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The slow pitches in the Caribbean is high on the list of reasons for the gradual demise of West Indian fast bowling and of batting standards

Tony Cozier14-Mar-2010West Indies and Zimbabwe have simply marked time over the past three weeks. After five limited-overs matches, they remain in their same lowly positions on the ICC rankings and have learned little new about themselves. The sequence was just as it was in their last encounter, two years ago in Zimbabwe, when West Indies lost the first match before finding their land legs and taking out the next three.Only days back from a morale-crushing hammering in Australia and in conditions more suited to the bowling strength of the opposition than their own, they have been made to fight harder this time Batting that variously featured the uncertain Andre Fletcher, Dave Bernard and Denesh Ramdin in the top four and unpredictability from six down has again been vulnerable to pressure. Patience and techniques have been tested to the limit by Zimbabwe’s host of spinners on turning pitches at Providence and Arnos Vale and often found wanting.It placed added responsibility on Chris Gayle to provide early momentum at the top of the order. More significant than his batting were his forthright comments, especially following the defeat in the first ODI. It revealed his justifiable frustration at culpable players although more than just one might have paid for their indiscretions with their places in the team.Amid the struggles of others, Narsingh Deonarine finally confirmed the quality that was evident since he was a teenager. His handling of the varied Zimbabwean spin and, above all, his level-headedness should have been an embarrassment to most of his team-mates. His impressive 82 in the second innings of the Perth Test in December, when Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s injury opened a spot for him, hinted at an overdue maturity. This was further evidence.Sterner tests lie ahead, initially against Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and the South Africans at Sabina, Warner Park and Kensington in June, but the signs are encouraging. In Perth, and in this series, his solidity mirrored that of his fellow left-hander Brendan Nash whose disappearance since the Tests in Australia (in which he averaged 41) remains an unexplained mystery. And it is substance, more than style that West Indies need at present.Against batting even shakier than their own, and on favourable surfaces, Darren Sammy, Ravi Rampaul, Sulieman Benn, Nikita Miller and, when he returned, Dwayne Bravo confirmed themselves as serviceable bowlers in the abbreviated game.The majority of West Indian batsmen have struggled against Zimbabwe’s spinners•The NationFor the longer term, beyond the World Twenty20 championship to the Test series against South Africa and in Sri Lanka in November, the worry is that Kemar Roach is the only one with the pace to knock good batsmen over. His two 90 mph yorkers that demolished Vusi Sibanda’s off stump (and, at Providence, bat) were classics and he wasted little time with tailenders. Yet he needs like support and none has emerged in the continuing absence of Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards who remain under medical care with no reliable prognosis of their return.What is more, Roach’s left ankle, an essential component in a right-arm bowler’s anatomy, needed a rest during the ODI series in Australia in last month. It wasn’t an encouraging development. Even with him fully fit and fast, but without Taylor and Edwards, it is hard to imagine the attack going through 20 wickets in a Test on true pitches.The same applies to Zimbabwe, if at the opposite end of the scale. Their new dispensation arrived in the Caribbean with the stated mission that this was the first step towards their return to Test cricket. Given the conditions they encountered, they understandably opted to stack their hand with their strongest suit, spin.Ray Price, their experienced left-armer, and captain Prosper Utseya, have excellent ODI records, Graeme Cremer showed himself to be a legspinner of genuine quality. The other leggie, Timycen Muruma, also impressed. But it is unlikely that such a combination would work its way twice through Test opposition, especially given the frailty of its inexperienced batting.It would have been more useful for them to have encountered true, hard pitches with a bias to batting, as they should be for one-day cricket, so that they could test their all-round strength. The problem is that such conditions are rare anywhere in their Caribbean. There were no clearer examples than those at the Queen’s Park Oval, Providence and Arnos Vale in this series. They turned sharply from first ball to last, that at Arnos Vale for the fourth ODI on Friday compounded by encouraging movement off the same.Last year, the Bangladeshis were flabbergasted, but delighted, to find surfaces for their Tests at Arnos Vale and in Grenada that might have been custom made in Dhaka for the spin-based attack and pace-shy batsmen.John Dyson was derisive about the standard of the pitches, match and practice, following his dismissal as coach last year. Steve Waugh complained similarly after Australia’s 2004 series in the Caribbean. So have several others, local and foreign. Gayle picked up the theme after the first match at Providence, if giving a slightly different twist. He wanted the players to be “more involved” in determining venues so they wouldn’t hand the advantage to the opposition, as was the case with Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Perhaps they would go for Sabina Park and Kensington but not many others offer what Gayle is looking for.Whatever the causes, he noted that ‘our cricket continues deteriorating’. It is a shift that is high on the list of reasons for the gradual demise of West Indian fast bowling and of batting standards. The evidence is clear in the utter dominance of ordinary spin bowlers in the regional first-class tournament and the technical deficiencies of batsmen.It was no coincidence that Barbados, Guyana, Jamaican and, later, Antigua once produced such an abundance of outstanding batsmen or that Barbados churned out fast bowlers by the score and Trinidad spinners. They were all reared on pitches, at club and first-class level, that allowed them to confidently express their class. Now aspiring fast bowlers are discouraged by sluggish, poorly prepared conditions in which spinners rejoice. Batsmen approach their innings with deep suspicions of what they will find in the middle.It is a problem that has needed urgent attention for too long. The solution may not be easy but the ICC has, in Andy Atkinson, a resident expert in these matters. He has made frequent visits to Guyana, St. Lucia and Barbados over the past year to oversee pitch preparation for the World Twenty20 championship. Perhaps he can be seconded to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for a long period to see if he can make a difference.

