From: pvr@argo.rice.edu (PVR Narasimha Rao)
Subject: Re: Hick in India ....(was Re: England 2nd Innings)
Organization: Rice University, Houston, Texas
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 02:44:26 GMT

In article <28JUL199219325965@ctrvx2.vanderbilt.edu>, diwadkva@ctrvx2.vanderbilt.edu (Vaibhav A. Diwadkar) writes:

|> In article <92210.135601SXK129@psuvm.psu.edu>, 
|> Spaceman Spiff <SXK129@psuvm.psu.edu> writes...
|> 
|> >however, england will probably make 600 or more each time with hick, if
|> >he is selected, finally getting among the runs with a couple of 100s/200s
|> > 
|> 
|> 	- Like you I fear the worst as well.  It does depend though.  Presently
|> 	its not clear to me whether Hick's failing is thru temperament or 
|> 	genuine technical failings.  Last summer when Waqar was mowing down
|> 	the county opposition, Hick scored 140+ against Surrey albeit he was 
|> 	ultimately bowled by Waqar.  He has played some innings in recent
|> 	county games under great pressure, carrying the entire Worcs batting
|> 	on his shoulders.  Tests are ofcourse a dramatically different story.
|> 	
|> 	- Earlier this year in New Zealand when the 
|> 	English batting was really running rough shod over the Kiwis, Hick
|> 	again was a singular exception.  I mean it just could be that this
|> 	guy is completely overwhelmed by the ambience which persists during
|> 	a test and just may not succeed at all.  He wouldn't be the first
|> 	you know, Indian nettors can easily recall tons of Ranji trophy
|> 	champion bats who repeatedly failed in the test arena.
|> 
|> 	- He also seems unable to read leg spin.  I don't know whether


Not only leg-spin, but it looks to me like he is weak against any kind of
spin. More than once, he totally failed to read Aamir Sohail also in the
world cup final.


|> 	a Hirwani can give him the kind of bother a Mushtaq can.  In
|> 	addition Prabhakar and Kapil are pretty intelligent bowlers and
|> 	might manage to probe him suitably.  I think he failed against


Watch out for Raju. He is quite smart and he may do to Hick what Mushtaq
did in the world cup. Raju is probably the most intelligent test bowler
India has right now. He just needs some confidence.

I don't know if Kumble will be given a chance again (atleast in ODIs),
but, if he's given a chance, I expect him to trouble Hick a lot, I mean
really a lot. He's the kind who can trouble the kinds of Hick.


|> 	India in the WCup and I don't know if he played against the
|> 	Indian tourists in '90.


He scored 5 runs and gave a catch to More off Bannerjee in WC. I don't
think he played against India (tour match) on India's tour of Eng in '90.


|> 
|> 	- I guess Hick's competence against India may be a moot point.
|> 	If they indeed choose to play him at #7 that means India will
|> 	need to bag 5 wkts before he gets to the crease and on cursory
|> 	reflection it seems like India did not quite bag 5 wkts all 
|> 	summer in '90.  Remember Morris who went to Oz later that year


England had to follow-on in the third test. They just managed to save the
test due to a magnificent century by Gower in the second innings. However,
India couldn't bag 5 wickets on most occasions.

However, Indian bowling was suffering due to the lack of form of Kapil
then. Even Prabhakar wasn't suceessful. Sanjeev Sharma wasn't good at all.
Wasson was struggling to get back his rhythm.

Now, we have a new Kapil (who could successfully change his attitude
towards bowling to suit his age and experience). Prabhakar seems to be
reaching a stable equilibrium [BTW, it looks like he is doing well in every alternate series. That way, he should do well against Eng :-) ]. Srinath,
Bannerjee, Kuruvilla seem to have a good future.

Still Indian bowling is weak, but all I am saying is that it is definitely
far better than the attack of 1990.


|> 	simply cause he never batted against India and therefore 
|> 	never did anything to cause his omission?
|> 
|> 	- While I do empathize with Hick, my empathy excludes situations
|> 	where he plays India. :-)  In any case, its only a three test 
|> 	series, how many runs can he possibly make?


If you are a cat, you don't need 5 tests to make a lot of runs. If you
don't beleive me, watch out for SRT's performance in the same tour and
see how many runs he will make in that "only-three-test-series" :-).


|> 							- Vaibhav.


--------
PVR Narasimha [SRT is simply the best
               Whether it's an ODI or a test] Rao
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