http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/ An acerbic and irreverent twist on the wonderful world of cricket en-GB Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:29:01 +0100 http://www.typepad.com/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification TheReverseSweephttp://feedburner.google.com http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/sir-charles-colville-and-other-cricket-unthinkables-.html http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/sir-charles-colville-and-other-cricket-unthinkables-.html He may not have played in the first match of the series yesterday, but Alastair Cook's very presence in the England T20 squad would have been unthinkable just a few short months ago. This prompted us to look into our crystal ball for our latest piece for All Out Cricket's jolly good website to see what other big cricket stories that may seem wholly implausible now but which may become unlikely reality during the remainder of 2012. To read what the likes of Chris Gayle, Lalit Modi, Jonathan Trott and our old friend Charles Colville could be getting up to... Alastair Cook All Out Cricket Bob Willis Charles Colville Chris Gayle Jonathan Trott Lalit Modi The Reverse Sweep Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:29:01 +0100 http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/runs-forrest-runs.html http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/runs-forrest-runs.html Selection is a box of chocolates; you never know what you're going to get. For Australia's first one day international post-Ponting, the sinisterly named (for Brad Haddin at least) NSP opted to replace the 375 cap veteran in the pivotal number three position with a man with just three caps to his name. That the game with Sri Lanka happened to be in Hobart in front of Ponting's adoring home crowd that had been denied the opportunity to bid adieu to their fallen hero meant that the pressure on Peter Forrest was ratcheted up even higher. This went past boiling... Australia Brad Haddin John Inverarity Peter Forrest Ricky Ponting The Reverse Sweep Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:30:37 +0100 http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/englands-back-to-front-menu-in-the-desert.html http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/englands-back-to-front-menu-in-the-desert.html Imagine if you went to an expensive (is there any other?) three star Michelin restaurant and you were served your dessert first. It would be a bit strange wouldn't it? Especially if the head chef wasn't a certain Heston Blumenthal. Now imagine that your chocolate souffle was followed in chronological order by the cheese board, main course, hors d'oeuvre and finally the amuse bouche to round things off. It would be a bit disorientating wouldn't it? Even more so given the two bottles of vintage wine you had thirstily gulped down - dessert wine first naturally. For restuarant menus designed... Alastair Cook England Ian Bell Kevin Pietersen Pakistan Steve Finn The Reverse Sweep Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:15:00 +0100 http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/pakistan-vs-england-odi-series-england-marks-out-of-10.html http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/pakistan-vs-england-odi-series-england-marks-out-of-10.html Alastair Cook - 10 (323 runs at 80.75, SR 88.98): Who said he couldn't adapt his game for one day internationals? Struck two hundreds in the first two games and was only 20 runs short of a third before letting his opening partner grab the glory in the final match. Kevin Pietersen - 9.5 (281 runs at 93.66, SR 84.38): Didn't get out of first gear as his engine spluttered in the first two matches, but having not scored a ODI hundred in three and a half years just like London buses two came along together to ensure England cantered... Alastair Cook Craig Kieswetter Danny Briggs England Eoin Morgan Graeme Swann Jade Dernbach James Anderson Jonathan Trott Jos Buttler Kevin Pietersen Ravi Bopara Samit Patel Steve Finn Stuart Broad Tim Bresnan The Reverse Sweep Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:30:00 +0100 http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/beware-brad-haddin-john-inverarity-the-nsp-are-coming-to-get-you.html http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/beware-brad-haddin-john-inverarity-the-nsp-are-coming-to-get-you.html Brad Haddin should be a worried man. If the incongruously named National Selection Panel can be as ruthless as it has with Ricky Ponting, what do they have in store for the iron-gloved keeper? A man with 375 one day caps to his name, the best Australian batsman since Bradman and someone who despite failing in the CB Series is just coming off a double hundred in his last Test innings has been cast aside. Haddin would do well to nervously