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It is a hundred years to the day that Victor Trumper played his last Test match. A look back at the genius batsman (and his phobia of clergymen)

Ashley Mallett01-Mar-2012The cricketing gods loved one batsman above all others: Victor Thomas Trumper. Whenever Trumper strode boldly onto the green sward on his way to the middle of his beloved SCG, the crowd rose as one to applaud. It was said even the blades of grass seemed to bow respectfully in the wake of the great man, becoming a rolling sea of green, nature’s own version of a Mexican wave.To the day, 100 years ago, Trumper played his last Test innings. It was March 1, 1912, the fifth and last Test of the 1911-12 Ashes series, at the SCG, and Australia needed 363 runs to win the game. At the non-striker’s end, little Syd Gregory contemplated the seriousness of the situation, as the great SF Barnes cruised past to deliver the first ball of the Australian second innings.Barnes, England’s finest bowler, operated a shade above medium pace, bowling a combination of swing and spin, the fast legbreak his most potent weapon. The cricketing gods must have been taking a tea break, for Barnes dismissed Trumper for 5 in the first innings, producing a near perfect legbreak, which pitched leg and would have taken the top of off, had not Trumper’s bat got in the way – alas, only to catch an edge, giving Frank Woolley, who stood tall and straight like a Grenadier Guardsman, a dolly at first slip. Trumper’s fate didn’t seem fair somehow. Woolley himself had scored an unconquered 133 in England’s first innings of 324. Big Warwick Armstrong hit the top score of 33 in Australia’s paltry 176.But today Trumper was setting out to make amends for a summer of discontent for Clem Hill’s Australian team. Trumper’s only century in the Test series had been in the first match, at the SCG. He hit 113 in the first dig, and, significantly, it was the only match of the series that Australia won. By the fifth Test Australia trailed 3-1 and were looking to turn the tables on an England team that included some of the greats – among them Jack Hobbs, George Gunn, Wilfred Rhodes, the captain, JWHT Douglas, and, of course, Woolley and the incomparable Barnes.The first ball from Barnes was a yorker, but Trumper dismissed it in a flash, playing what he called the “dog shot”. As the ball careered towards leg stump, having moved from off to leg in the manner of a late reverse swinger, Trumper merely lifted his front leg, swivelled neatly on his back leg, meeting the ball on the half volley and dismissing it from his presence to the backward-square fence. Umpire Bob Crockett broke into a broad grin, unusual for such a stern soul, and the crowd rose to acclaim Trumper’s mastery. The four, then a two past gully, and a single to mid-on, brought Gregory to face the music. Two balls in a row from Barnes beat the Gregory outside edge, but he survived.How could Trumper know then that this day would be his last in Test cricket? Nephritis, the kidney disease, which took his life in 1915, was yet to show its ugly face. However, the mental stress that had always plagued Trumper throughout his career was at its most distressing when he happened to set eyes on a man wearing a dog collar. Those who saw his batting genius at first hand never understood why Trumper believed he was doomed to failure if he spotted a man of the cloth in the crowd.”How can I get runs with all those clergymen standing about?” Trumper whispered to Clem Hill at Lord’s in 1899. The pair had just walked from the field, Australia having got England out for a modest 206. But despite the presence of many dog collars in the crowd, the very next day Trumper scored his maiden Test century, 135 not out. Hill also hit 135 in the Australian first innings of 421, runs that set the side up for an impressive ten-wicket victory. It was Trumper’s second Test match. In his first, WG Grace’s last, Trumper scored a duck (bowled by Jack Hearne) and 11 (bowled by FS Jackson).In Australia on December 4, 1891, the 14-year-old Trumper impressed Grace’s visiting England team by fielding brilliantly as Grace and others batted on the edge of the SCG. Trumper was one of a number of youngsters who fielded, and he was invited to have a hit. Wearing knickerbockers and a brave face, young Trumper struggled to middle too many on the rough turf and Grace strode towards him: “You can surely field, m’boy… but I am afraid, batting is not your forte. You’ll never get anywhere as a batsman.”Eight years on, at Lord’s, Grace had changed his mind about the young Australian. He knocked on the Australian dressing room door and asked to see Trumper, who had just made his maiden Test century. The doctor handed him his bat, upon which he had written the words: “From the past champion to the future champion.”Traditionally, cricketers are pretty superstitious. Well, most of them. For Australia the devil’s number is 87, which is supposed to date back to the time Don Bradman was dismissed pulling a ball onto his stumps on that score against Victoria once. Keith Miller, then 12, was watching. He looked at the score board. “Fancy getting out for 87, unlucky 13 from 100,” he mused.The great Victoria and Australia fast-medium bowler Alan Connolly always took the field for his country with a piece of Hugh Trumble’s green-and-gold Test hat-band on his person. Celebrated England wicketkeeper Alan Knott had a peculiar habit of having a handkerchief hanging precariously from his trouser pocket, and when standing up to the wicket to Derek Underwood and Co, he would always gently touch the top of the stumps for good luck.

As the ball careered towards leg stump, having moved from off to leg in the manner of a late reverse swinger, Trumper merely lifted his front leg, swivelled neatly on his back leg, meeting the ball on the half volley and dismissing it from his presence to the backward-square fence

