Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga made good use of an excellent batting pitch, putting West Indies in a strong position after the first day

On the Ball with S Rajesh22-Jun-2006Brian Lara won an important toss, and his openers didn’t let him down: Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga put together their fourth century stand, and by close of play West Indies were in a position of immense strength.The pitch was an excellent one for batting, but both batsmen, especially Gayle, were still patient enough to first gauge the pace and bounce before going for the shots. The first seven overs fetched only seven runs, but by then Gayle was comfortable enough to launch into his strokes, after which the Indians couldn’t do much to curb him. Gayle was especially severe on Harbhajan Singh, whose return to the Test side was anything but impressive – his 12 overs leaked 57, of which Gayle’s contribution was 30 from 22 balls. A feature of Gayle’s batting was his driving down the ground in the V between mid-off and mid-on – 36 of his 83 runs came in that region.At the other end, Ganga was solidity personified, especially against Anil Kumble, who had dismissed him twice in the two earlier Tests and was again India’s best bowler. Ganga had an in-control factor of 92% against Kumble, who was desperately unlucky not to have won one of several close lbw shouts against Ramnaresh Sarwan. Sarwan finished on an unbeaten 44, but had an in-control factor of just 71% against Kumble.

The return of the regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket

Steven Lynch11-Sep-2006The return of the regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket:

Ed Joyce made his one-day international debut for England on the same day as his brother Dominick Joyce played against him in his first one-day for Ireland © Getty Images
How many England cricketers were born in Ireland, like Ed Joyce? asked Ken Driver from Belfast
Dublin-born Ed Joyce – who rather oddly made his official one-day international debut in the same match as his brother, Dominick, but for the other side – is the sixth Irish-born man to play for England. The first two were also born in Dublin: Leland Hone, who never played county cricket, toured Australia in 1878-79 and played in the Test at Melbourne, while Sir Timothy O’Brien, who also played for Middlesex, won the first of his five Test caps against Australia at Old Trafford in 1884. In 1888-89 Joseph McMaster played a Test (in fact his only first-class match) for England in South Africa: he was born in Gilford in County Down. Essex’s Frederick Fane, who was born at Curragh Camp in County Kildare, won 14 caps in the first decade of the 20th century, and actually captained England in the first three Tests in Australia in 1907-98 when the appointed captain Arthur Jones was injured. Many years later Martin McCague, who was born in Larne in Northern Ireland but brought up in Australia, won three Test caps, the first against Australia at Trent Bridge in 1993. Four Irish-born men have played Tests for other countries: Tom Horan (born Midleton, Co. Cork) and Thomas Kelly (Waterford) for Australia, and Clement Johnson (Carberry) and Major Robert Poore (Dublin) for South Africa.My friend challenged me to name the six England players from the 1992 World Cup final who weren’t born in England – I thought I’d got them, but he says Robin Smith is wrong. Who’s right? asked Anand Mughal from Delhi
Well, you’re both right in a way. Robin Smith was born outside England – at Durban, in South Africa – but he didn’t play in the 1992 World Cup final against Pakistan at Melbourne, although he was in the 14-man squad. England’s XI that day included Graeme Hick (born in Zimbabwe), Allan Lamb (South Africa), Chris Lewis (Guyana), Dermot Reeve (Hong Kong), Derek Pringle (Kenya) and Phillip DeFreitas (Dominica).I was sorry to hear of the death of Wasim Raja. I remember watching him score a fine Test century at the Kensington Oval – how many others did he make? asked Roy Atkin from Barbados
The innings you’re talking about was one of 117 not out against a strong West Indian attack including Croft, Roberts, Garner and Holder at Bridgetown in February 1977. That was the second of Wasim Raja’s eventual four Test centuries: the others were 107 not out against West Indies at Karachi in 1974-75, 125 v India at Jullundur in 1983-84, and 112 against England at Faisalabad in 1983-84. Rameez Raja, Wasim’s younger brother, made his Test debut in the first match of that series.Who was the oldest player to make his Test debut? asked Marvin Chester from Guyana
The oldest man to make his Test debut started in the very first Test of all, at Melbourne in 1876-77: England’s James Southerton, a slowish bowler who played for Surrey and Sussex, who was 49 years and 119 days old when that inaugural match started. In second place is Miran Bux, who was over 47 when he first played for Pakistan against India at Lahore in 1954-55. More recently Omar Henry made his Test debut for South Africa when he was past his 40th birthday. For a full list of the oldest Test debutants, click here.I enjoyed the article on Cricinfo last week about the 1934 Ashes tour, and was reminded of Don Bradman’s amazing run-scoring feats. What was his overall record in England? asked Frank Waters of Banbury
Don Bradman was remarkably consistent on his four tours of England – especially since several good judges, among them England’s Percy Fender, had predicted that his technique wouldn’t suit English conditions. On his first tour, in 1930, Bradman piled up 2960 runs at 98.66, with ten centuries. A record 974 of those runs came in the Tests, at an average of 139.14. In 1934, when as that article mentions, he was troubled by illness, he still made 2020 runs at 84.16 on the tour, with 758 at 94.75 in the Tests. In 1938, recovered and now captain, he made 2429 runs all told at 115.66, with 434 at 108.50 in the Tests. And in 1948, on what’s become known as the “Invincibles” tour, 39-year-old Bradman made 2428 runs at 89.92, with 508 runs at 72.57 in the Tests. In total, that’s 9837 runs in 92 first-class matches in England, at an average of 96.44, with 41 hundreds. In 19 Tests in England The Don made 2674 runs at 102.84.I would like to know what happened to Brian Murphy, who captained Zimbabwe in between Andy Flower and Heath Streak. I heard that in Sri Lanka he was the first captain of a Test team to drop himself. Is this correct? asked Bjorn Mordt
Legspinner Brian Murphy did captain Zimbabwe in a Test and three one-day internationals in 2001-02. I’m not sure that he left himself out – reports at the time suggested he had a hand injury after the first Test in Bangladesh, and Stuart Carlisle took over. In any case he wouldn’t have been the first captain to drop himself – England’s Mike Denness did that in Australia in 1974-75. Murphy quit Zimbabwe in 2003, and took a job coaching at the University of Cape Town in South Africa: as far as we know he is still there. A couple of years ago he joined the “Zimbabwe Lions” fund-raising tour of England.And finally, a plea that I can’t answer, can anyone else help? from Tony Woodward in Canada
“I’m trying to complete a humorous verse I heard decades ago, which used cricketing terms. I’ve remembered most of it, but I am missing a couple of lines in the middle. Can anyone fill in the missing lines?”
With my arms around her Boundary
I said “Will you be mine?”
As I admired her two Fine Legs
And splendid Bodyline.
[Darn, I’ve forgotten the next two lines and I can’t find them anywhere!]
“Did you bowl the Maiden Over?”
“No, she belted me for Six!”

