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A balanced account of the country’s chaotic and often misunderstood cricketing history, from an outsider’s perspective

Tim Wigmore16-Aug-2014Pakistan cricket has too often been subject to clichés and stereotypes in how it has been reported on in the West. As Peter Oborne observes in his new history, “Pakistan cricketers emerge as caricatures: Javed Miandad as a hooligan; Imran Khan as a princely scion in the tradition of Ranji; AH Kardar as a fanatic.”Partly, this reflects the reality that the game in Pakistan has historically been the subject of far fewer books than India, and there has been no equivalent to Ramachandra Guha’s seminal . Oborne’s work goes far to bridging that gap. takes the story far beyond the World Cup triumph of Imran’s “cornered tigers” in 1992. After partition in 1947, Pakistan had to wait five years for their first Test. Unlike virtually every other sport, cricket retains an anachronistic obsession with “status”, and, as Ireland have discovered, status is about politics as much as on-pitch performance.Oborne believes that Pakistan could easily have become a satellite Test country, with players qualifying to play Tests for India in much the same way that Irishmen qualify to play for England today. Every cricket fan should be inordinately grateful that Pakistan did not go down this route. A victory over the MCC in November 1951 was critical in creating a case for elevation. The win owed much to the fast bowler Fazal Mahmood, who but for the protection of the Indian cricketer CK Nayudu on a train from Poona to Bombay in September 1947, would probably have been killed by Hindu fanatics. Fazal and Kardar – who Oborne believes can “be classified with a very small group of cricketers who were nation-builders as well as sportsmen” – were the unbeaten batsmen when the win was secured. In July 1952, Pakistan were elected to membership of the Imperial Cricket Conference.Yet even then, and after squaring their first Test series in England in 1954, Pakistan’s schedule often remained barren. In the entire 1960s they only played 30 Tests, and topped up their total with unofficial “Tests” against Ceylon and Kenya.Pakistan have to be equally inventive with their scheduling today. Oborne calls the post 9-11 era Pakistan cricket’s Age of Isolation. Pakistan have used a range of homes from home – Sri Lanka, England and even New Zealand (where they played at times of the day designed for a Pakistani audience) – in recent years. They have now settled on the UAE, but this is still problematic. Oborne estimates that the opportunity cost of terrorist attacks, resulting in all tourists refusing to tour Pakistan, and India refusing to play Pakistan at all (though this stance has recently been relaxed) may have been as much as $80 million.The isolation has created further problems, too. It necessitates players being away from home for 11 months a year, while, as Oborne notes, Saeed Ajmal has still yet to play a home Test. How much better would his, and Pakistan’s, record be if he had done so?The story of Pakistan cricket is far too diverse for a straight narrative to do it justice. Alongside the portrait of leading players – the author is particularly effusive in his praise for Miandad, noting that his win percentage at Test level was far superior to Imran’s – critical themes are explored. After 1992, Oborne abandons the sequential approach altogether, “to reflect the exuberance and chaos of Pakistan cricket itself”. Corruption on the pitch and periodic crises off it are addressed. But so too are more surprising – and heartening – aspects of the game in Pakistan: the development of women’s cricket; and the expansion of cricket beyond the urbanised middle-class into the North West of the country in the past 35 years.When he turns his attention to reverse swing, Oborne asserts “the cricket world did not really take notice of reverse swing until its victims started to complain about it”. Few noticed when Wasim Akram enjoyed success for Lancashire with the technique. But when he combined with Waqar Younis to decimate England’s middle and lower order in the 1992 Test series – the roll call of collapses included 6 for 42, 6 for 38 (both at Lord’s), 9 for 50 (Headingley), 7 for 25 and 5 for 21 (both at The Oval) – it provoked outcry in much of the English press. “Laugh, not them, they’re too prickly and nationalistic… Pakistanis being even hotter on apologies then they are in ,” one sportswriter wrote. This underscores Oborne’s judgement that “cricket writing about Pakistan has sometimes fallen into the wrong hands. It has been carried out by people who do not like Pakistan, are suspicious of Pakistanis, and have their own preconceptions.”Criticism of “British condescension” to Pakistan is a common feature of the book. Oborne recounts the Shakoor Rana affair but also a lesser-known incident involving to the Pakistani umpire Idrees Baig in 1956. With England furious about Baig’s decision – and about to lose a Test – Baig was forcibly taken to the room of an MCC cricketer, with over half the tour party in attendance, where he had buckets of water poured over him. The MCC did their best to ignore the incident; it was not even mentioned when the squad was summoned to Lord’s after the tour.This is just one of many surprises in a pulsating account of Pakistan cricket. It is a shame, though, that a few sloppy mistakes slip in: one sentence refers to “papers on energy policy, landholding reform and energy policy”. More attention could perhaps have been paid to the significance of the T20 revolution in Pakistan and its domestic cricket. And on occasion the book reverts to a straight narrative of Test matches and series.But none of this obscures Oborne’s magnificent achievement in producing a book that is as enchanting as the cricket it describes. And for all the divergent problems of Pakistan cricket, the narrative is uplifting and full of hope. Cricket “is enjoyed by all of Pakistan’s sects and religions,” Oborne writes. “It is part of Pakistan’s history and also its future.”Wounded Tiger: A History of Cricket in Pakistan
by Peter Oborne
Simon and Schuster
592 pages, £25

