Mahmood took five wickets at an average of 52.8 in the final three tests of the series, whilst going at over five runs an over. The home batsmen took a particular liking to him and he hasn’t played a test since the final match in Sydney. The fact that Mahmood was very much part of the national set-up, something that Tremlett can’t claim to be, makes the Surrey man’s selection slightly more worrying.

Realistically, Tremlett will most probably not play in the series unless there are injuries amongst the front-line bowlers. However, his selection in the squad shows that the English selectors are not learning from the mistakes made four years ago. Some of England’s finest bowlers have struggled in Australia, so a selection of a man without an away test match to his name must be seen as a risk.

This article is not saying Tremlett is a bad bowler. He has had a good first season at The Oval and may have felt himself slightly aggrieved to have not at least gained a call-up for the one-day side over the English summer. However, his selection for an Ashes tour after over three years in the test match wilderness with a style of bowling that the Australian batsmen will look upon fondly is a strange one to say the least, and further proof that the England selectors don’t seem to learn from their mistakes, something which has meant their team may again struggle to retain the famous little urn.  


This article can be found at worldcricketwatch.com

England's One Day Side: The Seamers

Now that England's one-day series against Bangladesh has drawn to a close (with England recording a 3-0 victory), the nation's once ridiculed side is now threatening to become a professional outfit.

The omission of key players such as captain Andrew Strauss and premier bowler James Anderson has given opportunities to new candidates to be part of the team at the World Cup in 2011.

However, these new candidates to be on the plane to India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will no doubt cause the selectors no end of problems

The Seamers

England's seam department is easily the most keenly contested, whilst also being one that causes the most debate. The sheer amount of possible seam bowlers means that the selectors will have the most difficult of all their jobs to select the three best.

James Anderson and Stuart Broad are believed to be England's first choice, and both would be very unfortunate to miss out on a place in the XI.

Anderson, on his day, is England's best bowler, matching wicket taking deliveries with consistent, economic spells. However, many England fans believe that he only becomes this bowler when the conditions suit, with his ability to swing the ball both ways a massive part of his armory.


It would also be hard for the selectors to overlook Broad's ability in the 50-over format, due to him being, like Anderson, a very economical bowler with both new and old ball, whilst having the ability to take key wickets. His ever-improving lower order batsman also means that the team's batting order can be lengthened more than most other sides.


So with Anderson and Broad almost guaranteed a place in the side, who will fill the position of third seamer?

Three Yorkshiremen are the main contenders for this berth.

Tim Bresnan now has 21 ODI caps and is slowly becoming an England regular in the shorter formats of the game. His form for Yorkshire with both bat and ball alerted the selectors to his talent, and his 4-wickets in the final one-day game in Bangladesh gave a timely reminder of his potential on the international stage.

Ryan Sidebottom is an interesting bowler. Since his return to the international set-up, the fiery haired son of one-test wonder Arnie has seen his form dip. Despite this, he still seems to be selected for crunch matches, most notably the final test of the recent series in South Africa. A further problem with the left-armer is he is prone to injury, illustrated perfectly by his early departure from the tour of Bangladesh.


Completing the trio of white-rose born internationals is Ajmal Shahzad, who is currently on his first senior England tour. His appearance in the final ODI showed some glimpses of what he can do, the dismissal of dangerman Tamim Iqbal with only his third ball was a good example of this.

There are plenty of other bowlers who could challenge for a place in the side. Liam Plunkett is seems to be back in the selector's mindset, Graham Onions has done well in his limited one-day outings, whilst it is yet to be seen how Steven Finn performs on the international stage.

All we do know is that the selectors will face some tough decisions come 2011.