Skip to main content

Open letter to SA Cricket – fix the middle order

The Politics of South African CricketAfter the match yesterday, where we were once again knocked out of a cricket world cup. Mike Haysman, asked Kepler Wessels, why does this always happen. I was disappointed in the answer and will not even list it here.

The answer is simple, as South African cricket supporters we idolize the opening batsman and the open bowlers, and then cram the side with all sorts of all rounders, hoping that a cricket side will make. We do not concentrate on the middle order.

I look at the great cricket sides and what is a common thread? A strong, dedicated middle order, and here is the funny part, we have one?

So what is wrong? Well the problem is that we are so used to making our batmen that can bowl a bit, bowl, we have forgotten why they are there. JP, Faf and Colin Ingram are excellent middle order batsman. But we go on about how well they bat? And there are more that have not even made this side. If you look at the matches won the middle order have always done an important job.

The English and Aussie sides do well because the players know their role. A middle order batsman is not a batsman that bowls; he is a batsman. If they do bowl, it should be for less than 4 overs, unless they are having a blinder. Look at India’s success with Yurav.

We need to have a middle order specialist teaching the middle order how to think (not play, that they know). But learn how to play in a way that they can adapt. The middle order player needs to be adaptable. When the top order fire, they need to finish off a game, when the top order collapse they need to build a game, and all the scenarios in between.

Until we have a Paul Collingwood or Michael Bevan or Michael Hussey we will not win a world cup! Oh and guess what the famous 438 game Jacque Kallis batted 5, and Boucher 6 – a middle order that steer the game home!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Sage words Wozza...Just desperate mate. The ability to play under pressure in this format left some of our stars looking several paces of the mark. I give up!

Cheers mate.

Pete
Wassa said…
Perhaps the stars should have played in the middle order ;)

Popular posts from this blog

Bitcoin / Cryptocurrency – what is it and how can I benefit

What is it I started investigating Bitcoin when it was worth just over $1000 a bitcoin. I was interested in what it was and how it worked. A lot of people are saying we missed the boat, but I believe that everyone should at least try put a little money in now, or at least use a faucet (see below) to make a little micro-currency. You can read a Wiki article about bitcoin and its history etc. But what you need to know is that it is a currency, that is independent of country. No one really knows who invented the concept of a cryptocurrency since the person who published the paper used a nom de plume. All new cryptocurrencies work more or less the same way as Bitcoin. So as I explain below I interchange these terms. Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency. How Bitcoin works The currency releases a coin based on a mathematical formula. There will never be more than 21 million bitcoins (other cryptocurrencies do not work like this). Each bitcoin can have divided into one hundred mil

Migrating QuickBooks to Sage One Cloud accounting - Part 1 Exporting the data

Some notes Sage means sage one online accounts, wherever we say Sage we mean Sage one. The QuickBooks we used was version 2012 Professional. But most of the information is similar. What you need > You need the templates from Sage and the data from QuickBooks, see below for how to do these. Get Import Templates from Sage To get the templates for the items go to help.accounting.sageone.co.za/en_za/accounting/from-your-previous-accounting-system.html Although you can construct the templates from the information in this post you can download samples of the templates need. Below are the links they provide: Use the following downloads which are referenced in the guide: General Ledger Accounts Import Template Customer Import Template Customer Outstanding Invoices Import Template Supplier Import Template Supplier Outstanding Invoices Import Template Item Import Template   Another useful page that is hard to find on their system is: help.accounting.sageone.co.za/en_za/ac

Mindfullness Meditation and Depression - in a pod cast

Over the last 3 years I have found that meditation has really assisted me, in resolving the depression I have had. I have planned to write about my experience for a while, and hopefully will get around to doing that. However today having listen to the latest podcast by Dan Harris on 10% happier, so many things just clicked in to place, so I want to share it. To understand what is covered in the podcast I would recommend you understand what mindfulness meditation is, and what the default mode network in the brain is (see links below). Listen to the pod cast - but here are some extracts (which I do not have permission to publish - and will remove if asked). Link to podcast: tumello.com/listen/H11a5NYJf; or itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/10-happier-with-dan-harris/id1087147821 Chuck Raison, a psychiatrist and a professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, and Vlad Maletic, a clinical professor of neuropsychiatry and behavior sc