Symonds Past Comes Back To Bite Him

Australia announced their squad for the Ashes this week, and their was one major omission that caught every one's eye.

Andrew Symonds, the troublesome all-rounder, has been left out despite getting publicly backed by Ricky Ponting the day before. Whatever his past failings, Symonds is a devastating batter who has experience of an Ashes contest. He is also a useful back-up spin bowler who can either hold up one end or turn a few to unsettle batters. Since we are all expecting turning pitches this summer I'm surprised that the Aussies have not included a player who could be a real bonus. Most importantly, the Australian batting line-up doesn't look quite as strong without him.

Phillip Hughes will be confident after scoring a bagful of runs for Middlesex in a short stint that helped him to acclimatise to English conditions. Middlesex got a fair bit of stick for giving Hughes the opportunity, and now Gloucestershire are trying to bring Stuart Clark over on a short term deal before the Ashes starts.

Before the Ashes starts though, we have loads of one-day and Twenty20 games to play. Too many for my liking, but it may be a good build-up for the Ashes. The main worry during these economic times is that fans will make a decision as to which games they can afford to attend and we will see empty grounds for many of the games of the World Twenty20.

Lets all make sure that the Ashes are sold out, to prove that Test cricket is still the most important form of the game.

England Won - Now For The Important Stuff

England managed to finish off a very poor West Indies side by an innings yesterday, despite losing over a day to bad weather. At least the crowds were a little improved over the weekend, as England bowled the Windies out twice on a track that had seemed flat from the first ball.

Now we can move on to the main event; the visit of the Aussies.

For now I am going to ignore the fact that the first test is not being played at Lords, which is scandalous. I will return to this at a more appropriate time.

Ricky Ponting has been getting a few digs in early. He has promised to put extra pressure on Andrew Strauss, as the Australians always target the opposition Captain. He has also stated that both Michael Vaughan and Steve Harmison will be back in the England side.

I can't see Harmy getting back in, but it will be interesting to see how Vaughan gets on with Yorkshire over the next few weeks. Personally, I think he has left it too late. Ravi Bopara seems to have taken a firm grip on the number 3 slot after his two centuries, which leaves Vaughan with no place to go.

The main question mark will be over which bowler loses their slot if and when Andrew Flintoff returns. My feeling is that we could end up with just Stuart Broad and James Anderson, with two spinners, if the weather is as expected. If not then Graham Onions has done himself no harm. I'm not convinced that he will be a big enough threat against the Aussie top six, but I will be quite happy to be proven wrong.

Anderson has really come of age in the past year. He now has great control over his bowling, being able to vary his style to suit the conditions. Having worked hard on his batting he can now be trusted with the night watchman slot. He's probably the second name on the team sheet at present.

Wait On a Bit

Why are we playing Test matches at this time of the year?

This has been a bugbear of mine for a few years now. It's cold, the football season has reached its critical part, and players have only just got their kit out of the garage and dusted it off. We keep being told that international cricketers play too much, so what is the point in playing these games now.

I know that we can never guarantee the weather later on in the summer either, but one 5-test series is enough for a summer when we have so many other international games to play. I would much prefer to see the England players have a few weeks with their Counties to sort out any glitches in their game.

Durham Deserted

England won the toss and chose to bat first. At lunch they are apparently 85-1, though not many people have seen it.

The Riverside Ground is very quiet, as only about 3,000 tickets have been sold for today.

Maybe Chris Gayle has a point.

Durham has done its time, putting on tests against the lesser nations over the past couple of years. So why have they again been given an early season test when Cardiff gets to stage an Ashes Test for its first.

It really is no wonder that the people of Durham have decided to stay away. They should have the game against Australia, while Sophia Gardens should have staged this one.

The ECB needs to take a good look at its decision-making process.

Is Cricket Dying?

I have decided to start this blog because I am worried about the state of my favourite game.

The West Indies captain, Chris Gayle, has spoken out over the last few days about his views on Test Cricket. He feels that the Twenty20 format will become more important than Tests to him.

I cannot believe that a West Indian captain could say such a thing. How will his players feel about the test that starts today? Their motivation must be so low if the captain feels this way.

Now don't get me wrong; I think Twenty20 has been a breath of fresh air that has done much to raise the profile of the game. And i realise that the huge sums of money on offer to players who take part in tournaments like the Indian Premier League are hard to ignore.

I also think that one-day cricket is a good format. The 50-over game is the correct one, rather than 40-overs, and this is the form that needs to be played in the County game.

But 4 and 5 day cricket matches are the pinnacle of the sport. This is where players hone their skills and make a name for themselves.

Does the West Indian captain really believe that these forms of cricket should be abandoned to be replaced by roadshows of Twenty20 competitions? Or is he just disillusioned with the game. He has always been a very laid-back individual. Maybe he has become bored with all the things that come with it.

Of the captaincy he said: "It's definitely not something I'm looking to hang on to. I need some time for myself, to be honest with you, it's a lot of travelling. There's always something you have to go and do, you know, extra.

"Lunch or dinner, some other thing, there's always something for the captain."

I know that cricket in the West Indies has been struggling for a while now, but surely the captain has to exude confidence and enjoyment for his whole team and indeed for his country.