What effect does average have on a batsman? Aaron Finch's contrasting figures in limited-overs

What effect does average have on a batsman?

Aaron Finch's contrasting figures in limited-overs and first-class cricket suggest he needs to bring his T20 mindset to the longer format

Having been asked many times what made Don Bradman so much better than the rest, I came to the conclusion it was his unique ability to replicate the more relaxed thought process of a net session while batting in the middle.

I reached this point of view after watching footage of Bradman bat to save the 1938 Trent Bridge Test. On that occasion, his footwork, normally positive and precise, looked like any other batsman's, as he shuffled in the crease, defending doggedly to stave off defeat. This drastic change in mindset was brought on because he was desperate to save a match in which Stan McCabe had played a memorable innings. As McCabe flayed the English attack, Bradman had famously said to the Australian players in the dressing room: "Come and look at this, you'll never see its like again."

Despite McCabe's brilliance, Australia was forced to follow on, and for once Bradman must have felt the external pressures that he was obviously able to eradicate from most of his other innings. Maybe he also experienced that same feeling in his final Test innings when he made a duck, needing only four runs for a career average of a hundred.

And that prompts the question: "What effect does batting average have on players?"

While he smote the English attack in scoring a record-breaking 156 off just 63 balls in the T20, Aaron Finch didn't seem to have a care in the world. Contrast that onslaught with his miserable last two Sheffield Shield seasons, where he has accumulated a minuscule 300 runs in 19 innings at the pedestrian strike rate of 58 runs per hundred balls.

In T20, your strike rate is the dominant statistic and the batting average takes a back seat. Most players are not so bothered about sacrificing their wicket in the format, because "that's the nature of the game".

However, in Test and first-class cricket very few players are willing to embrace equally the disparate ambitions of personal success and entertaining the crowd. After such a brutal display of hitting, it's natural to wonder: why can't Finch do better in longer forms of the game?

Finch is acknowledging that average counts by playing differently at first-class level to try to maintain a place in the side. Average is one of the measures selectors use to judge a batsman.

One commentator described Finch's T20 knock as a great innings. While there's no doubting the entertainment value, I would argue the lack of a contest - the bowlers appeared powerless to stop Finch - made it more of an exhibition of exceptional hitting.

Part of the enjoyment of a memorable innings is to witness a batsman overcome everything the bowlers produce in the contest. Consequently, the great Test knocks are readily remembered many years later. Bradman's 300 in a day at Headingley and McCabe's brilliance at Trent Bridge are still regarded as classic innings despite being played early last century. Brian Lara's record-breaking 400 and VVS Laxman's exquisite 281 at Eden Gardens were compiled years ago but are still recalled fondly.

Even some of the shorter-form knocks such as Sachin Tendulkar's epic 200 to become the first player to reach that level in an ODI will be talked about for years. Chris Gayle's blazing century in the inaugural World Twenty20 is still recalled as the first of its kind. And Garry Sobers' feat in achieving six sixes in a first-class over is still talked about in awe.

Players like Sobers, Tendulkar and Gayle have a huge advantage over Finch in a cricket fan's memory. Those three will long be revered as all-round batsmen because of their highly successful Test careers. Finch, on the other hand, unless he can find a way to play the longer form successfully, is in danger of being remembered simply as a bowler bully whose brutish hitting was discounted by shortened boundaries, enlarged bats and flat pitches.

In order to elevate his status as a batsman, perhaps Finch needs to take a leaf out of Bradman's book. He could try emulating the thought process in first-class cricket, not so much of his net sessions but of the T20 arena.

Australia news

WACA stripped of Test in 2014-15

Perth is the major casualty of Australia's truncated 2014-15 Test summer, stripped of its annual match for the first time since 1976-77. Only four Tests are scheduled for a season in which India will visit, due mainly to the fixturing squeeze created by the 2015 World Cup, and the nation's two smallest and youngest major grounds in Perth and Hobart have been left off the Test calendar.

