ICC Cricket World Cup – CaughtOutCricket

Hagley Oval hopes to ease earthquake pain

February 13, 2015October 26, 2015Posted in International CricketTagged Australia, Blackcaps, christchurch, Cricket, earthquake, ICC Cricket World Cup, kiwi, New Zealand, NZC, SportLeave a comment

Christchurch ready for World Cup opener.

Christchurch is set to launch the cricket World Cup on Saturday.

On February 22nd 2011 things changed forever for Christchurch and its people. In what was one of the worst earthquakes of all time to hit New Zealand, the city of churches was almost completely wiped out leaving 185 people dead and many more seriously injured. Almost four years on and the city is still in its early stages of rebuilding – a process that is expected to take another fifteen years.

With a sporting heritage that goes back many decades, Christchurch, the country’s second largest city after Auckland, had hosted international cricket and rugby for many years prior to its earthquake devastation, but during its early years of re-build the city has to do without either the All Blacks or the Blackcaps until recently.

As World Cup cricket returns to the country for the first time since 1992, the cricket committee thought it was very important that cricket was returned to Christchurch as the city tries to get back on its feet again.

On Saturday the Kiwi’s as set to open the 2015 World Cup when they play host to Sri Lanka in the tournaments first match, almost fifteen thousand miles away Australia host old enemy England in Melbourne at what is expected to be in front of a crowd of 90,000 at the MCG. The Hagley Oval seems a million miles away from the ‘G’ but the people of Christchurch will hope a sold out Oval of around 20,000 will make equal noise and get this once vibrant city back on the world stage.

Despite hosting its first cricket match in 1867, Hagley Oval has for long been an afterthought amongst the cricket faithful in Christchurch as its big brother Lancaster Park (also known as AMI Stadium and Jade Stadium) hosted international cricket for decades until it was fatefully damaged in the 2011 earthquake.

A derelict and overgrown Lancaster Park awaits demolition.

Lancaster Park had been the home of international cricket in the city since 1930, when it hosted New Zealand’s first ever Test match, an 8 wicket defeat to England. It has since hosted many remarkable matches over the years and despite not having been used as a Test venue since 2006 due to poor crowd attendance, its 36,500 captaincy was seen as an ideal ODI and T20I venue right until it was closed following severe damage caused to its foundations.

With no other international standard venue in Christchurch the people of Canterbury had been deprived of any international cricket since the quake, until a plan was forced to redeveloped the Hagley Oval, a small corner of the 164.637 hectare Hagley Park, located next to the beautiful Botanic gardens and just outside of the badly damaged CBD.

The Oval was developed with an eye on the country’s other traditional cricketing homes such as Wellington’s Basin Reserve and Dunedin’s University Oval and apposed to the grand stadia of the previous Rugby sharing Lancaster Park as well as the likes of Eden Park in Auckland and Westpac Stadium in Wellington.

Many people were apposed to an international sports venue been located inside an urban open space but others were just pleased that their city would get a chance to host a global international tournament after the earthquake damage to Lancaster Park ended their hopes of hosting seven matches in the 2011 Rugby Union World Cup including two quarter finals. For a rugby loving country like New Zealand, that was a devastating blow to the people of Canterbury.

Something had to be done to make sure the city didn’t suffer the same fate again when the cricket World Cup came to the country and plans were quickly put in place to revamp the Hagley Oval in 2013.

The controversial plans put forward by Canterbury Cricket were approved by the Environment Court and by late January 2014 the Oval was hosting its first international cricket match, when Canada and Scotland met in a ODI World Cup qualifying match – three years after the city had last hosted an international match when the Blackcaps hosted Pakistan less than a month before the earthquake disaster.

By October of last year the ground was given full ICC accreditation as an international cricket ground and it soon became New Zealand’s eighth Test venue when it hosted the country’s first Boxing Day Test since the Basin Reserve was a regular host of the event up until 2003.

Hagley Oval during a recent visit in November 2014.

