Playthrough - England in the 1990s... and beyond

blockerdave

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England Tour of Australia, 1990-91

Itinerary

23 Nov 90 - :aus: Australia vs England :eng: - First Test at The Gabba
26 Dec 90 - :aus: Australia vs England :eng: - Second Test at The MCG
04 Jan 91 - :aus: Australia vs England :eng: - Third Test at The SCG
25 Jan 91 - :aus: Australia vs England :eng: - Fourth Test at Adelaide Oval
01 Feb 91 - :aus: Australia vs England :eng: - Fifth Test at The WACA

England Squad

:eng: :bat: Graham Gooch :c:

:eng: :bat: Mike Atherton
:eng: :bat: Rob Bailey
:eng: :bat: David Gower
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick
:eng: :bat: Allan Lamb
:eng: :bat: Tim Robinson
:eng: :bat: Robin Smith :slvo:

:eng: :wk: Paul Nixon :redo:
:eng: :wk: Jack Russell

:eng: :ar: Chris Lewis

:eng: :bwl: Martin Bicknell
:eng: :ar: Phillip DeFreitas
:eng: :bwl: Neil Foster
:eng: :bwl: Angus Fraser
:eng: :bwl: Devon Malcolm
:eng: :bwl: Gladstone Small

:eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell :slvo:

So far, the thing that has really characterised this "new era" for England has been clarity and consistency of selections. The 18-man playing squad has seen only two changes from the group that got obliterated by India: first was the retirement of Ian Botham. There can of course be no like-for-like, but Neil Foster's 94-wicket season simply demanded to be rewarded with an England recall. The second change was that of Wayne Larkin being dropped; this can come as no surprise: he is a 37-year-old opener with 10 Test matches and no Test fifties. His replacement is Michael Atherton: the young Lancashire opener has had an excellent county season with both bat and ball, and has already shown that his leg-spinners can be an attacking weapon against the West Indies. Again, Phil Tufnell has the responsibility of touring as England's only spinner, but with a Barrington Medal under his belt, he'll have plenty of confidence.

Was there no Rebel Tour and bans in your timeline?
 

Aislabie

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Was there no Rebel Tour and bans in your timeline?
I should 100% have mentioned it at the time, but my approach to the Rebel Tour was as follows:

It happened in 1990, so counts under my "how would I run the 90s better?" remit. Players who signed up for the Rebel Tour were offered an ultimatum: if they go on the Rebel Tour, then they are banned from both international and county cricket for three years. Given that county cricket was still their livelihood, even the large sums of money on offer from the South African government still might not have been enough to persuade them to effectively end their careers. (As far as I recall, banning players from county cricket was very much on the table, but the TCCB ultimately didn't do so.)

I still suspect that the rebel tourists would have burned up a significant amount of trust at that point though, so it would be a very slow process to reintegrate any of them into the side (currently only looking at Robinson and Foster, maybe Jarvis a little way down the line).

It's probably not a perfect solution, but a well-run TCCB might look at some of the players who were signing up and think "maybe we're not looking out well enough for our players"

If the rebel tour had been called off at the 11th hour - maybe even after Peter Hain's "explosive situation" warning - then this is roughly how I feel things would have played out. Although most of the players would have been forgiven, senior figures like Gatting would have had a tough time getting straight back into the team.

I'll link this on the index post so it's clear
 

blockerdave

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I should 100% have mentioned it at the time, but my approach to the Rebel Tour was as follows:

It happened in 1990, so counts under my "how would I run the 90s better?" remit. Players who signed up for the Rebel Tour were offered an ultimatum: if they go on the Rebel Tour, then they are banned from both international and county cricket for three years. Given that county cricket was still their livelihood, even the large sums of money on offer from the South African government still might not have been enough to persuade them to effectively end their careers. (As far as I recall, banning players from county cricket was very much on the table, but the TCCB ultimately didn't do so.)

I still suspect that the rebel tourists would have burned up a significant amount of trust at that point though, so it would be a very slow process to reintegrate any of them into the side (currently only looking at Robinson and Foster, maybe Jarvis a little way down the line).

