Book Review: Miller’s Luck, by Roland Perry

1 Comment 02 February 2012

BEN ROBERTS gives a very frank review on Miller’s Luck by Roland Perry.

I entered into this book with trepidation. For a long time I have been searching for a Keith Miller biography that was not this effort by Roland Perry, with no luck. One of the great cricket writers David Frith was scathing in his review of Perry’s work, citing multiple factual errors that grated on him. Similar critiques have been provided by Gideon Haigh and even by ourselves. I scoured second hand book stores, and found all that filled their shelves were multiple copies of Miller’s Luckby Roland Perry.

Deflated that my searching had come to nothing, I swallowed my pride, took my desire to find out more about Miller to the local library and lifted a copy shelf. As I found out as I read it a previous borrower had too become so frustrated with errors (though their frustrations were World War II facts) that they had taken to the book with a pen themselves!

Without even re-hashing the factual inaccuracies of the work, simply put this biography is deplorably written. Rather than a study of a complex and polarising character, Perry serves up 500 pages of hero worshipping that completely turns you off as you read. Miller was a tremendous all-round cricketing talent and a war veteran who escaped death multiple times (often due his own insubordination). However he also was a heavy drinker, addicted gambler and constant philanderer that makes the overriding rhetoric of hero worship difficult to justify.

As a cricketing talent he could easily be worshipped; a war veteran, definitely respected. Limited to discussion primarily on these two topics such a subjective take on the man could well be accepted. But the reality was that for all the success Miller had on field it clearly came at a very heavy cost to his family which is an indictment on the man, an impression that Perry has not sufficiently captured and in fact missed completely.

Because of the books length and quantity of information provided (despite factual errors) the dedicated and discerning reader has the opportunity to draw their own conclusions about Miller and his life. Absolutely, the descriptions of Miller’s love affair with Lords and the tremendous innings he played there during the post war years make me long to travel back in time, but in all the book fails on a number of fronts. Zero stars.

Ben contributes regularly to the following two Blogs:

Balanced Sports – The thinking fans sport opinion and analysis site.

Books with Balls – Reviewing the literature of a number of genres but definitely no Danielle Steele.

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Nathan Lyon Signals a Post-Warne Era for Australian Cricket

No Comments 31 January 2012

lead image (c) new.com.au

Gareth Hughes explains how Nathan Lyon snugly fits into the post-Warne era for Australian cricket.

There are two avenues bowlers can utilise to build pressure in test match cricket. The first is to beat the outside edge, strike the pad, coax the batsmen into playing shots they normally wouldn’t, creating chances, and making the striker’s end an unsettling, unnerving, and uncomfortable place to be.

The other method is to apply what is commonly referred to as scoreboard pressure. By choking and restraining the batsmen by simply putting the ball in places from which they cannot score runs. The pressure gradually mounts until the batsman is forced by way of an itching to score runs to attempt to score from areas in which they are not comfortable. Australia’s humble curator turned spinner, Nathan Lyon is a bowler who prides himself upon the latter.

This summer we have seen the Australian bowling attack revert to its roots of a fierce pace attack instilling fear in batsmen and a spinner who complements them by tying down an end. Since the glory days of Warne and McGrath Australian bowling coaches, selectors, and players have been caught up in the wake of their retirement and only now is Australian cricket beginning to stop mourning their loss and move on.

It has taken the best part of five years for Australia’s fast bowlers to stop trying to emulate McGrath’s back of a length delivery which brought him so much success. It has taken the same amount of time for Australian to stop searching for the next Shane Warne, a spinner who can rip through a batting line up on any wicket.

The fact is, Warne and McGrath were sublime bowlers who did phenomenal things that are almost impossible to replicate.

It is rare for Australian pitches to be conducive of spin and for spin bowling to be used an attacking weapon like fast bowling is. That is not to say spin does not play a role in cricket in Australia. In fact, with maybe the exception of matches in Perth, spin bowling is one of the most tactical facets of the game. Michael Clarke should be given a lot of credit for recognising this and using Nathan Lyon in ways few other captains use their spinner.

It has not been uncommon to see Nathan Lyon being thrown the ball with a few minutes left in a session to hurry through an over to allow a dangerous Hilfenhaus, Siddle, or Pattinson a final fiery over at a batsman with the mindset of surviving until the break. Furthermore, Lyon’s ability to land the ball in good spots is always improving and he is quickly becoming one of the hardest spinners to score off around the world.

He also knows how to bowl in Australian conditions, utilising the extra bounce. However, he showed on debut in Galle that on a spin friendly wicket he can take a bag of wickets and not just be an assistant to the quicks.