Bill Whitty, the left-arm medium-fast bowler from Mount Gambier in South Australia, once told me that during Trumper’s brilliant summer of 1910-11, he “could do anything at any time. All the bowling came alike to him, and he was just as likely to get a couple of fours off the first two balls of the day as he was off the last two. But he could not relax at the batting crease if he saw a clergyman, either on the way to the wicket or in the crowd while he was out in the middle.”Trumper’s fear of the men in dog collars was extraordinary, and his superstitiousness was in complete contrast to Bradman, the man who took over from Trumper as Australia’s batting idol, and had no fear. “Friday the 13th, black cats, treading on cracks in the pavement and the figure 87, are all silly superstitions and pure nonsense,” Sir Donald told me in 1974. For many years Bradman occupied Room 87 on the eighth floor of an office block opposite the Adelaide Town Hall. I wonder if Geoff Boycott would have occupied Room 111 in a Leeds building, given that 111 is England’s devil’s number – derived, I believe, from the legend of Admiral Nelson: “one arm, one leg, one a***hole…”In Manchester in 1902, Neville Cardus, a boy then, sat transfixed as Trumper and Reg Duff walked to the wicket. He said to himself: “Please, god, let Victor Trumper score a century today for Australia against England – out of a total of 137 all out!” Trumper scored 104 before lunch. Ever self-effacing, he wrote in his diary that day: “Wet wicket. Fourth Test. Won toss. Made 299. Self 104…” Only three Australians have scored a century before lunch on the first day of a Test match – Trumper in Manchester in 1902, Charlie Macartney in Leeds in 1926, and Bradman, also in Leeds, in 1930.Surely there were men of the cloth in the crowd that day. Maybe Trumper’s eyes were only for the ball. Imagine if the opposition today knew of such a weakness. Masks with the image of a man of the cloth on them would be handed to every fan barracking for England. England under JWHT Douglas or Archie MacLaren could have done with the likes of David Sheppard in the side, who was among the dozen-odd clergymen to have made their mark in English cricket history, and who wore his dog collar to matches.Reverend Sheppard certainly incurred the wrath of Freddie Trueman once, who, upon a misfield, said to him: “It is a pity, David, that you only put your hands together on a Sunday.” During that England tour Down Under, of 1962-63, Sheppard wore his dog collar to a reception and when a bishop appeared, Trueman called: “Hey, David, is that your senior pro?”Today we mark 100 years since Trumper played his last innings. Australia lost that match, but Trumper scored exactly 50 – again caught at slip by Woolley off Barnes.Trumper’s legacy to the game of cricket was not the number of runs he scored, but the way he played the game. We don’t rank Sachin Tendulkar above Bradman just because he has scored a mountain more runs than him – albeit in 130 more Test matches. Cardus summed it up best when he said of Trumper: “You will no more get an idea of the quality of Trumper’s batsmanship by adding up his runs than you will get an idea of the quality of Shelley’s poetry by adding up the lines written by Shelley.”The great CB Fry said of Trumper: “Victor Trumper is perhaps the most difficult batsman in the world to reduce to words. He has no style, yet he is all style.”In 1980, Kim Hughes, the gifted yet wayward Australia batsman, hit a magnificent century at Lord’s in the Centenary Test match. In batting terms that innings was the epitome of Trumper. The memory of its class and style lingers, as has that of Michael Clarke’s amazing unconquered 329 at the SCG this golden summer. Methinks there was more than a touch of Trumper in both those innings.Bibliography
by Ashley Mallett
by AG Moyes
Victor Trumper’s 1902 diary

Vernon Philander has the best returns from seven Tests in over a century. What’s his secret? Hadlee-like consistency

Firdose Moonda09-Apr-2012 is the name of a popular South African soap opera. It is a television series about life on a street named 7th Avenue. There is very little relation between and sport. But that may change if the producers of the show discover that a record-breaking cricketer grew up and still lives on a real 7de Laan.Vernon Philander, the seven-Test match 50-wicket sensation, is a product of Ravensmead, a lower-income area on the Cape Flats. He lives with his three younger brothers and mother, Bonny, in his grandparents’ home on 7de Laan. He lived there when he first started playing cricket at the age of eight. He lived there when he worked his way through the Western Province age-group structures and played for South Africa Under-19. He lived there when he was first picked for the national team in 2007, when he was dropped little over a year later, when he worked his way back in, and when he became the latest bowling superstar.Constants have played a massive role in Philander’s success. The discipline he employs in line and length, complemented by subtle movements of the ball, have earned him Test cricket’s best return from seven matches in over a hundred years. It was a skill that took careful crafting and years of hard work, as Philander negotiated an unconventional road to sporting success.He grew up with his mother, and although he knew his father, Philander did not have a male role model until he started playing club cricket. A member of Tygerburg Cricket Club, where another international, Alfonso Thomas, was discovered, saw Philander playing in the streets of Ravensmead and introduced him to Hannes Adams, the club’s chairperson. Adams is one of many elders who monitored Philander from a young age, having identified his talent, but not in the way we know it now. “Vernon was more of a batsman then,” Adams said. “These days people only know him as a bowler but he was scoring a lot of runs then. He was always focused and he always knew what he wanted.”At the time unity was still a relatively new concept and opportunities for people from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, like Philander, were just starting to open up. Philander’s ability got him his chance. He was picked for the U-13 Western Province team, where Nabeal Dien, manager of amateur and development cricket at the province, first met him.Dien noticed a talented but somewhat troubled young man, who “compensated a lot for things he lacked” with absolute self-assurance. “Vernon was always ahead of his years in terms of his ability. The problem was his ability to fit in,” Dien said. “He wasn’t an easy guy to get along with through his younger years. He was the kind of fellow who would rub people up the wrong way. I didn’t always see it as arrogance but a lot of people did. His over-confidence was almost arrogant in a way, and that carried him through.”By the time Philander was 14, he was playing for the first team at Tygerburg CC. He jumped straight from U-15 to U-19, and spent six months of his final school years on an exchange programme in England. He was picked for South Africa’s U-19 team on its tour of England in 2003. He also went to the U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh the following year. By that time the batsman had become a bowler, and at 21 he was called up to the national side for a tri-series in Ireland.He took 4 for 12 on debut but things went downward from there. For a long time he was remembered for a dropped catch in an ODI in Leeds in August 2008.Adams was not surprised by Philander’s early stumbles. “I felt that they threw him into the wrong form of the game. From the start I could see he was more of a longer form player and Test cricket was the best form of the game for him.”It was a lesson not only in cricket but in the dangers of over-confidence. Dien said Philander took the setback seriously. “What I said to him is that we must take care not to take this game for granted. For him there was nothing difficult about it, but when you drop crucial catches in a game, the public measure you on that. That was a bit of a knock for him. We all said, ‘Keep going. There is no way with your ability that you won’t get back up there.'”A period of introspection followed. Philander decided to focus on his disciplines, and as he entered his mid-twenties he became better at managing them. “In the last two years he has matured,” Dien said. “I always felt that if he wasn’t going to mature, he wouldn’t make it, that he would one day lose his franchise contract and that would be the end of Vernon.”

