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2002 IN REVIEW! WHO SHOULD BE WORRIED AND WHO SHOULD FEEL SECURE?
December 11th, 2002
NOTICE
This article is not of the opinion of the newspaper but rather of the journalist writing it, nor has it been edited by anyone affiliated with this respected tabloid. Should there be any content that goes against the interests of the People's Republic of China please report this article to our Chief Editor at [email protected]
2002 can be chalked up for the Chinese Cricket Association as a complete disaster internationally and a huge success domestically. On the one hand the CCA has managed to host its own domestic tournaments without so much as two controversies in the span of one year, a huge accomplishment within the People's Republic of China however on the other hand the national team has essentially failed at every major challenge thrown its way in 2002. A 2-1 series loss to Sri Lanka followed by another 2-1 series loss to Norway which was followed by a 1-1 series tie to Morocco before capping off a year of defeat with an embarrassing group stage exit in the Asia Cup to god damn Kazakhstan. Naturally I think we should go through every player who played in 2002 for the national team and see how they stacked up to figure out just what went front for China this year. Now unlike last year's special there will be some changes, the first is that only 2002 statistics will be considered so that fun number you see next to every player will be for the 2002 season and not from seasons prior, the other change is that players will receive two grades instead of one with each grade being for the two formats that China played in this year. Anyway lets get this show on the road and we have some pickings to get through.
Fu Bojing (BJ) - Opener - 414 @ 31.85 BTA (TEST) - 254 @ 31.75 BTA (ODI)
Fu Bojing is a year older now and has managed to survive the year still being in the starting eleven for China which is a accomplishment for the 35 year old who at the end of last year looked like he was going to be thrown to the wolves. Fu Bojing in tests has been a bit underwhelming compared to his fellow opening partner Cao Gang and has continued to take some flak for his poor run of play in big games for China, especially during the Asia Cup when he constantly found himself getting out for practically nothing. He did manage to beat out Cao Gang to keep his spot in the ODI setup thanks in large part to his performances domestically this year which has resulted in Fu Bojing being able to call himself a Club World Champion however something tells me that the moment something significantly better comes around for the Chinese selections Fu may find himself put on the bench unless he continues his good run of form. It will be interesting to see if Fu Bojing does keep his spot in the test side over Cao Gang considering that the latter is batting pretty well at the moment in the test format but if the Chinese want to tie up loose ends then Fu Bojing is probably going to be in the side for at-least another year.
TEST GRADE: D
ODI GRADE: C-
Cao Gang (ZJ) - Opener - 547 @ 42.08 BTA (TEST) - 142 @ 47.34 BTA (ODI)
Cao Gang has had a rather unlucky year which has culminated in him being relegated to not even making the final 15 man roster for the Asia Cup this year however it appears that Chinese selectors have started to move themselves on from the 29 year old batsman out of Zhejiang. Cao Gang has proven to be consistent on the international stage this year in both the 3 match Norway series where he scored 142 runs in a last ditch effort to save his ODI career and scored 547 runs across 7 tests which has put him above Du Wei on the runs board for the format, something which was considered a massive surprise by many pundits. However despite these successes why has he found himself on the backburner by selectors and is seemingly going to find himself out of a contract? The reason is his domestic performances where he underperformed for Zhejiang in the Labour Trophy which caused him to get dropped for Fu Bojing in the Knockout Cup and in the People's Shield he was god awful, not scoring a single 50 for Zhejiang which has many questioning if he will even remain in the test side despite his good year internationally. It is a tough break for the Zhejiang opener but considering that the selectors are all pointing towards Fu Bojing being the new stopgap whilst players such as Su Yaoting and Ding Zemin continue to develop in the domestic system it appears that Cao Gang's time in the national setup may be coming to an end.