Will Luke talks to the West Indian fast bowler, Daren Powell

Will Luke in Dublin12-Jul-2007

Daren Powell: putting a spring back into West Indies’ step © Getty Images
Watching West Indies celebrate their win over England in the one-day series was special, and marked a remarkable transformation in fortunes for such a brittle side. And for Daren Powell, their fast bowler who suffered during the preceding Tests, the win was a relief as much as anything else. For once, his team could walk tall on this tour.”It was a big relief because we’d been losing, and we didn’t want to be going home with our heads down,” Powell told Cricinfo after West Indies’ thumping win over Netherlands in Dublin on Monday, “For the past year or so, I’ve been saying that I really want to come home from a series with my head up, smiling – and it’s so good that we beat England, you know, it was a real good one.”When we travelled down on the bus to London, I spent some time looking at everyone on the bus…and it was just completely changed, a different bunch of players. Happy, joking, laughing and having a nice time. It’s good to see everyone smiling, happy about what we did, and how we felt.”For a team whose decline in the past 10 years has been as stark as it has been depressing, the victory was a timely fillip, especially as they now have to pit their wits against some of the lesser teams of the world. The squad has decamped to Ireland for a Quadrangular tournament that also involves Netherlands and Scotland, and the onus is on them to maintain the same intensity they showed against England.”It’s pretty hard when you’re playing a team that’s less competitive,” said Powell. “But we haven’t been winning much cricket, and then had a really good series in the one-dayers against England. And after those one-dayers, we just forget everything that happened in the [preceding] Tests.”It just showed that it’s good to win,” he said. “And whatever happens here, we just have to remember how good it is to win. Winning gives you confidence, and then you know how to carry on in other games, when you reach tougher opposition. [In the past] West Indies haven’t pulled off the victory when we should.”Why has it been a tour of two halves, though? West Indies were so dismal during the Test series that few gave them much hope of even challenging England in the one-dayers. Yet they lifted themselves to a new, thrilling level – and, crucially for them, they were clearly enjoying it all so much. Powell, too, was a man reborn, consistently bowling in excess of 90mph and showing excellent control, picking up six wickets at 21.83. Could it have had anything to do with the identity of his captain, Chris Gayle?

Chris Gayle: ‘The whole team has changed since the day he took over’ © Getty Images
“Chris really is tremendous you know,” Powell, a good friend of Gayle’s, said. “Maybe people will take this the wrong way, because we’re from the same country [Jamaica], but really, I’ve played under so many other captains in the past. He doesn’t say much, but he knows how to gel the team together – to spark off your plugs and stuff – and it’s very pleasing to see someone like him generating this team spirit.”He’s a funny guy – always jovial around the team, not like what you see on TV when he probably has a serious face. He’s a jovial kind of guy and often in team meetings, he’ll just say ‘believe in yourself’. He just has a way with people. To me, the whole team has changed since the day he took over.”That’s quite some statement. Who, honestly, would have thought Gayle – as laid back as a flattened deckchair – could inspire so much from his troops? Gayle himself has been very quick to maintain that he’s keeping the seat warm for Ramnaresh Sarwan, who left their tour of England through injury. But inspiration, fortune and success can manifest themselves from the most unlikely of sources and people.Gayle to captain the Test side, then? A broad smile and a revealingly guffawing laugh from Powell suggests he’s already given it some thought. But why the laugh? “Well, because of the name Sarwan! [cue even more laughter].”Sarwan is also good, but it’s up to what the selectors want to do now,” said Powell. “To me, if they want to have different captains for the one-day side and the Test side, that would be nice. And if they pick Sarwan again, that too would be tremendous, you know, as long as the guys can keep up the same momentum as with Chris.”And the impression you get from Powell – a character almost as hynotically relaxed as Gayle – is that West Indies are in no mood to let up the pressure on Ireland, Scotland – or anyone else. Maybe Gayle is the man for the job, after all.

A statistical look at Anil Kumble’s Test bowling career

Mathew Varghese17-Jan-2008Anil Kumble became only the third bowler to complete 600 Tests wickets when he dismissed Andrew Symonds on the second day of the Perth Test. He follows two of his contemporaries – Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne – in reaching the mark.

Anil Kumble’s Test bowling record

Matches Overs Wickets Average Strike-rate 5WI 10WM

124 6416.0 600 28.67 64.1358 It’s been an eventful journey for Kumble, one during which he became only the second bowler to complete the Perfect Ten in Tests. He has reached the 600-mark quicker than fellow legspinner Warne.

Kumble’s journey to 600 wickets

Wicket no. Tests No. of Tests needed by Warne

100 2123 200 47 42 300 66 63 400 85 92 500 105 108 600 124 126He is by far India’s leading wicket-taker, with Kapil Dev a distant second with 434 wickets. In the matches he has played for India, Kumble has taken 600 of the 1960 wickets India have taken, and over a third of the team’s wickets at home.

Kumble’s contribution in India’s wickets

Record Wickets Average

India overall 1960 33.94 Kumble’s share 600 28.67 India at home 977 29.98 Kumble’s share 343 23.85 In the 41 matches India have won during his career, Kumble has picked up 279 wickets at 18.41. In draws and defeats the averagehas jumped up to more than 35.

Kumble’s record by match result

Result Matches Wickets Average Strike-rate

Won 41 279 18.41 44.1 Lost 30 120 39.76 79.8 Drawn 52 200 36.34 82.8 Kumble is by far India’s greatest match-winning bowler; his 279 wickets in Indian victories have come at 18.41 apiece. Harbhajan Singh, who is next in line in terms of wickets, has taken less than half that number. Kumble’s average in wins is only marginally bettered by Kapil Dev, Bishan Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna among Indian bowlers with at least 50 wickets in wins.