The Blackcaps’ return to international cricket in Christchurch couldn’t have gone much better! A near packed house of 7698 people gave up their Boxing Day to cheer on their side and in return were treated to a delightful sunny day and a Brendan McCullum special (195 off 134). The Kiwi skipper fell just five runs short of what would have been the fastest Test double hundred of all time as the home side dominated proceedings, eventually winning the Test by 8 wickets.

McCullum was certainly impressed with the design of the new ground from a spectator point of view. “I think the way the crowd can interact… being quite close to the action and the grass embankment, there’s a bit of romance about that from a purist’s point of view.”

A return to international cricket was an important step for the city known as the hometown of the greatest Blackcap of them all, Sir Richard Hadlee.

Hagley Oval has since hosted a ODI, also against Sri Lanka, as well as a host of World Cup warm up matches this past week, but the best is still to come. After an eventful opening ceremony on Thursday evening, the main stage begins on Saturday at 11am.

Once again the world’s eyes will be on Christchurch, thankfully this time it’s for the right reasons.

The Finishers

February 7, 2015October 26, 2015Posted in International CricketTagged Australia, bcci, Blackcaps, CA, christchurch, Cricket, de villiers, dhoni, faulkner, ICC Cricket World Cup, india, New Zealand, ronchi, sammy, Sport, st lucia, west indies, world cupLeave a comment

ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP 2015

With just a week to go until world cricket’s major limited overs tournament kicks off in Christchurch, I take a look at a vital role in the ODI game – The role of “The Finisher.”

The pressures that come with the World Cup bring together hero’s and villains alike. Batsmen and bowlers who keep their nerve to guide their respective sides to glory or the polar opposite and guys who wilt in the heat of the moment and fail under the expectations.

The term finisher originates from the man many believe was the finest finisher of them all – Australian Michael Bevan. Bevan was part of the 1999 and 2003 Australian World Cup winning sides and scored 6912 runs from 232 ODIs at 53.58. When it came to an ODI chase, the burly left-hander came into his element. In successful run chases his 45 innings brought him 25 not outs and 1725 runs at 86.25 – which also included three hundreds and twelve fifties.

The importance of being a good finisher is keeping calm, often when batting with the tail, with the run rate increasing and regular wickets falling at the other end. Many batsmen panic and fall to the big shot in these situations while others simply keep calm and back their abilities to see the job through using calculated risks whilst also making sure they often rotate the strike and shepherd the tail.

With history showing the role of the finisher to be an important factor between glory and failure I have picked five key finishers to look out for during the upcoming global tournament.

……

James Faulkner – Australia

Despite the fact that he’s set to miss the first week of the tournament due to a side strain, the all-round abilities of Faulkner remain a vital part of a strong looking Australian outfit.

Although he is primarily seen as a left arm medium fast bowler, it’s his late order hitting and composure with the bat that has seen him talked up as Australia’s latest finisher – following in the footsteps of the greats in Bevan and Michael Hussey before him.

With the all round depth that Australia currents possesses in their ODI side, the Tasmanian is not usually scheduled to come in until number eight and often doesn’t get a bat. But when he is required to strap the pads on he is often the man for a crisis and a high pressure run chase.

In twelve ODI second innings he averages 109.50 with eight not outs and a strike rate of 131.53 – A record better than any other player going to the World Cup.

The 24-year-old currently averages 48 in ODI’s and first truly showcased his lower order hitting prowess in a 2013 ODI series in India – where he scored an impressive 230 runs across just four innings at an average of 115 including a career best 116 and a stunning unbeaten 64 off 29 balls to lead his side home in Mohali.

Best finisher innings: 69no v England (at Brisbane – Jan 14′)

Coming in at number nine with his side staring down the barrel at 7-206 chasing a further 95 to win with 15.1 overs remaining, Faulkner pulled off a remarkable heist and led his side home with three balls to spare.

