All posts by n8rngtd.top

Match-altering, lead-from-the-front innings have become Australia captain Michael Clarke’s trademark over the past year

Brydon Coverdale in Brisbane12-Nov-2012There’s a certain Venn diagram that shows just how remarkable a cricketer Michael Clarke has become. In one circle are the men who have scored three double-centuries as Australia’s Test captain. Greg Chappell is there, so is Bob Simpson. In the other circle are those who have made three double-hundreds in a calendar year. Ricky Ponting is in that one. In the middle, fitting both categories, are Don Bradman and Michael Clarke.Clarke went to stumps on the fourth day at the Gabba unbeaten on 218. Within a matter of minutes, he was being interviewed on camera by Mark Taylor. It was an exhaustive chat, but Clarke was far from exhausted. He had been batting all day and looked like he could have kept going until midnight.These long, lead-from-the-front innings have become Clarke’s trademark over the past year. There was his 329 not out against India in Sydney, his 210 in Adelaide later in the same series, and most impressively his 151 on an early-season, seamer-friendly pitch in Cape Town last year. Not to mention 139 against New Zealand at the Gabba last year, and 112 in Sri Lanka last September.Leaving aside Bill Brown, who led Australia in only one match, Clarke’s average of 64.72 as the country’s Test captain is second only to Bradman. Not surprisingly, Australia have lost only two of the 14 completed Tests they have played since Clarke took over from Ponting in a full-time capacity. Thanks to Clarke and Ed Cowan, they won’t lose this one either.”I’ll say it’s coincidental,” Clarke said when asked if his rich form was the result of taking on the leadership. “I’m trying to improve every day … It has been nice to be able to lead by example with the bat. I’ve said for a while now it’s not what you say, it’s what you do. Ricky certainly showed that as captain of Australia for a long period of time, that he was scoring plenty of runs and the boys followed. It’s nice to be scoring some – hopefully I’ve got a few more left in me.”For me it’s about being fit and strong. Fitness has always been a big part of my life … being healthy and active. I guess over the last couple of years I’ve taken myself away from the team and done my own boot camp, for my mind as much as my fitness. There’s no doubt I feel a little bit fatigued, more mentally fatigued than physically fatigued at the moment. But I think that couple of weeks away of preparation has held me in really good stead for the last couple of seasons.”Clarke had some good fortune in the earlier stages of his innings, notably with a couple of miscued pulls that somehow fell safely. But having joined Cowan at the crease at 3 for 40, he was perfectly comfortable playing his shots – cutting the short balls and driving, straight and through cover – with the kind of timing that might have had the South African bowlers second-guessing their lengths.”One of the things Warney has taught me over the years is the better the bowling, the more positive you’ve got to be,” Clarke said. “That was certainly my intent from the first ball I faced yesterday: I wanted to be nice and positive and play my way to try and put it back on the South African bowlers because I know they’re a very good attack.”His scoring only became freer as the fourth day wore on and South Africa’s fast men were worn down. He saw off the second new ball without any serious concerns. His timing only improved, and to the detriment of Cowan, who was run out while backing up as Clarke’s powerful straight drive clipped the fingers of the bowler Steyn and crashed into the stumps.Then came more runs. And more. And still more. When the day began, the bookmakers were quoting odds of 101-1 for an Australian victory. By stumps, they were offering 9-1. Clarke and Cowan had batted South Africa out of the contest. Over the past year, Clarke has rewritten the book on the perfect captain’s innings. This latest chapter was a fitting inclusion.

One bowler defines everything that’s wrong with Indian cricket

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013India begin the Nagpur Test facing the possibility of a third consecutive home defeat ‒ an indignity they have not encountered since England won in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai at the start of the 1976-77 series, and a prospect as ugly as a mistimed Graeme Smith cover drive.They have already lost back-to-back home Tests for the first time since South Africa swept a two-Test series in 1999-2000. The Indian selectors, who had reacted to the recent 4-0 drubbings in England and Australia by springing into action like a coiled doughnut, finally wielded something at least slightly resembling an axe, and cut Zaheer and Yuvraj from the team, plus Harbhajan from the squad.They could have justifiably chopped at least a couple more batsmen, one wicketkeeper and/or one captain, two additional bowlers, and eight or nine fielders from the line-up that failed so dismally in all departments at Eden Gardens, although this would probably have constituted surgery too radical even for the ailing patient which showed so few signs of life in last week’s Test. In the immortal words of the legendary former world-No. 1-ranked playwright and allrounder W Shakespeare (Warwickshire & England), “Breaking up is never easy, I know, but I have to go” (authorship disputed; possible missing scene from the smash-hit 1590s rom-trag ; manuscript unearthed in a recording studio in Stockholm, 1976). And breaking up a team that reached the pinnacle in both long- and short-form cricket, and which still contains some of the greatest and most influential players in Indian cricket history, is even less easy.The Indian media and public have not exactly been salivating at the legion of replacements tearing it up in the Ranji Trophy. There seems to be a particularly gloomy outlook on the bowling front. During my now-concluded two-Test trip to India, my queries about which new or recycled bowlers might successfully, or even adequately, replace the incumbents mostly met with a blank 1000-yard stare, a look of regret, wistfulness and occasional horrific flashbacks to RP Singh wobbling in to bowl at The Oval last year, seemingly selected as a one-man metaphor for the malaise in Indian cricket.India have now lost ten of their last 11 Tests against teams in the top six of the ICC rankings. England themselves had lost seven of their nine games this year against top-six sides before their Mumbai victory, so a turn in fortunes is not impossible. It would, however, be unexpected, particularly given how India’s bowlers sliced through England’s top order at Eden Gardens like a plastic picnic knife through granite-encased deep-frozen butter, and the excellence of all four prongs of the England attack which bowled with markedly superior pace, swing, hostility, spin, skill and consistency than their opponents. Advantages which fielding captains generally appreciate.Perhaps Dhoni and his team have one last hurrah left in them. Perhaps they have the first hurrah of a new era in them. The two could be one and the same. I suspect England will have too many weapons with bat and, especially, ball, and will wrap up an impressive series win that will compensate a little for having flunked their two sternest examinations of the year, and will promise much for 2013.I was struck during my visit to India by its continuing love for Test cricket, the youth of the crowd, and their generosity and enthusiasm even as their team were giving them little to cheer. Crowds have declined as television has increased, but that is not a specifically Indian problem. Whether that affection and interest for cricket’s greatest and most fascinating form endures remains uncertain.Indian cricket is a battleground, the epicentre of the fight over cricket’s future between competing and often conflicting interests that is already and inevitably affecting players’ priorities and techniques. It does not necessarily affect their desire to succeed in the five-day game. Virat Kohli, the cricketer who leads and exemplifies the new generation of Indian cricketers, appears both passionately committed to it, and aware that his status as a cricketer will in large part be defined by his performances in Tests. Five times in this series, he has left the field in an obvious fug of self-recrimination, serially let down by flawed, impatient decision-making and execution. And, in the second innings in Mumbai, by planking a full-toss to mid-off with all the finesse and competence of a DIY enthusiast nailing a smart new shelf to his forehead, instead of the wall.But his desire to succeed does not alter the facts that the varying imperatives of his annual schedule may hinder his efforts to do so, and that, financially, he does not to conquer the five-day game in the way that Dravid’s generation did. The path of his career will be fascinating to follow.Strong leaders and characters are needed in Nagpur and beyond, on and off the pitch. Dhoni has been both for India for most of his tenure as captain. He has led India in 42 Tests – more than twice the next highest total of games skippered by a wicketkeeper ‒ and in a total of 206 international matches altogether over five years, more than three times as many as second-placed Sangakkara (67), in which he has averaged 47 with the bat. It is easy to understand why he sometimes appears jaded. Is there anything left in the well?

