Andy Flower discusses the Kevin Pietersen affair and the way forward for England

David Hopps in Pallekele02-Oct-2012Andy Flower, in his role as England coach, has not given an interview to the English cricket media for months as the Kevin Pietersen affair has raged around him. In the aftermath of England’s ejection from World Twenty20 at the Super Eights stage, and with a truce between the ECB and Pietersen sensed to be hours away, he finally broke his silence.Flower measures his words as carefully as anybody who has ever been involved in English cricket in the modern era. Nothing is glib, every answer is carefully considered. The media respect him but few could claim a warm relationship. All, though, would recognise the integrity that lies at his core.English cricket’s long-running sore has at times shaken Flower and at times infuriated him as it has undermined the team ethic, and the desire for maximum efficiency, that he prizes so dearly.If, at weaker moments, it has made him question the sanity of carrying on, Flower is no quitter. It has strengthened his resolve in his belief that while egotism and individualism are necessary elements of top-level sport, they must always ultimately benefit the collective.His reluctance to be interviewed during a stand-off that he regards as “unprecedented” in English cricket has been frustrating for the media, yet it probably arises from the best of characteristics: from a recognition that he cannot dissemble, or at least chooses not to do, and that the political and personal battles raging around him, have held sway and limited his freedom to speak out. Legal opinion has also been increasingly to the fore, amid been reports that Pietersen could sue if he is not awarded a central contract.The debate over Pietersen’s stand-off with the ECB has polarised opinion in English cricket to a manner not seen since the mid-1980s when Geoffrey Boycott went to war with Yorkshire. “You’re either for or against me,” Boycott would say and, although Pietersen has not said as much, the implication has been there among his fans and his critics. When England collapsed against Sri Lanka, Piers Morgan, the KP-supporting ex-tabloid editor turned chat show host, came close to celebrating the fact on Twitter.Flower is a man who speaks his mind clearly and, on this occasion, we have decided to present the opinions of the England coach unadorned by interpretation or background, of which there has been ample.How much have you missed Pietersen as a player?
We definitely missed him there is no doubt about that. He would have helped our batting side enormously.How much did his absence affect the team in other ways?
We tried to restrict that and our guys have been really good at concentrating on what we do so I think the group has been excellent.And you?
I have had to do a bit of both obviously, as it has been an ongoing issue, but I have been very focused on trying to get the most out of our guys at this tournament and trying to do well in this tournament.Did you sense the issues are close to resolution?
Yes, I think so… then at least the formal, legal side of things that has been ongoing for weeks will be behind us.Will it be a relief when it is finished?
Absolutely. We always want to draw lines under situations such as that.On a personal level, you didn’t come into coaching to get into situations like this. Has there been any time when you have thought ‘I can’t be bothered with it anymore’?
Look, part of the job, part of reason why Hugh Morris [managing director of England cricket] employs me, is that you have to be able to deal with whatever situations come my way. You can’t whinge about it. That is part of the job and you get on and do it.It is unusual though, isn’t it? Hasn’t there been a time when you just think about walking away?
It is unprecedented. Look, it hasn’t been a great couple of months but Hugh Morris is a good man and the board has been very supportive and clear in their thinking and I appreciate their support and their experience and their wisdom.Do you think Kevin is a good man in many ways?
I think we all have good and bad in us, all of us.Is the Test squad for India set in stone? Could it be tinkered with?
Let’s get the legal stuff out of the way first.Is it as simple as drawing a line?
It is not as simple as drawing a line. But if we can get the formal stuff out of the way we can move on with thinking about the day-to-day team stuff.Will things ever be the same again do you think?
I always think that is dangerous to try to recapture what you have had in the past. Things are always in a state of flux and you move on and learn from the experiences you have had. You evolve. That is the healthiest way you go about it. We don’t try to recapture the past. We try to move on and be stronger and better and wiser than before.Has this affected your ability to do your job to coach the team in three formats during the time this has been going on?
I have been fully focused on my job as coach and part of my job as coach was to try to get some sort of resolution to that situation as well.Having one of your best players on the outside of the group, with all the problems that entails, must be an awkward situation. Is that a situation you are keen to avoid in all games going forward?
I think we are quite used to having players either recently retired or just outside the group… some injured players are outside the group at any given time, sometimes commentating on the game and giving interviews.Andrew Strauss used to say that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. What have you taken from this episode that will make you a better man manager in the future?
The tournament has just finished. I don’t really want to get into that. Maybe when I have finished my career.

Twenty20 rankings change very quickly, but for a few days Ireland were above Australia which did not go down well for the men in green and gold

