Ralph Ellis approves the appointments of Graham Gooch as England's batting coach but wonders how some of the squad's more enigmatic talents will react to the former-captain's work ethic.
There are two types of top sportsmen: the ones blessed with a work ethic to make the most of the talent they have been given and those who are so naturally gifted they don't need to work at it.
When you put one of the first group in charge of one of the second, it's normally a disaster waiting to happen. As a young reporter I can remember watching Graham Turner, himself an honest pro who had carved a decent career at Shrewsbury, struggling as manager of Aston Villa's recently deposed team of European Cup winners trying to work out why they didn't want to come back for extra training.
So it will be interesting to see how the appointment of Graham Gooch as part-time batting coach for England's cricketers affects the dynamic of a side which is loaded with unpredictable talent. Gooch, England captain for five years and 34 Tests, was the man who effectively ended the international career of David "Biggles" Gower when the mercurial left-hander decided it would be fun to hire a light aircraft and buzz the field during an Ashes tour. The Essex opening batsman didn't do fun when it came to cricket. It was a deadly serious enterprise to make the most of what you had, to be as fit as you could be, and to score as many runs as you could muster.
Gooch flew to South Africa at the weekend and he'll take over the responsibilities for helping the batsmen who Andy Flower has struggled to make time for. The initial contract is for a fortnight, but Flower has confirmed in this morning's papers that it will be the first of many little stints.
It's almost certainly a wise move that Gooch will work with the players for extended periods. The top stars blessed with talent, such as Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook, will find his work ethic overbearing, just as the likes of Gower and Botham once resented "naughty boy nets". But in short doses he will inject new ideas and inspiration that could encourage them to find even greater heights.
England are consistently good value to back on this tour. At 2-1 up in the series, you can still back them at a healthy 2.48 to win Friday's final One Day international.
Pietersen, struggling to find his touch on this trip so far as he recovers from injury, could benefit most from Gooch's arrival, given how much he'll want to succeed in his home town of Durban. The early market has yet to choose between him, Jonathan Trott and Andrew Strauss to be the top English batsmen on the day - all are currently spread between 4.7 and [10]. But if the market does the obvious and backs in-form Trott, then be prepared to have a decent gamble on KP.
Going in to the Test series, Ian Bell is one of those with both talent and a work ethic and will doubtless listen to what Gooch, a man who gathered up batting records like some people collect stamps, can tell him. I picked him out last week as value at [9] to be top English bat and this will only help him.
Five things you might not know about Graham Gooch
1. Born in Leytonstone, East London, in 1953 he went to the same local comprehensive school as TV presenter Jonathan Ross
2. He got a pair on his Test debut against the Australians at the age of 21, and was dropped for three years after making six and 31 in his second game. After getting back he then had another three years in the wilderness as punishment for captaining the 1982 rebel tour to South Africa
3. His big records include 8,900 Test runs, and a top Test score of 333 (against India at Lord's in 1990) that is the third best by an England cricketer. Only Len Hutton and Walter Hammond made more.
4. He took 23 Test wickets with his occasional medium pace bowling - but was best known for doing impressions of other bowlers which he used to show off in the last few overs of drawn matches
5. He was ahead of his time when it came to computer games - endorsing "Graham Gooch's All Star Cricket" which was released in 1987 and at the time was a revolutionary new step forward for the highly technical (!) Commodore 64 computer.
Source: betfair.com/
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Cricket Betting: Gooch must win over England's engimas
Ralph Ellis approves the appointments of Graham Gooch as England's batting coach but wonders how some of the squad's more enigmatic talents will react to the former-captain's work ethic.
There are two types of top sportsmen: the ones blessed with a work ethic to make the most of the talent they have been given and those who are so naturally gifted they don't need to work at it.
When you put one of the first group in charge of one of the second, it's normally a disaster waiting to happen. As a young reporter I can remember watching Graham Turner, himself an honest pro who had carved a decent career at Shrewsbury, struggling as manager of Aston Villa's recently deposed team of European Cup winners trying to work out why they didn't want to come back for extra training.
So it will be interesting to see how the appointment of Graham Gooch as part-time batting coach for England's cricketers affects the dynamic of a side which is loaded with unpredictable talent. Gooch, England captain for five years and 34 Tests, was the man who effectively ended the international career of David "Biggles" Gower when the mercurial left-hander decided it would be fun to hire a light aircraft and buzz the field during an Ashes tour. The Essex opening batsman didn't do fun when it came to cricket. It was a deadly serious enterprise to make the most of what you had, to be as fit as you could be, and to score as many runs as you could muster.
Gooch flew to South Africa at the weekend and he'll take over the responsibilities for helping the batsmen who Andy Flower has struggled to make time for. The initial contract is for a fortnight, but Flower has confirmed in this morning's papers that it will be the first of many little stints.
It's almost certainly a wise move that Gooch will work with the players for extended periods. The top stars blessed with talent, such as Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook, will find his work ethic overbearing, just as the likes of Gower and Botham once resented "naughty boy nets". But in short doses he will inject new ideas and inspiration that could encourage them to find even greater heights.
England are consistently good value to back on this tour. At 2-1 up in the series, you can still back them at a healthy 2.48 to win Friday's final One Day international.
Pietersen, struggling to find his touch on this trip so far as he recovers from injury, could benefit most from Gooch's arrival, given how much he'll want to succeed in his home town of Durban. The early market has yet to choose between him, Jonathan Trott and Andrew Strauss to be the top English batsmen on the day - all are currently spread between 4.7 and [10]. But if the market does the obvious and backs in-form Trott, then be prepared to have a decent gamble on KP.
Going in to the Test series, Ian Bell is one of those with both talent and a work ethic and will doubtless listen to what Gooch, a man who gathered up batting records like some people collect stamps, can tell him. I picked him out last week as value at [9] to be top English bat and this will only help him.
Five things you might not know about Graham Gooch
1. Born in Leytonstone, East London, in 1953 he went to the same local comprehensive school as TV presenter Jonathan Ross
2. He got a pair on his Test debut against the Australians at the age of 21, and was dropped for three years after making six and 31 in his second game. After getting back he then had another three years in the wilderness as punishment for captaining the 1982 rebel tour to South Africa
3. His big records include 8,900 Test runs, and a top Test score of 333 (against India at Lord's in 1990) that is the third best by an England cricketer. Only Len Hutton and Walter Hammond made more.
4. He took 23 Test wickets with his occasional medium pace bowling - but was best known for doing impressions of other bowlers which he used to show off in the last few overs of drawn matches
5. He was ahead of his time when it came to computer games - endorsing "Graham Gooch's All Star Cricket" which was released in 1987 and at the time was a revolutionary new step forward for the highly technical (!) Commodore 64 computer.
Source: betfair.com/
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