ESPNcricinfo’s brief profile of the Chennai Super Kings official now in police custody

Sidharth Monga25-May-2013Until two days ago, the impression Gurunath Meiyappan gave was that of one of the few IPL team owners who behaved normally and in a dignified manner. Now he is not the team owner anymore and, it can be surmised given his current location, lacks some of that dignity. After Mumbai Police sent him summons to appear for interrogation for his alleged involvement in illegal cricket betting, his franchise, Chennai Super Kings, was quick to wash its hands off him; he is no longer the team principal nor does he have to do anything with India Cements, the company that owns Super Kings.This controversy might have brought Gurunath to the national headlines but in Chennai circles he didn’t need any extra push. Even before he married Srinivasan’s daughter Rupa about 10 years ago, Gurunath was well known as the son of AVM Balasubramanian and grandson of AV Meiyappan, the founder of AVM Productions, arguably the oldest TV and film production house in south India. In Chennai, where the film industry transcends commercial status, that is among the most powerful calling cards. His marriage to Srinivasan’s daughter was the coming together of two of the richest families in Chennai.Known as “prince Gurunath” in Chennai, he is active on the city’s golfing circuit – which is where he met Rupa, who is also an avid golfer (as is his father-in-law). Golf plays a large role in his make-up: he has been reported as saying he learnt about possessing strong values while playing golf. “In a day’s golf, you can discover much about a man’s character — how he is as a person, and how he would do business. Everything.” He has also been an ardent motor-racing fan.Gurunath has been the owners’ representative in the Super Kings dugout. He is seen taking pictures, sharing the trophy, and some of the players have referred to him as “team principal” and at times “boss”. He also lifted the paddle at the IPL auctions and has talked on record in detail about the team and his involvement with it, including the auction strategy.Gurunath is the son of the flashier of the brothers who were heir to Meiyappan’s considerable fortune. He is not known to have played an active role in his family business. His promotion to “team principal”, which Super Kings now deny, was initially seen as Srinivasan’s move to mask his alleged conflict of interest as BCCI president and part-owner of the company that owns Super Kings. After the arrest, though, that debate no longer exists.

A Pakistani superman, a Pakistani Panesar and Shahid Afridi lookalikes – the action was happening off the field at Birmingham

Abid Raza11-Jun-2013Choice of game
Taking an early lunch break on 6th May, I was bitterly disappointed to find that online tickets for the biggest game of the Champions Trophy had been sold out within two hours. But I did manage the next big thing – Pakistan v South Africa. After defeats for both in their respective opening games, this was a veritable do-or-die match.Team supported
The earliest memory that I have of my childhood is of my brother jumping off the sofa and landing on the glass table in front and shattering it when Miandad hit six in Sharjah. Ever since, it’s been Team Pakistan for me all the way.Key Performer
In my opinion Ryan McLaren clearly stole the show. In the absence of Dale Steyn and Albie Morkel, I thought the Saffers would have no steam upfront, but Mclaren put paid to such hopes. His return in the batting Powerplay, when Misbah-ul-Haq was shuffling restlessly in his crease to break free, ensured Pakistan wouldn’t pull off a late charge.One thing I’d have changed
Nasir Jamshed’s untimely dismissal. Misbah joined Jamshed at the fall of Shoaib Malik’s wicket and after a few careful overs, both began to middle the ball. Jamshed was looking especially good in his knock of 42. His mishit came at a crucial time in Pakistan’s chase and left Misbah a mountain too high to climb.Face-off I relished
Amla v Ajmal – two colossi of the modern game squaring off in a classic battle. Following a bit of cat and mouse gameplay, Amla went after Ajmal with some reverse-sweeps. Finally, Ajmal had the last laugh when he induced a false shot to deny Amla a well-deserved century.Wow moment
Misbah’s acrobatic catch late in Saffers’ innings was unbelievable. He had already had a splendid day in the field, saving a number of runs, and effecting two run-outs as well. But his blinder to dismiss David Miller off Junaid Khan’s bowling was simply amazing. Seeing a 39 year-old leaping to intercept, and pouching it with both hands was priceless.Shot of the day
For me this was AB de Villiers’ effortless flick off Malik for a six in his first over. For the first time ever, I almost touched an international cricket ball as it fell a few inches short of my out outstretched hands. If this was a fairytale I might have caught AB and lived to tell the tale. Alas, that was not to be.Crowd
Even crowds in Karachi and Peshawar are not as partisan as they were here in Edgbaston. Every wicket taken, every run scored and even Wahab Riaz’s glares at the batsman were greeted with deafening noise. Being in the same spectators block as Cricket meant a whole day of chanting and dancing to the tunes of ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’. We were the originators of a number of Mexican waves that were consistently doing the rounds. This kept us entertained even when the Pakistani batsmen were inducing major yawns in the crowd.Fancy dress index
Edgbaston was painted green today. A sea of Pakistani fans turned up in various interesting looks, in dresses to show their unmistakable affiliation. There was a Pakistani superman, a Pakistani Panesar and Shahid Afridi lookalikes.Entertainment
The party atmosphere was amplified by the official drummers all around the ground. Every wicket and every six was followed by heart-pounding drumming. It really knocked our socks off.Banner of the day:
A banner which at the start of the match read ‘V R Ready India’ turned to ‘V R Not ready India’ by the end of this woeful day for Pakistan.Overall
For me this was a great ODI experience. The wonderful venue, boisterous crowd and some quality cricket gave us much to cheer about. However the sad end to the Pakistan innings did dampen my enthusiasm, which is why I will award this game 7 out of 10. Too bad I chose the wrong game to bring the Mrs. along to make her a convert. Never mind, may be next time.

