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What does a specialist spinner have to do these days to get a fair chance in the West Indies side?

Fazeer Mohammed04-Apr-2008

Hopefully the water cart attendants at the Queen’s Park Oval were sensible enough not to place any napkins near the drinking glasses when they were first called into action yesterday. Things are bad enough for West Indies without the further setback of players being hospitalised for cuts from wet paper.It felt like the vengeance of Moko had descended upon us, obliterating almost any semblance of good fortune, producing fundamental errors from fairly decent cricketers, questionable decisions by selectors and even poorer judgment from one of the umpires. It’s probably just as well that hardly anyone had turned up to watch the first hour of this second Test, in itself a telling reflection of the inescapable reality that the traditional form of the game is barely surviving around here, to the extent that even some of the diehards’ appetite for the standard fare has waned considerably.We’ve seen some action-packed opening exchanges of Test matches at the Oval over the years (the late Roy Fredericks would not have had happy memories here, being bowled first ball by India’s Abid Ali in 1971 and second ball by another Indian, Madan Lal, in 1976) but the drama had actually started unfolding long before the start of play when the selectors chose to omit both specialist spinners from the home side’s final XI.No doubt they would have been influenced by a pitch with a healthy tinge of green, in stark contrast to the lifeless brown track in Guyana last week. Still, in omitting both specialists, Sulieman Benn and Amit Jaggernauth, and preferring to rely on Chris Gayle to turn his arm over slowly every now and then (or maybe longer, you never know), the utter disregard by key personnel in the Caribbean game for the art of spin bowling is now confirmed.Even if you argue that Jaggernauth’s ten wickets last weekend at Guaracara Park were against some of the jokiest Barbadian batting ever seen, even if the general consensus that Benn’s three wickets in the second innings at Providence were only because the Sri Lankans were taking more than a few chances in the quest for quick runs, surely it makes sense to have the option of a frontline spinner on a pitch hosting a Test match for the first time ever, the square having been re-laid a few months after the last Test on this famous venue three years ago (Brian Lara 196, Makhaya Ntini 13 wickets… remember?).Given this considerable element of the unknown in such a vital aspect of the game, you would have thought that the benefit of local knowledge was essential. Yet there was former Test opener and long-time Queen’s Park coach and official Bryan Davis informing schizophrenic radio interviewer Justin Dookhi at the water-break that no-one in the West Indies team set-up felt it necessary to seek his opinion on the playing surface. Maybe others were consulted. At least you hope so.Still, you have to ask, what does a specialist spinner have to do these days to get a fair chance in the West Indies side – migrate to a country with a higher quality of domestic cricket, take wickets and then hope that the selectors back home are noticing? Maybe then the contention will be that they need to succeed in home conditions to really judge them. So we should shift the Australian domestic competition to our part of the world, play the spinners, and then pick them if they perform.Parochial sentiment surrounding Jaggernauth (40 wickets so far this season) notwithstanding, it should be noted that this sentiment also covers Benn, a player set to join the lengthening list of practitioners of flight and guile who have come to associate a career as a West Indies Test cricketer as a succession of one-match spurts spread over several years. Well, at least he, like Rangy Nanan, got a game.Hardly anyone seemed to be on their game in that weird first hour yesterday.Only a loss of concentration could be explained for Billy Bowden not giving Michael Vandort lbw to the second ball of the match from Daren Powell. Despite the comments coming from the Constantine Stand, the New Zealander is not a thief, nor is he completely incompetent, although the preoccupation with showmanship, amusing at the best of the times, are infuriating when seen in the context of the occasional critical error.

Then we had Dwayne Bravo putting down a sitter at third slip off Jerome Taylor to let Malinda Warnapura off the hook and Powell failing to snare a sharp caught-and-bowled chance presented by Vandort. That’s three catches floored already by the usually flawless (certainly in the field) allrounder, while there weren’t too many around feeling sorry for Powell, especially after he suffered yet another delusion of batting grandeur at the end of the first Test.In that context, it was probably expected that Sri Lanka would have raced away to 60 without loss by the water-break, thanks to a succession of loose deliveries that facilitated the crashing of 12 boundaries by the two left-handers.At least Fidel Edwards justified his recall immediately with two wickets in the hour before lunch. A third scalp for the Barbadian pacer before the heavens opened up in the early afternoon may have made further amends.Still, it’s only the start of a Test match, and therefore way too early before the Oval doubles vendors alter their policy of serving West Indies cricketers the delicacy on plastic instead of moistened brown paper.

Stats highlights from South Africa’s historic run-chase against Australia in Perth

S Rajesh21-Dec-2008

The last quarter of 2008 continues to be an excellent one for fourth-innings run-chases: New Zealand started the trend, chasing 317 against Bangladesh in Chittagong exactly two months ago; India raised the bar even further with an outstanding chase of 387 against England in Chennai last week; but South Africa did something even more incredible in Perth today, coasting to 414 to inflict a six-wicket defeat upon Australia and bring up the second-highest successful run-chase in Test cricket. It also means three of the top five such chases have come in the last five-and-a-half years, and two of them in the last ten days.As was pointed out in last week’s Numbers Game column, successful fourth-innings chases have been far more common in the 2000s than in previous decades, and this becomes the 32nd 200-plus chase in these nine years. No wonder, then, that the fourth-innings runs-per-wicket figure in this decade is 29.21, higher than it had been in any decade since 1950. AB de Villiers’ match-winning 108 was the 46th fourth-innings century during this period; add 242 fifties to it, and you’ll get a good idea of how good this decade has been for batsmen in the last innings.The pitch in Perth stayed pretty good throughout the five days, which isn’t so unusual these days either. The Chennai track had a mean look to it but wasn’t particularly spiteful on the final day, which was one of the reasons why India’s fourth-innings total was the highest of the match, as was the case in Perth. Till October 2008, this had only been achieved 17 times in the entire history of Test cricket. In the last two months, however, three more instances have already been added, with New Zealand, India and South Africa all getting the highest total of the game in successful run-chases. South Africa have successfully chased 200-plus targets seven times since 2000, the most by any team during this period.What’s also incredible is the apparent ease with which most of the highest run-chases have been achieved – in four of the top five such cases, teams have won losing fewer than five wickets: Don Bradman’s Invincibles chased 404 for the loss of only three wickets at Headingley in 1948, while India lost only four in chasing 406 and 387.More numbers

