Interesting piece on Usman

I don't know many of you are regular readers of Cricinfo, but there's an interesting  article on there about Usman Khawaja.

I don't know a thing about the writer, although some of those commenting below the piece seem to suggest he favours Shaun Marsh and has an axe to grind, but I present the piece to you at face value. Whatever the author says about Khawaja's integration with the Australian squad, the consensus was that he was a highly valued and appreciated member of Derbyshire's last season. In any walk of life there will be environments in which you are more comfortable than others and perhaps the weight of expectation weighed on Usman in the Aussie camp. He is, after all, seen as the heir-apparent for Ponting's slot at number three, a role not without an element of pressure, yet it seems that he has work to do.

What is clear is that the writer shares my concerns over Usman's scoring rate. He is a long way from a stonewaller but there appears a wider concern over his ability to keep a scoreboard ticking over when the bowlers are on top. Nothing is more annoying for a bowler than to be going for three or four an over when conditions are in his favour, especially when singles mean he has to continually adjust his line, possibly length, for different batsmen. Working the ball into space and keeping the runs ticking over is what separates the good and the great. None were better at it than Dean Jones and Peter Kirsten and neither were what I would call big hitters.

It also confirms that Usman has got two points to prove in the coming season, in scoring runs in sufficient quantities and in a manner to silence his doubters. If you're a regular reader of this blog you will know I have some reservations about him in the T20, where his lack of experience and achievement in the format is in stark contrast to that of Rana Naved, a specialist if there ever was one. Khawaja's run tally and style at the crease in the Big Bash suggested a player not wholly at ease in the format. For me, where he came unstuck was in trying the big shots, ending up caught in the outfield when not quite middling them. Far better would have been working the ball into gaps for ones and twos and allow the cleaner strikers of a ball greater licence to thrill.

Usman will never out-hit Wes Durston, Ross Whiteley, Rana Naved or Chesney Hughes, but he could make their life easier by affording them plenty of strike when they are going well. I wouldn't dare to compare my cricket ability with Khawaja, but I once shared in an opening stand of 110 in 9 overs for my club, my share being exactly nine - from nine balls. I simply worked a single from the first ball of the over and let my partner lose several balls in a neighbouring field before departing for 101...

Having said all that, at a time when overseas stars are a rare and precious commodity, Derbyshire have landed two outstanding batsmen in Khawaja and Martin Guptill and a genuine specialist for the T20 in Rana Naved. I expect all to play a significant and successful part in our forthcoming campaign.

Which means what, exactly?

We will have an overseas opener at the start of the season and a number three for the second half then, with Martin Guptill and Usman Khawaja again (and thankfully) in harness.

For the T20, I would see Khawaja opening, although there may be merit in keeping him at three and allowing Wes Durston and Chesney Hughes to open and perhaps take better advantage of the Powerplay. Yet I don't want to give the impression that T20 is exclusively about big hitting. The best sides generally have a couple of boundary clearers (Durston and Whiteley come to mind) but at its most basic, an innings comprises 120 balls. If you find the gaps and time it right, there is technically two a ball and few teams score 240 runs...

Last week I said that Peter Kirsten and Dean Jones were the best two all-round batsmen I have seen at Derbyshire. By that I meant that they could play and, irrespective of the match, the wicket or the bowlers, keep the runs ticking over. Jones, especially in one day games, was a master of pacing his shots so there was two each time and a side could easily score 180, often a match-winning score, by such tactics. Wayne Madsen is another skilled in it and my viewings of Khawaja in the Big Bash (where I saw all his innings) suggest that he just needs to do that a little more.

Like Chris Rogers he is not a powerful man, but Derbyshire's tactic should be for Khawaja to be the man around who the innings is built. Where he is often out is in trying to muscle the sixes, an easier thing to do if you're built like Chris Gayle or Andrew Flintoff. For regular-sized blokes it has to be timed really well, but I remember Chris Taylor in his time at Derby, who had a very clever method of chipping the infield and falling short of the outfielders. Two a ball...twelve an over.

I'm not privy to the contractual niceties of Derbyshire players, but it could be that Khawaja had a condition in his that he played T20. He's not an accepted talent at the format, but after thirteen knocks wouldn't be expected to be. Like anything else in life, you only improve by doing things on a regular basis and how nice it would be if he acquired those T20 skills in Derbyshire colours.