Emotions ebbed and flowed with the fortunes of the teams on a dramatic evening where Victoria won the battle of the nerves

Sriram Veera in Port Elizabeth18-Sep-2010David Hussey didn’t want to bat in the Super Over. He also wanted Dirk Nannes to bowl the Super Over. Neither happened. His coaching staff sent him to bat and asked Clint Mckay to bowl. Hussey wondered whether it would be Muttiah Muralitharan or Doug Bollinger who would bowl that over. He hoped it would be his friend Bollinger, as he could then use the fast bowler’s pace. In the end he was happy to see R Ashwin bowl. He knew Ashwin can bowl the carom-ball, the offbreak and the arm-ball; he also knew that persistent drizzle would not aid Ashwin. He just wanted to stay off strike and hoped Aaron Finch would do the demolition job.Finch wanted to bat. It was his evening. At the end of it all, his captain Hussey would introduce him to MS Dhoni, while the three waited for the presentation ceremony. Finch just nodded as he held out his hand. He presented an interesting sight: his arms thick, his smile shy, his eyebrows bristled when he spoke. And he seems to perennially sport a crew cut, even in his old photographs. He once accumulated 73 from 261 minutes to lift Victoria out of trouble. Today, he walloped 41 from 17 deliveries to propel them towards victory. His duel with Ashwin was fascinating.Ashwin’s evening was interesting. It was bad, good and ugly. Twice Finch sucker-punched him out of the stadium. Ashwin came back with a lovely carom-ball to avenge his humiliation and it seemed apt that he took the catch himself. He even threw the ball down in anger. It seemed an outlet for his inner rage. Later, he was picked to bowl the Super Over. His captain felt he had the variations and he is used to bowling in the first six overs with the new ball under the pressure of the Powerplay. It was raining, though.It drizzled through the chase. The ball got wet and the moist pitch meant the ball came on nicely to the bat; Hussey, Finch, and Dhoni certainly thought so. They felt it was better to bat second. However, it was with the same wet ball that Ashwin removed Finch, Murali struck twice and Suresh Raina almost won the match.Murali, who turned the match around in his spell, rushed to Dhoni at the end of the 19th over. He pointed out to Michael Hussey, suggesting he be placed at deep midwicket where the ball was likely to be slogged. Dhoni sent Hussey there and gave the ball to Raina.Aaron Finch finished the day with his head held high•AFPRaina had two moments where he drove the game towards that Super Over. We didn’t know then. And it had nothing to do with his bowling but with his fielding. Or his misses with his throws. The first moment came when 24 runs were required from 18 deliveries; David Hussey hit the ball back to Raina, who, without turning back , flicked it towards the stumps behind him. Quiney was out of the crease but the throw missed the stumps. It was pure cheekiness. Raina even managed a grin. Fast forward to the penultimate delivery: two runs were needed. Throughout that over, Raina never bowled full. It was always back of a length. Michael Hussey waited for the tailender’s slog at deep midwicket. He floated the fifth ball around the off stump back of a length. Siddle, who had hit two game-turning fours just before that to redeem his evening that had earlier threatened to end in shame after he bowled two beamers, bottom-edged his cut and rushed across. Dhoni relayed the ball to Raina who threw but again missed the stumps. The scores were leveled and Bryce McGain had to face the final delivery.McGain had never hit a four or a six for Victoria in any format. He just needed to get one run here, though. If he had got it, he could have something to say to his 10-year old son on Skype tomorrow. He had a decent day until then; he had taken out Michael Hussey with a flighted legbreak. Now he went for the cut shot but met thin air. The game hurtled to the Super OverAshwin had the ball. Hussey hoped Finch would have much of the strike but he had to face the second delivery. Perhaps it was the drizzle, perhaps it was the yips, Ashwin couldn’t manage a decent over. And Hussey cashed in. Finch kept looking over his shoulder to see the white ball disappear through the rain. For Ashwin, who had thrown the ball down in anger earlier on, there was no rage at the end of it all. Only sorrow. Perhaps a feeling of embarrassment too lingered. The evening ended with him holding his head. Another youngster, Finch, ended the evening holding his head high. He collected the Man-of-the-Match award and smiled. It was a fascinating evening.

