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Don’t you just love it when the Poms start whingeing…especially if its about Australian cricketers in an Ashes year.

Just a couple of months out from the Ashes and the verbals have begun already, with Australia well and truly taking the early upper hand.

Last month English cricket officials were bemoaning the fact that some Australian cricketers were being allowed to fine tune their preparations for the Ashes by playing County cricket during April and May.

Hughes Impresses In Debut

They now have a legitimate reason to be upset – in his English debut at the hallowed grounds of Lords, Macksville’s favourite son Philip Hughes has announced himself to the English cricket community with a commanding century for Middlesex in their first innings against Glamorgan.

To rub salt into the woulds he belted them around again in the second innings to finish 65 not out, with the match ending in a draw.

The Glamorgan bowlers were all at sea against the 20 year old, whose flashy technique lulls bowlers seeing him for the first time into thinking they are always on the verge of taking his wicket.

This actually feeds to Hughes’ strengths and allows him to score a mountain of runs through the offside as he creates a little room for himself before punishing the bowlers.

The Poms may be complaining about Hughes (and other Aussies) being allowed to play in England before the Ashes, but they should now try and turn it around to their advantage.

Rather than bowling to Hughes for the first time and struggling to come up with plans in the Ashes, they now have six weeks to put together some sort of strategy on how to dismiss him early in his innings – because once he’s set, he has a thirst for runs that could seriously deflate the determination of the England bowling attack.

In Other Cricket News

American Premier League Cricket?

I was reading a story yesterday about a 20/20 tournament being organised in the U.S without the official approval of the cricket’s governing body. Apparently the ICC has already warned players that they will lose their international eligibility if they decide to play in the tournament.

The tournament appears to be in the very early stages of development, with the current plan being to play matches on a converted baseball field in Staten Island, NY.

Some players have apparently been approached already, with the bulk of the signings so far coming from Pakistan. The ECB has already warned County players looking for a quick pay day to seriously consider the implications of signing up.

In response to the ICC’s non-sanctioning of the event, John Aaron the secretary of the USA cricket association has replied:

“…blessing was not sought in promoting the tournament”. He added that “the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in the USA, therefore many individuals continue to seek opportunities to arrange events”.

Aussie Old Hands Slaying 20/20 bowling attacks.

Retirement seems to have done little to diminish the talents of two of Australia’s greatest ever cricketers. Both Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist have enjoyed success early in the IPL tournament currently underway in South Africa.

Hayden belted 65 from 35 deliveries playing for the Chennai Super Kings in their match against Bangalore, while Gilchrist thumped 71 from 45 deliveries against the same team.

Crooksy

I was watching the Sunday afternoon rugby league game yesterday, and being a long time Bulldogs supporter (and Eels hater) I have to admit I was pretty happy with the punishing the Dogs dished out. They are having a great start to the season and have won as many games in the first six rounds of the competition as they managed to win in all of 2008.

One of the keys reasons for this success has been the signing of veteran Brett Kimmorley. He is having an obvious impact on the field, and if you listen to the reports and read the players comments there is  no doubt his presence off the field has also had a positive impact at the Belmore club.

Love/Hate Relationships In Sport

Here’s the thing…Kimmorley used to be one of my most disliked players. I mean right up there, top three players who I really enjoyed seeing smashed by the biggest forward on the park as he steamed in from a 20m run-up and hopefully raised the leg old school Mad Dog MacDougal style.

What made things worse for me was that Kimmorley normally handled this fairly well.

I think it kind of goes back to the days where NSW selectors were trying to squeeze both Kimmorley and Andrew Johns into State of Origin teams, so they’d push Johns out of position and I always felt kind of robbed I didn’t get to see more of Johns at half back for NSW.

Anyway, so now Kimmorley’s at the Bulldogs…and I can’t help but like the guy all of a sudden. I’m laughing at his jokes in interviews, urging him on as he sprints 80m to score a try and so on.

One-Club Players A Dying Breed

This then got me to thinking about player loyalty and how much of a rarity it is to see guys these days like Hasim El Masri who’s just three games away from notching up 300 games with the Bulldogs.

300 alone is a huge achievement, let alone with the same club. It’s just not the done thing in the professional sports era.

IPL The Ultimate In Cash Over Substance

This idea of cash over loyalty has now been stretched to it’s furthest extreme in the ‘business’ of the Indian Premier League cricket tournament which has just begun it’s second year.

Teams known as franchises, players auctioned off, Warnie hanging out with Bollywood starlets…I think old school cricketers would be turning in their graves, but the die has been cast and it seems 20/20 cricket is here to stay.

So as this new age of the mercenary sportsman evolves (and my ramblings reach some sort of point), the question becomes how do officials ensure the traditional forms of sports such as cricket remain vital.

In ten years time will nations such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the islands of the Caribbean still place value in their test cricket. Or will the deadly combination of lucrative profits and economic instability create a money comes first attitude and a devaluing of the long form of the game?

Taking Cricket To The Heathens

Many consider it an exciting time for cricket as the sport’s money men now have a product they can market outside of the regular strongholds of the game.

The traditionalists on the other hand give their approval through gritted teeth as they come to the realisation that this is not a passing fad and they attempt in vain to influence the direction this new version of the game takes the sport.

I’ll admit I wasn’t a fan of Twenty20 to start with – and not much has changed since the first match I watched. I like one-off games with players miked up and the half time entertainment, but I just can’t see myself becoming a die hard supporter of one particular IPL franchise, no matter how many big hitting foreign cricketers turn out for their million dollar paychecks.