Part two of the flash-in-the-pan XI features bowlers who rattled the opposition once and then went off to lead a peaceful, non-violent existence

Andy Zaltzman07-Oct-2013Joining the top six line-up of Joe Darling, Andrew Sandham, Frank Hayes, Faoud Bacchus, Maitland Hathorn and Dennis Lindsay, according to the selection criteria laid out in part one, are the following:7 & honorary captain. Ajit Agarkar (India): 26 Tests; one century, no other fifties; one six-wicket haul, no other four-wicket innings
The first name on the team sheet. Ignore his excellent ODI stats, Agarkar is a Test-match statistical legend of the highest calibre, a numerical phenomenon of almost mind-bending proportions. He played 26 Tests. He flashed in the pan once in 46 innings with the ball. He sizzled in the saucepan once in 39 innings with the bat.His one day of glory with the ball was in the Adelaide Test of 2003-04, one of India’s finest wins. Having taken 41 wickets at 46 in his first 17-and-a-half Tests (including, after a promising second millennium, a pitiful 28 scalps at 54 apiece in years beginning with the number 2, featuring just one three-wicket innings in 26 attempts), Agarkar suddenly put on his new magic Richard Hadlee cape and skittled Australia with 6 for 41. He then made the mistake of putting the cape in the same hot wash as his Christina Aguilera cape. His bowling was never the same again – eight more Tests, 11 wickets at 74 – but his singing voice is sensational.His solitary batting triumph in the five-day game came at Lord’s in 2002, where he carved his name on the honours board with a century that was of little relevance to the match – in the fourth innings, as India lost heavily – but which began with Agarkar proudly clutching a Test match average of just under 7.5, after 18 innings adorned with eight ducks, including an almost heroic four golden quackers in succession against Australia in the 1999-2000 series. That sequence was broken in Sydney when the Mumbai Momentary Marvel dug in, stopped the rot, built an innings, and got some valuable crease-time under his belt. With a staunch, resolute, indefatigable second-ball duck. A relative epic.His 109 not out at Lord’s was, therefore, a statistical Vesuvius erupting from a partially constructed molehill. He scored some useful runs in his final 14 Tests, but never passed 50 again. Of the 44 players who have converted their only Test half-century into a hundred, Agarkar’s 38 further fifty-free innings is a Bradmanesquely-untouchable record – after him, the next most half-century avoiding innings by a centurion is 20, by his Flash-In-The-Pan XI team-mate, the early 20th-century South African non-legend Maitland Hathorn.Agarkar is one of 32 Test bowlers to have taken six wickets in the only innings in which they have dismissed more than three batsmen. Only two of them have bowled in more than 30 innings – Agarkar (46), and India’s 1950s batting allrounder GS Ramchand, who bowled 56 times, took 6 for 49 in Karachi in 1954-55, and whose third-best Test figures were 2 for 19.Agarkar is the only choice to lead this team. He never captained India, but modern captaincy is much more about setting an example for others to follow than it is about leadership experience or tactical subtlety, and Agarkar is to Test match flash-in-the-pans what WG Grace was to late 19th-century batsmanship. A towering icon of one-off genius.8. Upul Chandana (Sri Lanka): ten wickets against Australia in the Cairns Test of 2004; excluding that: 27 wickets in 15 Tests, average 49
Chandana began his Test career with 6 for 179 as Sri Lanka were pulverised by an innings by Pakistan in Dhaka in March 1999, but, given that his first wicket came at 483 for 3, with Pakistan already 250 ahead, it was not a resoundingly impactful performance. In his next ten Tests, he failed to take three wickets in any innings. So it is fair to assume that, when a very strong Australian batting line-up prepared to face him in Cairns in 2004, they were probably not thinking to themselves: “This guy is going to take ten wickets in less than 45 overs in this Test match, becoming the first visiting spinner to take five in both innings in Australia since Bedi and Chandrasekhar did so for India in 1977-78. And there is absolutely nothing we can do about it.”That, however, is exactly what the Galle Googler did. They were, admittedly, expensive wickets, but he struck once every 27 balls. Excluding that one-match oasis of effectiveness, his ten Tests after his 2002 recall harvested 11 wickets at 76, with a strike rate of 143.Prior to Bedi and Chandrasekhar, the only overseas tweakers to take five in both innings in a Test in Australia in the previous 100 years were South Africa’s Hugh Tayfield, in 1952-53, and Jack White, in 1928-29, in his days as an England left-arm spinner, before he embarked on a major career change in the late 1990s to become the frontman of the Grammy-award-winning blues-rock legends The White Stripes.9. Paul Allott (England): 14 wickets at 20 in three Tests against the 1984 West Indians, including 6 for 61 at Headingley; otherwise, 12 wickets at 66 in ten Tests, with a best of 2 for 17
Allott’s 1981 debut promised much – an unbeaten half-century in his first innings, having come in at 137 for 8, and two wickets in each innings. However, in his next four Tests, that promise studiously avoided coming to fruition, as the Lancashire Lolloper took two wickets for 326 in 93 staunchly unremarkable overs. He was recalled for the third Test of England’s 1984 clobbering by West Indies, and promptly took 6 for 61 in 27 overs of studious probery, including the wickets of Desmond Haynes and Viv Richards. He took eight wickets in the final two Tests of the series, a silver lining amidst the carnage of a 5-0 splatting.Amid the rubble of this humiliating series whitewash, had England at least found a new line-and-length lynchpin to hold their attack together? No. No, they had not. Allott played five more Tests over the next year, striking once every 25 overs and averaging 64, and his Test career was finished.10. John Lever (England): 10 for 70, and 53, on debut, in India in 1976-77; 26 wickets at 14.6 in the series. Thereafter: 16 Tests, best figures 5 for 100, never took more than seven wickets in a series; highest score: 33 not out
When Lever hooped England to an innings victory in Delhi in December 1976, he became the only cricketer in Test history to take ten wickets and score 50 on debut. His 7 for 46 remains the best analysis by an England bowler in his first Test innings, and he is the only English debutant since Alec Bedser in 1946 to take ten in the match. All this in a game in which only three other wickets were taken by seamers. And in which his 194-ball 53 constitutes the longest debut innings ever by an English tailender (batting 8 or lower).Lever took 14 more wickets in the remaining four Tests, but could manage only nine in six Tests in the 1977 Ashes and the 1977-78 series in Pakistan. From then on, the mere mention of the name “Lever” was enough to prompt England to yank the lever on the selectoral trap-door, and leave out Lever. He played a total of nine more Tests in eight years, spread over a logistically impressive eight separate series. Despite reasonable results in Tests (34 wickets at 30), and a decade of relentlessly wicket-filled excellence in county cricket, England’s selectors seemed convinced that if he played more than once in a series, the world would end, or the Queen would turn into a French pumpkin, or the Soviets would invade Somerset and steal Ian Botham, or the Soviets would invade and clone Geoff Boycott.11. Chris Pringle (New Zealand): 7 for 52 and 4 for 100 in his third Test, in Faisalabad in October 1990. Otherwise: 19 wickets at 65 in 13 Tests, best match figures of 3 for 81
You are about to captain your country in a Test match, away from home, in Asia. Whilst you are rubbing a bottle of linseed oil with a cloth in your traditional pre-match ritual, a genie appears and offers you one paceman from the entire history of cricket to skittle your opponents with seven quick wickets on the first day. Who do you choose?Chris Pringle. You choose Chris Pringle, the early-1990s New Zealand dobster. He is one of only two seam bowlers to have taken seven wickets on the first day of an away Test in Asia. The other was West Indies pace legend Andy Roberts, but you still choose Pringle, because he took his seven wickets in fewer overs and for fewer runs than Roberts did when he blasted India out with 7 for 64 in Chennai in 1974-75.Pringle followed up with four more wickets in the second innings. And did almost nothing in his remaining 11 Tests. He is still the only visiting seamer to take ten wickets in a Test in Pakistan (or on neutral grounds against Pakistan). Admittedly, it was bottle-top-assisted, but genies appreciate people taking the tops off bottles. It stops them suffocating to death.

