Dennis O’Neill might need his own byline after this email.
“First, what an extraordinary summer of cricket. The World Cup and an Ashes series that hasn’t once given us a three day result (well, without tempting fate, anyway). It’s been a fantastic series, disappointing result but you can’t have everything. I know we’ve bemoaned the loss of Jimmy Anderson, but we’ve found Jofra Archer and now that Sam Curran seems to have been released from revising for his GCSEs, we could well have two potential replacements for Jimmy and Stuart Broad.” An excellent opening salvo.
“I only get to see the highlights, but from what I saw last night, it was good to see the crowd finally giving Steve Smith more cheers than boos. Booing was an ok reaction at first, then it was quite funny but it got really irritating after the third or fourth innings. The point had been made.” Agreed.
“He was astonishing and while I know the Aussie bowlers have been immense, England’s bowlers haven’t really let themselves down – if you give Smith the same average as the rest of his team mates, I’m convinced there’s a strong argument for England winning this series 3-1, he’s been that outstanding. I mean, his 80 yesterday was the poorest score of the series? That’s beyond phenomenal and into properly ridiculous.” Yep.
“Now to a couple of questions that I’ve never understood about the game. What’s the thinking behind a nightwatchman? If you’re sending someone who’s not a recognised batsman out to face an attack geed up and ready for blood, surely there’s a strong possibility that the nightwatchman won’t last the night, giving the other side a fillip? And even if he does, he’s surely an expected victim early on the following day, giving the other side another psychological boost that there’s one more down cheaply?” Absolutely, and you’ve articulated perfectly why the Australian default (in other words the alpha approach) has long been to avoid them.
“And if there is a good argument for that, why did England send out both their regular openers last night? Isn’t the argument for nightwatchmen valid there too? Send out one opener and a nightwatchman or even two nightwatchman?
I’m not trying to be sarcastic or snide here, I’m asking out of genuine ignorance.” These are (valid) questions for men and women on a higher pay grade than I.
“Next, Denly survived an LBW shout because the ball pitched outside the line – I’ve seen any number of LBWs that have pitched outside the line, but they’ve been given. Again, genuine ignorance of the rules, here. I sometimes struggle with LBW, and I’m someone who can understand the offside rule!” Try this handy video Dennis.
Hope that all helps!
