***Official*** English Domestic Season 2008

[Richard]

I doubt he did though, that's the thing.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Right out of the same box as the "Charl Langeveldt has the worst figures of the Derbyshire attack, I question why I watch cricket sometimes" post from a month or so back.

 

[Manee]

Am pretty sure he sometimes (maybe once an over) changes to a much slingier action possibly looking for a bit of reverse swing.

Seen this slingier action two games in a row and this is probably what caused my error.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

I doubt he did though, that's the thing.

Because Mark Ealham never bowls poorly? Patel didn't have to bowl out of his skin to outbowl Ealham if Ealham bowled poorly. These things happen. These aren't machines.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Ohohoh no you don't. Nothing in that post was remotely Rolleyes-worthy.

Just seems weird that you brand bowlers that average 25 "pie throwers"...

 

[Richard]

Several utter pie-throwers have low averages in English one-day cricket.

Of course, they're often overlooked for ODIs in favour of "wicket-takers" like Liam Plunkett who average in the 30s.

 

[Richard]

Because Mark Ealham never bowls poorly? Patel didn't have to bowl out of his skin to outbowl Ealham if Ealham bowled poorly. These things happen. These aren't machines.

I know that. It simply irritates me when it does.

 

[Richard]

Right out of the same box as the "Charl Langeveldt has the worst figures of the Derbyshire attack, I question why I watch cricket sometimes" post from a month or so back.

Indeed. Matters being flipped on their head is a dead-set ****er.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Several utter pie-throwers have low averages in English one-day cricket.

So what does he deserve to be considered "good". Average 10?

 

[Richard]

No. He just has to deserve such an average. And he doesn't.

Virtually no-one without a reasonable economy-rate does, FTR.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Expensive bowlers don't deserve low averages? You do understand the concept of a strike rate, right?

 

[Richard]

Mostly, expensive bowlers won't have earned a low strike-rate, it'll have been being gifted wickets rather than bowling wicket-taking deliveries.

A left-arm fingerspinner like Patel fits this mould more than most.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Whilst I disagree re: Ealham, I largely agree with Richard about Patel.

Averaging 25 in English domestic limited overs cricket is no great achievement - plenty of very average bowlers do well in English limited overs. If, in the future, he plays somewhere with a higher standard of cricket and still averages 25, IMO then it would be worth a bit more. Additionally, having had one eye on the game today I can confirm that he profited from poor batting. And the poor batting wasn't even the result of pressure he'd created - while the rate needed upping, this was the work of others, as Patel's first few overs were expensive.

 

[Richard]

Whilst I disagree re: Ealham

What, in general, or today?

I'm not saying Ealham neccessarily bowled well and just got slogged - for all I know he might simply have had a rare off-day, everyone does from time to time, even Glenn McGrath.

But Ealham irrefutably has been and remains one of the best OD bowlers in this country. His record in this year's FP was as good as ever and better than most.

 

[Tom Halsey]

These days, watching him do reasonably well in ODs is, IMO, another confirmation that it isn't too hard to do well. Can't help feeling that if he came up against a quality batting line-up he'd be exposed as a bit toothless.

Whilst I can't remember watching Ealham bowl when he was actually playing ODIs and at his peak, his ODI record, whilst not too bad, is uninspiring.

 

[Richard]

Meh, I'd say his ODI record is excellent myself TBH, if he'd never had to bowl at the end of an innings (generally can be said to be the last 10) he'd have had an economy-rate under 4-an-over, which from the 1990s and 2000s is top-drawer.

I don't really know whether he'd still be a good ODI bowler now, but it's far from the case that it's easy to bowl economically in county one-day cricket. There's hardly anyone who's managed to do it season after season. Closest after Ealham have been Mascarenhas, Killeen and Martin-Jenkins, and RMJ has been poor of late while Mascarenhas was very poor in 2005 and 2006.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Expensive bowlers don't deserve low averages? You do understand the concept of a strike rate, right?

 

[superkingdave]

just have to be patient and wait for the next sabaticcal then we can have peace and sanity again for a while.

 

[wpdavid]

Surrey's lineup has to be their weakest top 6 for eons - Newman, Walters, Murtagh, Batty, Afzaal & Spreigal. Ramps must be injured as well as Butcher. Benning & Brown too, unless they've written the season off and thought they'd throw the kids in. Time for the Durham bowlers to clean up, you'd hae thought.

 

[TT Boy]

Surrey's lineup has to be their weakest top 6 for eons - Newman, Walters, Murtagh, Batty, Afzaal & Spreigal. Ramps must be injured as well as Butcher. Benning & Brown too, unless they've written the season off and thought they'd throw the kids in. Time for the Durham bowlers to clean up, you'd hae thought.

His not injured, Ramps has got the ****s.