I read in the Derby Telegraph earlier that the club will have a contingency plan if  he ends up selected for Australia A, something that could feasibly happen. What that is I don't know, but if we can get Martin Guptill and Usman Khawaja involved in most Championship and 40-over games this summer there will be few sides look forward to facing us in 2012.

Khawaja returns to Derbyshire

News this morning that Usman Khawaja will return to Derbyshire for the second half of the season when Martin Guptill leaves. Regular readers will know I have been suggesting this for a number of months and the reversal of last season's overseas pairing leaves much to look forward to. The players will certainly welcome the return of a charming man who fitted in so well in 2011.

Khawaja is a player of quality - that much is evident within minutes of seeing him take guard - with a good technique and awareness of the balls to leave, things that will serve him well in 2012. He also has a good range of shots and is a wristy player in the tradition of the best Asian players over the years. While likely to represent Australia proudly and with regularity in the years ahead, however, Khawaja has challenges in the coming summer.

First of all, he has to convince the Australian selectors that he can consistently play long innings. The number three berth in the Australian side is up for grabs and many see Khawaja as the heir-apparent to Ponting's throne, yet thus far in a fledgling Test career he has plenty of starts and nothing of substance, aside from an important 65 against South Africa as his side chased down an imposing target in that country this winter. Nine centuries and eleven fifties in just 71 first-class innings is indicative of Khawaja's talent, but he needs to turn the starts into tons with greater regularity, something that the very best players do. Weight of runs in England has always been a strong counter-argument though and would do Usman no harm whatsoever.

Last season he was hampered by a thigh injury for much of the time, yet still looked a player of high class. Had he stayed, I have the feeling that he would have racked up a lot of runs on the more batsman-friendly tracks of late summer. This year he has the opportunity to do that and has the valuable experience of last year to draw on.

Of course, Khawaja's debut this time around will come in the T20 and there comes his other challenge. At 25 he has only 13 T20 innings behind him that have produced just 225 runs at 18. With 65 of those coming in one knock, it is evident that Khawaja has not yet mastered the short form of the game. Perhaps his silky skills aren't suited to the more muscular needs of T20, just as the best of Katich, Rogers, North, Yousuf,  Dravid and others has been seen in the longer forms of the game.

Yet Derbyshire need him to acquire those skills. To say that we have gambled on a player of such obvious ability is unfair and I reiterate that I would expect him to score heavily in the longer forms of the game this year. If we are to make progress in the T20 though - and bearing in mind it is a major earner for clubs we really need to at some point - Khawaja has to set the standard and convince people that he can play T20. At this stage, as I've written before, I'm not convinced, but I look forward to Khawaja hopefully scoring a stackful of runs in this season's competition, at which point, I will be delighted to admit that I was wrong.

Welcome back Usman - we look forward to seeing you again!

Guptill again shows class

The mark of a batsman of true quality is one who can adapt his game to the match situation. That being the case, Martin Guptill again showed his class over the weekend for Auckland as they won two more matches to stay top of the table in the domestic 20-over HRV Cup.

On Saturday against Otago - and following on from his brutal unbeaten 120 at two-a-ball last week - Guptill clubbed six sixes and two fours in 65 from 45 balls as his side mounted an impressive 187-2 in 20 overs and easily won by 30 runs.

Last night the conditions were less favourable for batting against Northern Districts and Auckland were chasing a more moderate target of 112 to win. It still needed someone to show a little common sense and bat through and Guptill did just that, ending on an unbeaten 49 from 48 balls, his side winning by six wickets with 20 balls to spare.

Derbyshire will miss Guptill's class in the T20 this season, though we will enjoy his talent from April through to June. Who replaces him in that competition is still anyone's guess, but I maintain we need someone who can play the big shots and clear the ropes. A fast bowler would be good too, of course, though one of each would be wonderful - or should that read unrealistic?

I watched the Big Bash this weekend and it was a frantic mix of some impressive clean hitting (Herschelle Gibbs a standout), quality spin bowling (veteran Brad Hogg still having what it takes) and variable fast bowling. In the matches I saw, Brett Lee and Dirk Nannes both looked fast bowlers of genuine pace and class, while Shaun Tait bowled both the fastest and most erratic overs I have seen in one spell.

