Wagner to return to Chelmsford

Having made such an impact in 2017, both on and off the field, Essex have re-signed New Zealand international Neil Wagner for 2018.

The 31-year old will link up with his old team mates in May, following the early season spell of Australian Peter Siddle who is available to Essex for the first five County Championship matches. Wagner’s contract currently expires at the end of July, however, there is the option for Essex to extend his stay, should they receive the green light from the New Zealand Cricket Board.

While Jamie Porter and Simon Harmer rightly grabbed the headlines for their exploits last season, Wagner was typically aggressive, wholehearted, and demonstrated his uncanny knack of making things happen when a game appears to be drifting.

Essex, and new head coach Anthony McGrath, know exactly what they’re going to get with Wagner; a serious competitor, a bowler not afraid to concede runs in search of vital  wickets, a man willing to sweat buckets and put the hard yards in during any given game and has the added bonus of creating
some useful footmarks for off-spinner Harmer to bowl into. A ploy that worked wonderfully well in 2017.

He can also deliver sustained spells of hostile bowling; content banging the ball in half way down and skidding the bouncers on rarely wasting his energy as his accurate bumpers invariably find their target. The bonus of being a relatively ‘small’ quick, in bowling terms at least, is that the ball tends

not to fly through harmlessly above head height but constantly asks searching  questions of the batsman. It was this mode of attack that rendered West Indies helpless on the opening day of the recent Test series at Wellington in December when Wagner ran through the tourists to record his Test best figures to date of 7-39.

His 31 wickets for Essex last season came at 35.32 in the Championship, but it’s his Test record that really catches the eye; he currently has 144 Test scalps at 27.87 in 34 Test matches, in 2017 he took 36 wickets for New Zealand at 25.47.

Essex have a player familiar with the surroundings and just as important with county cricket and English pitches. Short-term contracts dictate that a player needs to instantly hit the ground running, and there is no good reason why Wagner shouldn’t. His initial contract encompasses just three County Championship matches and a plethora of Royal London one-day games and of course a block of T20 cricket, so all being well I am sure Essex will hope to extend that contract to include more four-day games in the rest of his stay at Chelmsford.

There are bowlers around who may possess more skill with the ball than Wagner, perhaps even the man he shared overseas duties with last season - Mohammad Amir - but character can sometimes be even more crucial to a club and Wagner possess this by the bucketload. 

Eagles swoop for Siddle

Underwhelming. That was my initial reaction when I read my Twitter feed and saw the announcement I had been eagerly anticipating; the unveiling of Essex's overseas player for the first five County Championship matches of 2018.

Without thinking about the bigger picture or reasons as to why it may actually be a shrewd signing, I must confess to being just a little nonplussed. Why was this my overriding emotion ? Let me first of all say that Peter Siddle has been a very fine seam bowler over the years, he has produced when his country has needed him, to play 62 Test matches for Australia and take in excess of 200 Test wickets (456 first-class wickets and counting) at an average of under 30 speaks volumes for the quality Siddle has possessed over the years.

However.....he is now 33 years old and a catalogue of back problems over the years has inevitably seen his bowling lose some of the spite that made him a more effective tool. In this season's Sheffield Shield, Siddle has taken five wickets at 75.20 in the four game he's played, albeit at a reasonable economy rate. Now the pitches, as we saw in the Ashes, can be somewhat flat, but I'm sure Siddle has been wicketless too frequently with the new ball for Victoria's liking.

It is only a short stay for Siddle but the games do come thick and fast, can his body stand up to the  regular cycle of fixtures he will be expected to fulfil while he's here ? The five Championship games he's been signed for all start on successive Friday's and depending on his workload he may need a break at some point.

I also thought, and this really isn't Siddle's fault, that Essex would opt for another left-arm paceman like last season, the twin overseas signings of Mohammad Amir and Neil Wagner worked exceptionally well in terms of creating rough for the spin threat of Simon Harmer. Of course they brought much more to the club than creating favourable conditions for Harmer but it was a welcome benefit to their actions and a successful ploy for Essex.

So they were all my initial doubts. Then as I read through supporters tweets, there were plenty of people clearly delighted with the announcement so I began to think of all the positive things he would bring to the club.

The main benefit in my opinion is his experience and the assistance he can offer the young quicks at Essex. Jamie Porter, who is not an entirely dissimilar bowler to Siddle, save for the extra pace Siddle used to bowl with in years gone by, must be rubbing his hands at the thought of picking the big Victorian's bowling brain. Not just Porter, but Sam Cook, Paul Walter, Aaron Beard, and the academy lads will be queuing up for hints and tips, both technical, tactical and mental.

