Why is England going crazy over Steven Finn?

If I can recall correctly nearly every player that England have looked upon to deliver them from their poor record against Australia over the last decade has disappointed to a large extent. Yes, there have been some exception like Pietersen and Flintoff who flourished briefly before becoming vulnerable to personal and fitness-related issues. I still remember how gung-ho the English media was about players like Ronnie Irani, Ealham and Mark Alleyne, hoping that these players will be able to perform since their county records were supposedly great. Now, with the Ashes coming close, the English cricket media seems obsessed with Steven Finn and believe that he is another McGrath in the making. Whether this is due to over-optimism or simply because Finn releases the ball in a matter akin to the great Aussie bowler or due to a combination of both these factors, is beyond me. However, what still surprises me is that how the media in England starts hailing any new find as a potential Ashes winner. If you remember, Matthew Hoggard was placed on a same pedestal and was suppose to swing-out the Aussie batsmen but nothing of the sort happened, at least over a sustained period. There isn't a single English player in the last decade who has an Ashes record as consistent and significant as that of some Aussie players like Hayden, McGrath and Shane Warne. At best, some cricketers from the UK have surfaced from time to time and delivered brilliantly in small patches that simply cannot be equaled to records of these Aussie greats.....but then, reality isn't everyone's cup of tea, is it?

Jayawardene Proves More 'Proper' Batsmen Flourish in T20 format

By now,you would have read about or seen the magnificent innings that Jayawardene played yesterday, against the West Indies. While it has been surprising to most cricket observers that Mahela has taken so well to the opening profile that he was offered even though Jayasuriya is still in the playing XI.However, I would like to add that the promotion of Mahela to the opening slot and his tremendous success in his new role proves one thing that might have escaped the attention of the T20 fans: it is not the mad-hopping T20 batsmen that are making the most of this shortened format of the game but the veterans or those who have flourished as test and ODI batsmen who are bringing-in the most, match-winning innings.

Even if you look at the IPL since its very inception, it was the likes of Hayden, Gilchrist, Gayle and Sehewag, all big test match players, who made the most impact. Even in the last edition of the IPL, i.e. the 2010 IPL season, it was Sachin Tendulkar, regarded more orthodox than some of the supposed T20 specialists like Pollard and Shane Watson who was the most consistent and the biggest run-getter of the tournament. Geoffrey Boycott has often commented that it is not the format of the game that creates champion batsmen but it is the champion players who adapt and come to terms with the newest of formats and still reign. Jayawardene's tremendous success and his unbelievable range of shots on display in the current edition of the T20 World Cup merely supports this theory. All the youngsters who were thinking that they are going to make a living out simply clobbering the ball in T20s and sustain themselves in the squad by scoring an odd 20-25 runs are on a short lease...perform soon or perish forever.

Watson and Marsh—Next ‘Big’ Aussie Opening Pair?

They aren’t Hayden & Gilchrist by a long shot, but still, the Aussie opening pair of Shane Watson and Shaun Marsh could the opening solution that Australia had been searching for some time. While Watson has impressed everyone with his graduation into a mainstream batsman, Marsh was always considered the next big thing to arrive from the competitive Aussie domestic circuit. I first saw him in the first season of IPL and he still looks as impressive he did when I first saw him straight-lift bowlers over their heads, making the ball often step over the boundary ropes. Both the batsmen don’t have any particular vulnerability to spin or pace and with Watson having proven himself in the test match arena recently, this could well be the opening pair that will be uniformly used in T20s, tests and ODIs. The only unsightly thing—that absolutely ridiculous dance cum hopping routine that Watson bursts into while bowling.