After seeing two wickets fall at the other end he was joined by number 11 Clint McKay with 57 runs still required but kept his cool and launched three 4’s and five 6’s in a 47-ball 69. His partnership with McKay was the second largest ten-wicket stand to win a match and Faulkner duly knocked off the final 25 runs needed in just seven deliveries.

…….

Luke Ronchi – New Zealand

The wicketkeeper-batsman returned to the country of his birth in 2012 after initially representing Australia in four ODI’s back in 2008 and by 2013 he was a fixture in the Blackcaps limited overs sides.

By picking him in their ODI side the Kiwi’s have allowed skipper Brendon McCullum the freedom to focus on the captaincy and his aggressive batting without worrying about keeping wicket.

But Ronchi isn’t just here to keep the balance of the side intact. Coming in at number seven he has started to put his own mark on the side and compliment their strong middle order with his late hitting and finishing skills.

In a recent ODI against Sri Lanka at Dunedin he blasted the highest ever ODI score by a number seven when hitting a brutal 170 not out off just 99 deliveries. His century came of just 74 balls as he, alongside Grant Elliott put on a world record unbeaten 267 for the sixth wicket, having come to the crease at 4-82 they left the visitors with a chase of 361.

Best finisher innings: 32no v Sri Lanka (at Nelson – Jan 15′)

Despite his record breaking hundred getting all the plaudits he also helped the Blackcaps chase down Sri Lanka’s 276 in Nelson with an unbeaten 32 from just 15 deliveries. With centurion Kane Williamson having just been dismissed, Ronchi walked to the crease with 47 runs still needed from the remaining 36 deliveries, when Corey Anderson was then run out, Ronchi had seen enough and quickly made light of the chase by taking 24 runs off one Thisara Perera over to all but finish the game off.

Two other performances of note came in a pair of matches against South Africa in Mount Maunganui last year where he made 99 and 79 in losing causes.

……..

Mahendra Singh Dhoni – India

What more needs to be said about Mr Calm.

A veteran of 254 ODIs and 90 Test matches, India’s most successful leader is approaching his third World Cup after an appearance in 2007 and a winners medal in 2011. The man known as ‘Mahi’ is undoubtably ranked up their with the finest limited overs players of all time.

Time and time again the cultured right-hander has snatched his side victory from the jaws of defeat with powerful and calculated hitting toward the end of the innings and he is regarded alongside Bevan as the greatest finisher in the history of one day cricket.

Only Sachin Tendulkar can claim to be adored by the billions of India public more than Dhoni – Especially after the latter led his side to their first World Cup title since 1983 four years ago with a breathtaking finishing act to the scale of 91 unbeaten runs on home soil.

An ODI average of 52.29 is almost unrivalled in the modern day, but for a player who plays the risky and entertaining brand of cricket that Dhoni does – it strikes of greatness.

After giving up Test cricket recently, the 33-year-old has decided to stake more of his time in ODI and T20I cricket alongside his commitments for IPL side Chennai Super Kings and India will hope there are a few more years left yet in his hugely successful limited overs career.

Best finisher innings: 91no v Sri Lanka (at Mumbai – April 11′)

The world’s premier finisher of course had to show off his skills under pressure on the world’s biggest stage, the World Cup final.

Leading into the final, Dhoni had had a quiet time of things during the World Cup with teammate and national icon Tendulkar taking centre stage, but his captain wasn’t to be out done – cometh of the hour cometh the man.

Chasing 275 to win, India lost openers Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag inside the first seven overs and when Virat Kohli also fell with more than half the target still required, Dhoni decided to promote himself ahead of the in-form Yuvraj Singh.

Alongside Gautam Gambhir he took the Sri Lanka’s on for a tournament winning undefeated 91 from 79 balls adding a 109-run partnership in the process and eventually sealing the victory with a huge six into the grandstands to send over a billion Indians into party mood. Well played sir, well played.

…….

AB de Villiers – South Africa

The man of the moment! de Villiers recently stopped the world in its tracks after blasting the world’s fastest ever ODI hundred against the hapless West Indians in Johannesburg.