David Hopps in Colombo18-Sep-2012Ireland’s cricketers have never been slow to see the funny side of life, but the one about them being higher than Australia in the ICC Twenty20 rankings is perhaps a dangerous example of taking a gag too far. The way the Australian batsmen were thudding sixes against the roof of the clubhouse at Colts Cricket Club, scaring the crows and showering the tables with rust, they cannot produce the sort of victory to force a change of subject soon enough.”I haven’t read a lot about it… I heard that we went above them for a while,” said William Porterfield, Ireland’s captain, successfully keeping a straight face as if rankings were the last thing on his mind. Australia, as it happens, are now ranked ninth to Ireland’s tenth, but when you have a proud history like Australia’s that is not the sort of overtaking you boast about.The rankings, outside the Great Brown Land, have become a bit of a lark, so much so that as one Australian observer pointed out, it is easily forgotten that they actually reached the final in Barbados two years ago before losing to England. They also came within nine runs of England in a warm-up on Monday, and England (equally dubiously in some eyes) are ranked No. 1.But the statistic has fun-poking potential and, since arriving in Sri Lanka, Australian players have become practiced at staring blankly into the mid-distance whenever the topic is raised, as if they were being asked a very dull question about differential calculus.”The rankings mean absolutely nothing once the tournament starts,” said George Bailey, Australia’s T20 captain. “I don’t know how the rankings work but we obviously haven’t been as consistent as we would have liked. I can’t believe that teams will be taking it easy against us based on where we are ranked. Particularly in a World Cup, rankings go out of the window. You don’t start at 0 for 100 if you are ranked higher.”Bailey is an easy-going, laconic sort of guy but he would need the generous nature of his namesake in Frank Capra’s not to yearn for the sort of dismissive, bullying display against Ireland in Wednesday’s opening match at the Premadasa Stadium which will bring all this conversation to a stop.If David Warner and Shane Watson cut loose at the top of the order that is what he may get, but Mike Hussey apart, Australia’s middle order has to up its game. Cameron White, the man Bailey replaced as captain, has barely made a run since his recall; Glenn Maxwell, who wants to be the x-factor, has talked a good game and now must play one; and the captain himself, praised as an inclusive and quick-witted leader, would love to prove that he has international batting credentials. Two young quicks, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, and the oldest spinner in town, Brad Hogg, will be relied upon for penetration with the ball.Bailey is the unsung Australian captain, in charge of a format that his country is still struggling to accept. A far more famous Tasmanian batsman and captain, Ricky Ponting, voiced suspicions from the outset and things have changed slowly since. Australia remains, in essence, a conservative country where traditions matter.”My personal view is that it has taken a little while for Australia to take Twenty20 seriously,” said Bailey. “For many years we picked teams with a lot of guys who hadn’t played a lot of international cricket and we changed that team a lot and we changed guys’ roles. Like any format if you can give guys a run then you start to get more consistent performances. That has been a big focus of ours. I think we are starting to get there.”I guess the players understand that at times it is not the truest test of your skill. But if you look at the success of our Big Bash competition last year I have no doubt players are now cottoning on to how to best play T20 cricket and hopefully we will soon begin to see the results.”This was a more considered assessment than that volunteered by one Australian holidaymaker in Colombo who the previous evening, after professing that he did not even know the tournament was taking place, gathered together enough knowledge to tell ESPNcricinfo: “We don’t give a hoot for T20.””I’m not sure he spoke for everyone,” said Bailey. “I think Australians are pretty competitive and if there is a tournament on the line they like to be winning it. He is probably throwing that out there because we have not been winning them. I bet if we win he’ll be pretty proud of it. At the end of the day Australia has one trophy that is not in its cabinet and that is Twenty20 World Cup and that is something we would like to rectify.”I’m pretty confident. The last couple of weeks I think have been great for this team to spend some time together. Once you understand how the guys around you are going to play you have that real structure in your head and you’ve got a real sense of what the team’s going to do. It feels like the team really grows a leg.”Ireland will rely on Craig McDermott, the former Australian quick who is acting as a bowling consultant in this series, to give them an edge. “I’m a gun for hire now and I have worked very hard with these boys and we need a win,” McDermott said. “I do think we have got a very good chance. Australia would be nervous about losing to Ireland.”When you work with a side like Australia or England there are more staff and it’s all laid on for the players. But the way Ireland have prepared for this tournament, with the funding they have, they have done a great job and I am looking forward to them putting Australia under pressure.”Ireland only have one T20 victory to their credit against a full-member side but their World Cup wins over 50 overs against England last year in Bangalore or Pakistan in Jamaica will persuade them that anything is possible. Nothing excites them more than the prospect of a spot of giant-killing and Australia, whatever the rankings might tell you, are as big as it gets. No wonder Australia’s coach, Micky Arthur, says he will only rest if and when this match is safely negotiated.

He may not be part of South Africa’s plans anymore but the Lions batsman remains an integral part of the country’s domestic scene

Firdose Moonda22-Oct-2012If you go down to the Wanderers on any day in the South African summer you’ll find one player staying back after the usual training sessions and team meetings: Neil McKenzie.You might find him gathering the equipment after the Lions squad has left the nets, or arranging the sweets the way he likes them best in the dressing room, or going into the office to say hello to the people who have worked there for as many years as McKenzie has been alive. “Like Eddie, who rolls the wickets, and Phil, who does the outfield – both of them were here when my dad was playing,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “You just need to look around. This is a nice place to be.”The Wanderers was McKenzie’s playground when he was a young boy. He and his brother Gavin played on the grass banks and in later years shared drinks with the Pollock brothers while their fathers were out in the middle. Three decades later, it is still his home. Apart from a small stint at Northerns in Centurion, which he refers to as a “holiday”, McKenzie has played all his domestic cricket in South Africa for Gauteng.He is a local legend and still one of the Lions’ most reliable run scorers. He was second on last season’s first-class batting charts and has already scored two fifties this season, one of which was instrumental in the Lions’ opening victory in the Champions League Twenty20 and proof that McKenzie has still got it, no matter what the format.The administrators at Corlett Drive always knew McKenzie had it. Weeks after he finished school, he was contracted by Gauteng, along with Zander de Bruyn and David Terbrugge, and seemed destined to follow his father’s lead. He had expectations to fulfil, and McKenzie said he had nothing but support from his family.”My dad tried to give us the opportunity to play as many sports as possible. His only stipulation was that we had to play a team sport while we were growing up. There was no real pressure from his side in terms of what we wanted to do after that, but he did say I had to try and get a degree behind me. Being a cricketer, he knew how the sports industry is and how everything can be taken away from you in an instant. I’m glad he pushed me in that direction.”While playing, McKenzie applied for a degree in commerce at the University of Johannesburg, although cricket remained a priority. For five seasons, he racked up the runs before being picked in the national one-day squad. He remembered batting in the middle order with Hansie Cronje in that time. But it was in the longer form of the game that McKenzie made his name.He became a regular member of South Africa’s Test side, playing 41 matches between July 2000 and March 2004. He scored only two hundreds in that time, against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, both made before February 2001. In the latter stages of the first part of his Test career, he became better known for his odd superstitions, which included strapping his bat to the ceiling, stipulating a seating arrangement for his team-mates in the dressing room, and making sure all the toilet seats were down when he went in to bat.McKenzie now has an explanation for his unusual behaviour. “Us cricketers, we can be funny people. We try and control the uncontrollable. In the game, things can be unpredictable so I tried to make them predictable. I think that’s why I did it.”After going 33 matches without reaching three figures, he was dropped from the national side. McKenzie returned home to the Wanderers and was asked to captain them in the new franchise system. “Obviously I still wanted to play for South Africa but I also had me a different focus because of that,” he said. “We had a lot of young players that had come through our ranks, and we wanted to develop them. So I worked on that.”His personal life also changed when he married South Africa’s original Wonderbra girl, Kerry McGregor, in 2007, and the couple became the Posh and Becks of the cricket scene. With love came sensational form. Two seasons of averaging around 50 in the first-class scene spelt McKenzie’s Test comeback as Graeme Smith’s opening partner.He lasted 14 months in the role, played 17 matches, averaged 47.11 and scored three hundreds, including one at Lord’s during South Africa’s first series win in England since readmission. “That was the best time in my cricketing life in terms of results,” he said. “We won in England and Australia, and the team vibe was amazing.”It was nice to be part of the side when they started making such good progress. If you look at them now, there have been only one or two personnel changes from that time. That is the key to a winning side and to creating a legacy.”But when South Africa could not continue upward after they defeated Australia Down Under in 2008-09, McKenzie was the one to take the fall. In their home series against Australia the same season, South Africa lost 2-1. McKenzie was one of the worst performers; he scored 102 runs in four innings, with a top score of 36, and by then had gone ten matches without a century. He was dropped and, by his own admission, his international career was over.He was disappointed but not angry. “I don’t think too many guys get a second chance but I got a second chance. Everyone wants to do more, so of course, I would like to have got a lot more runs, I would like to have been in the side more than I was, but I am not bitter about anything. That’s the thing about sportsmen. Because we are so highly driven, we get bitter when things don’t go our way. I would like to have played more but I’m happy to have done what I did.”