Playing reverse swing is as much of an art as any other in cricket

Aakash Chopra10-Dec-2012Quashing all the many “educated guesses”, Eden Gardens has sprung a surprise for many of us who believed it would help the spinners during the third Test. Instead, fast bowler James Anderson proved to be the giant-killer with his persuasive reverse swing.Conventional wisdom has it that the inswinger is the most lethal delivery when the ball is reversing, and that bowled and lbw are the two most common modes of dismissal in these circumstances, especially for right-hand batsmen. When the old ball starts reversing, the toughest delivery to play is the one that tails back into the right-hander, for nothing in the flight of the ball (except the shine, if you see it) suggests that the ball will dart back in at the last moment.If one half of the ball is extremely rough and the other is shiny, even a trundler can generate reverse swing, but it won’t be half as effective as what a genuinely quick bowler would produce. The slower the pace, the earlier the ball swings in the air; and the later the movement in the air, the tougher it is to handle.To delay swing, all good bowlers bowl an inswinger as they would an outswinger, and vice versa. This basically means that the bowler will use the same seam position, wrist position and overall action as he would for an outswinger. In fact, he will also bowl it as an outswinger, pushing the ball towards the off side. Only when it loses a bit of pace (and the quicker you bowl, the later it loses pace), does it tail back in. The likes of Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram mastered this art.Bowlers with slightly lower bowling arms create more problems than the ones who bowl with a high-arm action. That also explains why Anderson was more effective than Steven Finn in Kolkata, or why the likes of Lasith Malinga and Waqar have been more dangerous than Glenn McGrath, Javagal Srinath and so on.The first and most trustworthy giveaway while countering reverse swing is to look for the shiny side of the ball. This isn’t always a completely accurate indicator because every now and then the ball will misbehave, but when it starts reverse-swinging, it by and large always moves towards the shiny side. So if you manage to see the shine, you can generally set yourself up a fraction in advance. This means opening the stance up a bit if the shine is facing midwicket (for a right-hander), and issuing yourself a mental warning not to fish outside off if the shine is facing covers. It isn’t always possible to spot the shiny side, though, for good bowlers also master the art of hiding the shine while running in. Waqar and Wasim managed to hide it till the very last moment, which made them even more lethal.

The ball comes back in a lot more than it goes away when it’s reversing, so most batsmen try to play inside the line at all times. While that takes care of the balls coming in, it leaves you vulnerable to those that hold their line or go away

Since you don’t have much of a clue about the ball’s final destination, it’s important to resist the temptation to play the lines, and instead to delay your movement till the last instant. This means that even when the ball is outside the off stump in its flight, you’re best off not taking the front foot too far across – once you’ve committed to the shot, it will be impossible to bring the foot back in if the ball dips back at the last moment.For some reason, the ball comes back in a lot more than it goes away when it’s reversing, so most batsmen try to play inside the line at all times. While that takes care of the balls coming in, it leaves you vulnerable to those that hold their line or go away fractionally. That’s what Anderson exploited on day one in Kolkata – he used the indippers almost as decoys to induce outside edges with the balls that held their line. Both Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar were the victims of the same strategy.Another way to deal with reverse swing is to shorten your backlift considerably: the higher the backlift, the tougher it is to dig yorkers out. Tendulkar appreciably diminished his backlift against Anderson on day one. However, while this helps keep the toe-crushers out, it adversely affects shot-making ability because of the lack of momentum.While a short forward stride is recommended while countering reverse swing, it’s important to not mistake it with not moving the feet at all. In order to counter any kind of lateral movement, be it off the pitch or in the air, it’s imperative to use the feet decisively to get into the right positions.Just like getting the ball to reverse-swing effectively is a craft, playing it efficiently is one too – one that calls for a lot of skill and a slice of luck.

Sachin Tendulkar has such staggering numbers in both Tests and ODIs that it’s conceivable some of those records may never be broken

S Rajesh06-Jun-2010A criticism that is sometimes levelled at talented cricketers is that their numbers didn’t do justice to their ability. That certainly can’t be said for Sachin Tendulkar, who has achieved truly staggering stats over a glittering career that is 20 years old and still going strong. That he was a precocious talent was known even before he played his first international game; even so, not many could have imagined that he would score more than 30,000 international runs and would be closing in on 100 international hundreds by 2010.Perhaps the most impressive of several praiseworthy features about his career has been his sheer consistency. Since 1990, Tendulkar has played more than three Tests in a year 19 times, and in 17 of those years his annual average has been more than 40, and 12 times over 55. Of the 36 series of three or more Tests that he has played in, 20 times his average has exceeded 50, and only six times has it dropped below 30.The first three years of Tendulkar’s career weren’t all that productive, but he’d already played enough innings to make the cricket world sit up and taken notice: his first Test century, an unbeaten 119 against England, saved India from defeat, while his 114 in Perth had all the experts gushing over his sheer class. During those early years his problem was a lack of consistency – his highest score in five innings immediately after his first Test hundred was 21.Soon, however, that problem was conquered, and the result was stunning: he averaged almost 60 from 1993 to 1996, and more than 63 in the six years after that. The form dipped for a while as various injuries hampered him, but since 2007 Tendulkar has been outstanding once again, with 12 centuries in his last 32 Tests.

Tendulkar’s Test career

PeriodTestsRunsAverage100s/ 50sTill Dec 199220108537.414/ 4Jan 1993 to Dec 199626202159.446/ 11Jan 1997 to Dec 200259570563.3821/ 20Jan 2003 to Dec 200629177944.474/ 7Jan 2007 onwards32285758.3012/ 12Career16613,44755.5647/ 54During that six-year period from January 1997 to December 2002, Tendulkar was unquestionably the best batsman in the world, handling pace in Australia and South Africa as effectively as he did spin in Sri Lanka. And then, of course, there was the epic 136 against Pakistan in Chennai which, unfortunately for him, wasn’t enough to take India to victory against Pakistan.In only 59 Tests he managed 21 centuries – an average of one every 2.81 matches. His average during this phase was well ahead of the second-placed Andy Flower, who led a string of batsmen who averaged in the md-50s.