Although he only came to the crease just eight deliveries before the 40th over, the brilliant right-hander somehow managed a brutal 31-ball hundred and still didn’t bat out the innings after falling for 149 in the 50th over chasing yet another six. He hit sixteen in total to go alongside his nine fours.

Despite this magnificent achievement, it perhaps didn’t shock that many people. That’s AB de Villiers for you, there’s not many things that he can’t do on a cricket field!

Although it seems he has been around forever (he made his ODI debut almost exactly a decade ago) he will only turn 31 during the tournament and could have at least another 5-10 years of cricket left in him.

If South Africa are to win their first World Cup and finally rid themselves of the chokers tag that has followed them for years, then they need their captain and talisman to perform the Lance Klusener like finishing skills of the late 90’s.

Test and ODI averages of over 52 confirm de Villiers as the best batsman in the world at present and with 19 ODI hundreds at a strike rate of 97.16 few would bet against him leading his side to next months World Cup final in Melbourne.

Best finisher innings: 136no v Australia (at Harare – Aug 14′)

Faced with a steep target of 328 against a good Australian bowling attack, the Proteas made light work of the chase thanks to hundreds and a 206-run partnership from de Villiers and Faf du Plessis. They eventually chased the total down with 20 deliveries spare.

De Villiers’ unbeaten 136 was made off just 106 balls and was at the time the second highest score by a South African captain in one day cricket.

The innings was typically clinical de Villiers – including both power and finesse on equal measures and helped with eleven fours and two sixes at a high strike rate of 128.30.

If there’s one man who knows how to pace an ODI innings, it’s the Proteas captain.

……..

Darren Sammy – West Indies

St. Lucia’s first international cricketer has had a turbulent past 12 months in international cricket and his previous visit to New Zealand ended with him resigning from the Test captaincy and retiring from the format altogether.

Since then he has also been involved in contract disputes and was originally left out of the squad for the recently concluded 4-1 ODI series defeat in South Africa before been reinstated.

Once a captain across all formats for the Windies, Sammy is now just leader of the T20I side and has come back into the ranks as an ODI player with the side now skippered by youngster Jason Holder.

But despite of this he still remains an important part of the side in the forthcoming World Cup not least due to the absence of fellow hard hitting all rounders Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard.

Despite his lack of an ODI hundred, Sammy has a high strike rate of over 100 and previous history of finishing off run chases – A skill he has transferred over from his past experiences in T20 cricket. His remarkable finish’s in T20I’s in the past year include: 30* off 9 (v England), 34* off 13 (v Australia) and 20* off 7 (v South Africa).

Best finisher innings: 63no v India (at Visakhapatnam – Nov 13′)

Up against a powerful Indian side on home soil and facing a stiff chase of 289, the West Indians got home with three balls and two wickets to spare, mainly thanks to Sammy’s unbeaten 45-ball 63.

The chase was set up by fifties to Kieren Powell, Darren Bravo and Lendl Simmons, but wickets kept falling and the asking rate climbing. Walking in at 5-185 with over a hundred still required, Sammy took it upon himself to seek boundaries with four 4’s and as many sixes been blasted from the bat of the tall right-hander.

His innings was reached at a strike rate of 140.00 despite him playing out a maiden when he first came to the crease.

With the current disarray in West Indies cricket, they will need a few more Sammy specials to brighten the spirits of their long suffering fans.

What now for Jesse?

November 23, 2014October 26, 2015Posted in County Cricket, International CricketTagged Blackcaps, Cricket, Georgie Pie Super Smash, ICC Cricket World Cup, Jesse, Jesse Ryder, New Zealand, Otago, Otago VoltsLeave a comment

So Jesse messed up again then.

Will Ryder ever represent the Blackcaps again?

In the past few weeks I haven’t been able to get Jesse Ryder out of my head.

At the beginning of the month I visited the University Oval in Dunedin, Ryder’s adopted home ground with his third state side Otago and then came out stories in the media of his reintroduction into a national A touring side and talk of a possible World Cup berth for the entertaining hitter.