Stats highlights from the fifth day’s play of the Durban Test between South Africa and India

Shiva Jayaraman30-Dec-2013

• South Africa have now gone 14 series without defeat – their longest unbeaten streak and the joint-third-longest by any team in Tests. Only Australia (16 series) and West Indies (29) have gone longer without a series loss. In their last 25 series, South Africa have lost only once.
• By beating India at Kingsmead, South Africa ended a sequence of four consecutive defeats at the venue. Their last win in Durban was against West Indies in 2008.
• Ishant Sharma’s wicket in India’s second innings was Dale Steyn’s 350th in Tests. He became the joint second-quickest to the mark, in terms of number of Tests. Steyn equalled Richard Hadlee in getting to 350 in his 69th Test. Muttiah Muralitharan, who took 66 Tests, is the fastest bowler to 350 wickets in Tests. Steyn, incidentally, reached 350 wickets in 9 years and 9 days, which is exactly how long it took Murali as well.
• Steyn has now taken 350 wickets at 22.90 and his strike rate of 42 is the best among bowlers with more than 200 wickets.
• South Africa’s fast bowling was clearly the difference between the teams in this series. Their fast bowlers took 30 wickets at 26.93 as opposed to the 18 wickets at 51.00 by India’s fast bowlers. South Africa’s spinners did slightly better than their India counterparts, taking nine wickets at 45.88 while India’s managed six wickets at 50.66 apiece.
• South Africa’s fast bowlers ended 2013 with 133 wickets at an average of 20.36. This is their second-best year as a pace attack since readmission, behind 1996, when they took 67 wickets at 18.01.
• The 14 dismissals that AB de Villiers collected are the joint second highest by a wicketkeeper in a two-match series, after Kamran Akmal’s 15 dismissals against West Indies in 2005. De Villiers also contributed with the bat, scoring 190 runs at 63.33. His all-round performance won him his Test career’s third Man-of-the-Series award, making him the wicketkeeper to have won most such awards along with Adam Gilchrist.
• The six wickets that India’s spinners took is the second fewest they have taken in a two-Test series outside the subcontinent, behind the five wickets they took in New Zealand in 2002-03.
• India’s top six batsmen averaged 44.78 in the series, which was their highest in South Africa. Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane all scored 200-plus runs in the series, the first time three India players scored 200 or more in a Test series in South Africa since 1996-97, when Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly achieved it, albeit in a three-Test series.
• Pujara’s total of 280 runs in the series is the second-highest by an India batsman in South Africa, after Tendulkar’s 326 runs from three Tests in 2010-11. Pujara also managed to outscore India’s previous No. 3, Rahul Dravid, whose highest aggregate in a Test series in this country was 277 in 1996-97.
• Hashim Amla managed just 43 runs from three innings at an average of 14.33. This is his worst series, both in terms of total runs and average, since his first two Test series in 2004.
• Ajinkya Rahane’s 96, in India second innings, is his highest score in Tests and his second fifty of the series.
• While South Africa’s tail wagged, making valuable contributions to their team’s totals in this series, India’s last four batsmen hardly put up a fight. They scored 73 runs at 5.61 as opposed to South Africa’s, who made 211 runs at 35.16. The Indian tail’s average is their lowest in any series, from a minimum of ten innings.
• Before dismissing Pujara in the first innings of this Test, Steyn had conceded 227 runs and had only taken one wicket, of Shikhar Dhawan in the first innings of the first Test. After Dhawan’s dismissal he bowled 69.2 overs without a wicket. Pujara’s wicket changed everything. Steyn’s figures since then read 9 for 85.

