Katich, the ODI opener

I see Ricky Ponting has backed Simon Katich as an ODI opener. This is usually the kiss of death, and I expect Katich to be dropped fairly soon.

Ponting's justification of Katich's continued selection is questionable: "Kato's been pretty steady at the top of the order for a while now and he deserves his chance to open the batting in the Champions Trophy."

Fine. Yes, Katich is making consistent runs at the top of the order, but this is not the issue with Katich, it's the manner in which he scores them. Yes, Australia have been winning their matches, but it is not Katich's contributions which are leading to those victories. In fact, a typical innings of 30 from 50 balls is a hindrance to the rest of the batting order.

Just watch the increased risks the likes of Gilchrist and Ponting take to make up for Katich at the other end. Also the number of run outs Katich is involved in is alarming.

Anyway, why must a team like Australia with 4 of the top 5 ODI batsmen in the world need an anchor like Katich? Any one out of Ponting, Hussey, Clarke, Symonds can stabilise the batting after a collapse. Why is the anchor opening the batting during the fielding restrictions? So he has more fieldsmen in the circle to hit to? What good is an anchor who soaks up valuable balls at the top of the order due to an inability to rotate the strike? So the middle order batsmen take more risks to rectify the run rate?

The theory of an anchor batsman in this Australian team is impractical at best and nonsense at worse. There are far better options; Jaques, Hussey, Watson. This ploy will be exposed when we play against top class competition.

God?

I'm not sure if God exists, but if he does, then it must be Michael Hussey. What an incredible player!

Captain Freddie

Ashes squad Andrew Flintoff (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Ashley Giles, Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Geraint Jones, Sajid Mahmood, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Chris Read, Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick.

I'm rather surprised with the appointment of all rounder Andrew Flintoff over opener Andrew Strauss as captain. If I was the ECB, I'd have picked Strauss, if only to let Flintoff focus on his own game. England needs Flintoff the player more than Flintoff the captain.

The captaincy does not seem to affect Strauss' personal performances, but Flintoff might over bowl himself if given the opportunity. Coming back from injury, it is not ideal.

Either way, best of luck to both players as I am a fan of both.

Watch your words

Ponting fined entire match fee

September 12, is again a bad day for Ricky Ponting.

In 2005, his team relinquished the treasured urn for the first time in 18 years.

In 2006, he lost his head and his entire match fee. An incident like this typically only carries a 50% match fee fine, but this is his second incident in 6 months. A third incident in 12 months will result in a ban.

How do they do that?

Calypso collapso

One of the most remarkable scorecards I've seen, and this was against an Australia second XI! What a waste of Chanderpaul's and Gayle's effort at the top!

I went to bed shortly before the second wicket of West Indies' innings fell, and was expecting to wake up to an 8 wicket defeat. Imagine my shock when I saw the result. I am still not sure how/why the rest of the WI batsmen threw the match away.

ICC Awards

The following are the nominations for the annual ICC awards. I've got out my crystal ball and tried to predict the winners, presented in bold. The interest is not really who wins which award, but how many predictions I get correct.

Test Player
Michael Hussey (Aus), Ricky Ponting (Aus), Mohammed Yousuf (Pak), Andrew Flintoff (Eng) Shane Warne (Aus), Muttiah Muralidaran (SL), Kumar Sangakkara (SL), Rahul Dravid (Ind), Mahela Jayawardene (SL), Kevin Pietersen (Eng), Younis Khan (Pak), Matthew Hayden (Aus), Makhaya Ntini (SA).

ODI Player
Yuvraj Singh (Ind), Michael Hussey (Aus), Ricky Ponting (Aus), Shane Bond (NZ), Irfan Pathan (Ind), Andrew Flintoff (Eng), Mahela Jayawardene (SL), Muttiah Muralidaran (SL), Rahul Dravid (Ind), Kevin Pietersen (Eng), Mohammed Yousuf (Pak), Herschelle Gibbs (SA), Brett Lee (Aus), Shahid Afridi (Pak), Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak), Adam Gilchrist (Aus), Kumar Sangakkara (SL).

Emerging Player
Monty Panesar (Eng), Alastair Cook (Eng), Denesh Ramdin (WI), Malinga Bandara (SL), Mohammed Asif (Pak), Upul Tharanga (SL), Ian Bell (Eng), Shahriar Nafees (BD).

Cricketer of the Year
Ricky Ponting (Aus), Shane Warne (Aus), Muttiah Muralidaran (SL), Michael Hussey (Aus), Andrew Flintoff (Eng), Mohammed Yousuf (Pak), Rahul Dravid (Ind), Mahela Jayawardene (SL), Younis Khan (Pak), Monty Panesar (Eng), Brett Lee (Aus), Makhaya Ntini (SA), Adam Gilchrist (Aus).

Captain of the Year
Michael Vaughan (Eng), Rahul Dravid (Ind), Ricky Ponting (Aus), Mahela Jayawardene (SL).

Umpire of the Year
Simon Taufel, Aleem Dar, Rudi Koertzen.

Women's Cricketer of the Year
Karen Rolton (Aus), Cathryn Fitzpatrick (Aus), Anjum Chopra (Ind), Neetu David (Ind), Claire Taylor (Eng), Katherine Brunt (Eng), Emily Drumm (NZ).