Leading Indian wicket-takers in wins

Player Matches Wickets Average Strike-rate

Anil Kumble 41 279 18.41 44.1 Harbhajan Singh 25 131 21.08 49.4 Bhagwat Chandrasekhar 14 98 19.27 45.4 Bishan Bedi 17 97 17.65 54.0 Kapil Dev 24 90 18.30 45.2 Among spinners, Kumble’s strike-rate in matches won is second only to Muralitharan. Muralitharan has a strike-rate of 41.5 in victories, Kumble is second with 44.1, while Warne languishes behind at 51.2. Warne’s Australian compatriot Stuart MacGill is third in the list.

Best strike-rate among spinners in wins (Min 100 wickets)

Player Matches Wickets Average Strike-rate

Muttiah Muralitharan 46 382 15.20 41.5 Anil Kumble 41 279 18.41 44.1 Stuart MacGill 30 161 24.11 46.3 Kumble’s home record is impressive, with the fourth-best average among spinners with 100 wickets at home; however, it is his away record that is often a point for criticism, especially when compared to the likes of Murali and Warne.

Kumble home and away

Venue Matches Wickets Average Murali’s average Warne’s average

Home 59 343 23.85 19.22 26.39 Away 65 257 35.09 25.99 25.50 Barring Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, Kumble averages over 30 in overseas countries.As expected of spinners, Kumble performance improves as the match progresses, with his best coming in the fourth innings of a match.

Kumble by match innings

Innings Wickets Average Strike-rate 5WI

1st 166 32.77 72.6 10 2nd 159 28.85 66.9 8 3rd 185 28.41 60.5 12 4th 90 21.31 50.9 5 In the last few years, beginning with India’s away series in England in 2002, Kumble has been a much improved bowler overseas, with his away average improving from 40.40 in 34 away Tests preceding the series, to 31.23 in matches since the start of the England series*. That average drops to 29.05 if you exclude the generally high-scoring matches in Pakistan. His averages improve significantly for matches in Australia, England and South Africa. However, the same period has seen a decline in the record at home.

Kumble’s record before and after England series in 2002*

Matches before Wickets Average Matches after Wickets Average

Home 36 210 21.30 2313327.89 Away 34 109 40.40 3014731.23 In Australia 3 5 90.00 5 39 29.48 In England 4 8 63.00 6 28 35.25 In South Africa 9 31 35.32 3 14 24.71 In West Indies 7 22 34.094 23 28.60 *Kumble has played a considerable share of his Tests alongside offspinner Harbhajan Singh. The two have been involved in 47 Tests together, with Kumble outdoing his junior partner.

Kumble and Harbhajan in matches played together

Player Wickets Average Strike-rate 5WI 10WM

Anil Kumble 268 26.34 57.7 196 Harbhajan Singh 188 31.99 68.5 15 2 With ten Man-of-the-Match awards and four series prizes, Kumble tops the charts for silverware among Indians; Sachin Tendulkar has also won ten match awards in Tests and both he and Kapil Dev have also four Man-of-the-Series awards. It was perhaps fitting that Rahul Dravid took the catch that gave Kumble his 600th; the Kumble-Dravid combination has been the most successful bowler-fielder partnership (excluding wicketkeepers) for India. Their 54 dismissals is second only to the 65 dismissals by Mahela Jayawardene off Muralitharan.

Who better to teach England to deal with spin than past master Andy Flower?

Andrew Miller01-Dec-2007

Flower: a supreme technical batsman who was among the finest players of spin ever © Getty Images

If there’s one characteristic that has defined England’s recent tours of Sri Lanka, it is attrition. Under Nasser Hussain’s leadership in 2000-01, England clung to every fragment of every session, and clawed their way back from a hiding in Galle to produce hard-bitten victories in Kandy and Colombo. Three years later it was Michael Vaughan’s turn to cling to the cliff face. His team mustered a brace of exhausting, straw-clutching draws in the opening two matches, but then lost their footing in the decisive final Test. Two series, two wins apiece, and scarcely an ounce of spare energy upon which to draw.The message for the class of 2007-08 is simple. The challenge that awaits them in the coming four weeks will be, physically, one of the most draining they will ever encounter in their Test careers, but as Hussain’s men showed in the revelry that followed their 2001 triumph, it could also be the most rewarding. The one thing that could count against them, however, is inexperience – Vaughan is the only veteran of both tours, while Paul Collingwood and James Anderson played only bit parts on the most recent trip. The rest are rookies, and no matter that they won the one-day series in October in impressive fashion, the exuberance of youth will not be sufficient to counter the genius of Muttiah Muralitharan.Fortunately for England they have in their ranks a man who knows all about the art of battling beyond one’s boundaries. Andy Flower made his name as the most stubborn nugget in a Zimbabwe side that was invariably outgunned but only rarely embarrassed. For a decade he fought tooth and nail to bring respectability to his country’s cricket, and in so doing rose up the rankings to become recognised as the world’s leading batsman. He’s now England’s batting coach, a somewhat incongruous appointment given the innumerable occasions he crossed swords with the English. But for this series above all, his knowledge is going to be invaluable.Flower has a quiet and deliberate manner about him. He speaks slowly and lucidly, like a man who knows he has time to play his shots, and you can sense him weighing up the value of his every word. “I think we can beat them in this Test series, but to do that we’re going to have to play out of our skins,” he says. “We’re going to have to play really skilful and resilient Test cricket, because there’s going to be a lot of hard times and a lot of fluctuating fortunes. They have a very varied attack, with four very different bowlers and it’s going to be very, very close.”To hear Flower talk of England as “we” comes as a surprise, not least to the man himself. “It’s pretty bizarre, to be coming from a little government school in Harare to this,” he says. “But I’m learning a hell of a lot, and it’s really nice to be part of a really exciting period for English cricket. I’ve been watching these guys prepare, and I’ve been a part of what they do and how they think, and hopefully how they go on to win the series from here. I’m just a small part of a group all going in the same direction, and it’s going to be a whole lot of fun.”Flower has been in and around the England set-up for two years now. He was Peter Moores’ sidekick at the ECB Academy for two winters, and in May of this year, when Moores succeeded Duncan Fletcher as England coach, Flower retired from first-class cricket to take up a full-time role as assistant coach. It was not a career path he had envisaged. “I’ve never been one to plan ahead,” he says. “I went into coaching at the academy because I thought it would be really interesting, and it was. And then this opportunity came up, and it’s been fascinating. Every day I’ve been learning something new – in coaching, in management, in communication. It’s a great way to be working.”It is not what Flower can learn that matters in the short term, however. It’s what he can pass on to his charges. Apart from being one of the toughest nuts to crack on the international circuit, Flower was a supreme technical batsman in his own right, and in the opinion of many who witnessed his most triumphant performances – such as his
tally of 540 runs for twice out in India in 2000-01 – he was one of the greatest players of spin of all time.This, Flower attributes to the influence of two men: the former South Africa and Zimbabwe spinner John Traicos – “one of the most accurate offspinners I’ve ever come across” – and Dave Houghton, Flower’s first Test captain and role model. “Traicos was a wily old fox who gave me a brilliant grounding in playing spin,” says Flower. “We used to practise into the dark of the night, and he always used to bang on about picking length, and choosing my scoring areas, and how I was moving around the crease. He’d bowled against a lot of great players and he really knew his stuff.

