All posts by h716a5.icu

Shifting him from the top of the order may not result in a directly proportional increase in his yield of runs

Mohan Cudali Shridhar25-Feb-2013Age inevitably slows down hand-eye co-ordination; high-risk batting and consistency are mutually exclusive on testing pitches; proactive decision making with the future kept in mind is the need of the hour. These are some of the many rather sound arguments being made in favour of Virender Sehwag dropping down the batting order in Test cricket. Pragmatic as it may sound, is it the most productive decision for the Indian team and for Sehwag himself? I’m not convinced it is. There are a few reasons why Sehwag partnering Gambhir at the top of the order remains the best option for India.Firstly, a move down the order is not directly proportional to a fertile yield of runs in Sehwag’s case. The swinging ball did trouble him in England but he did enter that series with one shoulder and one eye. Over the course of his career, Sehwag hasn’t displayed a significant vulnerability against the new swinging red ball. He either compensates for the swing with his superhuman hand-eye coordination or compels the bowlers to stray from the fourth stump line.As a matter of fact, he relishes the hard new ball coming on to his bat. Hence, protecting him from the swinging ball is not a dire necessity. In other words, if Sehwag bats at 4 or 5, it’d be unwise to expect his average to suddenly skyrocket.Secondly, it’s not very often that Sehwag gets dismissed for ducks or scores below 10 – 15. When he comes off, he has an impressive conversion rate. But, even when he doesn’t he often gets quickfire 30s and 40s. The value of these knocks is perennially downgraded and the thing most remembered in such innings is his atrocious modes of dismissals. But, the fact that he consistently propels his team to starts of 60/1 – 70/1 goes unheralded. Home and away, a decent platform for the No. 3 batsman to walk in will never be a meager contribution.The crucial aspect here is that he provides such starts in innings that are regarded as failures. How often do we get to see a batsman who makes a vital contribution to the team in failure? Conversely, a quickfire 30 from a No. 4 batsman fails to have nearly the same kind of effect as it does when it comes at the top. Assuming that Sehwag will bat at No.4 the same way he does at No.1, his bursts of strokeplay will cease to have the same value they currently possess.On a contemplative note, does Sehwag really intend to be a middle-order batsman? “It’s tough opening the innings after fielding for a day”. These were his words when once interviewed after a tiring day of Test cricket. Fitness has never been Sehwag’s forte. The generous waistline and leisurely running between the wickets indicate a general disregard to the importance of fitness. The question however is – Does Sehwag want to be a middle-order batsman because he believes he will find more success there or does he want to demote himself down the order because he thinks it’ll be more comfortable? I suspect that the latter is the answer and the latter is just not good enough a reason for the balance of the team to be altered.Finally, is there a better replacement available? Murali Vijay came, Murali Vijay went. Abhinav Mukund arrived, Abhinav Mukund faded away. Neither managed to leave a lasting impression. Ajinkya Rahane is waiting in the wings. To his credit, he does have an enviable domestic record to back him. But neither is he as battle hardened in the shorter formats as Virat Kohli nor has he grabbed international opportunities as desperately as Cheteshwar Pujara. Moreover, he’s been batting No. 3 for Mumbai in the previous few Ranji seasons. The current “wait and watch” approach the team management is using with Rahane seems appropriate, not unjust.Rahane aside, there is not a single opener knocking on the selector’s doors. So, is there really a better alternative? Be it the following eight Tests against England and Australia or be it South Africa 2013, Sehwag in my opinion should continue opening the innings for as long as he continues to play Test cricket.

Stats highlights from the second day of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s

Shiva Jayaraman19-Jul-2013 Graeme Swann’s five-wicket haul in Australia’s first innings was his 16th overall and second in the Ashes. His bowling effort was rare enough: he became only the fourth England spinner to take a five-wicket haul at Lord’s in the Ashes. The last time an England spinner took a five-for at Lord’s in the Ashes was by Hedley Verity, who took 15 wickets in this match way back in 1934. Usman Khawaja’s wicket was Swann’s 100th in England. He became only the sixth spinner to take 100 or more wickets in Tests in England. Swann’s five-wicket effort was the first occasion in over five years (12 matches) of a spinner taking a five-wicket haul in the first innings at Lord’s. Before this, Daniel Vettori took 5 for 69 against England in May 2008. The last time an England spinner took a five-for in the Ashes in England was Phil Tufnell’s 7 for 66 at The Oval in August 1997. Not since 1984 has Australia’s batting lagged behind their opponent’s by such an extent. The last time Australia failed to score 150 and conceded a lead of over 200 runs in the first innings was against West Indies in this match in 1984. Australia have conceded a 200-run lead in the first innings of an Ashes Test on 23 occasions before this match, and have managed to save the Test only five times. Only five times in Test history have teams come back to win the match after conceding a 200-run lead in the first innings. One of them was the South Africa-England Test when the teams agreed to force a result by forgoing one innings each after losing three playing days to inclement weather. The last time a team won after falling 200 runs or more behind was the famous Kolkata-Test in 2001. Australia’s abject batting performance in their first innings at Lord’s summed up how clueless their batting has been in the last year or so. Australia’s first innings in this match was the third time they have been seven down for less than hundred in the last year; among Test playing nations, only New Zealand have done worse – they have been in this situation four times. This was the eighth time out of 13 innings that Australia haven’t been able to post a score of 300 or more runs in an innings, in the last year. This does not include Michael Clarke’s declaration against India at Hyderabad, when Australia were 237 for 9. Among the top Test teams, again, only New Zealand have done worse. Australia’s first four batsmen in their line-up have contributed, largely, to their team’s batting woes. They have not been allowed to spend much time at the crease by the opposition bowlers. Their top order has faced 52, on average, balls per batsman-innings. The top four batsmen of only West Indies and Pakistan have hung around for fewer deliveries in Tests in 2013.No.1 to No.4 batsmen peformance &average deliveries faced per inningsTeamPlayersInnsRunsAveBF100s0sBF/InnsWest Indies51121824.223901235.45Pakistan52448420.1612421451.75Australia952126324.2826960751.84South Africa528105138.9218682866.71New Zealand752158931.7834704566.73Bangladesh73196233.1721431069.12India628133153.2422464080.21England752185036.2744355485.29Sri Lanka624134160.9522305292.91 Not surprising then, their top four batsmen are yet to score a hundred from 52 innings in 2013. They are the only Test team not to have a single hundred from their top four batsmen. They are also the team with most ducks – seven – from batsmen at batting at No.1 to No.4

Seven years ago, Tousif Ali sent his 16-year-old son, Mohammed Shami, from Sahaspur in Uttar Pradesh to Kolkata. The young bowler’s story is one of faith and trust

Sidharth Monga in Kolkata09-Nov-20130:00

The Mohammed Shami Story

The Dalhousie Athletic Club is about a kilometre from Eden Gardens in Kolkata. It has a tent that serves as a restaurant and bar for its members, it has a practice pitch – half turf, half cement – and an open field of wild grass for a cricket ground. The ground is unkempt, the grass is long, and the pitch can’t be seen. Dalhousie is not a club known for its cricket.About six years ago, Sumon Chakraborty of Dalhousie Club called Debabrata Das of Town Club – one of the better cricket clubs in the city – to come to Rajasthan Club and have a look at a young fast bowler.Das, a former assistant secretary of the Cricket Association of Bengal, asked Chakraborty what the hurry was. He was told it is “a small pearl, [he will get lost]”. Das says he reached the ground within 20 minutes, saw ten to 15 players practising there, and could easily spot the pearl.Das recollects: “I asked him, ‘What’s your name?’ ‘Mohammed Shami,’ he said. ‘Where are you from?’ ‘Sahaspur in Uttar Pradesh.’ ‘Do you want to play?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Your contract is Rs 75,000 per annum, and 100 per day for your lunch.'”There was one problem. ‘Where will I stay?’ he asked. I said, ‘My house.’ I took Shami home and told my wife this guy will stay with us. After that, he started playing for Town Club.”Playing for Dalhousie before moving to Town Club, Shami had shown pace, but Das says that Dalhousie’s Chakraborty and Sumonto Hajra felt the bowler needed to move to a bigger club. Until then, Das says, Shami would stay with other Dalhousie players in the tent or shared hotel rooms, and would be put on the train back to Moradabad, the closest town to Sahaspur, 20km away, where Shami’s father ran a spare-parts store for tractors. Shami would make Rs 500 per match at Dalhousie, according to Das.After taking four wickets in the first innings of his Test debut, and before his five-for in the second, Shami made it a point to thank his parents at the press conference. They had let him follow his dream without putting pressure on him to start earning. It helped that his father had played a lot of cricket – he bowled fast, too – in his village, and appreciated the dedication it would take to make a career out of the sport. The problem was, Sahaspur didn’t have any cricket facilities. No grounds, no pitches, only mud fields. Let alone cricket facilities, Sahaspur still gets electricity only for eight hours a day.”I saw the pace, though,” says Tousif Ali, Shami’s father. “I could tell he had the skill. His elder brother also bowled fast, but he had a stone in his kidney, after which he joined me in the business. The younger brother also bowls fast, but I knew Shami had the pace. I wanted him to give it a good go.”As Shami graduated college, he started playing in Sonakpur in Moradabad. Badruddin Siddique coached him for a year or so and Tousif went a step ahead, again.Mohammed Shami’s performance in his debut Test repaid the faith of his family, who allowed him to pursue a dream despite numerous obstacles•BCCI”UP doesn’t even have a club system,” Tousif says. “You have to keep going for trials here, where you sometimes get rejected after bowling two-three balls. So I didn’t want the story to end with multiple trials. Badruddin knew some people in Kolkata, so we sent him there.”This is where Tousif’s knowledge of the progress of his son’s career ends. It was a risk sending a 16-year-old to a new city, where he didn’t know anybody, and his only sellable skill was the ability to bowl fast. Tousif says if Shami faced hardships, he didn’t tell him. It’s a story resonant with large parts of the migrant labour population in India. A year later, though, Town Club happened, and Das took Shami under his wing.”Whenever I came to office, I dropped him off to play cricket,” Das says. “After cricket, I used to take him home while returning from work. After one year, I observed he was growing. He was not into gymming or weight training. Running, running, running and net practice. He would take a new ball at the beginning of the net [session], and finish with the last ball, from 1pm to 4pm.”The workers at Dalhousie say similar things about the scrawny little boy who wanted to bowl fast. They used to doubt him, and Shami was keen to prove them wrong. He liked the workers there and he still comes back to the club whenever he is in town.”[He is a] very simple person,” Das says. “Very fond of sleeping, very fond of eating biryani. In every match against a big team – Town v East Bengal, Town v Mohun Bagan – whenever he was playing, if we needed two urgent wickets, I used to tell him, ‘Shami, [Burst through them].’ ‘Biryani?’ he would ask. ‘Yes, I will give biryani.’ ‘ [Okay give me the ball]’.” And he would get the wickets.There would be a lot of friendly sledging too. Once, in a match against Eastern Railway, Town Club were struggling to get the last two wickets. Das recalls: “I told him, ‘ [Go home, wear your mother’s clothes and go to sleep]. He said, ‘.’ And boom, boom! Two batsmen were bowled.”Shami never wanted money. His goal was the stumps, the sound that comes from hitting the stumps. Ever since I saw him, most of his wickets were bowled. He bowls with an upright seam, on or just outside off stump, and gets it to cut back in.”Das says Shami still takes his advice in all matters. “Four months ago, he came to my house and said he wanted to purchase a flat,” says Das. “I did the needful for the registrations etc. without any cost, except for the stamp duty. I think he has taken possession of the flat now.”If Shami doesn’t go after the money, if he still respects Das so much, why, then, did he leave Das’ Town and go to Mohun Bagan?”I let him go,” Das says. “If I hadn’t let him go, India wouldn’t have got Shami today. When he was in our club, he made it to the Bengal squad, but didn’t get to play in the XI. I saw the kind of facilities Mohun Bagan has, the kind of political power Mohun Bagan has, the kind of financial power Mohun Bagan has, the muscle Mohun Bagan has. We can’t match it. And I wanted the boy to get a chance.”Yesterday [on Friday], he told me he doesn’t want to play for Mohun Bagan anymore. He is a very emotional cricketer.”On Friday, Shami ran through the West Indies line-up with 30,000 Kolkatans cheering him on, intimidating the opposition batsmen. Watching in Sahaspur, the family saw their faith had paid off. People now identify Tousif as Shami’s father, and he is proud of it. Seven years ago, he took the risk of sending his son alone into the unknown. A year later, another man took the risk of bringing home a boy he knew nothing about, except that he bowled fast.Cricket can do with more such fathers, club owners and, of course, boys who bowl fast.

