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*Official* CW XI Media Coverage
- Thread starter Mr Mxyzptlk
- Start date
ash chaulk
International Captain
pretty sure ARTHURs got his own unique style
Magrat Garlick
Rather Mad Witch
The Daily Blast
A Nation Past Its Peak?
by Joan Nupen
As Cricket Web XI prepares for the ODI leg of its tour of South Africa, fresh from a Test defeat which has caused further slippings in the ICC Test Championship, it's time to take a good, hard look at how the ODI team can manage to recover from World Cup final defeat, and build towards future great performances at the World Cup. Despite recording 10 successive ODI victories and taking the lead in the ICC ODI Championship, there are signs that CW XI are slowly cracking from within.
The main reason is that age is running away from the stalwarts, especially captain Goff, who has made over 8,000 international runs in his eleven seasons in the game. The return of Andrew Cloete to the side does not help in that regard either - it merely adds to the selection conundrums over middle-order batsmen.
While having a plethora of good middle-order batsmen is no disadvantage, it won't ensure domination, as India's ODI record over the years can testify to. The important thing in ODIs is not to carry too many poor players - a team with average players but good discipline can get far, which has been Cricket Web's way for many years; while Liam Camps is a useful quick and a handy batsman, no one in their right mind would rank him among the top twenty seamers in the world at present, and other "top performers" such as Marc Robbins, Dave Watt, Rob Malone and John Sanders, really have quite average statistics, and don't look like a million dollars while playing, especially not in the superior format of the game.
Admittedly there are a couple with great success - captain Goff, opener Markus, and leg-spinner Pickup spring to mind - but all are rapidly approaching coaching roles around CWLand, with only Markus guaranteed to play on to the next World Cup. To add to this, premature retirements abound. 26-year-old Nathan Hoy, who looked likely to become CW's first consistent deliverer of quick bowling, left the country shortly after becoming captain of CW Black, joining the ranks of talented CWLanders who have called an early time on their careers. Hoy's retirement highlights a particularly acute problem within CWLand - the quick bowling, which is now looking like a wasteland on a par with England's and India's.
For a long time, opening the bowling in CWLand domestic cricket was a fool's errand. Pitches were dead, openers with good hand-eye coordination abounded, and bowling averages soared into the forties. The CWBCC tried to rectify the situation last year by quietly encouraging groundsmen to provide more sporting wickets, but the only thing to come out of it was a mass exposure of poor techniques in the leagues. Cloete still dominated, along with undoubted talents such as Ian Markus and James Stedman, while in general batting averages fell dramatically - with only proven failures at the highest level improving. Kyle Wright, Marc Robbins and Dave Watt - three bowlers with 102 ODI wickets between them, at an average of 35.75 - all averaged below 18. So did the retired Hoy. Matt Smith follows in the wickets list, but the Blue seamer has retired at a very early age, deciding to move to Oamaru for the famed nightlife. Then follows spinner Paddy Gundry, Xavier Rose (with an ODI average of 63), established spinners Neil Pickup, Tom Halsey, and finally a young seamer in Green's Kev Goughy - who averages nearly 25.
The story is similar in first-class cricket - poor quality bowlers are getting plenty of wickets at low averages, receiving the call up to the Test team, before failing to perform. And although the cream of batsmen is supposed to rise in such a system, it may equally well be that the talented people are receiving rotten luck with pitches, as both Black and Blue's surfaces are known as "lottery tickets" after two days of play are completed. The fact is that no true Test-class batsmen have come through to the Test team in the past six seasons, while the ODI team have at least acquired players such as de Silva and Dauth, who have performed credibly if not spectacularly.
Everything, then, ultimately comes back to the domestic game. Before, CWLand had dominating batsmen against hapless bowlers - but the talent did shine through, like Hoy and Pickup, who consistently took wickets. Now, bowlers have the upper hand, though once again class in the other form shows through - yet no new players are sticking their hand up significantly despite the assistance - it's just the veterans who have learned how to get youngsters out who survive.