Graeme Smith was the last of South Africa’s old guard. The roots of the new one need to grow deeper

Firdose Moonda06-Mar-2014In one summer, South African cricket has lost 30 years. The retirements of Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis took away three decades of experience and ended an era. Not just any era. South Africa’s most successful era.Before the 2013-14 season began, South Africa’s Test side had lost only one series in eight years. That was to Australia at home. They had gone from Antigua to Auckland, and Birmingham to Brisbane, and did not lose for 14 series.That run isn’t as good as those of the great sides – Australia were unbeaten for 16 series between 2001 and 2005 and West Indies for 29 over 15 years – but it broke new ground for South Africa. It made them serious contenders to be considered among Test cricket’s legendary outfits. They might not have the longevity, but they do have the ingredients.Comparisons between Clive Lloyd’s West Indian attack and this South African one began when Vernon Philander’s rise completed a three-pronged pace battery. With Kallis as the fourth seamer, South Africa had the complete set, though they lacked a world-class spinner. But so did that West Indian team.Comparisons with Steve Waugh or Ricky Ponting’s Australia for ruthlessness, however, could not be made with certainty. South Africa were known more for the art of not losing rather than the art of winning. They play hard but their aggression has not yet been sharpened to be as crafty or nuanced as Australia’s. Still, when they wiped the floor with last summer’s opponents – New Zealand and Pakistan – there were signs the killer instinct was awakening.The defining characteristic of this South African side was resilience. It was their greatness. They learned conditions around the world, sometimes better than they did the ones at home, and developed a style of play suited to every location. They learned how to get themselves off the ropes and put the opposition on them. The ability to counterpunch is no less a skill than the ability to land the first blow.Now, South Africa will have to stage their most difficult counterattack yet. This is the challenge Smith talked about 19 months ago, when his team wrested the Test mace from England. He said they would have to learn to stand firm when the wind came to blow them off the mountaintop. The South Easter has arrived.The great sides of West Indies and Australia had more than one wave of success, and that is why they became iconic. South Africa need a second wave, because the first has washed ashore.Not only are Smith and Kallis gone, the leader of the triad Mark Boucher went before them. Though South Africa rose to No. 1 without Boucher, who was forced into retirement before that England series by injury, they had been infused by his influence. Boucher remained best friends with Kallis and Smith and close to the rest of the squad. He joined them at training sessions and on team-building camps.The other person instrumental for South Africa’s successful team environment is also no longer a part of the set-up – their former coach Gary Kirsten. Like he did with India, Kirsten took a group of talented individuals and turned them into a winning team. He did that by allowing players the freedom they needed to become a family.The majority of that family is still around, and they will have to fill the gaps left by the absentees. Dale Steyn has already put his hand up to do that. On the team’s early morning flight to Port Elizabeth for the start of the Twenty20 series against Australia, following the Newlands Test defeat, he tweeted a picture with the captain: “Bouch, Kallis and now Biff gone! Officially the old man in the team looking after the new kids!” The photograph was of Steyn sitting next to Quinton de Kock. The young wicketkeeper was fast asleep.South Africa’s coach Russell Domingo spoke about his desire to see AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla and Vernon Philander use what they learned from Smith, Kallis and Boucher and become icon players themselves. De Villiers and Amla have already done that with their batting. Now they need to it through their leadership.De Villiers already does to some extent as captain of the ODI team, and Amla does it quietly through example. That has its own benefits because as much as South Africa need to find a new core of seniors, they also need to find suitable personnel. They have already seen how difficult that can be, in the quest to fill the Kallis-sized hole.Because there have been very few like Kallis in cricket, South Africa have had to try out different lower-order allrounders to find a replacement. It is too early to tell which of Ryan McLaren, Wayne Parnell and Kyle Abbott is the long-term solution, especially given Philander’s ability to do a similar job in the tail.Now South Africa have the additional task of finding an opening batsman, possibly two. Alviro Petersen is only just clinging on to his spot. Dean Elgar was fighting him for it, but now that Smith is gone Elgar has an easier vacancy to fill. The opening duo of Petersen and Elgar will not inspire the same confidence as Smith and Petersen, or Smith and Elgar, or Smith and anyone did.It’s that syndrome South Africa will have to get over. The only way to move on from losing Smith – and Kallis and Boucher – is to make a clean break. No comparisons, no longing for their return and no excuses. It needs to be balanced against making sure they get the appreciation and praise they deserve for their all they have given South African cricket.When last spring sprung, nobody would have said with certainty that both Kallis and Smith were about to join Boucher and Kirsten as men who had decided the autumn of their careers was over. Domingo has already endured one winter of discontent in his first assignment as national coach with the ODI side, in Sri Lanka last August. He will not want another when he takes the Test team there this July under a new captain. Should South Africa come through that unscathed they can look forward to a good home summer. A summer of new beginnings.

