May 1, 2008

Andre Nel: King of Frustration

Posted by James Foster 1 week, 4 days ago

	'Andre Nel seems to be the ‘King of Frustration’ in the Essex dressing room but that’s only because there is no skill involved in the game!' © Getty Images

I may have been the one ruled out of the Championship match at Derby with a thumb injury but I wasn’t the only Essex player suffering from frustration last week. Cricketers are always looking for something to fill in the time on rainy days and we’ve hit upon a real winner at Essex.

It all started at Taunton last year when much of the four-day game was affected by rain. As we were based out in the sticks we spent a lot of time stuck around the hotel. We stumbled upon a room that contained a lot of board games such as ‘Battleships’ and ‘Connect Four’. One particular game that caught the imagination was ‘Frustration’, which only one member of our squad could remember playing as a kid. Alex Tudor showed his age…

Everyone loved it so much that when we got to the end of our stay in Taunton we decided to buy the hotel’s box off them for a fiver, which has proved money well spent! Some of our boys end up spewing over that game because frustration really is the operative word. It’s all down to the luck of the dice so the boys can get very upset.

Andre Nel seems to be the ‘King of Frustration’ in the Essex dressing room but that’s only because there is no skill involved in the game! Andre’s always very quiet when he’s not winning but when he’s going well he shouts and screams uncontrollably…which you won’t find too hard to imagine.

My absence at Derby meant Adam Wheater was handed his Championship debut which brought back memories of my own one-day debut all those years ago – coincidentally, away to Derby. Warming up ahead of your first match when you know you are going to represent the team you’ve dreamt about playing gives you a real buzz. For me it was a very proud moment and I’m sure Adam felt the same way. Adam did exceptionally well during the game as he put on a key partnership with Ravi Bopara and also kept well. No doubt he’ll be a major player for Essex in the future – but hopefully not the foreseeable future, being a wicketkeeper myself!

After losing a tight game at Derby it was important to bounce back the following day in the Friends Provident Trophy at home to Sussex. Having spent the previous four days icing my thumb and taking anti-inflammatory pills it was heartening to discover a noticeable improvement on the morning of the game. I’d not done any catching since testing it ahead of the previous game and although it wasn’t perfect it felt good enough for me to play in a key game like that one.

Victory against Sussex (via Duckworth & Lewis) was due to an exceptional team performance. Our batting was built around Bopara and Grant Flower’s partnership, during which they expressed themselves terrifically. Ravi is a special player in the form of his life and Grant – in his first proper knock of the season – played one of the best and most confident innings I’ve seen him play for Essex. Ryan ten Doeschate then got some vital runs towards the end and I chipped in with a few right at the death to give us a challenging total.

Unfortunately we lost some overs due to rain which meant Sussex’s run-chase became something close to a Twenty20 game. We started off well in the field and the pressure built so that their required rate went up to 10 per over. It is difficult to sustain that when you are losing wickets and new players are coming in. Our guys bowled and fielded really well with lots of energy and a high skill factor.

Next up is a four-day tourist match against New Zealand at Chelmsford from Friday which I’m really excited about. It’s a good challenge to pit myself against international opposition. All the guys involved are really up for it because you always want to test yourself against some of the best players in the world.

It’s particularly exciting that New Zealand will have their IPL players back for this match. Included in those returning is my ‘oppo’ Brendon McCullum. What a player he is - his cricket is getting better and better. Brendon is a huge talent so it will be really good to see how he goes about his batting – will he continue to be ultra-positive like he’s been in the IPL or look to rein himself in a little? Hopefully I’ll get a chance to chat about a few bits and pieces with him on the keeping side during the game.

Finally this week I’d like to pay my own tribute to Joe Hussain, who died last weekend.
Joe coached me at Ilford Cricket School from the age of nine until I was 19. He gave me a lot of advice when I was younger and looked after me a bit. Joe definitely improved my game – he was the type of coach who let you play, show off your natural flair and then correct you accordingly.