Best Test batsmen between Jan 1997 and Dec 2002

BatsmanTestsRunsAverage100s/ 50sSachin Tendulkar59570563.3821/ 20Andy Flower41346456.789/ 18Matthew Hayden35305456.5512/ 10Rahul Dravid62517855.0814/ 25Aravinda de Silva38313454.9812/ 9Inzamam-ul-Haq49374051.9412/ 15Jacques Kallis63444751.7011/ 25Ricky Ponting57391650.8514/ 14Unfortunately for Tendulkar, his best period coincided with one where India had a poor bowling attack, especially overseas, and a batting line-up that tended to crumble quite often on tours. In 69 Tests between the beginning of 1993 and the end of 2001, India won 23, but only three of those came abroad. During this period, Tendulkar contributed almost 20% of all runs scored off the bat by India, and more than 21% when they played in Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand or the West Indies. From 2002 onwards, there were many more batsmen contributing – Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman weighed in consistently both home and away, which significantly reduced the dependence on Tendulkar: he has contributed only 14.30% of the team runs since 2002. With the bowling attack getting stronger as well, Tendulkar has been a part of 15 away Test wins during this period, and 32 wins in all in these eight-and-a-half years.

Tendulkar’s contribution to the team

PeriodTendulkar’s runsTeam runsPercentageTill Dec 19921085912211.89Jan 1993 to Dec 2001633432,04819.76Jan ’93 to Dec ’01, in Aus, SA, NZ, Eng, WI1783836821.31Jan 2002 onwards602842,14014.30Overall13,47783,31016.18A standout feature of Tendulkar’s career has been his tendency to save his best for the greatest team of his generation. Few batsmen have consistently got the better of Australia over the last two decades, but Tendulkar is clearly one of them. His two stunning hundreds on his first tour to Australia announced him as a special talent, while his Boxing Day century in 1999 showed the gulf between him and the rest of the Indian batsmen. Later in his career some of the others – Laxman and Sehwag, especially – also showed their liking for the Australian attack, but Tendulkar is the one player who has sustained his performances against Australia for 20 years.

Highest Test averages against Australia since 1990

BatsmanTestsRunsAverage100s/ 50sSachin Tendulkar29274856.0810/ 11VVS Laxman24220455.106/ 10Virender Sehwag15148351.133/ 7Brian Lara31285651.009/ 11Kevin Pietersen12111650.722/ 7Richie Richardson14108449.274/ 4Graham Thorpe16123545.743/ 8Shivnarine Chanderpaul17130344.934/ 8Tendulkar’s Test average in Australia is marginally higher than his average against them at home, while six of his ten hundreds against them have come in Australia.

Best Test averages by overseas batsmenin Australia since 1990 (Qual: 750 runs)

BatsmanTestsRunsAverage100s/ 50sVirender Sehwag783359.502/ 3Sachin Tendulkar16152258.536/ 5VVS Laxman11108154.054/ 3Rahul Dravid1297248.601/ 5Jacques Kallis1291545.752/ 5Brian Lara19146941.974/ 4Out of the 271 innings he has played in Tests, 220 have been at the No. 4 slot, where he has amassed more than 11,000 runs at an average exceeding 57. With a cut-off of 2500 runs at that position, only five batsmen have a higher average. And 41 of his 47 hundreds have been scored at this slot, with four coming at No. 5 and two at No. 6.

Best No. 4s in Test history (Qual: 2500 runs)

BatsmanInningsRunsAverage100s/ 50sEverton Weekes57337263.6211/ 17Jacques Kallis130694361.9925/ 31Mahela Jayawardene133728759.7224/ 24Mohammad Yousuf60337359.1711/ 13Greg Chappell86431659.1215/ 19Sachin Tendulkar22011,23957.3441/ 45Javed Miandad140692554.1019/ 31Denis Compton86423453.5913/ 20Inzamam-ul-Haq98486752.9015/ 21Brian Lara148753551.2524/ 31One of the criticisms levelled against Tendulkar has been his relative lack of runs in second innings: he averages only 42.76 in all second innings, and 36.72 in the fourth innings. However, that also means he has been exceptional in the first innings, thus setting up games for India. He averages 62.88 in all first innings for the team, and 71.72 in the first innings of a match. His overall first-innings average is among the highest: among the batsmen with 4000 such runs, only six have a higher average.The ODI master
Tendulkar has set some pretty awesome records in Tests, but some of his ODI stats are arguably more staggering. His career aggregate is currently more than 4000 ahead of his nearest competitor, and it’ll certainly go up even further by the time he retires. As an opener, he has scored almost 15,000 runs at an average touching 49, which is the highest for openers who’ve scored at least 2500.Like in Tests, Tendulkar has also raised his game against the Australians in one-day internationals, scoring more than 3000 runs against them – the only one to do so – at an average of more than 46.

Best ODI batsmen against Australia since 1990 (Qual: 750 runs)

BatsmanODIsRunsAverageStrike rate100s/ 50sAravinda de Silva2499749.8583.432/ 6Hansie Cronje39136447.0373.052/ 9Sachin Tendulkar67300546.2385.129/ 14Lance Klusener2679444.1187.340/ 5Kumar Sangakkara28113443.6174.801/ 8Jonty Rhodes55161040.2577.920/ 10Brian Lara51185839.5376.583/ 15Tendulkar has already stated that he will play the 2011 World Cup, and if his past record at the tournament is anything to go by, opposition bowlers will have plenty to worry about. He has already played five World Cups so far, averaging almost 58 in 36 matches. With the format guaranteeing each team at least six matches, Tendulkar has an excellent chance to become the first batsman to score 2000 World Cup runs.

Best performers in World Cups (Qual: 1000 runs)

BatsmanMatchesRunsAverageStrike rate100s/ 50sViv Richards23101363.3185.053/ 5Sachin Tendulkar36179657.9388.214/ 13Herschelle Gibbs25106756.1587.382/ 8Sourav Ganguly21100655.8877.504/ 3Mark Waugh22100452.8483.734/ 4Ricky Ponting39153748.0381.064/ 6Javed Miandad33108343.3268.021/ 8Brian Lara34122542.2486.262/ 7And here’s further proof of Tendulkar’s ability to rise to the big occasion: he averages more than 55 in tournament finals, with six hundreds in 39 games. There was a period, between 1999 and 2004, when his big-match form deserted him, but he hit back strongly in the CB Series finals against Australia in 2008, scoring an unbeaten 117 and 91, and he followed that with 138 in the final of the Compaq Cup in Colombo last year.

