The Associates thread

[t_94]

And the ironic thing is that a lot of the above players who are playing county cricket are actually more suited to the longer form of the game. Joyce was one of the best batsmen in the County Championship last year (averaged nearly 70 from memory) and Wilson, NOB, Murtagh and Porterfield are all excellent CC contributors.

Obviously the big issue is that a lot of that team above are the wrong side of 30 but there been a conscious effort to fast track young talented players through the system in Ireland and there is obviously a number of promising young players who have been picked up by county sides. For instance Craig Young and Peter Chase have been picked ahead of Sorensen for the WC with an eye to the future (particularly as producing home grown proper pace bowlers has been an issue previously). Also keep an eye out for Balbirnie at the WC, he looks to be the best batting prospect we've produced since Stirling came through.


I'm hoping the Irish can qualify for the quarter finals. What are your thoughts on the young spinner andy mcbrine?
Looks a good future prospect to me

 

[Yoda_]

Love your work The Speaker

Probably time these guys had a thread dedicated to them.

 

[Hellgood]

A decision borne more out of pride than reality IMO. A 30 year old injury prone pace man who was humiliated in his test debut and who never really impressed in the shorter forms has no future with England, even in the post-Anderson era. It's a pity as he'd add a huge amount to our attack.

I thought Rankin went pretty well in his few ODI appearances for the English? Know that he bowled particularly well against us over there so perhaps I'm just extrapolating based upon that. Murtagh is a very good addition to the attack which should help cover his absence, would be a pretty good new ball combination however.

 

[Headless]

Good thread from a good poster. Subbed.

 

[Seldom Seen Kid]

I thought Rankin went pretty well in his few ODI appearances for the English? Know that he bowled particularly well against us over there so perhaps I'm just extrapolating based upon that. Murtagh is a very good addition to the attack which should help cover his absence, would be a pretty good new ball combination however.

I don't recall specifically those games so I'll take your word for it, but in general he's been expensive in the shorter forms which is fine when he's in wicket taking form but that form comes too inconsistently for him to be considered a potential top level ODI bowler.

Murtagh has been an excellent addition but a lot rests on his shoulders now following the departures of Rankin and Johnson. He's essentially leading a pace attack made up of converted all-rounders (Mooney, Cusack) and kids (Chase, Thompson, Young)

I'm hoping the Irish can qualify for the quarter finals. What are your thoughts on the young spinner andy mcbrine?
Looks a good future prospect to me

I haven't seen a lot of McBrine, but from what I know he has a lot of potential. He is pretty good at tying up an end but hasn't taken many wickets in his top level career yet. Hopefully that will come with experience as it would be nice to have another quality spin option to choose from along with Dockrell.

 

[Hellgood]

I don't recall specifically those games so I'll take your word for it, but in general he's been expensive in the shorter forms which is fine when he's in wicket taking form but that form comes too inconsistently for him to be considered a potential top level ODI bowler.

Murtagh has been an excellent addition but a lot rests on his shoulders now following the departures of Rankin and Johnson. He's essentially leading a pace attack made up of converted all-rounders (Mooney, Cusack) and kids (Chase, Thompson, Young)

I haven't seen a lot of McBrine, but from what I know he has a lot of potential. He is pretty good at tying up an end but hasn't taken many wickets in his top level career yet. Hopefully that will come with experience as it would be nice to have another quality spin option to choose from along with Dockrell.

Interesting that Rankin has still gone to South Africa with the Lions, so maybe his papers haven't completely marked just yet. His ODI performances for England were pretty promising IMO, 10 wickets in 7 matches at an average of 24 isn't shabby at all. Going at 4.5 an over is respectable in the modern game too.

How do you see the development of Dockrell? Hasn't had the best time of it over the past year or so. Just a young player going through tough times or is there more to it than that?