“What I said to him is that we must take care not to take this game for granted. For him, there was nothing difficult about it, but when you drop crucial catches in a game, the public measure you on that. That was a bit of a knock for him”Nabeal Dien, Philander’s Western Province mentor, on the bowler’s early international career

He also needed someone to help polish his skills and hone his accuracy. Dien credits Richard Pybus – who many won’t acknowledge has a hand in Philander’s growth because his tenure at the Cobras ended sourly after the 2011-12 season – for doing just that. “The discipline that Vernon needed more than anything, Pybus gave to him,” Dien said. “He is a very disciplined coach. Vernon was the kind of person that on any given day, he wouldn’t be able to execute his skills like he should. Pybus was able to bring that out in him.”The results were impossible to ignore, as Philander took 94 wickets in two seasons of first-class cricket. By the time he was recalled to the national team, he had the lowest average of all bowlers who had taken 250 wickets or more. When he was included in the squad for the Test series against Australia last year, popular sentiment among experts in South Africa was that he would not play and, like Richard Levi who was named in the Twenty20 squad, serve drinks and soak in the atmosphere. A few like Boeta Dippenaar said if Philander did play, he should open the bowling. Most dismissed that as a joke, insisting the deadly pair of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel should not be separated.The selectors saw sense and used Philander in the role he had blossomed in at domestic level. He did not let them down. Every time he picked up the ball, he was a threat. In five months he went from being a rookie to the leader of the attack.The simple secret to his success is that he seldom bowls a bad ball. He is the embodiment of consistency. His agent, Arthur Turner, a former chief executive of Western Province cricket, sees “huge similarities between Philander and Richard Hadlee”. “Hadlee may have been a touch quicker but he also hit good areas, swung the ball, got a bit of seam movement and built pressure.”Philander insists that if he sticks to his line, just outside the off stump, it will work “anywhere in the world”. So far he has not been proved wrong. After success at home and in New Zealand, he opened his county campaign for Somerset with a five-wicket haul in his first match, which can only bode well for South Africa’s tour of England later this year. Philander’s Somerset stint is not his first experience in England; he has previously played at Devon and Middlesex, but adjusting to conditions this time is much more important for his international ambitions.With so much having already gone right for him, it’s tough to see how things could get better, and he may have to brace for a less fruitful times. Dien thinks Philander is well prepared for lean patches. “He is mature enough to know that cricket works that way. There will be days when nothing comes your way.”For now, though everything is going his way, Philander still has a lot he wants to achieve. He has joked about becoming the fastest bowler to 100 Test wickets. It’s not a pipe dream, either. George Lohmann, the 19th century England Test bowler who emigrated to South Africa, holds the record, at 16 Tests. Philander has played only seven so far.He also wants to re-establish his status as an allrounder. “He said to me that he wants to prove he can bat. I think he is looking to the other formats now,” Dien said. Philander has two first-class hundreds to his name, and showed his capability with the bat in the Tests against New Zealand.And then there are other goals. 7de Laan will not be Philander’s home for much longer. He is building a house for him and his family in Kuils River, a suburb east of Cape Town. “For the family, it will be a good thing,” Dien said. “If you went to the place [Ravensmead], you may find it hard to understand that a national cricketer is living there but he stuck it out there for a long time, because he felt a responsibility.”His new home may not be the only building that will commemorate Philander’s achievement. Adams has another structure in mind to serve as a symbol of success at Tygerburg Cricket Club. “The legacy I want to build for Vernon Philander is a big indoor facility at our club,” Adams said. “It will be for Vernon and Alfonso and all the guys who made it.”

In Indian cricket’s brand landscape, once you get past the big two, there isn’t any one name that commands universal attention

Tariq Engineer27-Jun-2012It is no surprise that MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar are the two Indian sportsmen – and the highest-ranked cricketers – to feature in magazine’s list of the top 100 highest-paid athletes for the period June 2011 to June 2012, having made $26.5 million and $18.6 million respectively. India is cricket’s biggest market and Tendulkar was India’s first national sporting brand, while Dhoni has arguably been better than any Indian sportsperson at spinning on-field success into endorsements.When a brand looks for a sporting celebrity to associate with, the first criterion is naturally sporting success. You can’t be a celebrity without fame, and (in most cases) you can’t be famous without consistently performing at the highest level of your sport. Both Dhoni and Tendulkar are at the very top of their field. After that it comes down to how relevant the player’s image is to a particular brand. “That’s when the personality kicks in,” Samir Kale, the founder and president of SportzPR, a sports communications firm, told ESPNcricinfo. “There has to be a personality fit with the brand.”Personality has been Dhoni’s trump card. He is cool under pressure, seemingly fearless, yet easy-going and relatable to his small-town, middle-class background. He has also presided over a winning team (save for the last 12 months), for which he has often played a pivotal role, especially in the limited-overs formats, and that has made him even more of a coveted celebrity than Tendulkar.”Sachin Tendulkar came into Indian cricket when India didn’t win so often,” Kawal Shoor, planning head at advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather, said. “So his greatness came from the individual records he has accumulated. Whereas if you were to look at Dhoni, the three or four big milestones against his name are not centuries or runs; it is about getting India wins.”The timing of Dhoni’s rise as a cricketer also coincided with the India growth story. It came at a time when the country’s economic engine hummed along at a pace exceeded only by China. In effect, Dhoni became a metaphor for a changing India, where small-town boys could dream of becoming world beaters. Dhoni’s contribution to the team’s success cemented his appeal across demographics, allowing brands of all kinds to court him.Look beyond Dhoni and Tendulkar at the next generation of players, however, and it raises the question of who might step into their commercial shoes in the years to come. The answer is not straightforward, say brand and advertising experts. This is partly because the next generation has not yet established itself, but more importantly the nature of the advertising industry is changing too, which will make it much more difficult for one player to corner the market as Tendulkar and Dhoni have done.”People are not going to follow one person,” Ramanujam Sridhar, the head of brand consulting firm Brand-Comm, said. “There is a void to find a person of that stature. So rather than one big punt on a Dhoni or a Tendulkar, I think you are going to get a slew of cricketers rather than one cricketer or one sportsman taking the lot.”The possible exception is Virat Kohli, perhaps the only one of the heirs apparent who has come to close to cementing a place in the Indian side. Kohli also seems to be the only one with an outspoken personality. His modern, somewhat devil-may-care attitude was showcased in a series of flirtatious ads for Fastrack bags, products aimed at teenagers and young adults, with the tagline “Move On”. In one of the ads, Kohli and a girl (played by a Bollywood actress) are in an elevator alone. When they start to get cosy, he points out the video camera in the corner. She promptly empties her Fastrack bag and uses it to cover up the camera.Kohli’s advantage is that in his own way he represents the next stage in India’s transformation. Where once a clean-cut image in the mould of a Tendulkar was a necessity, India’s youth now are a lot more confident and fearless than previous generations. “To that extent, somebody having attitude or being in your face is perfectly acceptable, and in fact there is a perverse sense of aspiration to be like that,” Sridhar, said. “This is why Kohli could do well as a model.”