No other player in the tour party, not even Vaughan, has dug so deep into their soul in the quest for self-improvement. “I’ve always been interested in the processes you have to go through to gain success,” says Flower

“Houghton, meanwhile, was one of the best players of spin I’ve ever seen. I used to watch and copy him, and from him I learnt how to manoeuvre the ball, and how to get your body into position for certain shots. He taught me the sweep, the reverse-sweep, about hitting over the top, and shifting the momentum against the spinner so as not to let him settle. His lessons were invaluable.”There is a fine line between coaching and preaching, however, and for all that Flower has experience in spades to share with his England charges, he knows full well that the battles at Kandy, Colombo and Galle are not his for the fighting. “My experiences are good to call on, but most important are the players’ experiences,” he says. “Most of them have played Murali in Tests or county cricket, so they’ve got their own memories to call on. My job is merely to throw ideas around, and give them options and methods of how to play or think. But they’ve got to choose their own way. They live and die by their decisions.”Flower has another, more subliminal, role in the England squad, however. No other player in the tour party, not even Vaughan, has dug so deep into their soul in the quest for self-improvement. “I’ve always been interested in the processes you have to go through to gain success,” says Flower. “When I used to research my own methods, I would look closely at my technique but also at my emotional well-being or mental strength. I wanted to do things differently. I wanted to train harder, concentrate for longer periods, and become more mentally resilient. I suppose that gave me the preparation to be a coach.”Either way, coaching was always in his blood. Flower’s first contract with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union was not as a player but as a coach – he and his brother Grant worked five days a week around the schools and townships of Harare. Tatenda Taibu, a wicketkeeper-batsman and natural leader, who displays so many of Flower’s indomitable traits, was one of his first pupils, along with Stuart Matsikenyeri and Hamilton Masakadza. “I’ve known all three of them since they were knee-high,” Flower says. “They were lovely blokes to work with.”For now, he has an older but similarly enthusiastic band of cricketers to work with and alongside. Whatever the result of this month’s series, he believes in the journey that Moores and his squad are undertaking. “There’s huge scope for us in international cricket,” he says. “There’s much more capacity in the side than we are seeing, and I genuinely believe we can chase Australia. There’s a huge gap in the rankings at present and that’s about right in reality. But we’re taking steps towards bridging that every day. Every practice we have, that’s our goal, to make ourselves just that little bit better.”

Fazeer Mohammed on the vastly different ways Australia and West Indies are preparing for their upcoming Test series

Fazeer Mohammed05-May-2008
Dwayne Bravo is one of several West Indies players who will not return home from the Indian Premier League until four days before the first Test against Australia © Getty Images
Who is really who in the upcoming Test series? You would think that the West Indies are playing the role of the all-conquering Muhammad Ali and the Australians are cast in the mould of the huge underdog Earnie Shavers given the degree of preparation, so far, by both sides ahead of the opening showdown at Sabina Park in 17 days’ time.Ali fanatics may not need any reminding, but the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion of the world came fairly close to paying the price for complacency when Shavers took him to 15 rounds in their contest at Madison Square Garden in New York in September, 1977. Criticised for a lack of intensity in his training leading into the fight, the champ prevailed on a unanimous points decision, although some seasoned observers maintained that the comfortable margin of victory had more to do with Ali’s larger-than-life reputation than his dominance of the challenger.The point is, though, that the favourite prevailed in the end, much as the Aussies are expected to do in the three-Test series despite the run of three consecutive victories by the Caribbean side [2nd Test and first two ODIs] last month at home to Sri Lanka. But unlike the man who proclaimed himself to be “The Greatest,” Ricky Ponting and his squad are not giving any indication of taking their two-month swing through the islands in the sun as a leisurely, well-paid holiday with some cricket against lightweight opponents thrown in every now and then.Despite the considerable attraction of huge pay-cheques appearing for their respective franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the entire Australian Test touring party is now in Brisbane for a training camp before the players depart for Kingston next week. The veteran left-hander Simon Katich, recalled to the Test squad after a record-breaking domestic season with New South Wales, was facing up to Brett Lee in the indoor nets last Saturday at the Sydney Cricket Ground just a day after returning from India.It could be argued that Katich would already have been in pretty good shape after turning out for the King’s XI Punjab in the early matches of the IPL. However the 32-year-old, who averages 36.00 in 23 Tests, is obviously keen to make the most of this opportunity after more than two years in the international wilderness. The circumstances of his last Test innings – caught by Chris Gayle at first slip off Corey Collymore for a duck at The Gabba in the first Test of the 2005 series – are probably additional motivation to make amends should he get a chance in the Caribbean.So while the champions are already down to business in the tropical climate of Brisbane, what’s the story with the home side? Following the Sri Lankan series, new manager Omar Khan talked about preparations for a training camp before going into battle with the Australians. However the dates and venue for that camp, if confirmed, are yet to be made public, while the training squad, if already selected, has not yet been released by the West Indies Cricket Board.Nothing new with those two issues, and it is also stale news that the trio of West Indians now involved in the IPL [Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo – Gayle has been ruled out a groin injury] will not be back until May 18, four days before the start of the first Test. Add to that the uncertainty over the captain’s fitness and it seems to be the same old story of time and opportunity lost before an important assignment.It’s interesting to compare the priorities of the West Indians and Australians when it comes to national duty and the IPL, for they seem as far apart as their respective countries … There was never a question of the [Australians] trying to persuade their administrators to excuse them from the camp and let them stay on for another week of IPL money-makingIt’s interesting to compare the priorities of the West Indians and Australians when it comes to national duty and the IPL, for they seem as far apart as their respective countries. The Aussies are among the highest paid in international cricket based on their retainer contracts with Cricket Australia. Still, the prospect of earning up to three times their regular salaries for just a few weeks’ work in India was too good to pass up, although there was never a question of the selected players trying to persuade their administrators to excuse them from the camp and let them stay on for another week of IPL money-making.Their West Indian counterparts do not have retainer arrangements, however the Caribbean cricketers’ match/tour contracts, thanks to aggressive and effective representation from the West Indies Players Association, means they are very well taken care of, even if it is not at the level of the Australians.Yet before the ICC meeting in Dubai which mandated that official international commitments take precedence over sanctioned private competitions, the WICB CEO Donald Peters was prepared to concede that the IPL-bound West Indians would not have been available for the first two Tests of the three-match series. Even after the ICC’s clarification, there was still speculation about the players’ date of return, the implication being that IPL money was higher up the batting order for one or two of them than playing for West Indies in a Test match.Last Saturday made it 13 years since Mark Taylor’s men humbled Richie Richardson’s West Indies side by an innings and 53 runs at Sabina to reclaim the Frank Worrell Trophy and bring to an end an era of Caribbean invincibility in Test series that had spanned more than 15 years.Katich’s sharpening of his skills against Lee and others on that anniversary day suggests that the tourists won’t be caught unawares by hosts seeking to score a lucky punch.

