It’s not how you Start, it’s how you Finish. I was given this advice a few decades ago after a faltering start to a tour on which I was distracted by a mislaid passport, connectivity issues resulting in a missed deadline for a newspaper report and a hotel room like an unrefrigerated insect morgue.
Much of what I know about cricket I owe it to legendary Bob Woolmer, one day a class mate handed me a pocket book which contained what I recall to be the basics of playing "Test cricket"---surprisingly, we were hardly a Test nation and till this date, we are still knocking on the door of a full ODI status. Always a pleasure reading your column, Neil.
Which is exactly why T20 players , and to a lesser extent 50 over batsmen ( and women) are a different species to Test players. Not every player is capable of the type of batting required in T20 games. Not every player has the array of shots and innovation required to represent at the highest T20 levels - be they national or otherwise. When a captain is chosen under extremely fraught circumstance it has to be said, he/ she has to have the skill sets required in “modern T20” cricket. If they are specifically a batsman no matter where in the order they play they have to strike at >100% from ball one. There is no place for sentimentality in choosing a National T20 Captain. There is no place to hide and definitely no place for passengers in a squad . The same applies to allrounders and bowlers of course. The stats tell the tale in the end - from start to finish. I would venture further and say the future of T20 will be in a side of allrounders and innovation in scoring around the ground. One paced players will be consigned to history.
Much of what I know about cricket I owe it to legendary Bob Woolmer, one day a class mate handed me a pocket book which contained what I recall to be the basics of playing "Test cricket"---surprisingly, we were hardly a Test nation and till this date, we are still knocking on the door of a full ODI status. Always a pleasure reading your column, Neil.
Which is exactly why T20 players , and to a lesser extent 50 over batsmen ( and women) are a different species to Test players. Not every player is capable of the type of batting required in T20 games. Not every player has the array of shots and innovation required to represent at the highest T20 levels - be they national or otherwise. When a captain is chosen under extremely fraught circumstance it has to be said, he/ she has to have the skill sets required in “modern T20” cricket. If they are specifically a batsman no matter where in the order they play they have to strike at >100% from ball one. There is no place for sentimentality in choosing a National T20 Captain. There is no place to hide and definitely no place for passengers in a squad . The same applies to allrounders and bowlers of course. The stats tell the tale in the end - from start to finish. I would venture further and say the future of T20 will be in a side of allrounders and innovation in scoring around the ground. One paced players will be consigned to history.