It isn’t exactly international cricket’s new big rivalry but the Netherlands allrounder and Indian spinner have history, kinda

Firdose Moonda09-Mar-2011Mudassar Bukhari has a score to settle with Piyush Chawla. It’s not the kind of one-on-one tussle that is likely to start an epic. It’s not a Shane Warne versus Daryll Cullinan, Zaheer Khan versus Graeme Smith or any left-arm spinner versus Kevin Pietersen personal vendetta. But it’s the competitiveness that has been missing in matches between Associates and Full Members.Bukhari and Chawla’s is a story that dates back five years, when the two were still playing for their respective countries’ A teams. It was a six-nation tournament in the United Arab Emirates, featuring the A teams of the hosts, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ireland and Netherlands. It was Bukhari’s first tour for the Netherlands A, but more importantly, it was the first time he would play with a hard ball on a turf pitch.
He had faced a hard ball before and bowled with one, but only on matting pitches. This was going to be a new experience. Things started off badly when he conceded 61 in his 10 overs in the first match against India A, but he got another chance with the bat. The Dutch were chasing 312 and had all but expired on 80 on 5 when Bukhari came in. He took his guard against Chawla. “He got me out first ball,” Bukhari said.The duck walk he did that day might provide the inspiration for Bukhari to show the Indian spinner how much he has changed, and even improved, since they first met. To begin with, he now regularly plays on turf pitches. “There are only four turf pitches in Holland,” he said. “If you don’t play for one of the clubs where they have a turf pitch, you will probably only play three games a year on that kind of surface. I play for Amsterdam Cricket Club which is where one of the four is.”Playing more regularly on a surface that is used at the level of international cricket that the Dutch are aspiring to has been an advantage to Bukhari ahead of this World Cup, although it has been challenging. “The ball skids more on a matting wicket so it’s a big adjustment to make.” Bowling on subcontinent pitches has only added to the difficulty, with wickets not traditionally suiting seamers. “It’s very difficult to bowl here,” Bukhari said. “The pitches are so flat and hard.”It showed in the first two matches, where Bukhari battled, first against England, although he did claim the wicket of the in-form Andrew Strauss, and then against West Indies, where he splayed his lines and lengths all over, and was lucky to escape with only 65 runs off his 10 overs. He pulled it back beautifully against South Africa, where he seemed to have understood that even without express pace, control will ensure his figures don’t get distorted out of respectable shape. That match, in Mohali, was at the most seamer-friendly of the venues the Dutch have played at so far, and Bukhari should be proud that he was able to exploit the conditions to his advantage.He currently has the lowest economy rate out of the bowlers from his team at this event – still high at more than six runs to the over – an indication of his ability and perhaps even his Pakistani bowler genes, something he suggested. “Cricket is in my blood,” he said, smiling broadly. Bukhari was born in Punjab and left Pakistan with his family at the age of 14. He still has family in Pakistan, who live an hour outside Islamabad, and he goes back to visit them occasionally, and still has close ties to the land of his birth.The World Cup has provided an occasion for him to meet other journeymen, those born in Pakistan who now play for other countries. One of the people Bukhari most enjoyed meeting was South Africa’s Imran Tahir. “I saw him on the first day in Delhi at breakfast and I went to have a chat to him. We spoke about where our families are from and how things are back in Pakistan. We decided to meet for lunch in Mohali too.”Bukhari said he has never thought about playing for Pakistan but he does have a lot of admiration for the way they have performed over the years “I looked up to Waqar Younis a lot, but my favourite was Imran Khan.” It’s interesting that Bukhari did not name more of Pakistan’s clutch of quicks in his list of favourite players, no Wasim Akram, or Shoaib Akhtar but instead made reference to Pakistan’s greatest allrounder. It’s because Bukhari regards himself primarily as an allrounder, even though his batting has not had much exposure on the international stage.Besides a 71 against Ireland and 61 against Bermuda in 2007, Bukhari has no other score over 40. His average is in the teens but it’s something he hopes he will be given more opportunity to excel in. “I can open and sometimes I am used a pinch-hitter somewhere higher up in the order.” In his quest to become one of the Netherlands’ premier allrounders, he must look up to some other allrounders in international cricket.Someone like Jacques Kallis, perhaps? Not a chance. “Kallis is a good player but I don’t like his batting,” he said with a sheepish grin. Instead, in a way that perhaps underlines his subcontinental roots, it’s Indian captain MS Dhoni whom Bukhari is in awe of. “It’s just something about him, his confidence.”And that’s why Dhoni’s wicket is the one Bukhari is targeting. The hunger in his eyes when he talks about the one scalp he would cherish is unmistakable, and the Indian captain would do well to be a wary of a man so desperate to be the one that gets him out. If it doesn’t happen, he may switch to targeting Chawla – after all, there’ll be some joy in that too.