Joe was very passionate about cricket and was obviously a driving force behind Nasser’s success as well as being very keen for his other ‘boys’ (those he coached) to do well. He will be missed.

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April 29, 2008

The lure of poker

Posted by Will Smith 1 week, 6 days ago

	Shane Warne with poker champion Joe Hachem © Getty Images

I now know why Shane Warne has decided not to grace us with his presence over this county season. The lure of poker.

It is always tough early season when the first team squads are revealed for the first few games and you’re name is not in them. It is made even more frustrating when you have, cumulatively, seven days of cricket rained off. The only way to force yourself into the side is by weight of runs or wicket-taking sprees. When you don’t actually get on the park, I’m sure you can appreciate this task is made all the more difficult.

Second team game at Horsham C.C. – the wicket is wet, the outfield wetter – no play possible for three days. So what to do? There are no adequate practice facilities or gym available…after the customary inter-squad (slightly heated) game of football, there is only one answer – countless and seemingly endless games of poker.

Given that during pre-season every county squad attended a PCA-organized seminar entitled ‘addictive behaviour awareness’ you would be forgiven for questioning our sanity. But sanity, I assure you, is the last thing on your mind when it is not raining and you still can’t do what you’re paid to do.

Poker is not unlike cricket. There are many ways of succeeding. Inevitably it is the player who holds his nerve at the vital times who will prevail. To get to the eventual end point where all the money is yours, (we only play for small stakes I promise), you can either play like Adam Gilchrist, Kevin Pietersen or any other such destructive entity. In doing so, you are aggressive, unpredictable and bully other players into fragile decision making. Or you can grind it out, Mark Richardson-style, until all others get so bored and frustrated that they throw their chips at you and stomp of cursing what an annoying, boring, negative, wimp you are. Much like cricket, and like many a batsman who has reached 100 not out off a mountain of balls that has had such abuse directed their way, you can offer a simple retort: ‘look at the scoreboard chump!’ Translated for the poker table: ‘look at all my chips bozo!’

I will leave it to your judgement to guess which type of player I am, suffice to say that like my cricket, I am no Adam Gilchrist…

It all makes for good, clean, competitive fun and keeps everyone on their toes for when we do actually play some cricket, which at some point soon I would love to report to you. For now, I will have to comment on the two recent first team games – the first one being in front of the Sky cameras against Yorkshire at a bitterly cold Riverside. Those of you who saw the game on TV could be forgiven for thinking that Neil Killeen was simply fuming at the fact that his last over went for 22, he was in fact breathing steam, much like you would on a frosty, mid-winter morning as you scrape layers of ice of your car.

The game was notable for a class innings from new overseas signing Neil McKenzie, who held together a faltering 50-over innings under difficult circumstances. And no less for a cool display of death bowling from Graham Onions, to ensure that an improbable Yorkshire comeback did not materialize. A win and a good start all round.

So to the first championship game against Surrey, who seemingly had a dream batting line-up. But then again, we seemingly have a dream bowling line-up. A great contest between bat and ball was, predictably, thwarted by the rain. Two assured fifties from Dale Benkenstein, one from Mark Stoneman, and some penetrative seam bowling again from Graham Onions the high points of a game that, were it allowed to reach a natural conclusion, would surely have been our first championship win of many this season.

Next week, hopefully I will have tales of more wins, great aggressive play, periods of assured defensive resilience and pairs of sixes aplenty. From the cricket pitch and green baize of the poker table in equal measure I imagine. Just call me Will ‘Snake-Eyes’ Smith!

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April 27, 2008

Thoughts turn to Fantasy

Posted by Will Smith 2 weeks, 1 day ago

	Francois du Plessis is one to watch © Cricinfo Ltd

“It’s grim up north.” I don’t know which wise old sage coined the phrase, but he or she seems to be spot on right now. Rain, drizzle, snow and sleet – the past week at The Riverside has seen it all. Whereas us in the squad, all we have seen is the indoor school, every inch of it. Every bloody inch.

