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catch up on the latest episodes

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without the ads. Hello

1:34

and

1:36

welcome

1:38

to Following On County Cricketer, a

1:40

weekly podcast from Talksport and The

1:42

Cricketer Magazine. I'm Talksports cricket

1:45

editor John Norman. Every Thursday I'm

1:47

joined by two time County Championship

1:49

winner Steve Harmsen as well as

1:51

George DeBell and Nick Friend from the

1:53

cricketer.com. And while the weather

1:55

intervened this week, still plenty to talk

1:57

about with some stunning individual performances. the

2:00

likes of the Sams, Northeastern Cook, a

2:02

win for Essex and

2:04

continuing debate rumbling around

2:06

the use of the Cooker Burrow ball. We

2:08

will also discuss England's Jimmy Anderson problem and

2:11

go around the grounds and if you like

2:13

what you hear please take the time to

2:15

leave a five-star review on the podcast page

2:17

and follow at cricket underscore TS on

2:19

X and for even more content head over

2:21

to the Talksport Cricket YouTube channel and

2:23

hit subscribe. But for now thanks for

2:25

listening to following on County Quicketer. Well

2:37

look we've got one one

2:40

result to talk about from the first round

2:42

of the County Championship. One one

2:45

result. There has been a lot of rain,

2:47

there's been a lot

2:49

of articles about Sam Northeast and

2:52

we've had one result but it doesn't matter because

2:55

there's so much other stuff, so much stuff to

2:57

talk about. We are going

2:59

to talk about Essex, we're going to be talking

3:01

about some of the standout performances from both

3:04

Division One to Division Two but

3:06

I think we're going to start by talking

3:08

about and please don't turn

3:10

off your radios, we're going to talk about the Cooker

3:12

Burrow ball. George and

3:15

Nick both wrote some words

3:17

on the Quicketer, check it out

3:19

at quicketer.com about the Cooker

3:22

Burrow ball, we've got Harmey here

3:24

as well so it'd be interesting to get his thoughts because

3:26

he's not going to be talking about Durham because that was

3:29

one of two games abandoned without a ball being bowled. But

3:32

let's start with the Cooker Burrow, I

3:35

mean there was so much rain it's fanciful to

3:38

suggest that we would have had more

3:40

than one result do you think George?

3:42

If the Duke's ball had been used I'm not

3:45

so sure but... I think

3:47

we might have done, I think we probably would have got

3:50

a result at Edgeburston. I think the game would have been

3:52

completely different. condition

4:00

is more difficult. So

4:02

it is basically training our bowlers

4:04

up, right? Training our bowlers up

4:07

to be able to take wickets in less

4:09

helpful conditions. And so this is just part

4:11

of that process, isn't it? That's

4:15

one legitimate argument. I mean, whether you're

4:17

training bowlers to take wickets in these

4:19

conditions, where they're using a different ball

4:21

to the one that they might then

4:23

be playing at test level

4:25

is also debatable. I

4:29

think what it did, or what it

4:31

does, is expose some issues we already knew

4:33

were there, but the lack of pace in

4:36

the English game is pretty obvious

4:38

and pretty painful. And

4:42

bowlers who might well have

4:44

enjoyed early season conditions with

4:46

the Dukes were

4:48

kind of neutered. Whether

4:50

that's good or bad, look, my own feelings are

4:52

that I don't particularly like the Cookbore. I think

4:55

it's a less good ball. It creates less entertaining

4:57

cricket. But do we need

4:59

that wake up call in English cricket? Are we almost

5:01

played a different sport to the rest of the world?

5:04

We might be. So it's an experiment.

5:06

And with experiments, it's probably best to wait until

5:08

they're over and you have the data and

5:11

you can evaluate before reaching

5:13

conclusions. So it doesn't

5:15

create brilliantly entertaining cricket. There's nowhere around it.

5:18

And it is a change. But

5:21

I can see some purpose in it. I'm not

5:23

as anti-assay, you know, Alex Stewart or Mark Robertson

5:25

has been, but my instinct

5:27

would be to argue, to use the

5:29

Dukes pretty much everywhere. But we're not

5:31

winning that argument. Nick, you're

5:34

speaking to people in the game. What's the feeling?

5:37

This is Mr. Ronny George. You mentioned

5:39

conditions, John. Initial question. I think

5:41

the conditions are a big

5:44

part of this. I think it's

5:46

interesting training people up. This is one of the things we're

5:49

looking at, upskilling players, another we're looking at.

5:51

Grant Rappin, who is New Zealand though,

5:53

who's Kamorga's New Year coach, was quite good

5:56

in the afterwards. He's broadly in favour for

5:58

the reasons that A

6:00

fairly straightforward of thinking that it

6:03

highlights the money pace of reverse

6:05

swing of. Utilizing swing when

6:07

his dad of controlling the run rates

6:09

and do things that produce goods cricket

6:12

would have a bully using. An

6:14

it obvious that was presented in New

6:16

Zealand's. And. The.

6:19

Reduce the get far they've. Worked.

6:21

Out what makes a good balance came

6:23

a cricket. That means you leave twelve

6:25

fifty mills of fairly large grass or

6:28

the pitch and not need to have

6:30

crossed the confetti from surface. Not.

6:32

Issued. This the lone people

6:34

have in this rounds and same boat as

6:36

he the factory with proceedings in some cases

6:39

in the coming coming just wrap around the

6:41

cats and anyway. And are loads

6:43

for three days And I was morgan to two hundred

6:45

eleven over the fails. I was built

6:48

as.intuit yardage. The field. And.

6:51

I'm I'm as it gets raises look at that and

6:53

say oh we should watch them to replace the game

6:55

middlesex or every bricks and somehow. The

6:57

Morgan A.gateway because he's that

7:00

quick. Spell it and. That.

7:03

Mobile, Sixty Seven, or Just Spin. Middlesex

7:05

Both times it just causes

7:08

love spin. On. Those.

7:10

Little isn't as the single touching such

7:12

needed possible sometimes. And Toboggan

7:15

had an entire reverse umbrella

7:17

said literally. Ice caps

7:19

and five destined for the screen. The upside for

7:22

like side. Middlesex. Has. Honest

7:25

onset democrat Max Old was caught

7:27

at Mcdonalds concepts but every times

7:29

dumpster in a thing. Is

7:32

be raised to get school console the scene I see

7:34

this is now facing escape. Album Bread City

7:36

of the Guys in of the to mask of Days because

7:38

they are told they can be quite. An.

7:41

The problem is you play this game april with his

7:43

pit bull yet so frequently. On pitch

7:45

the has been. Essentially, become of six

7:47

months is not so raining. So.

7:50

That. Crucial big the proposals pet which is.

7:53

Like. Grass on top of the subsurface

7:55

is just not possible this time of

7:57

year. i thought could various

7:59

reasons successful experiment last year

8:01

because frankly for

8:03

the things that it did, in

8:06

terms of bring spending to the game particularly on

8:08

dry services at a dry time of year and

8:11

it by and large produced

8:13

results. It also produced some massive scores of some batteries.

8:16

So you still get that variety of cricket

8:18

as to be fair this round had. You know Sam Northy's got 300

8:20

but not Sir

8:22

Orson by that variety. So it does

8:24

work differently at different grounds and if you

8:27

look at the bowlers you went really well in this round. You

8:29

still got that variety. Sam Cook I think we'll get to

8:31

later in the show is pretty reasonably

8:33

accepted as the

8:36

maybe probably the most skilful untapped

8:38

English bowlers on the circuit. Dave

8:41

Batson's at five foot, he's an African

8:43

test bowler, he's going up the Kakabara, Cam

8:46

Steel's at five foot by Alexman for cereal

8:48

or dryer surface but also to Kirkley

8:50

on the tail which is what you

8:53

like it to do. Sam Cook

8:56

It does, there is still some purpose in there.