Best performers in ODI tournament finals (Qual: 750 runs)

BatsmanMatchesRunsAverageStrike rate100s/ 50sGary Kirsten20101967.9374.163/ 7Viv Richards1883655.7384.781/ 9Sachin Tendulkar39183355.5487.416/ 10Matthew Hayden1776050.6673.141/ 6Dean Jones30106448.3673.121/ 8Aravinda de Silva2493044.2888.062/ 6Sanath Jayasuriya39161342.4498.352/ 13Marvan Atapattu2696940.3770.012/ 6
Tests Most Test runs (13,447) and hundreds (47). Also the only player with more than 100 scores of 50-plus in Tests. Most runs scored by a batsman at No. 4; more than 3500 runs ahead of the second-placed Lara. Most runs put together by a non-opening partnership (5747, with Rahul Dravid). Two Tests short of equalling the record for most Tests by a player (Steve Waugh’s 168).One-day internationals Most ODI runs, hundreds. Only batsman to score a double-hundred in this format. Involved in the highest partnership for any wicket (331 with Dravid against New Zealand in 1999), and in total partnership runs with a single batsman. Most Man-of-the-Match awards. Most runs in World Cups, and in multi-team tournament finals. Also, most runs in a single World Cup. Most ODI runs against Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa. Two matches short of equalling Sanath Jayasuriya’s record for most matches.

Middle-order batter D Hemalatha was ruled out of Gujarat Giants’ clash against Delhi Capitals after suffering concussion. Sayali Satghare was brought in her place, making her the first concussion substitute in the Women’s Premier League.Hemalatha sustained a blow on the forehead while attempting a catch at deep midwicket in the 15th over of Capitals’ innings. Jess Jonassen heaved one across off Kathryn Bryce, but Hemaltha failed to hold on and the ball burst through her hands to hit her. She immediately sought the physio’s help and was out of the field for the rest of the match.Satghare was approved as the replacement during Giants’ chase of 164. She was brought in as a replacement for fast bowler Kashvee Gautam, who was picked up in the auction for a record INR 2 crore.Satghare, 23, is a seam-bowling allrounder who plays for Mumbai in the domestic circuit. She struck a century against Arunachal Pradesh in the Senior Women’s One Day Trophy last month and averaged 52 with the bat. She also picked up ten wickets in the competition.Giants had lost three games in a row, coming to the contest against Capitals. In those three games, Hemalatha managed a total of 36 with a best of 31 not out against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Teenager Cooper Connolly and Nick Hobson kept their cool in a nerve-jangling chase as Perth Scorchers ended Brisbane Heat’s remarkable revival with an epic five-wicket victory to win their fifth BBL title.Chasing 176, in a fitting end to a madcap BBL season, Scorchers endured a see-saw filled with two horrendous run-outs but also composed batting from skipper Ashton Turner then Cooper and Hobson at the end.It came down to Scorchers needing 10 off the final over with Hobson turning from villain to hero with a six then a boundary to trigger bedlam at a near-capacity Optus Stadium. The crowd of 53,886 was the largest for a cricket game at the Burswood venue and the fourth biggest BBL crowd in history.

Connolly and Hobson, the unlikely heroes

For such a veteran team, Scorchers endured a somewhat tardy performance with bat and ball marked by Stephen Eskinazi’s run-out from a direct throw after casually attempting an easy single. He failed to have game awareness and barely made an attempt to stretch out to make his ground in an embarrassing dismissal.After losing in-form Cameron Bancroft and Aaron Hardie in quick succession, Scorchers were in trouble at 3 for 54 with the crowd muted.But in strode Turner, who has performed a slew of rescue acts this season in a bounce back season for him. Scorchers needed him to put on his cape again with run rate spiralling over 11 and he put the foot down with a six off Xavier Bartlett kick-starting him and sparking the home faithful.Turner dominated the strike from Josh Inglis, a power hitter in his own right, but who was content playing the support act. They put the foot down during the power surge overs in the 15th and 16th over as Turner notched his half-century with a six.But the match turned during a dramatic 17th over with Inglis holing out off Bartlett before Turner was run out in an awful mix-up with Hobson.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Scorchers needed 39 off 19 runs but Connolly stepped up and smashed 18 runs off James Bazley in the 18th over to swing the match.Connolly, a former Australia Under-19 captain, rode his luck when he was dropped on 19 by Josh Brown in the deep before Hobson, an accountant in his day job, added to Scorchers’ lore with the winning blow.

Johnson steps up but in vain

Heat’s remarkable late season revival had been largely attributed to the returns of Test stars Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne. But tearaway Spencer Johnson also gave Heat a jolt after debuting mid-season and he increasingly gained confidence through close mentoring from Khawaja.Dubbed the ‘Italian stallion’ due to his heritage, Johnson promised to be a handful on the traditionally pace-friendly Perth Stadium surface having claimed his first three-wicket BBL haul last start against Sydney Sixers. He didn’t disappoint. bowling at speeds near 150 kmph, and claimed the key wicket of Hardie, who had twice bludgeoned Heat this season.Johnson roared with delight as Heat increasingly believed, but they ultimately fell short in heart-breaking fashion. They will rue Brown’s dropped catch but will be mighty proud of almost claiming an unlikely second title against all the odds.

