[cite]Posted By: miserableold-ish git[/cite]Never been too sure about Sidebottom.
I don't think that Sidey is out and out Test class and like Hoggard is perhaps a half-a-yard too slow, but he has a great action and he took his second chance at Test cricket really well and for a year was deservedly our best bowler. A shame that he's been injury prone recently, though that's something I put down to his trying to bowl a bit too fast in Test cricket for his action and body.
[cite]Posted By: BlackForestReds[/cite]
[cite]Posted By: miserableold-ish git[/cite]Never been too sure about Sidebottom.
I don't think that Sidey is out and out Test class and like Hoggard is perhaps a half-a-yard too slow, but he has a great action and he took his second chance at Test cricket really well and for a year was deservedly our best bowler. A shame that he's been injury prone recently, though that's something I put down to his trying to bowl a bit too fast in Test cricket for his action and body.
He has not done himself any favors by playing on while clearly unfit. I mean, good on him for battling on, but he has looked a shadow of his former self in recent appearances and TBH when you watch him in the field you can see that he is really struggling to run.
At his best he IS Test class, the spell he bowled to Tendulkar at Trent Bridge in 2007 was top-class, swinging it both ways and seaming it but he needs to be fit and he is not at the moment.
By contrast, Anderson, who I have always had major doubts about, is finally looking the goods and bowled very well in the Windies on dead pitches with no luck at all. He is due a big haul and I hope it comes against the Convicts XI.
This just abit like the Tevez deal but not illegal. If we were offerd Messi or Kaka for 3 months we would take it. as a kent fan am looking forward to seeing a top pace bowler somthing we have missed for a few years.
Something like 1 in 5 Aussies are descended from convicts who were transported in the 19th Century and possibly late 18th Century although I'm not sure of the top of my head when transportation stated.
Descendancy from a Convict is almost a badge of honour in Australia.
[cite]Posted By: adamtheaddick[/cite]This just abit like the Tevez deal but not illegal. If we were offerd Messi or Kaka for 3 months we would take it. as a kent fan am looking forward to seeing a top pace bowler somthing we have missed for a few years.
It's nothing like the Tevez deal.
Kent are well within their rights to sign anyone they like, and there is nothing illegal or dodgy about his signature or contract, the issue is about whether they should be signing a player who has been injured for the last few months and has missed the domestic Aussie season just before he joins the Australian Test squad. Kent will be giving Stuart Clark not just the chance to get match fit after a long lay-off, but also to get used to bowling in English conditions and therefore some experience in what length to bowl at.
Something like 1 in 5 Aussies are decended from convicts who were transported in the 19 th Century and possibly late 18th Century although I'm not sure of the top of my head when transportation stated.
Descendancy from a Convict is almost a badge of homour in Australia.
And also hugely tongue in cheek since I have lived in Brisbane for 12 years and my wife and three kids are Australians although none are convicts - although there is still plenty of time to put that right!!!
Nigel W, have to say Khan's action looked pretty suspect on the box in the Windies.
I'm a Kent man too so don't want to being having a pop but just wondered if that was something that was on the radar as well as his lack of one and propensity to fire down leg-side wides?
[cite]Posted By: BlackForestReds[/cite]Kent are well within their rights to sign anyone they like, and there is nothing illegal or dodgy about his signature or contract, the issue is about whether they should be signing a player who has been injured for the last few months and has missed the domestic Aussie season just before he joins the Australian Test squad. Kent will be giving Stuart Clark not just the chance to get match fit after a long lay-off, but also to get used to bowling in English conditions and therefore some experience in what length to bowl at.
So we would rather face a team or unfit and injured players then beat them fairly? is that the only way we can win the ashes if there all unfit and crooked? not exactly sporting mate.
[cite]Posted By: kinveachyaddick[/cite]Nigel W, have to say Khan's action looked pretty suspect on the box in the Windies.
I'm a Kent man too so don't want to being having a pop but just wondered if that was something that was on the radar as well as his lack of one and propensity to fire down leg-side wides?
The thought is that Khan has been injury prone in the past but now he's in the England set up they might request that he gets used a bit more sparingly ahead of the international season. Personally I think he needs the cricket and time spent in the middle.
As for his action, it does look suspect and I'd be nervous if Darrel Hair is standing in a Test/ODI that he plays in but I think he just about gets away with it. The rule is straightening the arm by more than 15% is illegal, and any whispers by the Aussies about it will be countered by suggestions that the authorities look at Brett Lee's.
So we would rather face a team or unfit and injured players then beat them fairly? is that the only way we can win the ashes if there all unfit and crooked? not exactly sporting mate.
........
I'm not sure you understand the subject at hand.
Stuart Clark is expected to be in the Australian Test team, but thanks to injury hasn't played any meaningful cricket for some time, therefore he'll be lacking in match fitness. Kent have very kindly given him the opportunity to complete his rehabilitation from injury, get match fit and moreover to acclimatise to bowling in English conditions ahead of a major Test series. The responsibility is down to the ACB (Australian Cricket Board) to get him match fit, not down to the ECB or Kent, it isn't about "fairness" but about common sense and whether Kent should put their needs ahead of the Test team. Bear in mind that without the revenues generated by International cricket teams like Kent would have folded years ago. So dear old KCC are not just aiding Australia but biting the hand that feeds them in the process.
This would be like Charlton signing a player on loan and getting him match sharp so that he could return to his original club in time to play against us in a must win match.
Eight counties have signed up Australian players for this coming season. They are almost all potential Test and/or ODI players and they are going to get fit/get into nick/get used to English conditions playing for Derbyshire, Durham, Glamorgan, Hampshire, Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire, Middx and Kent.
So why on earth have Kent been singled out for criticism?
Secondly, there's no problem with Khan's action, IMO. It was subjected to extensive slow motion replay and frame-by-frame analysis during Sky's coverage of the last Test and no fewer than five former England captains (Atherton, Hussain, Gower, Botham and Willis) concluded that the arm is not bent at the moment of delivery and does not straighten more than 15 per cent prior to that.
[cite]Posted By: BlackForestReds[/cite]This would be like Charlton signing a player on loan and getting him match sharp so that he could return to his original club in time to play against us in a must win match.
Ian HArte, Darren Powell, Hamar Bouazza, MArtin Crainie, Graham Murty..
Sorry im having a bad day, what does it matter as long as we have the best ashes ever with the best team winning,who knows the ACB didnt speak to kent? the players should be responsbile for there own actions its the one thing i hate about cricket this central contact nonsense and being able to hide behind the ecb etc.. bigger teams then us ala hampshire and durham and middlesex fans hardly get to see pieterson collingwood and strauss playing for there counties, look at football david beckham has gone to ac to get fit play matches and keep in the squad it should not be an issue. anyway up the spitfires...
And Philip Hughes, for example, has signed a short term contract at Middx to find out about English conditions before the Ashes ! Ditto Warner with a short term deal with Durham , North with Hampshire etc etc.
Clark may or may not make the Ashes squad. He is 33 after all, which is venerable for a Test fast bowler. Personally I hope he doesn't make their squad and they go for Lee, Johnson, Siddle, Hilfenhaus, Bollinger and Noffke (the last named getting in nick early season at Worcs, by the way) - in which case I am sure Kent will extend Clark's deal for the rest of the season.
I should add quite a few Kent members don't rate the signing - not because of the Ashes rumpus but because they simply reckon that at 33 and coming back from injury he's not the bowler he was 2-3 seasons ago.
[cite]Posted By: nigel w[/cite]at 33 and coming back from injury he's not the bowler he was 2-3 seasons ago.
still young for most kent players.. Saggers Cook etc.. got a feeling this will blow over as it still has not been officialy reported on who our over seas players will be. it was mentioned at the agm only so still a long way to go before its a done deal.
Adam, I was at the agm and it was announced as a done deal by Graham Johnson (chairman of the cricket committee). He's signed until end of May/beginning of June (when we will get McLaren back from the IPL) , subject to a rigorous fitness test before we fly him in from Australia and then another set of fitness tests conducted by the Kent physio on his arrival in Canterbury.
if hes that crook it wont happen mate. personally if hes 100% fit think he could help us get back to the promised land once again. Last year was heart breaking.
Brett Lee might not make the squad - he comes back from injury in May/June time and needs to prove his fitness. However as he averaged 40 in the 2005 series he can open the bowling for them as far as i'm concerned.
Johnson if fit will make the team - and will be their main attack bowler. Of the others - Siddle, Noffke, Bollinger, Hildenhaus, all are very inexperienced, and it's a tough ask them to bowl consistently well in a long Test series. I wouldn't pay too much attention to his age either, Clark isn't an out and out fast bowler and relies on McGrath like accuracy and the odd in/outswinger and is a more than useful third/fourth seamer who can slow the run rate.
Australia's other problem with their bowling attack is that they haven't filled the spin bowler vacancy. In which case having someone like Clark who can bowl well with the old ball is going to be even more useful. Think back to 2005, England used Jones and Flintoff quite often with the old ball with one bowling in tandem with Ashley Giles. That took a lot of pressure off the latter.
''Think back to 2005, England used Jones and Flintoff quite often with the old ball ..''
Because they could get reverse swing. Don't think Clark does - and he certainly shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as McGrath.
It's interestng to recall that Clark played for Mddx in 2004, hoping that would put him in the frame for the Ashes here in 2005. Didn't work and the selectors overlooked him, chosing Kasprowicz instead.
Because they could get reverse swing. Don't think Clark does - and he certainly shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as McGrath.
....