9:00

The people I spoke to generally, a lot

9:04

of players who don't love it, they do also

9:06

recognise what's being used. The ones I found

9:08

most interesting were the players who grew

9:10

up with the Kakabara in Australia and

9:13

now moral is very good in pre-season. It

9:15

just basically says that you're not

9:18

getting what you expect to get from it. So I

9:21

said to him you advantage as an Australian player, he's

9:23

got 200 on Sheffieldshire which is and

9:25

he's laughed and said we are looking at different scores

9:27

even with the Kakabara because the pitch

9:29

is different, they're not bouncy, they're

9:31

not firm and particularly this time of year

9:33

it was so lush at Lord's that there was no reverse swing. So

9:37

the game essentially lasts 15 overs

9:40

and that's

9:42

probably quite I don't know if I've got to an answer there but

9:44

that's by and large

9:46

consensus I got some sort of understanding

9:50

but maybe this particular time of year

9:52

is not where it's best used. Sam

9:55

Cook George, before we get harm in on this, you've

9:58

got a point of observations. Henry

10:01

Brooks' average speed is 75 miles an hour in

10:03

this game. I think

10:05

that's interesting that we're still talking about him as a

10:07

fast bowler. Maybe high level. But

10:10

both ways. They bow 139 overs. Their

10:13

first outdoor game, their

10:16

first multi-day game of the season for six

10:18

months. Yeah, you've

10:21

got a crane to develop. To be fair, his

10:23

first bow was, I'd guess, much quicker. So

10:25

you beat Billy Root for pace, I think,

10:27

with the one you clean them up with.

10:29

Yeah. And no doubt we've got slower as well

10:31

on. But I'd

10:34

guess that everyone would have

10:36

done. Yeah, I'm just making the point

10:38

that there isn't a lot of pace in the England game. Also,

10:42

Bradburn talking about New Zealand wickets. I mean,

10:46

personally, New Zealand wickets, I find

10:48

quite testing. I mean, you'll remember

10:50

some of those tests we've been

10:53

doing. Yeah. I think

10:55

the other thing I'd say, and I know that people in

10:58

New Zealand won't like it. I say as a New Zealander,

11:00

fondly, no one goes to cricket

11:02

in New Zealand. I mean, how many

11:04

people go to first pass games in New Zealand? A dozen. How

11:07

many people go to test matches in New Zealand of England on

11:09

that? New

11:11

Zealand. New Zealand. Yeah,

11:14

right. New Zealand wickets are

11:16

not the way to go in the bottom. No, I don't

11:18

think he was saying that's the wrong way to go. But

11:20

I don't think he was saying we should try to replicate

11:22

New Zealand wickets. I think what he was saying is that

11:25

the cricket bar does require. Essentially,

11:28

the bar does require a

11:30

different surface to your juke surface.

11:33

I think there would probably be a result at Lord's, for example,

11:35

with the jukes because of... There might

11:37

be. ...the moment of year and the ball

11:39

stays harder. But I've heard in that game telling me that by

11:41

the end of the ATO, it looked like a hockey ball. Because

11:43

the thing gets pushed so far into the ball that

11:46

there's almost nothing to grip onto. So

11:48

the things in that case, which you don't get with the

11:51

jukes and... However

11:53

soft the pitch is, you will always get

11:56

a bit of nibble. And as you say, that's not necessarily

11:58

what we want from the game. I

12:00

did things notes far, if you

12:02

look at the guys that took the wickets, the guys that took the wickets are still

12:04

the guys who towards the end of the season, towards

12:06

the top of the wickets, whether it is, you know,

12:08

you should put them down on the list now, Sam Kirk, James

12:11

Heales, Jamie Porter, Dane Patterson,

12:14

Matt O' Ollie, Ollie Robinson, Lewis

12:17

Gregory, Chris Rushworth, they're the guys that took four wickets plus

12:19

in the game. And a lot

12:21

of those games were pretty

12:24

wet. So there's

12:27

still something in it for bowling well. Yeah, I look

12:29

at the thing that they're perhaps not saying is that

12:31

one of the other reasons that they're doing this is

12:33

because they don't want dukes to have a monopoly on

12:35

the market. And let's face it,

12:38

you know, I'm a dukes fan, I'll say

12:40

again, but they have produced a lot of

12:42

crap balls in the last few years, they've

12:44

produced a lot of balls, they produce balls

12:46

that got replaced after an over. So you

12:48

don't I still I still wonder just how

12:50

big a part in

12:52

baseball that that summer of

12:55

dukes balls played in

12:57

England, managing to perform in the way that

12:59

they did in 2022. Do you remember

13:01

there was there was that match? The Dodgy

13:05

batch? Like, you know what we've been talking

13:07

for, for best part 50 minutes. We

13:09

do have a guy with an England cap

13:12

just positioned above what

13:15

I imagine is a picture of him holding some

13:17

kind of trophy. I can't quite see the sun's

13:19

reflect. I think he's got two England caps there.

13:21

Two England caps. Oh, he's got a really, really

13:23

plush one. There's a photo

13:26

taken at Trafalgar Square.

13:29

There's a couple of match balls. There's a picture of

13:32

said bowler with Freddie Flint off his old mate.

13:35

Is the ball juke stay? Wow, that's

13:37

it. Harmony is the ball. What is that? This

13:39

is a turn out, isn't it? Even or not?

13:41

You can actually what do you think it's a

13:44

juice? Do you think it's a cooker? I

13:48

think it's a cook bra and is it from the West

13:50

Indies? It's

13:54

Actually, it's from playing first task cricket in South

13:56

Africa when Sri Lanka, do you remember I got

13:58

injured mid season when Sri Lanka was playing? Three,

14:00

Get the job before what the trying

14:03

to produce Davies him. And

14:05

may not be Gibson went.

14:08

We are just have a lions and the

14:10

first yeah flags and I got six for

14:12

and the give me that bull mounted on

14:14

a nice there would six when I want

14:17

Whenever they don't believe that's nice. Nice opportunity

14:19

for seventy five times I've got a few

14:21

more often. Brush your apple on a group

14:23

are sick of picture show the book on

14:25

the on the Kookaburra. For me it's time

14:28

and place in England. And

14:30

a big believer that ugly a wealth

14:32

of of i grew up all speed

14:34

said. Don't like the Dukes

14:37

monopolize? never than I am a

14:39

firm believer like George that the

14:41

been. I think the. The.

14:44

Have been got complacent in recent past.

14:47

Lasts. And yes well we've had

14:49

but bulls which have been everything

14:51

but bulls that you've done nothing

14:53

but trouble with you can accept

14:55

I'm always holies. difference. Yeah,

14:58

year upon yet. differences. That.

15:01

The difference between the could were born in two

15:03

boys you can work so hard on the hook

15:05

up the bulk of the ball goes gets old

15:07

for people are less than wanna know what the

15:09

differences are opposed by gives the Cooper gets old

15:12

after about six or seven over the stop swinging

15:14

then it obviously starts to go bit soft is

15:16

black next at the scene goes in over eat

15:18

and worked so hard and the cook of a

15:20

bull me ah this is where Jimmy Anderson of

15:23

the if you remember Jimmy Anderson and. Bread.

15:25

Swan and Skippy withstanding somebody else

15:27

mentioned about Sealed is getting bombarded

15:30

with abuse of Anderson and Broad

15:32

and whoever. Because. They

15:34

were getting their hands on the bulls on the fingers on a

15:37

boat. Was. In a hot

15:39

conditions. That. Near the you worked

15:41

so hard to get the ball into a shift survivor

15:43

reverse swing or to try and keep it is ringing.