The friendly against Durham UCCE was ruined by rain, so too were three separate friendlies against Yorkshire seconds which were supposed to be held somewhere in the region. Unfortunately a dry patch could not be found for even one of these fixtures. The outdoor nets have seen some action thankfully, and the glee at actually getting outside far outweighed the fact that they were spicy as hell! All good fun and all good practice I assure you.

All seriousness aside, I have been asked to pick a Cricinfo Fantasy Cricket side for this season’s Championship. I fully expect my team to flop, and any success will be greeted with great surprise. Here, then, is my motley crew:

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April 23, 2008

Guns and arrows in the Essex dressing-room

Posted by James Foster 2 weeks, 5 days ago

	James Foster: Essex have had a flying start to the season © Kieran Galvin

A score of 280 was always going to be below-par and we batted exceptionally well to take advantage of that. It may seem like an obvious statement but our new opening batsman Jason Gallian really did look like an opener in his innings of 171. By that I mean he left balls when they didn’t need to be played at but always seemed to cash in on anything short and loose.

Ravi Bopara also made a century in our Championship game and was very unlucky to be given out on 99 the following day at Kent in the Friends Provident Trophy. He thoroughly deserved another hundred and didn’t put a foot wrong in either innings.

Mark Pettini is another who has begun well with two significant innings and it’s nice to see him back to playing the way he can when he’s in form.

In terms of our bowling it was a magnificent effort to bowl out Northants twice on what was a decent wicket to bat on at The Ford County Ground - as our own batsmen proved. It’s a new-look attack with new signings David Masters and Chris Wright making telling contributions already and Andre Nel making an instant impression despite losing his kit on the flight over from South Africa and having to bowl in a new pair of boots purchased from our club shop on the opening day!

All in all it’s been a pretty nice start having only once previously played in an Essex team who has won the first Championship match of the season.

The only down-side to the Kent game for me was a knock on the end of my left thumb when standing up to Ryan ten Doeschate. I suffered a cut underneath the nail that produced a lot of blood and gave me a lot of pain. Luckily I didn’t get another blow to the thumb over the remainder of the game but the bruising came out on the tip of the thumb the next day. I saw a specialist on Monday but luckily there was no break.

At the moment I still feel a little tentative catching one-handed to my left and gripping the bat is also painful. It’s not worth risking making it worse at this early stage of the season so I’ve not been selected for the current Championship game against Derbyshire with the hope that I will have recovered in time for Sunday’s Friends Provident Trophy game against Sussex.

Outside of the cricket it’s darts that is the talk of the Essex dressing-room at the moment. Everyone has bought their own set of arrows and Jason Gallian has supplied us with a board as well. It’s proving a little tricky to find where to put it to avoid team-mates getting struck by wayward shots though – safety is paramount! I’m sure we’ll find a way …

Alastair Cook even has his own games room with a dart board in it to ensure he gets in plenty of practice. In fact he and his house-mate Mark Pettini have even ordered their own playing shirts to really look the part!

Unfortunately the rest of us are not quite as privileged so we have to settle for going over the road to use the local pub’s facilities. As I was playing for the MCC I missed out on our first major tournament a couple of weeks back and that also meant I missed out on being given a nickname. I understand the selection committee will have one sorted for me by the time I make my Darts debut!

One final Cook Report to end with…

Our young left-hander has been in the news recently for his appearance in the latest Cosmo – together with Stuart Broad and James Anderson – with just a cricket bat each to cover their modesty. Not a lot of the Essex boys know about this picture yet but I’ve been emailed a copy which I’ll be blowing up for the dressing room at Derby this week.

Cookie likes to get his “guns” out at any opportunity but this may be taking it just too far. I’ll report back on his team-mates’ reaction next week!

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April 16, 2008

Confidence high as a new season begins

Posted by James Foster 3 weeks, 5 days ago

	James Foster: finding form with the gloves © Getty Images

As a county cricketer, having a birthday in the middle of April means celebrations are always likely to be subdued – especially this year as it came the day before our first match of the Championship season at home to Northamptonshire at Chelmsford.