McKenzie’s weirdest superstition

“I always liked to get into bed in the same way every night – same side, everything neat – that’s how my day ended. I used to room with Lance Klusener and he would always play a trick on me during that routine. I’d get in and be ready to switch off and he would flick my ankle. Then I would have to start all over again. He used it quite a few times and it would really irritate me. When I saw him here a few weeks ago, we laughed about that and I told him that now I jump into bed as quickly as I can.”

McKenzie has continued to lead the Lions’ batting line-up and decided to extend his career by spending time in England during the South African winter. Hampshire, where old friend and former team-mate Nic Pothas was stationed, became his second home.McGregor and their two children, Luke and Riley, went with him and the family began living across two countries. “It’s a different challenge. I think it’s easier when you are on your own [where if you have] a one-bedroom apartment with no garden, you’re fine. But when you’ve got the kids that I’ve got, you need wide open spaces,” he said. “But I have loved every minute of the playing side of things on different wickets in England.”They have spent three years travelling back and forth, and McKenzie thinks he has one more left. “When my knee was giving me some problems a couple of years ago, I thought if I get to 37, I’ll stop. I will be 37 next month but I think I’ll do another year overseas and then finish my career here with the Lions. It’s about choosing the right time. As long as I am making runs and contributing, that’s fine. But the main thing is that I am not keeping guys out who should be playing. I still want to do well for Geoffrey Toyana, the Lions and my team-mates.”Toyana, who played with McKenzie and now coaches him, has lauded his senior role. “He is a sounding board for me and for the captain,” Toyana said. Alviro Petersen, Lions captain, has also praised McKenzie’s dedication to the squad.McKenzie remains a team man but bizarre habits don’t dictate his dressing-room ethic anymore. “There are times that I keep my rituals the same but the OCD has toned down since I’ve had kids,” he said. “There is not as much time and I am too exhausted to be checking on things like the toilet seats. Thank goodness.”He also offers advice to some of the younger batsmen like Quinton de Kock. “I don’t mentor, I just offer advice,” McKenzie clarified. It may be an indication of what McKenzie’s life after playing cricket could be like. He said coaching is an option, especially because he has “always liked the nuances of batting”. Finishing the degree he began studying for 15 years ago is another possibility. “I am three half-subjects away but I stopped so long ago I hope the university can still find my records.”

Shakib Al Hasan began the day by becoming Bangladesh’s highest wicket-taker in Tests; he ended it by missing a century by three runs

Mohammad Isam in Khulna24-Nov-2012Shakib Al Hasan was out to a rash shot off what was eventually the last ball of the fourth day in Khulna. He had made 97, and walked back admonishing himself and not his luck. His sizeable contribution, however, had prevented Bangladesh from being finished off inside four days. From 82 for 5, Shakib saved his team from embarrassment, at least for another day, and before that effort with the bat, he had become Bangladesh’s highest wicket-taker in Tests, with 102 wickets.Shakib wasn’t able to speak to reporters after the day’s play because he had reportedly injured his right shin and needed a scan. A man of few words, it is unlikely Shakib would have been able to convey what he felt after breaking Mohammad Rafique’s record of 100 Test wickets, and after missing his third century.Not long after he had completed his 52nd over, Shakib was needed in the middle once again, because of what transpired in the first 45 minutes of Bangladesh’s innings. The standout aspect of Shakib’s innings was how he did not get flustered by the happenings around him. After watching senior batsman Shahriar Nafees and his captain Mushfiqur Rahim fall to terrible shots, Shakib began a 144-run association with Nasir Hossain.As the day wore on, however, and Shakib neared his hundred, he may have got more anxious. Hossain said later that his partner had been eager to reach his century. If Shakib hadn’t fallen when he did, there may have been an extra over before stumps were called. Shakib had, it seemed, given himself little time to reach his milestone.He had been patiently rebuilding Bangladesh’s innings, and then moved from 72 to 86 with two straight hits, a four and a six, and a clipped four to fine leg, all off Sunil Narine. After moving into the nineties with a streaky boundary off Fidel Edwards, Shakib played six more deliveries before giving it away to Veerasammy Permaul. He reacted with hurt rather than the sheer anger when he fell for 89 in Mirpur. It was the third time he’d been dismissed in the 90s, to go with an unbeaten 96.”Shakib Al Hasan became what he is by playing like this,” Hossain said. “There’s a lot to learn from Shakib, and I don’t think anyone else is able to give such services to Bangladesh. I think Shakib is mentally very strong.”When Shakib hit [Sunil] Narine in that over, I understood he was willing to complete the hundred today. Before that over I had told him to just pick the singles and reach the hundred. A lot of things work in your mind when you reach that stage.”Despite the dismissal for 97 or because of it, it is Shakib’s bowling that stood out on the day, as he completed a milestone he had been waiting for, for 11 months. By dismissing Permaul, Shakib went past left-arm spinner Rafique, who led Bangladesh’s attack between 2000 and 2008, as his country’s top wicket-taker. Shakib took over the mantle of leader immediately after Rafique’s retirement and has been similarly over-bowled. Yet he has ensured the quality of his batting has not been compromised.He had been struggling with the ball during this series, so when he got his first wicket in his 49th over, there was a lot of relief. Only Shakib could have waited so long for his wicket, and he began the fourth day with new vigor and a lot of flight. Two balls later, he had Sammy caught at slip, his 100th wicket, and in his next over he had Permaul caught at short cover. Narine’s wicket gave Shakib figures of 4 for 37 from 14 overs in the morning session.”I didn’t think of celebrating 100 wickets. I was just relieved that I finally started getting wickets today,” Shakib said. “I was forcing myself to bowl better today.”The responsibilities Shakib performs for Bangladesh can be a drain on physical and mental strength. The size of his workload also poses an injury risk. Shakib, however, will have to carry on.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the first day of the second Test in Mumbai