Notes from the first day of the IPL auction in Bangalore

Siddarth Ravindran12-Feb-2014The silence
IPL auctions sometimes present difficult moments for aging Indian stars. After years of being the most lauded players in the game, they are at the mercy of the whims and calculations of the IPL franchise owners. Sourav Ganguly famously went unsold in 2011, and over an increasing tense minute it seemed Virender Sehwag would face a similar fate today. Even as the auctioneer Richard Madley repeatedly asked whether there were any bids, the franchises remained silent. Just as he was about to bring the hammer down and move on to the next player, Kings XI Punjab raised their paddle and Sehwag was saved the ignominy of being unsold.The bonus
Yuvraj Singh’s services were hotly contested for and his price rapidly went up to INR 10crore ($1.6million), a level reached only by one other player’s salary on the day. The hammer came down, and Royal Challengers Bangalore thought they had added to a blockbuster batting line-up which already featured Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli. Kolkata Knight Riders, though, insisted they had put in a higher bid before the auctioneer pronounced Yuvraj an RCB player. After a bit of haggling, Madley allowed further bidding. In about 30 seconds, Yuvraj’s price went up by four more crores – as much as Rajasthan Royals paid for their most expensive player on the day.The wake-up
Overall, this was a fairly dull auction, with few of the what-were-they-thinking moments that spiced up previous editions. Even as early as the start of the post-lunch session, a vast number of players were going unsold. A series of overseas wicketkeepers didn’t interest any franchise, and when Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor’s name came up, it was expected the trend would continue. However, Sunrisers Hyderabad put in a bid, and Madley was surprised enough to exclaim, “that made my afternoon”. And when Taylor was bought, Madley enthusiastically said, “Sold”, before adding, “I like saying that”.Ignored – 1
It wasn’t a good day for Sri Lankans at the auction. With a tour of England and Ireland restricting their availability for the IPL season to less than three weeks, almost all Sri Lankan players went unsold. Mahela Jayawardene had a $1.5m contract last season but didn’t attract any bids today; neither did Angelo Mathews who hit the jackpot with $950,000 in 2011. Even renowned Twenty20 players like Tillakaratne Dilshan and Ajantha Mendis were ignored. The only player to buck the trend was allrounder Thisara Perera, who scored a INR 1.6 crore ($266,000) contract with Kings XI Punjab.Ignored – 2
Given the paucity of quality Indian fast bowlers, even mediocre performers had been virtually guaranteed hefty paydays. This time, though, the likes of Munaf Patel (who only made the Mumbai Indians XI four times last season), Manpreet Gony (who leaked 9.14 runs an over in 2013) and Abhimanyu Mithun (whose IPL economy rate is 9.83) went unsold. It was another sign that franchises are no more willing to indiscriminately splash the cash.The question
Delhi Daredevils had thought they had got Australia fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile for INR 2.2crores ($366,000) but Rajasthan Royals insisted they had placed a higher bid. Neither Madley nor his associates had spotted Royals’ raised paddle, so Madley asked Royals’ team mentor Rahul Dravid: “I’ve got to completely trust you because I didn’t see it, do you feel you bid before the hammer went down?” Not often that Dravid, for years an exemplar of the gentleman cricketer, is questioned like this. He insisted he had bid in time, and the subsequent bidding made Coulter-Nile richer by more than 2crores more.