15:45

The media gets wet. it's com. In

15:48

a this point of the yeah you can do

15:50

so much to keep yeah you try the pitch

15:52

be in whatever it is to get a little

15:54

sit inside edge by systems comes down to find

15:56

leg knuckles on the causeway. Beer. is

15:59

com it be ball goes soft, ball

16:01

gets bigger. And I mean, even and

16:03

then and then for me, then the concept of

16:06

we need to produce fast pollers, the

16:08

ball with a ball which is either

16:10

the which which doesn't do as much

16:12

as what the cook the jukes does.

16:15

That for me, that's that's

16:17

that's against what you're trying to do,

16:19

because that's not natural

16:21

elements going the

16:23

other way the game is going to go.

16:25

That's just the ball getting ball getting wet

16:28

ball. And you've now got a ball with

16:30

a ball that that

16:32

for me doesn't produce fast polls doesn't produce spin itself.

16:34

For me, it's a time in a place. We'll

16:37

have arguments about arguments about seven first

16:39

class games in a bulk start. If

16:42

we had to first class matches in the middle of the

16:44

summer, you know, June, July time,

16:47

I think that would be a perfect time to play with

16:50

the football if you want to get away

16:52

from just you've been off like that.

16:54

But then coming back to this, yeah,

16:57

like we did last come back to this

16:59

round. And there's a guy who you know, we

17:01

had on the following on, talking

17:03

about him. Yesterday, Sam Cook, he's been

17:05

a we're bowling, I think he's quite

17:07

a bit over the course of the

17:10

winter. He

17:12

is probably been one of the

17:14

informed bowlers in first class cricket over the course of the

17:16

last few years, managed used

17:18

to manage managed asked him

17:20

what's it like to stand in a queue with to

17:22

play for England when other people are jumping in front

17:24

here every now and again. This lad has

17:27

got serious talent. He was he had 275

17:29

first class wickets in an average of 19.

17:31

And he's somebody

17:33

that everybody keeps looking beyond because if

17:36

class is not quick enough, somebody that

17:38

you wouldn't expect the comfortable suit. And

17:40

he got what he got six or 14 or he

17:43

was skillful, put a ball in the right area. So for

17:48

me, the cookable ball was just it's going to

17:50

be a time and a place in England. And no,

17:53

when I mean, April mere no matter how much

17:55

we're in without it start the summer,

17:57

I don't think these pictures or the grounds the

18:01

right surfaces to use the Kukaburra ball on. You want

18:03

it to reverse swing, you want it to spin. Once

18:07

it goes 10 overs old, unfortunately

18:09

in England, the Lusbrain Grass, you ain't gonna get that.

18:11

You're not gonna get much spin as well. I

18:14

love this show, by the way. I absolutely love this

18:16

show. And who'd

18:18

have thought the Kukaburra ball could be so interesting?

18:23

The marbles made it up by now. I

18:26

just think it's amazing. The

18:29

contorted positions the English game is

18:31

having to get into, it

18:34

has given a month of the season to a white

18:36

ball window. I mean, it

18:38

all comes back to that. Whatever you look at, whatever

18:40

problem, it all comes back to that. And

18:44

maybe it's worth it, I don't know. But if

18:47

you didn't- I totally agree. I think

18:49

the answer to cricket's crazy, crazy, crazy

18:51

schedule, which can be charted back to

18:53

early wisdoms at the end of the

18:55

19th century, if your answer to that

18:57

is to create a whole new tournament and put it

18:59

in the middle of the summer. Well,

19:02

anyway. This

19:04

little one on that one, George, there is, and

19:06

Nick as well, there's a lot of talk around

19:08

counties of turning fixtures around

19:10

and trying to work out what the

19:12

best formula is. They talk about having

19:14

wiped the other, the one distance

19:17

at the start of the season. So

19:19

if you had the one distance at the start of the season and you

19:21

had a block of- Like they're doing Australia.

19:23

That's like they played the purely over tournament

19:25

in Australia. Well, I think it's a pretty-

19:27

You know what I'm coming to, didn't you?

19:30

Yeah. That's how we played with a white kookaburra ball. So

19:33

are we happy to play with a white kookaburra ball and

19:35

it go all round the park because we won a 10

19:37

and a 50 over game? Playing

19:40

with colored clothing, white ball, cricket. Or

19:43

do we wanna- Are we- Oh, that would

19:45

be fine, apparently. And then

19:47

we're complaining that the kookaburra ball, when it's

19:49

red, are we saying

19:52

that's not the right time to do it. So

19:54

I think it doesn't matter what happens in England.

19:56

We play a lot of cricket in a short

19:58

space of time. And something- got

20:00

a gift and unfortunately like you said when

20:02

you play you give a window for one

20:04

white ball competition everything else

20:06

suffers. I tell you what it's going to

20:08

be really interesting if mooted plans to

20:11

shave off two weeks of the school

20:13

summer holidays come through because

20:15

so much of the game is built upon being

20:17

played during that six-week period so if they lost

20:19

what 50% of it 33%

20:22

of it that'd be interesting. Anyway you

20:25

talk about Sam Cooke should we talk about some of the

20:27

other performances that really stood out. Sam

20:30

North East for England, Sam Cooke for

20:32

England, Tom Haines.

20:36

Where were you? Let's start with you George

20:38

where were you? You were at Edgeverston. I

20:40

was at Edgeverston I saw Jake Libby get

20:42

a hundred. I saw Kashif Ali get two

20:44

hundred. And he hit both he reached three

20:46

figures with six in both innings is that

20:48

right? All three did didn't it? All

20:50

three? Yeah I mean Kashif's

20:53

less surprising than Jake

20:55

Libby but yeah contrasting

20:57

centuries Kashif's increasingly beautiful

21:00

really. The on-drive, the walking on-drive. The

21:02

on-drive's lovely but there's a late cut.

21:04

Can he watch it about 300 times?

21:06

The late cut that's in the Edgeverston

21:08

museum already. Oh look there were lots

21:11

of he's gorgeous through the cupboard square.