So it's important he is the right kind of character in order to impart his wisdom willingly and Siddle comes with big wraps from the likes of Darren Lehmann, who Head Coach Anthony McGrath quizzed for the low down using the useful Yorkshire connection.

As well as his wealth of experience in Test cricket, Siddle has experience of English conditions, featuring in Ashes series over here and also playing a season with Notts back in 2014 where he took 37 wickets at 31.48 in the first division of the Championship. He did sign a two-year deal with Notts for 2016 and 2017 but had to pull out of both seasons due to injury.

Despite not having much success with Victoria so far this season he has been economical and you expect him to be miserly for Essex with the additional wicket-taking threat that comes with playing on the greener tracks here in April and May. When he is fit he will run in all day if allowed, never one to shirk the hard yards I expect Siddle will be an exemplary role model, not just for the young quicks but all the players at the club.

It may be that Siddle makes a bigger impact off the field in terms of helping develop the young bowlers, showing them and explaining what it takes to reach the very top and the essential hard work that needs to be put in. For all the positives that Amir and Wagner brought, their ultimate focus was succeeding for their countries, and some may say so it should be, but Siddle will have no other focus other than what his new employers want from him in the short time he will be there. It's unlikely at this stage of his career that he will win a recall to the national side, though stranger things have happened.  

So what is my reaction now to the overseas announcement ? I expect Siddle to be reliable on the pitch, consistent and hard working. He's a competitor, a winner, but I think Essex will potentially reap long-term gains from this short-term contract due to his influence and help in developing the local lads. He's a solid choice and I expect his performances to be consistent if not explosive and match winning but should Porter win us a game or any of the lesser experienced bowlers you can guarantee Siddle will have played some part in it.

Which counties plans will be least disrupted by IPL ?

So having had a few days to digest the increasingly controversial IPL auction, I started thinking which of the county sides will be happiest with how the auction played out.

As I mentioned in my blog a week or so ago, Kent's worst fears were realised when their newly-elected skipper Sam Billings won a contract for the IPL, he'll be appearing alongside Durham's Mark Wood for Chennai Super Kings. Wood's is another interesting case as you wouldn't - under normal circumstances - begrudge him the chance to earn an extra few quid in a format his body should hold up in having let him down frequently throughout his international career. However, with real hopes of regaining his England Test spot and spending the foreseeable future in the side, would he not be better advised rocking up for Durham for the start of the County Championship in an attempt to get that fragile body battle-hardened for the longer format ? Maybe we should afford him a little more leniency than most on his decision and just hope he gets through the competition unscathed.

Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes once again secured excellent financial packages as did the surprise package Joffra Archer. Now here is a talented individual; able to propel the ball down in excess of 90mph, very athletic in the field and if that isn't enough he's no stranger to clubbing the ball out of the park! An Andre Russell-type multi-functional cricketer that has earned himself a cool £793,200 when he was picked up by the Rajasthan Royals.

Along with Archer Sussex will also miss the services of Chris Jordan who was retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad, but last year's big IPL signing Tymal Mills misses out in a rather heavy fall from grace. Not that that helps Sussex out any in the early stages of the season. What will help them out is the fact very few players these days turn down the riches of this T20 cash cow in order to play county cricket; there is one player that wants to  continue developing his first class cricket, though sadly for England this commitment to the longer form is being demonstrated by Aussie Mitchell Marsh. Impressive on his return to the Australian Test side during the Ashes and eager to build on that and solidify his spot in the middle order, any advances from IPL franchises were most unwelcome as Marsh has preferred the east coast of England to work on the format he has chosen to prioritise. Respect.

On the whole Yorkshire and Middlesex will be the sides most pleased with how the IPL auction went; they had five and four players respectively hoping to win a lucrative IPL contract, including England internationals Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Steven Finn, Dawid Malan and England's limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan. Quite amazingly, none of these players were signed up. Root is a fantastic bat in any format, we know how useful a commodity a leg-spinner is yet Rashid was ignored. Morgan's IPL experience and short-format skills were not enough for the franchises to overlook his current slump in form. Surely one of these three in particular were worth a punt ?! How much the two counties will see of their England players may be negligible anyway but at least they'll get some game time with their clubs.

Nottinghamshire will also be delighted with Alex Hales likely to be available for them aswell as Harry Gurney and Samit Patel. Hales is another player I would have thought would have been worth a gamble for one of the franchises, but instead he can bed in into Notts middle order to try and build an emphatic case for Test cricket inclusion somewhere down the line.