Behrendorff musters his wealth of experience

It felt like it was going to be a tough outing for veteran left-arm quick Jason Behrendorff after his superb opening over unluckily went for 13 after three inside edges to the boundary from Brown.But Behrendorff, the only player in the match who was part of the final between the teams a decade ago, was unruffled and continued to bowl a nagging line.Taking his lead, Scorchers did well to tie down Heat after an initial onslaught from Brown, including spinner Connolly who bowled shortly after the powerplay having only bowled one over in his short BBL career. He handled the pressure well to concede just four runs but Scorchers struggled to break a blossoming partnership between Nathan McSweeney and Sam Heazlett.Cooper Connolly came out all guns blazing with a 11-ball cameo•Getty Images

At 1 for 104, Heat took the power surge in the 13th over at a pivotal juncture with Behrendorff returning to bowl his final over.He struck immediately to dismiss Heazlett with a menacing short delivery that was caught at short fine leg then dismissed skipper Jimmy Peirson in almost identical fashion. Behrendorff finished with 2 for 26 to be the standout as his fellow seamers all proved expensive.

Bryant rediscovers big-hitting best

Peirson bravely decided to bat even though Scorchers had almost mastered chasing this season with a 9-2 record when batting second, including twice cruising over the line against Heat.Perhaps he was swayed by the stifling temperatures, which hovered at 38 degrees when the game started forcing some fans to seek relief in the watering holes dotting the stadium.Peirson would have felt vindicated when Brown carved 25 off his first 10 balls before McSweeney and Heazlett steadied Heat with a 79-run partnership. But Heat were mostly tied down in the middle overs marked by a dire power surge yielding 2 for 8. They needed a lift in the backend and big-hitting Max Bryant responded with 31 off 14 balls, including a trio of sixes.Once part of a devastating opening partnership with Chris Lynn, Bryant had failed to carve out a regular spot before being recalled against Sydney Sixers last start. He wound back the clock and his momentum spilled over to a final ball six by Bartlett to lift Heat to a highly competitive total that ultimately proved not enough.

Lancashire’s promotion push can only benefit from the commitment of two men who both went to King Edward VII School in Johannesburg

Paul Edwards04-Apr-2019Media day at Emirates Old Trafford. Organisation battles chaos and there is much pointless scurrying. Laptop and camera bags litter the floor. Sponsors gaze proprietorially at the players, one or two of whom seem hypnotised by their mobiles. One wonders if the world is about to end.Soon, though, the cricketers are summoned to sit for team photographs and they adopt expressions suggesting steely-eyed confidence. On the front row are two old boys of King Edward VII School, Johannesburg. Both are major batsmen and both are deeply committed to the Lancastrian cause. But while one has shut the door on Test cricket, opting instead for a career in the English domestic game, the other batsman, seven years his colleague’s junior, is hoping weight of runs will force that door open for a third time. This should be an interesting season for Dane Vilas and Keaton Jennings.”Playing for your country is the ultimate and if you can do it, you should do it for as long as you can.” Vilas is talking. He is explaining why he called a halt to his international career in 2017 after just six Test matches.”I did have a difficult decision but it was made easier by the fact that my main rival was Quinton de Kock. He’s a great player who has gone from strength to strength and he’s a bit younger than me. It was tough but I always wanted to play county cricket and to be part of a big club like this is fantastic.”Vilas’ enthusiasm is not feigned. Even as Lancashire were slipping towards relegation last September his performances were earning the praise of the members. And in a rare moment of harmony the county’s officials endorsed that opinion when they offered Vilas the captaincy after Liam Livingstone stepped down. The 33-year-old had already done the job last summer when Livingstone broke his thumb and he had kept wicket when Alex Davies was injured. In addition, his 792 runs made him Lancashire’s leading scorer in Championship cricket. No one doubted his commitment.There is, though, more than that. Lancashire supporters have tended either to take overseas players to their hearts – one thinks of Clive Lloyd or VVS Laxman – or they have seen them as mercenaries. Vilas is rapidly becoming a member of that former group and the fondness is reciprocated.

My desire is just as great as it was when I was a five-year-old wanting to play international cricket. It does become a bit of a drug … There are experiences you can only get playing Test cricketKeaton Jennings

“I didn’t think I’d form such a close association with the county,” he said. “When I first came over, it was just a taster. I always wanted to play county cricket but I’ve loved every moment of being here. I’d heard some great stories and South Africa has always had a close relationship with Lancashire. Ashwell Prince always had great words for his time at Lancashire and we spoke a little bit about that.”Vilas’ attachment to the county is such that he has effectively decided to immigrate to England. That decision was partly prompted by the fact that his wife’s family lives here but it has also been influenced by his voiced desire to play for Lancashire for as long as he can. He may visit South Africa to play in the Mzansi Super League and one or two others but he is now looking to buy a property in England. He is also intent on fulfilling what he calls “the mandate” to lead Lancashire back to Division One of the County Championship. Achieving that goal will be helped if Jennings finds the sort of form that compels England’s selectors to take another look and see what may have changed since the dark days of the West Indies tour.”Dane’s a child in a 37-year-old’s body – I think I’ll call him 39 just to wind him up.” Whatever the last few months have done to Jennings’ cricket they seem not to have affected his good humour or his exquisite courtesy. Every question at the round table all-in is greeted with understanding and self-awareness.”It was a tough winter,” he said. “It was really hard work. Mentally the disintegration when you see yourself in the news, especially when you aren’t doing well, is tough to handle. But I’ve always been a level-headed guy and I’ve been quite good at staying isolated in the last 18 months, which is probably why I’ve stayed sane at times.”I’ve also been lucky in that I’ve got a supportive family around me but I’m also a proud person and I want to do well whether I’m playing for England, for my local club side or with my seven-year-old nephew. There’s a huge amount of pride there but it dents you.”Keaton Jennings smiles ruefully after being bowled off his thigh pad•Associated PressThe problem was not simply that Jennings failed to score more than 26 since his century at Galle in November. It was that he was being dismissed making the same error, pushing stiffly and far from his body at quicker bowlers and playing shots which could bring him nothing but woe. His selection for the St Lucia Test seemed almost cruel. Some critics pitied him; others were less kind.”You can walk into a room and feel that everybody’s thinking about you playing your cover drive when in reality they are just going on about their day,” he said. “You need to be able to take cricket out of your personal life. But you also want the hardest and most competitive level of cricket you can get. You look at a cricketer like Alastair Cook or Joe Root who have played so many Test Matches. In order to sustain a career for that length of time you have to be so awesome at just staying in your lane.”There’s no point crying yourself to sleep because at the end of the day you still have a job to do. I’m paid to open the batting and score runs and that is the reality of it. If you stop doing that you need to find another job. It’s hard when other guys have out-skilled you but there is no shame in that. You need to acknowledge it and be able to come up with another plan.”Finding that other plan is what Jennings has been doing over the last month or so and you can be quite sure Vilas will help him in any way possible. There are technical faults to be addressed but there is also the question of the extent to which Jennings wants to force himself through the rigours that come with international sport. His answer to that query is very clear.”My desire is just as great as it was when I was a five-year-old wanting to play international cricket,” he said. “It does become a bit of a drug hearing Deco screaming ‘Jerusalem’ at the top of his lungs and I’m getting goose bumps just thinking about it. They are experiences you can only get playing Test cricket.”The pavilion is nearly deserted. The hotpot has been cleared away and the final interviews completed. The media pack, some of whom will not attend a match at Old Trafford this season, have gone home to transcribe and file. The players have returned to their dressing rooms on the opposite side of the stadium. The squad for the final warm-up match against Loughborough MCCU will be announced shortly (Lancashire do not play in the Championship until next week). And Dane Vilas and Keaton Jennings will face the next trial in their chosen profession.