As marketers start to develop clear ideas about how they want to use cricketers to target the segment of the population they want to reach, they will start looking for brand ambassadors who fit their brand’s unique profile

However, Kohli could well have to navigate a landscape different from the one Dhoni has made his own. The majority of Indian brands have so far typically focused purely on raising awareness and chased a mass audience. Signing any celebrity fulfilled that purpose, irrespective of the brand’s identity. But as marketers start to develop clear ideas about how they want to use cricketers to target the segment of the population they want to reach, they will start looking for brand ambassadors who fit their brand’s unique profile.”Until now, most brands have spoken to mainstream India and hence they have looked for mainstream heroes,” Shoor said. “You will see a lot of so-called fringe players – people who have appeal for a limited set of audiences.”That would bring someone like a Gautam Gambhir into play. Shoor thinks Gambhir, who is serious and intense on the field, would make an ideal spokesperson for the army. Making it even more of a match is that Gambhir had considered enlisting before cricket claimed him, and that his hero growing up was the Indian revolutionary Bhagat Singh. (The army, however, recently made Dhoni its brand ambassador.)Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron, should they establish themselves as India regulars, are two others who could eventually draw commercial attention because “pace bowlers evoke a very different kind of feeling”, according to Shoor. Yadav, the son of a coal miner, has the kind of rags-to-riches story that appeals to everyone as well. Of course, the two need to produce memorable match-winning performances first.Shoor also expects athletes from other sports to begin to challenge cricket for advertising rupees as the sporting landscape changes. Cricket is by far the dominant sport in India and any significant shift is still years away, but the signs are clear. Companies are investing in football academies, while success in individual sports, such as Saina Nehwal in badminton or the boxer Vijender Singh, will inspire others to follow in their footsteps. “It will take time, but India will become a multi-sport nation.”A current ad for Pepsi plays on that potential shift. Ranbir Kapoor, a Bollywood star, tries to convince a teenage boy doing tricks with a football to switch to playing cricket. In the end the boy convinces Kapoor to give football a shot. The tagline: Change the Game.Another of the brand’s ads features football stars Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Fernando Torres alongside Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Kohli and Suresh Raina in a three-on-three game of cricket.Sridhar believes that thanks to the IPL, mass brands might turn to international players in greater numbers for endorsements. Foreign players have been used in the past – Seagram in India chose to use some of the all-conquering Australians after the 2003 World Cup, and watch-maker Timex used Brett Lee as their brand ambassador in 2008 to great effect – but the advent of the IPL has allowed Indian fans to become more familiar with more international players. Also, most of them cost less than Indian cricketers do.Brand Dhoni: Companies clamour after the Indian captain because of his appealing personality and the team’s success during his tenure•AFPIPL franchises have already begun capitalising on their foreign stars by creating advertising campaigns around them. Last season Kolkata Knight Riders unveiled an ad for the Matrix forex card featuring Shah Rukh Khan, Yusuf Pathan, Jacques Kallis and Lee – two foreign cricketers versus one Indian.At another level, the creation of the IPL and similar leagues in other sports could also throw up their share of sporting heroes, players that could have local appeal rather than national appeal. “There is no reason why you couldn’t create local heroes for local brands,” Kale, the founder of SportzPR, said.Ultimately, though, if a sportsperson, cricketer or otherwise, has the aura, the success and universal appeal, then the sport he or she plays is not all that relevant. Boxer Floyd Mayweather topped list of earners, with fellow boxing star Manny Pacquiao in second place, far ahead of stars in more popular sports, such as Argentina and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi. “Personalities are bigger than the sports they play,” Shoor said. “It underlies the fact that it is the individual’s charisma that helps him rise above the sport he plays.”

Four IPL teams head to South Africa for the tournament, but the home board’s chief executive isn’t too worried about Indian domination or about fan fatigue

Interview by Firdose Moonda08-Oct-2012The Champions League brings in much-needed revenue for the three shareholding boards•AFPAlthough you were not in office when the CLT20 was conceptualised, can you explain what the three boards involved in it had in mind?
It was formed as a partnership between us [Cricket South Africa], Cricket Australia and the BCCI to give an opportunity to domestic teams to play at the next level and provide another platform for them. It is also a very lucrative tournament for all of us in that we share the broadcasting rights and the commercial rights. So it made commercial sense to do it.Are all three boards equal shareholders in the deal?
No, India is the biggest shareholder. But India is also the biggest commercial draw card. You’ve got to seek combinations that work.India and South Africa are the two countries where the tournament has been held so far. It looks unlikely that Australia will have the same opportunity because of their time zones. Does CSA make a significant amount of money from hosting it, and does Cricket Australia lose out?
We don’t make any money from hosting it. We only make money within the shareholding, which we would make no matter where it is hosted. A lot of people confuse the CLT20 with the big money of the IPL, but that is not the case. We work on a much lower cost base. As far as CSA is concerned, we host the tournament on behalf of CLT20 and then we get our shareholding distribution. There is no big financial benefit for CSA if the tournament happens in South Africa versus if it happens somewhere else. By the same token, CA get their shareholding, so they don’t miss out.Do the hosting franchises make any money?
They get a hosting fee that is actually paid out of our shareholding because we are hosting the tournament. So if we host at venues that are more costly, CSA will make less profit. That’s why we are under pressure to host it in a way that’s cost-effective. In 2010, we managed to do that. This time there are different pressures. For example, electricity has gone up 29%, so that will influence cost.Then a shareholder could make more money out of not hosting the tournament, because then you would not have to pay the stadium fees? If that is the case, then why does CSA want to host the tournament?
Yes, it is possible that you will make more money if you don’t host it. But I believe our stadiums benefit. We’ve got to serve cricket and it’s good to be able to give the stadiums content. We are very happy to have that. Are you happy with the standard of cricket the CLT20 brings?
I’m happy with the opportunity it provides the players. I’m happy to see a player like Chris Morris – who we want to look at as a future T20 option in South Africa – compete with the real world stars. We’ve also got different conditions here, and it’s amazing to see true world stars adapt to playing here. Cricket has become a world game and to be successful you’ve got to be able to play all around the world. Our players benefit playing in India. I know it might not be that logical after losing to India in the World Twenty20, but we do get better. And other international teams benefit from playing on more bouncy wickets in South Africa.There is criticism that the tournament is not a true “champions league”. The domestic tournament winners from those countries who are not shareholders have to qualify for the competition but the shareholders’ teams are automatically through. Is that a legitimate point?
Yes, it is, but I can also understand why teams would still want to be part of it. I think it’s going to evolve and we want to get more teams involved. You’ve got to take into account their willingness to be involved and their time schedules. The name is probably a debate, isn’t it?Especially as there is not even balance in the shareholding, because there are four IPL teams. Might it reach a stage where each of the shareholders wants the same number of teams?
No, I don’t think so. To start with, we’re not all equal shareholders. The commercial success of the tournament relies on the Indian market, so it makes a lot of sense to have a lot of Indian teams in there. It doesn’t bother us that there are more Indian teams because we’ve also got a lot of South Africans playing in Indian teams. Although the IPL is based in India, it has become a true international tournament. So I wouldn’t see that as a negative. As CSA, we are happy with the two teams that go through. We’ve only got six franchise teams anyway, so even if we made it three out of six that play CLT20, that may be a bit too much.There is the also the possibility that non-shareholders will not want to play in the CLT20 anymore. England said they will not be sending teams to next year’s event because they are forced to shorten their domestic season to make their teams available. Does their decision concern you?
We would love the English team to play in the competition but it’s clear that scheduling is a problem. We’ve got to respect their decision to give their domestic cricket priority. We’d probably do the same if it was to be hosted at a different time. We are always talking to them about how we can include them. They’ve got valid reasons for saying they won’t come but there are ongoing conversations in that regard to change that.This year, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh are the only Full Members who do not have representatives at the CLT20. If England withdraw from future editions, might it open the door for either or both to be involved?
It would be lovely to have them both, and, for me, to have Zimbabwe involved, especially from an African perspective. Kenya is the same, but I think it would be good to get Zimbabwe in. They are a better team than was shown at the World Twenty20 and they will benefit from this competition.”We would love the English team to play in the competition [next year] but it’s clear that scheduling is a problem. We’ve got to respect their decision to give their domestic cricket priority”•Getty ImagesMore teams would probably mean a longer tournament. There are big concerns about the amount of cricket being played worldwide and about player fatigue. What are your thoughts on that?
We are very wary of the volume of cricket, and managing our world stars is something we’ve got to look at. I was at the ICC chief executives’ meeting and it’s definitely in discussion. We are talking about when is it too much. Having said that, we’ve got an obligation, and so do the other shareholders, to play our best players in this competition, and we will honour that. At the same time, players have got a responsibility to not over-extend themselves. Maybe they can cut out some of the other competitions, but I know that is tough. We’ve still got players keen to play in the UK and the IPL. I am happy if somebody can make a good living out of it. But they’ve got to be careful as well. You’ve only got one body and there are not a lot of spare parts for it. What about fan fatigue? At the end of this tournament, spectators would have seen two months of 20-over cricket, and it’s a format South Africans may not be taking too kindly to at the moment, given the national team’s showing at the World Twenty20.