TEST GRADE: B-
ODI GRADE: C-
Bai Chun (BJ) - Opener Allrounder - 241 @ 48.20 BTA | 3 @ 42.33 BWA (ODI)
Bai Chun is only turning 17 but is already looking like a future superstar for the Chinese national team. Bai Chun was called up to the national team on a hunch by Chinese Head Coach Zi Weijian after his performance in the Labour Trophy in order to replace Cao Gang and ever since then Bai Chun has been rock solid for the Chinese as both a batter and a bowler. With the bat Bai Chun after a rocky start to his career in the Knockout Cup would become a reliable batsman during the Asia Cup, scoring two crucial 50s from the top and helping China defeat both Nepal and Japan however ultimately he couldn't save the Chinese from the embarrassment of losing to Kazakhstan in a pseudo quarter-final. With the ball he has become China's new #6 following Jin Xing's banishment and has been while an expensive bowler someone who can take wickets when needed which is starting to develop nicely for the underaged player. Bai Chun is someone who will likely be playing for the national team for a very long time at the rate he is going and personally if he does continue to develop the way he is going he could eventually become one of the greatest batsmen in not just Chinese history but world history.
ODI GRADE: A-
Du Wei (SN) - Top Order Batsman - 475 @ 36.54 BTA (TEST) - 403 @ 57.57 BTA (ODI)
Du Wei is a player that just confuses me to no end because at times he looks like a complete amateur out there playing for Yuhuazhai in his youth and at other times is the greatest thing to touch the earth since the Chinese people. If there is one thing about Du Wei its his inconsistency at times which makes quite frustrating to follow however if there is one thing Du Wei is very good at its scoring lots and lots of runs, something he ended up doing quite well at in terms of the ODI format where he improved upon his previous year yet wasn't really in the spotlight for much of it. The thing he has been in the spotlight for is his test record where he averages at 36 and a half and has not scored higher then 59... which is a worse high score then Fu Bojing's and that should be concerning along with his strike rate which is sitting at 33.62 which depending on who you are is either a good thing or a bad thing. Du Wei did manage to fix many of these things whilst playing for Shaanxi in the People's Shield which has caused people to brush over this run of form as a fluke for the only Shaanxiren within the national setup this year however the question for Du Wei will be can he clean up his consistency issues and finally take that last step into becoming a great batsmen for China or will he continue to be as frustrating as he has been to follow this year.
TEST GRADE: C+
ODI GRADE: A
Zhu Yusheng (GD) - Top Order Batsman - 736 @ 56.62 BTA (TEST) - 333 @ 41.63 BTA (ODI)
The Fisherman continues to cement himself as one of China's best batsmen and his performances this year in the test format continues to show why Zhu Yusheng should be someone to gush about fondly however unlike last year where Zhu Yusheng was practically invincible this year he has shown some cracks in the ODI format. Whilst an average of 41.63 is nothing to sniff at over a calendar year compared to last year where he was singlehandedly winning games for China this year appeared to be a step back for the Fisherman internationally. If we were talking domestically then its still business as usual as he averages over 50 in both domestically tournaments this year and we are going to take all those not outs seriously then yes Zhu Yusheng is averaging 144.6 in List A games however this just didn't fully convert to the national team this year. A bit of a down year for China's clear cut #4 but considering that he is still performing at the prime of his career and all signs point to him becoming China's new captain next year he should be in a very good position to bounce back and continue to do what Zhu Yusheng does best, which is win games through dominating the middle overs and scoring runs in bulk.