Tait's first over to Sussex's Luke Wright was blisteringly fast, the ball shaving stumps and the outside edge with remarkable regularity. In his second he was more expensive, though unlucky, then he was given a third on the trot. Whether his action takes too much out of him for such a spell I don't know, but that third over was awful, a mix of fours and sixes accompanied by two of the widest balls on either side of the stumps I have seen. The wicket-keeper performed heroics in stopping them, both being taken around a second slip/leg slip position. Any Derbyshire fan who has bemoaned the occasional  lines of Messrs Turner and Footitt would perhaps consider them the new Gladwin and Jackson if they had seen it...

Today also saw some of the worst umpiring I've seen in a while, with a Sydney Thunder batsman given not out when he clearly edged it, then out a few balls later when he patently didn't. Herschelle Gibbs was given out in the other game when the ball hit his pad, chest and helmet and was caught behind, but was at least recalled. With 30,000 people shouting it must be difficult, but the decisions all looked wrong before the slow motion replays.

I'm increasingly of the opinion that Usman Khawaja and Chris Gayle are the only players in the Sydney Thunder side. One could almost see them shouting "DON'T PANIC!" like Corporal Jones of Dad's Army when Gayle, for once, failed today. By the time the rain came they had subsided to 29-4, with Khawaja  unbeaten on 11 from 16 balls, defeat inevitable.

That's it for now - enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Khawaja watch

I got up early this morning to watch Usman Khawaja bat for New South Wales against Victoria in the Big Bash and was not disappointed.

Khawaja scored 68 from 43 balls and barely lifted a shot off the ground until he was caught. He was up against a good attack too, with Peter Siddle, Dirk Nannes and Andrew MacDonald in the opposition, but it was an exemplary effort that saw his team ultimately triumph in a close finish.

What I especially liked, besides the lack of real risk, was his use of the pace of the ball, with deft late cuts accounting for a number of runs. There was an audacious ramp down to fine leg too, while the speed at which he picks up length leaves bowlers little margin for error.

He has a lot of time to play his shots, always the sign of a good player, and looks in command of his game at present. He is essentially correct with a good technique, but his bat has the flourish of a player with above average gifts.

In short, his performance totally justified the positive response by the fans. However many runs the player makes this season, you can rest assured that they will be made with a bat that moves like a wand in the hands of a magician.

If he does get to grips with the different surfaces quickly, there will be some serious entertainment down Derby way.

Once more with feeling

There’s an interesting piece this morning from BBC Hereford and Worcester, with Steve Rhodes claiming that player demands are not as excessive as they were. Seemingly there’s a realisation that the ‘gravy train’ of county cricket is drying up.


He may well be correct, but the top tier of cricketers no longer need the county game so the next one down are keen to further their experience. I assume that will be the case with Derbyshire’s signing of Usman Khawaja and whoever is coming in to cover the second half of the season.

I am convinced that our forthcoming accounts for last season will show a loss. With the club incurring penalties for playing a Kolpak (Robin Peterson) and a non-qualified player (Chesney Hughes) the central allocation will have been reduced. Meanwhile, attendances at the T20 were disappointing despite an encouraging campaign, mainly down to poor weather, the World Cup and understandably slow pitches after being relaid and turned around.

That being the case I think it extraordinary that we will have two overseas players for the T20. My guess is that it will be another batsman, for no other reason than anything otherwise would be a change to the gameplan mid-season. While there may be concern over whether our bowlers can keep the opposition tied down, conversely we could go with the idea of putting ourselves out of sight.

I don’t see many available bowlers who could both keep it tight in the T20 and do a good, penetrative and affordable job in the second half of the Championship campaign, so I’d be happy to see another batsman come in with a reputation to build on.

If he has the potential of Khawaja, who’s going to be disappointed?

More on Khawaja

It has been quite heartening today to read the positive comments around the web about the signing of Usman Khawaja from New South Wales. Gratifyingly for all concerned it has captured the imagination of most, something that will hopefully be translated into positive action at the gates of grounds.


John Morris told how he moved quickly as soon as Khawaja was capped by his country in an article in this morning’s Derby Telegraph, which you can see here:

http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/sport/Aussie-ace-Derbys-overseas-batsman/article-3122614-detail/article.html

Of course, we shouldn’t pile too much pressure on a young man who will be experiencing his first taste of overseas pitches. The history of the game is littered with examples of young players who struggled to come to terms with our conditions initially. Greg Chappell had early struggles at Somerset, as did Barry Richards at Hampshire. Michael Slater, from the same state, never really came to terms with the conditions, although the technique of Khawaja appears more a foundation for success than did his earlier compatriot’s.