In a 12-year period, Graeme Smith established himself as a leader par excellence. Here’s a look back at his illustrious career

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2014March 8-12, 2002
A 21-year-old Graeme Smith makes his international debut against Australia at Cape Town. Batting at No. 3, he scores a battling 68 in the second innings, as South Africa suffer a four-wicket defeat.October 18-21, 2002
Opens the batting and scores exactly 200 in only his fifth Test innings, against Bangladesh at East London.January 2-5, 2003
Scores 153 against Pakistan at Durban, as he and Herschelle Gibbs put on 368 for the first wicket. It is Smith’s second hundred in his eighth Test, and will be his last innings in the ranks.March 16, 2003
Smith is named Test and ODI captain, replacing Shaun Pollock after a disastrous World Cup. At 22, he is the youngest player ever to captain South Africa.April 24-27, 2003
Wins his first Test in charge, by an innings and 60 runs against Bangladesh at Chittagong, on the way to a 2-0 series victory.July 24-28, 2003
A momentous tour for Smith begins with him scoring 277 in the first Test at Edgbaston, an innings that sets a new record for the highest Test score by a South African. In all, Smith scores 362 runs in the match, which ends in a draw.July 31-August 3, 2003
Another huge score, 259 in the second Test at Lord’s (still the highest score by an overseas player at the ground), and this time in a winning cause. Smith’s third double-hundred of his young career helps put his side 1-0 up in the series, though England fight back to secure a draw in the fifth Test at The Oval.January 16-20, 2004
Smith and Gibbs record their third 300-run opening stand in just over a year, against West Indies at Centurion. A ten-wicket victory wraps up Smith’s first home series as captain 3-0.March 26-30, 2004
Scores an unbeaten 125 as South Africa chase 234 to win the third Test against New Zealand at Wellington. Gary Kirsten, now South Africa’s coach, retires after the match.January 13-17, 2005
A setback at home, as England win the fourth Test at Johannesburg to take a 2-1 lead that is enough to secure them the series. Smith, suffering from concussion, scores a defiant 67 not out batting at No. 8 in the fourth innings but Matthew Hoggard takes seven wickets as South Africa are bowled out in 59.3 overs on the final day.March-April 2005
Three consecutive centuries, in Trinidad, Barbadoes and Antigua, help South Africa to a 2-0 win in West Indies. Smith tallies 505 Test runs at 84.16 in the Caribbean.October 14-17, 2005
Captains the ICC World XI against Australia at Sydney but manages scores of just 12 and 0 in a 210-run defeat.Graeme Smith had a tough time against Australia in 2005-06, so revenge was sweet when it came•Getty ImagesDecember 2005-March 2006
Returns to Australia with South Africa, only to lose the three-Test series 2-0; South Africa are then whitewashed 3-0 at home to complete a miserable run of five consecutive defeats to the Australians. Smith averages 25.83 and 18.75 in the two series, while a finger injury rules him out at Johannesburg, ending his unbroken run in the Test side since debut.January 2-6, 2007
Scores 94 and 55 at Cape Town to lead South Africa to a 2-1 victory against India, having lost the first match of the three-Test series.October 8-12, 2007
Smith makes his first Test hundred in two-and-a-half years against Pakistan at Lahore.February 29-March 3, 2008
A world-record opening partnership of 415 with Neil McKenzie sets up an innings victory over Bangladesh at Chittagong, securing South Africa’s seventh series victory in a row. Smith’s 232 is his fourth double-hundred and comes in his 54th Test as captain, surpassing Hansie Cronje’s South Africa record.July 10-14, 2008
Despite South Africa being forced to follow-on 346 runs behind, Smith scores his second Lord’s hundred to help save the first Test of the series against England.July 30-August 2, 2008
Another milestone as captain. After taking a 1-0 lead at Headingley, South Africa secure a first series victory in England since 1965 by winning the third Test at Edgbaston. Again Smith shows his inspirational qualities – and his affinity for batting in Birmingham – by making 154 not out to lead his side from 93 for 4 to their fourth-innings target of 283.December 17-21, 2008
Scores 108 in the fourth innings at the WACA as South Africa chase 414 to win the first Test against Australia. It is the second-highest successful run chase in Test history.December 26-30, 2008
South Africa clinch the series with a nine-wicket win in Melbourne. It is another landmark for South Africa, their first ever series victory on Australian soil, and hands Australia a first home defeat in almost 16 years. Smith scores 62 and 75, extending his margin at the top of the leading runscorers’ list for 2008, with 1656.January 7, 2009
Comes in at No. 11 to bat with a broken left hand and sore elbow as South Africa strive for a draw at the SCG. Smith lasts almost half an hour before being bowled for 3, just minutes from the close.February-March 2009
Australia gain revenge with a 2-1 win in South Africa, to hang on to the No. 1 Test ranking for a while longer. Smith breaks his right hand this time, at Durban, and misses the third Test.On route to his unbeaten 154 at Edgbaston in 2008. Smith’s finest hour?•Tom Shaw/Getty ImagesJanuary 3-7, 2010
Makes 183 in the third Test against England at Cape Town but, for the second time in the series, Graham Onions defies South Africa’s bowlers in the final overs as the tourists cling to their 1-0 lead.January 14-17, 2010
South Africa finally make their superiority count, winning the fourth Test at the Wanderers by an innings and 74 runs to tie the series 1-1. Smith’s second hundred in consecutive innings – his sixth in total against England – takes him to his highest position of second in the ICC Test batting rankings.November 12-16, 2010
Against Pakistan in Dubai, Smith goes past Kirsten’s total of 7289 runs to become South Africa’s second-highest runscorer in Tests, behind Jacques Kallis.March 2011
Resigns ODI captaincy after South Africa’s quarter-final exit from the World Cup.November 9-11, 2011
An extraordinary Test at Newlands sees South Africa chase 236 to beat Australia, after trailing by 188 on first innings. Smith’s 37 is the top score as South Africa are dismissed for 96 but his side responds immediately by demolishing Australia for 47; Smith then adds another unbeaten, fourth-innings ton to his collection to secure victory.December 2011-January 2012
Despite a poor personal return for Smith, South Africa beat Sri Lanka 2-1 to record their first Test series win at home for three years.March 7-11, 2012
Scores his 24th Test hundred in the drawn Test against New Zealand in Dunedin.July – August 2012
Smith becomes the seventh player in the history to register a century in his 100th Test. The hundred sets up a win in the first Test at The Oval. South Africa go on to win the three-Test series 2-0 and dethrone England as the top Test team.November – December 2012
Scores a vital century in the drawn second Test in Adelaide, then leads South Africa to a 309-run win in Perth to seal the series. It is South Africa’s second successive series win in AustraliaFebruary 1, 2013
On the day he turns 32, Smith also becomes the first person to captain a team in 100 Tests, when he leads South Africa against Pakistan in Johannesburg. CSA declares the first day of the Test as ‘Biff day’, after Smith’s nicknameOctober 24, 2013
Scores 234 against Pakistan in Dubai. It is Smith’s fifth double-ton in Tests and his 326-run partnership with AB de Villiers equals Don Bradman’s record of a batsman with most triple-century standsMarch 3, 2014
At Newlands, Smith announces his retirement from international cricket during the third Test against Australia

