The Beginning of the End - DRS thoughts.

Some years ago ICC decided to embrace technology to better assist the on field decision makers to reach "the correct decision"  Barring India, all test, ODI and T20 nations backed the thing that became DRS or 3rd Umpire.  Now remember that 3rd Umpire honorific.

 First we have the issue of India refusing to follow everyone else down the DRS road. Originally I was unable to see why they refuse to do so, and by and large I still don't.  But, lately , more especially these last two Australia/New Zealand series, I have started to wonder if DRS is the Fairy Godfather of modern cricket after all.

Actually my thoughts are not shifting from DRS perse, more the qualifications and experience of the umpires used in those positions.  Yes the two on the pitch and the 3rd in the Umpire Review Chair.  Sure, these guys have all the tools in the world to come to the correct decision, but as evident in past few months, mistakes are prevalent, and in the cricketing world - HOWLERS!! The 22 who ply their trade out in the middle deserve the best decision making process available and by and large that happens.  But just about all tests this series has had some sort of contention, and largely by  any of the three Umpires.

So what of DRS?  Several things:

Status Quo, i.e.  On Field Ump refers to 3rd Ump.  Decision pending.  I would add here a time limit of 2 minutes, still no result then, Umpires original call.

Status Quo - however video and sound replays only visible to 3rd Ump.  2 minute duration, or Umpires original call.

One that won't sit too good for audiences or broadcasters, no replays of any Umpire calls where possible to counter the decision making process.  Go back to the days when technology was hand operated scoreboards and sightscreens were just white or black.

In a nutshell, technology has only achieved one thing, dissent, be it players, captains, coaches, or a adoring public. Do we need DRS?  Leave it to the retired Aussie Quick:-

Aaron Meikle ‏@AaronJMeikle  28m28 minutes ago

Aaron Meikle Retweeted Mitchell Johnson

Better turn the cameras off too then. Not hard to lip read that

Aaron Meikle added,

Mitchell Johnson @MitchJohnson398

It's time for the stump mikes to be turned off. Sure, we have all said a swear word when frustrated #NZvAUS #turnstumpmikeoff #notperfect

0 retweets0 likes

ODI - 10 wicket wins - stats.

There have been 48 10 wicket wins in all ODI's since 1970's.  The only two nations not to score a victory by that means are Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.  All other nations are represented.  Here they are by order with greatest exponent of that win format last.

1  Kenya

4  Australia
    Pakistan

5  India
    Sri Lanka
    England

6  South Africa

8  New Zealand  (1981 India, 2007 Australia, Bangladesh, England, 2011 Kenya, 2012 Zimbabwe, 2015 Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka)

10  West Indies

Analyzing Future Tours Programme

Edited to Add:- Since writing this have found out Aussie are here early 2016 for a 3 test series.  I won't rewrite as I feel most of the comments are valid given current thinking.

Not often I see red, but looking at the future tours programme 2015 - 2017)  two things stand out.

1.  Too many 2 Test Match series we're involved in (5 out of 9 series)

2.  Australia aren't playing here (we go there twice and our last series with them here was on 2010)

With the first one there, I have issues with ICC and the top three (if India can still be considered in that group) and their demands on the game.  I've written elsewhere on the ICC's decisions and also the history of the game.  But ponder this.  England and Australia Ashes tests are set in stone, five tests and that's for the good of the game as far as an interest factor goes for cricket followers.  But how The West Indies, India and South Africa get 4 match series is beyond me.

I want to see a level playing field.  I want more test match cricket.  I also want all teams in the top ten play a 3 match series as a rule.  2 Tests doesn't reflect too well on how teams are faring, and I also think the minnow teams need to have more cricket to improve and be competitive.  That's not happening just now.  The argument against time to fit it all in is a weak one.  Proponents of ODI cricket say a 5 match series is ideal as far as results go, barring a tie, there is a result.  The same can work for test matches.

The other point about Australia playing here is a hoary chestnut.  The last time they played here in a test series was back in 2010.  At a time when New Zealand cricket is resurgent surely there is a demand from our public for that Aussie team to come here and face us on our ground.  Instead we have to be glued to our TV's in late 2015 for a 3 test only series (yes we get 3 tests) and then again in 2017 for our tour there to play 5 ODI's and 1 T20.  I think we should be striking while the iron is hot and do everything to get them here for a 3 test series, 5 ODI's and 3 T20's.  We have a right to ask for that otherwise it will be over 7 years since they traveled to our shores.