He was England’s inexhaustible colossus in the lean post-war years – both wicket-taker and stock bowler. A salute to Alec Bedser on his 90th birthday

Alan Hill04-Jul-2008

	‘If his labours as a bowler could be collected and piled up around him in some visible shape he would be seen to be standing beside a mountain’ © Getty Images

The cricket challenges faced by Alec Bedser in the lean post-war years paled by comparison with the pressures confronting him on more forbidding battlegrounds. He was one of a host of emerging cricketers when war broke out in 1939. Six years of active service, latterly as an investigative military policeman, gave him a steel and maturity to counter all other trials. The returning warrior, then aged 28, was supremely equipped to engage in the tensions and intrigues of a Test match.Sir Alec, as he celebrates his 90th birthday, turns back the years to assess his enduring stamina as a cricketer. His fortitude is attributed to the countless hours of practice in the nets at The Oval. He and his twin brother Eric loved practising as boys. From their early years they set themselves the task of aiming to hit a piece of newspaper on a good length, and then bowling six balls each at a time, with one stump as a target. Alec offers this advice to erring bowlers. “Remember”, he says, “the stumps are only 28 inches high and if you don’t pitch it up enough you won’t hit the wicket and you won’t get anyone out lbw.”John Woodcock, the veteran cricket writer, has referred to Bedser as “loyal, kind and incorruptible”. He adroitly observed: “If his labours as a bowler could be collected and piled up around him in some visible shape he would be seen to be standing beside a mountain.” Bedser’s monumental endeavours were sorely needed by both Surrey and England. Testimony to his workload is indelibly contained in the statistical lists. Between April 1946 and September 1947 – two English summers and one overseas tour to Australia – he bowled 17,395 balls. In five summers of Test and county duties at home, he busily accumulated an aggregate of 5636 overs, well over 1000 each season. Throughout the long haul of post-war summers, Alec was unflaggingly both wicket-taker and stock bowler.The ascent to greatness was accomplished without a settled partner. Fast bowlers traditionally hunt in pairs. As England’s standard-bearer, Bedser had little respite from his labours until the arrival of Trevor Bailey, Fred Trueman and Brian Statham – all of them eagerly accepted as worthy companions. Juggling the meagre resources available, the England selectors discovered and discarded a variable contingent of new-ball allies, 17 in all, through Bedser’s Test career.Bedser would summon his powers of endurance, as he single-handedly held sway before Surrey’s years of plenty. Michael Barton, his captain from 1948 to 1951, conceded that Bedser was overbowled in his formative seasons. “Alec really carried us during that time. There is no question that he was the man who contributed most to our successes. He was a very hard worker, with great stamina, and he was a brilliant bowler, particularly on a bad wicket.”Bedser was nowhere more venerated as a bowler than in Australia, and he especially cherishes his exploits against his rivals from down under. He took 104 wickets, an average of almost five per match, in 21 Tests against Australia. He followed Wilfred Rhodes as only the second bowler since before the First World War to reach this milestone. Another 25 years would elapse after Bedser’s achievement before Derek Underwood added his name to this elite of bowling centurions against Australia.Events were to link Bedser with his good friend, Don Bradman, the greatest batsman to all who came within his sphere of command. From his first triumph at Adelaide in 1947, in the subsequent 15 innings of their rivalry, Bedser took Bradman’s wicket eight times. His feat in dismissing the Australian five times in consecutive Test innings is an unprecedented achievement. The delivery which produced a Bradman duck ten minutes before the close of play at Adelaide was the harbinger of things to come. The wonderful legcutter, deviating sharply and coaxed by enormous hands, was the weapon of confusion. It was “spun at speed” and the effect was a genuine legbreak. Bradman related: “It must have come three-quarters of the way straight on my off stump, then suddenly dipped to pitch on the leg stump, only to turn off the pitch and hit the middle and off stumps.”