Bharath Seervi01-Feb-20176/25 Yuzvendra Chahal’s figures – the best by an India bowler and the third-best overall in T20Is. This was only the third six-wicket haul in T20Is after two from Ajantha Mendis. No India bowler had taken a five-for before; R Ashwin’s 4 for 8 against Sri Lanka in Visakhapatnam last year was the previous best an Indian. Chahal had picked up only five wickets in 20 overs in his first five T20Is before this. The only other five-wicket haul against England prior to this was Lasith Malinga’s 5 for 31 in Pallekele in 2012.8 Runs for which England lost their last eight wickets – the second-worst eight-wicket collapse in international cricket. New Zealand had lost their last eight wickets for five runs in a Test against Australia in Wellington in 1946. England slid from 119 for 2 in 13.2 overs to 127 all out in 16.3 overs (that is, 19 balls).1 Number of bigger victory margins for India in terms of runs in T20s; they won this match by 75 runs. They had won by 90 runs against the same opposition at the Premadasa in the 2012 World T20, which is the biggest margin. For England, this was the fifth-worst defeat.1 This was the first T20 bilateral series won by India against England. In the previous four, England had won three and one was drawn. This was the fourth three-match T20I series in which India took part – they have won all of those.ESPNcricinfo Ltd5 Number of England batsmen out for a duck – the joint-most in an innings by the top-eight teams and overall the joint second-most. New Zealand also had five ducks against Pakistan in Christchurch in 2011. Before this, England never had more than two ducks in any of their 91 T20I innings.76 Number of matches taken by MS Dhoni to score his maiden T20I fifty, easily the most by any batsman. The previous most was 42 matches by Ireland’s Gary Wilson. Overall, this was his 19th fifty in T20s. He also completed 5000 runs in his T20 career today.2010 The last time Suresh Raina scored a T20I fifty – against Zimbabwe in Harare. Today’s half-century was his first such score in 38 innings. He had made 13 scores of 30 or more in this period though. This was his fifth 50-plus score in T20Is and first in India.0 Number of younger players than Rishabh Pant to debut in T20Is for India. Pant debuted at 19 years, 120 days. The previous youngest for India was Ishant Sharma at 19 years, 152 days.

County captains Rob Key and Andrew Gale speak for and against getting rid of the mandatory coin toss in the County Championship next season

Interviews by David Hopps and George Dobell02-Dec-2015

Rob Key

We had to do something. It got to the stage where some teams were risking everything on the toss. There was period at Cheltenham where whoever won the toss won the game. We had a bit of a heatwave last summer, but despite it not raining for a month, we played three Championship games in a row without our spinners – who are two of the best in the country – and we were right to do so. The pitches were so green.Counties like to talk about doing the right thing for the game, but they also want to get out of Division Two and they end up doing what is best for their side. When I started playing, every county had a good spinner. Nobody would claim that’s the case now.This is not just about encouraging spin. We hope to create conditions that are more like international cricket. Batting has changed massively since I started playing, and opening the batting has never been harder. It’s not that the bowlers are better – there are fewer really good overseas and Kolpak bowlers around – but the [batting] conditions are very tough.When I started, quite a few people would score 1600 or so first-class runs a season, and Mark Ramprakash would score 2000. Now you’re doing well if you scrape to 1000. The conditions are changing techniques. We want to encourage pace and skill in fast bowling and by doing that, prepare batsmen for Test cricket. And yes, we want to encourage spin.