A Nation Past Its Peak?
by Joan Nupen
As Cricket Web XI prepares for the ODI leg of its tour of South Africa, fresh from a Test defeat which has caused further slippings in the ICC Test Championship, it's time to take a good, hard look at how the ODI team can manage to recover from World Cup final defeat, and build towards future great performances at the World Cup. Despite recording 10 successive ODI victories and taking the lead in the ICC ODI Championship, there are signs that CW XI are slowly cracking from within.
The main reason is that age is running away from the stalwarts, especially captain Goff, who has made over 8,000 international runs in his eleven seasons in the game. The return of Andrew Cloete to the side does not help in that regard either - it merely adds to the selection conundrums over middle-order batsmen.
While having a plethora of good middle-order batsmen is no disadvantage, it won't ensure domination, as India's ODI record over the years can testify to. The important thing in ODIs is not to carry too many poor players - a team with average players but good discipline can get far, which has been Cricket Web's way for many years; while Liam Camps is a useful quick and a handy batsman, no one in their right mind would rank him among the top twenty seamers in the world at present, and other "top performers" such as Marc Robbins, Dave Watt, Rob Malone and John Sanders, really have quite average statistics, and don't look like a million dollars while playing, especially not in the superior format of the game.
Admittedly there are a couple with great success - captain Goff, opener Markus, and leg-spinner Pickup spring to mind - but all are rapidly approaching coaching roles around CWLand, with only Markus guaranteed to play on to the next World Cup. To add to this, premature retirements abound. 26-year-old Nathan Hoy, who looked likely to become CW's first consistent deliverer of quick bowling, left the country shortly after becoming captain of CW Black, joining the ranks of talented CWLanders who have called an early time on their careers. Hoy's retirement highlights a particularly acute problem within CWLand - the quick bowling, which is now looking like a wasteland on a par with England's and India's.
For a long time, opening the bowling in CWLand domestic cricket was a fool's errand. Pitches were dead, openers with good hand-eye coordination abounded, and bowling averages soared into the forties. The CWBCC tried to rectify the situation last year by quietly encouraging groundsmen to provide more sporting wickets, but the only thing to come out of it was a mass exposure of poor techniques in the leagues. Cloete still dominated, along with undoubted talents such as Ian Markus and James Stedman, while in general batting averages fell dramatically - with only proven failures at the highest level improving. Kyle Wright, Marc Robbins and Dave Watt - three bowlers with 102 ODI wickets between them, at an average of 35.75 - all averaged below 18. So did the retired Hoy. Matt Smith follows in the wickets list, but the Blue seamer has retired at a very early age, deciding to move to Oamaru for the famed nightlife. Then follows spinner Paddy Gundry, Xavier Rose (with an ODI average of 63), established spinners Neil Pickup, Tom Halsey, and finally a young seamer in Green's Kev Goughy - who averages nearly 25.
The story is similar in first-class cricket - poor quality bowlers are getting plenty of wickets at low averages, receiving the call up to the Test team, before failing to perform. And although the cream of batsmen is supposed to rise in such a system, it may equally well be that the talented people are receiving rotten luck with pitches, as both Black and Blue's surfaces are known as "lottery tickets" after two days of play are completed. The fact is that no true Test-class batsmen have come through to the Test team in the past six seasons, while the ODI team have at least acquired players such as de Silva and Dauth, who have performed credibly if not spectacularly.
Everything, then, ultimately comes back to the domestic game. Before, CWLand had dominating batsmen against hapless bowlers - but the talent did shine through, like Hoy and Pickup, who consistently took wickets. Now, bowlers have the upper hand, though once again class in the other form shows through - yet no new players are sticking their hand up significantly despite the assistance - it's just the veterans who have learned how to get youngsters out who survive.
superkingdave
Hall of Fame Member
Not a fan of Nupen's work. I resent being referred to as a poor quality bowler
vic_orthdox
Global Moderator
Writing off a number of players with <10 Tests pretty quickly there, IMO.