It's probably not a perfect solution, but a well-run TCCB might look at some of the players who were signing up and think "maybe we're not looking out well enough for our players"

If the rebel tour had been called off at the 11th hour - maybe even after Peter Hain's "explosive situation" warning - then this is roughly how I feel things would have played out. Although most of the players would have been forgiven, senior figures like Gatting would have had a tough time getting straight back into the team.

I'll link this on the index post so it's clear

They couldn't ban them from county cricket, since it's a professional livelihood and would fall under restraint of trade, as with the Procter/Snow/Greig WSC case.
 

Aislabie

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They couldn't ban them from county cricket, since it's a professional livelihood and would fall under restraint of trade, as with the Procter/Snow/Greig WSC case.
Looks like I just got fired from being head of the TCCB then :lol my flimsy defence would have been that there would be no restriction on counties' right to employ the players, merely on their ability to play in TCCB sanctioned matches (which would be all of them)
 

Aislabie

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:aus: Australia (0) vs (0) England :eng: - Fifth Test at The WACA

Australia XI
:aus: :bat: Geoff Marsh
:aus: :bat: Mark Taylor
:aus: :bat: David Boon
:aus: :bat: Allan Border :c:
:aus: :bat: Dean Jones
:aus: :bat: Mark Waugh
:aus: :ar: Greg Matthews
:aus: :wk: Ian Healy
:aus: :bwl: Craig McDermott
:aus: :bwl: Merv Hughes
:aus: :bwl: Terry Alderman

England XI
:eng: :bat: Graham Gooch :c:
:eng: :bat: Tim Robinson
:eng: :bat: Rob Bailey
:eng: :bat: Robin Smith
:eng: :bat: David Gower
:eng: :wk: Jack Russell
:eng: :ar: Chris Lewis
:eng: :bwl: Neil Foster
:eng: :bwl: Gladstone Small
:eng: :bwl: Angus Fraser
:eng: :bwl: Devon Malcolm

- - -

Australia win the toss and choose to bowl

- - -

Both sides will have arrived at the WACA praying for any kind of result other than a draw. Certainly England were - dropping Atherton after a disappointing Test as makeshift spinner, and bringing back both Chris Lewis and Devon Malcolm to assemble a five-man pace attack borne out of hope for a fast and bouncy WACA deck. Australia meanwhile brought in the series' leading wicket-taker Alderman after he was rested from the fourth Test. The overcast skies persuaded Border to bowl after winning the toss; perhaps they reminded him a bit of Headingley.

Conditions were very difficult for batting, with both Gooch and Robinson falling prey to some excellent fast bowling. Things could have been far worse, but for the fact that the clouds were also full of rain; as a result, only 31 overs were possible on the first day, with the second dawning far sunnier and more promising for batting. Bailey and Smith capitalised with a very impressive partnership of 155. Bailey (72) and Smith (97) both fell short of deserved centuries, but further strong contributions from Gower and Russell (both 62) allowed England to build up a competitive total of 437 by the time they were bowled out early on the third morning.

By now, the famous WACA bounce was growing uneven, something that was most obvious when the ball was in the hands of the fast and motivated Malcolm. His Test-best six for 75 was like a who's who of Australian batting. Geoff Marsh? He was the guy who got clean bowled by a yorker. Border? Caught behind fending one off. Jones? Caught in the leg side off a short ball. Matthews? Caught behind trying to drive. Waugh? Trapped in front of the stumps. It looked like it could be a Malcolm eight-for, but Foster stole the last two tail-end wickets from him. Australia though were 151 runs behind and the pitch was only getting worse.

The English approach was clear when they went out all guns blazing to set a target of 376 for Australia to win. In order to give themselves enough time to take the ten wickets, all the batsmen played their shots. Those who did so with most success were Chris Lewis (51 off 67), David Gower (47 off 48) and Jack Russell (45 off 75). McDermott might have picked up a five-wicket haul, but the English batsmen took him for almost a run a ball while he did it.

England were ten wickets away from a famous Ashes victory, all thoughts of "worst Test series of all time" suddenly forgotten by players and pundits alike. First to fall was Marsh, caught in the slips off Fraser. Then Taylor the same way. Neil Foster then got Boon LBW, and Australia were reduced to 18 for three. Though Border and Jones tried to rebuild, Devon Malcolm's pace just makes things happen. He took two wickets in two balls to bring in Matthews before the fourth day had even finished. Once Small had got himself into the wickets, Australia were left with just four wickets to make last across the whole of Day Five. It couldn't be done, and Matthews ran out of partners shortly before lunch.