• Graeme Smith’s century yesterday was his third in the fourth innings of a match, and all of them have led to wins. Most batsmen struggle in the last innings of Tests, but Smith seems to relish the challenge, averaging 56.40 in 26 fourth innings. His last five such innings have been 85, 62, 3*, 154* and 108. Among batsmen who have scored at least 1000 fourth-innings runs, Smith’s average puts him in third place in the all-time list, behind two legendary openers, Geoffrey Boycott and Sunil Gavaskar.
  

  Best fourth-innings averages in Tests (Qual: 1000 runs)

  Batsman	Innings	Runs	Average	100s/ 50s
  Geoff Boycott	34	1234	58.76	3/ 7
  Sunil Gavaskar	33	1398	58.25	4/ 8
  Graeme Smith	26	1128	56.40	3/ 6
  Ricky Ponting	35	1187	53.95	4/ 3
  Gordon Greenidge	38	1383	53.19	3/ 6

  Limiting the results to just wins in fourth innings, Smith’s stocks go up even higher – with 844 runs from 15 innings, his average is an incredible 84.40, next only to Ricky Ponting’s 92.77 (with a cut-off of 500 runs). They are the only two to score three hundreds in fourth-innings wins.

• Among the three century partnerships in South Africa’s run-chase was the 124-run stand between AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis, who are fast developing one of the most prolific batting pairs for them. In 16 partnerships, the pair has put together 1275 runs, including six century stands, for an average of 85. Their last five partnerships read 112, 5, 256, 124, and 124. Among South African pairs who’ve added at least 1000, de Villiers and Kallis are in second place, next only to Gary Kirsten and Graeme Smith, who averaged 100.36 in 11 innings.
• Of the six South Africans who batted, five of them topped 50, with Neil McKenzie being the only one to miss out. It was only the third instance of five South African batsmen topping 50 in an innings in Australia, but in both previous occasions, the team had been bowled out.
• It was Australia’s second successive defeat in Perth, after their 72-run loss to India earlier this year. Only once earlier have they lost consecutive Tests here – 1984 and 1985, when West Indies and New Zealand beat the home team convincingly. (Click here for their entire result list in Perth.)

India have lost the last four times they’ve turned up for a Test at the Basin Reserve, and some of their heaviest defeats against New Zealand have been at this ground

S Rajesh01-Apr-2009After India’s dogged fightback in Napier, they will go into the Wellington Test as favourites to wrap up the series, but if past stats are any indicator, New Zealand will fancy their chances of turning the tables on India despite spending three days in the field in the previous Test without a positive result. More than New Zealand’s good record here, the home team will be encouraged by India’s struggles at this venue.New Zealand have themselves lost about as often as they’ve won here, but India have lost the last four times they’ve turned up for a Test at the Basin Reserve. (They’ve only lost to New Zealand nine times in all, which means almost 50% of their defeats have come at a single venue.) Some of their heaviest defeats against New Zealand have come here too – their innings-and-33-run loss in 1976 is their only innings defeat against them, while they also lost by ten wickets the last time they played a Test at this ground. Their innings-by-innings list doesn’t make impressive reading either, with seven scores of less than 225 in ten innings.

If the trend from the previous New Zealand-India Tests at this venue continues, expect batsmen from both teams to struggle to get the runs. In five previous Tests, New Zealand’s batsmen average 24.43 runs per wicket, which is four runs better than what the Indians have managed. There have been 13 fifty-plus scores from the home team, but Geoff Howarth was the only one to convert it into a century. The Indians have had three centurions here – Sachin Tedulkar, Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajit Wadekar – but they’ve also had many more low scores.

Recent stats also suggest the conditions here are excellent for seam and swing: in the last ten Tests here, since 2002, fast bowlers average 26.47 runs per wicket. The average for the spinners – who have only taken 55 wickets during this period – is exactly ten runs more.

Among the New Zealand bowlers in the current squad, the fast men have all done well here: Kyle Mills has taken 15 wickets in four Tests; Chris Martin has 40 from nine, with four five-wicket hauls. The strike rates for the fast bowlers is excellent too: it’s in the late 40s for Martin and James Franklin, while Mills, who has the best average but the poorest strike rate among the four, takes a wicket every six overs. The stats aren’t as impressive for Daniel Vettori, though – in 16 Tests he has taken 44 wickets, and average of less than three wickets per match, with each costing him 38 runs. His only five-wicket haul here was against Sri Lanka in 2006 in a rare match dominated by spin – Muttiah Muralitharan took 10 for 118 to take his team to victory.

With the stats so heavily in favour of fast bowlers, it’s hardly surprising that teams winning the toss have mostly put the opposition in to bat: in the last ten Tests, the captains have taken this route seven times, and five times they’ve gone on to win the match.The innings-wise average runs per wicket indicates, there isn’t much difference in the first three innings, but in the fourth innings teams have done significantly better, suggesting again that bowling first have historically been a good option here.