With Sri Lanka’s attack, and what India will bring next month, a continued failure of Alastair Cook to recover something close to his best form will raise serious worries

Andrew McGlashan17-Jun-2014If Alastair Cook wants to feel better about his batting form, he may want to steer clear of the latest ICC rankings. After the Lord’s Test against Sri Lanka he has dropped to 19th while Kevin Pietersen, who spent one day of the match enjoying a beer in a hospitality box, has climbed above him to No. 18.That is the same Pietersen who has been sacked by the ECB. Before the ICC get on the phone, it is worth a reminder that players obviously do not immediately drop out of the rankings the moment they are not selected, or retire (which Pietersen did not officially do), even if it is a board decision to end their careers. Still, it is a bit of kick in the teeth for Cook.He would have given anything for one more wicket at Lord’s on Monday evening, but it is not only wins that the England captain is desperate for. The headline figure is that his wait for a Test century, which would be No. 26 of his career, has now extended to 22 innings. His previous three figure score came against New Zealand, at Headingley, so perhaps that is a good omen for Cook as he heads north to the same venue for the second Test against Sri Lanka.Asked about his form after Lord’s, Cook said: “I’d love a score. Leading from the front as a captain, you want to score runs – that’s your job as a batter. The longer it goes on, the harder it gets.”Cook’s lack of contributions did not stop England posting their highest total since playing India at The Oval in 2011 but his predecessor as captain, Andrew Strauss, knows how important it is for Cook to break the sequence he is in before it overshadows the team’s performance and affects his captaincy.”It really distracted me that I had become the story,” Strauss told the . “It did affect my captaincy and I lost a bit of confidence, because I felt I was letting the team down. No captain wants to be a passenger in the side. You want to show the team the way forward.”When I became captain in 2009, I scored a lot of runs but towards the end, perhaps I didn’t have enough time to work on my batting as I was always thinking about the captaincy.”Since the start of the home Ashes almost a year ago, he has averaged 25.81 so his Lord’s performance encapsulated his run: scores of 17 in the first innings and 28 in the second. On the first day he dragged a cut shot into his stumps and on the fourth, edged behind against Shaminda Eranga, after showing signs of more fluency, a familiar mode of dismissal which was a regular feature against Ryan Harris and Mitchell Johnson during the back-to-back Ashes.It is a different run that he suffered in 2010 when his place in the side was briefly questioned after 106 runs in eight innings against Bangladesh and Pakistan. During that stretch he looked so horribly out of form that losing his off stump or edging behind off Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif felt inevitable. An ugly hundred at The Oval halted the slide and a few months later he embarked on what would become a record-breaking 2010-11 Ashes.This time Cook is making starts – he has scored six half-centuries in those 22 innings – and has spent considerable time at the crease which on the one hand is a credit to his capacity to battle away but suggests the issues this time are as much mental as technical.He has never had the most pure technique; the great strength during his glory years in 2010 and 2011 – and on his first tour as captain in India the following year – was his concentration at the crease. Over after over, session after session, day after day. Those reserves of energy now appear to be diminished, and that is despite a decent break from the end of the Australia tour to the start of the English season in April.The question of whether it is the captaincy is the obvious one – he has had his fair share of issues to confront. The victorious series in India is often cited in Cook’s defence in this case, and it still holds credence, but it is now a considerable time ago. Also, despite entering that series in the wake of the Pietersen reintegration Cook was still new and fresh to the Test captaincy. England also began that series with reasonably low expectations, which were even lower after defeat in the first Test.Cook’s run without a hundred during the ten Ashes Tests came against some outstanding pace bowling and in Australia, alongside the disintegration of the team. There are those who will argue that Cook’s inability to arrest the slide – both personal and team-wise – was a sign of his own weaknesses, which is why this summer is so crucial to his longer term future.With all due respect to Sri Lanka’s attack, and what India will bring next month, a continued failure to recover something close to his best form will raise serious worries. Lord’s was one Test out of seven England play over the next two months. There was much to be positive about by the new-look side, but runs for the captain are now top of the most-wanted list.

Harry Gurney on his first England shirt, the biggest joker in the Notts dressing room, and the best fast food

Interview by Jack Wilson17-Aug-2014Assess your England career to now.
Very enjoyable and very humbling. It’s with a great deal of pride that I’m playing for my country. I’m desperate for it to continue for far longer.You have played a lot of short-form cricket for England. What are your ambitions?
I’d love to play Tests one day. That would be massive for me – but my ambitions are more short term. I want to go to the World Cup with England in Australia and New Zealand next year and win it.At the start of the 2009 season, you had to win back a contract at Leicestershire having been dumped by them. Now you are an England regular. It has been some turnaround, hasn’t it?
It has. It was one of those moments where I had to swallow my pride a little bit. They decided I had to come back and earn a contract. I just got my head down and worked hard.You are one of a number of players to swap Leicestershire for Nottinghamshire. What problems do they have keeping their top talent?
At the moment it’s difficult for them to attract players. That’s the main problem. But the complaint that players leave for more money elsewhere and that’s why they’re going is rubbish. That’s not true at all.Where is your first England shirt?
It’s tucked away with all my others but I’ll get it framed. I’m not massive on mementos, although I do have all the balls I’ve taken five-fors with, a ball I took a hat-trick with, and the shirt I wore when we won the CB40 final.Which format of the game is most enjoyable to play?
I enjoy playing T20 the most. You get to play in front of good crowds week in, week out. But, saying that, celebrating a good four-day win is the most satisfying thing in domestic cricket.Who is the greatest left-armer to have ever played the game?
Before I answer this, I’d like to say my knowledge of the history of cricket is absolutely abysmal!Let’s change the question. Who is the best you have seen?
The one I’ve enjoyed watching the most is Ryan Sidebottom. He’s been tremendous.Describe your batting in one word.
Destructive.Do you enjoy batting?
Well, that depends. If the bowler is bowling less than 85mph then yes. If it’s above 85mph, I’d say no. I work on my batting a lot in training.What is the secret to bowling the perfect yorker?
Practice, simple as that.Who is the best lookalike in the Nottinghamshire dressing room?
James Taylor – he looks like Barry Manilow.

“Celebrating a good four-day win is the most satisfying thing in domestic cricket”

Who is the biggest joker?
Luke Fletcher. He’s always messing around, chucking stuff off the balcony and winding up the gaffer [Mick Newell].Who is the the most intelligent?
Well, that’s me by a country mile.And the least intelligent?
I could name five who haven’t got any GCSEs.Name one.
Samit Patel.Who eats the most at teatime?
Again, Samit Patel.Who was your childhood hero?
Cricketing-wise, Dale Steyn.What is the best meat to have in a roast dinner?
I’d have to say I’m a chicken man myself. Yep, chicken – but breast, not leg.And the best fast food?
It’s between two. It’d have to be a Big Mac meal from McDonald’s or an Italian BMT from Subway.On a night out, how long would it take you to mention you are a cricketer?
Getting me on a night out occurs once in a blue moon. But on the rare occasion I do, I never mention it!

So far in his short career, Mominul Haque has walked the walk and talked the talk that should have Bangladesh fans hoping he is a match-winner in the making