 

[ioppolo]

For those interested the ICC has some associate games on their youtube channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/CricketICC

I believe they streamed the recent series between PNG and Hong Kong live on this channel (all legal of course)

Afghanistan play Scotland today, hopefully that gets streamed.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Speaking of lower level sides, l heard German and Dutch cricket is on the rise a bit, particularly in participation, not just by British expats. I also expect Zimbabwe to upset a few teams, bowling is solid, batting is prone to mega collapses though.

 

[ioppolo]

Denmark has had cricket participation for many years, they just seem to plod away in division 2 or 3 though.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Denmark has had cricket participation for many years, they just seem to plod away in division 2 or 3 though.

Our Tasmanian princess needs to redouble her efforts.

 

[BILC]

Good thread.

The ICC really doesn't help itself with trying to expand the game.

 

[Damon_3388]

Anyone know why Kenya has gone down hill so badly?

Corruption and mismanagement by the local board

Apparently they were pretty fanatical about cricket there, but seem to have declined steeply since the mid-to-late '90s.

 

[The Speaker]

Yeah I watched a bit of this. Former English keeper Gerant Jones now playing for PNG.

Really it's the other way around - PNG batsman Jones once played for England. He is a Port Moresby boy after all.

Speaking of lower level sides, l heard German and Dutch cricket is on the rise a bit, particularly in participation, not just by British expats. I also expect Zimbabwe to upset a few teams, bowling is solid, batting is prone to mega collapses though.

Dutch cricket is in a spot of bother at the moment. They just lost their ODI status, their sponsorship with ABN AMRO runs out at the end of the year, and they don't have a large player base to begin with, with most of their first team hailing from South Africa or Australia. They have recently been focusing on youth, so perhaps come the next WC qualifiers they'll regain their status wth more homegrown talent, but that's a while away.

 

[The Speaker]

Afghanistan play Scotland today, hopefully that gets streamed.

Well the first match in the tri-series is currently delayed by fog.

 

[The_Reaper]

Well the first match in the tri-series is currently delayed by fog.

In the UAE?

 

[The Speaker]

In the UAE?

At the ICC Academy in Dubai.

 

[t_94]

Apparently they were pretty fanatical about cricket there, but seem to have declined steeply since the mid-to-late '90s.

Nah they made a World Cup semi final in 2003 with a bit of lucky more mid 2000s

 

[The Speaker]

Tim Wigmore did a good interview with Aasif Karim on the past and future of cricket in Kenya:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/784519.html

The spell mentioned:

 

[Damon_3388]

Nah they made a World Cup semi final in 2003 with a bit of lucky more mid 2000s

Wow, didn't even realise that.

Still, recall the country once being described "as fanatical about cricket as Australia" (though obviously not as talented).

 

[ioppolo]

Nah they made a World Cup semi final in 2003 with a bit of lucky more mid 2000s

Well TBF New Zealand and England refused to travel to Nairobi. The result was points awarded to Kenya.

 

[The Speaker]

Match is underway, Scotland batting.

Dawlat got McLeod for a third ball duck. Scotland 1/19 after 6.

 

[Damon_3388]

I don't recall specifically those games so I'll take your word for it, but in general he's been expensive in the shorter forms which is fine when he's in wicket taking form but that form comes too inconsistently for him to be considered a potential top level ODI bowler.

Just looking at his record, it seems like kind of the opposite in the shorter forms, that he's pretty economical, but doesn't take enough wickets.

 

[The Speaker]

It's quite encouraging that the two oldest players in today's match - Kyle Coetzer and Mohammad Nabi - are both only 30.

Most of the players 24 or younger.

 

[ioppolo]

One thing I like to see is associates having homegrown players (not always the case with a lot of them)

Afghanistan have 9 home grown players (the other 2 from Pakistan).

Scotland have 5 (along with 3 Poms, an Aussie, and two South Africans).

 

[The_Reaper]

One thing I like to see is associates having homegrown players (not always the case with a lot of them)

Afghanistan have 9 home grown players (the other 2 from Pakistan).

Scotland have 5 (along with 3 Poms, an Aussie, and two South Africans).

The two Pakistani's in the Afghan team are Afghan refugees who happened to be born in Pakistan I'm pretty sure.