The partnership stats too suggest that batting later in the innings is easier than tackling the new ball: average partnership for the first two wickets is less than 30, but it increases to 43.78 for the fourth wicket.Among the Indian batsmen in the current squad, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid are the only ones to have played more than one Test at the Basin Reserve. Tendulkar has done well here, with three 45-plus scores in four innings. Dravid, though, averages 27.75.Those who only played in 2002-03 have hardly scored any runs here, which isn’t surprising since India totalled 161 and 121 in their two innings: Virender Sehwag scored 14 in two innings, while VVS Laxman failed to score a run in the match.

It’s the first time since England put them back in at the Queen’s Park Oval and Sabina in the 1968 series in the Caribbean that West Indies have followed on in successive Tests

Tony Cozier18-May-2009It’s the first time since England put them back in at the Queen’s Park Oval and Sabina in the 1968 series in the Caribbean that West Indies have followed on in successive Tests.They just survived in the first instance, two wickets away from defeat at the end. In the second, it was England who were in the same precarious position with eight down for 68 after an hour and a quarter tacked on at their request following a crowd riot when they were on top. It was one of the most remarkable turnarounds in Test history. Not surprising, the incomparable Garry Sobers was to the fore each time.There is no Sobers here and the present team, already beaten in the first Test by ten wickets, will be hard pressed to escape, far less repeat Sabina’s 1968 near miracle. They could not hold out in their first innings yesterday, in spite of Ramnaresh Sarwan’s polished 100, his 15th in Tests, and Denesh Ramdin’s sparkling 55, and were three down second time round, Sarwan and captain Chris Gayle included.The sight of Shivnarine Chanderpaul resuming this morning gives some hope of prolonged resistance for few have responded to such a crisis as he has done throughout his career, more especially over the last two years. Late in the evening, in his second appearance for the day, Chanderpaul duly surpassed Viv Richards as West Indies’ second-highest scorer in Tests. It is an achievement that will please him, as it should, but no more than if he denies England the victory that appears almost certainly theirs at present.He needs help, of course, just as Sobers did at Queen’s Park, from Wes Hall who stayed the last hour and a half with him to repel England, and at Sabina from Seymour Nurse and, with the ball, Lance Gibbs who matched his three second innings wickets.Lendl Simmons starts alongside Chanderpaul. He is a novice at this level but has shown the resolve, if not quite the technique, necessary to fight. He can choose no better time than now to make his mark. Brendon Nash, Chanderpaul’s fellow left-hander with a similarly dogged approach to batting, has provided him with essential support more than once since his belated entry to Test cricket last December. He is unlikely to be dismissed as unluckily as he was yesterday.Ramdin follows. The example he set at Lord’s and again yesterday should be heeded by Jerome Taylor and Sulieman Benn. Both must appreciate that the indignity of another heavy defeat will not be avoided by their carefree batting yesterday.These have been two woeful Tests for West Indies. They have been utterly outplayed in every department by an England team stunned by their surrender of the Wisden Trophy in the Caribbean and desperate to recover it. Their bowlers were aggressive and hostile yesterday, rarely giving the batsmen breathing space.Stuart Broad’s dismantling of Sarwan, a batsman with a hundred in the book and in command, was classic fast bowling. Broad launched a bodyline attack of pinpoint accuracy, forcing Sarwan to fend rising balls off his chest and once flooring him with a hit to the box. Finally, he made one lift so steeply that all Sarwan could do was opt for self-preservation. He saved his face but not his wicket as the catch lobbed off the shoulder of the bat to gully.England’s has been the intensity necessary at the highest level of any sport. It has been markedly missing in the West Indies effort and, for all the talk of the unsuitability of Test matches in the alien conditions, in the damp and the cold of May, the players are well paid professionals expected to overcome adversity. Today is their last chance.

Australia’s series win has been among their most characteristic – and least. And Ponting has been at the heart of it all

Sidharth Monga10-Nov-2009One can see why Ricky Ponting rates this series win right up there with the more special triumphs – the World Cup, the Champions Trophy, which are the pinnacle of ODI cricket. And to think that before this series, having beaten England 6-1, he seemed as interested in these seven-match bilateral back-and-forths as in meeting Harbhajan Singh for a coffee.It is special, for it is perhaps Australia’s most human success. It is special, for it stretched Ponting’s leadership; for it was not the sort of one-sided clinical triumph Australia are used to. Limited-overs cricket makes a case for replacements coming in and immediately doing well enough, but losing nine players, five of them during a tour, is no joke. Just to put it in perspective, look at how India did without Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan in the World Twenty20 in England, or without Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer in the Champions Trophy in South Africa.This series tested Ponting’s patience and resourcefulness, and Australia’s bloody-mindedness. It was their most un-Australian display: dropping catches and missing run-outs (Hyderabad), bowling poorly at the death (Vadodara and Nagpur), wasting good starts with the bat (Delhi and Mohali). In effect, for a change, they looked capable of beating themselves. Yet this was their most Australian display: hanging in, clutching to last straws, taking risks when they were least expected to, fighting back after making mistakes, and opportunistically jumping on the first small window Sachin Tendulkar provided them in Hyderabad.In a way Ponting epitomises the quintessentially Australian aspects of their unexpected success in this series. As the team has grown weaker by the day, Ponting, in a way, has come to resemble Allan “Grumpy” Border more. He is one of the very few current players who openly criticises the schedules that non-ICC Twenty20 tournaments have resulted in. Border apparently went to the extent of forbidding his players from talking to opposition players, lest it softened them when they played. Ponting is not a fan of players turning up the evening before the start of a tough series for Australia, especially when one of them, his key fast bowler, injures himself in the next match. He lets it be known that he wishes “the next generation of players coming through have the same sort of want and desire to play as much international cricket as I have, because that’s what it’s all about as far as I’m concerned”.Ponting went on to complain about the poor practice facilities in Delhi, and the umpires not allowing him a ball change, other than the one after 34 overs, when the dew came down in Delhi, but he also took responsibility when a boundary-less period between him and Michael Hussey cost them the match.That loss in Delhi came on the back of a mauling in Nagpur. Over those five days, they had lost five players to injuries, and whatever momentum they would have hoped to carry from Vadodara. After Delhi, Ponting looked resigned. “Where do you go from here Ricky?” he was asked. “Mohali. Tomorrow.”He did go on to say he was proud of the way his team had fought. “We are just trying to get on with it [the injuries], we are just trying the best we can. We are trying to play the best cricket we can. We are finding it a little bit difficult at the moment. We will keep giving our 100% and keep hoping that one of these close games we can win.”