“If we see 15 wickets fall to seam bowling on the first day of a game, nobody bats an eye. But if the ball turns on day one, people start to worry”Rob Key

My original view was that we should have tougher penalties for poor pitches. But that is so hard to police. It just becomes a minefield. But what I still think is that the stigma over spinning pitches has to end. If we see 15 wickets fall to seam bowling on the first day of a game, nobody bats an eye. But if the ball turns on day one, people start to worry. That has to stop.The cricket committee had a two-day meeting and 90% of it was spent talking about pitches. We went through all the options. We talked about everything you have seen suggested on social media. And in the end everyone there agreed that this was the way to go. The rules governing the use of the heavy roller are remaining the same.We want to stop counties producing pitches that just suit their seamers. We want to take that luxury away from them and instead get them to produce pitches that result in a more even battle between bat and ball and require pace and spin bowlers as well as seamers.I’m not surprised by the negative reactions. They are the same reactions I had when I first heard the suggestion. But it was not a decision taken lightly, and I’d just say to people: let’s try it and see what happens. Our original suggestion to the ECB board was to try this for a year in Division Two. It was their idea to try it in Division One as well.We’re not suddenly going to see five more spinners. We can’t expect a miracle cure. But we might see a situation where, instead of spinners bowling 20% of overs in the Championship, they might bowl 30%.It’s not just the pitches, even the scheduling doesn’t favour spinners•Getty Images

Andrew Gale

I admire that the ECB cricket committee are trying to do something, but there is lots about this decision that troubles me. I thought that the ECB were gaining a reputation for consulting more widely with the counties, but we heard nothing about this. We heard rumours it could happen in Division Two and suddenly it was introduced in the First Division as well.It’s a decision that has come straight after a Test series defeat in the UAE, which has brought the problems to everyone’s attention. But we don’t want subcontinent-paced wickets in England. That is not what people want to watch. If we had gone to Australia and won this close season, I doubt that this decision would have happened.Obviously the rule has been brought in to encourage spinners and because of a recognition that the wickets have become too seamer-friendly. The intention is a good one – I know that. But if wickets are that bad, why haven’t points been docked? Fifteen-plus wickets have fallen many times on the first day and it has repeatedly been put down to bad batting. I can see Keysie’s point about something needing to be done, but why haven’t pitch inspectors done their job properly? It comes down to people being strong.

“You only need to dock a couple of points for a pitch that starts excessively damp and it will soon persuade counties that the risk is not worth taking”Andrew Gale

The problem is much bigger in Division Two. You can understand why some counties do it, because, ultimately, the need is to get out of the division and to win matches during a demanding schedule, which can stretch pace-bowling resources. But there are certain grounds where it happens day after day. You know who they are. You only need to dock a couple of points for a pitch that starts excessively damp and it will soon persuade counties that the risk is not worth taking. Yorkshire had an eight-point deduction for a substandard pitch at Scarborough in 2000, and our director of cricket, Martyn Moxon, has been scarred by it ever since.I’d guess that 90% of cricket in Division One is played on good wickets. They left the grass on at the Ageas Bowl last season, but it was not damp. You could see they knew their own square and they were just trying to encourage pace and carry. We played another game at Arundel where the pitch was so slow, our second slip had to stand so close he wore a helmet. Spinners might have wheeled away for hours on that one, but it wouldn’t necessarily have done much good.The fact is that the schedule, as it stands, does not encourage spinners. When you play most of your games in early or late season, you aggravate the problem. How can Durham, as the northernmost county, produce spinning pitches at this time of year? The climate is against it. It’s very hard to do that at Headingley, and our groundsman, Andy Fogarty, has just won the Groundsman of the Year award. When it is overcast at Headingley and the ball starts playing tricks for the pace bowlers, it doesn’t matter how dry the pitch is, it’s hard as a captain to throw the ball to Adil Rashid to bowl legspin. When we did play some games in midsummer, at Hove and Lord’s, he bowled a lot of overs.Next season when it is overcast at Headingley, we won’t get a 50-50 chance to bowl first. Sport is about using home advantage where you can, to try to build your ground into a fortress. Look at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson, with a big playing surface and fast wingers. That is what makes professional sport so good to watch. Winning away from home should be a challenge.I am a traditionalist. I love Championship cricket. The toss has existed since the beginning of time. Why keep messing with the game? It’s too complicated for some people as it is.

Goa swept aside more fancied opposition in the zonal phase of the Syed Mushtaq Ali, and are setting their sights high as they head into the Super League

Amol Karhadkar07-Apr-2014Goa were one of the surprise packages of the Ranji Trophy, and though they missed out on a knockout spot to Jammu & Kashmir by a quotient difference of 0.001 their improved performance gave the team a lift going into the limited-overs leg of the domestic season.However, their confidence was shattered as Goa, typically the minnows of the South Zone, lost all five of their one-dayers in the zonal league last month.Swapnil Asnodkar’s boys then staged a remarkable turnaround to not only qualify for the all-India Twenty20 Super League, but also maintained a clean slate during the zonal league at Visakhapatnam last week. Despite their impressive Ranji season, Goa cricket were usually mentioned in the domestic fraternity due to the presence of a foreign coach, former Sri Lanka fast bowler Nuwan Zoysa.But their five wins in five at Visakhapatnam last week has made everyone sit up and take notice.They started their T20 campaign with a comprehensive win against a strong Tamil Nadu, clinched a thriller against Kerala, rolled over Andhra and Karnataka, and justified their top ranking with a last-ball victory against Hyderabad.Going into the Super League, which will feature top 10 teams across India, opener Sagun Kamat is the highest run-getter
while allrounder Harshad Gadekar has emerged the highest wicket-taker.The outstanding display has exceeded the expectations even of some of the Goa players themselves. “I would term it as a sweet surprise,” Kamat, the left-handed opener who scored four fifties in the league stage, said. “At the start of the tournament, we had set ourselves a target of winning at least three of the five games, which could have given us a chance to qualify. That win against a star-studded Tamil Nadu team gave us the confidence of going all the way.”The coach Zoysa credits the Goa Premier League, a local franchise-based Twenty20s tournament that was sandwiched between the one-dayers and the zonal T20s, for helping his boys get into the best frame of mind. Besides all the local cricketers, the fourth season of GPL featured a bunch of players from Hyderabad.”The presence of outstation players gave our players an idea about the need to raise the level of their game,” Zoysa said. “To their credit, they have managed to do that and have been able to execute all our plans to near-perfection.”Goa’s dream run was remarkable, especially considering the fact that the BCCI had forced all the domestic players with IPL contracts to play their respective zonal T20 leagues. As a result, the Tamil Nadu team that faced Goa featured six cricketers who have been regulars in the IPL, including India players Dinesh Karthik and M Vijay.Moreover, the star-studded Karnataka team, also including six players who will feature in IPL-2014, could manage just 66 runs against a disciplined Goa attack.Goa, on the other hand, have been one of the also-rans on the domestic circuit. While Asnodkar, whose heroics in the inaugural IPL season helped him earn an India A spot, remains their most familiar player, the spin duo of Shadab Jakati and Amit Yadav have also featured in IPL in previous seasons.Jakati, the veteran left-arm spinner who was with Chennai Super Kings till 2012, is set to be the only Goa player who will feature in this year’s IPL, having been signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore.There is a plus to not having too many IPL stars in the side. Goa will go into the Super League with an almost unchanged combination while many of their opponents will lose several of their main players to the IPL.While Zoysa remains cautious about Goa’s prospects, saying his boys “aren’t favourites but no more underdogs as well”, Kamat is more upbeat.”If we can chase down 150 against Tamil Nadu with more than two overs to spare and bundle Karnataka for less than 70 after scoring 170, we can beat any team in India,” Kamat says. “We just have to continue in the same vein in Rajkot and hope the results go our way.”If Kamat and his team-mates continue in the same vein, don’t be surprised if after the Super League in Rajkot, Goa travel to Mumbai for the final of the domestic Twenty20 next week.

