Ryan ten Doeschate / Ryan ten doeschate / 01 August 2009 / Leave a comment

After a week's holiday in Italy, the Essex all-rounder is back to talk swing bowling, playing for your average, Ricky Ponting's latest milestone and why James Anderson is the main man.

"I'm more from the school of 'if everyone puts in for the team, the averages will take care of themselves'. When my playing days are over people will be more interested in how I played rather than what I averaged."

I've spent the past week in Italy, barely managing to keep a lazy eye on the Ashes between trail-walking, Michaelangelo, and sunning along the shores of the Italian Riviera.

Most of yesterday was spent on trains and planes so I was stunned by Friday's close of play scorecard and mesmerised by last night's highlights package.

What a difference a day makes!

Jimmy Anderson continues to shine as the new leader of England's bowlers and Graham Onions played the perfect support role yesterday; starting the ball rolling with those early wickets thanks to pin-point accuracy. They managed to swing the ball both ways at good pace and provided a five-star swing bowling display.

The condition and maintenance of the ball is of vital importance to swing bowlers and whoever was in charge yesterday did a great job. It is a task normally designated to one or two individuals, preferably someone in the slips who gets his hands on the ball a lot.

At Essex it's Matt Walker, who is ever quick to take the plaudits when it's swinging round corners and equally quick to blame the ball manufacturer when it's not moving at all.

As a swing bowler I certainly understand the importance of the 'buffer', often relying on him as much as on my own skills.

Ian Bell has made his return to the Test team and getting through yesterday's evening session will fill him with confidence. People talk about having to start over in the morning, but I think an overnight break is perfect for freshening up and refocusing on the job already started.

Andrew Strauss is in sublime form, again leading from the front. If his rate of converting 50s to 100s is anything to go by, expect him to be batting for some time. After a superb bowling performance, England need their batters to fire as a unit. A score in excess of 350 will put them in strong position to take a 2-0 lead.

Much has been made of Bell's average and particularly his average against the Aussies. Averages are a major talking point for critics and commentators and are boldly displayed on the big screen at the grounds and on television screens around the world. The importance placed on averages varies between players and while it's a good measure of performance over a period, it counts for very little when you are out in the middle. Putting too big an emphasis on your average can be detrimental, particularly within a team environment. A gutsy 30 to take your team over the line can be more valuable than an unbeaten century in a tame draw.

There is always a degree of pride attached to your average, but it's important to keep that in check. I thought Ricky Ponting showed the character of a good team man when downplaying talk about becoming Australia's leading Test run-getter.

Players tend to remember 'match-winners' and these are often not the guys with the shiniest stats. Andrew Flintoff is a prime exponent of this theory and it's something Ronni Irani taught me early in my career.

As a player I can sense when guys are more concerned about their own stats than they are about the direction the team is taking. Their train of thought is that if everyone looks after their averages, the team does well.

I'm more from the school of 'if everyone puts in for the team, the averages will take care of themselves'. When my playing days are over people will be more interested in how I played rather than what I averaged.

While a day on the sofa following the action at Edgbaston sounds appealing, I have chosen to play club cricket today. It's a good chance to flush a week's holiday out of my legs and start preparing for next week's match against Gloucester.

I'll be following the Ashes at every opportunity though. England will be looking to take a firm grip on the series but, in an Ashes that has already produced so much drama, anything could happen.

Australia need to get the ball swinging. And even then it'll need a superb bowling display to counter the damage inflicted by Anderson and Onions.

Let's hope the weather has read the script.