As the team has grown weaker by the day, Ponting, in a way, has come to resemble Allan “Grumpy” Border more

Ponting will have no complaints with what he got out of the resources that were available to him. The ferocious pride in playing for Australia was all there. Beating Australia takes more than skill, Sachin Tendulkar will testify. MS Dhoni even remarked after the Hyderabad loss that it was the mental battle that they lost – the final collective step that they didn’t take. It’s like Rafael Nadal, who makes you hit an extra shot. Australia make you take that extra step. It was the sudden transformation that Suresh Raina’s wicket brought in Australia that night that makes beating them so difficult. Until then, they were dropping catches, they were missing direct hits; suddenly, after that wicket, they regrouped, ready to attack, knowing Tendulkar was the match.Tendulkar’s innings will be the abiding memory of this series, in a time when not much stays in the memory. Hussey’s consistency, Shane Watson’s aggression, Shaun Marsh’s willingness to put his hand up, Peter Siddle’s hostility, might be forgotten. But in the end the small things mattered.If you count being bowled out as 50 overs played out, India scored more runs than Australia did in the first six matches, at 5.41 an over. Australia managed 5.3. Yet the scoreline says 4-2 to Australia. Guwahati and Nagpur cancelled each other as facile wins, Mohali and Delhi as tense but easy ones, but it was in the close ones, the thrillers in Vadodara and Hyderabad, that Australia proved to be tougher.Not for no reason does Sourav Ganguly reckon that India will come out better for this continued struggle with Australia. They came here without hullabaloo – no claims of thrashing India, no smug quotes in the media. In three days’ time they will leave, having reinforced their place as the best ODI team in the world. Having shown India it is possible to win without big stars. Having shown the world that a West Indies-like decline or an eighties-like decline (after Rod Marsh, Dennis Lillee and Greg Chappell left together) will not happen. Having reinforced the sporting cliché that it’s not over until it’s over. And having contributed to reinforcing the popularity of the 50-over game. The Gods of Big Things have become the Gods of Small Things, but the scoreline reads 4-2 Australia.

England’s grip on the series had been severely loosened by Mohammad Amir, but it was restored in dramatic fashion by an unlikely pair – Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad

Andrew Miller at Lord's27-Aug-2010After a summer of contests that tickled the fancy without quite hitting the spot, here at last was a day of Test cricket to savour. For England it began with catastrophe – the loss of four wickets for eight runs in the space of 16 morale-shattering deliveries – and at 47 for 5, with England’s No. 11 being summoned from the nets barely five minutes into the day’s play, it would have surprised no-one had the slump culminated in the fourth double-figure total in the space of five Tests. It’s been that sort of a season after all – one characterised by abject batting surrenders, not least those instigated by the prodigious and seemingly unplayable Mohammad Amir.But great Test cricket requires flow to counterbalance the ebb, which is why what happened next will live on in the memory long after the cheers of a raucously absorbed Lord’s crowd have faded into the night. With their credibility on the line after squandering a 2-0 series lead amid a clatter of wickets at The Oval, the onus was on England to fight with greater tenacity than at any stage since their rearguards at Centurion and Cape Town last winter. In the improbable pairing of Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad they found two men capable of bending the contest to their will.The manner in which Trott and Broad tore through the record-books was impressive in its own right, as they extended their unbroken stand to a massive 244, which is just two runs shy of England’s all-time eighth-wicket record, and already the tenth-best for any wicket from No. 7 to 10. That they did so with the innings at the absolute point of no-return at 102 for 7, however, was little short of awe-inspiring. As Graham Gooch had said on the rain-truncated first day, this Test is the only Test that counts – not the one that got away at The Oval, nor the moderately significant one that takes place in Brisbane in three months’ time. And to England’s credit, they found sufficient focus to keep the entire arena mesmerised by the here-and-now.”I knew that if we were 100 all out this Test series was going to be 2-2,” said Broad. “So I looked to take a bit of responsibility, and Trotty was fantastic in the way he was so clear with his thoughts. He said to play straight as you can and look to have positive intent, and we didn’t think about getting even to 200. We just talked about going up in fives – 105, 110 – which keeps your mind clear and you don’t worry too much about what the wicket is doing.”Though Broad stole the show with the purity of his maiden first-class hundred, it is Trott who has been England’s banker batsman throughout this most puzzling of summers. While his team-mates have never once questioned his value to the side, it’s taken the English public a long old while to warm to his awkward charms, which is especially strange when you consider how ubiquitous his form has been in home internationals, ever since he seized the Ashes with that brilliant debut hundred at The Oval last August. Today he brought up his 1000th Test run in his 23rd innings, but if you include the 94 and 110 he made in the Bangladesh ODIs back in July, he has 998 international runs from his last 15 home innings in all forms of international cricket, at a formidable average of 90.72.In another era, such credentials would have been sufficient to earn him instant cult status – take Robin Smith and Allan Lamb, for instance, two other South African-born batsmen whose heritage was not held against them by an adoring public. But the further problem with Trott is the fussy, borderline-OCD nature of his cricket. Like his fellow Capetonian Jacques Kallis, he cloaks his talent with a one-size-fits-all batting tempo that seems out of kilter with the entertainment-obsessed era into which the game has now moved. But as Kevin Pietersen unwittingly demonstrated with a ghastly first-ball mow to the keeper, patience remains a virtue that no Test cricketer can live without.Trott’s average in Lord’s Tests currently stands at an incredible 411, but if his double-century against Bangladesh earlier in the season was harshly derided for its langueur, this tour de force left no-one in any doubt about the value of a cricketer who sets himself for survival like Ray Mears in a bushtucker trial. His attacking strokes, such as they were, were nothing more than calculated caresses, as he utilised the precise amount of power required to pick the gap and find the boundary – and in so doing virtually eliminated any prospect of a false stroke, even while Amir and Mohammad Asif were probing his outside edge.”In the position we were in, he was out there for the whole collapse and saw the ball nipping around. That can easily get in a batsman’s mind,” said Broad. “But he played with such clarity, hit strongly through the leg-side and picked up anything that was slightly a bad ball and put it away. It was a special effort, and we all know what a great temperament he has. I think that will be fantastic for him in his Test career to come, because he’s already got more than 1,000 runs, averaging 50, and that is testament to the player he is.”Trott’s 149 was the second time in this bowler-ruled series that he had racked up more than 100 runs in a Test, and while his pair of fifties in the victory at Edgbaston were reasonably warmly received, their overall impact was lost amid the navel-gazing about Broad’s wayward shy at Zulqarnain Haider, and the question marks that that fit of pique raised about England’s temperamental readiness for the Ashes. However, the clarity of this response brooked no equivocation. The mongrel in Broad that compels him to tread a precarious disciplinary line will be invaluable when the going gets tough in Australia, as will Trott’s bloodless desire to bat on regardless of circumstance. But right at this moment, all that matters is the task at hand. And neither man is content with their position just yet.”It’s a very important morning tomorrow, because our big aim is to get 400,” said Broad. “It was key that we communicated this evening, because it would have been easy to give away a cheap wicket, and then – boom, boom – you’re not in a good position. We just talked of not giving our wickets away, because they’ll have a 30-over old ball tomorrow when their seamers are bowling, and hopefully we can capitalise on that.”For the time being, though, Broad can reflect on a seminal day in his development as an international cricketer. His only previous century in any form of cricket had come for Leicestershire Under-19s against Derbyshire during the formative years of his professional career, but now – thanks in no small part to the immense assurance provided by his partner – he has gone one better than his father, Chris, and scored a hundred at the home of cricket, no less.”I always dreamt of an extra-cover drive for my hundred,” he said. “But luckily, it was on my legs – and I’ll take anything. If I was to pick any ground in the world it would be at Lord’s, so this is one of those days that will live long in my memory. Today has given me a lot of confidence that I can score Test match hundreds, and I hope this is a stepping stone to go and score many more.”