Stats highlights from the final of IPL 2011

S Rajesh28-May-2011Michael Hussey and M Vijay’s 159-run partnership was the highest opening stand in all IPL seasons•Associated Press

• Chennai’s total of 205 was the third-highest in IPL 2011, and easily the highest in a final. The previous highest had been Chennai’s 168 against Mumbai in last year’s final.
• The margin of victory was massive too – 58 runs, which makes this easily the most one-sided IPL final of the four so far. The previous margins had been three wickets (with no balls to spare), six runs (in 2009) and 22 runs (in 2010). This result also means three out of four finals – and each of the last three – have been won by the team batting first.
• The win was set up by a magnificent first-wicket partnership of 159 between M Vijay and Michael Hussey, which is the highest first-wicket stand in all IPL seasons, and the second-highest for any wicket. The only higher stand was the one for 206 runs between Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh for Punjab against Bangalore earlier this season. The two highest partnerships have thus both been in this season, and Bangalore were at the receiving end on both occasions.
• Vijay’s 95 and Hussey’s 63 are the two highest scores in an IPL final. The previous-highest was also by a Chennai batsman – Suresh Raina’s unbeaten 57 against Mumbai last year. Vijay’s 95 is also his second-highest in all IPLs, next only to his 127 against Rajasthan last year.
• Chennai have usually been slow off the blocks in this IPL, but in the final they were switched on from the beginning, scoring 56 off the first six, their highest during the Powerplay overs and only their second 50-plus score this season. Before the final, Chennai’s average run-rate in the first six this season had been 6.33, compared to Bangalore’s 8.03. In the final, Chennai sped at 9.33, while Bangalore only managed 7.83. In the middle eight overs Chennai turned it on even more, scoring 87, while in the last six they amassed 62.
• R Ashwin said after the match that he felt confident bowling to Chris Gayle as he is a left-hander, and stats bear him out: against left-handers, Ashwin took ten wickets at an average of 12.70 and an economy rate of 5.60; against right-handers, he took as many wickets, but at an average of 26.10, and an economy rate of 6.47.
• For Bangalore nothing went according to script. None of their bowlers conceded less than seven-and-a-half per over, and even Daniel Vettori went for 34, his second-most expensive performance in this IPL. His most expensive spell was also against Chennai, only four days ago, when he conceded 42 in the first qualifier.

Without Chris Gayle, West Indies’ top order is inexperienced and on a sluggish surface in Delhi their lack of nous was sorely exposed

S Aga09-Nov-2011Given his size and presence, it wouldn’t be wholly inaccurate to call Chris Gayle the elephant in the West Indies dressing room. As the match slipped away on the fourth morning despite a fiery spell from Fidel Edwards, the mind went back to the final session on the second day, when West Indies came out to bat 95 runs ahead. In the 14 overs available before stumps, they reached 21 for 2. Had Gayle been around, and had he survived, more questions would surely have been asked of an inexperienced attack, especially with R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha sharing the new ball.Gayle’s continued exclusion has little to do with cricket and everything to do with a clash of egos. “Disciplinary issues” crops up from time to time when he’s mentioned. Usually, that phrase is associated with a lack of performance. When it comes to Gayle that is certainly not the case.Before being ignored in 2011, he had enjoyed two of the most prolific years of his career, scoring 1569 runs in 18 Tests at an average of 58.11.Six of his 13 career hundreds came in that time, including a second triple-century, in Galle last November. What’s more, none of his hundreds came against minnows. There were two apiece against England and Australia, neither of whom were constrained by popgun attacks.For the current West Indian dispensation, however, Gayle is persona non grata. Ian Bishop, fast bowler-turned-commentator, who was in Delhi for the game, sighed wistfully when asked how much more West Indies might have pushed India with Gayle and Dwayne Bravo in the side.”Building for the future” is the constant refrain these days, but the difference in this match was the huge gulf in experience between the two sides. Shivnarine Chanderpaul aside, the specialist batsmen had just 57 caps between them, 35 of them to Marlon Samuels, whose chequered career began in Australia more than a decade ago. Kirk Edwards has two hundreds from four Tests, and big things are expected of Kieron Powell, but on a sluggish surface where the ball never came on, their lack of nous was sorely exposed.West Indies have traditionally struggled on slow and low pitches. Even 24 years ago, when Narendra Hirwani spun them to defeat at Chepauk, the batsmen didn’t know what approach would serve them best. “As long as I’ve known, spin has been our problem,” captain Darren Sammy said after the game.”Losing 15 wickets for 220 odd runs [10 in the second innings, and the last five in the first] … had we scored another hundred, knowing that India hasn’t scored more than 300 runs in their last nine innings, it could have been a different ball game. We need to find a way to score against spin and not let them get us out.”There were enough clues in the outstanding batting of Chanderpaul. His positive intent, along with that shown by Sammy, was just about the only redeeming feature of a desperately meek second-innings display, and Desmond Haynes, the batting consultant, has a task on his hands to turn things around before action recommences at Eden Gardens on Monday.”He used to play spin well,” Sammy said. “He has been working hard with us. Most of the time, we have been out lbw, playing with our pad instead of the bat.”He suggested that the mindset against spin could also change, taking a cue from the manner in which Chanderpaul refused to be tied down. “As soon as the spinners settled, we went into a shell. Maybe we could bat a bit more positively, like Shiv showed us.”Given how hard they pushed India, there will be no panic buttons pressed before Kolkata. “We still have a young batting line-up with Chanderpaul leading the pack,” Sammy said. “It’s just a matter of them going out there and applying themselves. We have two young openers who have six or so [seven] Tests between them.”A fully fit Adrian Barath will come into contention for the second Test, and West Indies will hope that he can provide some of the impetus that the openers failed to when needed in Delhi. But no matter who they pick, that Gayle-sized hole at the top will be hard to overlook.