Things started looked promising once again – could the Wellington-born maverick be making his way back into the Blackcaps setup just in time to make a strong World Cup claim? After all his country has just lost comprehensively to South Africa in a home ODI series – Where the need for another opener was evident…But this is Jesse, Jesse tends to f**k up once things start looking up for him!

And so it was. After been named in the New Zealand A squad for their tour of the UAE – Due to begin this weekend, he withdrew from the squad citing personal matters after a meeting with the Otago Volts management in Dunedin last Monday morning.

Despite the fact that the statement from NZC General manager of national selection Bruce Edgar read: “Jesse Ryder has withdrawn from the tour due to personal reasons, NZC respects Jesse’s decision and is currently considering options for a replacement.” Something didn’t seem quite right.

So It was not a huge surprise to learn that Ryder had missed Otago’s Super Smash match in Christchurch last Sunday because he missed the team’s flight out of Dunedin on the Saturday after an evening drinking in his new hometown following an Otago Volts social golf day on Friday. – It all read a strikingly disappointing but familiar story as far as Ryder is concerned.

It was hardly a shock that it all ended this way. You can’t blame New Zealand Cricket for wanting to reintegrate him back into the side with the World Cup approaching – They know how good both a player and a marketable opportunity he can be, but in the end it’s up to Jesse himself and right now he seems unwilling to want to return to international cricket.

When asked about Ryder after the Blackcaps recent ODI series loss to South Africa, captain Brendan McCullum distanced his team from a return to the powerful all rounder.

The gist of what McCullum said included terms such as: “Got to make sure Jesse is desperate to play for New Zealand” and “We will not compromise the team dynamic.” Hardly terms that make it seem Ryder would have been easily accepted back into the group.

That’s what made his selection a surprising one only a few days after McCullum had made it clear he didn’t particularly want Ryder back in the setup – the national selection committee promptly named him for the forthcoming A tour of the UAE.

Ryder had seemed keen to force his way back into the national team at the time of the squad announcement by saying the right things expected of him:

“It’s just a stepping stone and hopefully it’s a good one for me and I’ll go over there and just do what I need to do to show them I’m still keen to be a part of it.”

It defiantly seemed that he had woken up and realised that there might be a chance of a potential inclusion in the World Cup provincial squad of 30 to be announced next month.

“It’s definitely something I want so I have to put the hard work in first and see what happens. The A tour is the first step of it.” He added further.

But things change quickly for Jesse. After blasting his way to a match winning 136 off 57 balls against an Ireland XI a month ago, he quickly rejected the chance to take part in a North verses South Island t20 clash to kick start the Super Smash competition – Surely not the act of a man who was desperate to represent his country again in a hurry.

Without knowing the man, it’s hard to figure what goes through the head of Jesse Ryder and why he continually finds himself in such situations and predicaments. Some suggest he struggles majorly whilst in the limelight and it would be easier for him to continue playing domestic cricket instead of accepting the scrutiny that hovers around the game at the highest level.

During a recent visit to the Basin Reserve cricket ground in Wellington, I got speaking to a gentleman who has worked in the ground at the National Cricket Museum for the past five years and he suggested that the vibes he received were that Ryder was an isolated figure and a disruptive influence whilst playing for the Wellington side less than two years ago and many of the players were happy to see him leave for Otago last July.

What could have been?

Despite continuously working with a sports psychologist, it’s a great shame that Ryder hasn’t been able to put aside his personal issues over the years and fulfil the talent we all know he has.

It’s now not inconceivable that he may never add to his 18 Tests and 48 ODIs in the future and that we have seen the last of Jesse Ryder as an international cricketer.

He continues to be a man of the people and a modern day throw back of the cricketing larrikin’s of yesteryear. It’s the fact that he is different personality and enjoys a drink like us all that makes him a standout in a day and age when sport is becoming ever more professional and many of the great characters of the game have disappeared into retirement.

