First day back
Enough has been said and written about the The competition has not served the game well. That is now behind us and for the first time this English summer I am again watching championship cricket.
The opening game for myself is at the wonderful Rose Bowl. Each team peppered with Internationals, current and former, and one to catch most attention is
He was on his backside within the first half an hour and should have been run out on two. Not long afterwards he pulled off one of his cover drives and he again looked the part.
I've known Vaughan for many years and fiercely defend him as both player and character. I hope I remain objective in believing there is more to come from him.
He got a bit spiky with the media in the Caribbean. Not like him at all but with bad results comes negativity in all areas. Perhaps too much of it. That can be addressed and a good start to the summer against the West Indies will go some way to getting rid of that.
Vaughan decided it was the right time to talk after his 72. He said: "I'm quite pleased but when I get in I like to go on and make big scores and I felt I was on track.
"I've come back from the World Cup and You know as an opening batsman it's going to be difficult at the Rose Bowl with the new ball. I came through that opening two-and-a-half hours, facing the likes of Stuart Clark, James Bruce and James Tomlinson all bowling nicely. So having done that I would have loved to have gone on and got that big score."
He sounded like the old Vaughan which was good. He played down any importance some might put on being in a fresh dressing-room away from England but admitted to feeling plenty of pressure on returning to the county club.
"You see someone like Craig White omitted from the team because I turn up and you have to perform. That little bit of extra pressure is what I am going to have to deal with in the first Test match when the West Indies are here. It's a good test to come through but I would have loved to have got a few more than I did today."
Overall I thought he was happy with the way things had gone and said he was delighted to be back playing cricket again after all the injury problems. If he can now help Yorkshire in this match and next week keep up their excellent start that will be even better.
As for England and the new coach he is clearly looking forward to teaming up with
He feels ready for a new start. " It's a real exciting time when you get a new coach, certainly with a coach like Peter," he says. "He has some great ideas and he and I speak from the same hymn sheet when we talk about teams. All the guys are excited by the new challenge of working with Peter and putting England back on track. We haven't had a good six months and we need to focus on making sure we have a good summer."
As for the others with Yorkshire. Joe Sayers has a solid look to him and I didn't think I would see Anthony McGrath batting again for Yorkshire. Good news all round that he is.
He and Vaughan batting together reminds me of the days when the two were considered the bright young future for county and country. I wonder if 'Mags' will get another shot on the international stage. He didn't do so well today. He made only seven - Shane Warne getting him caught in his one over before lunch.
I'm not sure what Vaughan made of Younis Khan not moving an inch and leaving him stranded on 72. A shot played firmly to mid-on was Vaughan's call but there was a big enough question mark over whether there was a single to be had that Younis might be forgiven. He certainly will be for the performance which followed. He went on to score a maiden century for his team and looks every part the professional a county side demands from its' overseas signing.
There is a small debate over whether Younis is spelt Younis or Younus. I am told the player prefers and advocates the use of Younus as a spelling. Scorecards will continue to differ no doubt.
All-rounder Adil Rashid made another fifty. I wonder if England should look at Adil now or leave it for a while.He strikes me as the sort who could thrive given the big stage but his coach Martyn Moxon is warning against expecting too much from the young man too soon.
Hampshire kept plugging away as the day went on. The two James, Bruce and Tomlinson, look the part. They made good use of the second new ball and ripped Yorkshire's tail apart. A team led by Warne is never allowed to give up.
I've been looking over the new plans for the Suitably space-age in appearance and costing 拢35m, 'Hawk Talk' the official magazine of Hampshire cricket promises not only 'good quality toilets' but also improved access. To the ground not the toilets that is.
They claim two new entrances for pedestrians and vehicles, allowing it to be emptied completely in just 50 minutes or less. Again this is referring to the access, although I imagine the same might equally apply to the 'good quality toilets'.
Good luck to them. I have reservations about too much international cricket being played in the south-east and not enough in the west but the people around here are very impressive and if hard work deserves results they are due some success.
Complain about this postthis video sums up the english cricket
All very well Sanjam, but let's not forget the series victories over Australia, West indies, South Africa et al in recent years. It is noticeable that the vast majority of your favourite clips come from quite some time ago - best not comment on the filthy Ockers from the mid-1980s, eh?
Complain about this postAndres
Just proves how good Oz are, that you have to mention Australia in a derogatory way when discussing Vaughn and England.
The rest of the cricket world should really concentrate on their weaknesses, and then maybe you might be able to reach Australia's level of play.
Complain about this postWonderful Sanjam (especially the bungled runout with both Aussie batsmen at the same end).
Andres, yes many of the clips were from days past but I think you could put together another 10 video packages if you wanted to trawl through recent series.
Complain about this postRather than discussing the merits of a youtube compilation, this platform is for people to discuss Kevin's blog entry.
I am interested that Kevin says Adil Rashid looks "the sort who could thrive given the big stage".
He can't seem to put a foot wrong at the moment. Should he and Vaughan both be playing for England this summer?
Complain about this postThe West Indies squad to tour England is a Joke no Marlon Samuels, Wavell Hinds. Where are the batsmen
They spoke about making Darren Ganga captain, this player do not play one day cricket.
He should not even be in the test squad
Will he stand down when the one day series start
By the end of the series we will be the laughing stock of cricket, we will make England look like world beaters.
Complain about this postoh, please
Complain about this postSanjam - can you be any more immmature and that goes for all of you who love this clip!
England are perfectly fine but they seem to get the most criticism. Is it something to do with english fans?? I live in Australia but support the english team, i'd never ditch them!