Aizaz Cheema

Firdose Moonda in Bulawayo05-Sep-2011On Monday, Aizaz Cheema, Pakistan’s debutant seamer, turned 32. He said he felt as though he was just 19. Judging by the circumstances of the last week, a Test debut for Pakistan, eight wickets in the match and a youthful grin on his face, Cheema was completely justified in feeling as though life, in some senses, was just beginning.”Honestly speaking I didn’t feel this fit at the age of 21 or 22,” Cheema told ESPNcricinfo. “I couldn’t run then what I can run now.”Cheema has put in ten years of hard work, from when he first started playing in 2001, for Lahore, as a tearaway rookie who was once reported to have bowled at 149 kph. That delivery, the speed of which he has seldom reached again, was bowled in a match between the Punjab and Karachi Academies nine years ago. There was nothing quite as quick in the Test match, where there was no speed gun, but Cheema was estimated to have been in the upper 130s. “I actually like to bowl a lot of slower balls,” he said.It was a delivery that became a little over-relied upon on the first day of the Test, when Pakistan’s seamers were ineffective on a flat track, and looked unlikely to conjure up too many wickets. He obviously knew what he was doing though, because he returned to clean up the tail on the second day.”On the first day when I started bowling, I was not getting much help but I was very hopeful,” he said. “There have been many situations in first-class cricket, where I couldn’t get wickets on the first day and suddenly on the second day I got wickets so that’s what I told my captain,” he said. “When the last five wickets were left and he said ‘What do you think of the wicket?’, I said there are still five wickets to go, I am very hopeful that I will get some wickets.”Cheema sent down a selection of bruising yorkers, a skill he says he learnt from playing seasons of club cricket in England. He mixed that up with two or three bouncers an over and some reverse swing. His variation was proof of the value of experience because the wickets soon followed. That Cheema is willing to bang in bouncers with such regularity is remarkable in itself because, six years ago, the short ball almost cost him his career.”I was bowling in a first-class game at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore against Faisalabad, Misbah-ul-Haq and Mohammad Hafeez were playing against my team,” he said. “I bowled a bouncer and my whole body weight was pushed onto my right foot and I broke the fifth metatarsal.”It was an injury that doctors told Cheema would be career-ending. “For the first three months, I wasn’t able to walk because I had a nail in my foot. After three months they took it out and then I went to the Pakistan International Airlines training camp. On the second day, I felt the same pain and I went back home. I was very disappointed. Many of the doctors told me that I could not get back into cricket because fast bowling is an abnormal activity.”After two more months, Cheema decided to try again, this time from the very beginning. “I started doing training and a lot of running and I played some club matches in trainers, not in spikes, and I got some confidence back,” he said. He made his first-class return shortly after that, with successful results. In the 2007-08 season, he took 44 wickets at an average of 22.22, the next season he only managed 13, but in the 2009-10 season, he managed 40 wickets at an average of 21.12 and in the 2010-11 season, 57 wickets at an average of 14.56.In between all of that, he earned high praise from one of Pakistan’s most exciting young players, Umar Akmal. He called Cheema “the fastest bowler her had faced in domestic cricket who swings it at pace too,” in an interview done before Umar went to the 2008 under-19 World Cup in Malaysia. “It’s very encouraging,” Cheema said when asked how such comments impacted on him, but he was able to see the lighter side of it too. “Just before Umar went to the under-19 World Cup, we had a practice together and I bowled him a bouncer which hit him on his head. I think that was in his memory when he said those things.”It’s not just the younger Akmal who has recognised Cheema’s potential. The selectors included him in the national squad on a few occasions, such as before the 2011 World Cup, but he has somehow failed to make the grade for the final 15. He was on his way to West Indies for Pakistan’s tour in May this year but a groin injury prevented him from boarding the plane. “That was a very hard time for me and my family,” he said. “I went back to England to play league cricket and all the time in the gym and at the match and at home, I was thinking that I got dropped but I have to go back to Pakistan, because there might be some opportunity for me to show my fitness again.”He returned for the domestic T20 tournament and was chosen to attend a fast bowlers training camp, conducted by coach Waqar Younis and presided over by the chief selector Mohsin Khan. After helping his team to the semi-finals of the twenty-over tournament, Cheema spent over two weeks at the camp. “I thought it is a good opportunity to show them my fitness and get their confidence. They told me not to go back to England and play league cricket and to work hard on my training at home, so I did that again and got a chance in the national team.”His first Test has shown him to be a skilled bowler, who can serve Pakistan well. Waqar has also indicated that he thinks Cheema has a future in the national team and, despite his age, Cheema agrees. “I have got a lot of years left and I hope to play more international cricket.”

