MCC v. Sussex

Yorkshire Blue said:

Dancing lessons?

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LOL. Harsh, but possibly fair.

Still, I shall be watching his footwork on the crease with an even keener eye this season!

:D

Nice to see that Fozzie's picked up 3 catches so far.

Matt, good luck today, hope it all goes well. I shall be tuning in later :)

I want to ask when they expect a pop

Well we know what commentator is the Jonah.

MtS is to commentary, what Dickie Bird is to umpiring.

Yorkshire Blue said:

Well we know what commentator is the Jonah.

MtS is to commentary, what Dickie Bird is to umpiring.

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How many buses has he spotted so far ?

No buses, but he's currently interviewing his gardener about the state of his garden......

Yorkshire Blue said:

No buses, but he's currently interviewing his gardener about the state of his garden......

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I want to hear from MtS' butler.

Yorkshire Blue said:

No buses, but he's currently interviewing his gardener about the state of his garden......

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...you mean Kent?;)

Yorkshire Blue said:

No buses, but he's currently interviewing his gardener about the state of his garden......

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Hey, I was f***ing cold and needed to do something! All of the players were warming up, and I was standing by the Nursery Ground like a bit of a lemon with the microphone and my mini-disc, waiting for someone to come over to speak to me. I spotted Mick Hunt and figured I would have a chat with him in case we had a rain-break and needed to fill time.

As it turns out, I thought Mick had quite a lot to say for himself and it was relatively interesting - I can confirm that the square is as green as I've seen it for a while, which might make it interesting in the first test v. NZ.

I then did manage to speak to one or two players - Owais Shah was v. friendly, as was Sussex's Chris Nash.

It was an enjoyable game, all told - although a bit bleak from an Essex and "England fringes" point of view. Foster's batting was absolute gash - no footwork, and just proferring the bat to anything in the danger zone. He was lucky to make 1. Ravi's bowling looked a bit toothless, really - he's just not quick enough. Graham Onions was hopeless. His inability to get his line & length right often enough would, I'm afraid, mean that he would get slaughtered at Test level.

Shah batted well on the Thursday (which I didn't see), but lasted only a couple of overs on the Friday before being undone by a slower one.

Prior's keeping looked a bit tidier, but perhaps still not brilliant. He's not as good behind the timbers as Fozzie; but unless Fozzie sorts his batting out, he won't be troubling the selectors any time soon. Adil Rashid bowled well, but I didn't really see him bat - again, he departed early on the Friday.

However, the clear MoM was Luke Wright - who was fantastic with both bat and ball (he's gained a yard or two in pace with the latter, which is very heartening). If he keeps that sort of form up, then expect a recall to the one-day side very soon - although he does have to watch out for over-aggression (following his captain's lead a little too much, perhaps?). Better bowlers than those on display for the MCC would have punished him.

Oh, and on this form - and with their present line-up - Sussex will be there or thereabouts this season. They looked really good - sadly, a very visible notch or two up on Essex from when I watched us last season. Good young openers (Nash played very well - a name to watch, for sure) and with a middle order of Adams, Yardy, Wright and Martin-Jenkins, they will score plenty this season. Watch out for Ryan Harris too - I think Essex almost signed him, and that's our loss: he bowled with pace and aggression and will do well for the south-coasters this season.

There should be interviews on the website too - http://mcc.sportslinemedia.co.uk/

Matt

I'm less concerned about Wright's pace as his line and length. I think he has the ability to get quicker, but he needs to have the control as well, as once you start bowling quicker you tend to lose rather than gain accuracy.

Hopefully his batting will really kick on this season in first class cricket as well. I say this as I think its important for him to show that he is more than an one-day slogger and that it was just a case of his one-day batting clicking before his first class batting did. If he does earn a place as a batsman, it should make it easier for him to have a bowl as well, and develop that part of his game as well. His batting can earn his bowling time to develop.

ps Good commentary Matt, I enjoyed it, including your interview with your gardener!

Yorkshire Blue said:

I'm less concerned about Wright's pace as his line and length. I think he has the ability to get quicker, but he needs to have the control as well, as once you start bowling quicker you tend to lose rather than gain accuracy.

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Well, be encouraged then... his line & length on Friday were good - especially when compared to Onions. Shreck had, perhaps, a slightly more consistent line - but he isn't terribly quick and so wasn't as effective as Wright. Wright has really gone away and worked at his game over the winter (I think he was playing grade cricket in Oz), and it appears to have paid off.

Yorkshire Blue said:

Hopefully his batting will really kick on this season in first class cricket as well. I say this as I think its important for him to show that he is more than an one-day slogger and that it was just a case of his one-day batting clicking before his first class batting did. If he does earn a place as a batsman, it should make it easier for him to have a bowl as well, and develop that part of his game as well. His batting can earn his bowling time to develop.

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Agreed. There were one or two wild swipes, which still give me a moderate cause for concern - but if he can control those urges, then he looks to have a very strong batting package. He is squat and muscular at the crease when batting, which gives him great strength in his strokeplay and makes bouncers a doddle; I guess he has to watch out for the low & straight ones. But footwork was strong and he has decent hand-eye co-ordination.

It was funny watching him and RMJ bat - the latter had very little footwork to speak of, but I guess it spoke of Onions' inability to maintain any sort of line and length that, despite the lack of footwork, RMJ was seldom troubled.

Yorkshire Blue said:

Good commentary Matt, I enjoyed it, including your interview with your gardener!

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Thanks mate - I really enjoyed it, although I have got a bit of a break now until a couple of good games in August: MCC v. Bangladesh A; and England women v. SA women.

Matt