TEST GRADE: A+
ODI GRADE: B+
Lei Shan (BJ) - Wicketkeeper Middle Order Batsman - 530 @ 40.77 BTA (TEST) - 108 @ 36.00 BTA (ODI)
Lei Shan can now call himself a winning captain on the provincial level and a Club World Champion but entering 2003 China was already looking to get rid of this guy which they managed to do when Ye De finally debuted and performed so much better then Lei Shan in a single game that Lei Shan was already being expected to lose his central contract in favor of literally anyone else. Then Jin Xing did his thing and all of a sudden Lei Shan was needed as cover at the Asia Cup to play at #6 which he ended up doing for three of the four games China played in during the tournament, one of which being his heroic last stand against the Kazakhs in a vain effort to get China to the knockouts. This coupled with some not outs helped Lei Shan fix his abysmal ODI record but it is still pretty bad and it is unclear if Lei Shan will continue to play games for China's ODI side in the future however Lei Shan has proven to be reliable in the Chinese middle order during their test matches this year being China's third highest run scorer and proving to be quite handy with the gloves despite his old age. All of this may have just saved Lei Shan's international career for now as he should be China's 2nd choice wicketkeeper when needed and an alright stop gap at #6 until the Chinese can find someone better to play there in terms of the ODI format whilst also being China's main wicketkeeper in Tests. Overall a good year for the Beijing captain.
TEST GRADE: B+
ODI GRADE: C
Ye De (ZJ) - Wicketkeeper Middle Order Batsman - 198 @ 39.80 BTA (ODI)
Ye De was always seen as someone who would eventually make it to the national setup however when it came time to select players for central contracts he ended up losing out to the more experienced Lei Shan who was selected to be China's first international wicketkeeper. Lei Shan however basically completely failed on the international level and by April it was clear something had to be done so in came Ye De who got he shot with the team, which he took absolutely to heart and turned into a decent batsman for the international team across the five games he did play which has solidified the Zhejiangren into the ODI setup. Despite having yet to score an ODI half-century Ye De has already provided a much needed boost of energy lower down the order compared to Lei Shan who quickly got out and made Jin Xing walk out with a lot more work to do which has helped give some added stability to the middle and lower orders. It is unlikely he will play any tests in the near future considering that Lei Shan has locked down that spot Ye De appears that he will be in China's plans for the long term unless Su Yaoting forces his way into the side.
ODI GRADE: B
Fan Rongyui (ZJ) - Allrounder - 374 @ 31.17 BTA | 3 @ 142.33 BWA (TEST) - 23 @ 23.00 BTA | N/A BWA (ODI)
Fan Rongyui finally made his debut for China during the 2-1 series loss against Sri Lanka and was uh... alright I suppose. With the bat he was alright for a #6 and showed that he could hold his own however his bowling hasn't really been all that good... in fact the less we talk about his bowling the better. He did also get a chance to play in an ODI where he was apart of the team which loss to Bangladesh in the Asia Cup... yeah we should also stay clear of that. Fan Rongyui is a bit of a stopgap answer for the test side and a backup allrounder in the middle order in the event someone got injured however Fan Rongyui hasn't really impressed anyone with his play this year and considering how he's gone about in both the Labour Trophy and the People's Shield its unclear if Fan Rongyui will be able to keep his spot in the side. However as there really isn't anyone who could come into the side straight away to replace him Fan Rongyui's spot seems secure for now.
TEST GRADE: C-
ODI GRADE: D
Jin Xing (ZJ) - Allrounder - 136 @ 45.34 BTA | 1 @ 112.00 BWA (ODI)
Imagine throwing away your entire cricketing career over chasing pointless glory for a team you weren't even supposed to be playing for. I have nothing more to say other then the fact that Jin Xing's actions deserve only a single grade.
ODI GRADE: F
Fang Ai (ZJ) - Lower Order Batsman - 363 @ 30.25 BTA (TEST)
Fang Ai finally got a chance to play for the national team during the ill-fated tour of Sri Lanka and played alright for a 38 year old. The old legend having gotten a chance to represent his country must of been proud of himself but ultimately in the context of this year in review didn't really do all that much, usually acting as a lower order anchor he couldn't really get going during the innings and was usually out caught behind after reaching the 30s. Had the Seconds tour of the Asian Games taken place it was widely believed that Fang Ai would of captained said Seconds side however following its cancellation due to various corruption issues within ASCON Fang Ai's international career had come to an end with his retirement through promotion to the CCA's Politburo, which we at Yatoutiao wish him the best of luck in terms of trying to figure out what the big deal about T20s are.