A thing that should work for him is what appears to be a love of batting. One sensed an edginess in Slater if the scoreboard wasn’t moving and teams quickly learned that if they cut off his profitable areas he would lose patience. While a batsman of flair and talent, Slats watching was regularly a frustration as he gave away promising starts.

In comparison Khawaja seems to have realised fairly early in his career, despite a love of playing his shots, that you can’t get runs in the pavilion. There’s an interesting comparator with Dan Redfern, who has played five more first class innings and scored around 800 runs less. While Redfern, a young player I rate very highly, has made eight half centuries thus far, Khawaja in just 46 innings has made ten and converted another six into centuries, one of them a double. The four years difference in age is a factor though, both physically and mentally.

There’s a nice piece from a recent Daily Telegraph on Khawaja, a qualified pilot, which is worth a read:

http://www.blogger.com/goog_19804201

So there’ll be no bullish claims that Khawaja will ‘score a bucket load’ from me. We’ll need to see how he adapts to a new environment and alien conditions before it is fair to do that sort of thing. But all things considered, John Morris has done an astute bit of work on this one. If it doesn’t come off it shouldn’t detract from the good intention.

If it does, it may well turn out to be a bit special and well worth a watch.

Derbyshire sign Usman Khawaja

While dozens of names have been banded about this winter, that of Usman Khawaja, who has joined Derbyshire from the start of the season until the end of the T20, was seldom seen among them.

Having said that, anyone who is in any doubt as to the talents of this young Australian of Pakistani descent should have a look at this footage of his first century for New South Wales against South Australia:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzQ0if2dxs4

Without doubt, he is a batsman of the highest quality. You don't bypass the likes of Adam Voges, David Hussey and Shaun Marsh on your way into the Australian side without having something special. Like many Derbyshire players over the years who have struggled to get international recognition from an unfashionable county, Khawaja probably had to be even better than most to get into that side as a Muslim. He was, after all, setting a precedent after his country had played international cricket for well over a hundred years.

The first man of that faith to represent his country, Khawaja seems pleasant and articulate, well aware that a lot rides on his shoulders. After 46 first class innings he averages over 50 and has six centuries and ten fifties, a remarkable return for one finding his way in the game. See how he feels about his rapid elevation here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuAMtxtWOvc

It may be unrealistic to expect a young man encountering English conditions for the first time to maintain such a record. Bristol in April could be a challenge, but any failures won't be for the want of trying. Reports suggest him a dedicated young professional of admirable discipline and he bats with a flowing style harnessed to a sound technique. He plays straight too, which always gives you a chance, especially in England. He may not be as prolific as the vastly more experienced Chris Rogers, but he could just surprise a few people. Write him off at your peril.

Be honest. Can't you just imagine Khawaja in full flow in the T20? Such a sight should surely fill a few more seats than last year and while he perhaps lacks the explosive style of Loots Bosman, that sound technique and wide range of shots should see him more productive.

I'm thrilled with the signing. Suggestions of established stars were always unrealistic given our resources and the riches available to them elsewhere. As I've said for months, our target market was always going to be in the next (still very good) tier down. That being the case, we've signed someone near the top of that tier, his country's best (by general acclaim) young batsman. You can't do much better than that my friends.Whatever runs he makes in 2011, I hope I'm around to see some of them. From what I've seen, satisfaction is pretty much guaranteed.

I'm thrilled that despite the current economic climate John Morris has managed to attract one of the brightest young talents in the world game. If you're still not convinced, listen to what Ian Chappell says about him here - the section on Khawaja starts at 1'57

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyPinNiNXiw

Whether he opens the batting or goes in at three or four will be down to John Morris, but I have every confidence that this young player will come with a steely determination to do well and repay the faith shown in him by Derbyshire. Who knows, his appearance may even attract the Muslim community, keen to see a young player of talent who has made it to the top in another country.

In short? A young player that people are talking about is coming to play for US. Full credit to Morris and anyone else who facilitated this one. Derbyshire fans have now got an early chance to see a player who could go on to grace the game for a long time. Chesney and Usman in full flow on a sunny afternoon would be worth travelling a long way to see.

A thumbs up from me. Roll on April.