Plays of the day from the Group B game between Netherlands and South Africa in the 2011 World Cup

Firdose Moonda at the PCA Stadium03-Mar-2011The almost catch of the day
The Dutch were on the verge of an early breakthrough when Hashim Amla got the bottom edge of his bat to connect with a Mudassar Bukhari slower ball. Wicketkeeper Wesley Barresi had to get forward to pouch a dying ball and if he’d moved one step further he may have. He got to the ball just as it grazed the grass but Barresi was hoping he’d grabbed it in time. Amla was already walking when umpire Richard Kettleborough sought the assistance of a replay that showed the ball had bounced ahead of the keeper .Whiplash of the day
AB de Villiers rightly chose the Powerplay as the time to lash out and for three balls it looked as though Bernard Loots would suffer the same fate as Dan van Bunge did four years ago at the hands of Herschelle Gibbs – six sixes. The first six was massive enough to illustrate that intent, a powerful swing that sent the ball somewhere into the Punjab sky. The second one, a straight loft, was being so closely watched by the long-on fielder that he tumbled into the advertising boards and the third one was a monster pull over midwicket. Much to Loots’ relief, he got the yorker right with his fourth ball and de Villiers could only manage a nudge for one.The best supporting actor of the day
Morne van Wyk was brought into the team because they thought they would need another batsman on a pitch that appeared difficult to bat on. He only got to spend one ball at the crease, which he watched from the non-strikers end and then galloped through for two runs and managed to put in an athletic dive at the end. He was able to do more in the second half of the match. de Villiers did not join his colleagues in the field because he strained his back while batting, so van Wyk was handed the wicketkeeping gloves.The reflex of the day
Jacques Kallis was made to react quickly off the first ball he bowled. Alexei Kervezee drove straight back at Kallis and the ball drifted a little past his right shoulder. Kallis could have let one of mid-on or mid-off scramble after it but he was up in a flash and reached over to grasp it. He had to juggle a little but had the catch in his clutches on the second attempt.The yo-yo referrals
Things were getting desperate with Netherlands on 119 for 8 and Imran Tahir was bowling every ball at his disposal to end it quickly. He hurled a flipper at Bernard Loots and trapped him right in front of middle stump. Loots wanted to hang around and asked for a review, which showed no contact with the bat and his marching orders were upheld. Tahir rapped Bernerd Westdijk on the pad with his next ball, this time not out was the on-field call and South Africa reviewed. Westdijk was struck outside the line and Kettleborough was proved right again. Westdijk didn’t last long after that, he was hit on the pad for the second time in succession and given out. He had to upkeep the reviewing tradition of that over but it was no use – three out of three for the on-field umpire and Nethrelands bowled out inside 35 overs.

Ed Joyce talks about turning out for Ireland, then England, and moving back

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi02-Mar-2011″I feel I’ve done my bit in the past to get Ireland to where they are. It does not feel like I’m gatecrashing”•Getty ImagesHow does it feel to play against England. Are you nervous?
It feels like any other game really. I was more nervous going into the Bangladesh game as that was our first outing in this World Cup. We were obviously extremely disappointed after that game and we’re hoping to put in a good performance against England.Do England need to fear Ireland?

