Well, this story is entirely fictitious and not based in reality. Following the news that there will be a further IPL auction next week, which is expected to contain some as yet unknown, non-centrally contracted English based players I got to thinking about who these players might be.
It seems unlikely that they would be current contracted county players as they would require one of these fast-becoming famous, non-objection certificates, from their county. (Which incidentally I see as making it into the Oxford English by the end of the year, never mind Facebook, or IPhone, Non-Objection Certificate will be the word of 2008). Taking aside fully contracted players, that then, surely only leaves non-contracted county players, or ones signed on some kind of dodgy contract, specifically I would think performance/appearance related contracts. The theory being that if the county are showing less faith in said player then the contract must be easier to break on the part of the player. There may also be one or two players who as yet are not formally signed up to play for their county for the coming season.
This reasonable train of logic then led me onto conclude that Alex Loudon is going to take a holiday from his new job in the city and go and collect a tidy paycheck to play for the Rajasthan Royals. Remember, you read it here first.
Thursday, 6 March 2008
Loudon for IPL?
Friday, 19 October 2007
Loudon to retire
It has been announced today that Alex Loudon will retire from First Class cricket to concentrate on becoming a Stockbroker. Although his performances over the past season and a bit have not been as consistent as they might have been, he has still been a powerful force at No6 or No5 for the Bears.
He didn't always score a weight of runs, but often seemed to save his best for games when it was needed most. I remember a few low scoring games where he held the tail together and helped Warwickshire post a decent total.
Sadly I think he will be remembered as a player who never quite fulfilled his potential. It was not so long ago that he was on the verge of an England senior cap, mainly for his bowling, but also for his ability in the middle order. It is probably not unfair to say since that winter his game has gone backwards in both disciplines, notably his bowling. I felt he had the potential to go on and become a really good cricketer and with his skills it could have been him and not Graeme Swann who was filling the second spinner slot in Sri Lanka last week. Had he taken his initial opportunity he may even have become England's first choice spinner for a while in the absence of Giles. Unfortunately he didn't seem to posses that final quality that turns a merely good cricketer into a great one. It might be that his dual career ambitions contributed to this, that he didn't quite possess the hunger to excel at cricket when he had other options to fall back on. I may be being unfair here, because the likes of Troughton and Trott and lately Ambrose have achieved a similar level of recognition with England from the Warwickshire ranks without (yet) stepping up to international standard.
He will be sorely missed at Warwickshire where he fulfilled a vital and complex role. He had a decent cricket brain and took charge of the team on numerous occasions and his batting, as I've said was decent down the order. Warwickshire will struggle next season to find someone to fill his position, they may come to depend more on the top order for runs and the likes of Troughton might find himself bowling a few more overs. The leadership issue might be more complex, with Brown, Streak and Loudon all missing for next season (not to mention Knight and Wagh from last) the Bears may struggle for leadership and tactical help for Maddy and some of the younger members of the squad will have to step up.
I wish him all the best in his future career ambitions and I won't be surprised at all to see his name cropping up in the minor counties in the next few years.