George Dobell in Mumbai23-Nov-2012Milestone of the day

Virender Sehwag’s selection rendered him the 54th man – and the ninth Indian – to reach 100 Test caps. That an opening batsmen could have a strike-rate above 80 for such a long career would have seemed incredible 30 years ago; that he can do so while averaging more than 50 underlines Sehwag’s remarkable success and impact upon the game. He features five times in the top-ten list of the fastest Test double-centuries (in terms of balls received), twice in the top three of the fastest triple-centuries and only two men have struck more sixes and seven men more fours in their Test careers. He must be judged a great batsman by any standards.Gamble of the day

Both teams took significant gambles with their team selection. India went into the game with three specialist spinners and just one seamer, suggesting they would have opened the bowling with a spinner had they lost the toss, while England selected Stuart Broad despite him missing training due to illness the day before the game. India’s tactics were in marked contrast to the words of their captain the day before the game. MS Dhoni has said India were “looking at a 2-2 combination” as “you don’t know whether you would bat or bowl first. Harbhajan Singh will have to wait for his chance as Ashwin and Ojha are bowling well.” Gamble indeed.Ball of the day

Perhaps he is not the force he was in the past, but it was Sachin Tendulkar’s misfortune to be on the receiving end of an excellent ball from Monty Panesar. Delivered from round the wicket, drifting towards leg stump, but then pitching and turning sharply, it clipped the top of off as a groping Tendulkar was bowled for the fourth time in his last five Test innings. You have to go back to 2002, when he was bowled five times in six innings, to find a comparable period in his career. The harsh may criticise him for playing slightly across the line, but perhaps the concern should be more that, for the second innings in succession, he mis-read the flight. Maybe it is a sign of age; maybe it is a sign of low confidence but, in his last six Tests and nine innings, Tendulkar is now averaging just 16.11 with a highest score of 27. The silence that greeted his dismissal amply expressed the disappointment and, perhaps, the concern of his home crowd.Drop of the day

Cheteshwar Pujara was on 60 when he was drawn forward by Panesar and, beaten by the turn, edged to second slip. James Anderson, who is rarely seen in the slips these days after some uncharacteristic mistakes in recent months, dived to his left but could only parry the ball down to third man. It was a tough chance and perhaps suggests that Anderson was slightly out of position: it appeared the ball may also have evaded Jonathan Trott at first slip. It was a tough chance but, bearing in mind that England had failed to dismiss Pujara in either innings in Ahmedabad and that he has only offered the toughest of chances to date in this series, it was the sort of moment that could define a relatively low-scoring game.Near miss of the day

It looked as if Pujara had fallen just short of a second Test century in as many matches when he pulled a delivery from Graeme Swann only to see the ball bounce off the foot of Alastair Cook at short-leg and into the hands of midwicket. But replays suggested the ball had hit the ground as it hit Cook’s foot so Pujara was reprieved and Swann, who thought he had just taken his 200th Test wicket, was forced to wait a little longer.Ominous moment of the day

England would have been understandably delighted at reducing India to 119 for 5 on the first day. But they could be forgiven for wrestling with some unsettling thoughts even as they did so. As early as the first delivery of the 41st over, a delivery from Panesar exploded off the surface, caught the shoulder of Pujara’s bat and looped towards point. The ball dropped safely to ground but, bearing in mind England’s record against spin bowling and the anticipated deterioration of the pitch, and it might have been a moment that also caused some anxiety for the tourists.

From Tim Wigmore, United Kingdom

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013
Ashish Bagai was one of the best wicketkeepers in the World Cup, and Canada’s best batsman as well•Getty Images
Imrul Kayes
While Tamim fired only briefly, his less obtrusive opening partner was the nearest Bangladesh had to a reliable batsman this tournament. Kayes provided the backbone for their successful chases over England and Netherlands, winning the Man-of-the-Match award in both games.Ed Joyce
His long-awaited return to Ireland colours was a disappointment in many ways – how Joyce will rue his soft dismissal against Bangladesh. But his 84 against West Indies, which begun with consecutive boundaries, was a testament to his class: he is surely the most aesthetically pleasing batsman any of the Associate nations possess.Collins Obuya
He is remembered for his sharp-turning leg-spin in the 2003 World Cup, when he took 5-24 in the victory against Sri Lanka. Obuya’s bowling has since subsided, but he has reinvented himself as a top-order batsman of genuine quality, as 243 tournament runs illustrates. It was a great shame he ended 98* against Australia, after he had handled Tait, Lee and Johnson with the calm of a Test player.Niall O’Brien
O’Brien will be extremely frustrated reflecting on this World Cup: he made starts in every innings but only once past 50. O’Brien’s relish for a challenge was illustrated by hitting Morne Morkel for six over long-on, one of the shots of the tournament, and an average in excess of 40 shows the quality of this most industrious of cricketers.Ashish Bagai (wicketkeeper)
Bagai was one of the best wicketkeepers on display in this World Cup, keeping with poise to seam and spin alike. And with the bat he was easily Canada’s best player, taking them to victory over Kenya and scoring an elegant 84 at almost a-run-a-ball against New Zealand.Ryan ten Doeschate
ten Doeschate came into the tournament with a reputation as the best Associate player in the world, and, with a century of both brawn and finesse against England, he quickly went about justifying it. Though runs proved harder to score thereafter, he chipped in with a half-century in difficult circumstances against Bangladesh, before ending the tournament with another magnificent hundred. His wicket-to-wicket bowling also troubled England.Kevin O’Brien
Critics will say he only played one innings of note, but what an innings. O’Brien 113 against England – including 45 off 15 balls during the batting powerplay – will be remembered for decades. As a display of brutal, calculated hitting it is hard to beat – and an IPL contract could be the ultimate reward.Shafiul Islam
Belying his ODI average of under 6, and three ducks in five innings this tournament, Shafiul proceeded to smash Swann and Anderson down the ground en route to raiding England for a match-winning 24*. His pace, movement and accuracy earned him 4/21 to clinch a narrow win over Ireland. But, like his team, Shafiul was hopelessly inconsistent, leaking 124 runs from 14 overs in Bangladesh’s three defeats.George Dockrell
When was there last an 18-year-old spinner with Dockrell’s control and big-match temperament? In the intense pressure of the opening game in partisan Dhaka, Dockrell’s wonderful 10 overs, in which he returned 2-23, ought to have secured Ireland victory. Thereafter, he only continued to impress, with the only shame that his skipper didn’t trust him to bowl to Kieran Pollard. What odds him representing England in 2015?Ray Price
The man with the most theatrical expressions in world cricket illustrated his guile and skill with some admirable performances, notably 2-21 of eight overs against Pakistan, and was equally effective opening the bowling or bowling in the middle overs. Nine wickets at less than 19 deserved better support from his disappointing compatriots.Harvir Baidwan
Canada’s bustling seamer was impressive throughout, making up for a lack of express pace with nagging consistency and a touch of movement. He will be rightly proud of his haul of 13 scalps, which included Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson and Younis Khan.