Plays of the day for the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab in Dubai

Kanishkaa Balachandran28-Apr-2014The over
Chris Gayle sometimes stonewalls at the start of a T20 innings, but having missed Royal Challengers’ first four games due to injury, the urge to get on with it was too strong. Against the offspin of Glenn Maxwell, Gayle’s IPL 2014 campaign got off to a shaky start. The first ball was edged wide of slip and the third chipped over point, both for unconvincing boundaries. He was lucky to survive a strong lbw shout off the fourth, while attempting to sweep. All doubts about Gayle’s rustiness were put to rest, though, when he charged down the track and launched the last two deliveries over long-off and long-on, both flying off the sweet spot. The over cost 20, but the Gayle fireworks came to abrupt end in the following over.The catch
Catches on the boundary require the fielder to not only keep his eyes on the ball but also be aware of where his feet are. Mitchell Starc perfected both at fine leg. Wriddhiman Saha played a pick-up shot towards Starc, who had several yards to cover to his left. He caught the ball and the momentum could easily have forced him over the boundary but he managed to stay on the fringes. Starc went onto take another exceptional catch running forward, but his first catch boosted Royal Challengers’ sagging spirits.The header
If you can’t get bat on ball, then use your head. That’s what Virender Sehwag did, literally. A Varun Aaron bouncer was aimed straight at his head but as he ducked he allowed the ball to deflect off the back of the helmet and clear the wicketkeeper. Sehwag chuckled after the ball raced to the third-man boundary and his reaction suggested the deflection was not entirely accidental.The decision
Sandeep Sharma saved himself and his team-mates from a Gayle onslaught when he hit the stumps with his first ball to the batsman. He was rather fortunate, however, to get rid of Virat Kohli in the same over. Sandeep’s sharp inswing took the ball towards leg stump as Kohli looked to flick, but when the ball struck the pad, the bowler appealed. Billy Bowden was convinced that was hitting the stumps though replays indicated it was missing leg comfortably. Kohli was mortified at the decision and it took a while for him to comprehend the situation and walk back.The missed run-out
Royal Challengers hadn’t scored a boundary off the bat for close to seven overs and a chance to break the drought came via a free-hit in the final over. Ashok Dinda swung at a short ball from Mitchell Johnson but could only bottom-edge it to the wicketkeeper. Varun Aaron set off from the other end but Dinda wasn’t interested, forcing Aaron to scamper back. Johnson collected the wicketkeeper’s throw and tried to back-flick the ball onto the stumps. He ended up lobbing it several feet over the stumps and allowed Aaron an escape.

Charlotte Edwards and Clare Connor talk about captaining England, rooming together, and how they used a 15-year-old to plot the downfall of Australia

Interview by Izzy Westbury24-Aug-2014Since 1990, England Women have had just three permanent captains. For almost 15 years it has been the duo of Clare Connor and Charlotte Edwards who have overseen the most successful and transitional period of the women’s game. With the former now retired as a player to be the ECB’s head of women’s cricket and the latter still skipper of the national side, one of the game’s closest partnership-friendships has continued. Here the two leaders of the revolution talk about their role together in the past, present and future.You two met at England Under-19 trials back in 1992 – Clare was 16, Charlotte 12. What do you remember about it?Clare Connor: She was the youngest by such a long way. It was Under-19 trials and I thought I was going to be quite young at 16! It was all so unknown. I was completely new to women’s cricket. I went through boys’ school cricket – a similar route to Lottie but different because I was at private school. It’s so funny looking back, because the summer of ’93 was obviously when England won the [women’s] World Cup here, but I wasn’t aware of it all that much.Charlotte Edwards: Same for me. In my world it was like, “I’m going to play for the England men’s team,” because I was getting picked for the boys’ county team, I was captain of the boys’ team and I was picked for regional-level boys’ cricket. I think it was only at Under-13 level when I properly had my first moment where I thought, “I’m not quite good enough for this”.CC: All we’d ever done was play boys’ cricket. Now it’s very different and that’s the beauty of Chance to Shine – because now it’s such a different experience for girls playing the game; there are loads of girls doing it. For us it wasn’t like that.You have a close relationship now. Were you always friends from the off? CC: We were actually! I think we were just very like-minded. We loved our cricket. We were just cricket mad. That is something that I only really had in common with probably one or two players. We are just such cricket badgers really, aren’t we? So when we roomed together, both on and off the pitch it was just cricket, cricket, cricket. I suppose that’s probably because of our upbringing: because of our dads, playing in a men’s club, being in that cricket world.CE: Our dads didn’t know each other before, but when we started playing together they would talk. All the time.Can you remember the first time you batted together?

“As a new captain I always turned to Lot. I think because we thought quite similarly about people and about the game, and I suppose the friendship we had bolstered that”Clare Connor