As with every competition it is important to get off to a winning start because all successful teams thrive on momentum. Confidence plays a huge role in cricket and we enter the season as a confident team but one that now needs to make good of that. Having been given the news that Andre Nel will be hot-footing it from Heathrow in time for the opening match was also a major boost at the right time.

There is a new regime under Paul Grayson (our first-team coach) at Essex and he’s impressed all of the squad with the way he goes about his job. Paul is someone who lets you work things out for yourself but is always approachable when you need him. Everything is done for a reason in his training methods and there are no sessions where you go through the motions. Our captain, Mark Pettini, is also in his first full season in charge and he has already proved a very strong leader who dovetails well with Paul.

From a cricketing point of view the main positive I could take from my winter was selection for the England Lions tour to India.

My call-up came as a great surprise but I was obviously thrilled and delighted to have been selected after so long on the outside looking in. Touring India is always tough but I learnt a lot and it was fantastic to work with David Houghton, who the ECB took over as batting coach. Unfortunately I never managed to get going with the bat but I’m hoping to implement a few of David’s ideas when the county season begins. Being drafted in a week and a half before the team left (following an injury to Steven Davies) wasn’t ideal as I hadn’t worked on my batting over the winter until that point. Nonetheless I wouldn’t have given up an opportunity like that for anything, so I’m grateful to have got another chance with England. On the up side I learnt a lot about myself while I was in India and was very pleased with the way I kept.

Upon returning to England I needed another injection in my shoulder – having already had one towards the back-end of last season – after it flared up while I was away. That seems to have done the trick and I was fully fit and raring to go by the time of Essex’s pre-season tour of the Emirates in March. Pre-season trips are always great for team bonding and this particular one was a good way to welcome our three new signings – Jason Gallian, David Masters and Chris Wright – and two Academy professionals – Adam Wheater and Jaik Mickleburgh – into the fold.

There was no initiation ceremony for the new players as such – like there used to be in the old days! – but all of them have fitted in well and feel comfortable in our environment.

We are a group of mates at Essex but there is no comfort zone here and everyone is determined to have a great season.

Outside of my unexpected England call-up the bulk of the winter was taken up with my new business venture – James Foster Coaching. I’ve been really pleased with how that has gone and especially delighted that a number of my Essex team-mates were able to lend a hand in putting on a series of ‘Masterclasses’. This is something I am very keen to continue but it will be difficult to fit too much coaching in during the summer as I’ll be full-in with the playing side. I’m hoping to bring some of the kids I’ve coached along to a day at the cricket at Essex during the season to meet a few of the ‘superstars’! I’ve had excellent feedback on the sessions I’ve done so hopefully this is just the start!

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April 15, 2008

Bruises, banter and the joys of pre-season

Posted by Nick Compton 3 weeks, 6 days ago

	Nick Compton: easing towards another season © Getty Images

“Alright dog? Good winter?” is the first greeting I hear upon my return to Lord’s. ‘Dog’ is a friendly term of endearment that our beloved wicketkeeper, David Nash, uses to greet anyone from his missus to, given the chance, the Prime Minister! Over the long winter you miss the characters that make up a cricket team. Nothing quite compares to the wit and repartee that is exchanged among the boys and without it the season could be a tiring and unenvied task.

Pre-season can be a tough old slog, given the early-season weather and the encapsulating feeling of being surrounded by netting in the all-too-familiar MCC Indoor School. It is either that or dressing up like the Michelin man as Middlesex make their first attempt at getting some outdoor practice. Trust me, it is never fun when you are fielding at backward point with freezing winds screaming across the out-ground in North London and Andrew Strauss drilling a succession of thunderous cut shots. However I don’t think there are many in the world of professional cricket who can boast a fielding practice in the snow at Lord’s, as happened on the weekend before last. This was certainly a first for me and, I’m sure, the twelve other I shared the experience with!