South Africa appeared clueless after Kallis left the field today and the allrounder’s absence is something the team needs to plan for in the near future when he finally retires

Firdose Moonda at Adelaide Oval22-Nov-2012When Mark Boucher was thought to be nearing the end of his career and the South African domestic landscape was scanned there seemed to be no other wicketkeeper in sight. Even though some of them where good enough, Boucher’s stature and legacy loomed so large, it was as though nobody could fill the space he would leave behind.The same can be said of Jacques Kallis. Retirement is not in the allrounders’ immediate plans. He hopes to play until at least the 2015 World Cup and for as long as he can contribute, which on current form appears to be endlessly, but it will have to come. Avoiding it is impossible because it serves up a reminder regularly: Kallis has been injured on each of South Africa’s three away tours this year.Boucher can also testify that things don’t always go according to plan and South Africa would do well to heed that warning because they don’t have one for life after Kallis. As the most complete “two-in-one-cricketer,” as Gary Kirsten has called him, Kallis actually does need to be replaced by two other players when he is unavailable. When he suffered a stiff neck in Wellington and could not play in the match, JP Duminy replaced him with the bat and Marchant de Lange was brought in as cover with the ball. That threw out South Africa’s team balance and they had to leave out Imran Tahir.His absence in the field today was also marked. South Africa’s bowling effort turned around when Kallis was brought on at first change. They went from conceding more than four runs an over to Australia’s openers to creating serious damage in the space of 16 balls, 12 of them bowled by Kallis.Both his yorkers resulted in wickets, a sign to the rest of the attack that a fuller length would not go unrewarded. When he left the field, the South African effort sagged visibly. It may have been the panic at losing another player mid-match whose role with the ball was being relied on, but the bowlers were consistently too short. The only tactic that remained was them trying to bounce Michael Clarke, but every other strategy seemed to have left them.Gary Kirsten wearily admitted that was the case. “When we did bowl a fuller length, we were more of a factor. We might have bowled a bit short early on and they left well. But someone like David Warner, we could have made him play more and I thought that Rory [Kleinveldt], when he got fuller, bowled really well,” he said.After the lunch break, perhaps when the news had been conveyed that Kallis would be taken for a scan and was unlikely to make another appearance on the day, South Africa completely lost it. In the ten overs following the interval, they leaked 100 runs as Warner and Clarke pounced. Imran Tahir was the guiltiest party as he continually offered up full tosses and had minimal impact.On a pitch that will only really offer Tahir something later on, he would not have been expected to get much turn. But it also would not have been expected that he would be so expensive. His 21 overs cost 159 runs the most by anyone who has bowled more than 20 overs in Tests. Kirsten was sympathetic without being harsh on his legspinners’ predicament. “He didn’t play the last Test so he was hoping to make an impact,” he said. “I don’t think it’s easy for a guy like that who is trying to find some form and trying to exploit everything.”Neither Morne Morkel nor Kleinveldt are senior players and when even Dale Steyn had to leave the field, Graeme Smith could have used a strategic partner to consult. Kallis is that person. None of the team apart from him has played a Test in Adelaide before and although that may not count for much in an age where information can be sourced, a quiet word from the stalwart here and there would have probably been appreciated.Kallis is more involved in team leadership these days. He is part of the think tank and the discussions that happen on the field and his vast knowledge is always of assistance. An intangible like that speaks volumes for what Kallis offers that cannot be explained by numbers.It should also serve as a wake-up call to South Africa about what they will be without. A player like Kallis can never be replaced instantaneously. From an experience perspective, South Africa have the likes of Smith, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Steyn to lean on. From an abilities one, they need to begin the search for someone who can develop into an all-round Test player.Of the players on the circuit now, those whose batting is almost as good as their bowling or vice versa are few. Chris Morris could become a player in the Kallis mould with time. Others include Wayne Parnell and Ryan McLaren although one needs to do serious work on his bowling and the other may be running out of time.A few spinning options have emerged like Jon-Jon Smuts but a genuine allrounder, the kind that once seemed to be coming off a conveyer belt in South Africa, is starkly lacking. Vacuums are too easily filled with things that should not be there and it is about time for South African cricket to realise that Kallis will leave one behind. As much as they value him now, they do not want to be in a situation where they value him more in absentia and the breeding grounds must be combed for someone who can step up.