Shoaib Akhtar criticises batsmen-friendly bias

Pakistani paceman Shoaib Akhtar has hit out against what he sees as a bias towards batsmen in modern cricket, according to BBC Sport.

“Cricket should be about fast bowlers, not batsmen,” said the fast bowler. “Spectators,” the fast-bowling star added, “like to see fast bowlers running in, hurting people, and pitches that make batsmen struggle for runs.”

Kevin Pietersen nominated for ICC awards

England batsman Kevin Pietersen has been nominated for three ICC awards: best ODI player, best test player and best cricketer. Ryan Sidebottom and Monty Panesar have both been nominated in the best test player category too. Full list of nominees here.

The awards are – as I’m sure the ICC’s PR department has been trying to persuade sports journalists from around the world – the Oscars of the cricket world. I’m sure everyone has a nice time at the awards, but does anyone outside of the ICC’s headquarters in Dubai give them any credence? I can’t really get that worked up about them either way. I bet Ryan Sidebottom’s mum is pleased as punch.

In related KP news, Kevin has claimed that the new England ODI squad have the potential to be unbeatable. It’s early days yet, but there is cause for hope for the one day team. After a disappointing series against the West Indies, in their games against India they have displayed a much more coherent and mature performance.

The victories against New Zealand and Australia in the winter were exciting, but they seemed to be based on great displays by one or two key players in each match. By contrast the wins against India have been fantastic all-round team performances. Perhaps Collingwood’s all-round talents as a cricketer – good with bat and ball, and great in the field – have rubbed off on the squad as a whole.

In their current form they look capable of winning any kind of game, whether it’s by chasing down a big total or defending a small one. One day cricket demands a high level of adaptability, and England seem to have the depth of talent to achieve that, equally able to squeeze the run rate with tight bowling and fielding or to break a batting partnership when needed.

Hopefully India will play to their best for the next four games: a hard-fought series will help England develop their one day skills. Whatever their deficiencies as a team, India have a great wealth of talent and players who are capable of turning a match around single-handed.

My condiments to the wicket-keeper

Mere hours after I tipped Phil Mustard to be a contender for bigger things, Hampshire captain and future citizen of Germany Shane Warne has jumped on the bandwagon and tipped the Colonel to star for England. Predictably, he likened him to Adam Gilchrist, which must be something of a burden for a wicket-keeper, much in the same way that every England cricketer who showed the merest hint of being able to bat as well as bowl in the last two decades ran the risk of being labelled The New Ian Botham.

While it would be wonderful to uncover a English Gilchrist or Sangakkara, if there isn’t one in the counties then the selectors need to accept another kind of keeper. One option is to simply select the best gloveman, which would be an acceptable strategy if England had sufficient batting from it’s lower orders (a future line-up including Flintoff, Broad and Rashid might allow just such a strategy). Another option would be a keeper who can defend with the bat, rather than attack. Ian Bell didn’t have a good series against India, perhaps because he knew that as soon as Prior came in he was in a race against time to get some runs in before the lower orders got themselves out.

A keeper who could at least block out the bowlers would let the last batsman play his natural game, and be a useful nightwatchman too. England would benefit from a dull but dependable keeper who could reliably score 20 or so runs in an innings, rather than insisting on a run machine who may well not be out there.

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Coming soon… A rambling blog about cricket an’ that.