If Yorkshire and Middlesex were pleasantly surprised, there will have been no shock for Lancashire and Surrey to see Jos Buttler and Jason Roy heading off to India for the tournament. Two players with genuine x-factor with the stick; highlighted by their centuries in the recent Australia one-day series. Buttler will line up alongside England team-mate Stokes (and Archer) at Rajasthan Royals, while Roy, whose chances were limited at Gujarat Lions in 2017, has moved on to Delhi Daredevils. Both look like absolute bargains at £480,000 (Buttler) and £164,000 (Roy).

Recently promoted to Division One, Worcester will have to start the campaign without Moeen Ali, he makes his debut in the tournament and has signed for Royal Challengers Bangalore alongside Woakes. By now though I'd imagine Worcester welcome Ali's appearances for the county as a bonus and no pre-season reliance on the spinner will have been planned for.

The majority of the players bought were as expected but surely the franchises have missed more than a trick or two by omitting some fine English cricketers that could have been picked up for pittance even if there is some doubt over their availability over the next couple of years. Not that Middlesex, Yorkshire or Notts will be doing too much complaining.

Is Billings as captain the right move ? I'm not so sure

Is anyone else slightly confused, or perhaps still in the dark to some degree, over the appointment of the new skipper at Canterbury - Sam Billings ?

I will start by saying this isn't intended as a slight on Sam Billings at all but I do question the decision by the powers that be at Kent that have given the captaincy role (for all formats) to a player that featured in just six County Championship matches last season.

Due to Billings' demand in T20 cricket and also 50-over cricket when England come calling later in the summer, there will be periods where he won't be available for Kent in any of the formats. The IPL runs from April 5th to May 21st and England have 10-ODI's during the summer months of June and July where Billings may well be expected to feature in the majority of those fixtures such is his standing in the eyes of the England management team.

So when he can fit Kent in, in between his commitments for country and T20 franchises, then I'm sure he will be more than competent in the role. Again, this isn't a suggestion that Billings wouldn't be up to the role as captain of Kent Cricket Club, he is a well-spoken and clearly intelligent young man that embraces the modern initiatives in the sport. He is a hugely talented cricketer who is Kent through and through and in the right circumstances would be a real asset as the leader of the club.

But I keep coming back to the fact that he will not be around the club and the players during pre-season when plans for the season ahead are being formulated, an element of bonding should be taking place and he should be getting comfortable in his new role around his team mates and familiarising
himself with the new responsibilities he has taken on at the club. Instead he will be playing some T20 cricket in India. Now I don't necessarily blame players for cashing in on the IPL even though it grates a touch that they are playing there and missing games for their county. I'm sensible enough
to realise the money on offer (amongst many other things) makes it very difficult to turn down, and I don't blame Billings for putting his name forward for the auction, but would it be appropriate for him to now withdraw from the tournament ?

I'm sure these discussions will have taken place and Kent will have a temporary solution in place to stand in for Billings during pre-season and the opening weeks, it just doesn't look very good for a new captain and perhaps doesn't set the right tone. By the time the IPL concludes on May 21, should Billings play in the competition and go the distance with his franchise, he will return to Kent having missed four Championship fixtures and two Royal London one-day games.

There is experience within the Kent squad in Mitch Claydon, James Tredwell, Joe Denly (also in the IPL auction) and Darren Stevens, should they require anyone to step in for the interim period. The likely candidate will be Denly who will be skippering the side when the team head off on their pre-season tour to the Caribbean later this month; Billings has been selected in England's ODI squad for the tri-series with Australia and New Zealand.

I don't think the situation is ideal, but clubs are increasingly having to find more innovative solutions to problems they are being presented with, I'm just not sure a having a skipper that isn't going to be with you a great deal is the best solution.

Where now for Northeast as he seeks international opportunity

 The reason Kent had to appoint a new captain last week is down to the fact Sam Northeast - the skipper of the previous two seasons (arguably three, he stood in for much of 2015 with Robert Key unavailable) - has shown a reluctance to commit long-term to Kent and so compromised his role as the leader of the club.

Northeast is now 28 years old and is widely acknowledged as one of the finest operators on the county circuit with willow in hand and can rightly consider himself unfortunate not to have represented the national side in any format as yet. Recent recognition has finally come in the
form of a call-up to the England Lions squad for the one-day leg of the Caribbean tour in March. Many at Canterbury would say 'not before time'. He has amassed over 1,000 runs in each of the last three Championship seasons at very healthy averages.