If it’s England that’s getting its intestines removed, it’ll probably be followed by a Test victory

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013From today, cricket will be on England’s sporting back burner. The London Olympics, understandably, has wound Britain into a frenzy of wild excitement, and/or complaintative grumpery, and/or a sudden and unquenchable interest in the finer points of canoeing, equestrian dressage, and the timeless national hobby of watching people carry a small bit of fire quite slowly. It is a British tradition as old as Britain itself. There must be one spectacularly giant witch to burn at the opening ceremony tonight.Perhaps it is fortunate that England has an Olympics to distract it from a Test match hammering so comprehensive it could have passed itself off as an underfunded inner-city school. Last year, England brutalised the then-world-number-one-ranked Indians. At The Oval, the boot was not only on the other foot, but it was triumphantly stomping on their throat like a vengeful rhinoceros. “Too close to call” had been many people’s pre-match prediction. It was as if Nadal and Federer had met at the Wimbledon final in 2008, with the world on the edge of its collective seat to see the two greatest tennis players in the universe, and Nadal had beaten Federer by knocking him spark out with an anvil to the head.Andrew Strauss and his team can thus attempt to recover from their surgical disembowelment at The Oval away from the glare of press and public. The Test series moves to Headingley next week, before returning to the hauntingly sport-starved city of London for the final climactic showdown. Or last rites. Delete according to whether you think England (a) will be able to respond to this poor start as they have responded to most other poor starts recently, or (b) have been so utterly tonked that they will forget that they had taken 20 wickets in 22 of their previous 28 Tests, and remember only that, either side of those 28 Tests, they have suffered successive cloutings-by-an-innings at the hands of Graeme Smith’s rampant Proteas. (By my reckoning, this is only the fifth time that England have suffered successive innings defeats against a team in their Test history ‒ previously, v Australia in 1897-98, 1946-47 and 2002-03; and v India in 1992-93.)It was one of South Africa’s finest Test wins, four days of almost perfect cricket against very good opposition on a tediously snoozy pitch that gave minimal assistance to either bowlers or, just as importantly, spectators. If an Ancient Roman fortune teller (and let us assume there is one amongst England’s numerous backroom staff) had tried to read the future from the entrails of England’s Oval disembowelment, he is unlikely to have come up with anything particularly positive. He might have prodded around in the still-warm guts and made vague prognostications of an improvement with the ball, but that would be merely a statistical inevitability. Wouldn’t it? As 19th-century cricket pundit Oscar Wilde once said: “To concede 600-plus for 2 once may be regarded as a misfortune. To do so twice looks like carelessness. Do join me in the tea interval when my special guests will be WG Grace, William Gladstone, Jack The Ripper and Nick Knight.” (Nick Knight is immortal. He has been alive since before the last Ice Age.)The fortune teller might also try to cheer everyone up by poking at an intestine and pointing out that England have had at recent a tendency to start series sluggishly. They were poor in Cardiff in 2009, in Centurion in 2009-10, and in the first innings in Brisbane in 2010-11. They were crunched by ten wickets in Dubai last winter, and were well beaten in Galle. But they only lost one of those five series, won the second Test in four of them, and played three-quarters of a good match against Pakistan in the other before being power-skittled for 72. Perhaps they should start drinking their coffee before the first Test of series, not the second.South Africa, on the other hand, have tended to misfire after a potent start. They contrived to draw series with India (twice) and Australia after being one Test ahead by conceding second Test defeats, and they allowed a victory-starved Sri Lanka to equalise the series last winter, before rectifying that situation in the third Test. Smith’s team have often looked a side on the verge of cricketing greatness, but have not yet achieved it.The next three weeks will prove whether or not they have laid aside those vulnerabilities. The evidence of The Oval suggests that they have. But then, the evidence of their annihilation of Dhoni’s Indians in the first Test in December 2010 suggested that as well, and they proceeded to lose the next Test.They have in their ranks the three highest-averaging batsmen of the decade, and the greatest bowler to have entered the Test arena this millennium, supported by a man who has made the best start to a bowling Test career since the 19th century, and another proven Test paceman. What is puzzling about this South African side is not how good they were at The Oval, but how adequate their series results have been over the last few years.There are crumbs of comfort that England will be edgily forking around their plates between now and Headingley. But whether they can reconstitute those crumbs into an edible cake, against a team that seems to be finally realising the full extent of its talents, after a total and utter battering, will be the greatest challenge Strauss’ outstanding team has faced, and one that will define their status in the history of the game.● If one shot has exemplified the failings of English batsmanship since I started following cricket, it has been the sweep, and its rogue dysfunctional cousin the reverse sweep. From Botham’s final, very brief, innings as captain at Lord’s in 1981, via Gatting’s World-Cup-losing plink in 1987-88, to Pietersen’s flap-steer at Hauritz in Cardiff in 2009, and assorted ineptly executed swishes in the UAE last winter, the sweep has been the shot that has had England fans weeping into their sandwiches more often than any other.Last Sunday, England were in deep trouble, but the shine had worn off the new ball and the pitch was still showing all the life and vigour of an extremely hungover Galapagos tortoise after Charles Darwin threw a massive party to celebrate working out how evolution works. Andrew Strauss, becalmed by the insistent probery of the South African bowlers and the tension of his team’s predicament, then chose what he instantly realised was the wrong moment to attempt the accursed horizontal-batted gamblethwack off Imran Tahir. On Monday, Matt Prior, batting with class and purpose, with the new ball minutes away and with his considerable eye very much in, and the old ball spinning out of the rough but from an easily negotiable round-the-wicket angle, followed his captain’s example.The remarkable thing is that both men got away with it. They both missed, both looked rueful, and both looked as if they were telling themselves not to do that again. Both men, however, did do that again. Seconds later. Both were unwilling to take the hint they had given themselves that sweeping was (a) unnecessary in the circumstances (b) tricky at the best of times, and (c) about as sensible as performing DIY dentistry on your own kitchen table using a second-hand pneumatic drill. Both men top-edged, both were out, and both hung their experienced heads in self-flagellatory recrimination. Ooops.● Both Strauss and Prior received merited criticism for the shots that brought about their downfall and confirmed England’s fate. Pietersen was also criticised, albeit in a slightly odd way. He was criticised for playing stupid shots that he didn’t get out to, and then criticised for getting out playing a sensible shot, badly. Such is life for Kevin Pietersen. He has always been technically flawed and played a calculating high-risk game. As a batsman, he is vulnerable and magnificent, powerful and fragile. He is the only natural aggressor in England’s top 6. He will always be slammed for being too aggressive. When the risks do not pay off, or the calculations are awry. He is Kevin Pietersen, splitter of opinion, sporting fascination.