21:14

Yeah he's a lovely looking player he did get hit by

21:16

the short ball a couple of times but

21:19

you know he's at the start of his career I think

21:21

it was his sixth game for Worcestershire six championship game and

21:24

I'm sure there'll be a lot more centuries so

21:27

he was a lot of fun. Jake Libby you

21:29

know averaging 51 as an opening batter for Worcestershire

21:31

in the championship. That's pretty incredible isn't it? I'm

21:34

not going to get a look in. You know

21:37

would he score more runs than Zach Crawley or Ben

21:39

Ducky? Well probably wouldn't to be fair but I

21:42

don't know. I don't know he's scored them

21:44

very differently. In another era he would be there

21:46

or thereabouts I'm sure. Played

21:48

very well. In the end the

21:51

weather beat us but actually they did

21:53

quite well to get as much play

21:55

as they did and Worcestershire's bowling the

21:57

tat looked they didn't look at him. they

22:00

were enjoying the flat wicket or the cookable

22:02

ball but yeah they

22:04

were horrible conditions really really extremely

22:08

windy and pretty chilly as

22:10

well so yeah an

22:12

interesting game but wouldn't read masses into it. There

22:15

was no play at Durham you're at Middlesex you've

22:17

spoken about that Nick can

22:20

we talk about Jimmy Anderson we

22:22

kind of talked about him briefly

22:24

last week but I think since

22:26

then he's kind of indicated that

22:28

it's unlikely would you say

22:30

for him am I am I

22:32

accurately reporting this it's unlikely that he's

22:35

gonna play for Lancashire before

22:38

the test series in July and

22:40

feeling that there's that what

22:43

did he say to think? We said at

22:46

the tail enders thing at Lord's that

22:48

he would go at the

22:50

end of May or June is it two

22:52

games in June I look at my cricketer

22:54

wall chart I look at the good news

22:56

agents and my

22:59

eyes aren't good enough to see it but

23:02

I think there are two games well let

23:04

me head over to the cricketer website

23:06

then maybe it's there well there are

23:08

those are two games one at the end of June and one at

23:10

the end of July I can't see where the Lancashire are but I

23:12

think they are okay there are

23:14

two there are Lancashire's got successive

23:16

games in June they're where Kent

23:18

and Amiens not. I've heard

23:21

he's gonna play one game before the first

23:23

test and that makes

23:26

sense for me because Jimmy's,

23:29

Jimmy played quite a bit of cricket in the last

23:31

few years for Lancashire leading into the test series and

23:33

there's a couple of times now he's getting injured especially

23:35

last year he got injured just before and I think

23:39

that might be playing on his mind

23:41

if you know the games in the

23:43

first round you know your last

23:46

game is the 27th or starts in

23:48

the 27th of May the

23:50

first test and start the 10th of July is there

23:54

any point for him for

23:56

him to play especially the

23:58

other ball of the year I think

24:01

he knows he's probably well enough now to know what it

24:03

takes to get ready for a Lord's

24:05

first test match. So I think the

24:08

interesting thing for me with Jimmy is

24:12

with all the stuff for Stokes not going, I feel,

24:14

and not going World T20, for

24:16

me that was a statement of we are now

24:18

looking ahead. We are now looking towards Australia

24:20

2025. And

24:23

the elephant in the room is we

24:26

can't prepare for 2025 really, I think,

24:28

properly, because

24:33

I'm not sure Jimmy Anderson is going to get there. Now,

24:35

what does that team do? What does that team

24:37

look like? What are we trying to achieve with

24:40

our plans getting us to India next

24:42

summer and then beyond that? And

24:45

I think England are now looking, I think

24:47

there's any secret England looking to go down

24:49

the fast polar route because they say Australia,

24:52

coming to Stockton-Hizzlewood, you see, I mean

24:54

South Africa with Nokia, Robada,

24:57

Kasea, you've got Shami,

25:01

Siraj, and Bumra as

25:03

India's. You

25:05

see in teams around the world

25:07

now with fine, fine fast bowling,

25:10

quick bowling, pace attacks. And

25:12

I don't think England have had too

25:15

many pace bowlers in the

25:17

recent sort of 30 years. And I think England

25:19

now feel, or possibly feel, Rob

25:21

Kean, Ben Stokes, Ben McCollum might

25:23

feel that we need to get back

25:26

to that 90 mile an hour bowler once Anderson

25:28

and Broad have gone. And

25:30

it'll be interesting to see how England used

25:32

Jimmy Anderson going into this series or

25:35

whether England try or Rob Kean, Ben

25:37

Stokes, has a conversation with Jim Anderson

25:39

that this summer might be the last

25:41

one and how did they get Jimmy through that?

25:44

So I didn't expect Jimmy to play a

25:46

great deal in the first seven games. He probably will play

25:48

one of the ones in June. And then

25:50

there's got to be a difficult conversation

25:52

between Jimmy Anderson and the selection panel, because

25:54

it's a contract at the end of the season.

25:57

England are trying to prepare going forward. And

26:00

how do you have that conversation with somebody who's

26:03

been so great for you? Do

26:05

you think that in

26:07

a way, almost from

26:09

Jimmy himself to

26:12

make that decision, it's just too difficult.

26:15

You can't drop him. And it

26:18

feels disrespectful to even suggest

26:20

that, right? So,

26:23

you know, in a weird way, maybe

26:28

it's down to Jimmy to

26:30

make that call, like you're

26:32

abroaded. Surely. I mean, come

26:34

on. There are people in management who get very

26:36

well paid to make decisions. It's not

26:39

great. Come on. You

26:41

know, if they think they need to move on,

26:44

they have a mature conversation with him. If

26:46

they think that's right, on merit, he gets to the other

26:48

side, doesn't he? Look, I would never

26:51

tell someone to retire if he wants

26:54

to play, loves cricket, brilliant. It's an

26:56

asset to English cricket. But

26:58

it doesn't mean you have to pick him. I mean,

27:00

they're very capable of having tough decisions with Sam

27:02

Cooke or, you know, a million

27:05

other players who miss out. You've

27:08

got to not worry about the

27:10

media backlash or anything. Explain things

27:13

maturely, possibly. I

27:16

can see it from both sides. I don't have a really strong

27:18

view on it. I think we all can. James

27:20

Anderson is leading the attack in

27:23

Australia as a 42-year-old, thinking

27:25

that they're in trouble. But

27:27

any of us, do you think any of us, as

27:31

we sit here right now, think

27:33

that Jimmy Anderson will play

27:35

for England against Australia at the end of

27:37

next year? No. It

27:40

feels like the trouble with Jimmy is that he's so

27:42

anomalous in, you know,

27:44

that you do have

27:47

to sort of... I'm with Harvey. I

27:49

don't think he will. And I don't think it... The

27:51

thing is, he's not going to get... It's almost like he's not going to get any taller. That's the

27:53

thing, isn't it? He's not going to get any taller. He might not

27:55

get any slower. If

28:00

he's the same James Anderson as the last B Series, he's going to

28:03

go to Australia, won't let England down, he'll probably be their best bowler.

28:05

But, but, Will he know? Well,

28:07

England's best, well, Will he know? Will he?

28:10

Do you think, do you want to say that

28:12

you will be their best bowler? No, that's not

28:14

my point. You may

28:16

well go and be England's best bowler,

28:18

you know, be the most accurate bowler and

28:21

cause problems in the areas where he's always caused problems. But

28:24

as you say, James Anderson is England's best

28:26

bowler on the next tour of

28:28

Australia. You think it won't land

28:30

England in great stead because, I just can't see

28:32

it. I just can't see it. But the British,

28:34

the trouble. I can't even see that as a,

28:36

as an option, James Anderson goes. But the trouble

28:39

is, no, I'm not saying you, I'm not

28:42

saying we're yours now. No, I don't think we

28:44

would have said James again. I

28:46

don't think we would have said. But we would have said, we would have

28:49

said after the ashes that we couldn't have seen him going well in India.

28:51

And then he goes, did, this is why I say he's such an

28:53

anomaly in that you do have to take the aged thing out of

28:55

it almost and think, I'm

28:57

not saying you should go or will go or will be as a bowler or,

29:00

or putting that in the great spot of he does because

29:03

of the kind of bowler that Australia of Chinese

29:05

or needs when. But

29:07

it's essentially wouldn't rule it out. I'm

29:11

ruling it. I'm ruling out right now. Do

29:13

you think that the conversation has been made

29:17

more difficult by the fact that

29:19

Chris Wokes himself is

29:23

pushing 35 George, 34 maybe. Yeah,

29:26

just more generally, you wouldn't say the

29:29

whole party had thing has gone terribly

29:32

well. You wouldn't say that they, you wouldn't

29:35

say through injury or form overseas or

29:37

whatever. You wouldn't say. So Ollie

29:39

Robinson and Chris Wokes, you'd say, I'd suggest

29:42

if Chris Wokes was three years younger

29:44

and if Ollie Robinson wasn't going through

29:46

this situation involving his make or break

29:48

season, they're, they're the guys

29:50

that would step in for Anderson. Would

29:53

you not say they, they're your bankers. You

29:57

don't have to go for like for like either.

