Cricket Diary: Cook's cow shot debt to 'The Gnome'

By Richard Gibson

Alastair Cook’s increasingly positive approach to batting is no surprise to Keith Fletcher, one of his mentors as a schoolboy. England captain Cook displayed a more dynamic side to his game during the historic Test series victory in India - in keeping with what then Essex head coach Fletcher taught him a decade ago.

Fletcher, known universally in cricket as 'The Gnome' and who still works for the county 50 days of the year as a batting consultant, was forever trying to hijack Cook’s refined style. “When I worked with him, we would certainly do a quarter-of-an-hour every session in which I would try to teach him the cow shot – to swing his arms and hit it over midwicket,” Fletcher reminisced.

“He had been coached the whole time to hit the ball to mid-on and mid-off but I felt he needed to learn that when a left-arm spinner was on with men around the bat, turning it, he had to sweep, slog-sweep and hit over midwicket. I have been delighted to see him go more agricultural in his shots, away from the coaching manual days of his school cricket.”

And Fletcher, 68, believes there is much more to come in terms of Cook’s expansion. “He is going to develop and mature into an even better player. He is never going to absolutely destroy sides but he is going to score his runs in future quicker, with a bit more flair, because he has plenty of that,” he said. “More people will talk of him as an attractive batsman rather than an accumulator of runs.”

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England new boy James Harris had an embarrassment of potential employers when he decided to quit Glamorgan at the end of last season. No fewer than 12 counties pitched for his signature and although he was initially destined for Nottinghamshire, a visual image altered his thinking.

“I was overwhelmed with the interest, to be honest,” the 22-year-old reflected. “I wanted to play Division One cricket. I saw that as a target, so during the last two weeks of the season I spoke to the nine as well as the three most likely clubs to get promoted from Division Two.

“I tried to go around and speak to everybody in person if they wanted me to do that, and for me to try to figure out the best place to go. “What swung it for me is that I sat in one of the hospitality boxes overlooking Lord’s with Gus Fraser and Richard Johnson.

“It was a sunny day, there was not a cloud in the sky, and I thought: 'I could play here. This wouldn’t be a bad place to go to work'.”

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Former Surrey and Durham wicketkeeper David Ligertwood was responsible for cricket’s latest innovation – the flashing stumps used in the second season of the Big Bash League.

The English-born, Australian-raised Ligertwood was one of the co-creators of the Zing Wicket System, which has a sensor in the bails able to determine within 1/1000 of a second when the wicket is broken. Red LED lights flash instantaneously and relay a radio signal to the stumps which then also ignite.

“As a kid, nothing was more exciting to me than watching and playing cricket. Upon reflection we thought we'd combine the fun of technology with our love of sport and create something that would not only be spectacular for fans at the match, but also those watching,” Ligertwood, who lives in Adelaide, said.

“Our initial idea was for the bails to light-up when dislodged, though this since evolved to the stumps as well as they are able to contain more LEDs and enhance the experience.”

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Trent Copeland could not have picked a more inopportune moment – or indeed frustrating way - to join the growing list of Australia’s crocked fast bowlers.

With younger rivals Pat Cummins, James Pattinson and Josh Hazlewood all sidelined, the 26-year-old, who made the last of his three Test appearances in 2011, tripped on a step during 12th man duties for New South Wales and will be forced to rest an injured ankle until early 2013.

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Date: 18/12/2012 08:00:00 by Richard Gibson
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