The decision has provoked an outraged response from the Western Australia Cricket Association, while the host broadcaster Channel Nine is also likely to be nonplussed about losing the one Test match of the summer it can screen in prime time to the populous eastern states, due to Perth's more westerly time zone. However it was always likely that Perth would miss out on the match due to concerns about the ground's facilities and size relative to its main rivals Brisbane and Adelaide.

While Bellerive Oval has never been a nailed-on venue, the WACA ground has invariably provided blood and thunder Test cricket, due to its uniquely fast and bouncy pitch. India were rounded up by an innings and 37 runs well inside three days in Perth in January 2012. Other considerations outlined by the CA chief executive James Sutherland included the strong claims of other grounds. Adelaide Oval's $535 million redevelopment will be complete in time for the series, while the Gabba has traditionally been host to the first Test of the summer and has consistently drawn larger crowds to its matches than Perth.

The WACA's size, a history of spotty attendances and facilities lagging behind other grounds have detracted from its standing among international venues, despite its lively pitch and a time zone more favourable to television audiences both in India and on the east coast of Australia. CA's verdict also maintains a longstanding tradition of "last in, first out" among venues - Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane all boasting of longer Test traditions than Perth.

"Though a traditional Test match venue with a proud history, the WACA ground has the smallest capacity of the five mainland Test venues and has historically attracted lower attendances," Sutherland said. "The WACA has been working hard to improve the facilities for its fans but it still requires significant improvements.

"Although the WACA has missed out on a Test match, they will play host to up to four limited-overs matches in the 2014-15 season that will see South Africa tour in a limited-overs series in November, as well as India and England competing in a tri-series in January prior to the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup."

Christina Matthews, the WACA chief executive, expressed her deep disappointment at the WACA's reduced allocation for 2014-15. "Whilst CA will provide additional limited-overs matches to replace the Test match, there is no compensation for losing a Test," she said. "The on-going effect this loss will have on the WACA and cricket in Western Australia will be devastating. We will continue talks with CA and will be seeking an understanding from them of all the elements behind the decision."

Apart from Adelaide and Brisbane, the other party most likely to be pleased by the decision are India's cricketers. Save for a victory on an uncharacteristic WACA ground surface in 2008, India have struggled in Perth, and the green-tinged 2012 pitch is known to have been chief among the motivators for the retaliatory dustbowls prepared for Australia's visit to India earlier this year.

"One goes back to the Perth Test where the wicket was green and we played to our strengths and won the Test in two and a half days," Australia's former coach Mickey Arthur said last month. "They clearly wanted retribution for that and produced some of the toughest conditions I'd ever seen. They went out of their way to prepare those conditions and I can't argue with that."

 

Lost white hope, Cameron White, Australia

Once Australia's next big thing, Cameron White finds his international career more or less done and dusted, and with no takers for his main suit, captaincy

When he was a teenager, people said Cameron White was the next Warne, who could bat and might captain Australia. It was a lot to carry.

White looked like he could carry it. Until you're standing near him, you don't quite get the full effect. His nickname is from a polar bear that appears in rum ads. Which when you're close to him you fully understand. He's not built like a batsman, or even a cricketer. He's built more like a gym-body beach bum.

His shoulders are epic. White is constantly pulling at his sleeves. It is probably a tic from a lifetime of ill-fitting shirts. He has what sports commentators like to refer to as an impressive frame. He looks like he could pick up most cricketers and toss them back over his shoulder just for fun.

If that's what he looks like, it's often the complete opposite of how he actually is on the field.

When White bowls he seems one ball away from breakdown. A stock ball that produces few worries. He relies on pushing his even straighter ball through a bit quicker and trapping a player back on the crease. It is a risky practice. And unless you have the genius of Anil Kumble, you are going to fail more than you succeed. The only way it works is if you believe in your method completely. It seemed like White never has. At times of late, he has even resorted to medium pace. Giving up legspin for medium pace is the last resort of any leggie.