I wouldn’t say England fear us, but I think they respect us and won’t be taking us lightly, which just shows how far Irish cricket has come in the last five years or so. We really shouldn’t have just scared Bangladesh last week. We should have beaten them after bowling and fielding so well.How happy are you back to be with Ireland?
I’m delighted to be back with my old team-mates. Those 18 months with England, I really enjoyed that. It was in quest of playing Test cricket. That did not come about, unfortunately. The silver lining is, I’m back with Ireland.What were you thinking when you decided to make the shift to England?
I made the decision in 2001. Mike Gatting and Angus Fraser at Middlesex asked me if I wanted to try and play for England. Till then it had not even entered my head. I did not even know you could do that.I was breaking into the Middlesex side at that point, but I thought then about trying for the residency period, which was four years. By 2005 I had established myself and was playing well, and that is when I came under the England selectors’ radar. I played a few matches up to about the 2007 World Cup. So the process started much earlier than 2005, but obviously that was when I got involved with England.Was it difficult to make the move?
It was and it was not. England and Ireland are neighbours and big rivals in a lot of other sports but not necessarily in cricket. That is because in Ireland there were a lot of good players always, but there were not really any structures in place to play well as a team. There was no plan to go forward as a cricketing nation, whereas now there is. That is new. It is an exciting team to be around, playing World Cups and competing against the best countries.You did everything possible for Ireland to qualify for the 2007 World Cup…
That was a bit strange. It was good to be involved in the tournament in 2005 which allowed Ireland to qualify for the World Cup, and then to play for a different country in the tournament was a bit odd. It is just one of those anomalies.Did the thought occur to you at any point that you should play for Ireland in that World Cup?
Not really. I put my eggs in the basket. The reason I was playing for England was because I wanted to try and play Test cricket. Ireland still don’t play that. At that point I wanted to play at the highest level. That was the dream. I went on an Ashes tour and was the 12th man in the Test squad a few times. I was close enough but did not quite get there.Do you think you could have been in the England Test squad by now if you had stayed back?
I’m more interested and excited being with this team [Ireland], really, because it is a more vibrant atmosphere. The same guys I played with in 2005… the improvement is amazing, and some of the younger players who have come in have improved so much. There are a lot of full-time professionals there. I do not really miss aiming to play at the highest level. Hopefully, Ireland will get there in the near future.It has been a journey. That’s for sure. It’s hard to put in a couple of sentences. Eoin Morgan is going through the same thing now: he is an Irishman and played in the World Cup for Ireland, and now he is in the Test squad for England.I did not have a huge plan back when I made the decision to try and play for England in 2001. Each decision you make leads on to something else. In one of my first games for England, a Twenty20, I did my ankle in spectacular fashion. Then I came back, played in the World Cup – played against Ireland twice as well in those 17 games.Did you get sledged when playing in the Ireland matches?
I did not last very long to get sledged!What was the high point of playing for England?
It has to be the hundred against Australia in Sydney. It was a very difficult Ashes tour and I did not play any game. I was part of the squad. It was a very downbeat team, and then to come back and win that one-day series against Australia and New Zealand after losing the first couple of the games was really good. To be integral in that team and get a hundred, get a few fifties, was the high point. It is a pity I did not kick on from there. [Andrew] Flintoff and [Duncan] Fletcher were pretty complimentary at that stage. What were your emotions when you made the move back to Ireland?
The World Cup was pretty much a disaster for that England team. There was no doubt that some people were going to pay the price. I’ve said this before: if I had performed better than I did and then got left out I would understandably be very upset. I think I deserved to play a bit more than I did, but I did not really set the world on fire. I performed to a level. I could have done better. I should have done better. And I did not. That is frustrating.To see Ireland do well, and being an Irishman, it was difficult to watch. There was a little bit of jealousy. That spurred me to come back. In the 2009 winter, around Christmas, Cricket Ireland asked if I was interested in coming back. I said I would love to.

“There was no plan for Ireland to go forward as a cricketing nation, whereas now there is. That is new. It is an exciting team to be around”

Do you think it would be a big challenge to become one of the lads once again, with Ireland?
In a way it has been easier because Hamish Marshall was doing the same, so there were two of us. But as I said earlier, it would’ve been harder if I had not been involved in the 2005 qualification. So I feel I’ve done my bit in the past to get Ireland to where they are. It does not feel like I’m gatecrashing. That is a good thing.I had a few reservations because if I got picked for this World Cup I thought I’d be taking the place of someone else who possibly would’ve played if I had stayed back in England. But there has been absolutely nothing of that sort and I have slipped back in easily. People now are expecting me to do well, so there is a bit of pressure, but that is always there when you represent your country. Could you talk about Ireland coach Phil Simmons’ hand in their growth? What kind of role does he have in mind for you?
Phil had a difficult job because he took over from Adrian Birrell, who had a huge influence on Irish cricket. But Phil reads cricket incredibly well. He picks up something about your game very quickly and tells you in his own way. He has been very impressive. John Mooney says the improvement he has made under Phil has been huge – he is one of the guys who was part-time before and now is full time.Tomorrow if any youngster is in the same situation as you were, what would you advise: to do what you did or stick with Ireland?
I would always advise and encourage anyone to shoot for the stars and try and be the best you can be. Until Ireland gets Test status it is difficult to tell someone not to play Test cricket. Eoin is a good example. He is a good friend, a good man, has a long England career ahead of him, and he has a good head on his shoulders.You were the trailblazer originally for many Irish youngsters, including Morgan. Many looked at you as an example, they still probably do. Is there a little bit of discomfort somewhere that your dreams did not work out the way you wanted them to?
It’s interesting, because I grew up playing cricket in Ireland. Ireland always had a cricket team but they were never particularly competitive. Once the opportunity came to play at the higher level, no one at home – anyone who knew cricket at least – thought “What the hell is he doing?” It was just a natural progression. I went to England to play county cricket. Ireland did not even play one-day cricket back in 2001. It is probably slightly different for the younger guys now.Where do you think Associates go now, in view of the ICC decision on their participation in future World Cups?
I would hope that if it goes down to 10 nations there would be some avenue left for Associates to qualify through playoffs between the lower-ranked ODI teams. I will be very disappointed if that was not the case. It would be very disappointing considering the strides that Ireland have made.