The other great thing about Lyon is how his tenacity and passion that shows through in his batting as well. In his relatively short career we have already witnessed his fighting spirit in the second innings batting debacle of Cape Town, top scoring with 14 in an innings of 47, and then his gallant effort in the second innings at Hobart, only to be left devastated after hearing his wicket skittled.

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The Case Against a Fatal Four-Way at the WACA

1 Comment 12 January 2012

image (c) news.com.au

As Australia head to Perth amidst talk of an all-pace-attack, MATTHEW WOOD, of Balanced Sports, presents a case for why four-pronged pace attacks should almost always be vetoed. Follow Matt @balanced_sports.

If the Australian selectors are starting to consider playing four pacemen for the third Test against India in Perth, they’re just as muddle-headed as the team they replaced.

Let’s not go into the ramifications of kicking another promising young spinner in the teeth (cf. Beau Casson, Dan Cullen, Nathan Hauritz and Michael Beer), it belies common sense and, eventually, come back to bite Australia fairly and squarely on the bum.

Since 1990, Australia has played 21 times at Perth. In those games, their Win/Loss ratio stands at thirteen wins, three draws and four losses. Australia has played an all-pace attack in three of those games: in the Ashes last year, versus India in 2007-08 and in the 1998-99 Ashes series, where “Funky” Miller got the nod while Shane Warne was injured.

Although they won the WACA match last year – and against the Old Enemy a dozen years before – they were absolutely pillaged in 2007-08 against the Indians. This 2-in-3 ratio seems about right for what amounts to a gamble.

There are four iron-clad reasons why an all-pace attack should be vetoed with as much haste as possible.

First, Australia seems to have a great wealth of fast bowling talent at present. Unfortunately however, the nation seems to be injuring that talent as quickly as it arrives. With James Pattinson, like Pat Cummins, succumbing to the dreaded foot stress reaction, Australia are likely to head into Perth dressing the indefatigable Peter Siddle, the injury-prone Ryan Harris and the revitalised Ben Hilfenhaus. Add a fourth to that lot (Peter George? Mitch Starc?) and suddenly Australia’s attack, should/when Harris break down again, looks quite thin when compared to a batting lineup boasting near enough to 50000 Test runs.

This doesn’t even begin to answer the questions as to whether Starc, who looked game but perhaps overwhelmed against New Zealand, or indeed George, are polished enough for Test level at present.

Secondly, the effects of dropping Lyon would be tantamount to a slap from a wet fish. Sure, he has cumulative figures of 2/180 so far this series, but he’s played on pitches hardly amenable to spin (Indian compatriot Ravi Ashwin has 4/298). He’s also on track to be the best off-spinner Australia’s had since arguably since Ian Johnson, who retired in 1956. He is worth persisting with and needs his captain, coach and even the ball-boys to tell him his place is secure. Nathan Hauritz, though captained by a man who thinks spin is something that dryers do, was never told this. And it showed.

This dovetails nicely into the third reason – Australia should play Lyon because he’s better-suited to the Perth pitch than to almost any other strip in the country. While a bigger turner of the ball than Hauritz (as are many), he still doesn’t rip the ball or have quite the grip and turn of the likes of Saqlain Mushtaq, Harbhajan Singh or Graeme Swann. What this means is that he’s a thinking bowler, and could – should? – become the Anil Kumble to Swann’s Warne, a player reliant on subtle variations … and aided enormously by bounce.

Finally, while Australia has opted for a four-pronged pace attack in the past, it has done so when conditions merited it. Those conditions are best defined by the following questions:

Does the pitch take spin – at all?

Will the strip break up?

Can variety be provided by bowlers whose name isn’t Mike Hussey?

Are the four best available bowlers pacemen?

If so, how far ahead of the competition/spinner are they?

Are any of the four liable to collapse in a screaming heap?

Unfortunately for those advocating a fatal four-way, even the most ignorant of cricket fans knows the answer to all the above questions without even needing to think. Australia would take a retrograde step in taking four speedsters to Perth, a step with both long and short-term implications.

#freeLyon

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Australia vs New Zealand Series Review: Australia Marks out of 10

No Comments 13 December 2011

lead image: ‘Caught Guptill Bowled Martin’ (c) news.com.au

DAVID SIDDALL appraises Australia after their first defeat to New Zealand on home soil for 26 years and asks who is safe and who is sweating on their place for the India series.

Australia seem to take one step forward, two steps back right now. The bemused look on Australian skipper Michael Clarke’s face as he was handed the Trans-Tasman trophy ( despite their first loss to New Zealand on home soil for 26 years, they retain the trophy) indicated that they have perhaps reached a new lowest point, surpassing the 47 all out in Cape Town only a month prior.

Only a few players in the Australian squad can feel safe in their spots for their upcoming series against India. Lets take a look back over the series and see who performed and who didn’t; and who is safe and who is sweating on their place. Here are Australia’s marks out of ten: