All posts by n8rngtd.top

On a day in which Cook’s 110 proved to be almost exactly 50% of a fragile team total of 221 for 9, the value of a player who puts substance ahead of all other attributes feels immeasurable

Andrew Miller at The Oval20-Aug-2010Twenty years ago, almost to the week, another under-fire left-handed batsman booked himself a flight to Australia by serving up a century in the second innings of a critical contest at The Oval. Against India in 1990, David Gower knew he had one last chance to prove his worth, and duly did so with an iron-willed 157 not out, a performance that confirmed his matchless style was underpinned by some serious and often-overlooked substance.The two men may line up at the crease in the same direction, and they may have made equally precocious arrivals on the international stage, but unlike Gower, Alastair Cook has never enjoyed the benefits of a technique that makes men of a certain age go weak at the knees. Ugly runs are the only runs he deals in – shovels, prods and savage slaps through point – a method that has had him bracketed as a purely functional performer, even from the moment, as a 21-year-old in Nagpur, he shrugged off his jetlag to score a century on debut against India.When functional performers fail to function, as Cook had done with 106 runs in his previous eight innings of the summer, the pressure on their place seems all that more intolerable. Jonathan Trott felt it early in the year – even after beasting Bangladesh for a double-hundred at Lord’s – to a degree that Kevin Pietersen still avoids even after extending his centuryless stint to 15 Tests and counting. But on a day in which Cook’s 110 proved to be almost exactly 50% of a fragile team total of 221 for 9, the value of a player who puts substance ahead of all other attributes feels immeasurable.It is why, in spite of a summer’s top score of 29 and an average of 13.25, Andrew Strauss was so eager to ensure his opening partner was preserved for this game that he all but named the side in his post-match press conference at Edgbaston last week. It is why the selectors lumped Cook with the England captaincy for the tour of Bangladesh back in March, a challenge he carried off with distinction when most people queried such an over-promotion at the age of 25. And it is why he was able, finally, to come good today, with his place in the side at the point of no return.”Yeah, I’ve been feeling under pressure,” Cook admitted at the close. “When you are playing for England, there’s always pressure and when you don’t perform that multiplies a lot. But to respond like I did today was very satisfying and showed some character. You don’t know what it’s like until you get into that situation, but it doesn’t mean I’m out of the woods either. Even if you are in the best form ever, you’ve still got to work hard, and I’m going to keep doing that over the next couple of days.”For all that it felt like a last chance at redemption – and another failure today could well have forced his omission at Lord’s next week – it is hard to believe that England could possibly have taken the field at Brisbane without Cook up against the new ball. In many ways, his value is best expressed by the chaos it would cause to replace him. Would Michael Carberry really inspire greater confidence were he to take guard for his second Test in the Gabbatoir? And if Trott was bumped up from his niche at No. 3, what sort of a chain reaction of rejigging would ensue? Ian Bell – so content in the middle-order – would doubtless be forced to face up to his demons at first-drop.The fact that Cook is second only to Sachin Tendulkar as the youngest batsman to 4000 Test runs tells only a fraction of the story. On the last Ashes tour, for instance, he grappled with his demons – and a serious weakness to the rising delivery outside off – to chisel an immensely courageous century at Perth, and then there was his captaincy experience in Bangladesh back in March, when he kept his cool in a tour in which anything less than a clean sweep would have been a failure, and led from the front with centuries in each Test, and a starring role in three one-day victories as well.Therein lies the value of a man with no technical niceties to hide behind. When he was bowled neck and crop on the final day at Edgbaston last week, trapped on the crease as Mohammad Amir destroyed his stumps, every pundit in the land had an opinion about his footwork, and like a clique of quacks diagnosing the madness of King George, the conflicting prescriptions merely added to the sense of a game shot to pieces. But Cook took stock, belted a brisk 38 from 22 balls in Twenty20 finals day at the Rose Bowl to remind himself how it felt to find the middle of the bat, and fronted up to the fact that he had no place to hide.”You can get carried away with technique,” Cook said. “I’ve had a lot of advice over the last couple of weeks, so I tried to go out and hit the ball and score some runs, and not worry so much about my feet and my backlift. I just tried to be more positive. Obviously the conditions allowed me to do that, they were quite tough at the top of the order, but I wasn’t going to die wondering and that helped my defence.”He needed some good fortune, as all the best batsmen do, and he got it early in the day when three edges through the slips – including two in two balls – turned into 12 runs through third man, rather than a long walk back up the pavilion steps. “When you’re in a bad run of form, you find ways to get out, so you need a bit of luck,” said Cook. “That’s one of the tough things about batting, to keep believing it will change. Today it did change for me, and luckily I cashed in to make the most of it.”Cook’s week began so badly that James Anderson even sacked him as his “batting buddy”, in a bid to rid himself of his recent spate of ducks. “That was a hammer blow,” Cook joked. “When you’re down you’re down.” But today he picked himself back up, and saved his broadest grin of the summer for the moment of slapstick from Mohammad Asif that brought him to his hundred. A textbook forward defensive was winged away for four overthrows, to bring the house down and leave his team-mate Eoin Morgan baffled as he listened to the roar but watched a singularly runless block on a delayed TV feed in the dressing-room.”It was the nicest way ever,” said Cook. “I’ve had some strange ways of scrambling singles to get to hundreds, but a throw over the keeper’s head for four did make me smile.”

South Africa went into the series as clear favourites, and will be disappointed they could only manage a 1-1 draw against India

Firdose Moonda08-Jan-2011Jacques Kallis was immense for South Africa in the series•Associated PressGraeme Smith
South Africa’s captain was the bunny, the brat and the bully. His series was defined by his relationships with two Indian bowlers. His nemesis, Zaheer Khan, was able to dismiss him twice in four innings, as Smith continued to show technical ineptitude against a world class left-armer. As though that was not enough, he became a target for another Indian quick: Sreesanth. Smith’s bat-waving altercation with the sledging Sreesanth was one of the defining images of the series. The bowler allegedly said something personal; Smith took the bait, and then got out.Alviro Petersen
He played one handy knock. His 77 runs in Centurion should have been the launch pad for a string of strong scores in the series, but it wasn’t. Petersen is a much prettier opener to watch than Smith. He shows class and elegance in his driving but he gets out too easily. He either goes for a drive and finds the edge, or falls victim to close catchers on the leg side. He has a lot of work to do on his technique before his next Test.Hashim Amla
It was a quietly anti-climatic series for Amla. After notching up centuries in four consecutive matches against India and three in a calendar year, he looked set for a big series. His century in Centurion was overshadowed by Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers and that was as good as he got. Like the South Africa team itself, the Durban hoodoo followed him (he only averages 16 in Test cricket at his home ground). His aggressive 59 in Cape Town was crucial to the match but he failed to set the series alight the same way he did in India early in 2010.Jacques Kallis
The stuff of legend. The minute Kallis removed his cap to reveal a crop of new hair, it was a sign that he would break new ground in the series. He scored his first double-hundred in Centurion, and then became the only South Africa batsman to score two centuries in a Test twice, and the first to score two centuries in a Test at home, with his heroic performance in Cape Town. He batted though pain – he will be out of the game for four weeks – and was the architect of South Africa drawing the series instead of losing it. He also became the second highest century scorer in Test cricket – with 40 hundreds – and been acknowledged as the best cricketer South Africa has ever produced.AB de Villiers
He was unusually quiet. After scoring the fastest century by a South African, in 75 balls, in Centurion, he just about disappeared. Uncharacteristically, he dropped a few catches in Cape Town.Ashwell Prince
P is for Pressure. Every time Prince goes out to bat, it seems as though he is playing for his place. His 39 in Durban will quickly be erased from most memories, but the patience he showed on a tough pitch while the rest of the line-up crumbled deserves some recognition.Mark Boucher
His 103-run stand with Kallis allowed South Africa to bat their way to safety when Boucher’s was the wicket that would have given India the chance to make history. The gusty 55 he scored will also go a long way to prolonging his Test career.Paul Harris
He managed to spin a ball or three. When he does that, it’s always going to be talked about. Harris got some turn in all three Tests, although it didn’t always translate into wickets. He did a fine job when playing a containing role while not posing much of an attacking threat. His future Test place will depend on whether South Africa want to continue using a spinner in a defensive capacity, or opt for an attacking, wicket-taking approach.Dale Steyn
He swung the ball with sensational success to end up as the highest wicket-taker in the series. His 21 scalps came at the outstanding average of 17.47, and he had magical spells in all three matches, none more so than the seven-over burst in Cape Town where he took two wickets for three runs. He won the contest with Virender Sehwag easily, getting the India opener out once in each match. His lines and lengths were spot on, he bowled the short ball and the follow-up to good effect, and he worked to plans well.Morne Morkel
With height on his side, Morkel and the short ball were going to be the happily married couple of the series and the union only grew stronger. He used his height to extract bounce out of all three surfaces, which were largely bowler friendly. Morkel was exceptional in the first Test but struggled with consistency as the series wore on. He is still a best available partner to Steyn, but needs to be more disciplined.Lonwabo Tsotsobe
He was luckless but lively. Despite having umpteen catches dropped of his bowling in the series, Tsotsobe was still able to capture all the Indian big fish. He claimed the scalps of Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni, all to loose shots. Tsotsobe capitalised because he was underestimated. He was always going to look third best after Steyn and Morkel, but he toiled hard and did his best to complement them. His moment of the series was when took a blinder of a catch to dismiss VVS Laxman in Durban.

In the city with three international cricket venues, the sport is visible wherever you go

Shanaka Amarasinghe18-Nov-2010Despite the thick glass and air-conditioned interior, the SSC members’ enclosure is not so far removed that you cannot hear the soothing “crack” of the West Indian’s bat as he drives the local magician to long-off. Colombo is witnessing one of the great lessons of cricket: How To Play World-Class Spin 101 by Brian Lara. The ball reaches the boundary before the hot butter cuttlefish reaches my lips.Lara v Murali, a comfy chair, batter-fried prawns and devilled pork – it’s a good life, this. The cricket-and-Colombo relationship is a hazardous one. The experiences can be cerebral and lazy or raw and emotionally charged.From that languorous moment, my mind fast-forwards three months to the Royal v Thomian cricket match, the oldest unbroken cricket encounter in the world, spanning over 130 years. The pristine venue, which now belongs to the Greatest Left-Hander Ever, will be transformed into a writhing mass of humanity, revelling in the apex of hedonism. The Royal-Thomian match is the biggest school game by far, and sees old boys of both schools flying down from their respective rat races to wash their cares down with arrack and beer. Cricket becomes incidental.Five years prior to Lara’s wizardry, for one day Colombo was a ghost town. The normally loud, chaotic and irritable traffic of the city was reduced to a few lone three-wheelers ignoring the lonely traffic lights blinking obliviously at roundabouts. The auto-rickshaws were desperate to catch the last stragglers, who were equally desperate to get home. Fast. Bosses tacitly understood that if the unthinkable was achieved, no one would be in at work on Monday.It was March 17, 1996. Colombo had all its eyes on Lahore as Sri Lanka took on newly acquired foes Australia in the final of the World Cup.Just before midnight, when Arjuna Ranatunga guided the winning runs past third man Colombo erupted. Tsunami survivors speak of how the sea receded for a kilometre before unfurling itself with devastating fury upon the shore. That was how Sri Lankan cricket fans poured out onto the hitherto deserted streets of Colombo. For some delirious moments, Colombo’s woes – it was still reeling from a deadly attack on its central bank which killed hundreds just weeks ago – were forgotten.It is uncanny how Colombo’s cricketing triumphs so closely followed its disasters. The evening of Sri Lanka’s second World Cup final was on the April 28, 2007. Once again Colombo receded indoors to witness their team take on the now-familiar foe, Australia. But a Colombo united in its temporary hatred of Adam Gilchrist was suddenly plunged into pitch darkness. It was not, as many thought, an untimely power failure due to the incompetence of local electricity authorities.It was, in fact, Colombo’s first air raid. The now-defunct LTTE, paying scant respect to the wishes of a nation, chose the final’s night to attempt a suicide mission on the city. While watching the anti-aircraft fire light up the blackened sky (it’s ironic how beautiful explosions and tracers are when you’re not on the receiving end) with no television or radio to tell us what was going on, the thoughts of many Colombo inhabitants were far away in Barbados, rather than being occupied by the very real threat of a C4-laden plane falling out of the sky into their back gardens.Such is the intertwined nature of cricket, history and Colombo.Moratuwa, home to the Tyronne Fernando Stadium, is a suburb of Colombo with a subculture all its own, and has produced cricketers of the calibre of Duleep Mendis, Romesh Kaluwitharana and Ajantha Mendis. The riotous -singing fans of Moratuwa have set the tone for the raucous, yet good-natured cricket-watching habits of Colombo.Well-travelled cricket fans have likened Colombo’s grounds to the Caribbean. The noise, the food, the carefree culture and the picturesque grounds are only some of the similarities. The bands – a cacophonic mixture of trumpets, drums and cymbals – produce the signature sounds of Colombo. Despite their authenticity, the . A tradition left over from their 16th century colonisation of the country. Paradoxically, the bands beat out wholly unprintable songs to the tune of old favourites like “Oh When the Saints…”, ensuring the visiting Barmy Army would not feel too far from home. They too are tunes that hail back to the 1796 British landing and subsequent 150-year rule.

Well-travelled cricket fans have likened Colombo’s grounds to the Caribbean. The noise, the food, the carefree culture and the picturesque grounds are only some of the similarities. The bands – a cacophonic mixture of trumpets, drums and cymbals – produce the signature sounds of Colombo

Ironically, this very sound is what Sachin Tendulkar managed to get halted during the fifth day’s play of the decisive third Test at the P Sara Oval earlier this year. Colombo is always keen to oblige, and at Tendulkar’s request the band was asked to pipe down, lest he be distracted in attempting to win the game for India. In the end, VVS Laxman succeeded where Tendulkar failed. No good karma can proceed from silencing the band.The P Sara is, and always has been, the best Test match pitch in Colombo. It has been home to perhaps Sri Lanka’s best batsman. Mahadevan Sathasivam – after whom a stand at the ground is named – was even better than Bradman, legend has it. His career ended tragically, when he was accused in his wife’s murder. He was later acquitted, but was never the same. Most who have seen them both, testify that Sathasivam was better than Aravinda, who is traditionally considered Colombo’s finest product, closely followed by Mahela Jayawardene.P Sara has also seen the Don. Twenty thousand filled the ground on the day Bradman batted there, and my choir master at St Michael’s Anglican Church was nearly killed in the stampede as tickets ran out. He was taken to hospital and missed the innings. Colombo is the only Asian city in which Bradman has batted.P Sara is also home to the Tamil Union, Murali’s club. The Sinhalese Sports Club, Moors Cricket Club and the Burgher Recreation Club are all located within a stone’s throw from each other in the heart of Colombo. They represent the city’s multi-ethnicity and cricketing commonality. For those who find this nomenclature exclusivist and objectionable, there is always the Nondescripts Cricket Club, bordering the SSC.It is no coincidence that Colombo is the city with the most Test venues in world cricket. Sri Lanka is probably also the subcontinental country with the highest attendance at Test matches. Colombites know their cricket and have high standards. Colombo is also home to the highest Test total and Sri Lankan batsmen also hold the two highest partnerships in Test match cricket.Colombo has kept custody of the World Cup – albeit for the shortest reign of a champion. The end of the war saw triumphant scenes that were rivalled only by the celebrations of that first World Cup victory. Peace will guarantee that the only explosiveness witnessed will be at the hands of the world’s batsmen. It would be silly to miss the fireworks in one of the world’s craziest cricket cities during the World Twenty20.Cricket binds this chaotic coastal city•AFPFrom its idyllic tree-lined residential areas to its pulsing commercial district and further afield in its shanty towns and affluent suburbs, cricket is the one thread that binds a city together. The Premadasa Stadium is set in the heartland of Colombo’s footballing culture. It is not uncommon to see counterfeit Argentina shirts with “Crespo” or Italian replicas with “Inzaghi” on their backs. But they’re all at the cricket. Posh kids in tennis shoes play cricket in their paved driveways. Ragged kids play softball cricket just anywhere they can find, barefoot.Whenever Pakistan play in Colombo, they have sizeable local support. Similarly the Indians, many of whom work in Colombo. I learned the hard way that you never – if you value your peace of mind – engage an Indian cricket fan with regard to team selection. Cricket is probably the one thing everyone in Colombo has an opinion about. There are cricketers in Parliament now, and I daresay nobody talks to them about public policy in the parliamentary cafeteria. They’ll be wanting to know what it was like to end Phil DeFreitas’ career.While the car horns blare, bosses yell or babies scream, there is always the crack of leather on willow to soothe you.

Robin Peterson has had few regular stints with the South African side despite being on the circuit for eight years now. But he hopes changing attitudes towards spin bowling will make a difference

Firdose Moonda03-Jun-2011Robin Peterson has picked out a bedtime story to narrate to his future grandchildren. It’s not a traditional fairytale, but to Peterson it has a little more magic and charm than the usual fantasies of royals, romances and happily-ever-afters.”I am one of few bowlers who can say that I opened the bowling with Dale Steyn,” left-arm spinner Peterson said. “That will be my story for the grandkids.”It was South Africa’s third match at the 2011 World Cup, played on a crusty, dry Chennai pitch, which would ultimately be their undoing. It was only the fourth time in his eight-year-long career that Peterson was playing in a third consecutive match for the national team. It was the first time he was given the new ball.”I didn’t think I would be part of opening the bowling, but two days before the match the captain [Graeme Smith] told me that he had been thinking about it and asked me to practise with the new ball. I was a bit nervous leading up to it, but I knew that in the subcontinent it’s a bit harder to hit the spinner out of the park, and we had a plan.”The plan was to give Kevin Pietersen an unwelcome challenge, given his weakness against left-arm spin. But Peterson gave South Africa a bonus. He claimed the wickets of Andrew Strauss, Pietersen and Ian Bell in his first two overs. It’s still Pietersen’s wicket that means the most to Peterson. “It’s always more rewarding when something comes together like that,” he said.It makes sense that he would have enjoyed that scalp the most, because Peterson is an industrious and methodical man. He understands the need to work hard for dividends, partly because of his background, from a middle-class Eastern Cape family, and also because of his journey as a cricketer: he has played just 47 ODIs in almost a decade of international cricket.It’s a side of Peterson not many people know or understand. His ability to stick to it goes unnoticed during his appearances for South Africa, and amid all the jokes about him being a professional 12th man. Everyone knows about the 28-run over against Brian Lara a few years ago, but few know he was part of South Africa’s Under-19 squad, came through the ranks at every level provincially, was handpicked by Clive Rice to attend the national academy, and was selected for South Africa at the age of 22. Even fewer realise the dedication and determination Peterson put in to make it to the national squad and to stay in it.”I came from the kind of family where everything we had, we got through hard work,” Peterson said. He was expected to finish school and get a degree in order to find decent employment, but as he became more noticed in cricketing circles, he decided to pursue it professionally, even thought he had “never considered it as a career”. He started a marketing degree through correspondence with the University of South Africa, but has yet to complete it because he found himself touring a lot.Since September 2002, Peterson has been involved in 21 different one-day series, including three World Cups and two Champions Trophies. Ten of those have been away from home. Despite the wealth of experience, he averages five ODIs a year. He has only played two full five-match series, in 2003 against Pakistan and 2004 against West Indies. His longest run came in 2003-04, when he played 11 consecutive matches across three series.All through, with sporadic appearances in the starting XI, his role was never clarified. Peterson has opened the batting and also batted at Nos. 8 and 9. He has been used as a holding bowler and an attacking one. “I wanted to put the team first and didn’t ask too many questions. It wasn’t ever really explained to me but I didn’t mind.”It must have been frustrating to be in limbo but Peterson is a survivor. “I am a very determined person and if someone says I can’t do something, I will do everything in my power to prove them wrong.”There was a time, at the end of the Champions Trophy in 2009, when it seemed he had thrown in the towel. He signed a Kolpak deal with Derbyshire and made himself unavailable for selection to the national team that summer. “I was watching all these guys play domestic cricket, and I realised that they are learning and growing and I am staying at the same level,” he said. Touring with the national squad meant that he wasn’t playing as much as he would have liked to. He decided that county cricket would give him the match time he was missing out on, but he had every intention of returning to South Africa.

“I was watching all these guys play domestic cricket and I realised that they are learning and growing and I am staying at the same level”Peterson on why he decided to go play county cricket

“I worked really hard on my bowling while I was there and I also went to watch a lot of games.” Nottinghamshire was Peterson’s preferred destination as a spectator. “I used to enjoy watching Graeme Swann. We played together at U-19 level, and in some ways our careers have followed the same path.” Swann was selected for a one-dayer against South Africa in 2000, before losing his place. He made a return seven years later, as a second spinner to Monty Panesar, and only regularly established his place in early 2009. Peterson was impressed with how Swann as an “orthodox offspinner brought back the art that everyone said was dying in a big way”.Peterson hopes to do something similar in South Africa, where the idea of an attacking spinner has only just started to gain popularity once again. “Perception has changed and now we see spinners as attacking options. We used to often think of the spinner as someone who had to bowl their 10 overs and get it over with. There has been a mindset shift.”That approach served South Africa well at the World Cup, but it may not be a long-term strategy, especially in home conditions, which are usually seamer-friendly. With the emergence of legspinner Imran Tahir, Peterson’s hopes of being the sole tweaker are slim, but that’s not something that worries him. In fact, he sees it as an advantage. “It’s exciting for Imran to be involved. I love watching him bowl and bowl with him, and I think it will show youngsters that there is an option to become a spinner in this country.”In real terms it could mean that Peterson is excluded from the starting XI, but, as always, he has a plan in place. “I am using this winter to work on my batting. It’s the longest break I have had from cricket in three years and I am going to be training with the Cobras in Cape Town. I am not a massively technical person, but I want to concentrate on watching the ball more and improving generally.”Peterson prides himself on having built a career on self-study, having never had a spinning coach. “I learn from watching a lot and I have watched a lot of other spinners. I also enjoy talking to batsmen, about what makes them uncomfortable when they are facing a spinner and which areas they don’t want to be forced into scoring runs in, and then I try to bowl so that they are forced to do that.”Now he hopes to apply that principle in reverse, in order to zone in on his batting skills, developing which he hopes will give him a “competitive edge” when it comes to selection.”I’ve only just started playing consistently and now I want to take my game to the next level. I still have a lot of goals I want to achieve – like one day winning a global event like the World Cup or the Champions Trophy, and playing Test cricket.”Peterson has taken 326 wickets in 116 first-class matches. Should he achieve anywhere near half as much in Test cricket, it would make another captivating tale for his grandchildren.

England will have to take their winning game to the subcontinent to tick off a crucial box, but they have a few ingredients that suggest their grip on the top ranking will be firmer than India’s

Sambit Bal at Edgbaston13-Aug-2011The only lament for the supporters of English cricket at this moment of glory would be that it was utterly devalued by the abjectness of the opposition. The matter got so desperate on the fourth day that they joined the Indian fans in chanting Praveen Kumar’s name as he threw some meaty punches and warmly applauded him back to the dressing-room after his dismissal. No one who had paid for a seat would have wished to be so emphatically denied of a contest.Of course England cannot be held to account for the feebleness of their opponents. They dealt with what was presented to them to with full force and have now seized the No. 1 ranking with the swagger of a team that belongs. As India have been reminded so painfully on this tour, the top rank on the ICC table doesn’t necessarily translate to indisputable supremacy but, by administering India the mightiest of routs, England have built the most compelling of cases.It is a moment of huge significance for English cricket because their success hasn’t arrived merely by accident or by the happy coincidence of a burst of talent. It has been engineered through years of planning and building and the meticulous construction of a template that made success inevitable.It can be argued that the best of England met the worst of India in this series. But as India’s resistance dissolved into nothingness on the fourth morning, so did the grounds for excuses. Batting on a pitch that yielded England 710 runs, India – fielding their best possible batting line-up – were reduced to 130 for 7.The Indian task was hopeless to start with but in many ways it offered their batsmen a last shot at redemption. In one hour of magnificent swing bowling, James Anderson put the final stamp on the comprehensive superiority of England’s bowlers over India’s batsmen. It became abundantly clear in that hour, if it hadn’t been apparent already, that no matter how well India had prepared, and how mentally and physically fresh they were, England would still have prevailed. Not once in their climb to the top had India’s batsmen encountered a bowling unit so skillful and so persistently relentless.It is futile to go on droning about the ill luck with injury that first removed Zaheer Khan and then Harbhajan Singh. England lost Chris Tremlett after the first Test and Jonathan Trott during the second and for the third and yet grew stronger by the Test. Ian Bell took the No. 3 spot at Edgbaston and made a hundred, and Tim Bresnan has made such an impact that Tremlett will struggle to regain his place in the playing XI. Teams are also judged by their depth; India found themselves hopelessly exposed.It is futile now to look back on those two post-tea sessions in the second Test at Trent Bridge that decisively tilted the series England’s way. Test matches are rarely won by winning only a couple of sessions. The striking difference between the two sides was that India were never able to hold their advantage and England always found the means to retrieve a lost session.Tim Bresnan has starred with both bat and ball in the series•Getty ImagesAny comparison with the great teams of the past would be premature – and England will have to take their winning game to the subcontinent to tick off a crucial box – but they have a few ingredients that suggest their grip on the top ranking will be firmer than India’s: the strongest and most versatile bowling attack in the world currently; a batting line-up that combines solidity at the top with flair at the bottom; a strong number seven and the best tail in the world; and the belief, instilled by performances, that no cause is lost until it is lost. Most crucially, they are a relatively young team with players yet to hit the peak of their careers.India’s hold over the No 1 ranking was always tenuous. Unlike England, their climb to the top was driven not by the system but by the talent and passion of a group of extraordinary cricketers. It was sustained not, as it is usually the case with dominant Test teams, by a group of match-winning bowlers, but by the ability of a once-in-lifetime batting line-up. The wins were achieved by a few memorable bowling performances, but the batsmen ensured that not many Tests were lost.The reason why the air of despondency is so thick around Indian cricket in the aftermath of their Birmingham defeat – their third biggest in history and the biggest since 1974 at Lord’s when they were bowled out for 42 – is that their batting has not, in the past ten years, been so embarrassing over a period of six innings. As they slumped to 56 for 4 in the morning session today, there was a real danger that they would be beaten by Alastair Cook alone. And when the last wicket fell midway through the second session, someone wondered if they should be granted a third innings for the sake of the 8000 spectators who had shown their faith by buying non-refundable tickets for the final day at 15 pounds each.The scary part for the Indian fan is that the golden age of Indian cricket might have already passed. The batting isn’t likely to grow stronger in the immediate future. If anything, it will grow progressively weak as the greats start departing. The Indian cricket administration has done a spectacular job harnessing the passion of the Indian fans to become the richest, and consequently, the most powerful cricket body in the world. But a vision for sporting excellence has rarely been a boardroom agenda. During this Test, Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni were asked about the effect of excessive cricket on the mental and physical readiness of the team. Both refused to offer direct answers. Gambhir said it was a question for the BCCI. Dhoni offered no comments, saying that he didn’t want to start a controversy. What they didn’t say said enough.It is no shame to lose to a team that has been decidedly superior. What should hurt Indian cricket is that there hasn’t even been the pretence of a contest. It’s hard to recall a fall from grace so dramatic, so swift and so complete. While it shouldn’t obscure what this team has achieved over the past decade, it’s the next ten years that Indian cricket should worry about. Something could still come out of this if the lessons from the wreckage were absorbed.

Sri Lanka’s captain erred in his use of Lasith Malinga and in the timing of his Powerplay

Sidharth Monga at Bellerive Oval 28-Feb-2012You had to double-check to make sure it was Mahela Jayawardene captaining Sri Lanka today. India’s chase of 321 in 36.4 overs was the quickest successful one of a 300-plus total in ODI cricket. Yes, India had nothing to lose. Yes, their batsmen were in the zone. Yes, this was a flat pitch. Sri Lanka, though, made blunders.Jayawardene is a shrewd captain. Often he defies modern captaincy formulas, and attacks to win. He takes wickets to slow runs down. Tonight, he backed off, delayed the bowling Powerplay, and left India 10 overs of Powerplay out of their last 13. Even India were not expecting that. Their plan was to take the batting Powerplay immediately after Sri Lanka were done with theirs in the 20th over, but when they saw Sri Lanka take a backward step, the batsmen played on Sri Lanka’s, and kept on playing risk-free cricket to allow themselves a cluster of Powerplay overs towards the end.And then there was the use of Lasith Malinga. He didn’t have a great day, we all know. In fact his economy-rate tonight was the worst for any bowler who has bowled five overs in an innings. It wasn’t always like that. He had made a superb comeback with a change of ends after his first three overs went for 28 runs. In his fourth, he took out Sachin Tendulkar.Jayawardene took him off immediately, and left all his remaining overs for the end. You just don’t do that. No matter how good a death bowler, you hardly see any captain using him from 38th to the 50th over. It is just too big a risk. Moreover, his non-use of Malinga in the middle was un-Jayawardene again. He wants wickets in middle overs to slow runs down. Here he was waiting for a wicket to fall.”That [delaying the Powerplay] was a decision because I wanted to bowl my spinner but they were going at nine an over, and I couldn’t just take the Powerplay then,” Jayawardene said. India were 2 for 118 at the end of the 15th over, the time they would usually take the Powerplay. The last five overs had brought them just 21 overs. So it wasn’t like India were in top gear then.”I wanted to take the Powerplay around the 20th or the 22nd over, that was my idea,” Jayawardene said. “Just delay it by five overs. They still went at eight-nine an over. Then I just had to delay it, thinking I could get a wicket or maybe they’ll still have to take the risk, and with the field being back I could get more wickets. That was the idea.”I was going to delay it just for few overs, just to settle things down, slow it down a bit more, but it didn’t work today. They batted really well throughout. They had momentum. They knew they could take risk, and they took. And paid off for them.” Jayawardene usually wouldn’t have done that. Shows pressure gets to the best of them.

In 40 overs, I had six of Malinga’s left. Once the ball gets a little older, that’s when he gets more effective. A bit more reverse, and make it harder. I don’t know. That’s the thing. Lots of ifs and buts. So easy to say, ‘I could have done this, I could have done that.’Mahela Jayawardene

It didn’t help that they lost Farveez Maharoof to an injury. About the use of Malinga, Jayawardene said he wanted the ball to get older before bringing his best bowler back. “In 40 overs, I had six of him left,” Jayawardene said. “Once the ball gets a little older, that’s when he gets more effective. A bit more reverse, and make it harder. I don’t know. That’s the thing. Lots of ifs and buts. So easy to say, ‘I could have done this, I could have done that.’ That’s the way the game goes.”There was another mistake Jayawardene would have made had he got the chance. Knowing India would dearly love to chase tonight, Jayawardene said he would have batted first had he won the toss. It was a flat pitch all right, but the thin bowling that India had, you would back yourself to get 80% of what they scored. In the end, though, the batsmen did their job.”We felt that with runs on the board, it was always going to be tough,” Jayawardene said. “Couldn’t have asked for anything better than that. We batted really well. We were batting for a 50-over game, as any other day we executed a very good gameplan there. With wickets in hand, I thought 320 was a very good score. Just that they batted really well. We probably didn’t bowl that well. Didn’t handle situations well. And lost the game.”Jayawardene the captain had an off day after six pretty good ones. Perhaps the 40-over scenario got him. Perhaps the quality of batting did. Perhaps his bowlers let him down badly. The luxury, though, is, he has another shot left on Friday when he will need to put one across Australia to enter the finals.”We have played good cricket, we have played very good cricket with these two teams,” Jayawardene said of the game against Australia. “We have beaten them twice. Obviously we can compete with them in these conditions, which is great. So still it’s a tough task. We are playing one of the top teams. They are in form as well. The incentive is a final. So there is a lot for our guys, a lot of motivation to do that. Knowing you have to win a game of cricket to be in the final. To see whether we have the hunger and the passion and the quality to do that.” To add to the hunger and passion, the usual shrewd and aggressive Jayawardene wouldn’t hurt either.Edited by Siddarth Ravindran

Mark Boucher fell short of a few significant landmarks, but even more important were the ones he achieved

S Rajesh11-Jul-2012Had Mark Boucher played the three-Test series in England, he would have achieved several landmarks: the third Test, at Lord’s, would have been his 150th, thus making him the first wicketkeeper to reach that mark; two more dismissals would have made him the first to effect 1000 dismissals as a wicketkeeper (he has also taken one catch as a fielder); 56 more runs in the series would have made him the highest run-getter among wicketkeepers in Tests, going past Adam Gilchrist’s aggregate of 5570. Perhaps more than all that, it would have given him the opportunity to properly bid farewell to international cricket after a 15-year career (though he did hint at being available to tour Australia later this year).The freak eye injury means Boucher won’t get a shot at those landmarks, but rather than dwell on those misses, it makes far greater sense to celebrate the fact that he got so close to these gigantic landmarks. It speaks volumes about his longevity and his consistency that he performed at such high levels over a decade-and-a-half.Boucher took over from Dave Richardson in 1998 (though he’d played a Test in Sheikhupura in 1997), and it didn’t take him long to get into his stride, as a batsman and as a wicketkeeper. In his second Test innings, against Pakistan in Johannesburg, he scored 78; in his fourth and fifth innings, he scored 52 each. Along with that, he also effected nine dismissals in only his fourth Test, including six in the first innings, against Pakistan in Port Elizabeth – a performance which won him the Man-of-the-Match award – and repeated the haul of six in an innings in his next Test as well. In fact, Boucher is the only wicketkeeper to take six or more in an innings on four occasions, and nine or more in a match three times.As a batsman, Boucher struggled a bit in his first 14 months, averaging less than 20, but his maiden Test hundred against West Indies early in 1999 set him on his way. Over the next several years he was a more-than-handy contributor with the bat. (In any other age an average in the mid-30s for a wicketkeeper would have been pretty neat; unfortunately, Adam Gilchrist came along and changed all the benchmarks.) Overall in his Test career, Boucher scored 4326 runs at Nos. 7 and 8, next only to Gilchrist and Kapil Dev.