watch his back. Rather ironically for a man for who the sound of quacking has frequently accompanied his return... Australia Brad Haddin John Inverarity Matthew Wade Ricky Ponting The Reverse Sweep Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:27:23 +0100 http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/england-are-ready.html http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/england-are-ready.html A thought struck us as we watched Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen fairly canter towards the target of 223 set by Pakistan in the third one day international in Dubai on Saturday. It wasn’t that Cook is a ODI run machine, or that rumours of KP’s demise had proved decidedly premature, or even that Steve Finn is starting to make an unanswerable case for his elevation to the Test XI. Although all of these are true. No, despite the fact that Pietersen’s hundred was his first in one day internationals since November 2008 – two weeks before Graeme Swann’s Test... Alastair Cook England Kevin Pietersen Steve Finn The Reverse Sweep Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:13:58 +0100 http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/samit-patel-is-doing-alright.html http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/samit-patel-is-doing-alright.html Let’s be honest, the only way Samit Patel is ever likely to be compared to a gazelle is if he is one day eaten by a particularly ravenous pride of lions. However, having more lard than Ian Beale’s fryer didn’t prevent Patel diving quickly to his left to claim a difficult low chance to send Umar Akmal packing at a crucial juncture of the second one dayer on Wednesday. If Samit hadn’t swooped down fast enough, England could quite conceivably have lost. Whisper it quietly, but Patel’s second coming for England has been pretty impressive. He may not have discernibly... England Samit Patel The Reverse Sweep Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:15:00 +0100 http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/a-case-of-d%C3%A9j%C3%A0-vu-in-the-desert-for-england-but-mon-dieu-for-kevin-pietersen.html http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/a-case-of-d%C3%A9j%C3%A0-vu-in-the-desert-for-england-but-mon-dieu-for-kevin-pietersen.html A second consecutive ton for the skipper, two fifties in a row for the erstwhile drinks waiter as well as successive four-fors for his assistant and expert ice bucket carrier. Pakistan may have scored more runs this time but one couldn't help having a distinct feeling of déjà vu about the second one day international in Abu Dhabi. Despite being green-washed in the Test series, England can not now lose a one day series that is strangely comprised of four matches. I suppose we should thank our lucky stars it isn't seven. England's recovery perhaps shouldn't come as a surprise... Alastair Cook England Graeme Swann Kevin Pietersen Pakistan Paul Collingwood Ravi Bopara Steve Finn The Reverse Sweep Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0100 http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/its-time-to-get-uplifted-and-inspired.html http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/its-time-to-get-uplifted-and-inspired.html Alastair Cook’s hundred in Abu Dhabi (make that hundreds as he’s just hit another as we type) and Steve Finn’s splattering of Pakistan’s top order put a warm glow in us on Monday. It made us feel uncharacteristically positive and even a bit fluffy. Hence our feelgood piece for All Out Cricket this week about the twin fairytales served up by Afghanistan’s cricketers and Zambia’s football team last weekend. We’re sure that an English batting collapse won’t be too long in coming and we’ll soon be back to our usual bitter and twisted selves. In the meantime, prepare to be... Afghanistan Alastair Cook All Out Cricket Steve Finn The Reverse Sweep Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:10:03 +0100 http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/ms-dhoni-fails-well-kind-of-in-a-odi-run-chase.html http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2012/02/ms-dhoni-fails-well-kind-of-in-a-odi-run-chase.html For pretty much every other batsman in world cricket, hitting a three off the final ball of a ODI from a bowler of the calibre of Lasith Malinga to earn your side a tie would count as a pretty reasonable day in the office. For Mahendra Singh Dhoni it counts as a rare failure. We’ve written about Dhoni’s clinical finishing ability before – a point he proved once again in India’s nailbiting win against Australia at the same Adelaide Oval just two days ago. In one day internationals that India have won when batting second, Dhoni has amassed 1993 runs... India Lasith Malinga Mahendra Singh Dhoni Michael Bevan The Reverse Sweep Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:01:48 +0100