CE: I remember us opening the batting together for England Under-19s. John Major was there. That was a massive day when [Cathryn] Fitzpatrick [Australia’s demon quick of the time] was coming steaming in at us. She really fancied bowling at us two! Or she just liked bowling at Clare… I used to just be like, “Conny, can you just shut up!” because I was at the other end to Clare and she kept winding Fitzpatrick up and I kept on getting all these bouncers! That wasn’t very nice!CC: We did click, definitely. I think it was because I became captain young [at 23], and Lot was this constant in the team, and we’d gone through everything to get there. I was made captain mid-tour in 2000, and that was a bit of a turbulent time. There were lots of senior players around – more senior players than us – and it was not an easy period. I always turned to Lottie, you know, and obviously then she became my vice-captain in ’02. So we did about four years together as captain/vice-captain. How old were you when you became captain?CE: 25.CC: Both quite young. And, it was just a tough time. We’d been to Australia, we’d got hammered out of sight. We had a bit of a blame culture; the batters and the bowlers, it was a bit cliquey. It was really tough – we’d lost for a long time. As a new captain I always turned to Lot. I think because we thought quite similarly about people and about the game, and I suppose the friendship we had bolstered that.CE: I remember once in the 2005 World Cup when I had to go and stick up for Con because Batesy [Richard Bates, then the England coach] was… there was a problem around a tactical thing that he believed in and I remember coming off the field and Conny was really upset in the changing room and I just realised, “I’ve got to step in here”. I went and spoke to the coach and just said, “Listen, we can’t have this. We can’t have you criticising the captain on what she’s doing. She’s trying to do the best”. I remember that being quite a tough time. Clare didn’t have it easy at all when she was captaining, because she took on a senior group of players.After this period that was evidently very tricky, around 2000 – 2005, there was a lot then made of the men winning the Ashes after 18 years, but for you it was 42 years. How did it go from this period of defeat, to this huge achievement?Connor: “When we roomed together, both on and off the pitch it was just cricket, cricket, cricket”•Getty ImagesCE: We beat New Zealand in ’04 for the first time in 12 years. And we’d never beaten New Zealand. We couldn’t even beat them in a game, let alone a series. And we still hadn’t beaten Australia at this point. So we knew that beating them was a huge step forward to beating Australia.CC: Yep, huge confidence booster. By 2005, the Ashes summer, I’d played for England for ten years, and never beaten Australia! They had such a hold over us. And I will never forget the emotions at Stratford. That was the first time we’d ever been on a cricket pitch and beaten them. We just didn’t know what to do with ourselves.CE: I didn’t know where to go, or what to do. It was just the best feeling ever!CC: But that kind of moment was so huge for the team. Going back to the likes of Lydia Greenway, Isa Guha, Jenny Gunn, they were all involved in that. Holly Colvin as a 15-year-old. Arran Brindle…Talking about Colvin’s selection… Charlotte, were you involved in that as well? It was all a bit on a whim wasn’t it?CC: Oh yes, that was hilarious! That was one of our funniest moments! So we were at Hove, Holly was about to go on a geography field trip aged 15. But because the Aussies had a good left-arm orthodox spinner, we brought Holly in to training. We’re in the nets at the top of the ground – and she got everyone out. She got Lot out, she got Tails [Claire Taylor] out, she got everyone out – comfortably. So everyone was sort of looking at each other, thinking, well, this is just a bit outrageous… And we sat on the outfield, you, me and Batesy…CE: Well, you were sat there, and then you went “Lot, Lot, come over here”. I was vice-captain and they said, “If we were to pick Holly Colvin in the XI tomorrow, what would you say?” And I said, “Go for it!” But it was the most ridiculous thing, because she didn’t have a room!CC: Arran Brindle had to move! Holly had to have her own room, because she was under age. There was no space at the hotel, so Brindle and her husband had to go and stay in my flat, in Hove, so that Holly could stay in the hotel! It was the most left-field way of doing selection. It was opportunistic and it worked – she was on a hat-trick in the first innings.So going back to that summer – that summer was so important, because everyone just suddenly believed. And then six months later, I stepped down and Lot took over. It felt perfect. It felt like it was written in – I’d done as much as I could do, Lot was totally champing – ready to take over. Perfect timing for me and for the team and for Lottie to take over the captaincy.Talking to a few players who played under both of you as captains – they were equally full of praise for you both, but they did note your different approaches to the role. Clare, you were perceived as a bit gentler, whereas Lottie you have been described as a bit more hands-on, stamping your authority. Do you think the approaches complemented each other?CC: I think that it was all in the timing. I think that I had to be that. I was 23, I was dealing with a very different dressing room than Lot was. Lot with her huge record as a batter and the fact that the team was in a really good place when she took over, I think that she could kind of just do that and take everyone onto the next level which was exactly what needed to happen. Do you think that’s what it was?

“Conny will push more for us than anyone, like the Chance to Shine contracts, and our professional contracts. It’s brilliant that she’s in a job like this, because she always wants the best for us”Charlotte Edwards