As a one-day player, Boucher wasn’t a key member of the South African side in the last couple of years, but in the 11 years when he was around he made several vital contributions. As with his Test stats, though, he came within touching distance of a landmark here too, finishing just five short of 300 ODI appearances. Among South Africans, only Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock have played more ODIs.Through the 2000s, Boucher was an integral part of South Africa’s ODI line-up, consistently scoring brisk runs from positions 6 and 7. In that decade, no batsman scored more runs from those two slots than Boucher’s 3222 runs from 140 innings. Several of those innings came in wins too, none more memorable than the unbeaten 50 off 43 against Australia in Johannesburg in ODI. His highest was a brutal unbeaten 147 – off just 68 balls – but against much lesser opposition, Zimbabwe. Boucher’s overall batting stats in wins was pretty impressive: in 118 innings he scored 2651 runs at an average of 36.81 and a strike rate of 92.98.

In terms of dismissals for wicketkeepers in Tests, Boucher is way out in front with 555 dismissals, 139 of the second-placed Gilchrist. While no other wicketkeeper has even managed 400 catches, Boucher pouched 532. His dismissals per innings is impressive too, thanks to the array of fast bowlers that has always been at South Africa’s disposal. In ODIs, Boucher finished with 424 dismissals, 48 behind Gilchrist, the leader.

Most great wicketkeepers have forged successful partnerships with fast bowlers during the course of their career and Boucher is no exception: of the 16 top bowler-wicketkeeper combinations in Tests (in terms of dismissals), Boucher features five times – with Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn and Allan Donald. He has taken 84 catches off the bowling off Ntini and 79 off Pollock. However, the dismissals-per-match figure was much lower in the case of Pollock. Only the Dennis Lillee-Rodney Marsh combination (95 dismissals in 69 Tests) and the Glenn McGrath-Gilchrist combination (90 dismissals in 71 Tests) are ahead of the Boucher-Ntini pairing. Although Boucher played only 35 Tests with Allan Donald, he took 53 catches off Donald’s bowling at a rate of 1.51 dismissals per match, which is well above the corresponding number for Lillee-Marsh and McGrath-Gilchrist.In ODIs, Boucher features twice in the top three – with Ntini (75 in 164 matches) and with Pollock (62 in 243).

As mentioned earlier, Boucher fell only 55 runs short of Gilchrist’s tally in Tests. Gilchrist has a far superior average, but had Boucher played the three Tests in England, he would almost certainly have ended up with the most runs by a wicketkeeper.

Bangladesh have chased down India and Sri Lanka in the space of a few days, proving that they are an evolving team

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur21-Mar-2012There is a lot of love in Bangladesh right now. From the Shere Bangla National Stadium, the scene of Tuesday’s historic victory over Sri Lanka, to the smaller towns spread across the country, people are smiling, shaking hands, hugging complete strangers and jumping in joy. The whole country has come together to share happiness. It doesn’t happen all the time, as many of us know; this unity comes and goes. When it comes to cricket, however, Bangladesh sits together in front of a television set and watches its favourite sons.As Bangladesh crept towards the revised target of 212 runs on Tuesday, neighbourhood boys were found huddling over their televisions; girls at home made sure no one changed the channel as they watched the “boys” play. From every Dhaka by-lane one could sense the final preparations of a rally, also known as , as Nasir Hossain and Mahmudullah Riyad closed in on Sri Lanka’s total. It has happened a few times in the past: after they beat New Zealand 4-0, during the 2011 World Cup; it will happen again when they beat a top side on a big day, maybe on Thursday.The celebrations haven’t changed, the expression of pure ecstasy felt by the people of the country remains as it was in those heady days of April 1997 when Akram Khan and Gordon Greenidge led Bangladesh into the big, bad world of international cricket. They were given a rousing reception in Manik Mia Avenue, the widest boulevard in Dhaka, with almost half-a-million people showering flower-petals on what was also the first day of the Bengali year.The fans haven’t changed since then. Everyone loves the Bangladesh cricket team, despite the constant heartache it provides in Test cricket and the occasional flutter in the limited-overs game. Almost the entire country is still in thrall with the country’s cricketing fortunes.But the cricketers of Bangladesh have been an evolving breed, rapidly so in the case of the past week. They came close against Pakistan, then chased down India and Sri Lanka. In the space of five days, Bangladesh have finally put together a string of performances where the entire team has had its say, not just one player.Over the last three years, Bangladesh have improved from having one match-winner to two regular big-match players, but this Asia Cup has thrown up something entirely different. As it was evident in the game against Sri Lanka, there is life after Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal.Shakib and Tamim still set the tone though, with their performances and attitude. During a passage of play when Shakib hit three consecutive boundaries off Suranga Lakmal, he showed how much he has learned. After hammering the fourth ball of the over through the covers, Shakib saw Lakmal putting a sweeper-cover in place. So the next delivery he closed the face of the bat to take the ball away from the deep fielder while still playing it wide of the fielder inside the circle. Lakmal was out of ideas and when he bowled it short and wide, Shakib’s whiplash cut had the ball speeding to the third-man boundary.After Shakib’s departure, Nasir and Riyad batted like they were not leaving Mirpur without a win. As Shakib said later, Riyad was due for runs and this small but vital contribution will make him more comfortable in the dressing-room. Nasir on the other hand has bettered himself in every game of this tournament and is now a reliable cog.As the hours tick by towards the biggest day in Bangladesh cricket, the scale of this moment is evident by comparing it to how Bangladesh have done in Asia Cups over the past 26 years. Their best contribution before this year’s tournament was the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s ability to fit in the 2000 Asia Cup during the early monsoon season.Bangladesh are going to play Pakistan in the Asia Cup final on Thursday. The statement itself gives one goosebumps.