	Bedser dismisses Ron Archer, his 39th and final wicket in the 1953 Ashes series © The Cricketer

Remembrances of the newly installed nonagenarian pay attention to the economy of Bedser’s action – an unvarying run-up of ten paces, all designed to preserve maximum efficiency. It was estimated that each of his overs lasted two and a half minutes each. One former England colleague, Bob Appleyard, says that Bedser was so grooved in his action, which was rhythmical and economical, that he was able to continue for long periods. Staying at the wicket for two to three hours against Bedser constituted an achievement beyond the norm. Trevor Bailey still winces at the memory of his tussles. “The most significant feature was that Alec was responsible for bruising the inside of my right hand. He just kept on hitting the bat. Alec jarred my hand more than any other bowler I faced.”Bedser was called upon to dispense his wisdom and diplomacy in a record-breaking term as a Test selector at the start of the 1960s. The sequence included 12 seasons as chairman when his teams won ten, drew three and lost only five out of 18 series. His renown as a cricketer – and, perhaps more importantly, his integrity and status as a former professional – earned him acceptance as a trustee of the game. He never allowed popular clamour to cloud his judgment. Doug Insole, then chairman of the selectors, provided one telling story. Soon after Bedser’s elevation to the selection panel, he presided at a Test match dinner and was introduced to the assembled players. “If he says you’re fairly useful,” Insole explained, “you can be reasonably sure that he means you are among the best in the world.”Bedser was closely associated with the swiftly changing order in cricket. Usurping the old amateur supremacy was a surge in player power, which carried perils and impending conflict. He had to call heavily on his reserves of tenacity and patience in a succession of crises involving Geoffrey Boycott, Tony Greig and Ian Botham. Botham’s spectacular revival against Australia at Leeds in 1981 was a direct consequence of the unpalatable decision to sack him as captain.For Bedser, in his last season as chairman, the momentous events of that summer were the most pleasing of farewells. “All who know him and admire his sense of duty and enjoy his bluff humour will have been delighted he ended on a winning note,” observed Woodcock, then editor of Wisden. The happiness of the occasion ensnared another cricket correspondent. “That was a marvellous performance by Ian Botham,” enthused Christopher Martin-Jenkins. “Yes,” said Bedser. “Well, he’s a good cricketer.”

For an all-too-brief while, Shane Bond was the world’s finest fast bowler, shattering stumps and scaring batsmen. Now at ease with not gracing the main stage anymore, he looks back at his career

Sriram Veera04-Nov-2008Log on to YouTube and you may get to see the ball that changed Shane Bond’s career: a searing yorker that knocked out Adam Gilchrist’s stumps in a VB series game in Adelaide in 2002.On the morning of the match Bond threw up at breakfast – a side effect of nervousness that he only managed to get rid of years later. The very good players tend to be nervous wrecks before big games. Sachin Tendulkar can’t sleep, George Headley’s bowel movements used to change during a Test; for Bond it was throwing up.”If you are not nervous, I don’t think you can get the best out of yourself,” Bond says. “You need to be on the edge to perform against the best guys. Even during the warm-ups I used to be tense, but as soon as I got the ball in the game, I would relax. Outwardly you try to show you are calm but I think every one is nervous. You do bluff a bit.”I remember walking back to the mark after that wicket and telling myself, ‘Look, I’m good enough to be here.’ That one ball changed my whole thinking. Before that I was still intimidated and thinking, ‘Don’t get hurt here.’ From that point my self-belief went up there. Rather than thinking about don’t do this, don’t bowl a half-volley, don’t get hit, the focus shifted to ‘ this now.’ I thought I could be the best bowler in the world and set out to do what was required.”He held that title, for a while at least, and has the records to prove it. Bond’s strike rate of 27.5 is still the best in the history of one-day cricket (qual: min 1000 balls bowled). He was the fastest bowler to 100 wickets in terms of number of deliveries bowled. In Tests, he has the fourth best strike rate of all time.Bond, still boyish-looking, doesn’t seem a fast bowler. Nor does he look a cop. He was both.Related

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Shy by nature, he transforms into an animated character while talking about fast bowling. Sitting in his hotel room, watching on the telly as Zaheer Khan harasses the Australians, he brightens up: “Ah that was good. How did he bowl that? … C’mon, the batsman should have seen that coming.” Bond is in India playing in the ICL and watches the Test series when he can.

I is for injury

“It’s easy to say that you want to be the best but it’s difficult to go out and do it,” he says. Train hard, work hard when no one is watching you. For me, I had the desire to do it even when no one was watching.”Never was that desire more severely tested than in 2004, Bond’s annus horribilis. He had a back operation – the hipbone was grafted into the vertebra and secured with bolts and wire – and things didn’t look too good. It was three weeks before he was able just to touch his toes, seven before he could walk for ten minutes at a stretch. The surgeon told him that his fast bowling was a thing of past. The future was a blur. Bond had a young family to support. Somehow he had to find a way. He did.He began to walk, went swimming, and changed his fitness training. He slogged through four sessions a day: ten overs of bowling in the morning, followed by an hour of weights. Then a half hour of rest before a 40-minute run. He ended the day with a session of boxing training. No one was watching.Knowing that he did his best to overcome his body is what has allowed Bond to come to terms with thoughts of what could have been. His bid for a spot on the list of the greats will always come with an asterisk: he played only 17 Test matches, the footnote will say.The gamechanger: Bond bowled Adam Gilchrist with a fearsome inswinging yorker in the VB Series match in Adelaide in 2002•Tony Lewis/Getty ImagesBond doesn’t think too much about how his career would have shaped if not for all the injuries. “I don’t see my cricket career as a ‘but’ now. I have worked really hard on my game, especially on my fitness,” he says. “That was the whole point for me. If I got injured, I got injured, but I did everything possible to take care of myself.”On tours, when team-mates went out to party, Bond would usually stay back at the hotel. He didn’t drink a lot, or indulge in anything that could later give cause for regret. “I did everything I could, but I still got injured. For me, it was just not meant to be.”

‘No mate, you’ve got to be the best’

