New Zealand fights and then capitulates. Again.

The New Zealand cricket team found themselves in a familiar situation on Saturday evening following the conclusion of the first test against England at Lords. The Kiwis were annihilated once again having fought had for the best part of three days against a far more experienced and skilful outfit.

New Zealand’s batsman was once again the prime culprits of yet another New Zealand capitulation after the New Zealand seamers had placed the Kiwis in a strong position to win the test. Neither New Zealand openers could pass double figures which left a very fragile middle order exposed to a fired-up Jimmy Anderson and rejuvenated Stuart Broad.

Too much was left to Ross Taylor, New Zealand’s best batsmen, who, despite making an aggressive 66 in the first innings, could only keep out one ball in the 2^nd innings when his country needed him most. Kiwi prodigy Kane Williamson showed grit in the 1^st innings but like Taylor his ticker was nowhere to be seen when Broad and Anderson were running riot.

One shining light for the Kiwis was Tim Southee who finished the game with a career high 10 wickets. Southee exploited the early season conditions of Lords to aplomb pitching the ball up at pace and nipping the ball away from the right hander. Having become just the second New Zealander to take a 10 wicket haul at Lords, Southee has well and truly established himself as the driving force behind New Zealand’s attempt to rise from a lowly eighth on the World Rankings table.

Neil Wagner and Trent Boult provided able support for Southee and in helpful conditions both will cause England’s top order headaches at Leeds. However it remains to be seen whether these two are the bowlers to carry New Zealand forward in less bowler-friendly conditions.

 It appeared from the outset that the New Zealand middle order would be no match against a rampant English bowling attack fine-tuning themselves for the upcoming Ashes series in July. The stats don’t lie either - only one Kiwi batsman has a test batting average above 40. For New Zealand to be competitive at Leeds players such as Dean Brownlie, Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson must bat way beyond their average and be extremely resilient against Anderson and Broad. More importantly though it will be vital that Hamish Rutherford and Peter Fulton see out the new ball at Leeds, because once Anderson and Broad get a sniff of the Kiwi middle order, New Zealand will be leaving Heathrow in the blink of an eye.

Lords proved to us yet again that the New Zealand cricket team is tough and dogged but simply short of class against the world’s best. We learnt that Southee is a bonafide fast bowler, Wagner and Boult can cause mayhem and Taylor and Williamson can hold their own against good bowling attacks but yet again we were shown that when the opposition find their mojo New Zealand capitulates.  

In what direction is ODI cricket heading?

After watching the One Day International between Australia and the West Indies, one must question whether ODI cricket has seen its heyday. The game itself was a high quality affair, in which George Bailey made a stellar maiden century, Australia young gun Mitch Starc produced a devastating spell of fast bowling which yielded five wickets, and a resurrected West Indies line-up showed glimpses of the calypso kings of the 80’s with some big slogging and super sharp fielding. Yet barely 11,000 fans could be bothered to spend a fine Sunday afternoon watching a good exhibition of 50 over cricket.

ODI crowds have been dwindling at the MCG since the one-dayer between Australia and England in 2007 that attracted a crowd of 78,000. Since that fixture six years ago the MCG has only once seen more than 50,000 spectators attend a 50 over game. Cricket officials have blamed the deteriorating crowds as side effects to the excellent television coverage of Network Nine and the rise of twenty20 cricket.

Cricket fans claim they can’t bare the slow, tedious middle overs of ODI cricket when boundaries and wicket become few and far between. Cricket officials have tinkered with the game to make this period more enthralling for the fans however the middle overs generally still represent a plateau in the game.

Many just believe that three formats is simply too much cricket. So if there is only room for two international formats, the question asked is what form of the game is squeezed out. Test cricket being the pinnacle of the game will never be sent to exile while Twenty20 cricket has proven to be a cash cow on the world sporting arena.

All the doom and gloom surrounding ODI cricket would suggest to the naked eye that the game is fatalistic. And perhaps it is. But there are reasons to suggest that the format does have a future.

One advantage 50 over cricket possesses over Test cricket and to a degree 20 over cricket is that recent results suggest one-day cricket is far more even than the other formats. After being annihilated by South Africa in the Test and Twenty20 arena, New Zealand recently completed a 2-1 upset victory over a Proteas side ranked one in the world. Sri Lanka who were similarly dominated by Australia in the test arena, forced Australia to scramble for a 2-2 draw in the One Day theatre.

In the two most recent world cups, cricket minnow Ireland has beaten test match giants to reach the second stage of the ultimate tournament. Bangladesh, a traditional test match battler, has also flourished in 50 over cricket having beaten higher ranked opponents in the last two world cups.