TEST GRADE: C-
Hou Xiaotong (GD) - Allrounder - 88 @ 22.00 BTA | 4 @ 61.00 BWA (ODI)
Well he at-least got better with the bat I suppose. The main reason this guy continues to get selected is that the selectors are still worried about Mao Changming coming back into the ODI setup following a bad Labour Trophy and some good enough performances from Hou Xiaotong with the bat which now sees him play at #7 for the ODI setup. Frankly Zi Jia might be worth a look at bringing him up the order or maybe even going bold with Shao Zhenkang but for now Hou Xiaotong has done enough to keep his place in the ODI setup which he should be really thankful for, especially considering that his inconsistency with the ball has costed China games this season.
ODI GRADE: D+
Mao Changming (ZJ) - Allrounder - 38 @ 38.00 BTA | 3 @ 78.33 BWA (TEST)
Mao Changming got a look during the test series in Sri Lanka but after two draws in the series China decided to roll the dice with Tang Deming which has basically forced Mao back to the bench. Its another instance of Mao Changming being snubbed from selection especially considering just how well he played for Zhejiang this year in the People's Shield but unfortunately for him it appears as if the Chinese are going to have Tang Deming as their main allrounder in the lower order and not him. Again being dropped after only two games and not being given another look at only nets you a single grade.
TEST GRADE: F
Tang Deming (BJ) - Allrounder - 171 @ 19.00 BTA | 12 @ 38.00 BWA (TEST) - 64 @ 21.34 BTA | 6 @ 58.83 BWA (ODI)
Tang Deming has crashed back to earth following an incredible 2001 campaign for the national setup, something that should be concerning considering China's reliance on two spinners in their current system. Tang Deming has been alright in the 5 tests he has played in, having a better average then Shi Gen this year however the most concerning thing for TDM has been his bowling with the white ball. Now we do know that Tang Deming can bowl well with the white ball as his performances in the Labour Trophy and the Club World Cup have shown this year however when it comes to the national team Tang Deming has taken a big step back, only taking six wickets across the entire year which is less then the amount he took against Sri Lanka in the 3rd ODI China ever played. While this may just mean Tang Deming is crashing back to the mean many fans are growing a bit rowdy with the Beijingren and some even calling for him to be dropped in favor of Zi Jia is just reactionary nonsense and that everyone should probably take a chill-pill. I do believe that TDM will bounce back next year as he has a tendency to show when absolutely needed.
TEST GRADE: C+
ODI GRADE: C-
Duan Aiguo (ZJ) - Pace Bowler - 32 @ 32.65 BWA (TEST) - 5 @ 76.80 BWA (ODI)
Well well well if it isn't the consequences of your own actions Mr. Duan Aiguo. Let's start with the good with you, you're actually decent in the test format and frankly shouldn't be dropped from that side of the equation unless you
really regress into non-existence after losing the armband but the main story with you Duan is that you are
absolutely god awful in the limited overs format of the game. You only took 5 wickets across 8 matches...
5! And the worst part about that is that you were completely safe in your place on the team because you were a god awful excuse of a captain because you are Duan Qin's son. You captained over the course of the 2002 season 4 complete failures in terms of tours, a 2-1 series loss to Sri Lanka, a 2-1 series loss to Norway, a 1-1 series loss to Morocco including an embarrassing loss in Guangzhou and to top it all off a group stage exit from the Asia Cup after winning the first two games only to blow it against Bangladesh and
tweaking Kazakhstan, KAZAKHSTAN! This is a failure of such high proportions that if it was on the Richter Scale it would be a 9.3 because that is just how bad this tenue has been. The fact that you've managed to lose the captaincy at all despite all of your connections shows just how much of a failure you have been and I personally thank Xi Jinping for doing his usual squashing of corruption and having you removed. Hopefully we never have to experience the pain and misery of Duan Aiguo playing with the white ball for China in the foreseeable future and perhaps Xu Yun or Shen Jun will take your place as China's main attack with the ball.