Bond first dreamed of playing cricket for New Zealand at the age of five. When he was 12 he met his hero Richard Hadlee.He was 16 when he decided he had to improve his bowling. “I picked up the phonebook, dialled Dayle Hadlee [New Zealand’s bowling coach then] and asked him whether I could come to his house and have a chat, have a look at my video. As I grew a bit older, he was in charge of the academy and we shared a great relationship.”During his time in the police force, “raiding houses and chasing bad men”, Bond would save his seven-weeks’ holiday to play cricket in the summer. And when he did, he bowled fast and blew teams out in club cricket. After one such annihilation, his first-class coach Gary McDonald said, “That’s the quickest going on in New Zealand. I’m going to call up Richard Hadlee.”Bond played for New Zealand A on a tour of India in 2001, during which he picked up a bunch of wickets. Later that year he made his international debut, against Australia.Short supply: “I don’t like to see them hit on the head and hurt. But the times when they are jumping around, you walk back to your mark with a smile. No one enjoys facing fast bowling”•AFPIt was a conversation with Chris Cairns shortly after that gave Bond direction. Cairns asked the debutant about his plans. “I said I want to take wickets and try to stay in the team, and he said, ‘No mate, you’ve got to strive to be the best bowler, the No. 1 bowler in NZ, and soon the best bowler in the world.” After I played in the first part of that VB series, I thought he was right: I want to be the best bowler in the world.”Bond didn’t have a great start against the Australians, though. He remembers standing in the nets, watching the mighty Aussies go about their task. “All the stars were there. I thought, this is the best team in history and I’m going up against them, but the good thing is that it’s never going to get harder.”I didn’t pick up many wickets but I went past the bat a few times and it gave me confidence that I could compete against these guys. Then Bangladesh came along, which was a good thing. I picked up wickets and my confidence grew. Then the VB Series, which was the turning point for me.”There’s something about the Australians that brought the best out of Bond. In 11 ODIs against them he has taken 34 wickets at 13.88, with a best of 6 for 23. “They can make you look stupid if you don’t bowl well,” Bond says. “And I always felt a lot of buzz when going against them. They like to attack and come after you, but it gives you a chance to pick wickets. I used my swing, bowled fast and kept it full outside off. I’m lucky that I swing the ball. I always believed that I could bowl the ball that can get somebody out. Good luck to them if they keep coming hard.”Bond thought Sourav Ganguly was one of the elite batters who found his bowling challenging to face•Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images

Thinking ’em out

Brain triumphs over brawn for Bond. Talk about his famous yorkers and he’d rather tell you about the thought-out dismissals that he cherishes more.Brian Lara was a prized victim. When he was new at the crease, Lara would move back and across in an exaggerated manner; but rarely had he been bowled around his legs. Bond stored that movement in his head.The opportunity came in a Test in Auckland in March 2006. In the first innings Lara was out pulling Bond to midwicket. In the second innings Bond fired his first ball in full, fast and swinging. Lara walked across and his leg stump was out of the hole. “That felt great,” Bond says.He was never the sledging fast bowler. The odd stare or the occasional wry smile to suggest he had got the better of the batsman was more his style. “I just concentrated on keeping at the batsman. Even if he hit me for a four I would be at him the next ball. He would know that I was not going to give up, that I’d keep knocking till I got him out.”Some good-old quick bowler’s meanness does trickle out, though. Bond says with a smile that he loves to see batsmen hop – though he doesn’t like to really hurt anyone. “You hit them on the thigh or back side, you see them grimace and you go, ‘That’s good!’ I don’t like to see them hit on the head and hurt or something. I am the first one to run across. But the times when they are jumping around, you walk back to your mark with a smile. No one enjoys facing fast bowling.”Of the 17 Test Bond played, New Zealand lost only two•Marty Melville/Getty ImagesWho were the good batsmen he liked bowling against, who he felt weren’t too comfortable playing him? “Sourav Ganguly.” A few at his ribcage and then slip in a yorker? He nods. “And I always thought I had a chance against [Virender] Sehwag. I used to swing the ball back in and he had problems with it. [Herschelle] Gibbs always felt that when he was on song he could play me, but I liked bowling to him. Graeme Smith played me well, but then I got my own back.”Who was difficult to dislodge? “I’ve got to say [Matthew] Hayden. If you are swinging into him he has problems, but my strength was swinging away from the left-hand batsmen and so I never had a great chance of bowling him or getting him lbw. Similarly [Shivnarine] Chanderpaul. He knows his off stump and doesn’t give you much chance.”It was in the Auckland game where he got Lara twice that he thinks he produced his best spell of Test bowling. “We were defending 290 and they were nearly 150 for none. [Chris] Gayle and [Daren] Ganga were playing well. Ganga got out and I hit [Ramnaresh] Sarwan with a bouncer and bowled Lara around his legs. The ball started to reverse and I got three more wickets. It was my best-controlled spell: I got players out when and in the way I wanted. I remember the previous night telling myself tomorrow is a big day and I am going to go good.” Bond’s figures read 5 for 69 and West Indies fell 28 runs short.Like his idol, Hadlee, Bond charged himself up by setting targets of wickets and averages. “When I was playing ODIs, I set two wickets a game. I wanted four runs per over and to keep my average under 20. Similarly in Tests I wanted to keep it under 20. I was driven by trying to just keep it there. Stats are not going to define you as a player but I used it to get the best out of myself. I pushed myself to wanting to be the best and get my ranking higher and higher.”And so he rose before injuries pulled him down and the decision to play in the ICL finally froze his international career. He has no regrets about that choice – “When I joined the ICL I thought I could play both and it was just common sense as far as financial reasons go” – but when he eventually hangs his boots up for good he knows he will miss the big time. “Like winning, especially against Australia at their home in front of huge crowds. They give you tremendous stick and when you do well it gives you great adrenaline. Nothing is going to beat that. Life is going to be a bit boring!”

The only thing better than defeating opponents is crushing them. And the only thing better than that is to do so at their own game