Neil Pickup
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That's the first Blast article that hasn't questioned my talent or parentage. Must have got bored and moved on to muddying other waters instead... 
Robertinho
Cricketer Of The Year
Crazy tabloids, they'll write anything for kicks. Anyway, even in a season where the bowlers enjoyed a bit of dominance, many of the CW XI batsmen still did well. If I'm not mistaken, Cloete and I both averaged over 50, and many others were in the 40s.
Mr Mxyzptlk
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Granted, 16 ODI games is a fair amount to be averaging that much...roseboy64 said:
Robertinho
Cricketer Of The Year
Dauth announces marriage to shady Peruvian burlesque dancer
Extravagant outfits. Extravagant limousine. Extravagant catering. All the ingredients for a perfect wedding. None of these, however, were present in the shed that CW Red and Derbyshire batsman Robert Dauth chose for his wedding to his Peruvian bride, Ms Jose Sanchez Dela Cruz, a burlesque dancer who rose to notoriety in her home country after her excessively hairy legs came under fire from industry critics.
Some tabloids have raised doubts over the marriage, claiming that Dauth was "only interested in the [Peruvian] green card" and an "easy stepping-stone into the lucrative burlesque dancing industry of Peru's capital, Lima". Dauth hit out angrily at these claims, stating that he "never planned on going to Peru, let alone to dance".
And in a move that has shocked some experts, the couple have decided to follow the Peruvian tradition whereby it is infact the groom that takes on the brides name - meaning that the incumbent CW Red batsman will now operate under the name of Robertinho Jose Dela Cruz (R.J. Delacruz for Camps).
Extravagant outfits. Extravagant limousine. Extravagant catering. All the ingredients for a perfect wedding. None of these, however, were present in the shed that CW Red and Derbyshire batsman Robert Dauth chose for his wedding to his Peruvian bride, Ms Jose Sanchez Dela Cruz, a burlesque dancer who rose to notoriety in her home country after her excessively hairy legs came under fire from industry critics.
Some tabloids have raised doubts over the marriage, claiming that Dauth was "only interested in the [Peruvian] green card" and an "easy stepping-stone into the lucrative burlesque dancing industry of Peru's capital, Lima". Dauth hit out angrily at these claims, stating that he "never planned on going to Peru, let alone to dance".
And in a move that has shocked some experts, the couple have decided to follow the Peruvian tradition whereby it is infact the groom that takes on the brides name - meaning that the incumbent CW Red batsman will now operate under the name of Robertinho Jose Dela Cruz (R.J. Delacruz for Camps).
Mr Mxyzptlk
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You are indeed the Kevin Pietersen of CW Cricket.Dauth announces marriage to shady Peruvian burlesque dancer
Extravagant outfits. Extravagant limousine. Extravagant catering. All the ingredients for a perfect wedding. None of these, however, were present in the shed that CW Red and Derbyshire batsman Robert Dauth chose for his wedding to his Peruvian bride, Ms Jose Sanchez Dela Cruz, a burlesque dancer who rose to notoriety in her home country after her excessively hairy legs came under fire from industry critics.
Some tabloids have raised doubts over the marriage, claiming that Dauth was "only interested in the [Peruvian] green card" and an "easy stepping-stone into the lucrative burlesque dancing industry of Peru's capital, Lima". Dauth hit out angrily at these claims, stating that he "never planned on going to Peru, let alone to dance".
And in a move that has shocked some experts, the couple have decided to follow the Peruvian tradition whereby it is infact the groom that takes on the brides name - meaning that the incumbent CW Red batsman will now operate under the name of Robertinho Jose Dela Cruz (R.J. Delacruz for Camps).
With a bit of Mohammad Yousuf in there too.
Neil Pickup
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You know how I feel about moronic names.
Robertinho
Cricketer Of The Year
Would you prefer RD Cruz/RJ Cruz better? I don't mind, Cruz > Delacruz I suppose.
Neil Pickup
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Your name is RJ Dauth. It is staying RJ Dauth. Until I see proof of your conversion to Muslimism.