mrtwisties
Club Cricketer
What am I going to do about the young James Joseph?
Not that I'm complaining about him.
He's the best spinner in the world, with 100 Test wickets in his first 14 matches (England, Windies, Pakistan, New Zealand). If it wasn't for Mitchell Johnson's unbelievable form streak he'd be the best bowler of any kind - as it is, he's a close second. Between the two of them Australia beat England 5-0, Windies 3-0, Pakistan 3-0 and New Zealand 2-1.
He's also the best one-day batsman in the world (by luck as much as anything), with an average in the mid 60s and a career strike rate hovering around 100.
But despite his precociousness, he has some crucial flaws:
1. He struggles against both the new and red balls and performs poorly against any attack until he's properly set - probably a function of his very aggressive approach to batting. In any given five Test innings he'd probably make four ducks and a double-century.
How can I get him to improve as a Test batsman? At this stage he has no off/leg preference and no pace/spin preference. Am I right to be training him to develop a slight pace/off preference to combat the red/new balls? Also, is a very defensive start in Test matches the right way to give him the best possible chance of getting off the mark?
2. He goes for a lot of runs, which makes him a match-losing liability on a day when he's not taking wickets - particularly in limited overs formats. In any given over, you don't know whether he's going to take four wickets or concede twenty runs.
How can I reduce the number of runs per over that he concedes? His ODI RPO is something like 5.8. Am I right to be training him in accuracy? Also, is bowling aggressively at a batsman's weak areas the problem here? He has an ODI strike rate of 20, and a Test strike rate of 35. Should I tone him down to more defensive bowling and accept the linked decline in his stellar strike rates?
3. I've been training him constantly for about a year with no message to say he's improved - meanwhile, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson and others have all upped their skills. He's only 20 years old. Is it just luck of the draw? How does training work?
Not that I'm complaining about him.
He's the best spinner in the world, with 100 Test wickets in his first 14 matches (England, Windies, Pakistan, New Zealand). If it wasn't for Mitchell Johnson's unbelievable form streak he'd be the best bowler of any kind - as it is, he's a close second. Between the two of them Australia beat England 5-0, Windies 3-0, Pakistan 3-0 and New Zealand 2-1.
He's also the best one-day batsman in the world (by luck as much as anything), with an average in the mid 60s and a career strike rate hovering around 100.
But despite his precociousness, he has some crucial flaws:
1. He struggles against both the new and red balls and performs poorly against any attack until he's properly set - probably a function of his very aggressive approach to batting. In any given five Test innings he'd probably make four ducks and a double-century.
How can I get him to improve as a Test batsman? At this stage he has no off/leg preference and no pace/spin preference. Am I right to be training him to develop a slight pace/off preference to combat the red/new balls? Also, is a very defensive start in Test matches the right way to give him the best possible chance of getting off the mark?
2. He goes for a lot of runs, which makes him a match-losing liability on a day when he's not taking wickets - particularly in limited overs formats. In any given over, you don't know whether he's going to take four wickets or concede twenty runs.
How can I reduce the number of runs per over that he concedes? His ODI RPO is something like 5.8. Am I right to be training him in accuracy? Also, is bowling aggressively at a batsman's weak areas the problem here? He has an ODI strike rate of 20, and a Test strike rate of 35. Should I tone him down to more defensive bowling and accept the linked decline in his stellar strike rates?
3. I've been training him constantly for about a year with no message to say he's improved - meanwhile, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson and others have all upped their skills. He's only 20 years old. Is it just luck of the draw? How does training work?
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