Osman Samiuddin in Lahore24-Jan-2009
Sri Lanka have built a depth in their pace reserves matched by only a few, but envied by all © AFP
The only thing better than defeating opponents is crushing them. And the only thing better than that is to do so at their own game. The themes before Sri Lanka arrived in Pakistan laid themselves out readily. Spin, Pakistan’s batsmen must conquer and likewise pace, the Sri Lankans.The pitches were bouncier and Pakistan picked six fast men in their squad. All talk was on how best to tackle Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan, cricket’s M&M, every bit as tasty a prospect as the candy and every bit as vicious as one of the rapper’s lines. The only cursory glance cast over Sri Lanka’s pace attack was at Chaminda Vaas, for being here.Nuwan Kulasekara and Thilan Thushara became, by default, the men to wait through before the spinners came on and the real game began. Yet with delicious irony and Tillakaratne Dilshan aside, no one contributed more to this series win than Sri Lanka’s fast-bowling pair. Together they took one less wicket (nine) than Murali and Mendis, but no one will deny they essentially set up both wins and the series. It has happened more often than people think and it may happen more often.Without too many people cottoning on, Sri Lanka have built a depth in their pace reserves matched by only a few, but envied by all. Probably the variety cannot be matched. There was something in the pitch today, as well as something in the lights and the atmosphere; in Kulasekara and Thushara they had the men to wring every little bit out of it. They located whereabouts to bowl early on and went about it with considerable verve. The movement they got suggested at times they were playing on a different pitch to Pakistan’s bowlers.Beyond them, Dilhara Fernando is more than just a magnificent mullet. He is tall and hits the bat very hard and if he is erratic, it still means he has days when he can run through sides. Farveez Maharoof every now and again, on particular surfaces, reminds various people wherever he travels of Glenn McGrath. There is to be relished the soon-to-return freakishness of Lasith Malinga. Dammika Prasad has pace, reverse-swing and spunk. And remember, Vaas has not yet retired. Only Maharoof has been a member of their pace attack in this series.Malinga aside, none of these individuals has perhaps been given the recognition they deserve. And collectively, just the depth of resources has slipped by. It is understandable, and difficult, when you have men such as Murali and Mendis doing things never before seen on a cricket field. But Kulasekara and Thushara are part of what Mahela Jayawardene, the man responsible for deploying this talent, called Sri Lanka’s “unsung heroes.”They [our fast bowlers] have been unsung heroes for quite some time because of someone like a Murali, who has taken a bucketful of wickets. Guys like Vaasy have been forgotten, guys who have been doing a lotMahela Jayawardene”They have been unsung heroes for quite some time because of someone like a Murali, who has taken a bucketful of wickets. Guys like Vaasy have been forgotten, guys who have been doing a lot,” he said. “But our pace attack has been really good for the last two to three years and these guys have been pushing each other.”Sri Lanka bid adieu but return soon enough for two Tests. It is likely Pakistan will still focus on how to handle the spinners but they will overlook the pace attack at their own peril. The names will be different, the threat the same.”There was lot of focus on the two spinners and we were quite happy for them to talk about that because we knew these guys [the fast bowlers], given the right conditions, are very good bowlers and they can create opportunities. They came to the party when required, so Murali and Ajantha have a good group of bowlers around them which is a good thing.”We have completely different guys coming into the Test series, who have been playing consistently. Dammika, Dilhara and all those guys, even Lasith is coming back. He’s played three-four games back home so he will probably be in the squad pretty soon.”As he usually does, Jayawardene’s words were calmly uttered, with a smile. Make no mistake, Pakistan – and indeed the world – should heed them as warning.

A rapidly maturing Pandey plus a relaxed Dravid equals a near-perfect chase

Sriram Veera at the Wanderers23-May-2009In the end discipline prevailed over flair. The only really tense spell in the chase came when Muttiah Muralitharan operated. On either side of his spell there was such calm, composure and skill from Royal Challengers Bangalore, led by Rahul Dravid and Manish Pandey, that the victory seemed almost a formality if they held their head. And they did.Pandey seems to have grown a year in a couple of nights, from the time he made that hundred. Dravid, it seems, has lost a few years since the IPL’s first edition. It was a perfect tango between a rapidly maturing Pandey and a relaxed Dravid. What stood out was the absence of the mid-pitch conference between the veteran and the novice. When Dravid joined Pandey one expected there would be moments where Dravid would guide the youngster through constant chit-chat to kill the adrenalin rushes. Sure there were talks, but there wasn’t anything visually dramatic. There was no need either: Pandey was eerily cool and in control.The start set the trend. Albie Morkel got his deliveries to curve away in the air, but Pandey showed class. It’s risky to foist such an adjective upon one so young, on somebody who has just played two fine innings at this level, but it was unmistakable tonight. He waited that extra second for the swing to play out before threading two pretty square-drives through point. It was in direct contrast to how he started in his last knock.On Thursday he started off with a few big hits, which came with a touch of desperation in them, to give himself some breathing space. Understandably the pressure on him to deliver was more then. Understandably he was yet to find himself at this level. Cricketers often talk about how one innings can turn things around. Things seem to have turned around for Pandey.What caught the eye was how late he played. There was a delightful late-cut off Manpreet Gony, and a lovely little battle with Shadab Jakati, who actually bowled really well to Pandey, despite what his figures show. Time and again he slowed it up, hoping the youngster would go hard at him. Pandey refused to take the bait. He was made to wait by the bowler, and he waited. There were several little taps past cover before he won that contest with a forcing shot off the back foot to the cover boundary. Jakati was taken off.In the meanwhile Dravid was just being Dravid. Rock solid. A wicket at that time could have set the cat among the pigeons. He not only made sure it didn’t happen but kept the runs coming too. The outstanding shot was his signature classy on-drive. It wasn’t a bad delivery from Morkel who landed it on a length and on the stumps. Dravid leaned forward fully, and wristed it gorgeously through wide mid-on, uncorking his wrist – as is his wont – in an exaggerated fashion at the completion of the stroke.From unpredictable to classy, Manish Pandey seems to have grown a year in two nights•Associated PressAll along Dhoni had delayed the entry of his trumpcard Muttiah Muralitharan. Perhaps he left it for a bit too late. You knew Chennai Super King’s only chance was Murali. And he bowled beautifully. It was a fascinating phase as he did his utmost to strangle Bangalore. It was the only time the Bangalore fans in the crowd got edgy. At the grass banks, they oohed and aahed. In the middle Chennai fielders repeatedly cleared their throats to appeal.Matthew Hayden, at first slip, and Dhoni, at leg slip, defined appealing. Blood-curling cries, the full arch of the body and the extension of arms right behind over their bodies. Murali screamed as well. The tension was palpable, and indicative of their desperation and their state of mind. They knew this was the last and the only dice. Simon Taufel remained impassive, though, till he finally lifted his finger to send Dravid back.It was here, at this moment, where the game paused for a brief while. The Chennai section of the crowd was finding themselves. It was here that Bangalore showed how far they had come through in confidence levels. Virat Kohli and Ross Taylor don’t generally need an invitation to go for their shots, but the clinical fashion in which they hunted down the remaining runs must have given a lot of heart to Kumble.The bowling must have already given him great joy. Though Kumble didn’t do anything magical tonight, the rest of the pack stood up to be counted. Again it wasn’t anything sensational; there were no magical balls but simple old-school discipline. Chennai ended up at least 30 runs short and it made the difference in the end. Bangalore against Deccan in the final. Who would have thought?