Stags Outclassed

A comprehensive defeat for the Stags yesterday, at the hands of opponents who were far too good. They had Chennai struggling at 50 for 3 at the halfway point, so the 57-run loss gives you some idea of the gap between the two sides.

My interest in watching Central for the remainder of this tournament won't have much to do with the Stags' batting, which looks to be a write-off for the remaining games - unless either How or Sinclair has a good day, and they rarely seem to at the international level. No, the batting was rubbish but I liked what I saw of some of the young bowlers.

McClenaghan hit the pitch hard and got good bounce, Shane Bond's tutelage showed in some of Adam Milne's deliveries, and Doug Bracewell looked a feisty competitor with both bat and ball. Yes, they were far too persistent with their bang-it-in-short strategy and yes, they will probably suffer against the other strong batting lineups on less responsive surfaces. But the raw materials are there, and these guys have time on their side. I hope Bondy continues to work with them and that the selectors start monitoring their domestic progress.

In the meantime, go Royal Challengers! RCB success is probably just the tonic needed; the tonic to counter the effects of having to watch Peter "feet stuck in concrete" Ingram open the batting in another three games.