Northeast was appointed captain of the county back in September 2015, only a few months after he did commit to a long-term deal at Canterbury, but with hopes of international cricket dissipating,
his appetite for remaining at his boyhood club appears to have diminished. Northeast
has been given acceptance, albeit reluctantly, from the Kent management to now speak to other clubs. It could spark a healthy scramble amongst a number of counties for the player's signature, one of the more significant in recent times.

It seems likely he will have his heart set on a Division One club. In order to build an England career it's generally considered top division exposure enhances credentials and after seasons of scoring runs
in Division Two now may be the right time to test that theory. With certain selections at national level not requiring a heavy load of runs to substantiate their cause, Northeast will no doubt be hoping he ticks enough of the right criteria boxes to edge ahead of the likes of James Vince.

There is a very real chance he could be in the same line-up as Vince when the County Championship season gets underway on April 13. Hampshire have already thrown their name into the hat and I'm sure enticing packages, deal clinching promises and convincing visions for the future will at the very least be in the developmental stage as I type. Hampshire will expect to have to stave off some stern competition from a number of clubs hoping to convince the talented batsman to join their own ambitious club.

So who could be challenging Hampshire for Sam Northeast ? I'd expect Nottinghamshire to make enquiries having missed out on Keaton Jennings to Lancashire; Northeast would make a very good alternative for a side that lost Brendan Taylor, Greg Smith and Michael Lumb last season. They have
already filled one of the batting vacancies when they lured the experienced opener Chris Nash from Sussex but ideally they'd hope to add a bit more batting depth.

I'd imagine he's the kind of player that is attractive to Surrey and could be seen as the missing piece in Surrey's top order. Jason Roy invariably misses the start of the season due to IPL commitments and this could be the summer that Ben Foakes joins Mark Stoneman (should he perform in New Zealand) in the England side; all this resulting in a serious weakening of Surrey's batting resources.

Yorkshire's batting was rescued only by Gary Ballance's impeccable form in 2017, will they simply opt to retain the same faces in the hope last year was an anomaly and they turn up this year and show their true colours, or would a fresh face re-focus many of the current squad and edge Yorkshire back up the table into more familiar territory?

The best time to strengthen a squad is when you're on top yet I can't see Essex pushing the boat out and offering Northeast a short trip to Chelmsford. With Alastair Cook likely to be available for a number of games and Tom Westley currently out of favour with England and having a point to
prove, the champions will trust their current playing staff to get the runs on the board.

If you're looking for a club outside the top division to try and tempt the Kent star, then Jason Gillespie's Sussex could be that team. Sussex are expected to be serious contenders under the Australian this year and it would be a real coup if Gillespie could persuade Northeast to remain in Division Two for another season with the priority objective of getting Sussex back to the top table ?

Wherever Sam Northeast decides to pitch up with his gear this season one county will fancy they've got themselves a top quality player with a guarantee of runs, at least until England belatedly come calling.

South Africa wobble but Markram shines again

The more I see of Aiden Markram, the more I am enjoying and appreciating his skills and ability as an opening batsman.

The first time I watched Markram, he was scoring 97 on his Test debut against Bangladesh. Of course he'd been touted to open the innings for South Africa ever since he led his country's under 19 team to the World Cup trophy, and probably even before then.

His introduction into Test cricket you would have to say was well planned; a couple of Tests at home to Bangladesh, then a day-nighter with Zimbabwe. With all due respect to both sides it was a gentle start but runs still had to be scored to get the confidence into his game and earn the respect of his teammates and demonstrate what he can do, perhaps for years to come.

With scores of 97,15 and 143 against Bangladesh and 125 in his only innings against Zimbabwe, he certainly gained the momentum he would have wanted heading into his first serious test against a top nation. 

He stands very tall and still at the crease with no sign of any noticeable trigger movements. He positions himself across his stumps to give him a firm sense of where his off stump is and entices the bowlers to go straight so he can work them through mid-wicket; an area where he looks very strong. He has an imposing frame and hits well down the ground; to be fair he hits well in most areas off either front or back foot and does all this with the calmest of demeanours.

At Cape Town in the first Test he was bamboozled by the clever Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who jagged one back into Markram (who could barely get his bat down in time) and was trapped plumb in front. In the second innings Markram gave it away after serenely making his way to 34. 

Today, however, Markram was in control from the outset. We saw the full range; a solid defence the basis for his more expansive strokes, savage on the pull, elegant on the drive and his flicks through straight mid-wicket are swiftly becoming his signature stroke. The biggest surprise today came when he nicked India's main threat, Ravi Ashwin, into the hands of Parthiv Patel for 94 when another century seemed there for the taking. 