29:59

You could. You know, you could

30:01

you could open with completely different people maybe there Yeah,

30:05

it does feel that when England tried to

30:07

look to the future There

30:09

was a bit of a backlash, you know

30:11

remember when they picked Sam Curran instead of

30:14

Stuart Broad for example or

30:16

when they the whole Caribbean series play go

30:18

to the head of Jimmy Anderson, I mean

30:21

And you know those those guys got a bit

30:23

unlucky with the wickets You

30:25

know, maybe if Anderson or Broad had gone on that

30:27

Caribbean tour their careers would have ended a wee bit

30:29

earlier I don't know wickets. Well, you

30:32

know real fun. Oh, they were turgid But

30:37

it does happen which is why with these County

30:39

wickets because they're trying to prepare them for that

30:42

You know, I don't think I've seen England

30:44

within the Caribbean as a test

30:46

series No A

30:50

lot of tours there since Hami was bowling them out.

30:52

It's been 20 years So

30:54

I don't you don't have to do

30:56

it that way. I wouldn't rule it out

30:59

I remember sitting Do you remember

31:01

Jimmy Anderson basically kept in England in the Sydney

31:03

test because Joe Root was ill and

31:05

at the end We were sitting in the bowels of the

31:07

stadium at the SCG on a baking

31:09

hot day and he said, you

31:12

know, it's a disappointing way to finish my Ashes

31:15

career in Australia and

31:17

then he said but I don't know. I

31:20

don't know I'm not sure I could bear for this to be my

31:22

last Experience

31:25

and he was back there four years later It's

31:28

incredible. So and now we're almost two years on

31:30

from that. I mean Haven't

31:32

we John learned not to write about?

31:35

No, I mean For

31:38

me, you don't write them and

31:40

you never write you miss and but I

31:42

think When

31:45

he's right, we'll be right. We'll be writing him

31:47

off with me. Yeah We

31:52

have every time we have brought him off. This

31:54

is the problem. We have anybody to

31:56

stand up. I've not written him off before Yeah

32:00

Every time they look to move on like George

32:02

has said, nobody should know the

32:05

problem. And the point I

32:07

was making is, isn't that because Chris Wokes came

32:09

in and was man of the series, player of

32:11

the series, and last summer. But

32:13

not in Australia. He stood up. Yeah,

32:15

he was at home. But Brodie's moved on,

32:18

so he's officially gone. I don't see, I

32:20

think Jimmy's very reluctant to retire because I think he loves the

32:22

game that much. He loves going to wear,

32:24

wear. Absolutely. He challenges himself all around the world and

32:27

there's nothing wrong with that. But I think what's

32:29

important now for the selectest point of view could

32:32

be not so much out of Anderson's hands,

32:34

but I think this could be the time

32:36

that England has to look at the other

32:38

four or five boulders that

32:41

they see can possibly compete against

32:43

India at home and win the Ashes of

32:45

Wear. And

32:48

you're almost looking at Jimmy and go, well, we'll know what we're going to get

32:51

with you. But we need to find

32:53

a formula that's going to beat Australia and Australia because

32:55

since 2010, 2011,

32:57

we haven't even looked like winning

32:59

a test match, never mind winning a series. So

33:02

I think the initial part of the summer

33:05

test matches will be a good

33:07

indication of where England are looking to go from a

33:09

fast, boldest point of view. Anderson will

33:11

still be involved in the conversation and being

33:13

around. I just don't think he'll

33:15

be front and center when it comes to

33:18

Australia. The hardest part for me is seeing

33:20

this career. I wouldn't like to

33:22

peter it out in not having

33:25

this great fan fan farewell. Now,

33:27

there's nothing wrong with having him in Australia. He

33:29

might not play a game, but at least you have

33:31

it. Then he doesn't get to send

33:33

off what you want that career to have. What

33:36

I see in this summer, this is

33:38

a test match, the fourth test match of this

33:40

summer, is it Old Trafford? And

33:43

I just wonder if there's a conversation

33:45

had Jimmy might think, well, that

33:47

might be my turn, like you've

33:49

just mentioned, John. That might be

33:51

my way of saying goodbye to English cricket.

33:55

Do you know what? I really hope that would happen

33:58

because if it goes beyond that. I

34:00

don't think you'll get the send-off that

34:02

the great career he deserves because if

34:04

he goes to Australia or he plays

34:06

next summer, he might not play the

34:08

games, he might just sit around carrying

34:10

drinks, he might play a game on

34:13

a watered-down test match to say goodbye.

34:15

I think for me,

34:18

I would potentially look at going to

34:20

the ground where I've met my name, I'm

34:23

going to bowl at the end, which is named after

34:25

me, which is crazy. And I think that would be

34:27

my send-off. Well,

34:29

I'll be interested to see how that

34:32

what George said, that honest conversation goes,

34:34

because I'm sure it's being had in

34:37

the four walls of English cricket at this

34:39

moment in time, because I'm not

34:41

leaving him out. It's actually how does

34:44

he finish because his career has been

34:46

far too good for it just to

34:48

finish out on a

34:51

wet Monday afternoon against nobody. Old

34:55

Trafford have an Ashes test in 2031. Yeah.

35:00

There you go. That's

35:02

the one. Don't you finish there. I

35:07

think if he plays every test this

35:09

summer and then plays

35:11

against Zimbabwe, I think that would be

35:13

his 200th test match. He will

35:15

finish with his Zimbabwe test. He started with his

35:17

Zimbabwe test, a

35:20

legal sessions record and off

35:22

he goes into the night. And he spoiled his

35:24

reputation by hanging on. He

35:29

did and capital debt did. Jimmy

35:32

Anderson is not about these personal records.

35:38

He's about winning games. Yeah, of

35:41

course. It mustn't be about holding on

35:43

for that sort of milestone. It doesn't

35:45

matter. It doesn't matter if he never

35:47

balls another ball. He's had a great

35:49

career and he's going to be very

35:51

fondly remembered. So I agree

35:53

with everything that Hami said, to be honest, but this is

35:55

we'll come back to the cook up or a thing here.

35:57

This is all I'd experiment in with it. because

36:00

we're not producing bowlers or cricksters

36:02

really, that challenge

36:04

in overseas conditions. We

36:06

have a myriad of

36:09

fast mediums, themas who nibble it. And

36:11

they're brilliant and I love that cricket. And

36:13

I don't particularly like the Kookaburra, I'll say

36:15

again, that if the rest of the world

36:17

are using it, we're playing a different

36:19

sport. We literally

36:22

are in August. We

36:25

started with the Kookaburra and we kind of finished him

36:27

with the Kookaburra. And if there is anything else anybody

36:29

would like to talk about or... We

36:31

should probably touch on South

36:33

North East specifically. I mean, it was

36:36

three hours, five not an hour. I

36:38

was there by the way, in 1990.

36:42

Well, God take down all that

36:44

artwork now, haven't they? I've

36:46

got to rename all those things that are named after

36:48

333 and go, you've just got to go. You

36:51

can have his bat back, it's been sat in the museum. Yeah.

36:56

It was very flat but... Sat in the

36:58

endulchre with his wonderful catch. I saw that with my

37:00

own eyes. I hate

37:03

to say I wasn't talking about... If you hear me, I

37:05

saw that. Made you all feel very old

37:07

but I wasn't alive. I

37:09

did a lot of reading about it last week

37:11

there. So I knew... Do you know who else is

37:14

there? Do you know who else is there? Andrew

37:16

Miller and Lawrence Booth.