When White bats he has two modes. Angel of death or dead duck. Early on he always looks one full and straight ball away from a dismissal. Other men with his power intimidate bowlers, but unlike Symonds or Watson, White can look awkward and out of place in the middle. Until he hits the ball long and straight, his innings seem to be played with a handbrake on. When he does take a ball long, he often leaves his bat up for a good few seconds. On other batsmen it looks arrogant. For White, it is almost surprise at what he can do.

There is not a bowler on earth that he can't lift down the ground and into the stands. Most of them well beyond that. When he is in a purple patch of form, your best chance of getting him caught is in the second tier. And once in that form, the good form can last for months. Unfortunately, the bad form can last just as long. And he has seemingly no middle ground.

The only time you see White as he should be is in the field. If he's unsure as a bowler and flawed as a batsman, as a captain he's a king. David Hookes was given great credit for giving White the captaincy at such a young age, but Hookes would have been pronounced blind had he not seen the phenomenal tactical nous of White.

White reads cricket as well as any modern player. It has not been taught by coaches or academies, it is a natural gift. To see him in the field is to see a captain as one should be. Upbeat, attacking, in charge, active, and ahead of the game. In limited- overs cricket he understands angles about as well as any captain. He has the energy and spirit of a young captain who is not scarred despite ten years of professional captaincy. For captaincy nerds, it is worth just watching him in the field. He's Shane Warne 2.0 without the "all lost to win" attitude in every game. Results-wise he is the best captain Victoria have ever had, and he's still only 30.

From the start of his international career he was in the circle, giving Ponting advice. Sometimes Ponting liked it, sometimes it appeared as if he had a headache. Before, Ponting had listened to titans of Australian cricket - Gilchrist, Lehmann and Warne. Now a young kid who looked like he'd got lost on the way back from a beach was yapping at him, and pointing to all the places he thought Ponting should be attacking or defending.

Australia thought so much of White that when Michael Clarke stepped down from T20 cricket, White took the job. It wasn't a big surprise. He had led Victoria as they dominated Australian domestic T20 cricket. He broke records in English T20 cricket, and was one of the first players tapped on the shoulder for the IPL. He was known to most as a captain before he was known as a cricketer.

White's reign was short. Six games. As a batsman he struggled due to one of his hauntingly long form lapses. He never bowled. Soon he was out of the ODI team and lost his role as captain. White has not played ODI cricket since 2011, and was not in the current T20 side to play England.

At one stage he was future Warne. At another, future Australia Test captain. Now he is a very occasional bowler who will barely be remembered as a former Australia T20 captain. If he ever could have put the confidence and belief he had in captaincy into the rest of his game, he would have become the sort of Australian cricketer their team needs so much now. He has elements of the three kinds of cricketers Australia want most. A spinner. A batsman. And a leader.

At 30, he has been replaced as Victoria's captain. Matthew Wade has taken the job. It is a massive move to dump the second-most successful captain in Shield cricket when he is only 30. But it is only partly about White.

	The only time you see White as he should be is in the field. If he's unsure as a bowler, and flawed as a batsman, as a captain he's a king

Cricket Victoria felt the indirect pressure of Cricket Australia to provide Australia with a potential future captain. There is a leadership gap in Australian cricket, and Cricket Victoria (Cricket New South Wales replaced Simon Katich with Stephen O'Keeffe) is trying to fill it. Wade is a fighter, someone who has overcome cancer and a poor wicketkeeping technique to make it as Australia's first-choice keeper, right up until the Ashes. Yet the major reason Brad Haddin was brought back was for leadership. Which seems odd, considering Wade's new job.

In the push for youth and magic potions, Cricket Australia have often discarded their strength, a strong Sheffield Shield competition. Their tampering with the Futures League was a disaster that they are rectifying. Cricket Australia constantly rewards youth over skill and experience. While some would love it if the kids all had a go, if the kids all have a go and there is no one around to test them, what is the point? What will they learn playing in Cricket Australia's indirect age-group series? This pressure on the states to find leaders is just another short-term fix that won't help. Wade, 25, is a potential leader. White, 30, is out.