He does seem to have a tendency at times for the bat to come down from around second slip on occasions, meaning that if it is straight it will play into his hands and his favoured area with the natural pathway of the bat going in a straight line through mid-wicket; any shape away and Markram will at times play across the ball with the bat having to go in to out. 

There was no sign of any technical deficiencies today, the bat coming down nice and straight and the platform for a 400+ score for South Africa was laid. It wasn't to be. South Africa are prone to more than the odd middle order collapse and Quinton de Kock has now failed to pass 50 in his last 11 Test innings, and with Vernon Philander currently batting at seven, South Africa are failing to capitalise on some decent positions. 

Philander is a special cricketer with the ball in his hand and something on offer in the pitch. With the bat he looks a spot too high at seven and South Africa seem a touch exposed and a batsman light. The composition of the this team does mean they have a very strong bowling unit but without a genuine all-rounder they can't have it both ways. 

India may well have shaded the day today but Aiden Markram continued his rapid rise in the game and will rightly share the headlines. 

Continuity the key for England but room for Liam

If you were expecting major changes to the England side for the next leg of their winter tour which sees them hopping across the Tasman Sea from Australia and into New Zealand then you will have been most disappointed.

In some quarters this was a surprising show of continuity to a group of players who don't deserve such loyalty after their performances in Australia; it could also be down to a lack of viable options at this particular point. We seem to have a number of young, promising cricketers, but are they ready to be thrown into a side that are coming in for plenty of criticism from pundits and spectators alike.

Jake Ball, Tom Curran and Gary Ballance each have an abundance of talent and in Ballance's case, despite not getting an opportunity to showcase what he's capable of in the Ashes, all three are jettisoned out of the England squad and back into county cricket. This will give them the opportunity  to work on their shortcomings out of the international cricket spotlight and press their cases with sheer weight of runs/wickets in the opening weeks of the Championship. Now out of the England squad there could be a chance of a late call-up to the England Lions tour of the Caribbean at the start of February should there be any drop-outs or additions allowed into the tour party.

The Lions may have a batting spot available after Lancashire's new captain for 2018, Liam Livingstone, won his first call-up to the full England squad to go to New Zealand; this was surely the  most brow-raising inclusion replacing Ballance.

I was satisfied the selectors opted against the likes of Daniel Lawrence and Joe Clarke (Haseeb Hameed I'm sure will make a more convincing case for inclusion this year) for the final batting slot; Livingstone does offer the option of batting three, a position he bats for Lancashire, or coming in down the order where there is likely to be less pressure on him and more freedom for him to express himself with his impressive array of strokes. There's a hint of Jos Buttler about his strokeplay; his bat comes through quickly and he has the ability to break his wrists when finding the gaps, particularly  through the offside.

Dare we think that the selectors do have an eye on the away tours next winter ? With Sri Lanka this side of Christmas and West Indies after, where spin is expected to play major parts, and Livingstone's positive and invariably successful approach against spin highlighting the value he could bring to a team that have struggled with any form of strategy against Australia's Nathan Lyon this winter.    

He is generally recognised as a limited-overs specialist due to his catalogue of modern day shots and has already made his England T20 debut, but with over 800 Championship runs in 2017 he has shown a development and patience in his game and feels like he is more suited and more comfortable in the longer and purer form of the sport.  

Not just a server solely to the blade, the young Lancastrian also got through over 100 overs in the Championship last season, picking up 6-52 against Surrey in final Championship game; this included the wickets of two of England's Ashes party - Mark Stoneman and Ben Foakes - with his fairly innocuous looking off-breaks.

Another addition from outside the Ashes squad is Mark Wood. Once he was confirmed as being back to full fitness he was always going to be rushed back into the England squad. The 'samey' nature of England's attack has been obvious during the Ashes; Wood, when fully fit (and I think that part is absolutely crucial) is quicker, skiddier and can reverse the ball given the right conditions; he just offers something different. He should be let off the leash and allowed to just run in and bowl quick; we have enough early 80mph bowlers that stick it in a decent area, Wood may be expensive at times but providing he's carrying no niggles he should get up towards 90mph and be used in short bursts. Hopefully we may have an alternative style of pace bowler.

So whether it's due to a lack of options or a real belief that this side can turn around their fortunes and deserve another shot at Test cricket, it was a relatively low-key squad announcement and for me that's a better option than starting again with another handful of new recruits.