37:19

Were they covering it? We were all

37:21

kids and we were all at that test, mate. How

37:23

strange is that? Yes,

37:26

talk about South North East. No,

37:28

only because it's very easy to get

37:30

to this round of features and say, oh, a quick

37:32

wire of flat batters, hard

37:35

bowlers. 335, you still have to

37:37

play extremely well. And

37:40

even that is probably underselling it. You've

37:43

still got to go where very few people have

37:46

ever gone before in the game. And where

37:48

am I talking about a ball that as you say is used in a lot of parts

37:51

of the world? So, yeah,

37:54

it was a friendly pitch, et cetera,

37:56

et cetera. But, you

37:58

know, I think you gave... The chance

38:00

to back the point on 10 and another

38:03

chance to back the point on about 1 into

38:06

3 figures and it was missed empty on

38:08

2.91. But essentially,

38:10

this guy's got an unbeaten quadruple

38:12

hundred already. And also, I've

38:15

been talking about guys who have been unfortunate

38:17

not to play for England. Sam

38:20

Northy's pitch feels like he steps around, James Hilder,

38:22

Kateri doesn't have good energy. In

38:25

all likelihood, we'll finish without in England, Tesco,

38:27

we were interviewing Sam Northy, and he said

38:30

that he got to a point now where

38:32

he couldn't sort of accept that and just played to see. He's

38:35

quite to be honest, he was dug out last week. So

38:37

I just want to play now to see how far I can take the game. And

38:40

I think in the last two years, he's gone 410 an hour, 335 an

38:42

hour. He,

38:46

yeah, a different era of might well have played

38:49

for England. And I think

38:51

it'd be fair to say people less

38:53

qualified probably have done. Just

38:56

as you probably said about Sam Cooke, who,

38:59

by the way, gets better every single year.

39:02

I think a lot of people's idea of Sam Cooke is very different

39:04

to the reality because people have seen him in 2018, 2019. He

39:08

comes back every year quicker, more skillful. He

39:11

really, before this week, said

39:14

to me that he really enjoys the ball of the cookbar. I think he's lighter

39:16

than the hand, gets more bounce with it, swings

39:18

it round, swings it more early on. He's

39:22

gone down nine strips, bold with it.

39:25

Yeah, he's excellent and he's much better than a lot

39:27

of people think. A lot of people think that

39:30

Sam Cooke is the Sam Cooke they always saw when they last saw him. But

39:32

genuinely he comes back every year better and

39:35

more skillful and quicker,

39:37

personally, than the previous years. And one of his big

39:40

things this year was giving himself a best

39:42

shot. He's been, I think he's missed three

39:44

games in the last two or three years because he's so good. Because

39:47

there's six little big squads because they're

39:49

always challenging him on the field. Would

39:53

be surprising if he really pushes to be rotated once

39:55

or twice. Just so he's 100% replaced. To

39:58

an ease of 100% there is no one. English

40:01

uncapped better than on the circuit.

40:03

What's he doing with the ball to get the

40:05

movement that others aren't? I

40:07

don't know but it's in terms of what he's doing

40:09

with it or what's actually happening. Well it looked like

40:12

I just watched the videos online. It's just what he's

40:14

actively doing with it. If you guys have said

40:17

something, I've come over to somebody else

40:19

and said it recently but he

40:21

said he finds it lighter in the hand. I

40:23

mean, who was it? I

40:27

read someone say it about someone said it

40:29

a few days ago. They find it lighter in the hand, they

40:31

find that therefore they can go quicker with it. He

40:34

can put more into his action with it whereas the

40:36

jukes, that little bit heavier, a

40:38

little bit more controlled. I think

40:41

also the nature of the beast is that a lot of

40:43

guys were very very skillful. Because

40:46

they're so skillful, know that they can over a

40:48

long season can probably bowl 80% with the jukes

40:51

and have the same success. Whereas I think

40:54

it's being able to properly

40:57

crank up and go as hard as you can with a capoiran

40:59

knowing that they're

41:02

able to retain the same skills if that makes sense.

41:05

I watched a bit of him, because obviously

41:08

I knew we were going to have him on, so I went

41:10

back and watched a bit of the footage of the wickets that

41:12

he got. His angles he

41:14

used to crease very very well, very

41:16

smart with his angles attacking off stuff.

41:19

We spoke about Jimmy Anderson and obviously don't want

41:21

to put anybody in that bracket. But

41:25

the beauty about Anderson is Anderson's ability to

41:27

take the ball onto or away from off-stone.

41:30

Using the crease was what

41:32

I think made Jimmy far superior to anybody

41:35

else, arguably, to ever play the game, never

41:37

mind playing England. I

41:39

thought South Cook this week, there was a bit

41:41

of that in it. We've made

41:43

a new man talk to him yesterday and

41:46

he talked about how often we asked him about playing

41:48

for England. He was

41:50

very realistic. I loved the

41:52

conversation because he's the stereotypical fast

41:54

follower who's not playing many brain

41:57

cells. He is the complete opposite,

41:59

very intelligent. and spoke very well and

42:01

he talked about why

42:03

he hasn't played for England. He said, well, among

42:07

my style and my ball, and on to the

42:09

greatest that I've ever played, and one's still playing

42:11

at 41 and the other one's just finished at

42:13

37. So I couldn't get in the team. He

42:15

was realistic on that front. His

42:17

record, like Nick said, is ridiculous. We did some

42:19

things. He's got 275 wickets,

42:22

an average of 19. In the

42:25

last four seasons, he's averaged 21. 50 wickets at

42:27

14, 51

42:29

wickets at 16. So he's

42:32

talked about trying to get a little bit

42:34

quicker, but also said in

42:37

the last year, 18 months, that

42:39

he's got a position where he's not going to

42:41

get any quicker. And he's now trying

42:44

to work on different skill sets, which is taking

42:46

the ball in, bringing the ball away, and

42:50

using these lengths. And he plays on a wicked at

42:52

chance, which is not, I

42:54

would say, a seemer friendly, because obviously the

42:56

all their wickets are Simon Hamer

42:58

back into the summer. He, you

43:00

know, there's a lot of turning wickets. So

43:02

I think he's had to use his

43:05

skills very, very well, and he seems to be getting better

43:07

and better. Whether he can play for England, 26 year

43:10

olds, he's probably at his peak from an

43:13

education point of view, from a game management

43:15

and game awareness point of view. If

43:18

there was ever a time that Sam Cooke was

43:20

to get selected from England, this is

43:22

probably in the next year or two where

43:25

he is at his peak of his powers before it starts

43:27

to sort of drop off. So I'd

43:29

be intrigued to see how the

43:31

England selectors have watched

43:35

the way Sam Cooke's development is over the last

43:37

18 months. And does he fit into the group?

43:40

I suspect he probably doesn't. And he's going to be

43:42

one of the involvements that if he gets a cap,

43:44

that'll be one possibly two. If he

43:47

doesn't get a cap, he'll go down as like

43:49

to Glen Chappell and one or two others. That

43:52

Martin Bick, who only played a

43:54

handful of times or if didn't

43:56

play. That great quiz question is

43:59

who's... you know the best first-class

44:01

cricketer never to get a cap. I think

44:03

we've both said that. I

44:05

think both names start with Sam

44:07

and unfortunately North Eastern Cup

44:09

might never play for England. Hello

44:15

Tom Skinner here literally to drill

44:17

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up on the latest episodes without

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the ads. Okay

45:44

guys, this is going to be

45:46

a short show by the way. I'm going to

45:48

leave you the question, a quick question. Remember back in

45:50

2012 when West Indies were in town and England went

45:54

between a lot. Yes, mind

45:56

the windows, was it? Mind the windows? Was it that one?