Against all the odds - especially after losing 3-0 to India - England had won the Ashes in Australia for the second successive tour. Oh and somehow David Gower got the Man of the Match award. I'm not quite sure how that happened.

1610464610146.png

I'm also adding a Player of the Season award in the style of the Allan Border Medal - the Barrington Medal.

Drawn or lost match
Best player - 3 points
2nd best player - 2 points
3rd best player - 1 point

Won match
Best player - 5 points
2nd best player - 3 points
3rd best player - 2 points
4th best player - 1 point

Standings
1. Tim Robinson - 8 points
2. Robin Smith - 7 points (+3)
3. Devon Malcolm - 5 points (+5)
4. Graham Gooch - 4 points
=5. Neil Foster - 3 points
=5. Phil Tufnell - 3 points
=7. Angus Fraser - 2 points
=7. Jack Russell - 2 points (+2)
9. David Gower - 1 point (+1)

And Tim Robinson wins the Barrington Medal! A deserved accolade, but still a remarkable one for a batsman who still has yet to register a Test century since 1987.
 

blockerdave

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Looks like I just got fired from being head of the TCCB then :lol my flimsy defence would have been that there would be no restriction on counties' right to employ the players, merely on their ability to play in TCCB sanctioned matches (which would be all of them)

Absolutely, they can't force the counties to hire them, but also being contracted they can't be given a "properly" lengthy ban
 

Aislabie

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Records

Highest Innings Score
529 all out vs Australia, The SCG, 1991

Lowest Innings Score
122 all out vs New Zealand, Edgbaston 1990

Highest Innings
196, Rob Bailey vs New Zealand, Lord's 1990

Best Innings Bowling
6 for 70, Chris Lewis vs West Indies, Kensington Oval 1990

Best Match Bowling
10 for 188, Phil Tufnell vs India, The Oval 1990

Partnerships
1. 190 - Graham Gooch & Tim Robinson vs Australia :aus: 1991
2. 154 - Graham Gooch & Robin Smith vs New Zealand :nzf: 1990
3. 170 - Graham Gooch & Robin Smith vs Australia :aus: 1990
4. 173 - Robin Smith & David Gower vs West Indies :wi: 1990
5. 103 - David Gower & Jack Russell vs Australia :aus: 1991
6. 90 - Jack Russell & Chris Lewis vs Australia :aus: 1990
7. 81 - David Gower & Phillip DeFreitas vs West Indies :wi: 1990
8. 47 - Jack Russell & Phil Tufnell vs India :ind: 1990
9. 69 - Gladstone Small & Angus Fraser vs Australia :aus: 1990
10. 29 - Gladstone Small & Devon Malcolm vs New Zealand :nzf: 1990

Honours Board
:bat:
:wi: vs :eng:, 1989-90
Graham Gooch - 112
Robin Smith - 101
Robin Smith - 112
Graham Gooch - 100

:eng: vs :nzf:, 1990
Graham Gooch - 127
Rob Bailey - 196

:eng: vs :ind:, 1990
none

:aus: vs :eng:, 1990-91
Robin Smith - 110
Graham Gooch - 170

:bwl:
:wi: vs :eng:, 1989-90
Angus Fraser - 5 for 47
Gladstone Small - 5 for 72

Chris Lewis - 6 for 70

:eng: vs :nzf:, 1990
none

:eng: vs :ind:, 1990
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 116
Phil Tufnell - 5 for 72


:aus: vs :eng:, 1990-91
Angus Fraser - 5 for 116
Devon Malcolm - 6 for 75
Career Statistics