Mohammad Isam in Chittagong15-Nov-2014The position immediately below Don Bradman’s 99.94 on Test cricket’s batting average charts is a temporary seat for successful beginners. If batsman starts off with a century or a double, or goes on to hit a few in his first few Test matches, he is just a step down from Bradman, people notice. But, eventually, that average inevitably begins to come down. The latest batsman to occupy that spot is Bangladesh’s Mominul Haque, with an average of 63.05 after his unbeaten 131 against Zimbabwe in Chittagong.Of course, Mominul has had a 50-plus average since his fourth Test, but he is only 23 innings into his career and, like all those others before him, being second only to Bradman is not likely to last too long for him either. Still, his position looks awesome and sounds amazing to any Bangladesh fan.And that average is a fair reflection of his unique temperament among his peers. Mominul’s strokeplay, too, and the confidence with which he lays bat on ball, is also starting to standout. The two drives between extra cover and mid-off early in his innings today, his body position while playing drives off the backfoot through mid-on, and the sweeps, pulls, tickles and cuts … it all made for great viewing pleasure.His journey in Test cricket has not been as effortless. Mominul had got to a half-century six times this year before today, and only one of those he converted into a hundred – on all five other occasions, he was out before getting into the 60s. Mominul had to find out a way to get out of the fifties.It was something as simple as having fewer negative thoughts that worked for him, he said after the day’s play in Chittagong. And despite a brisk start – he got to 50 off 69 balls – he did not lose concentration, even willing to battle it out for 22 balls after getting into the nineties before he hit the four that got him to his fourth century.”It really feels great to be able to do something for the team,” Mominul said. “I try in every game to make some contribution. I didn’t want to lose concentration. I wanted to play ball-by-ball, session-by-session. I was less negative today. I had fewer negative thoughts, which possibly helped me get the runs. The wicket was good. I tried to attack, dominate their bowlers.”I didn’t make any technical changes in my batting. It was mostly tactical. I think about my batting when I am on my own. I try to overcome the areas which are not helping me, which were holding me back. It is not a lot of things that I think about. It is better to stay normal and take on less pressure. But now that it has happened, I am saying this. If I hadn’t scored a century, I wouldn’t be able to say it.”To put his 131 into perspective in terms of match situation, compared to his previous three hundreds, Mominul was cruising in Chittagong rather than navigating through choppy waters. His 181 and unbeaten 126 against New Zealand last year came when replying to a large score and trying to save a Test match respectively. Against Sri Lanka, when he scored his third century, an unbeaten 100, it came on the final day with the opposition pushing for a win.This time, he was allowed to bat with the freedom provided by a 165-run cushion and against a bowling attack that was running on empty. It was his third century in three Tests in Chittagong, and he duly pointed out that it would be unwise to expect him to score big every time he turns up at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.”I have scored three of my four centuries at this ground, but it doesn’t mean I have to score a hundred here every time,” Mominul said. “It is a matter of luck. If it happens, it happens. I don’t think much about it. There was no extra pressure on me.”But I worked out why I was getting out in the fifties. I tried to do something more to go past it. And when success comes to a player, the responsibility rises. Now there is expectation on me, and it is steadily rising.”That attitude of Mominul’s is quite refreshing for those who have got used to Bangladesh cricketers showing early promise, followed by a display of bravado, only to experience the inevitable come-down. Mominul is experiencing the first part of that process, but his personality hasn’t allowed him to move on to the second, so far. He will not be Bradman’s sidekick for too long, but the fact that he has not got carried away by his early success can only be good for Bangladesh.

Far from assuming the role of plucky underdogs, Ireland were forced to deal with unexpected pressure of being heavy favourites against UAE

Daniel Brettig25-Feb-20151:56

‘Was confident we’d pull it off’ – Wilson

Ireland were in the unfamiliar position of runaway favourites for a World Cup match. Then the UAE were in the even less familiar position of having a match against a higher ranked team more or less in their keeping. Finally, both sides were in the uncharted territory of a thrilling encounter that sustained the attention of the globe like no other match at this tournament so far.Associate nations have to learn to be resilient. They suffer for a lack of funding, facilities and fixtures. Many players must juggle jobs. But seldom do they have to cope with the sort of expectation that has now settled upon Ireland at this event.They had not just squeaked past the West Indies but beaten them with plenty of room to spare. They look a more settled unit than Pakistan, a team they have of course defeated before. And they carry the torch for cricket’s second tier with passionate play and equally forceful words, as demonstrated by William Porterfield on match eve.In a match against a Full Member country, Ireland can keep a low profile, play to their limits and hope that things will run their way. Often enough in ICC events they have done so. But against the UAE, a team they had not lost to since 2001, there was a requirement to go into the contest knowing they should win, and knowing that all spectators and viewers fully expecting them to do so, and handsomely.Such a scenario can do strange things to the mind, the hands and the feet. First of all, at the unfamiliar Gabba, the captain William Porterfield elected to send the UAE in to bat, even though the surface looked brimful of runs and locals could attest to the ground’s propensity for more extravagant swing and nip off the pitch in the evening. Porterfield stuck to what Ireland have known best as an accomplished chasing team, but his choice left the bowlers to toil in warm conditions and in the absence of much movement.Next Shaiman Anwar, a middle order dynamo who was flushed with confidence after notching his highest ODI tally against Zimbabwe, made more than a few members of the Ireland attack look pedestrian after the UAE had slipped to 78 for 4 and then 131 for 6.In particular, Anwar drove Kevin O’Brien to distraction by moving laterally across the crease, causing the bowler to stop in his run-up several times and also deliver a motley collection of wides and other loose offerings that the batsman leapt eagerly upon. A chase for 279 was at least 40 more than expected. His first ODI hundred, and the first by a UAE batsman in the World Cup, had the feel of victory.There was a heaviness to Ireland’s early progress in the chase that conveyed further anxiety. The new balls zipped and curved in the early evening air, Manjula Guruge doing a decent enough impression of Chaminda Vaas by alternating inswing with away slant and accounting for Paul Stirling in the process.Ireland suddenly had a weight of expectation on them against UAE•Getty ImagesEd Joyce was exceptionally lucky when Amjad Javed struck his off stump but the corresponding bail refused to fly off, but even this rare moment could not prevent Ireland from fretting to 97 for 4 thanks to some nifty spin bowling by the ageless Mohammad Tauqir.Intriguingly though, the development of a scenario in which Ireland were no longer favoured to win proved to be the making of their victory. Suddenly minds were clarified by a simple, steep equation, much as they were on that memorable night in Bangalore. Alongside Andy Balbirnie, Gary Wilson set a platform, and once the younger man was dismissed for 30, O’Brien reprised his England burst while Wilson scurried busily between the wickets.It was an exhilarating stand, changing the game in the course of six overs and 72 runs. Wilson enjoyed the recognisable support at the other end from O’Brien.”A few people have mentioned that to me now,” he said afterwards. “I’ve batted a lot with Kev over the last 10-15 years, last year with Surrey and then with Ireland. We dovetail really nicely – I poke it for one and he hits it out the ground, so it’s great!”Perhaps not surprisingly, the team’s return to a favoured position brought another seemingly reflexive wobble, as O’Brien, John Mooney and Wilson fell to leave the cool-headed George Dockrell to smite the sealing boundary. Wilson spoke of how his team were unhappy to have let the match get as close as they did, but equally that they were sustained by a handsome record in chasing.”It was obviously closer than we wanted it to be definitely, but we’ve been in this position before at a World Cup and chased down totals before, and I think that really stood us in good stead,” he said. “We knew that if a couple of us were there until close to the end we would have a pretty good shot at winning.”Chasing is familiar but favouritism is not so common. For their next assignment, against South Africa in Canberra, Ireland will once again be cast as resilient outsiders. After the travails of a thrilling Brisbane evening, it is a position they will relish once again.