ESPNcricinfo presents Plays of the Day for the second day of the second Test between New Zealand and South Africa in Hamilton

Firdose Moonda in Hamilton16-Mar-2012Third-time-lucky moment of the day
Alviro Petersen broke a 21-ball run-less drought with a beautifully timed pull to square leg only for the ball to get a good wash in overnight dew. New Zealand’s bowlers were unhappy with the conditions of it and before the end of that over asked the umpires to have a look at it. Neither official felt it was serious enough damage for the ball to be changed. Mid-way through the next over, a committee made up of Chris Martin, Ross Taylor and Daniel Vettori all examined the ball for a few moments, hoping to convince the umpires that it was more than just a passing concern. Only two overs later, when Brent Arnel was brought into the attack and Petersen sliced a ball past gully, presumably for it to land in more damp, and the fourth umpire was asked to bring on a different ball this time.Wicket-less over of the day
On most days, such a headline would apply to most of the overs in the day, but in Mark Gillespie’s case it was unusual because his first four overs of the day contained a wicket each. His fifth one would also have yielded a scalp had Ross Taylor put a third slip in place for Gillespie’s movement away from the right-hander. He pitched one on off and got de Villiers to poke at it. The outside edge would have settled into a third slip’s hands but instead raced through the vacant area for four.Leave of the day
Vernon Philander arrived at the crease with something of a reputation for being an allrounder, after Ross Taylor said he is probably a better batsman that his Test average reveals. He showed the technique for it, too. The first ball he faced from Mark Gillespie was one that moved just a fraction away and while, in hindsight, good judgement had resulted in him leaving the ball, at the time it looked a risky thing to do. The ball danced dangerously close to his offstump as Philander shouldered arms to the oohs and aaahs of the fielding side. The next time Philander left it was to Doug Bracewell and it resulted in him losing his offstump.Clash of the day
While the biggest battle of the first half of the day was taking place between New Zealand’s bowlers and South Africa’s batsmen, once the sparring actually took place between members of the same side. Morne Morkel and AB de Villiers had a collision when batting together after Morkel drove the ball passed Doug Bracewell and set off a single. While scurrying through, he mowed into AB de Villiers and fell over on impact. Morkel made it to the other end with few worries but rubbed his knee, where de Villiers’ bat had hit him, with some concern.Misfield of the day
Brent Arnel was not having a good day. He bowled ineffectual, expensive spells and then cost the team even when he slipped to allow a boundary. Bracewell aimed a ball at Morne Morkel’s head but the South African No.10 had a plan. He pulled, although not with much power, to the deep square leg where Arnel was doing the work. He slid through, right arm outstretched and fingers scrambling for something. All they found was air as the ball escaped with Arnel desperately trying to get his body behind it.Misfortune of the day
Rob Nicol has found increasingly interesting ways to get out and his second innings dismissal was quite unfortunate. He tried to play a Vernon Philander short ball off the back foot but was hit on the arm and the pad instead. The ball’s subsequent path took it rolling towards the stumps and Nicol had thoughts of kicking it away, but they came too late because by the time he did anything, the offstump bail had been dislodged.

The former India coach’s flaw was not that he was too Australian, as this book reveals

