Winter warmers

Slowly Mending
By Jeremy Horne
March 10 2006

Bowling options, youth cricket and Middlesex’s 2nd XI were just some of the topics discussed at this year’s winter forum. John Emburey, Ben Hutton and Vinny Codrington were the men on the panel, with Codrington chairing after Chris Lowe had sent his apologies from the wet and windy Caribbean.

The hottest topic on everyone’s mind was bowlers- old and new, with the first question of the evening focusing on Chad Keegan’s continual recovery from injury, which is progressing, but not to the point that he will be 100% fit for the start of the new season. He is currently in South Africa, with Middlesex monitering his progress via e-mail. Once fit, we hope to re-introduce him to some level of bowling in one day cricket, although it will be a while before he makes a comeback in the longer form of the game. Looking at the more youthful side of our attack, Chris Whelan has just returned from Sydney where he was subject to a high level of bowling, which was well rewarded, despite some time out through injury. Emburey later added that he much prefers to see bowlers become fit by actually using their bowling muscles and not by the usual “run around a track” method.

Of course, the evening did not progress without mention of Middlesex’s new South African recruit Johann Louw, who contrary to Ceefax reports was not homesick and had no intention of returning to South Africa. Emburey commented that the overseas star has a similar style to that of Alan Richardson, Middlesex’s most successful bowler last season. He is also a good bowler in one day cricket, with the ability to swing the ball and bowl a good Yorker at the death of the innings. The only concern to Middlesex supporters is that with the continual recruitment of bowlers from other counties, how much confidence do we actually have in our young bowlers like Whelan and Chris Wright. Emburey responded that both need to perform more regularly in the 2nd XI if the want to make their break into the main squad. The good news is that with more 2nd team cricket scheduled for this season, opportunities to impress should become more regular. Codrington added that recruitment and retention of players from other counties is becoming more difficult with the two divisional system, a problem underlined by the increase in wage bills of nearly 10% over the last year. (At this point the forum was interrupted by a mobile telephone, which was thought to have belonged to Janet)! Codrington added that we have done well to keep salaries low, especially with the high demand for players (with bowlers at the top end of the wanted list). The other downside of recruiting from other counties is that it will only ever be a short term solution, whereas employing players from our academy provides a platform for building our future squad. The cost of young players is also significantly lower than that of taking on players from other counties. Middlesex are currently looking to employ younger players from the academy, with several Asian bowlers on the verge of contracts for future seasons. We have also begun visiting schools, although this will be a long, slow process, considering how many schools there actually are in Middlesex.

Changing the speed ever so slightly, Chris Peploe also spent the winter in Sydney and also did a lot of bowling (although there was no mention of any kind of success rate)! Ben Hutton did admit that he was restricted in his use of both Peploe and Dalrymple at Lords, with short boundaries making spin bowling difficult at the pavilion end. Spin bowling at Lords is also becoming harder with the re-laid pitches and use of wickets that are not in the middle of the ground. John Emburey is well aware of the members’ concerns over spin bowling and has been looking at the youth to try and provide a turnaround (pardon the pun) in the future. He was particularly impressed by a young 15 year old spinner in our academy, who in the space of a year or two has gone from “pretty ordinary” to “one of the best young leg spinners I’ve seen in a while”. However, we will not try and pressure him too much now and will be keen for him to learn things by himself. One member showed her desperation at wanting any kind of spinner by suggesting looking at recruiting from the Indian under-19 team. In a surprise response, Emburey spoke about how this option had been discussed earlier that very same day. The option of having such a player would be cost effective and would allow us to develop our squad into new depths, even if he did not play that much first class cricket. Additionally, the increasing amounts of international cricket being played these days, makes it difficult to find a crackerjack overseas player that can play for over 75% of the season. That said, we would like to see Irfan Pathan return at some point, but with him busy until 2008 the chances are slim, particularly with the way that he is maturing into a world class all rounder.

From bowling to batting, Middlesex have had a positive winter with many players closing in on the National side. Andrew Strauss’ involvement with England should mean that we wont see too much of him in 2006, although if poor form continues he may play in some of the early matches to try and regain the sparking form that he had enjoyed in his early test match encounters. The batting will also be boosted this season by the continual development of Nick Compton, Eoin Morgan and Billy Godelman, all of whom will be pushing for a place in the first team, which should bring out the best in the likes of Shah, Joyce and Dalrymple.

The biggest selection decision will be that of the wicket keeper’s position, with Emburey agreeing that we did miss Nash’s batting last season and it was highlighted by the fact that we didn’t get enough runs from the lower order batsmen in 2005. With this in mind, Ben Scott has spent the winter in Australia working only on his batting skills. As yet, there is no fixed idea as to who will start the first game of the season, although both Nash and Scott will be given a “clean slate” for this coming year. Further, we would be more likely to consider Nash over Scott when Scott Styris is absent from the side.

Turning away from the on-the-field side of the game and focusing on the field itself, Ben Hutton and John Emburey spoke of a breakfast meeting with Mick Hunt (Lords groundsman) before the start of last season. We believe that to produce a good cricket wicket the pitch needs to be able to deteriorate in order for the spinners to play a role towards the end of the match. We would also like to se more grass (although not a green wicket), in order for the ball to carry through to the keeper and slips more easily. Of course, the next problem will be catching it! In contrast, Hunt believes that you can achieve a good pitch by taking off as much of the grass as you can. With the continual evolution of wickets as “batsmen’s paradises”, the option of winning the toss and securing 5 batting points before trying to bowl the opposition out twice is becoming increasingly more attractive. Vinny Codrington suggests taking the maximum overs for bonus points down to 110, which still gives a more that fair opportunity to score 400 runs or take 9 wickets. Unsurprisingly, this was another in the long list of subjects that Middlesex were outvoted on. Janet Davis suggested awarding bonus points for 2nd innings performances, something that Codrington had never heard of, but admitted that it could work if it was well thought through. With the current system remaining, bonus points will continue to be a hot topic throughout the coming season.

Away from HQ, Middlesex are happy with the pitches at Southgate (which have been named as the best outground wickets in the country), although Emburey does recommend that Peploe and Dalrymple take the groundsman out for breakfast before the start of this year’s feastival. Returns to Uxbridge and Shenley for 4 day cricket should not be ruled out either, with the 2nd XI still playing 3-day games at the Hertfordshire venue, although transportation problems will continue to be an issue. Uxbridge is also winning back our favour, by considering us as their primary source, whereas before we were 4th in line for use of the pitch. All of this will only be a good thing in keeping Southgate on their toes.

Two other minor points that were touched upon were that of a Vice Captain and the benefit to counties of Sky showing the test matches. Middlesex will have no vice captain this year. This topic was heavily discussed by the committee and although it is an important role, we don’t feel that anybody is ready to fill it. If Hutton should have to leave the field, it will be his choice as to who captain’s the side. On the subject of Sky television, they offered more money than Channel 4, but none of this will be seen by the counties.

John Emburey ended the forum by recommending this very website as interesting reading, especially the hall of fame thread. I’m sure you will all agree that it is good to be recognised and I hope that we can stay strong into the new season and beyond!