It’s a real fear, especially, because you don’t know some of these things when you plan to host the event. If South Africa had won the World Twenty20, interest could have gone in the other direction. We are mindful of an overload of cricket, but I think South African fans love cricket and love world stars. We’ve also got such a diverse community and this tournament can cater to that because there are teams from all over.It’s also important to note that CLT20 creates interest for a different group. It’s a product that brings new cricket fans into the stadium. Outside World Cup events, it’s a major tournament, so we hope that will bring people in. We accept that if you are a Test cricket fan this might not appeal to you at all. But just as Test cricket has got its rightful place, T20 has also got its rightful place.

Plays of the Day from the only Twenty20 between Bangladesh and West Indies in Mirpur

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur10-Dec-2012Shot of the day
Rubel Hossain gave away 29 runs in the final over, and that figure proved more than the margin of victory. The best of the four sixes hit by Marlon Samuels was the last one, a blockhole delivery that was sliced high, too high for the cameraman to spot the ball in the misty Dhaka sky, and it landed quite a way out of long-on’s reach.Shadow shot of the day
The only six that Tamim Iqbal hit off Chris Gayle was a shadow six down the ground, in the 17th over, after the bowler had missed his run-up. Gayle had re-bowled the shadow ball after going some way down the pitch, but Tamim didn’t back down. Gayle didn’t concede a six in his four overs, perhaps his best time in the middle since arriving in Bangladesh four weeks ago.Opener of the day
Sohag Gazi’s Twenty20 debut also began with him opening the bowling, as he did on Test debut. He also became the fourth offspinner to open the bowling on T20 debut. This time, too, Gayle played him cautiously but Dwayne Smith tonked him for a six, reminding him of his first international match.Drop of the day
Samuels was dropped when he was on 10, by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim off Ziaur Rahman, in the eleventh over. Mushfiqur also dropped him in Ziaur’s next over, and missed a difficult stumping off Gazi in the following over when Samuels was on 25.

From Gareth Flusk, South Africa
God, from not liking the tournament at all and now having to endure a gluttonous six-week period in my own country

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013Gareth Flusk, South Africa
God, from not liking the tournament at all and now having to endure a gluttonous six-week period in my own country. Never have I been less inclined to watch cricket. The semi-naked, flashing-light, loud-music brand of cricket has just shown how truly rank the South African fan is. All they want is to swill beer, get a front row seat and see if they can get a look under a dancer’s skirt. That vantage point also grants you the chance to hurl abuse at your favourite international player. In all of this kerfuffle with your mates, if you have seen any of the cricket, it’s simply unforgivable.Last night, the chairman said that this is will bring more people to cricket. This rot is not promoting the game at all. It promotes the IPL for the IPL. One day internationals and Test matches will still pull the same crowds. The beautiful blonde causcasian most-non-Indian-looking girl doesn’t want to go to a Test match, as there is no chance of being spotted by “Miss Bollywood” scouts. The traditional format will still see chaps sit in the stands explaining it to their really interested girlfriends, whilst actually watching.If fans around the world are to determine that Twenty20 is the future, then great. But simply know that Modi’s minions are exploiting the men around the world for their drunken, leery nature and the females in the pursuit of being the next big thing. The IPL is so attractive to the crowds because the psychology fits in perfectly with their ADHD nature. Modern spectators simply have this need to constantly to move around, be distracted by various random activities and not concentrate on the reason they entered the stadium. A little known fact is that Ritalin is banned within a 10 km radius of the stadiums. (As well as that this tournament is not under ICC Match fixing scrutiny; Modi deemed it too expensive at 7 million pounds – never mind that the IPL is worth approximately 8 billions dollars).In two short years and 12 very long weeks, we have successfully produced a generation of “I want all the glory for as little effort as possible” cricketers. Can’t wait to see what happens when we have the proposed two IPL’s per year. Ouch.

