County Cricket / Paul Moon / 20 August 2008 /

Paul Moon thinks county cricket has seen the last of Dominic Cork. He has certainly provided entertainment and headlines in his eighteen years in first-class cricket, but has he really delivered the goods?

My congratulations go out to inveigler Dominic Cork for fooling most of the people most of the time.

Lancashire have announced that the 37-year-old chief blusterer will not be offered a contract for 2009, a move that virtually signals the end of his first-class career. Cricket manager Mike Watkinson believes the decision will benefit his squad: it comes as no surprise to hear that Cork disagrees.

He has responded to his sacking by repeating the falsehoods he has made dozens of times before. The alleged all-rounder says that he has always performed at the highest level. This is nonsense and his statistics make a mockery of that statement.

First we must reject the notion that Cork is an all-rounder. He has never been that. No evidence exists, either statistically or visually, to prove otherwise.

In six summers at Old Trafford he scored 1,803 runs at an average of 25.75 in 61 County Championship matches - a very ordinary return. This year he averages 18 with the bat (the twelfth best for his county) and has taken just 17 wickets. Now if that is performing at the highest level, then Saj Mahmood, with 33 wickets, should be England's number one strike bowler!

For someone who has played 37 Tests for England his record is wretched; he scored just three fifties, averaging a miserable 18 runs. You would think his ODI record would be better but it is not - with an average of 10.00 and not a single fifty in 32 appearances. He had the occasional good spell with the ball including a golden summer in 1995. His 131 Test wickets at 29.81 and 41 ODI wickets at 33.36 are a modest return. This hardly represents highest level. These figures also have extreme home bias, as his performances on tour were dire.

He constantly uses the phrase that he has proved a lot of people wrong, I do not believe that to be true. Who has he proved wrong and on what issue? He is an average to good cricketer who makes a lot of noise of the empty can variety.

He claims he has carried the attack for Lancashire this season, an extraordinary statement considering he only has 17 wickets. He talks about having a lot to offer. At 37 years old I would suggest otherwise and should he be re-employed by another county then that would speak volumes for their forward planning.

He did have energy but most of it channelled in the wrong direction. His self-promotion and self-importance has fooled quite a few. His LBW appeals were so well choreographed (ten out of ten for artistic impression) that Mark Ramprakash used it on a 'Come Dancing' routine. Geoffrey Boycott has accurately used the phrase 'show pony' to describe him on more than one occasion. Cork has flattered to deceive showing some style but little substance.

Can anyone imagine Dominic Cork and Darren Gough in the same dressing room? The conversation would be about themselves with no value to the team. They offer nothing to the County Championship. I agree with Bob Willis: ex-England players Cork, Gough and Hick clog up county cricket taking money generated by the England Test team. This is to the detriment of our domestic game. I have purposely excluded master craftsman Ramprakash from that list, a player treated appallingly by England.

Cork was a character and I wish him well. He had his moments and I am in no doubt he will be gainfully employed in the future. His shock value rhetoric should fill the sports pages for years to come.

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