And I think that’s where the problem is going to be down the track. Officials are talking of creating franchises with a brand identity to match that of the big European Football clubs.

In the words of the great Darryl Kerrigan…”Tell ‘em their dreaming”.

There will be fervent support on the sub-continent without doubt. Outside that market I can’t see it happening in my lifetime.

But I could be wrong – only time will tell.

Crooksy

PS If you agree or disagree with anything, or you just want to voice your own opinion feel free to do so below.

The second running of the Indian Premier League has begun with the first two matches of the tournament being played over night in the temporary host country of South Africa. Last years defending champions the Shane Warne led Rajasthan Royals were demolished in their first hit out against the Bangalore Royal Challengers, while in the other match the Tendulakar led the Mumbai Indians to victory over the Chennai Super Kings.

Shaun Tait Forced To Withdraw…By Cricket Australia

The major news out of the first match – apart from Warne’s team recording the lowest ever score in the short history of the tournament – was that Cricket Australia has forbidden Shaun Tait from playing for his club The Royals, ordering him to spend more time recovering from the hamstring tear he suffered in February.

Tait is said to be fairly upset with the verdict, not only losing the opportunity to prove his fitness ahead of the upcoming 20/20 world cup, but also forgoing the cool $500,000 he would have earned for a month and a bit worth of effort.

This is understandable but from my way of thinking it is a positive sign for Tait that CA is keen for him to be involved in more important fixtures coming up including a one day series against Pakistan, and the tour of England after that.

The news comes as a further blow to Warne’s team who will also be without last years player of the tournament, Shane Watson.

Who’s Playing For Who?

If you’re trying to figure out players are playing for which team….scan the teams below.

Bangalore Royal Challengers
Australian players: Cameron White, Nathan Bracken

Others: Anil Kumble, Kevin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Ross Taylor

Kolkata Knight Riders
Coach: John Buchanan (AUS)

Australian players: Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Mark Cameron, Moises HenriquesOthers

Others: Chris Gayle, Brendan McCullum, Ishant Sharma

Kings XI Punjab
Coach: Tom Moody (AUS)

Australian players: Brett Lee, Burt Cockley, James Hopes, Luke Pomersbach, Shaun Marsh, Simon Katich.

Others: Mahela Jayawardena, Yuvraj Singh, Kumar Sangakkara, Irfan Pathan

Chennai Super Kings
Australian players: George Bailey, Matthew Hayden.

Others: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Andrew Flintoff, Albie Morkel, Muttiah Muralitharan

Delhi Daredevils
Coach: Greg Shipperd (AUS)

Australian players: Andrew McDonald, David Warner, Dirk Nannes, Glenn McGrath

Others: Virender Sehwag, AB DeVilliers, Paul Collingwood

Rajasthan Royals
Coach/captain: Shane Warne (AUS)

Australian players: Lee Carseldine, Robert Quiney, Shane Harwood.

Others: Graeme Smith, Morne Morkel

Mumbai Indians
Australian players: Luke Ronchi

Others: Sachin Tendulkar, Dwayne Bravo, Sanath Jayasuriya, Harbajhan Singh

Deccan Chargers
Coach: Darren Lehmann (AUS)

Australian players: Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Ryan Harris.

Others: Chaminda Vaas, Fidel Edwards, Scott Styris, Herchelle Gibbs

Betting

If you’re looking for some betting action on the tournament over the coming weeks, Sportsbet has a wide range of options to choose from for each game including methods of dismissal, most sixes, highest opening partnership etc.

Click here now and you can also get a free bet of up to $100 with your initial deposit.

If you are thinking about placing a few bets on the upcoming tour of Pakistan don’t include Andrew Symonds in the reasoning of your choice as there is doubt that he will be playing any Australian cricket again let alone wearing the baggy green.

There are limited reasons for Andrew Symonds to want to continue playing Australian cricket altogether. After the treatment the media, the Australian Cricket Board and the selectors have given him of late I don’t blame him for setting his sights to the Indian Premier League for his future career.

The way I see it the disregard of Australian cricket Symonds has shown since being snubbed by the ACB and selectors is a giveaway that he has already made up his mind and is set to play in the IPL. He will be earning a cool 1.5 Million over 6 weeks that will make up for the 1 Million dollar share market battering in finance company Storm he took last month.

Playing in the Indian league would see him unable to take part (even if he were selected) in the scheduled ODI series against Pakistan as it conflicts with the IPL games. If he was to play it would be a huge pay cut to play the series with minimal pay compared to the IPL.

He has been quoted in saying that he dislikes all the off-field commitments that international cricket brings and didn’t want to attend majority of them. The IPL off season will allow him the time off that he needs to get away from all the hype of the cricket world.

Some analysts estimate Symonds only has 18 months left in his international playing career. Taking this into account he would have to consider whether to play the 18 months with Australia, retire from cricket (..and go fishing) or extend his cricket career and preserve his knee injury playing in the IPL for years to come, like Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and Glen McGrath are all doing.

The all rounder is a huge icon in India after the controversy of the Australia V India tests in 2008. He has plenty of support from millions of fans in India and sponsorship deals to last years. He is perfectly suited to the Twenty20 form of the game holding an excellent batting average of 56. Backed up with a strike rate of 23 with his medium paced deliveries and a super accurate throwing arm in the field.