Against South Africa in a mutli-nation tournament in 2013, is how Shikhar Dhawan revived his ODI career. He will now face the same opposition while trying to revive some form this time

Abhishek Purohit in Melbourne19-Feb-2015The towering stands of the Melbourne Cricket Ground instantly give you a sense of occasion. Even as the South Africa team played football at the start of their training session at the ground, multiple groups of people were being taken through paid guided tours of the MCG. A group was standing on one level, another on the upper tier, then another one still further up, almost vertically in line. In an otherwise empty ground, even a smattering of people on various tiers created an effect strong enough to give a hint of the spectacle a filled MCG will create when India meet South Africa on Sunday.For Shikhar Dhawan, it all started with India versus South Africa in another multi-nation one-day tournament. The opening match of the Champions Trophy in Cardiff in June 2013 was the first time he and Rohit Sharma opened together, and their 127-run partnership began India’s victory march towards the title. Playing his first ODI in two years, and riding the confidence of a spectacular Test debut hundred three months ago, Dhawan cracked 114 off 94 deliveries, his maiden century in the format.Knowing that Dhawan was prone to compulsively attacking the short ball, South Africa tried to bounce him, but the opener charged fast bowlers and swatted boundaries.Dhawan has had his technical issues, which have been brought to the fore during his earlier miserable run on this long tour of Australia. One knock of note in the Test series when the Brisbane match was more or less over as a contest. Dropped for the fourth Test. Failed in the following one-day triangular series too. Got a break for about a week or so before the World Cup warm-up matches. Made 59 against Australia in the first warm-up match, and then, rose to one of the biggest occasions of them all with 73 off 76 against Pakistan in India’s tournament opener in Adelaide four days ago. Involved in a 129-run partnership with Virat Kohli that set up the match for India.As his hundred on Test debut, the Champions Trophy century against South Africa, and the Pakistan knock in Adelaide illustrate, Dhawan is a confidence player. He will probably always have issues with accurate fast bowling just outside off stump as he likes to remain inside the line and carve deliveries through cover and point. He likes to instinctively play on the up without really getting forward or back.Confidence is a strange thing. As MS Dhoni has said often in the past, it can take a matter of feeling a few deliveries nicely on to the bat for the confidence to return. It can also disappear similarly, making the same erstwhile flowing player look scratchy. You can bat all you want in the nets. It may return, it could even get worse. You could start fretting too much about what is going wrong, and tie yourself up further.Players who rely on confidence and touch, such as Dhawan, need to be handled carefully. Sometimes they just need to be taken away from the everydayness of practice and matches, matches and more practice, and be left to sort themselves out in peace. On India’s tour of New Zealand in early 2014, Dhawan was getting starts in the one-dayers but didn’t get the big runs. Dhoni left him out of the fourth ODI in Hamilton. Dhawan returned to make 115 in the first Test in Auckland and 98 in the second in Wellington.”Whenever you get rest, it is good,” Dhawan had said then. “You are getting a break from the match pressure and you can think what you can do better. I was relaxed and I came back.”India had a few days off in the lead-up to the World Cup where they put away the kit bags and unwinded, and Dhoni said that was one of the key reasons they were able to put behind a forgettable tour so far and raise their performance against Pakistan. Probably the best example of someone having benefited from the break was Dhawan. He was made to hop a couple of times by Mohammad Irfan, but he also hooked the fast bowler for a six. He also left and defended outside off reasonably well.On India’s tour of South Africa in late 2013, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel claimed Dhawan once each on strokes he likes to play – the former on the instinctive cover drive, the latter on the pull. MCG on Sunday will be a much bigger occasion than a couple of bilateral ODIs. Dhawan seems to have regained his touch against Pakistan. The confidence man and the big occasion combined the last time these two teams met in a world event.