Clark surprised a lot of people at Test level and was consistently over-looked because like Sidebottom he lacked sheer pace, hence the Aussie selectors prefferred Kasprowicz, Gilespie (in the pie-chucking part of his career) but anyone who has taken 90 wickets at an averages of 23 deserves some respect as a cricketer. Plus he took quite a few wickets in the Ashes series down under...
A fellow Kent member has just given me a very interesting - and rather convincing - view on the county's signing of Clark.
Do we want to win the Ashes against a sub-standard Australia ? No , surely we want to win playing against the best team they have to offer.
If that includes Clark and Brett Lee, then as England supporters, let's hope both are fit. Ultimately, cricket will be the benificiary, in a way which transcends the partisanship of following one side or the other.
So well done Kent for helping to get Clark fit and enhancing the quality and value of cricket's oldest and most important spectacle !
[cite]Posted By: nigel w[/cite]A fellow Kent member has just given me a very interesting - and rather convincing - view on the county's signing of Clark.
Do we want to win the Ashes against a sub-standard Australia ? No , surely we want to win playing against the best team they have to offer.
If that includes Clark and Brett Lee, then as England supporters, let's hope both are fit. Ultimately, cricket will be the benificiary, in a way which transcends the partisanship of following one side or the other.
So well done Kent for helping to get Clark fit and enhancing the quality and value of cricket's oldest and most important spectacle !
If you believe that Kent were acting in the interests of cricket by helping to ensure that the Aussies had a fully fit squad at their disposal then I have some magic beans to sell you.
I'm no expert on cricket, but didn't Aussie (can I say Aussie) team tell one of our players to feck off when we wanted him to get fit for the ashes over there?
[cite]Posted By: T.C.E[/cite]I'm no expert on cricket, but didn't Aussie (can I say Aussie) team tell one of our players to feck off when we wanted him to get fit for the ashes over there?
That's not a story I've heard, on the last Ashes tour in Australia England had a development team based in Perth, which contained Michael Vaughan who was rehabilitating after injury, but I can't recall any request that those players be allowed to turn out for a State side.
Comments
He has not done himself any favors by playing on while clearly unfit. I mean, good on him for battling on, but he has looked a shadow of his former self in recent appearances and TBH when you watch him in the field you can see that he is really struggling to run.
At his best he IS Test class, the spell he bowled to Tendulkar at Trent Bridge in 2007 was top-class, swinging it both ways and seaming it but he needs to be fit and he is not at the moment.
By contrast, Anderson, who I have always had major doubts about, is finally looking the goods and bowled very well in the Windies on dead pitches with no luck at all. He is due a big haul and I hope it comes against the Convicts XI.
Factual not racist.
Something like 1 in 5 Aussies are descended from convicts who were transported in the 19th Century and possibly late 18th Century although I'm not sure of the top of my head when transportation stated.
Descendancy from a Convict is almost a badge of honour in Australia.
It's nothing like the Tevez deal.
Kent are well within their rights to sign anyone they like, and there is nothing illegal or dodgy about his signature or contract, the issue is about whether they should be signing a player who has been injured for the last few months and has missed the domestic Aussie season just before he joins the Australian Test squad. Kent will be giving Stuart Clark not just the chance to get match fit after a long lay-off, but also to get used to bowling in English conditions and therefore some experience in what length to bowl at.
And also hugely tongue in cheek since I have lived in Brisbane for 12 years and my wife and three kids are Australians although none are convicts - although there is still plenty of time to put that right!!!
England to win the series 7/4
Convict to win the series 8/11
Drawn series 5/1
England to regain the Ashes 7/4
England not to regain the Ashes 2/5
That's the first time I have seen those odds, 5-1 the draw looks like a reasonable bet.
I'm a Kent man too so don't want to being having a pop but just wondered if that was something that was on the radar as well as his lack of one and propensity to fire down leg-side wides?
So we would rather face a team or unfit and injured players then beat them fairly? is that the only way we can win the ashes if there all unfit and crooked? not exactly sporting mate.
The thought is that Khan has been injury prone in the past but now he's in the England set up they might request that he gets used a bit more sparingly ahead of the international season. Personally I think he needs the cricket and time spent in the middle.
As for his action, it does look suspect and I'd be nervous if Darrel Hair is standing in a Test/ODI that he plays in but I think he just about gets away with it. The rule is straightening the arm by more than 15% is illegal, and any whispers by the Aussies about it will be countered by suggestions that the authorities look at Brett Lee's.
........
I'm not sure you understand the subject at hand.