Bump him up to No. 6 and see the magic unfold

Andy Zaltzman26-Feb-2013You did not need to be a qualified mathematician to calculate that – as of the close of play on day four of the Chennai Test – MS Dhoni had scored 224 runs in the series so far. At an average of 224. After one mesmeric innings, Dhoni has already posted his second highest ever series aggregate, his best having come more than four years ago, on Australia’s 2008-09 visit to India. Since then, Dhoni has played three Tests in seven separate series, and four Tests in two (as well as five two-Test rubbers). His previous highest series aggregate in those encounters was 220, in eight innings in England, as he led his team on their post-World-Cup “Back To Earth With A Splodge 2011 Comedown Special” World Tour. Even since his best period as a Test batsman ended in early 2010, his performances have been adequate rather than disastrous for a wicketkeeper, but, for a man who so regularly grabs ODI matches, series and tournaments by the scruff of their necks and barks at them until they call him “Sir”, he has often had little or sporadic impact on Test series.Perhaps this is changing. In his two Test innings since he elevated himself from his customary No. 7 spot to bat at 6 (or was forcibly elevated from 7 to 6) (ask him if you see him), he has scored 99 and 224. Is this coincidence, or a man reacting to a fresh challenge and the deservedly increased pressure on his captaincy?Over the course of his Test career, Dhoni has batted predominantly at 7 in Tests – 89 innings, with two centuries and an average of 31. Batting at both 6 and 8, he has hit two hundreds and averages over 70 (in 13 and 10 innings respectively). This pattern is repeated, to an extent, in ODIs. He has batted most often at 6 – 82 innings, averaging 42, with no hundreds and a strike rate of 81. In his 114 innings batting elsewhere in the order – most often at 5 and 7, but with striking success in his few innings at 3 and 4 – he averages 58, with eight centuries, and a strike rate of 92, and he has found or cleared the boundary rope 25% more regularly than when batting at 6.Perhaps these are statistical coincidences. Perhaps not. Perhaps India’s captain is a man who thrives when out of his zone of comfort and familiarity, and thrust into novel scenarios, voluntarily or otherwise. Since the knives started being earnestly sharpened and waggled in his captaincy’s general direction after India’s abject subsidence in December’s Kolkata Test, he has scored his first ODI hundred for almost three years, after coming in at 29 for 5 against Pakistan, and, in Tests, played a dogged if ultimately pointless innings in Nagpur, and his match-grasping masterpiece in Chennai.Australia’s green bowling attack, in which only Peter Siddle has taken more than 100 first-class wickets (but which should be far better suited to English pitches), presented less of a challenge than England’s seasoned pack of proven Test performers, who were themselves toothless in their first Test in November. It would, moreover, be simplistic to say that what we saw in Chennai was a great player seizing the moment when his team most needed it – there have been too many moments since his World Cup final apotheosis have not merely been unseized as barely even tickled. But Dhoni’s innings was a monument of skill and will, another spectacular chapter in one of 21st-century cricket’s most fascinating personal narratives.● Seven Indians were bowled out in their first innings, the first time this millennium that the bails have bailed by the ball seven times in an innings, and the equal most occasions that bowlers have tinkled the timbers in a Test innings since eight Englishmen were castled by Kiwis in Wellington in 1950-51. No team has bowled out seven Indians in a Test innings since West Indies, led by an explosive Roy Gilchrist, repeatedly smashed the ash to wrap up India’s heaviest ever defeat at Eden Gardens in 1958-59.● In India’s last four Tests, since Umesh Yadav and Zaheer Khan took five wickets between them in England’s second innings in Ahmedabad, their pacers have taken 5 for 413 in 151 overs. They have not bowled much, and when they have, they have been almost heroically ineffective. Only two of those five wickets have come in the first 100 overs of an innings – the exceptions being Ishant’s early bolts from the statistical blue on that comatose hippopotamus of a pitch in Nagpur.If Ishant fails to harvest Australia’s final wicket in Chennai this morning, it will be his first wicketless match in the 26 Tests he has played since February 2010. On an extremely flippety flip-side, however, it will also mean that he has taken the less than Philanderian, almost Salisburyesque, total of 16 wickets in his last 12 Tests, averaging close to 80, and dispatching a batsman pavilionwards once every 25 overs.● Moises Henriques, batting with the poise and panache of someone who should have a higher first-class average than 30, not only became the first lower-order batsman to pass 60 in both innings of his first Test match, but also ended the three-decade wait for an Australian to score two half-centuries on debut.In the late 1970s, you could hardly move for baggy green batsmen who hit twin debut fifties. Or at least, you couldn’t if you were stuck in a bobsled with Peter Toohey, Rick Darling and Bruce Laird. Which you might have been, for all I know. Before the Australian government commissions too many 100-foot-high gold statues of the man who looks set to establish himself as the greatest ever Portugual-born cricketer, however, it should remember that passing fifty twice in your first Test is no guarantee that you will go on to serially singe the pages of Wisden with incendiary deeds of batting brilliance. Darling, Toohey and Laird between them played a further 47 Tests, posting just a single century – Toohey’s 122 against a Packer-ravaged West Indies in 1978 ¬¬- and collectively averaging 29.By way of a counter-however to that however, however, before prime minister Julia Gillard completely dismisses the plans for a giant golden Moises in every town square by 2025, they should also remember that the last three players to hit double debut demi-tons in India have been Alastair Cook, Gordon Greenidge, and Clive Lloyd. Who have scored over 7000 runs each, and collectively played 305 Tests, hit 61 centuries, and averaged almost 47.Conclusion: Moises Henriques might or might not prove to be an adequate or outstanding Test Match batsman. As I write, at close of play on day four, he is, with a Test career average of 143, a 43.08% better batsman than Don Bradman. And 7150% better than Pommie Mbangwa. He is unlikely to remain ahead of both over the course of his career. He will be disappointed if he remains ahead of neither. (It will take immediate dismissal today, followed by 70 consecutive ducks, to get him below Pommie’s career average of 2.00.)● AB de Villiers has scored three centuries and three half-centuries in his most recent six Tests as wicketkeeper, over three months. His only half-century in eight previous Tests with the gloves had been an unbeaten 52 in his first game as keeper, against England in 2004-05. He has now scored more hundreds in his last six Tests than Mark Boucher did in his last 123.