The only problem is, Australian Test captains rarely come from Shield cricket these days. Australian captains are picked from within the team. Mostly from the players who have played several years of international cricket, which makes them unavailable for Shield cricket. Border, Taylor, Waugh, Ponting and Clarke didn't get to play entire seasons as Shield captains. Perhaps with the exception of Taylor, they really learnt the job as second in charge of the Test team, or through captaining the limited-overs sides.

With Haddin averaging 22 in his comeback series, the chances are Wade will be the keeper in all three formats and he'll barely captain Victoria. With Haddin out of the side, if the Australian team really rate Wade, he'd be made vice-captain of the Test side. If Victoria really wanted to replace White with a potential future captain who could get invaluable experience, they'd be better off with Alex Keath or Peter Hanscomb. They are both older than White was when he took over from Darren Berry.

Or they could have left White there to help develop the next generation of cricketers. Other than as an occasional member of the limited-overs side, the one thing that White can still give Australian cricket is his captaincy. Not at the international level but at domestic. A young first-class batsman should be examined by a smart captain. Poking at a technique that has been largely untested in age-group cricket and academies. A Victorian bowler with promise being mentored by an expert. A player trying to get back into the Test team up against a captain who knows how to make him struggle.

White's batting and bowling might not have been Test quality, but his captaincy is. The one thing he did best, the one way he could continue to help Australian cricket, is now being taken out of Shield cricket. How soon before he drifts into the life of a T20 freelancer and is virtually lost to Australian cricket altogether?

You'd think a country that is having so many problems producing skilled cricketers would be a little more hesitant to throw away the ones they have. A few days after his 30th birthday, Australian cricket has started to distance itself from one of its lost generation. In doing so, they continue to lose.

ICC trials instant replays for third umpire

David Richardson, the ICC chief executive, has revealed a trial is underway during the current Ashes series to enhance the role of the third umpire by feeding him direct pictures that would avert controversial incidents like Stuart Broad getting away with a thick edge in the first Investec Test last week. Broad stood his ground having edged a ball from Ashton Agar, after the on-field umpire Aleem Dar failed to spot the deflection off the bat. Having spent all their reviews, Michael Clarke's Australia were left high and dry.

Speaking on the BBC's Test Match Special, Richardson admitted it was frustrating that, in the age of technology, Broad managed to escape. "It is, of course," Richardson said. "For that reason, up to the third Test, we have a trial going on, independent of what is happening on the field, to allow the third umpire to have a bank of televisions where he can actually choose and get access to the technology much quicker than he would if he simply relies on the director or producer sending him the pictures up to him. If we progress along these lines ... there is an opportunity for the third umpire to have the say and to overrule where he thinks an obvious mistake has been made."

Richardson stressed it was a long-term process but the ICC remained optimistic. "I don't think people should think it is going to be introduced for the next series," Richardson said. "It is at a very basic phase and we need to progress a lot further before we get it on board in a match."

Speaking on the unusual move by the ICC to reveal the assessment of the three umpires (Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena and Marais Erasmus) and the various decisions they made during the Trent Bridge Test, Richardson reiterated that it was necessary bring the numbers out into open to erase certain doubts. However, he indicated that the ICC would not make it a norm to make the umpires assessment public.

"We will take on a case-by-case basis," Richardson said. "In this case we had put everything in perspective because it was an unusual Test match. There were so many decisions to be made, almost 75% more than normal." The ICC release had stated that the on-field umpires made a total of seven errors, three of which were uncorrected.

Not included in that list was a controversial ruling in favour of Australia debutant Ashton Agar, who was given not out when England appealed for a tight stumping. Richardson reasoned why it was not considered a mistake. "We have got a team of three who look at it," he said. "First of all the match referee. Then if there is a bit of doubt then it goes to Vince van der Bijl, our umpires' manager and then it goes to Geoff Allardice [the ICC's manager of cricket]. They all felt there was just that element of doubt: was his foot in the air, maybe there was a spike on the ground? So there was just not enough for the third umpire to give actually give the decision against the batsman."