Suresh Menon05-May-2012Unlike Ian Chappell, who wore his heart on his sleeve, the middle Chappell came across most often as Greg the Reticent, and occasionally as Greg the Grouchy, but even his worst critics acknowledge that his views on the game are sound and worthy of attention. Too bad he needed to understand not just the mechanics of the square cut but also what made a Virender Sehwag tick.I thought initially that India handled Chappell badly as coach, till I realised that the reverse was also true. It was not a cultural thing; in fact, reading an alternative theory presents itself. It was not that Chappell was too Australian, it was that temperamentally he was too Indian. Once that is understood, everything else falls into place.That Chappell was one of the great batsmen there is no doubt; and although the Indian experience forms only a small portion of this book, it probably throws more light on his character than the rest.Chappell’s spats with Sourav Ganguly have become part of folklore. How a friendship fell apart is neatly described. Ganguly, who had a role to play in Chappell getting the India job, felt the Australian ought to be eternally grateful and back him no matter what. Chappell’s suggestion that Sachin Tendulkar should bat at No. 4 in ODIs in the interests of the team was not well received by that batsman, nor was his insistence on Sehwag doing physical work.It is in the casual throwaway lines that Chappell reveals his Indianness. When Dilip Vengsarkar took over as the chairman of selectors, “[his] loyalties were unclear…” That is a typical Indian reaction, placing loyalty above professionalism.In his last Test, admits Chappell, he was conscious of making the runs needed to take him past Don Bradman’s aggregate for Australia, as well as of taking the catch that would give him the record ahead of Colin Cowdrey. “I didn’t want to be tempted to play another year out, of a nagging feeling of leaving something unfinished. I wanted to end my Test career with all the loose ends tied up.” (an expression for the manner in which Chappell followed his concentrate-and-relax technique while batting) tells us much about Greg the player, and a little about Greg the man, without shying away from the controversies or the personal failings. That is the strength of the book.The story of the Brisbane wicket being remade in the middle of a Test against West Indies takes one’s breath away. For the Indian reader, there are the embarrassing stories of the way the cricket board treats its contracted professionals. Chappell’s predecessor, John Wright, has written about how when he returned after an Indian victory, he was greeted at the airport with a limousine, and if it was a defeat, he was left to fend for himself.Chappell writes about how the BCCI was “usually late in paying our bills” and how “wages were paid months late.” Yet he was never given credit for putting India on the road to the pinnacle as the No. 1 Test team in the world, or indeed bringing an element of flexibility to the ODI batting order, which was initially scoffed at but later adapted.His habit of sending text messages to trusted journalists was a way of countering Ganguly’s “backgrounder sessions” for his friends in the media. That was Indian fighting Indian, and the less experienced Indian lost out.Fierce Focus: Greg Chappell
by Malcolm Knox
Hardie Grant Books
371pp, A$45

With the top ranking on the line and both teams having different captains for limited-overs cricket this series should retain interest despite the forthcoming World Twenty20

David Hopps in Cardiff23-Aug-2012Alastair Cook admitted his surprise that he is in charge of an England side who find themselves officially top of the ICC one-day rankings. The surprise might be shortlived. If South Africa beat England in the first of five ODIs in Cardiff on Saturday, they will overhaul them.At least England’s reign as the No. 1 Test side lasted a year; their achievement in the one-day game might only last a day. When the usual crop of dignitaries present them with the Reliance ODI Shield, Cook would be well advised to accept the award with the most modest expression he can muster.”I don’t think we feel like No. 1,” he said. “It was something we were aiming for a bit later on. We’ve got such a long way to go.”If South Africa, who trail England by one-sixth of a rating point, win in Cardiff they will become the first country to hold the No. 1 rankings spot in all formats of the game, having deposed England as the top-ranked Test team at Lord’s on Monday. To retain that position, they would have to win the series by at least 3-2.For England’s one-day side to be seeking to improve on poor displays in the Test format is an uncommon feeling. Until this year, the assumption had been that England’s Test side was the stronger, winning back-to-back Ashes series while the 50-overs side was a poor relation, looking as far as ever from winning a major one-day tournament for the first time. Perceptions are changing. This series will go a long way towards showing whether the shift is more than a temporary aberration.Two replacement captains help to bring some significance to the series. AB de Villiers assumes command of South Africa, leaving Graeme Smith to spend time, between batting, with his wife and a new baby girl, Cadence, whose birth he returned to see in between the first and the second Tests. Smith spent so long grimacing and growling at England’s attack in the Test series that if he briefly forgets himself the new arrival in the Smith family could get a bit of a shock.New captains and fresh faces have their advantages. The threat to continuity caused by a change of personnel can be offset by a renewed sense of zest. A change is as good as a rest and, in international cricket, change is the best option there is because there is little chance for rest. “This is why three captains seems to work quite well,” Cook said. “Certainly I’m ready to go again with the challenge of leadership. When Broady steps in for the Twenty20s, he’ll really want to drive the team on.”In normal circumstances, it would be Stuart Broad’s Twenty20 leadership that would be observed most closely over the coming weeks. The World Twenty20 is less than a month away and three t20 matches against South Africa therefore hold more importance than usual for both sides, even allowing for the very different conditions that will face them in Sri Lanka.But these are not normal circumstances. Cook is regarded as heir apparent to Andrew Strauss as Test captain, although Michael Atherton, the former England captain, deservedly praised the leadership qualities of Matt Prior in on Thursday, not just because of his fighting on-field qualities but because he was the one person brave enough to ring up Kevin Pietersen – without permission as it happened – and try to bring some sense to a stand-off that has demeaned all who are involved in it.”After 18 months I feel more comfortable in the role, happier making decisions in the field and in selections with Andy Flower,” Cook said.He has eased himself into captaincy gradually, not as much groomed for the job as receiving a manicure, full facial and Ayurvedic massage; pretty much everything, in fact, apart from colonic irrigation. Naturally, he was asked about Pietersen’s part in England’s future and twice claimed the matter was “above my head.” It did not smack of leadership, but it a dangerous topic to show leadership on.There is no doubt that Smith runs South African cricket; de Villiers is a well-mannered understudy who knows the extent of his power and who has Smith in the background for advice should he need him. There is still not much doubt that Strauss runs England cricket. But despite the emphatic support he has received from his coach Andy Flower, who does not regard the matter as up for discussion, it is a dangerous time in a captain’s career when he reaches an age where he is most often praised for presentational skills rather than the runs he gets or the fields he sets.Depict Strauss as a successful England captain and he needs to be depicted as an influential performer in whites, not prized as a man offering calming and intelligent off-the-field guidance, however invaluable that might be. There again, ECB officials are open to so little public scrutiny these days that somebody has to be the public face of English cricket.Ravi Bopara returns for England after a tough personal time and the presence of Cook, an Essex team-mate, as captain, will help him settle back into the job. That his mind will be attuned to the task should not be assumed to be automatic. A planned return for England Lions against Australia A was aborted, a run-out for Essex against Netherlands in the CB40 brought a score of 1 and his guest appearance for Gloucestershire brought three wickets but little reward with the bat.South Africa have a different feel to the side that capitulated in the one-day series in England in 2008. Instead of familiar faces from the Test campaign, they have more new faces, some of whom have got into trim in a short tour of Ireland.De Villiers suggested that England might be a specialist batsman light. “It’s something we’ll be attacking,” he said. “They may be conservative up front because they are a batter light, they don’t have the wicket keeper at No.7 like most teams. But I can’t see them carrying a lot of scars from the Test series, maybe just a tiny little mental factor, but if we don’t start well that would soon be lost.”