The IPL was reportedly created to keep the ever-demanding Indian fan happy, but the recent developments have managed just the opposite

Srinath S, India26-May-2013Since the time televised cricket became the norm, the Indian cricket fan has become among the ficklest species on the face of this planet. The rate at which he is capable of switching from worshipping his heroes to throwing stones at them would put a chameleon to shame. Movies over the years have dwelt at length on the topic of amnesia and short-term memory loss. In the world of cricket, and arguably across most sport, you would not have to look beyond us fans for a full-length case study on such topics.And then the BCCI chose to create a monster of its own. A popular narrative around the origin of the IPL is that it was created to keep the ever-demanding Indian fan happy. After all, at the end of an IPL game, either way, an Indian team always wins. No stone-throwing, no effigy-burning, more money for the sporting body, and eternal happiness for the Indian fan. What happened in these two months of the year, in fact, brought down the amount of displeasure the Indian fan showed in the other ten, when the national team suffered defeat. Even when 0-8 happened, we did not see public protests of the sort we saw when India crashed out of World Cup 2007. Not even a whimper when a home ODI series against Pakistan was lost. So what has changed in the last few years?Crony capitalism. Cabals. Conflict of interest. Fancy terms doing the rounds in the past few years in India. In about the same time the IPL has grown from being Lalit Modi’s baby to a multi-million dollar Frankenstein. Cricket fans from previous eras, while observant of allegations doing the rounds, chose not to pay too much attention to them. Here and there, a sting operation or a small-scale expose would crop up. Life moved on. The prospect of seeing so many cricketers getting financial security for life, should they not make it big, made us proud. To the league’s credit, the loyalty of the fan bases grew rapidly, at least in certain pockets. The rise of social networks and micro-blogging meant more people discussed cricket at one place, like never before. It all somehow fit. Coincidence, said the critics. Planning and perfect execution, was the IPL’s riposte.Amid all this, it would even be safe to say that the rabid Indian fan we all knew of half a decade ago – he who threw stones and set Eden Gardens afire in 1996, he who rioted and made Sachin Tendulkar walk out and plead to him to let cricket go on in 1999, he who threw crackers at the West Indians in Jamshedpur, is now an extinct species. Ironically, six years from when the process of keeping the fan happy at all times began, we find ourselves at a place where we wouldn’t mind going back to the time when effigies were burnt. Back then, nobody spoke of “bereavement” and “death of the game”. To use a political analogy, this is conclusive proof that the perils and ills of democracy are far more palatable than those of anarchy and oligarchy.That afternoon in 1999, when India floundered against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens, Sachin came out and asked thousands of angry fans to calm down. We smirked, but we moved on. Fast forward to today. It seems impossible to figure out where we would start this time. Who is going to come and convince us that all is well with the game?Even worse, it is not about us fans anymore. Even if Sachin were to come out today, who would he go and plead at? Power, resting in the hands of a few men who knew little of the game and its history, has put cricket at a place where we only thought politics and society existed. We always believed, when we said cricket is a religion. Whatever happened in life, we thought the game was too good for all this. Six years, and they’ve made my generation think, those days of effigy-burning and cracker-throwing were the best days of our lives.If you have a submission for Inbox, send it to us here, with “Inbox” in the subject line

A combination of faulty technique and temperament meant they didn’t make it to the final of their own tri-series

Garth Wattley12-Jul-2013There was sunshine unabated for the Celkon Mobile Cup final at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad. That was no small thing given that in the island chain, tropical storm warnings had been in effect up to Wednesday, and that Dominica was still counting the cost of the passing of Tropical Storm Chantal. That was the somewhat ludicrous context in which the tri-nation one-day series between India, Sri Lanka and West Indies was played in the Caribbean.Disadvantageous as the ICC programme has made scheduling matches in these parts – smack in the hurricane season – this tournament was about seizing opportunities when you had the chance. MS Dhoni and India used the good conditions in a gripping final to win this tournament of very dubious importance, coming so soon after the best teams in the world had just battled in England for the Champions Trophy.The team that really could have done with putting its hands on the Celkon Mobile trophy was not even in the final. For the West Indies side, this was yet another opportunity lost.On Wednesday, the same day Virat Kohli and Angelo Mathews were talking to the media about their sides’ chances in the final, Dwayne Bravo was candidly owning up to another failure in 50-over cricket for West Indies.”The performance of the team reflects on the captain,” Bravo said. “I myself , whether it is due to injury or slow over rates, have some key things I need to work on as a leader.” Credit to him for, as they say, calling a spade a spade. It is a refreshing aspect of his captaincy that Bravo plays it straight as he sees it. But no one will need to remind him that talk without the appropriate action to back it up is as useful as a shredded umbrella in an afternoon downpour. The tri-nation series did not give any indication of improvement in the way West Indies are playing their 50-over cricket. Again the problems were the same old ones, and plain to see.Shaky batting that just about held up over the first two matches in Jamaica fell flat over the final leg in Trinidad. West Indies did not come close to making a serious contest of chasing the revised Duckworth-Lewis target of 274 in their third match, and lost so badly – by 102 runs – that India gained what proved a decisive bonus point. In the next make-or-break match, against Sri Lanka, the home side fell 39 runs short of their D/L target. Substantial partnerships, especially in the top order, were few.After starting the series with a century at home at Sabina Park, the runs dried up for Chris Gayle. Marlon Samuels did not cross 15 in four matches, Kieron Pollard notched 0, 4, 0 and 0, and the captain, in the two games he played, did not reach 20. In their loss to Sri Lanka, West Indies’ bowlers conceded 31 extras, including 24 wides – simply sinful in limited-overs cricket. And general waywardness and Kumar Sangakkara’s classy 90 not out rallied Sri Lanka to their match-winning 219.Bravo’s absence for one match because of injury and for another because of suspension for a slow over-rate, and key spinner Sunil Narine being limited to five expensive overs in the second match against India because of a finger injury that also ruled him out of the following game against Sri Lanka, were factors incidental to this latest disappointment. The two defeats that turned a table-topping position into a bottom-of-the-table slump had all the markings of similar West Indies failures over the last year. It may be bold to say it about a squad of players where all but two – Gayle and Tino Best – are below 30 and filled with so much natural, athletic ability, but maybe this is as good as it will get for this West Indies team.