The future tours:

Away  May/Jun 2015  England  2 Tests 5 ODI's 1 T20
Away  Jul/Aug  2015  Sri Lanka  2 Tests 5 ODI, 1 T20
Away  Oct   2015   Zimbabwe  2 Tests, 3 ODI
Away  Nov/Dec 2015  Australia  3 Tests
Home  Dec/Jan  2015/16  Pakistan  3 Tests 5 ODI's 1 T20
Home  Feb/Mar 2016 Australia 3 Tests.
Home  Mar 2016  Zimbabwe  3 ODI's
Away  Oct/Nov 2016  India  3 Tests, 5 ODI's 1T20
Home  Dec/Jan 2016/17  Bangladesh  2 Tests, 3 ODI's 1 T20
Away  Feb 2017  Australia  5 ODI's 1 T20
Home  Feb/Mar 2017  South Africa  2 Tests, 3 ODI's 2 T20

And that's it, not sure if these fixtures are set in stone, but if we beat England in May this year and move ahead of them (or Pakistan) on the rankings surely we deserve some decent respect and action accordingly.  I think too with our improved performances and ranking points we have a case to change things at the ICC and get all our fellow teams a chance to play on a level playing field.

Dare to Dream - Blackcaps vs Pakistan

Quite literally, the Blackcaps are about to launch themselves into a new era of cricket.  Yes, so Pakistan beat Australia in a recently completed series and in so doing leapfrogged England, Sri Lanka and India to sit 3rd on the Test rankings.  Yes the wins were seemingly comprehensive.  Yes Pakistan seemed to have resolved their off field issues.  Yes Pakistan are very strong at the moment.  Yes we should expect our Blackcaps to wilt under the pressure of playing that 3rd ranked test team.

However!!

The Blackcaps in the past year or so have stood up as a test outfit.  No longer easy beats on the test floor and willing to mix it with the best of teams.  Their form is good, all players that have driven that success will be available AND should any fail, there is adequate backup.  Strong indeed!

And here's the rub.  Pakistan will go into this series with us on a high.  They will be confident, and

seeing it's only us on their "turf" some may say over confident.  And that could be their downfall.  I think our bowlers as a whole are far better now than the outfit Aussie put out on the field.  The quicks are performing and with Craig in good nick, and Sodhi performing well in the recent A game we stand to be a smarter outfit on the field than most test playing nations.  And therein lies the key to our success.  Australia failed to take wickets.  We can and will.  I think the Pakistani batsmen that succeeded recently won't be given the luxuries afforded them then.

This will be a very tight series no doubt about it.  Pakistan will not whitewash us, nor we them.  In the end it will be down to who best capitalises on the opportunities afforded them.

And here is a tasty morsel the Blackcaps can savour.  It's possible that if they win the series, they'll jump over India on the rankings!!

The ICC World Test rankings - my view

Ok it's fair to say the rankings don't (and probably never will) reflect the current status of Test Cricket.  As with all systems, there are either inherent calculation flaws or teams swing up and down with impunity.  They are also weighted to some degree by who plays whom and how often.  Take for example the West Indies, they do play Zimbabwe and Bangladesh a lot and as a result their current ranking has them down the ladder.

Is there a fairer way of doing the rankings?  If you go to the ICC World Rankings you'll see that they have a rather good way of determining placings on the table, but could it be better?  I think personally they need to cover more series results and not governed by years but rather say the last ten series results.  That way we see teams playing between 5 and 7 other teams over the period and it also reflects form loss and recovery over a period of playing time.

I am in the process of designing a rankings system based on the last ten test match series.  So far I haven't done any weighting (scoring points based on where opponents are on the ranking) but with the work today I have found some intriguing results.  Below is the table as it stands according to my ranking calculations.  Of course this doesn't factor in 4 or 5 test match series and actually gives weight to the fact all series should be of 3 test matches regardless so all rankings have merit (even the current system):