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the fourth day in Ahmedabad

George Dobell18-Nov-2012Landmark of the day
Alastair Cook’s assault on the record books continues. A couple of runs turned into the leg side off Umesh Yadav, a typically efficient, undemonstrative stroke, brought him his 21st Test century meaning that only Wally Hammond, Colin Cowdrey and Geoffrey Boycott of England batsmen have more. All of them scored 22. It also meant that Cook, aged just 27 with, perhaps, another decade of Test cricket ahead of him, became the first man to score centuries in his first three Tests as captain. Although this is Cook’s first Test since his permanent appointment as captain, he also scored two when standing in for Andrew Strauss in Bangladesh in early 2010. No England player has scored more centuries in Asia than Cook’s five, either, while he also surpassed Kevin Pietersen’s 144 in Mohali in 2008 to record the highest score by an England captain in India. No England player has ever batted longer in a follow-on.Shot of the day
Matt Prior’s flowing cover drive to level the scores and ensure India had to bat again. Prior, playing the ball on its merits but always looking to be positive, provided his captain with the support he needed and this stroke, off a flighted delivery from Pragyan Ohja, was a highlight. Whatever happens in the remainder of this game – and India remain overwhelming favourites to clinch the win – England have fought back admirably and should be able to draw confidence from that for the rest of the series.Let-off of the day
If England do go on to save this game, the BCCI may be under pressure to review their stance on the DRS. Had it been in place it is highly likely that Cook would have been given out leg before for 41 on the third day and Matt Prior for 65 on the fourth. The Prior let-off came he was beaten by Ojha and struck on the front pad. Aleem Dar, an excellent umpiring enduring a far from excellent game, but replays – and Hawk-Eye – suggested that India were most unfortunate.Ball of the day
The pitch has not, perhaps, broken up as was anticipated before the game. While Ojha, in particular, continued to find turn, it was generally slow. The delivery that defeated Jonathan Trott, however, was desperately difficult to play. Perhaps he could have come down the pitch, perhaps he could have played back, or perhaps he could have left the ball entirely but the delivery – the first since Ojha changed ends – was angled in from wide of the crease and turned and bounced sharply to take the edge of the bat. It was a fine delivery.Wicket of the day
It is not, perhaps, a huge surprise that England should struggle against spin in this series. More of a surprise was the impression that India’s seamers would out-bowl their England counterparts. Certainly the delivery from Umesh Yadav that swung back in sharply to trap Ian Bell, playing slightly across the line, was more incisive than anything England managed. Yadav, bowling at a sharp pace and generating late reverse swing, produced a passable impression of Waqar Younis in that spell and, the ball after dismissing Bell, accounted for Samit Patel in similar fashion.Error of the day
Bearing in mind all the fuss about his inclusion on this tour – the apology and the reintegration et al. – Kevin Pietersen has been something of an anti-climax so far. For the second time in the Test, he was clean bowled by Ojha, paying the price for premeditating his stroke against an apparently innocuous delivery. This time he attempted a sweep, but was both too off side of the ball and caught out by the slightly fuller length. It was, like Bell the day before, the shot of an anxious man who appeared to lack belief in himself; not a characteristic generally association with Pietersen. While some jumped on the fact that it was the 25th time he had been dismissed by a left-arm spinner in his Test career, it is worth remembering that he has been dismissed 145 times in that career. 25, in that context, does not sound so bad.