TEST GRADE: B
ODI GRADE: F
He Weimin (BJ) - Pace Bowler - 38 @ 22.31 BWA (TEST) - 6 @ 42.00 BWA (ODI)
Well remember when I claimed He Weimin was the worst of the pace bowlers? Well he proved me extremely wrong by having a significantly better year. Starting with the red ball He Weimin has developed into an extremely capable wicket taker for the Chinese side, taking 3 five wicket hauls over 13 innings and 38 wickets entirely which has catapulted He Weimin into the WCC's Top 10 Test Bowlers as of writing this article. This alone has managed to keep He Weimin in the side and coupled with his heroics in the WCC Club World Cup got him the nod over Xu Yun to play in the Asia Cup where he went about alright for China. The main issue with He Weimin has been his inconsistency with the white ball and if he should be starting over players such as Xu Yun however after all of the drama relating to Duan Aiguo it appears that the real issue wasn't with He Weimin but with Duan Aiguo and now that he is gone He Weimin is likely going to be playing every game next year in 2003 for China. All that can be hoped for with He Weimin is that he continues to improve with the ball and shows why the selectors have such faith in him.
TEST GRADE: A
ODI GRADE: C-
Xu Yun (ZJ) - Pace Bowler - 4 @ 40.50 BWA (ODI)
Xu Yun got unlucky this year considering he did enter the year with a spot in the ODI side but ended up getting dropped for He Weimin who the selectors wanted to reward following his good run at the Club World Cup. Xu Yun has also started to appear less and less for Zhejiang in the provincial setup only playing in 5 List A games this year however despite playing in only 5 games took 10 wickets at 28.7 whilst in the People's Shield he only played in 2 games with abysmal numbers. Xu Yun must be starting to feel frustrated with the lack of playing time he is receiving however for 2003 he is expected to continue playing for Zhejiang where hopefully he will get more chances to show off his bowling style which while expensive has been effective at taking poles. With Duan Aiguo also stepping down as captain there will be an open spot for a second quick within the side and considering that his main rival for this spot is Shen Jun the Zhejiangren should be feeling confident that he will be able to win this battle and get himself back into the national setup soon. The grade he is getting doesn't reflect the potential he has however it does reflect how the year has gone for him.
ODI GRADE: D
Shi Gen (BJ) - Spin Bowler - 17 @ 42.35 BWA (TEST) - 15 @ 29.00 BWA (ODI)
Shi Gen has continued to be one of the best spinners China has ever produced especially in white ball cricket however Shi Gen's year has been somewhat rocky to say the least. With the red ball he looked rather exposed and it began to cause people to ask the taboo question of should Shi Gen be dropped in favor of a three pace attack, only for anyone to ask these questions to promptly disappear until they changed their mind. With the white ball however Shi Gen continues to demonstrate a resourcefulness which has kept him in the squad although cracks are beginning to show in Shi Gen's play as on occasion he would find himself being smacked down the ground giving up 60 or more runs in the innings without taking a single wicket. This has been balanced out when he has been taking poles, including his 6fer against Japan in the Asia Cup however this inconsistency is a sign of concern for Shi Gen, fans however should be safe in backing the Beijing bowler considering his skill and that he has only continued to improve throughout the 2002 season and 2003 should be a return to form for the bowler, just with a slight return to the mean being needed.
TEST GRADE: C
ODI GRADE: B+
Quan Ruogang - Spin Bowler - N/A BWA (TEST & ODI)
Quan Ruogang was given a central contract following his performance in the Labour Trophy for Beijing however since then he has struggled to make the side proper for both the national team and his provincial team of Beijing where Shi Gen and Tang Deming have made their marks known. Quan has been unlucky but I do believe that in the future he will get his shot to represent his country however for now Quan Ruogang will be stuck carting out drinks for the foreseeable future.
GRADE: N/A
Hu Yan, Writer for Yatoutiao