Interesting one-liners churned out by players, past and present, on all that happened (and should have happened) at the World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Apr-2011AFP”He is the Obama of cricket.”

Feb 1, 2011″We’re going to a World Cup, and World Cups are incredible events. We’ve had an incredible 12 months, [winning would] cap off the most remarkable 12 months in English cricket history.”

Feb 9, 2011″If you want to irritate someone that should be the opposition and not your side.”

Feb 18, 2011″There’s going to be a lot of sign language involved.”

Feb 26, 2011″I could’ve stopped ’em better with my coat.”

Feb 27, 2011″Stop whatever you’re doing and turn on the England-Ireland match!”

Mar 2, 2011″I didn’t last long enough to get sledged.”

Mar 2, 2011″It would be nice to get me and my brother up there, two very good-looking men.”

Mar 3, 2011Kamran Akmal’s wicketkeeping didn’t impress too many, least of all Geoffrey Boycott•AFP”Some bookmakers had Ireland at 400-1 at one stage. I wish I’d not kept my money in pocket.”

Mar 3, 2011″We don’t want to play Tests. We don’t want to do anything. The World Cup is over for us. This is it.”

Mar 3, 2011″I saw only two murders in the theatre, but ended up watching many more during the Ireland-England game.”
Saat Khoon Maaf

Mar 4, 2011″It’s a bit confusing. I don’t know, don’t understand it much.”

Mar 7, 2011″If his batting was as good as Don Bradman’s, he couldn’t score enough runs to make up for what he costs them with his keeping.”

Mar 8, 2011″Currently sitting in a corner, rocking back and forth, having Indian nightmare. Poor bowlers, it’s not fair.”

Mar 12, 2011″You don’t play for the crowd, you play for the country.”

Mar 12, 2011″You may put hybrid fuel in the car but the cylinder, the engine, everything, needs to be like that.”

Mar 11, 2011″It felt like playing football with both hands tied behind my back.”

Mar 14, 2011″Following England in this World Cup is a bit like following Newcastle United – you never know what you’re going to get. One minute we’re beating South Africa, the next we’re losing to Ireland and Bangladesh.”

Mar 15, 2011″Don’t ask. Very irresponsible shot as captain. On a stage like that.”

Mar 19, 2011″I’ve been saying this for more than 21 years to Afridi. He has to learn.”

Mar 19, 2011″It was the best ball of my cricket career. It was one of those moments in life you dream of. I wasn’t sure how to celebrate.”

Mar 20, 2011″We hope you lose tomorrow, daddy. Then you can come home.”

Mar 21, 2011″For the first time in my life there have been claps in a press conference. I am sure this is a special moment for me, guys.”

March 24, 2011The dewy conditions in Bangladesh didn’t go down too well with Graeme Swann•Getty Images”I told Gautam: I am not Virender Sehwag, I can’t run like that.”

Mar 24, 2011″Thankfully, I am six foot six, and I replaced Kane Williamson who, I think, is four foot six.”

Mar 25, 2011″The rave across the street has finished and my windows have stopped shaking but it seems they have moved the party into our hotel. If it’s still going in a couple of hours I might stick a pair of jeans on and hit the dance floor.”

Mar 25, 2011″The monkey’s almost become a gorilla now and until we win an ICC event it’s always going to be there I’m afraid.”

Mar 31, 2011″Tendulkar has carried the burden of the nation for 21 years. It is time we carried him on our shoulders.”

Apr 2, 2011

ESPNcricinfo picks some of the lesser-known players that could spring a surprise or two in the Champions League