Stuart Clark is expected to be in the Australian Test team, but thanks to injury hasn't played any meaningful cricket for some time, therefore he'll be lacking in match fitness. Kent have very kindly given him the opportunity to complete his rehabilitation from injury, get match fit and moreover to acclimatise to bowling in English conditions ahead of a major Test series. The responsibility is down to the ACB (Australian Cricket Board) to get him match fit, not down to the ECB or Kent, it isn't about "fairness" but about common sense and whether Kent should put their needs ahead of the Test team. Bear in mind that without the revenues generated by International cricket teams like Kent would have folded years ago. So dear old KCC are not just aiding Australia but biting the hand that feeds them in the process.
This would be like Charlton signing a player on loan and getting him match sharp so that he could return to his original club in time to play against us in a must win match.
Eight counties have signed up Australian players for this coming season. They are almost all potential Test and/or ODI players and they are going to get fit/get into nick/get used to English conditions playing for Derbyshire, Durham, Glamorgan, Hampshire, Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire, Middx and Kent.
So why on earth have Kent been singled out for criticism?
Secondly, there's no problem with Khan's action, IMO. It was subjected to extensive slow motion replay and frame-by-frame analysis during Sky's coverage of the last Test and no fewer than five former England captains (Atherton, Hussain, Gower, Botham and Willis) concluded that the arm is not bent at the moment of delivery and does not straighten more than 15 per cent prior to that.
Ian HArte, Darren Powell, Hamar Bouazza, MArtin Crainie, Graham Murty..
Sorry im having a bad day, what does it matter as long as we have the best ashes ever with the best team winning,who knows the ACB didnt speak to kent? the players should be responsbile for there own actions its the one thing i hate about cricket this central contact nonsense and being able to hide behind the ecb etc.. bigger teams then us ala hampshire and durham and middlesex fans hardly get to see pieterson collingwood and strauss playing for there counties, look at football david beckham has gone to ac to get fit play matches and keep in the squad it should not be an issue. anyway up the spitfires...
....
Because Stuart Clark has signed a short-term contract specifically to get fit for the Ashes...
Clark may or may not make the Ashes squad. He is 33 after all, which is venerable for a Test fast bowler. Personally I hope he doesn't make their squad and they go for Lee, Johnson, Siddle, Hilfenhaus, Bollinger and Noffke (the last named getting in nick early season at Worcs, by the way) - in which case I am sure Kent will extend Clark's deal for the rest of the season.
I should add quite a few Kent members don't rate the signing - not because of the Ashes rumpus but because they simply reckon that at 33 and coming back from injury he's not the bowler he was 2-3 seasons ago.
still young for most kent players.. Saggers Cook etc.. got a feeling this will blow over as it still has not been officialy reported on who our over seas players will be. it was mentioned at the agm only so still a long way to go before its a done deal.
Johnson if fit will make the team - and will be their main attack bowler. Of the others - Siddle, Noffke, Bollinger, Hildenhaus, all are very inexperienced, and it's a tough ask them to bowl consistently well in a long Test series. I wouldn't pay too much attention to his age either, Clark isn't an out and out fast bowler and relies on McGrath like accuracy and the odd in/outswinger and is a more than useful third/fourth seamer who can slow the run rate.
Australia's other problem with their bowling attack is that they haven't filled the spin bowler vacancy. In which case having someone like Clark who can bowl well with the old ball is going to be even more useful. Think back to 2005, England used Jones and Flintoff quite often with the old ball with one bowling in tandem with Ashley Giles. That took a lot of pressure off the latter.
Personally I'm not 100% convinced by Mitchell Johnson's action - his quicker deliveries are very slingy.
Obviously a round arm action helps generate reverse swing which is what our selectors have seen in Khan and Johnson can do for the Aussies.
Because they could get reverse swing. Don't think Clark does - and he certainly shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as McGrath.
It's interestng to recall that Clark played for Mddx in 2004, hoping that would put him in the frame for the Ashes here in 2005. Didn't work and the selectors overlooked him, chosing Kasprowicz instead.
....
Clark surprised a lot of people at Test level and was consistently over-looked because like Sidebottom he lacked sheer pace, hence the Aussie selectors prefferred Kasprowicz, Gilespie (in the pie-chucking part of his career) but anyone who has taken 90 wickets at an averages of 23 deserves some respect as a cricketer. Plus he took quite a few wickets in the Ashes series down under...
Do we want to win the Ashes against a sub-standard Australia ? No , surely we want to win playing against the best team they have to offer.
If that includes Clark and Brett Lee, then as England supporters, let's hope both are fit. Ultimately, cricket will be the benificiary, in a way which transcends the partisanship of following one side or the other.
So well done Kent for helping to get Clark fit and enhancing the quality and value of cricket's oldest and most important spectacle !
If you believe that Kent were acting in the interests of cricket by helping to ensure that the Aussies had a fully fit squad at their disposal then I have some magic beans to sell you.
That's not a story I've heard, on the last Ashes tour in Australia England had a development team based in Perth, which contained Michael Vaughan who was rehabilitating after injury, but I can't recall any request that those players be allowed to turn out for a State side.