Every club is trying its best to stay afloat, selling real estate, hosting concerts, borrowing heavily, but is the model sustainable?

Chris Stonor16-Apr-2013County cricket is experiencing a commercial transformation unparalleled in its 123-year Championship history. Encouraged and supported by the ECB, clubs are shifting from an outdated and withering six-month business model into a 365-day dynamic enterprise fit for the 21st century. But can all 18 survive this enormous financial shake-up and reach the promised land intact? The redevelopment of Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl, now owned by the Eastleigh Borough Council, is expected to pump in £50m extra annual revenue into the local economy•Getty ImagesCounty cricket is at a pivotal stage in its evolution. While the sheer determination, will and desire to keep “the 18” solvent is impressive to observe, rumours persist of some counties being close to bankruptcy. No one who values the rich and varied tapestry of English cricket would want any county club to fold without one hell of a fight. But there is no escaping it. These are challenging times for our professional clubs.Somewhat perversely, the euphoria around the 2005 Ashes success was the catalyst. It was in the afterglow of that triumph that the ECB’s financial adviser Deloitte Touche suggested that English cricket could be entering a golden era with large rewards to be reaped. But with many clubs housed in dilapidated and crumbling buildings, it was time for a major makeover.The Test match grounds (TMGs) were the first to respond. The ECB warned that unless they modernised, their status as active international venues could come under threat. Others on the periphery of international cricket, like the ambitious Hampshire, were busy transforming their ground into a magnificent sports stadium. The competition was on. Some counties borrowed heavily from banks and councils, who were throwing money around like confetti. Then the 2008 banking crisis hit.Two years later Deloitte Touche delivered a follow-up report. This one was markedly different in tone and message, warning the ECB that some TMGs were “facing financial difficulties and maybe even insolvency”. Their report stated that debt levels amongst the TMGs stood at £91m and this would only increase with interest payments alone costing £36m up to 2015. These were disturbing figures for a group whose combined profit, excluding the MCC, between 2006 and 2009 was just £2m.Non-TMGs like Kent were also feeling the pinch, needing to sell the family silver to raise sufficient funds for their St Lawrence redevelopment. A highly valued painting here (£600,000), adjoining land there (£4m plus) – but it still wasn’t enough. Unfortunate commercial decisions, along with rising players’ wages, began crippling the club. In March, Kent reported a £628,054 operating loss for 2012, amounting to a £2,544,042 deficit since the 2008 accounts – a huge sum for a non-TMG.The first to react were local councils. John Gilbey, leader of the Canterbury City Council, tells AOC: “County cricket is not self-sustainable. It requires initial investment to become an all-year business. Our bottom line is, do you want county cricket in Kent, and if so, do you want it based in Canterbury? The financial decision is about the impact a county club has on the local community; the income and jobs gained or lost; and the well-being it can offer to local residents.” The decision involved a £5.5m loan in two tranches. “If we had not done this, the club would have got into severe financial straits.”Meanwhile Hampshire, steered by the flamboyant Rod Bransgrove, was in even greater financial strife. By 2009, the Irish bank aligned to the club had stopped all lending facilities. Enter Keith House, leader of the Eastleigh Borough Council. “Nobody would lend, so Hampshire came to us,” he explains. “We concluded the project was excellent for the community and would make a sound return for the council. So we stepped in. Without our intervention, Hampshire might have fallen into financial difficulty.”Eastleigh Borough Council bought the Ageas Bowl for £6.5m in January 2012. The council rent it back to Hampshire at an annual £420,000. They also took on the £32m investment required to build the 175-bedroom, four-star Hilton hotel and 18-hole golf course. Altogether, this amounts to £38.5m of taxpayers’ money – an extraordinary amount for a medium-sized borough council. The hotel includes a luxurious health spa and gym, a gourmet restaurant for 150 diners, and a 6500 square-foot ballroom. Work started last autumn and will take 18 months to complete. The venue will create 500 new jobs and £50m extra annual revenue for the local economy. The overall Ageas Bowl development costs £48m in total.Economic distress for our established clubs is not unusual. In 2000, Hampshire were insolvent to the tune of £1.2m until Bransgrove bailed them out, while in 2003, Yorkshire were saved from certain bankruptcy by their chairman, Colin Graves: “The club was 48 hours away from going bust,” he says. “I stepped in by personally underwriting the £10m owed to the bank along with any future loans. I sorted out their finances, got the Leeds City Council, university and others involved.” But why? Graves, who has a £50m personal fortune from creating the supermarket chain Costcutter, laughs: “I must have been an idiot. But I’m passionate about the club and didn’t want to see it fold.”There’s more. In 2012, Glamorgan only escaped administration after refinancing their debts and attracting a new £1.3m investment from a private consortium, the £13.4m owed to creditors via the SWALEC’s development having proved difficult to manage.Other clubs were more fortunate. During 2010-11, Sussex used a £12m legacy to redevelop their ground debt-free. Nottinghamshire spent just £8.2m transforming Trent Bridge – the money coming from an East Midlands Development Agency grant (£2.5m), as well as loans from three local councils (£3.7m), and the club’s own reserves (£2m). Described as “creative, bold and hugely successful”, this partnership won two prestigious accolades during 2009, including the Outstanding Public Private Partnership Award at the MJ Local Government Achievement Awards in London.The Oval and Lord’s, meanwhile, were already high-class venues, but this didn’t stop the MCC planning an astonishing £400m “Vision for Lord’s” facelift before pulling the plug at the last moment. This led to former PM, Sir John Major, resigning from the club’s committee.The cavalry finally arrived this February when the ECB announced each county would be eligible for a £1m payment to help them with their metamorphosis. It was described as a “very soft loan” by ECB’s managing director of the professional game, Gordon Hollins: “I don’t believe any county would see this particular loan with anything other than glee. The all-important condition is that each submits a business plan which is validated by the ECB board and leads towards a delivery of sustainable first-class cricket.”There are five strategic priorities of the First Class Counties Transformation Programme being coordinated by the ECB:To create a customer-centric business
Operational and organisational excellence
First-class facilities for spectators, sponsors and the media
Working with and alongside the local community
A clear and consistent fixture schedule
Hollins adds: “We believe £1m can make a significant difference and offers a real opportunity for counties to become a robust future force.”Immediately, Yorkshire used half the money to pay off part of their loan to Leeds City Council, while Kent handed a large amount to Canterbury City Council. “It was a very pleasant and unexpected surprise,” recalls.