45:59

No, no, it was Either way, remember then... No

46:04

different Tino, Tino went with Tino got 95.

46:06

Yeah, yeah, you know Edg Let's

46:26

look to that third test against West Indies and

46:28

let's just say that England are 2-0 up and

46:31

they decide to look to the future. And

46:34

they don't play Anderson and they don't play Wokes

46:36

and they don't play Robinson. Or

46:39

maybe they do, but they certainly don't play

46:41

Anderson. So what three

46:43

bowlers would you say with an eye to the

46:45

future or an eye to whatever or

46:48

they're just all injured? What three bowlers would you

46:50

like to see bowl for England in

46:52

that third test match? All

46:55

three platement Durham. All three platement

46:58

Durham. Carts and pots, I'd

47:00

say. Would you all agree? That

47:02

makes sense. If you want

47:04

to be in Australia, for me if you want to be in

47:06

Australia, England have got to have

47:08

a good look at Carts. They've

47:11

got to have a better look at pots, but

47:13

he's not the quickest. The

47:16

fastball of that you think is going to

47:19

go over there. He didn't agree with Cook and Robinson

47:21

I suspect. Yes, I agree with that. And

47:24

then you've got wooden archer. Now

47:27

that four or five there are what

47:29

you take to Australia. If Jimmy's

47:32

around, you

47:35

take him, but England won't

47:37

win. England are going to

47:40

win Australia with fast bowlers. So for me, you

47:42

would, if that was a third test. For me,

47:44

you would have to open a bowl in now.

47:46

Right? I've had this conversation with one or two

47:49

people, higher up the food chain and gone, right?

47:51

If you want to open them back, do

47:54

you want to fish 95 mile an hour? Or

47:57

do you want to fish 82 mile an hour? When

48:00

your very first ball, would you like to

48:02

face Mark Wood at 95 mile an hour

48:04

for your first ball or your 40th ball?

48:07

Because that's when he comes on. And I think

48:09

Mark Wood now, for me England have got

48:11

it, especially overseas. The

48:14

one thing about that Indian tour tells

48:17

me that the only time we looked into the new ball

48:19

was when Mark Wood was balling in it. It's

48:22

true. That is true. Nobody else,

48:24

Mark Wood. So, yes, people

48:26

go, oh, you're Durham. Yeah, I

48:28

see him. But I tell you, England go forward. England

48:31

go forward with Mark Wood as Jonathan Baller,

48:33

with Joffra Archer. If

48:35

I had my crystal

48:37

ball, I'm going into that first test in

48:39

Brisbane, all fit. My

48:42

ball and attack would be Mark Wood. And

48:44

it's a big shout this because I've bagged him

48:46

for the last six months.

48:50

But if I could get Mark

48:52

Wood, Joffra Archer, Ollie Robinson, Ben

48:54

Stokes, possibly show him

48:56

Bashir as my ball and attack. I

49:00

fancy myself to give Australia a

49:02

good game in there back then. I've

49:04

got Pierce all round her. I've got a

49:07

ball. There

49:09

is a wishful thinking, isn't there? I mean, Mark Wood

49:11

is of an age where fast bowlers tend to

49:14

get a bit slower. I think

49:16

he is the fastest England bowler I've ever seen, might

49:18

be the fastest there ever has been. Brilliant.

49:22

But let's be honest about what happens to fast

49:24

bowlers in their mid 30s. Yeah.

49:28

And Joffra, I mean, we're all in love

49:30

with the idea of what Joffra might be

49:32

able to offer again. But

49:35

you can't plan on Joffra

49:37

right now, can you? No. You've

49:40

got to hope on Joffra and give him every opportunity. But

49:42

I would be very uneasy about plans.

49:45

So, you know, the points that Hami makes

49:47

are Cass is absolutely

49:49

worthy of investment, but he's not the

49:51

finished article now, which is on his

49:53

point. You said that's

49:55

why she played. Well, that's an

49:57

argument for an argument for why she

49:59

played. Yeah, but I mean you could argue that

50:01

about a few people, you know, John Turner we would go

50:03

back into things We talked about before the name that we've

50:06

not mentioned Today somehow because it

50:08

was I've been on the cusp of a

50:10

lot of these like the series they've spoken about

50:12

to keep a mood He's obviously another one.

50:14

It was broken by the Caribbean, but I

50:16

can't be in series He's

50:18

one of the when he's fit his due a

50:21

proper go Like there's a lot of investment in before

50:23

you still got me to be baseball in contracts He

50:26

has an action that would allow him to reverse it. He's

50:28

pretty quick and Yeah,

50:31

I don't know and I don't think it's right to just fall off

50:34

the radar because because they get a

50:36

couple of you know a couple of proper fastball injuries

50:39

and they still remain off the right age just needs to You

50:43

know when he's finished there's a chance to play what back in the maze

50:45

and I think I think I read If

50:48

that can happen, you're not thinking you come back in the conversation as

50:50

well. He's one of those three who

50:53

is it him Turner and Jamie, isn't

50:55

it with this with the baseball e come no Not

51:04

Got all these in the mix. Yeah, it's almost Talk

51:10

about this Topic of conversation.

51:13

We're going to bowl. We're going to get bowlers

51:15

who can bowl in excess of 85 Mile

51:19

an hour because that's what

51:21

we need to have to take

51:23

on the big boys if you want Except

51:26

sorry to interrupt because obviously, you know, you're

51:28

brilliant But if you've got 85

51:30

miles an hour in Australia, you

51:33

just fit in Yeah, do

51:35

something with it as well. Just bowling fun, you

51:38

know, but if they grow up on that

51:40

stuff, they play fast bowling rate

51:45

We've gone with less than 85 mile an hour so

51:48

we've lost five mil for right it has to be

51:50

one of the ingredients But this would

51:52

be look if I've been critical about casts at

51:54

the moment And I don't want to

51:56

be because I agree with everything you've said. There's

51:58

loads of potential It is going to have

52:00

to do a bit more with the ball, isn't it? But there's

52:03

pace and there's skill. And

52:06

I'm sure it can all come together, which is

52:08

justifies your point. Whether you have to pick someone

52:10

in a test match to do that. I mean,

52:12

you might argue that playing cash cricket is is

52:15

ideal for them. But I don't know. It's

52:18

a reasonable point. But just

52:20

pace alone ain't going to do it. But

52:23

then what we always do, what

52:25

England have always done is

52:27

we get to these points, we try and make

52:30

these changes and we try and look to the future.

52:33

And what do we do? Play board ranking.

52:35

We always come back to broad. We always came back

52:38

to broad. Anderson. Why? Because they were durable, they

52:40

were skillful and they were still the best we

52:42

have. Unfortunately, one's gone. And

52:45

I suspect by the time we get to Australia,

52:47

they'll only gone as well. So that's why these

52:49

combos, this is why these bowlers have got to

52:51

play now. It gives them 10 test

52:54

matches, eight to 10 test matches

52:56

before they get anywhere near Australia. We don't

52:58

know Australian start picking players who haven't played

53:00

a great deal of international cricket. Well,

53:03

I think we've got to assume we had in the last few years.

53:05

Few times have been that. Do you know, do you

53:07

know who also needs to go? I'm

53:10

sorry. Yeah. So

53:13

it's going to be a sorry player, Josh. Go

53:16

back and say Tom laws and Matt done. That's

53:19

all you do. You've got to see

53:21

what you can do without Anderson, because Anderson

53:23

has held us together for far too long. And

53:27

that is to have I'm talking that as

53:29

a friend of Jimmy and I still think

53:31

Jimmy's got a huge amount of be in

53:33

the clip. Homie, mate. It's not. Yeah. Rob

53:36

Anderson, Royal, Palmer, said no, no,

53:38

no. Turns it on.

