- Miserable World Trophy campaign ends as Hengtridan Jr. captaincy experiment an abysmal failure
Gruenberg entered the ODI World Trophy as #2 seeds but will not be leaving it that way after an abject campaign. They have never played like contenders for the trophy, and an easy second group stage has masked their overall performance. Technically a winning record overall, but against top seeds, they have won just 2 of 7 games. What went so goat-blightingly wrong?
Gruenberg plainly brought the wrong squad to Liventia. Though they played on a spinning surface in Bastion, in general this was not a tournament in which they needed four front-line spinners in the squad. Antiupquark Mendikwoks was used only once, in a dead rubber, and while he bowled creditably enough, it was not enough to justify his inclusion. It was unfortunate that Jett Tyrkkekkekklukkekklukekk was injured and thus unavailable, as he could have offered all-round batting credentials as well, but even may not have been needed. Instead, Gruenberg found themselves a batsman short that meant that when their top order struggled, there were no other options in the squad.
They similarly had no cover at wicket-keeper. Spikin Jshkhrrrlllclx had a tournament reminiscent of another SJ, Surro Juffwump, who failed to live up to the hype with the bat. Like Juffwump, Jshkhrrrlllclx seemed extremely ill at ease against the short ball, culminating in a disastrously hapless display against Sylestone that essentially dumped Gruenberg midway through the first innings. Jshkhrrrlllclx rode on the back of his earlier innings against Sylestone, a blistering hundred (though he was dropped on 2) that massaged his figures: without that, he averaged 25 in the prime #3 batting position. His keeping was adequate, but it's difficult to believe Ystipug Contemnible or Vumtyhop Chuffles could not have offered at least as much while adding more flexibility.
The early loss of Veryspicymediumsalty Skkrrrtltwibe was unfortunate. Injuries were a recurrent feature, raising questions about conditioning and fitness. In Skkrrrtltwibe's place, Silokarp Tunrek began promisingly, but flopped hard in the knockout round with a crawling effort against Sylestone. With more maturity in his strokeplay he could perform a role, but for now it looks like it is back to the drawing board. Ettexinor Broimbles and ! each scored over 500 runs: Broimbles was, perhaps, not at his absolute best, and ! at times struggled against spin, but neither could really be faulted given the poor starts they often faced. Terg Reversiblechcolatestalin showed both sides of the coin: a powerful striker at his best, a reckless slogger at his worst, who will miss out on more opportunities as long as he plays so impetuously.
Hraff' Tumcoweiss was easily Gruenberg's player of the tournament, with 342 runs at an average of 43 and a team leading SR of 170; though he took only 9 wickets, his 102 overs, also a team record, cost less than 5 an over. He also fielded superbly, and in general made an embarrassingly effective case that he should have been retained as captain. Umbar Qari was more of a disappointment, with only one innings of substance and his bowling below the standards of a full fifth option. Perhaps the biggest surprise was Quouodan Skejjibox being dropped for a game; he came back, and ended up leading the team with 18 wickets, yet he no longer quite seems capable of weaving magic over foreign batters who have grown used to his variations.
The other experienced bowler, Transportflowmap Renkauer, also flopped. Though his lower order batting has become increasingly useful over the last two seasons, he has always been groomed as a strike bowler: he ended with 5 wickets at nearly 80. Seemingly sacrificing some of his old raw pace, he was shown up by the inconsistent but promising Enkogan Fuimpip, who blasted out 10 wickets in 4 appearances, admittedly at the cost of over 7 runs per over. Jhexabrunk Saduqa was very dependable and picked up 15 wickets; his comeback spell against Sylestone nearly swung the match back in Gruenberg's favour, and while lacking Renkauer's lusty abandon, he batted sensibly to support Broimbles in an important partnership against Sharktail. Gruenberg's search for a seam bowling allrounder continues. Metalhips Karsters bashed some useful runs and bowled tidily enough but was never truly threatening. iiPacto Bralt was too inconsistent, and did not look a sturdy enough bat to really balance the lineup.
Gruenberg scored only 3 centuries in 11 games. This has been a low scoring tournament by modern international standards, but it still speaks to a failure with the bat, historically the national strength. And that can't be reckoned without taking into account Zambuimmi Hengtridan Jr., who had a truly awful tournament. In the prime opening slot he averaged less than 20 at a strike rate under 70. In the field as captain he appeared flustered and unable to manage a six bowler attack, yet had a squad without a fifth bowler strong enough to go with a five man option. Appointing him captain was a bold gambit, and one that has failed: he appears to have inherited none of his father's leadership or tactical ability, or if he has, it is yet to manifest. Neither Benny Enchante nor Ettexinor Broimbles were ever especially strong captains, but both were superb batsmen. Hengtridan Jr.'s patchy accomplishments should have seen him dropped, yet he was the one undroppable player.
It has been years since Gruenberg raised international silverware in cricket. (They did so on the back of a boundary hit by Hengtridan Jr., of course.) The team is clearly in need of new direction.
Which is why, for the first time in the history of Gruenberger cricket, the Gruenberger national team is advertising for a new head coach open to international applicants.
Editorial correction: Lachlan Cocrine was incorrectly named in a previous GruenCric scorecard. Our apologies; this misspelling has now been corrected.