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While there are 18 unique counties, the blueprint for their transformation carries many similarities. Great emphasis has been placed on improving ground facilities. Apart from increased seating capacity and better terracing, changes include revamped or new pavilions, buildings, executive boxes and hospitality suites, which can lead to all-year revenue streams from conferences, exhibitions and weddings, to banqueting, hospitality days and general events.At the sharp end: Q&A with Gordon Hollins, the ECB’s managing director for the professional game

Why choose the sum £1m for each county?
The ECB looked at their finances and believed it was appropriate and gives a real opportunity for counties to become more robust.
There is some confusion over whether this money is a loan or a “memorandum of understanding”.
This is a very soft loan with a probable grant conversion by 2015 via performance-related fee payments etc. It is not a gift but serious financial support to help counties improve their business.
The business plans – what are they like?
Of the 13 received to date, all are different and unique. Where they have been light on any of our five strategic points, we’ve asked the county to improve it.
Somerset are using their £1m to become a “Category B” ODI ground, yet Glamorgan and Gloucestershire lie in the same area. Many believe there are already too many international grounds.
Having a ground that is validated to host international matches is different to staging them. It doesn’t mean they automatically receive games. If we could have 18 “Category A” cricket grounds – fantastic! In Somerset’s case, the club has compiled a robust business plan. We encourage better facilities so long as the county can achieve this in a sustainable way.
Given the present financial problems, does the ECB require 18 counties? Why not 16 or 14?
I am asked this question at least once a week. There is an easy answer. We need as many first-class counties as are good and strong. If we have 24, so be it. We get stuck with discussions on reduction. I want to focus on how to make the present 18 better and more robust, where each one punches their weight.
Are there any counties close to the financial abyss?
There are some who face big economic challenges right now. It’s tough out there. I meet all the counties at least three times a year to discuss their individual challenges and issues. I am confident the £1m will help each one become stronger.
What does the landscape look like five years from now?
Stronger counties and a vibrant domestic game, where both the ECB and clubs work closely together to achieve this aim.

Some counties are building retail centres or hotels on their ground in order to garner important monies either through rental or one-off amounts. Kent, for example, has a new tenant – Sainsbury’s Local. Opening a year ago, the outlet has created 25 local jobs. In a similar move Lancashire formed a partnership with Tesco in 2009, with the chain pledging £21m towards the ground’s redevelopment after one of their supermarkets was included in the planning, leading to a bitter legal dispute with a local property developer which the club eventually won.Then there’s Worcestershire, gaining £1m from Premier Inn for the use of a section of land – the company is investing £7.5m in a 120-room hotel and restaurant, with the building work having begun last September. While further north at Durham, planning permission has been given for a £10m, 150-bedroom Hilton hotel. The county are raising up to £8.5m, so the hotel can be owned and run by the club under Hilton management. Construction should start this autumn.Further areas of potential revenue are ground naming rights. Until recently Surrey held the record – a five-year contract with Kia Motors worth around £3.5m – believed to be the largest county cricket commercial deal in history. But in late February, Lancashire smashed this after announcing a ten-year agreement with Emirates Airlines for a stunning £10m. In one move “Emirates Old Trafford” wiped out a major part of their debt, while the airline increased its presence in cricket after signing a previous six-year stadium naming deal with Durham in 2010.Music concerts are becoming another favoured track. Lancashire is the Harvey Goldsmith of county cricket. Their first act was Simply Red in 1995, and other performers since include Oasis, Coldplay, Muse, Take That, David Bowie and Lady Gaga. Two summer concerts are held each year, played to a present capacity of 50,000.Other clubs are hoping now to emulate their success. Non-TMGs, in particular, are viewing this option as a way of generating extra revenue. When Elton John played at Sussex in 2006 and 2011, the club accrued over £100,000. The venture was risk-averse as the promoter, Marshall Arts, covered all losses/profits while the club made money from the ground rental and peripheral areas like food and drink. Elton, a big cricket fan himself, has turned out to be a fruitful money driver for other counties too.But it’s a fickle business. Kent’s disastrous £200,000 loss in June 2009 came after promoting the Sugababes and James Morrison themselves – theirs is a chilling lesson in just how precarious the market is.Northamptonshire CEO, David Smith, however, is not deterred. He hails from the leisure industry. The club recently signed a five-year deal with a local promoter where losses or profits will be shared. The first act signed is Madness for September 22, and Smith is upbeat. “We believe this venture will bring in significant revenue for the club. Already, 4000 tickets for Madness were sold in the first three weeks of sale. We have a standing capacity of 18,000, so we hope for a minimum of 10,000 ticket sales. If successful, we could earn a substantial six-figure sum.”Smith also accepts the risks. “The lower it is, the less money. Therefore, it’s about balancing that risk by choosing the right performer.” He has already turned down a number of acts and is presently talking to Lionel Richie’s management. Smith adds: “There are a large number of chimney pots within an hour’s drive. We shall give it a go.”

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The biggest challenge counties face is how to manage their debts. Borrowing is the easy part – paying the money back with interest is another matter entirely.Back in the middle of the last decade when UK property prices were soaring, one obvious step was to use surplus land to build residential homes, with the money gained from selling such land to a property developer diminishing a sizeable chunk of the loans. Warwickshire seized on this opportunity, as CEO Colin Povey explains: “We went into partnership with property developer MCD and a parcel of land around the perimeter of the Wyatt Stand was chosen.”Initially, 79 town houses were to be built – based on an innovative design used in Holland and Germany – with underground parking and first-level gardens. With 22 homes presently under construction, they should be complete by the summer with some already pre-sold. Sensibly, given the uncertainty now facing the property market, the development is staggered. “MCD have until 2020 to complete the whole project,” Povey says. “There are plans to create some retail, like a restaurant and coffee shops – also a possible hotel along with further car parking. The money gained will help towards paying off our debts.”Another on this path is Gloucestershire. Their £10m refurbishment of Nevil Road relies heavily on the money accrued from building a seven-storey, 147-apartment block on the Ashley Down Road side of their ground. But this sparked protests from ward councillors and local residents, and to the club’s horror, planning permission was denied in January 2012. Some architectural changes were necessary before approval could finally be granted four months later.Given the uncertain economic times, one strong theme is emerging – greater cooperation between the counties. PCA chief executive Angus Porter explains: “We must encourage clubs to work together under one commercial umbrella. At present, we have 18 fiercely independent, separate businesses. That can’t be right.”Porter believes ticketing for all counties should be executed by one company. Through basic economies of scale, whether it be buying drinks or toilet rolls for all, this would reduce expenditure. “County CEOs must show a spirit of cooperation,” he says.Sussex chief executive Zac Toumazi agrees: “We should not compete anywhere else but on the pitch. Consolidation is now the key, so we have to trust each other and work together. We know what the product is. We all hold a view on this. But it’s the bits around the outside. So let us be creative, cooperate and learn from each other. It’s all up for grabs.”