53:42

I've said worse about people. I've had a

53:44

lot more, a lot more deal with it.

53:46

Had that conversation, unfortunately, as well. Well,

53:49

if you're honest, you know, that makes you so good at

53:51

this. It's good. He's waited since 2008 to get back in. No,

53:57

your joke is definitely not right.

54:00

Guys, get out of here. We'll be back next

54:02

week, looking back at hopefully more than one positive

54:04

result. There's loads of great games that are going to

54:07

be taken. Where are we going to be? Oh, I

54:09

should say, I've got to mention the cricketer, don't I?

54:11

While I'm looking for that, George...

54:14

On that, I think that

54:16

certainly the game that

54:18

I attended this week, I don't

54:20

think any of the other national outlets apart from the BBC

54:22

were there. So there

54:24

is genuinely a point

54:26

of difference from the cricketer coverage. We

54:30

are at games. We are

54:32

talking to people and watching. You

54:36

won't see that from many other organisations

54:38

anymore. In fact, it's a

54:41

bit depressing how little interest there

54:43

was in the start of the season. But I mean,

54:45

there's so much cricket. I'm not blaming my colleagues because

54:47

you need to have a rest. But the

54:50

cricketer does send to games still. The

54:52

cricketer is back to back to back to back to

54:54

back to back. The

54:57

most coverage champions, whatever the official term is.

54:59

I tell you exactly, Nick. I've never seen

55:01

the trophy. I've not seen it. Well,

55:04

you own the trophy. You should all have one

55:06

each. There's six staff members. You should have one

55:08

each. I think there's six. The

55:10

cricketer, of course, is committed to having reporters on

55:12

the ground at every round of county fixtures this

55:14

summer. And that commitment has

55:16

just been recognised again, named the best place

55:19

to read about the county game online for

55:21

the sixth year in a row at the

55:23

ECB Domestic Cricket Journalism Awards. So well done

55:25

to all you guys. It's brilliant, brilliant work.

55:28

I certainly subscribe and have read

55:30

the magazine ever since

55:32

holed up in St George's Hospital back in

55:35

1984 when one of the kids at

55:37

my dad's school brought me a box of

55:40

wisdom cricketer magazines. What

55:43

was it called back then? It was the cricketer magazine

55:45

and wisdom cricket magazine, I think. Either way,

55:47

cricketers always been my favourite. And

55:49

I should also mention that for award-winning

55:51

analysis about all 18 counties all year

55:53

round, head to the cricketer.com forward

55:56

slash subscriptions and sign up for now. Sign up

55:58

now for just £3.99. So where

56:00

are you going to be this week George? I'm going

56:03

to start off at Edgepristan, Durhamer

56:05

there. It's going to be a good

56:07

game. Yeah, see you should

56:09

see the boundary. You

56:11

should see the boundary, it is. I mean

56:13

it's a shorter boundary as I think I've ever seen

56:16

in the first game. Wow. So

56:19

if Ben Stokes is there and I don't know, do you know Hamme whether

56:21

he might be? No, I don't

56:23

think he is. I think he's played, I don't

56:25

know if it's, I think he's been talking about

56:28

playing three games, is he talking about playing three

56:30

games? I'm not sure if

56:32

he is there. But as

56:34

a matter of fact, to

56:37

be fair, I think Warwickshire put some

56:39

account, is it, what is it, the

56:41

30 years since the last? Yeah, the

56:43

30 year anniversary. Anniversary. Timing

56:45

Brown tells a great story that the 501 was

56:48

played on a boundary with very, very

56:50

short one side. And he said

56:52

Laura had a whole sort of afternoon of picking a

56:54

Mickey out of Durham bowlers by hitting five fours on

56:57

one side and then clipping it for three on the

56:59

other side and then doing exactly the same in the

57:01

other over. So that's how good

57:03

that, that sort of, not 500 was, but how

57:05

good that bloke was. We bowled at

57:08

him all afternoon because he faced all six balls

57:10

by getting the maximum he could at a beach

57:12

over. Nick, where are you going to

57:14

be? I'm going to be

57:16

in Bristol, lost to the Yorkshire.

57:19

So expecting Brook and Root.

57:23

And I'm hoping to see some play. It

57:25

was around this time last year and I started going to just,

57:28

just going up on the train to watch Washout.

57:30

See, up is Bristol up. Going

57:32

sideways to Bristol to watch, to

57:34

watch it rain. But should we go to, if

57:36

that is dry enough to go ahead? I

57:38

mean, Brook looked in pretty handy touch last

57:40

week and it would be nice to see

57:42

Jerry Root back as well. It's

57:44

always nice to see you. You're about the oval John,

57:47

the last couple of days. You are, you are. According

57:49

to the spreadsheet I've got in front of me. But,

57:52

you know, maybe we'll be flexible with that. Let's see

57:54

how it goes. Well, if

57:56

you're there on Monday, I'll be there, but I've got

57:58

the kids. It's the end of the Easter. holidays. You're

58:00

taking the kids to work on

58:02

Monday? No, I've got the kids

58:05

Friday to Sunday, then they go back on Monday, so I

58:07

might put them on to the Oval on Monday. We

58:10

shall see if the game's still going. Homi, are you

58:12

going on holiday? I'm

58:14

going, we got to go on holiday. So,

58:16

maybe why for going, just the two of

58:18

us for sponsored silence for four days, just

58:20

to get away from kids. Where

58:23

are you going, Homi? Where are you going? Grand Canaria.

58:26

Grand Canaria. Get some nice winter sun

58:28

because it's still going to be raining

58:30

by then. How

58:32

wet was it at Durham last week? Very wet.

58:34

I was there on Thursday, I meet at Durham Thursday,

58:37

I've been with Scott Borthwick and he said, please go

58:39

out and have a look on the outfield. And

58:41

I mean, just loads and loads of work casts. And it

58:43

was like, I'm not even going to

58:45

go too much further because my feet were sinking. It was

58:48

so wet. And at the time, I had the big industrial

58:50

like heater on the surface to try and

58:53

dry it out. Scott

58:55

did say on the Thursday, I'd be

58:57

amazed if we bow and ball this week. And that's

59:00

what happened. So approved. But

59:02

when you see that when you see that industrial

59:04

light thing, which girl that's very, it

59:06

sort of screams last resort territory, doesn't it? I

59:11

mean, it looks fantastic. But it does also look like something

59:13

that you're really pleading with to work if you know

59:15

what I mean. I remember, I remember

59:17

in goal, I remember in goal, 2000,

59:20

Joe, I'm not sure if any of you was

59:22

out there that series 2008 when it was the

59:24

first test match after the tsunami, but the day

59:26

before the game, helicopter was trying to

59:28

dry the field out. You

59:30

know, you're in trouble when something like that. Do

59:33

you know they started going back there in

59:35

it. They started using those heat lamps, well

59:37

certainly edge piston when they were compensated for

59:39

drugs, drug dealers. I was going to say,

59:41

yeah, yeah, they were using them to grow

59:43

cannabis. I don't know if that's what they're

59:46

actually doing on the outfield hiding

59:48

in plain sight. A

59:50

lot of them. They're

59:53

going to argue that it's a particularly, I don't

59:56

know, hard wearing type of graph. Guys,

1:00:00

There's nowhere to go from that, so let's

1:00:02

call it a day. We'll be back next

1:00:04

week. Thanks, and thanks. Hello,

1:00:38

Tom Skinner here, literally to drill

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