Asked if there was scope for benefit of doubt in favour of the player Richardson said primarily the ICC was looking for definitive proof to make a decision, "as far as it is possible". He cited the example of the England of Joe Root, who was adjudged lbw at Lord's on Thursday morning. "Anyone other than maybe an English supporter would acknowledge that it was fractionally pad first. In which case the correct decision, unfortunately, is out," Richardson said.

Richardson followed that by revealing an aspect of how the umpires' assessment worked. "Let us say the on-field umpire had got it wrong, and he thought it was bat first," Richardson said. "Then we will mark that technically incorrect because we say, look, there must have been some doubt in your mind so you have actually made a good cricket decision. So we don't mark him in his personal records as having made a mistake. But technically it was an incorrect decision and we get it changed."

On Wednesday, the MCC's World Cricket Committee, restated its backing for the DRS while pointing out that to make the system much more streamlined, the ICC needed to take control of it. But Richardson was defensive about such a step.

"People say ICC should take complete control of technology," he said. "Today we have two Hot Spot cameras, some ball tracking cameras and a couple of slow-motions cameras. But next year there will be something else … there will be real-time Snickometer. Then next year there is something else. So in a way we don't want to hamper development. But it is going progress and it is going to become even more difficult to resist taking full advantage of the technology that gets developed. Our strategy has been: let us introduce technology but not on the basis they are just ball counters and coat hangers."

Richardson said that introducing various technologies into the game was never to make the role of the umpires obsolete. "We want them to be part of the game, the on-field umpires in particular, and that is why one of the reasons why we like the idea of them making the decision and then the players, if they really disagree, asking for it to be reviewed," Richardson said.

 

Australian Cricketers in Serbia

A big hit in the Balkans: Aussie expats find a second cricketing chance

Fledgling European cricket tournaments are giving Australian players another opportunity to play at the international level

Expat Australian Jeff Grzinic (right) with Croatian team-mates Michael Grzinic (left) and Pero Kastelan. Photograph: Courtesy of Jeff Grzinic

Chortling, along with a few giggles tinged with embarrassment, consume the innards of the minibus chugging into the wilderness.
Flatulence has triggered mirth from the passengers, comprised entirely of males. Predictably, the ambience is marked with testosterone. Banter, sport chit-chat and an array of juvenile antics occupy the banal bus journey. Boys will be boys. In other words, it's an archetypal cricket tour.

For one of the passengers, however, it's anything but normality. Joel Kelly still finds himself shaking his head in bemusement. How did I get here? It's a question Kelly often ponders.
Twelve months ago the Perth lad followed in the frenetic footsteps of many twentysomethings. He traded profession for backpacking and ventured on an indefinite European sojourn. He pictured adventure, revelry and perhaps some casual work to help prolong the jaunt.

It's doubtful he could have ever envisaged travelling on a bus in Bucharest as a member of the Serbian cricket team.
During his first season playing cricket in Serbia, Kelly established himself as the best batsman in the country. This was not entirely surprising considering Serbian cricket's mostly remembered internationally for being lampooned in Angus Bell's hilarious madcap travelogue Batting on the Bosphorus.
In his international cricket debut, the belligerent opener won player of the tournament to spearhead Serbia's competitive performance during a four-nation Twenty20 event in Romania.
It's not a sentence Kelly ever imagined would be written about him, but life on the road can take many unexpected roundabouts.

After being besotted by a Balkan beauty, Belgrade became Kelly's home abroad. The days drifting off the beaten track had ceased, as Kelly resumed employment and a more prosaic lifestyle ensued.

The drudgery of the working world and being in a foreign land away from friends and family had started to become a scourge. The boredom bane had to be tempered.
Like many down under, cricket had been Kelly's sporting pursuit as a youngster. It was a pastime he was particularly talented at. Playing grade cricket as a teenager had Kelly dreaming of one day wearing the baggy green.
But study, work and all the shenanigans associated with the infant stages of adulthood had consigned cricket to the scrapheap.
Kelly thought his competitive cricket days were a fading memory until a light bulb shone in his brain.
I should play cricket again. Wait, is cricket actually played in Serbia? Kelly would soon realise the quaint British game was making inroads in this cricket wasteland. After being discouraged during the 20th century for being "bourgeois", cricket has started to shed its "British snobbery" stereotype in Serbia.
"I wasn't necessarily surprised to find cricket played here but I thought it would entirely comprise locals," Kelly admits. "The local guys on the team are really passionate. It's amazing. It's a fledgling sport in Serbia but some of these guys are so knowledgeable and just love the game.