In the days directly following his life threatening assault outside a Christchurch bar in March of last year, one article that has stuck with me to this day was written by Australian journalist Jarrod Kimber on the site ESPN Cricinfo. Due to the seriousness of Ryder’s injury at the time, Kimber was asked to be on stand by to write a eulogy incase the worst happened, it went something like this:

Jesse’s worst made the media’s job quite easy. He churned out headlines, gave angry middle aged men their moral editorials and gave talkback radio days of free funny. Even on the field he never quite gave us what his wrists promised. Unfulfilled potential is the ugliest phrase in the sporting vocabulary.

At his best he was everything that was great about cricket. A shy man in a large body who could play a square drive so perfectly it would stop you in your tracks. If you ever saw one live, you’d never forget it. It was an immaculate cricket moment. This monstrous beast pushing the ball with statue stillness and perfect cricket hands in a gracefully delicate way. It was pure. It was artistic. It was flawless. It was brutal elegance and precision. It was a water buffalo doing a magnificent tango.

It was what cricket should be.

Most people try their whole life to do one thing absolutely as it was intended. Jesse did that almost every time he batted.

Now because of a seemingly violent act of randomness, Jesse has been taken from us. Leaving us with a few moments of cricket perfection, the sort that live in the stories people tell the next generation of cricket lovers.

Heroes, villains and artists don’t often come in the one package.

Cricket exists for men like Jesse Ryder. And men like Jesse Ryder exist for cricket.

Although thankfully Jesse made a full recovery from that dramatic incident in Christchurch and resumed playing cricket twelve months ago, the Kimber article goes to show how adored Ryder is worldwide for his maverick presence on and off the cricket field.

He’s a player you want to come good. I find myself constantly willing him not to go off the rails again, but deep down knowing that he will again eventually let me and more importantly his fellow Kiwi’s down at some point – Just waiting for the day I open a webpage or pick up a newspaper and there it is…The oh for god sake Jesse messed up again story!

In a parallel universe he could have easily already played fifty Tests and made at least ten hundreds – similar figures to that of teammate Ross Taylor (59 Tests and 12 hundreds). But unlike Ryder, Taylor has kept his head down and made the most of his talent at the international level.

So what now for Ryder?

The chances are that he will go back to domestic cricket to be out of the media spotlight and start performing to a high standard once again. In the short term it remains to be seen if he will return to action for bottom of the table Otago Volts for their final two Super Smash matches in the coming weeks. The Volts have currently won only two of their eight matches to date and have no hope of qualifying for the playoffs.

After the conclusion of the current Super Smash series, he is set to head across the Tasman and participate in his first Big Bash tournament for the Melbourne Renegades after signing a deal with the franchise in June that will see him line up amongst the likes of current Australian ODI players Aaron Finch and Matthew Wade. A good performance over the pond could also lead to further interest from the IPL.

After performing outstandingly during his stint with English County Essex in the season just gone he was rewarded with a new two-year contract with the Chelmsford-based side. Despite being signed predominantly as a batsmen, his medium-paced seamers became a surprising weapon. Whilst opening the bowling in Division Two cricket he went on to claim four 5-wicket hauls and ended the summer with a bowling average of just 18.09.

His performances on and off the field certainly left a huge impression on Essex coach Paul Grayson who was in no doubt to the value that Ryder has brought to his side as an overseas player.

“He’s been great. He’s a super lad and he’s one of the most naturally gifted cricketers I’ve worked with,” he added. “Some would say we took a little bit of a risk when we signed him and we probably did. But we felt we could work with him and it’s been great.”

Despite his latest misdemeanour, one amongst many others across the past six years, Ryder is still only 30-years-old and with time on his side, it’s still not out of the question that he can make a name for himself on the international front in the next few years. Again the NZC selectors have taken the first step and shown a willingness to integrate him back into the setup – Now it’s over to Jesse to show he wants to represent his country once more.

Until then we will have to make do with videos such as these.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fC1DWQm-HKQ