Network Nine is set to announce a hefty TV rights deal next year for the rights to host ODI cricket in Australia for the next few years. Why? Despite the dwindling crowds, One-Dayers in Australia are still reeling in solid ratings. Besides the TV ratings, there is also commercial interest in the game because there so many ad breaks. And with the next world cup being staged in Australia, there is even more commercial interest surrounding ODI cricket.

The current state of ODI cricket is one of uncertainty yet hope. Whilst there are areas of the game that clearly need tinkering, there are still plenty of reasons to suggest the format has a future in the fine game that is cricket. The success of the World Cup in Australia will prove a massive indicator to the direction of the game. Poor crowds, boring games and poor TV ratings at cricket’s biggest showpiece could spell the end of One Day cricket.

 

Why Geelong can win the 2013 Premiership.

 

Over the past five years the Geelong Football Club has proven itself to the football world to be a modern day colossus. Some ten years ago the club was a scrap heap – in debt, average players, a small fan base and a poorly facilitated home ground. With the club on its knees, Mark Thompson was appointed senior coach of the football team. The club also appointed entrepreneur Frank Costa as its president and sought the services of one of the leading chief executives in the country Brian Cook. The signings of these three figures signalled a reversal in the fortunes of the club. In 2004 the Cats fell just nine points short of reaching the ultimate stage whilst the following season Geelong led eventual premiers the Sydney Swans by four goals in the semi-final before losing by less than a kick.

The Cats then proved themselves to be one of the great teams of the modern era by winning the 2007 Grand Final by 119 points; losing just two games in the 2008 AFL season; defeating St Kilda by 12 points to claim their eighth flag in 2009; finishing second on the ladder in the 2010 AFL season and then ousting the Pies by 38 points in the 2011 Grand Final to make it three premierships in five years. In season 2012 however, on the back of several key retirements, the Cats were made to look old, slow and short of class throughout the season. They managed to reach the finals, though were comprehensively beaten by a hungrier Fremantle unit in the Qualifying final.

At the end of 2012, the Cats set out to patch up some of the holes that had been left after the retirement of several premiership stars. Jared Rivers was recruited from Melbourne as a like for like replacement for Matthew Scarlett, Hamish McIntosh was welcomed to the club to strengthen its ruck stocks and Josh Caddy was pursued from the Gold Coast to complete the Cats compensation for the loss of Gary Ablett Jnr.

Despite the Cats new recruits and the potential shown by the Cats young brigade in 2012, critics have given Geelong very little chance of being in contention at the pointy end of the season. Some say the Cats experienced core is now too old and too slow to compete with the speed and class of sides such as Collingwood, Hawthorn and West Coast while others point to the fact that the Cats simply won’t be able to compensate for the loss of experienced stars such as Matthew Scarlett, Brad Ottens and Cameron Ling.

However the Cats side on paper seems to possess all the ingredients necessary to become a serious premiership threat in 2013. The defence is still stingy with Harry Taylor at centre half back and Tom Lonergan at full back while the experience and composure of Corey Enright, Josh Hunt and Andrew Mackie will prove invaluable for the Cats this season. The injection of Travis Varcoe and Cameron Guthrie into defence will add some much needed spark and dash to the line-up.

The midfield will remain a force to be reckoned with under inspirational captain Joel Selwood. He will be ably by supported by the experience of James Kelly, Joel Corey and Jimmy Bartel, and the youth of players such as Allan Christenson, Josh Caddy and Mitch Duncan. The skill and strength of a fit Hamish Macintosh in the ruck will hugely benefit Geelong’s ball winners as will the improvement of up and coming ruckman Nathan Vardy.

Whilst Geelong’s midfield and defence is very, very strong, the catalyst for success in 2013 could be the Cats forward line. Reigning best and fairest champion Tom Hawkins, now an elite forward, is the go to man for the Cats. His presence in the forward line should benefit the likes of James Podsiadly and Josh Walker as Hawkins generally will attract the opposition’s best key defender. The tendency for opposition defenders to try and outnumber Tom Hawkins will create endless opportunities for Geelong’s small forwards such as Paul Chapman, Steve Johnson, Daniel Menzel and Steven Motlop to find space unopposed and feed off the crumbs created by Hawkins.

 Whilst there is no doubting Geelong has the ability to go all the way in 2013, the journey to that last Saturday in September remains an arduous and hostile challenge. With eighteen teams now in the competition and so many clubs such as Collingwood, Hawthorn, Sydney and West Coast enjoying successful era’s, it is harder than ever to claim the ultimate glory. On the basis of the evidence in this piece however, Geelong has all the ingredients required to come out on top in 2013.