Nikita Bastian and Dustin Silgardo22-Sep-2011Daniel Harris, South AustraliaDaniel Harris was South Australia’s Player of the Year for the 2010-11 season•Getty ImagesAn opening batsman, Daniel Harris is strong square through the offside and a sharp fielder. He was named South Australia’s Twenty20 player of the year for 2010-11, following his strong showing in the Big Bash. Harris topped the tournament’s batting charts with 304 runs at 60.80, and hit 12 sixes in seven innings, second only to Chris Gayle. The highlight of his Twenty20 season was a blistering 70 against Western Australia in Perth, which came off 37 balls and contained nine fours and three sixes. If South Australia are to do better than last year’s semi-final finish in the CLT20, Harris’ success at the top of the order could be vital.Patrick Cummins,
New South WalesAn 18-year-old new-ball bowler, Patrick Cummins made his debut in all three formats for New South Wales earlier this year. He picked up 11 wickets at 14.09 in six Big Bash matches, while conceding only 6.59 runs an over, to finish No. 1 on the tournament’s bowling charts. He reserved his best for the business end of the competition, destroying Tasmania in the preliminary final with figures of 4 for 16 – the best spell in Big Bash 2010-11. In June, he was named in Cricket Australia’s list of contracted players for 2011-12, the youngest player to be offered a central contract since the current system was introduced in 1998.Shadab Jakati, Chennai Super KingsShadab Jakati, a left-arm spinner, has played a significant role in Chennai Super Kings’ strategy of stifling the opposition of runs with slow bowling. He was on the expensive side in the early part of IPL 2011, but improved as the tournament progressed. In the second-half of the group stage, apart from an off day against Delhi Daredevils, his economy rate hovered between 5.50 and 7.50 and he managed to claim big players like Shane Watson and Brendon McCullum after they had got off to starts. He made a telling contribution against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final, trapping AB de Villiers lbw and taking a return-catch off Luke Pomersbach, while conceding only 21 from his four overs.Iqbal Abdulla, Kolkata Knight RidersIqbal Abdulla, IPL 2011’s Under-23 player of the tournament, played a crucial role for Kolkata Knight Riders on both offensive and defensive fronts. He was miserly with his left-arm spin, conceding only 6.10 runs an over – the fourth most economical bowler of those who sent down fifty overs or more in the tournament. He was also Kolkata’s leading wicket-taker, with 16 wickets at 19.06, and had the scalps of batsmen like Kumar Sangakkara, Adam Gilchrist, David Hussey and JP Duminy to his credit. The side’s confidence in Abdulla was evident during the CLT20 qualifiers, when he opened the bowling in both games.Peter Trego, SomersetA hard-hitting allrounder who bowls medium pace, Peter Trego proved quite handy for Somerset with ball (v Auckland) and then bat (v Kolkata) during the CLT20 qualifiers. He had kicked off his Friends Life t20 2011 season with a knock of 55 from 37 balls against Hampshire that included three sixes, and went on to score 304 runs in the tournament, one of three Somerset batsmen to go past 300. Trego’s role in the side gains further importance with Somerset missing four key batsmen in Marcus Trescothick, Craig Kieswetter, Jos Buttler and Kieron Pollard for various reasons.Ambati Rayudu, Mumbai IndiansAmbati Rayudu has been a big part of Mumbai Indians’ success over the past two years•AFPJust 25 years old, Ambati Rayudu has already seen some dramatic fluctuations in his career. From leading India at the Under-19 level, he went to being cast out by the Indian board for choosing to join the Indian Cricket League. By the time he took the BCCI’s amnesty offer in 2009, and signed to play for Mumbai Indians in the 2010 IPL, most had forgotten he was once touted as an India prospect. Two years of big scoring in the IPL – he was Mumbai’s third-highest run-getter in 2010 and their second-highest in 2011 – have brought him back into the limelight, and his recovery reached a crescendo when he won Mumbai their last league game of the 2011 IPL with a six off the last ball. Though it is his Twenty20 exploits that have earned him most recognition, Rayudu is not per se a big hitter. He gets his runs through orthodox strokes, and when he innovates it is usually with cheeky flicks and cuts.Saurabh Tiwary, Royal Challengers BangaloreMumbai Indians’ run to the final of the 2010 IPL, after having failed to get to the knock-out rounds in the previous two seasons, had a lot to do with the contributions of Rayudu and Saurabh Tiwary. A big-hitting left-hand batsman, who was part of the team that won the 2008 Under-19 World Cup, Tiwary’s image was enhanced by the fact that he hailed from the same state as India’s captain MS Dhoni, had long hair like Dhoni did in his younger days, and played in the same inelegant yet effective manner. In the 2010 IPL, he plundered 419 runs which earned him a call-up to India’s one-day side, and when the players were auctioned again in 2011 Royal Challengers Bangalore were willing to cough up $1.6 million for him, more than they did for any other player. Tiwary, though, did not go past fifty once in the tournament and had a strike-rate of less than 100. His India prospects have also taken a dive after he was ignored for the one-dayers in West Indies and England, and the Champions League is an opportunity for him to prove he is worth the exorbitant price Bangalore paid for him.Samuel Badree, Trinidad & TobagoLegspinner Samuel Badree has not managed to make a mark in first-class cricket, having only played 11 more first-class games since making his debut back in 2001-02. The Twenty20 format though has given his career a new lease of life: he first impressed for Trinidad & Tobago in the Stanford Super Series in 2008, and has since led a spin-heavy T&T attack in their Twenty20 tournaments. Badree is known more for his ability to keep the runs down than take wickets. In the 2010 Caribbean T20, he took only five wickets, less than several of his team-mates, but his remarkable economy-rate of 3.90 was the best of any bowler in the tournament. His miserliness has already been on display in the Champions League qualifiers, where he had figures of 2 for 7 in his four overs in T&T’s match against Leicestershire.Richard Levi, Cape CobrasA quick-scoring opening batsman, Richard Levi played a prominent role in Cape Cobras’ winning campaign in the 2010-11 Pro20 Series in South Africa. He was the side’s second-highest run-getter, with 258 runs from eight innings at a strike-rate of 145.76. His 60 off 31 balls in the semi-final helped Cobras chase 223 against Titans and he scored an important 45 in the final versus Warriors. His strong domestic season earned him a place in the South Africa Emerging Players squad for the recent tournament in Australia, where he scored an unbeaten century in a three-day game against New Zealand A. Levi was part of the Cobras squad that came to India to play the 2009 Champions League, but did not get a game. This time, he is likely to play a big role in their campaign.JJ Smuts, WarriorsJon-Jon Trevor Smuts has struggled to find consistency in his short career as an opening batsman who also bowls left-arm spin. A poor Pro20 Series in 2009-10 meant he was consigned to the bench for the 2010 Champions League. He bounced back in the 2010-11 season, leading the run-charts for Warriors in their run to the Pro20 final, and going at just 6.58 an over with the ball. However, his form dipped again at the Emerging Players Tournament where he had a highest score of 39. He will have to dig himself out of that slump because with Davy Jacobs playing for Mumbai Indians in this year’s Champions League, he will have to take the lead in getting Warriors off to solid starts. Also in the Warriors squad is his younger brother Kelly Smuts, who scored a half-century on Twenty20 debut in the Pro20 final.