It is great to be back doing something I love. Strapping on the pads and hitting that first sweet shot is the reason we players get up every morning as we strive to further hone the technique that will hopefully bring us success this season.

The great thing about playing a seasonal sport is that you do get time to yourself in the winter months, although it isn’t one long holiday. Players might spend these quieter months working on their fitness or making some technical changes to their action. Some of us do go abroad, combining a holiday to chill out with some valuable practice – and the lucky ones will be on tour with England. Others stay at home to try their hand at something else - perhaps a job in the city or writing a book like our Middlesex captain Ed Smith.

Whatever way we spend the winter, it can be a very important time for a sportsman if used correctly. The season is long and the amount of cricket being played means that come the autumn it is good to take some time off and turn your attention elsewhere. If you look at footballers, they play almost the whole year round and although their wage bracket is considerably higher, there isn’t much respite for them.

I suppose this leads me on to one of the many issues facing not only English cricket but cricket globally at the moment. With the advent of the highly lucrative IPL and ICL, players are of course inclined to take up the huge financial offers made to them - and why shouldn’t they? Like football, perhaps this is an opportunity for cricket’s best players to cash in and make some serious money in a way that has never been possible in the past.

For England players like Pietersen it will be interesting to see what developments take place. The system of 12-month ECB central contracts means that at the moment England players cannot play in the IPL or ICL. The knock-on effect is that the first-class counties may switch to 12-month contracts to ensure they keep full control of their assets. The IPL also poses a big threat to the overseas player system. With so many of the big names playing in India, the lure of the pound in county cricket for top overseas professionals is not what it used to be. Why would a top international come to England for a whole season, only to earn far less than the sum he could be paid to take part in the IPL for just a few weeks?

The cricket administrators have many pressing issues to think about and it will be interesting to see how the IPL affects cricket at all levels. With the profile of cricket being higher than ever, it does however make this a fantastic time to be playing the game professionally.

Our first run outdoors in freezing wet conditions was something of a foreign affair. It always takes a while to get back to grips with the pace of early-season conditions. Feeling the sweat on the gloves, the spikes getting caught up in the sticky soft wickets as the first attempt at an attacking shot goes by, the bruise on the index finger as you mistime that first catch in warm-ups, knowing that it will be about the only thing that will remain with you for the next six months. This is what the first month of pre-season games is all about.

Key batsmen need time in the middle to see a few overs go by and bowlers want to make sure that the extra strength and speed they’ve gained over the winter hasn’t altered their run-ups. So for us playing two warm-up games against Essex and Surrey proved invaluable as everyone is pushing to show coaches and captains alike how they can be a sure selection.

It is great to be back with the Middlesex team, having a bit of banter and sharing in the excitement of the new season. So far Toby Radford and Richard Scott have been incredibly organised and therefore practices have been that much more productive. This allows us as players to get on with our own individual development approaching our first championship game against Leicestershire on Wednesday. I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences of the season this year as our batsmen pile on the runs. Oh and if you’re lucky enough you might get called ‘dog’ by a small bald wicketkeeper called Nashy!

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April 14, 2008

Time to build on historic season

Posted by Will Smith 4 weeks ago

	Last season brought Durham's first silverware. What does 2008 hold? © Getty Images

The summer of 2007 will go down in history for Durham after our Friends Provident Trophy and Pro40 triumphs. Of that there is no question. The very last day of the season nearly heralded an even greater year, as for one night we had a weak hold on the County Championship title, only for Sussex to sneak past.

These three dates will be etched in people’s thoughts, memories and on honours boards forever. But right now, they are firmly at the back of the squad’s minds. The challenge now is wholly different – it is to live up to last year’s success, to perform on an even higher level for longer, and to appreciate that everyone will now be gunning for Durham. It could not be a more exciting time to be playing for Durham, and the fact that Geoff Cook has used the word ‘fun’ many times when asked to describe the squad’s task of emulating the success, reveals a great deal about the kind of place Durham is.

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