"Unsurprisingly the standard isn't anything like grade cricket in Australia. The Serbian guys are still learning how to play the game. That's why it's important for us expats to provide mentoring and help raise the standard of competition."
Rekindling his love for wielding the willow has been cathartic for Kelly. "I forgot how much I love playing the game and being part of a team," he says.
"Initially I played because I was getting bored in Belgrade and wanted to keep fit. But playing here has gone beyond my expectations."
Australian cricketers are scattered across the vast European continent. Some stumble into it in random Kelly style. Professional cricketers such as South Australian batsman Tom Cooper (Netherlands) represent their mother country in a bid to realise a dream of playing international cricket. Ditto for retired Australian and Tasmanian cricketer Michael Di Venuto, who played in Italy's failed Twenty20 World Cup qualifying bid last year.
For others, the European journey goes beyond cricket fulfilment. Reconnecting with heritage and developing a strong affinity with ancestry is the motivator for Jeff Grzinic.
Grzinic spent his formative years oblivious to his Croatian background. He had never been attached to his roots.
Grzinic was addicted to cricket at an early age. Grzinic played first grade cricket in Perth, but as a self-confessed "hard-working batsman", was never destined to become a professional cricketer.
Ten years ago, an unexpected phone-call changed his life. That may appear a blatant violation of hyperbole but its apt here.

Playing international cricket for Croatia during the European summer, was propositioned. Fast forward a decade, and Grzinic has found unexpected serenity in a Croatian "baggy red".
"Cricket kick-started my interest with my heritage, and I've been able to really get to know my family and Croatia," he says.
As someone who could arm-wrestle Mike Hussey for the Mr Cricket moniker, Grzinic relishes the opportunity to develop Croatian cricket. Contrary to perception, Grzinic believes playing in the cricket wilderness has honed his cricket skill set.
"You get very precious as a pennant cricketer in a strong cricketing country like Australia," Grzinic says. "Playing in Europe forces you to continually adapt your game to differing conditions, not only weather but the grounds, lack of practice facilities and the general playing standards."
Grzinic recently released his memoir, Machine Guns and Cricket Bats, and believes the work is not the culmination of his European cricket expedition, because for Grzinic, the journey is the reward.
Whilst Grzinic's quest has been emotive, Hayden Patrizi's pathway to Europe had its genesis in comical fashion.
Former Australia coach Tim Nielsen used to bombard Patrizi with barbs that would have impressed David Warner. "When I was at the Cricket Australia Academy of Excellence, Nielsen used to stir me up by sledging 'stop wasting your time here and play in Italy'," Patrizi chuckles.
A precocious wicketkeeper, Patrizi represented Western Australia at various junior levels and was on the fringe of state selection as a member of WA's second XI squad.
But a first-class career was agonisingly beyond his grasp. Perhaps it was Nielsen's banter that planted the seed. Perhaps it was the chance to be acquainted with his heritage, perhaps the opportunity to play international cricket was too tempting. Maybe it was all of the above.

Eventually, Patrizi starred for the Italian national team and showcased his prodigious ability in some of Europe's elitist cricket competitions.
"Italy are in division one in Europe and are one of the strongest teams over there," Patrizi says.
"The team is mainly propped up by expats – especially with a wave of people from the sub-continent immigrating to Italy in the past decade. But it was good to start seeing some Italians playing the game.
"I think the rise of T20 can help cricket's appeal. It's fast, exciting and relatively easy to understand. I think some of the top European teams can become pretty competitive at T20 in the future."
Cricket is unshackling its British imperialist origins and spreading to new frontiers. Expect more Australians to seek solace in cricket beyond the conventional boundaries.