The tri-nation series did not give any indication of improvement in the way West Indies are playing their 50-over cricket

Ad nauseam, Bravo and his stand-in, Pollard, spoke during the tournament about their side’s “inconsistency” which they had to put right. This was the same bugbear that confronted Darren Sammy before he was relieved of the ODI captaincy. The problem with this West Indian inconsistency is that it is constant. What could be the reason?Well, if batsmen do not have the adequate technique for different conditions then they will be found out at some stage. In the Trinidad leg of the Celkon Cup the teams were confronted with pitches that favoured seam bowling. But against India – the best bowling unit on performance in the series – no West Indian was able to weather the early pressure or settle the innings down later on. Rising deliveries around off stump caused the downfall of Gayle, Samuels and Pollard. Generally in this series, they got out in basically the same fashion.In contrast, Kohli produced a Man-of-the-Match performance to take his side from 210 for 5 to 311 for 7 over the last ten overs of the innings. He was able to build on the 123-run opening stand by Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. In the Sri Lanka game, Sangakkara, like Kohli, took the time to play himself in before attempting to accelerate. Then in the tournament decider, Dhoni, playing despite a not fully healed hamstring injury, marshalled his side’s chase masterfully.That kind of measured approach was not displayed often enough in the West Indian camp. And sometimes when it was – for instance by Darren Bravo and Lendl Simmons in their century stand in the chase against Sri Lanka – neither player was able to see the innings through. Johnson Charles at the top of the order did some good things with 97 and 45 against India, as did Bravo against India and Sri Lanka. But West Indies’ batsmen collectively did not play the conditions or the match situations well enough to put their side in the final.Repeatedly they have been found wanting by the combination of faulty technique and temperament. Against better teams, natural ability and good team spirit will not always win the day. But that is what West Indies have been relying on for some time. The compact T20 format covers those shortcomings somewhat. Solving those problems in ODIs may be a task beyond even the ever optimistic.

Also, six-for losers, fastest keeper to 100 dismissals, Clifford Roach’s unbreakable records, and keeper-captain feats

Steven Lynch03-Dec-2013Virat Kohli reached 5000 one-day internationals recently. Did he get there faster than anyone else? asked Mukesh Subhan from Kolkata

Virat Kohli reached 5000 runs in his 120th one-day international – the first one against West Indies, in Kochi on November 21 – to equal the record set by Brian Lara. Gordon Greenidge got there in 122 matches. Kohli did just shade Lara in terms of innings batted (118 to 114), but has to share top billing there with another great West Indian: Viv Richards also reached 5000 in 114 innings (from 126 matches). Kohli’s first 5000 ODI runs included a record 17 centuries – Saeed Anwar made 14 – while only Richards (53.01) and Michael Bevan (56.25) averaged more after the innings in which they passed 5000 than Kohli’s 52.14. Michael Hussey and MS Dhoni also averaged over 50 at that point of their careers.In the first Ashes Test, 32 of the 37 wickets to fall were out caught. Is this some kind of record? asked Naushad Kazi from South Africa

It is very close to the Test record, which stands at 33 batsmen out caught (out of 36) in the match between Australia and India in Perth in February 1992. One of the rare wickets that wasn’t caught in that match – Mark Taylor lbw – was Kapil Dev’s 400th in Test cricket. The Ashes opener in Brisbane was the fifth Test match to feature 32 caught dismissals. In one of those – New Zealand v Pakistan in Auckland in 1993-94 – only 35 wickets went down, as against 37 in Brisbane (and all 40 in the other three instances). For the full list, click here.Dale Steyn took six wickets the other day but ended up losing. Were these the best figures by anyone on the losing side in a one-day international? asked Ricky Dooley from Egypt

Dale Steyn took 6 for 39 for South Africa against Pakistan in Port Elizabeth last week. This was actually the ninth time a bowler had taken six wickets in an ODI in vain: three of the hauls were cheaper than Steyn’s, with the list being topped by Imran Khan. He took 6 for 14 against India in Sharjah in March 1985 – but Pakistan still ended up losing. Mainly thanks to Imran, India were bowled out for 125 – but Pakistan were then skittled for 87 themselves. Shane Bond (6 for 23 for New Zealand v Australia in Port Elizabeth in the 2003 World Cup) and Shaun Pollock (6 for 35 for South Africa v West Indies in East London in 1998-99) also had cheaper six-fors in losing causes, while the others to have achieved this bittersweet feat are Ajit Agarkar (6 for 42 for India v Australia in Melbourne in 2003-04), Chris Woakes (6 for 45 for England v Australia in Brisbane in 2010-11), Tony Gray (6 for 50 for West Indies v Australia in Port-of-Spain in 1990-91), Christopher Mpofu (6 for 52 for Zimbabwe v Kenya in Nairobi in 2008-09) and Ashish Nehra (6 for 59 for India v Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2005).Who was the fastest wicketkeeper to make 100 dismissals in Tests, and ODIs? asked Tom Metcalfe from London

Australia’s Adam Gilchrist reached a century of dismissals in just 22 Tests, one quicker than Mark Boucher of South Africa. Another Australian, Wally Grout, reached 100 dismissals in 24 Tests, as did Boucher’s South African predecessor Dave Richardson – his first hundred, uniquely, containing no stumpings at all. Boucher and Gilchrist lie third and fourth on the one-day list: the fastest to 100 dismissals in ODIs is Brad Haddin, who got there in his 61st match, one quicker than Ridley Jacobs. Boucher got there in 65 matches, Gilchrist in 67, and Kumar Sangakkara and Denesh Ramdin in 68.Which three unbreakable records did Clifford Roach establish in 1930? asked James Piper from England

Clifford Roach, a right-hand batsman from Trinidad, was the first man to score a Test century for West Indies, with 122 against England in Bridgetown in January 1930 (George Headley made 176 in the second innings). Two matches later, Roach added West Indies’ first double-century: 209 in Georgetown. I think the other record came in the fourth and final Test of that series, in Kingston. It’s not quite unbreakable, although the chances of it being surpassed are indeed tiny! In the second innings at Sabina Park, Roach was caught by 50-year-old George Gunn off the bowling of Wilfred Rhodes, who was 52. Their combined ages (including the odd months) added up to more than 103 years, which remains the Test record for a single dismissal.Is MS Dhoni the first man to captain in 150 one-day internationals while keeping wicket? asked Cherise Asha Clarke from Trinidad & Tobago

Well, the answer is an emphatic yes: the second match against West Indies in Visakhapatnam last week was MS Dhoni’s 150th one-day international as India’s captain and designated wicketkeeper (only five non-keepers have done more: Ricky Ponting leads the way with 230). In fact, no other wicketkeeper has captained in as many as 50 ODIs – Andy Flower led in 46, Kumar Sangakkara in 45, and Alec Stewart in 39. Lee Germon played 37 ODIs for New Zealand, and was captain and wicketkeeper in 36 of them.