Neil Pickup
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I've been growing more and more concerned about the suitability of HODI as the one-day simulator over the last few weeks and months, especially when it comes to Marmite bowling.
I took this to an extreme and ran a few tests this afternoon, the most extreme of which being when I removed the bowling talent of Flintoff, Pietersen and Vaughan, and sent England into 7-game ODI combat against the Australians with the following XI:
Solanki, Trescothick, Vaughan, Bell, Pietersen, Strauss, Collingwood, Flintoff, Read, G Jones, Giles.
You'd expect a 7-0 drubbing - but here's what happened:
Collingwood contrived to take fifteen wickets @ 19 apiece, and Giles 8. The other three marmite bowlers (Strauss, Bell and Trescothick) only took five wickets in the course of their 179 overs, but only conceded 896 runs (5.01 runs per over), leaving England - with a ridiculously long batting order - more than makeable chases on the majority of occasions.
The fact that such a daft selection policy becomes a viable plan does worry me somewhat. I then replayed the series with "genuine" teams - and the frontline England bowlers were, for the most part, vastly more expensive than the vegetable spread we'd seen in the series before. There was one exception - Paul Collingwood, 31 overs @ 5.06...
Australia's front line also got hammered in the series, Shane Warne being taken at significantly more than a run a ball as England clinched another thriller 4-3.
As it stands, specialist bowlers are getting closer and closer to a wasted pick in our OD sides - what are the CWBCC going to do about it?
I took this to an extreme and ran a few tests this afternoon, the most extreme of which being when I removed the bowling talent of Flintoff, Pietersen and Vaughan, and sent England into 7-game ODI combat against the Australians with the following XI:
Solanki, Trescothick, Vaughan, Bell, Pietersen, Strauss, Collingwood, Flintoff, Read, G Jones, Giles.
You'd expect a 7-0 drubbing - but here's what happened:
Code:
Summary of Series
======= == ======
Match 1 - Australia won by 9 wickets.
Played at Adelaide
England
266\1 from 50.0 overs - ME Trescothick 130*, MP Vaughan 82*
B Lee 1-33 GD McGrath 0-8
Australia
267\1 from 46.2 overs - AC Gilchrist 128*, RT Ponting 101*
PD Collingwood 1-34 AF Giles 0-57
-------------------------------------------------------
Match 2 - England won by 5 wickets.
Played at Adelaide
Australia
278\9 from 50.0 overs - ML Hayden 106, RT Ponting 94
PD Collingwood 5-45 AF Giles 4-70
England
281\5 from 49.2 overs - KP Pietersen 82*, ME Trescothick 65
GD McGrath 1-50 JN Gillespie 1-62
-------------------------------------------------------
Match 3 - England won by 5 wickets.
Played at Adelaide
Australia
245\1 from 50.0 overs - ML Hayden 113*, RT Ponting 93*
AF Giles 1-21 PD Collingwood 0-36
England
249\5 from 48.3 overs - V Solanki 82, IR Bell 74*
GD McGrath 2-51 SK Warne 2-46
-------------------------------------------------------
Match 4 - England won by 7 wickets.
Played at Adelaide
Australia
231\5 from 50.0 overs - ML Hayden 98, MG Bevan 57*
PD Collingwood 2-43 AF Giles 1-44
England
236\3 from 46.3 overs - IR Bell 94*, KP Pietersen 76*
GD McGrath 2-39 SK Warne 1-36
-------------------------------------------------------
Match 5 - Australia won by 7 wickets.
Played at Adelaide
England
284\4 from 50.0 overs - ME Trescothick 116, IR Bell 61*
GD McGrath 2-77 JN Gillespie 1-56
Australia
285\3 from 46.3 overs - MG Bevan 135*, DR Martyn 103*
PD Collingwood 3-46 AF Giles 0-53
-------------------------------------------------------
Match 6 - England won by 4 runs.
Played at Adelaide
England
259\5 from 50.0 overs - V Solanki 73, IR Bell 55*
IJ Harvey 2-47 GD McGrath 1-58
Australia
255\4 from 50.0 overs - MG Bevan 84*, DS Lehmann 70*
AJ Strauss 2-26 PD Collingwood 1-28
-------------------------------------------------------
Match 7 - Australia won by 33 runs.
Played at Adelaide
Australia
338\5 from 50.0 overs - AC Gilchrist 159, RT Ponting 125
PD Collingwood 3-62 AF Giles 2-72
England
305\10 from 47.5 overs - MP Vaughan 75, A Flintoff 57
GD McGrath 3-50 JN Gillespie 2-60
-------------------------------------------------------
England won the series 4-3The fact that such a daft selection policy becomes a viable plan does worry me somewhat. I then replayed the series with "genuine" teams - and the frontline England bowlers were, for the most part, vastly more expensive than the vegetable spread we'd seen in the series before. There was one exception - Paul Collingwood, 31 overs @ 5.06...
Australia's front line also got hammered in the series, Shane Warne being taken at significantly more than a run a ball as England clinched another thriller 4-3.
As it stands, specialist bowlers are getting closer and closer to a wasted pick in our OD sides - what are the CWBCC going to do about it?
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