Based on Last 10 Series
South Africa	Points given	Total Played	Points Awarded
Away Series Win	8	3	24
Home Series Win	7	4	28
Away Series Drawn	6	1	6
Home Series Drawn	5	1	5
Away Matches Won	4	5	20
Home Matches Won	3	10	30
Away Matches Drawn	2	5	10
Home Matches Drawn	1	1	1
			124	Total for Ranking
Australia	Points given	Total Played	Points Awarded
Away Series Win	8	3	24
Home Series Win	7	3	21
Away Series Drawn	6	1	6
Home Series Drawn	5	1	5
Away Matches Won	4	5	20
Home Matches Won	3	13	39
Away Matches Drawn	2	3	6
Home Matches Drawn	1	0	0
			121	Total for Ranking
Pakistan	Points given	Total Played	Points Awarded
Away Series Win	8	2	16
Home Series Win	7	2	14
Away Series Drawn	6	2	12
Home Series Drawn	5	2	10
Away Matches Won	4	5	20
Home Matches Won	3	6	18
Away Matches Drawn	2	2	4
Home Matches Drawn	1	3	3
			97	Total for Ranking
Sri Lanka	Points given	Total Played	Points Awarded
Away Series Win	8	2	16
Home Series Win	7	2	14
Away Series Drawn	6	1	6
Home Series Drawn	5	2	10
Away Matches Won	4	4	16
Home Matches Won	3	4	12
Away Matches Drawn	2	5	10
Home Matches Drawn	1	3	3
			87	Total for Ranking
England	Points given	Total Played	Points Awarded
Away Series Win	8	1	8
Home Series Win	7	3	21
Away Series Drawn	6	2	12
Home Series Drawn	5	0	0
Away Matches Won	4	3	12
Home Matches Won	3	7	21
Away Matches Drawn	2	4	8
Home Matches Drawn	1	4	4
			86	Total for Ranking
India	Points given	Total Played	Points Awarded
Away Series Win	8	1	8
Home Series Win	7	4	28
Away Series Drawn	6	0	0
Home Series Drawn	5	0	0
Away Matches Won	4	1	4
Home Matches Won	3	11	33
Away Matches Drawn	2	4	8
Home Matches Drawn	1	2	2
			83	Total for Ranking
West Indies	Points given	Total Played	Points Awarded
Away Series Win	8	3	24
Home Series Win	7	2	14
Away Series Drawn	6	0	0
Home Series Drawn	5	0	0
Away Matches Won	4	3	12
Home Matches Won	3	5	15
Away Matches Drawn	2	4	8
Home Matches Drawn	1	1	1
			74	Total for Ranking
New Zealand	Points given	Total Played	Points Awarded
Away Series Win	8	1	8
Home Series Win	7	2	14
Away Series Drawn	6	2	12
Home Series Drawn	5	1	5
Away Matches Won	4	3	12
Home Matches Won	3	3	9
Away Matches Drawn	2	2	4
Home Matches Drawn	1	5	5
			69	Total for Ranking

Cricket World Cup 2015 Under Serious Threat.

Right – Buzzword for next 8 months is:

Fallout.

So far we have he says she says he counters. So far we have an ICC that seems unwilling to go into damage control. So far (it's reported) that the investigation that is ongoing will be ongoing for another 12 to 18 months before action will be taken.

So far no one is talking how CWC 2015 will fare with the shitfight that is exploding as we speak. So far no one has taken damage control action and so far as I see it New Zealand's role come CWC 2015 will be under serious threat, not just nationally, globally.

As far as Vincent, ex Mrs Vincent, Ed Hawkins and Chris Cairns go, time to shut your mouths and let the dust settle. As far as New Zealand Media wanting to uncover all the sordid details, fine, but NIMBY thank you. I want CWC2015, the untarnished version, untarnished from gambling, untarnished from speculation, and untarnished by players, administrators, cricket following public.

And for all that to happen three things must happen:

1. ICC must show leadership and the first thing they need to do is elect a board that is squeaky clean and shows utmost respect to the game, the players and all involved. They must have confidentiality. Right as of this moment, the cricketing world should be voting a huge No Confidence in the current outfit going forward.  Fair to say the leaks coming from the ICC are bigger than those that sunk the Titanic.

2. Once a trustworthy board is in place and coupled with their ACSU, the ICC shall for 6 months conduct a free from prosecution Amnesty available to all in the game declaring any match or spot fixing they have been involved with. Free from prosecution means the players walk free to continue their trade with a proviso they sign a declaration they shall never indulge again and will automatically report all attempted fixes to the local cricket board AND the local police.

3. The Media shall stop trying to sully an already very sullied mess. The media I ask should start returning to what it should do, report the truth. Of course so far the key players in this have used the media, some unwittingly. Let's stop for a second and see how this reporting is affecting players in the West Indies about to start a tour? Let's stop for a second and ask how NZC is going to keep a lid on this debacle so it doesn't sully the CWC 2015 that's about to bring all cricket playing nations to our shores next summer.

I'm personally disgusted by the whole episode. I'm not keen on seeing anymore of it as it transpires, but as I watch the TV One News at night I can't escape it. Unless those involved shut their bloody mouths and take it indoors and deny the Media hounds their cheap meal.