CE: Yeah. I was more than ready, I think, to become captain. It was the next step for me as a person. I’d played for a long time, I’d learnt a lot, I’d roomed with Clare, I felt as though I’d gone through her whole captaincy.CC: Yes, she’d lived it! I’d wake up and whisper over to her, “Lot, are you awake…”CE: “I am now!”CC: At five in the morning, I’d ask, “What do you think we should do?”CE: I lived and breathed it with her for four years. Because she loves her little chat about it all, as I do.How easy have you found it to separate the personal from the business side of things now that Clare is an administrator and Lottie is a player?CE: Really easy to separate, to be honest. I wouldn’t be as successful as I am today without Conny. The stuff that Conny’s done for cricket over the last I don’t know how long! We wouldn’t be in a position like this at all. I take a lot of the plaudits for the team’s success, but without what’s going on underneath us… and that’s not me blowing hot air up her arse… I really do believe that.Clare, you had an extremely successful playing career. Do you ever feel that your own career has been subsumed by both the current team’s success, and your success in your role post-cricket?CC: Oh, no, I’ve never thought of it like that at all. I’ve just felt unbelievably lucky to have done it all in quite a short time frame. I’ve played for England for ten years and then I’ve been in this job for five years, and I just feel unbelievably lucky. I don’t ever have those feelings.CE: That’s one thing that you’re very good at. Conny will push more for us than anyone. Some ex-players think, “Well I never got it so I’m not going to give it to them'” Conny pushes it, like the Chance to Shine contracts, and our professional contracts. It’s brilliant that she’s in a job like this, because she always wants the best for us.Honestly, when I heard about the professional contracts, I nearly crashed my car! Everyone keeps asking me, “Were you banging the drum for it?” And I keep on saying, “No, I wasn’t banging any drum!” I didn’t even know. If you could have seen my face when I got it. I nearly cried! Con always keeps pushing. You speak to her every few weeks and she says, “Ah yes, the next thing, the next thing…”Something that caused a bit of controversy was when Lottie was quoted as saying in January she’d be celebrating the Ashes win by “getting smashed”. Clare how did you feel about this from a management side? Did you have to rap her knuckles?CE: [] She sent me an email saying, “Don’t take your phone out and tell everyone else to leave theirs behind”. I remember sitting down in reception and the girls were so worried that I was in trouble! I didn’t actually think about what I’d said at the time, and then when I went back upstairs everyone was flapping. But that’s not me, and I think that if anyone knows me, that is so not me. But I guess it’s just something that I’ll always regret a little bit.Clare was supportive! She said, “Lot, don’t worry, you made one slip of the tongue in 17 years” and was asking Beth, our media manager, to look after things. That put me at ease because you could sense the girls were worried that I was going to get in trouble, and, well, you do stupid things and you live and learn by your mistakes.CC: I suppose the key thing to come out of it really was that crikey, something Lottie said is now fuelling a debate on BBC Radio 5 live! So it shows I suppose the influence that you now have. The game has got that standing; people are bothered.Any off-field escapades you’d care to describe?Edwards: “I was more than ready to become captain. I’d learnt a lot, I’d roomed with Clare, I felt as though I’d gone through her whole captaincy”•Getty ImagesCE: I don’t know if any are suitable! Oh I know – do you remember waking up Freddo!?CC: Yes! Oh dear.CE: We were on one of the early tours, European Championships in the Netherlands, in Utrecht. It must have been 2:30 in the morning. We were quite young and obviously still buzzing and we woke Sue Redfern [England colleague] up – this must have been 1996 – we had the curtains closed, changed the clocks, had all of our gear packed and managed to persuade her that it was time to go to the match. We got her breakfast and everything, and then we opened the curtains – and obviously it was dark…You’d probably get more tales out of Arran Brindle though. She never drank. I mean we never, ever drank on tour except on the very last night and then we’d all go a bit mental. And Brindle was always the one that used to come out and shepherd us around and make sure we got back safely. Goodness, I remember one time waking up and my room was an absolute state – like a bomb had hit it.CC: Your room always looked like a bomb had hit it.CE: Yeah! Oh, goodness I was so messy and you were so neat!

Given the mutual dependence between Bangladesh and Shakib Al Hasan, perhaps it was only fitting that the allrounder chose to underline his return to the side with a match-winning performance in Khulna

Devashish Fuloria in 07-Nov-2014First ball after tea, as Shakib Al Hasan went down on his haunches to appeal for an lbw against Hamilton Masakadza, the crowd rose. It was further proof of the magnetism he holds over the crowd: no matter what people are up to, the moment he is in the middle, all heads turn towards him. It’s a connection only Shakib can perhaps claim to have with the Bangladeshi fans. So, in the second session, when Shakib took a break after bowling 12 consecutive overs, it was the time in the stands to sort out lunch.Khulna had turned out in large numbers in the expectation of a win. It wasn’t quite house-full attendance but being a Friday, many families were also present, along with the usual groups of boys. They were busy chatting with each other knowing that only the wickets mattered. Mothers were helping their kids lap up the boxed biryanis, some men were jostling through the crowd to avoid toppling the two or three glasses of soft drinks they were holding. Most had their faces painted or had come with headbands, but through the second session, the stands resembled the waiting room of a railway station.Jubair Hossain had struck twice before tea to remove Regis Chakabva and Craig Ervine but it merely served as a public announcement signalling the train’s approach. There was reserved jubilation, no major movement. It wasn’t quite a wicket for Shakib, it wasn’t quite the win.Hence the instant buzz when Shakib came on to bowl after tea. By that time, the water bottles had been emptied, throats had been cleared, hunger taken care of, batteries recharged. And when Shakib appealed, it was as if he was doing a pre-flight check: banging of bottles, check; roars, check; everyone on their feet, check; ready for take-off. That appeal against Masakadza was turned down, but the volume in the stands went up a few notches. Bangladesh, five wickets away from a win, were making the final push and the team was not alone.It has been a tough year for Bangladesh. Shakib might say it has been tougher on him with fewer ups and more downs. It is not hard to see the mutual dependency, with Shakib one of the most important assets in the team. Bangladesh lost ODIs, they lost Twenty20s, they lost Test matches, they lost Shakib to a suspension. There did not seem to be way out of the mire, until somehow they managed to cross the line in Mirpur.Khulna has been good to the home side and to Shakib, who could do little wrong here. A century after three years, five wickets in the first innings, two already in the second – surely he was going to get the remaining three. Masakadza was the biggest challenge but the wickets would come at the other end, it was known. If there was a way around Masakadza, Shakib had to find it. Soon enough, he found one to surprise Masakadza and pumped his fists knowing he had won it for Bangladesh. It was time to board the party train.The pitch joined in, too, it seemed, playing an amusing trick by getting a ball to sneak below Malcolm Waller’s bat in the next over from Taijul Islam. Then the Zimbabweans started making a quiet exit, Chigumbura walking after nicking one off Shakib. Taijul did not pick up a wicket in his next over and Shakib then regaled his fans by getting Natsai M’Shangwe out. It was Shakib’s tenth wicket and he was driving the train.As the crowd bounced around, the view to the pitch and the giant screen was blocked. Some officials at the boundary were visible. One of them raised his arms in celebration only to pull them down immediately. Maybe it was a missed run-out, maybe it was a dropped chance.Then, soon enough, the roar again. All that could be heard was the din when the last wicket went down. All that could be felt were the goosebumps. Shakib, man on a comeback, a century and ten wickets in the match, had turned it around for Bangladesh. Two matches, two wins, their first home series win since 2005. It could all be felt as they screamed “Bangladesh, Bangladesh” in the stands. The pitch was still hidden from view by boisterous crowds and a stuffed toy, a tiger wearing a Bangladesh flag as a cape, was being thrown up repeatedly. Remember the cat from Mirpur? It had transformed to a Super-Tiger in Khulna.