For goodness sake - get over it ... it'll do you better
Given that Adil has only played half a season of county cricket so far, I'd rather see him play the rest of the season for Yorkshire before being thrown into the International scene. Remember what happened to Chris Schofield, who was seen as the saviour of English spin bowling way before he was ready to play for England.
I think the emergence of Monty Panesar may be a blessing in disguise for Rashid as there is already a successful attacking spin bowler, so there is no need to rush him.
Complain about this posttamara,
Complain about this posthow can you say england are perfectly fine.. have you not seen them play lately? any team which will not drop out of form players over the period of a month are doomed to fail, ie the english cricket team.
vaughan will play against the west indies, and so will most of the team that travelled to the world cup. thats if his injuries hold out.
Hi Kevin,
glad to hear you are back from that interminable tournament.
I was fearing the worst over the winter wondering whether Yorkshire as a club would implode, but suddenly the future looks quite bright.
I have not seen Adil play yet but he does appear to be a great prospect. For the Vaughanie knockers out there, having seen him play in real life (not on TV) many times he always exudes class. His form may have dipped with captaincy and injury, but he has the natural ability to come back. Just look how bad England were without him in the winter.
When the summer gets going everyone will be reminded what a good side England are and with Cook and maybe Tresco back we could even compete in one day internationals. Don't forget Simon Jones is on the mend too and Harmy is taking wickets again.
Complain about this postCould I just point out to many of England's critics from the World Cup that Test cricket and one day cricket are about as different as Rugby League and Union, they two different disciplines.
Of course the Ashes down under series doesn't help my point but that is explained by bad preparation and a superior Aussie team.
The world cup doesn't bother me, because we are now in the home test season, which is where we tend to thrive and have done for several years.
What the new coaching set-up needs to look at is our away test form.
Complain about this postPlus i believe the test squad and one day squad should be picked independently, so players who are in the test squad don't automatically get picked for the one dayers.
Rashid should be allowed to develop away from the pressures of Test Cricket. Look at what it did to Schofield, although that may say more about his character than anything.
You are clearly a Yorkshire supporter and therefore possibly a little clouded in your judgements. Vaughan has a lot to prove having been out of the game for so long. He has also lost a little credibility in my eyes having defended Fletcher for so long right up until when he was sacked but then immediately saying that change would be good and that they are 'singing from same hymn sheat.' These comments seem to suggest he is trying to secure his own future in favour with the coach. If vaughan continues as ODI captain it will be a disgrace. I would bring in Cook and let him develop a team and style over the next four years. Having said all this, Vaughan the captain and test batter (having proved himself for Yorkshire), i would welcome back into the test arena.
Complain about this post"They claim two new entrances for pedestrians and vehicles, allowing [the stadium] to be emptied completely in just 50 minutes or less."
I sincerely hope that:
a) That was a typographical error, or
Complain about this postb) The entire stadium is constructed from flame-retardent material!
Nice column, good to see MPV getting tucked into some hard work at Yorkshire.
Rashid - very exciting prospect. What do we know about him? Is he a big turner of the ball, what is his attitude like? Is his batting a bonus or is he an all rounder?
I would like to see him in the England team asap, but there again, im scratching around for a good reason to remain a passionate supporter of the england team after a winter of abject failure - and lack of heart.
Complain about this postLet Rashid brew a little longer. Perhaps bring him into the England side for the India series later in the year - if they struggle against him we'll know we're onto a star.
Complain about this postIt was just a county game. There have been some massive country scores recently. If he made a few runs it is not a massive achievement.
He still does NOT deserve to be in the England squad. He is to English International Cricket what David Beckham was to English International Football.
The England coach needs to have the guts to axe him even though he has made such an "amazing" (major sarcasm) score in his recent match.
Complain about this postwhen are we going to srop this practice of allowing counties to field more than one foreign test player? What of our own prospects and there chances, what of the aspirations of our school children. I am certainly for development of lesser nations, allowing scotland, ireland, netherlands into our 4day competitions when ready as the next logical step. Therefore allowing one professional from minor cricket nations to play alongside one overseas player from test playing nation, as opposed to the system now of two. for some counties paying the wages of two overseas srars must be a burden that rarely proves fruitful at the turnstiles.
Complain about this postPlagtrap,
I kind of agree but given the rules Yorkshire are playing within them and I would also observe that the following first team Yorkshire players/coaches are all Yorkshire born and bred:
Martyn Moxon
Ian Dews
Craig White
Darren Gough
Anthony McGrath
Matthew Hoggard
Matthew Wood
Simon Guy
Richard Pyrah
Joe Sayers
Tim Bresnan
Ajmal Shahzad
Mark Lawson
Adil Rashid
When other counties come close to rearing such home grown talent then perhaps collectively we may consider binning overseas players.
Yorkshire didn't start the overseas players thing - we'd be happy to have none - then we'd be unbeatable.
That said Younus Khan is fantastic for Yorkshire cricket.
Complain about this postRE THE COMMENTS ON ADMISSION PRICES.
IT IS CLEAR BOTH IN CRICKET AND ESPECIALLY FOOTBALL THE GOVERNING AURTHORITIES ARE NO LONGER CONCERNED WITH FULL GROUNDS BUT THE EVER INCREASING REVENUE RECIVED FROM T.V AND RADIO.
Complain about this postIT IS SURELY TIME THAT SOME OF THE MASSIVE REVENUE STEAMS ARE USED TO RETURN THESE SPORTS TO SPECTATORS IN TERMS OF LOWER PRICES OF ADMISSION.
IT IS UNLIKELY THAT THIS WILL HAPPEN IN LIGHT OF THE VESTED INTERESTS OF THE MEDIA GROUPS IN THE ENLARGEMENT OF THEIR VEIWING GROUPS.
england is a vary good developing side
Complain about this post