Batting & Fielding
PlayerMatInnNORunsAvg100s50sBestCtSt
:eng: :bat: Mike Atherton814135527.31--474-
:eng: :bat: Rob Bailey1120165734.581219612-
:eng: :bwl: Martin Bicknell22084.00--5--
:eng: :ar: Ian Botham (RET)1081767565633.471425208135-
:eng: :ar: Phillip DeFreitas1624230914.05--43*4-
:eng: :bwl: Angus Fraser172102029.62--341-
:eng: :bwl: Neil Foster33491150113.18--398-
:eng: :bat: Graham Gooch891625607538.69123619692-
:eng: :bat: David Gower12221117840943.34154621575-
:eng: :bwl: Eddie Hemmings1319333220.75-1954-
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick24010726.75--362-
:eng: :bat: Allan Lamb601059322433.58912137*53-
:eng: :bat: Wayne Larkins1019034818.31--435-
:eng: :ar: Chris Lewis1015135625.43-2567-
:eng: :bwl: Devon Malcolm11205966.40--14*1-
:eng: :bat: Tim Robinson :slvo:36616218439.7141117512-
:eng: :wk: Jack Russell233811113241.9217128*595
:eng: :bwl: Gladstone Small1825736320.17-2592-
:eng: :bat: Robin Smith :slvo:24443207550.615131438-
:eng: :bat: Alec Stewart12073.50--5--
:eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell :slvo:8123515.67--363-

Bowling
PlayerMatOvrRunsWktsAvgEcon5WI10WMBest
:eng: :bat: Mike Atherton862249927.674.0--3/32
:eng: :bat: Rob Bailey1139167283.504.3--1/0
:eng: :bwl: Martin Bicknell2106269644.832.6--3/72
:eng: :ar: Ian Botham (RET)10837791122340028.133.02748/34
:eng: :ar: Phillip DeFreitas1654815883148.122.91-5/86
:eng: :bwl: Angus Fraser1774117935333.832.42-5/47
:eng: :bwl: Neil Foster331243330910431.822.7518/107
:eng: :bat: Graham Gooch893037281742.822.4--2/12
:eng: :bat: David Gower122620120.003.3--1/1
:eng: :bwl: Eddie Hemmings1351314543146.902.8--4/90
:eng: :bat: Graeme Hick22695247.503.7--2/61
:eng: :bat: Allan Lamb60523123.004.6--1/6
:eng: :bat: Wayne Larkins9--------
:eng: :ar: Chris Lewis103157911941.632.51-6/70
:eng: :bwl: Devon Malcolm1137912073040.233.21-6/75
:eng: :bat: Tim Robinson :slvo:3610--0.0---
:eng: :wk: Jack Russell23--------
:eng: :bwl: Gladstone Small1871818265632.612.53-5/48
:eng: :bat: Robin Smith :slvo:24--------
:eng: :bat: Alec Stewart1--------
:eng: :bwl: Phil Tufnell :slvo:82818603326.063.1215/72

Post-Ashes stats and records update. Look at those early career numbers for Tufnell; pretty much exactly what @blockerdave keeps saying he was capable of
 
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blockerdave

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Post-Ashes stats and records update. Look at those early career numbers for Tufnell; pretty much exactly what @blockerdave keeps saying he was capable of
I mean, he was never gonna be Murali. But he was streets ahead of the other English spinners and just needed good management.

Tuffers for me was very similar to Malcolm. A fine bowler who was never gonna be sustainably world class but when inspired could be “touched by greatness”, and needed better man management. They both have similar records and arguably should have played double the matches, taken around 300 wickets at a much better average.
 

Aislabie

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I'm genuinely looking forward to that India tour tbh. I know I'll get battered by the Indians, but sharing all the overs out between Tuffers, Emburey and Salisbury should be fantastic meme material.

I might try to work the game a little bit so that Salisbury actually does okay
 

Ed Smith

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I'm genuinely looking forward to that India tour tbh. I know I'll get battered by the Indians, but sharing all the overs out between Tuffers, Emburey and Salisbury should be fantastic meme material.

I might try to work the game a little bit so that Salisbury actually does okay

Unpossible
 

Aislabie

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Unpossible
Cricket Captain is quite a good game for creating weird career stats; worth looking at how I was able to stat-pad Athers' pre-AS leg-spin by bringing him on against the West Indian tail - yet as soon as he ended up having to be used as a makeshift spinner at Adelaide, he got absolutely tanked.

If I can make Salisbury average under 40, that would be the weirdest yet
 

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