All South Africa’s plans had worked beautifully for first half of the series, but one stunning innings left them searching for answer they couldn’t find

Firdose Moonda at Headingley04-Aug-2012Finally, the see-saw has tipped. After one indifferent day and six during which South Africa dominated, England have arrived to ignite to a contest that has simmered, spluttered and even sparked into life, but only in one direction.On Saturday, which marked the middle of the middle Test of the series, that changed. In the wider context it could be decisive because it was day England snatched some control back. It was also the day South Africa had to deal with being under actual pressure, not irritation, not frustration, but the kind of pressure that requires teams to have to rethink plans.Previously, Jacques Kallis said South Africa have a plan A, B and C for every batsman. What they needed for Kevin Pietersen was a plan D – for defence. Wave after wave of attack crashed off his bat and, as it did, it also drowned out the strategy South Africa had for him.They started with an obvious plan: one close catcher on the off-side to block off that avenue and two in the deep on the leg side to wait for the pull. The short ball worked at The Oval and South Africa thought it would work again. All the bowlers had to do was tempt Pietersen into playing a rash shot. They tried, with a barrage of bouncers that would have ruffled a batsman of lesser quality but did not have the same effect on Pietersen.”We wanted to rough him up,” Allan Donald, South Africa’s bowling coach, admitted. “But it came off for him today. He was aggressive, even with the aggressive field that was set. He kept on pulling off hook and pull shots. The thing with plans like these is that sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t work.”It did not work because Pietersen had prepared for it. “It’s South Africa, I grew up there, I know it’s an aggressive country, they are aggressive people and they bowled aggressively to me,” he said. Dale Steyn, in particular, was the bowler Pietersen was ready for. He said he knew the world’s No.1 quick had been instructed to run in hard and bowl fast but Pietersen also knew Steyn was tired and so he was able to take a run-a-ball off him.South Africa knew the plan was not working, so they resorted to their next options. Those included going wide outside off stump to try and bore Pietersen the way they did Jonathan Trott or full on it, to limit the damage. They spread the field to try to get the debutant James Taylor on strike as well, but Pietesen was alert to it. “They did defend, they went out wide on a 6-3 field for a while. They tried to get me off strike. Those guys are fighters,” he said.Again, it did not work. Instead, Taylor’s debut was made easier because he was allowed to push for singles and the bowlers’ job was made harder. They had to continually change their lengths to adjust to the tall and the short of the England line-up, Pietersen and Taylor, and in so doing did not conquer either, until Taylor played on.

South Africa knew that test would come and they knew it would come hard. Maybe they even knew that the one person who could provide that test would be Pietersen

“He was very watchful and technically sound,” Donald said of Taylor’s first Test innings. “England hung in there and hung in there and now they are back in this Test match. We’ve got to make the perfect play in the morning, we’ve got to come out swinging.”Donald is usually one for bravado not bashfulness. He will first point out what the South Africa attack did right before highlighting areas in which they would prove. This time he did not do either. Instead, he dedicated his time to a total acknowledgement of Pietersen’s feat, an indication that he knew South Africa’s bowlers had erred, probably for the first time in the seriesSome may argue that the first day at The Oval was their previous mistake, but it was not as revealing as this one. Although South Africa were not in control then, neither were England. Alastair Cook and Trott had ground the visitors down, slowly and painfully but not angrily.Neither had charged with the force or fury of Kevin Pietersen. They could not, partly because of the pace of the pitch and partly because they do not have the same swagger as Pietersen. Cook and Trott change games delicately, Pietersen does it brutally. Although he was emphatic in saying he did not think he had turned the game, Pietersen may have flicked the switch of the series.Add to that his acrimonious relationships with the country of his birth and it is not hard to understand why he is capable of unravelling their carefully woven plans. South Africa knew that test would come and they knew it would come hard. Maybe they even knew that the one person who could provide that test would be Pietersen.That is why how they react now matters. It is not how easily a lion can feed when antelope are freely available, but what she does when there are none left and the only option is to attack the elephant. For so long and for so many different reasons that elephant in the room has been Pietersen.This time he stands between them and something they believe they are deserving of – the No.1 Test ranking. England may have seemed willing to give that up before today, but Pietersen has made it clear that if South Africa want it, they will have to rip it away.

Plays of the Day from the fourth ODI between Bangladesh and West Indies in Mirpur

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur07-Dec-2012Irony of the day
The previous two times Mushfiqur Rahim had won the toss and decided to field first in day-night matches at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Bangladesh beat India and Sri Lanka. So when he won his first toss of the ODI series today, the smile on his face was in equal measure one of relief and pleasure. When his team had West Indies reeling at 102 for 6, he would have been forgiven for thinking that the charm had worked again. Little did he know that it would prove third time unlucky.Bunny of the day
Chris Gayle’s dismissal is always seen as a body blow for West Indies. Mashrafe Mortaza struck the big blow in the sixth over, getting the opener for the third time in this series, when he skied the ball to mid-on. The man taking the catch was Sohag Gazi, Gayle’s other nemesis on this tour.Drop of the day
The Bangladesh fielders dropped five catches but the most costly of the lot was the one Gazi dropped to allow Darren Sammy a life. It was a straightforward chance at deep-square leg when he was on 30. He doubled his score off the next 16 balls, taking West Indies to a respectable and eventually a match-winning total.Ball of the day
The first half of the match was all about spin and turn. The specialist West Indies batsmen struggled as a result. The moment Bangladesh donned the helmets and pads though, it became an altogether different game. Kemar Roach got the first delivery of the Bangladesh innings to pitch on middle and whizz past Tamim Iqbal’s outside edge, signaling the start of a new kind of struggle for the batsmen.