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Another theme is the need for counties to engage more with their local areas. In this case, Nottinghamshire are the pioneers. The club’s head of community sport, Tracey Francis, explains: “By interacting with our local community, we are attracting a new and larger audience to cricket, more sponsors and advertisers, while increasing our hospitality and conference business – it’s a win-win for us.””At Sussex,” adds Toumazi, “I want to encourage every player and staff member to engage with the community, whether it is assisting with the various Sussex Cricket Board projects or through direct interaction with the people. We are the ambassadors of the club, so we must connect more with them and publicise what we do.”Hollins is in agreement: “County grounds must have a relevance within their community. This has slipped in recent years.” And Gilbey adds: “We applaud the initiatives from the ECB to encourage counties to get more involved. This was a primary reason why we kept Kent afloat, as it stretched beyond cricket.”As for the future, even after the ECB £18m financial aid, there are some who still envisage turbulent times ahead. Graves, recently confirmed as the ECB’s deputy chairman, is one of them: “I believe several clubs could still go into administration. Some are struggling to keep their heads above water. Further money and assistance is required.”Supermarket chain Tesco has partnered with Lancashire•Getty ImagesPorter adds: “While we are fighting for all our members, if a couple of clubs do go under, it’s not the end of the world. Sixteen is a good number and benefits the design of strong competitions.”But while there will be tough challenges ahead, there is a growing optimism that county cricket is through the worst, that through this enforced transformation “the 18” will emerge in one piece to become more robust. “Clubs will be under the cosh for some time,” admits Toumazi, “and I don’t see a magic formula that will fix the debt. This is a tricky period for many but I’m optimistic we’ll get through it intact.”Povey, who has to pay an annual seven-figure sum to creditors, smiles wryly. “Warwickshire has as much debt as anyone but this doesn’t keep me awake at night. I feel comfortable with our deficit. We’ll bring it down. Meanwhile, the club is not prepared to compromise investment in core cricket. If we want an available top player we’ll approach him. Cost-cutting is not in our book.”As county cricket has a business model where profit is not necessary and break-even is the primary goal, a couple of successful new revenue streams may be sufficient. Povey comments: “We’ll be generating an annual £2.5m from non-match activities soon, which is more than our present ECB £1.8m monies.”The vision of some grounds is striking. Down at Hampshire, councilman House sees a garlanded future: “We are positioning the Ageas Bowl to become one of the world’s top leisure and sports venues. Only 6% of the hotel trade will be for cricket. The majority is for conferencing and the local cruise-liner and airport markets. We aim to promote a wide range of activities throughout the year where cricket plays an important but part role.”The outcome for those who support English cricket could well be wondrous, with greatly improved grounds providing a shot in the arm to the cricket-watching public, and a boost to the wider communities they serve. Many county hierarchies should be applauded for their determination to reach the promised land, while the ECB must be praised for their ongoing support and encouragement. The financial dramas for some may continue as county cricket intrepidly moves through this evolutionary off-the-field period. But its successful conclusion could well be worth all the pain and effort.

Looking on as the world’s greatest legspinner strutted his stuff was quite the education for a lesser-accomplished member of the breed

Steven Lynch02-May-2013Almost unnoticed among the customary mountain of emails a couple of weeks ago was one quietly announcing the winner of the Cricket Society’s Book of the Year, a long-standing literary award now co-organised by MCC. The latest victor was Gideon Haigh, the incisive Australian writer familiar to readers of ESPNcricinfo, for his book On Warne, more of an analysis of the great legspinner than a biography.As luck would have it I’d just finished reading it, and agreed with the learned panel’s decision. A review of the latest Wisden, on David Blackburn’s Spectator blog, included the line: “Gideon Haigh’s appreciation of Ricky Ponting contains sentences that leave you silent and content, as if admiring a view.” And On Warne is the same – it’s full of acute observations that had me paraphrasing Oscar Wilde: “I wish I’d written that.”You could pluck an example from every other page, so here are just a couple: “bowling Shivnarine Chanderpaul in Sydney in November 1996, the ball bouncing out of the rough like a zombie rising from the grave”, or of that brief but businesslike approach to bowl, “He did not switch on – Warne was always ‘on’. No, he switched the rest of the game off.”And Haigh is just about the only current cricket writer who could get away with: “Warne actually used to put me in mind of Edward Ashburnham in Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Soldier: charmingly shallow, good-natured, weak-willed, and ‘positively revolted at the thought that she [his wife] should know the sort of thing that he did’.” I wish I’d written that (or even known about it).It’s a thought-provoking book, unlike your average cricket life-in-print with its “I went up to Trent Bridge and was lucky enough to score a century.” With Haigh you get incisive analysis, like this on late-era Warne, after shoulder and finger surgery meant the big-ripping legbreaks were more of an effort than they were before: “Warne took his reputation as the bowler who had spun the ball as far as probably anyone in history, and turned it on its head, making himself into perhaps history’s most skilful bowler of deliveries that either went straight on or turned just a little.”Almost inevitably I found myself trying to recapture my own Warne memories. Not really the televised ones, although some of them are priceless: does everyone remember where they were for the Gatting ball? I was watching the TV in the Wisden office and, being a decidedly sub-Warne legspinner myself, was interested to see the first ball from this new member of the union. First reaction: slight disappointment, as it seemed to be slipping down leg – yes, I’ve had a few of those! And then. Ah. Don’t think I’ve ever done that – if I turn one that far my team-mates usually mutter about it having hit a stone. And it’s clipped the top of off stump – so this was what all the fuss was about.But actual on-the-ground memories? Well, I was in Sydney for the New Year match in 1994 when Warne took 12 South African wickets but still lost. And again four years later when he bamboozled 11 more South Africans, and this time won – that haul included his 300th in Tests, when he threaded one through Jacques Kallis to the accompaniment of thunder and lightning as a storm approached.Still, there’s something about being right behind a legspinner’s arm that allows you to start to unravel the mysteries. With binoculars propped up, you can see the shoulder dipping, the wrist coming over differently, and maybe even the ball spinning this way or that. Sadly, as I discovered, that doesn’t mean you’ll actually be able do it yourself – it helps if you’re the greatest bowler of them all to start with.So, watching Warne: I’ve got two strong memories of this sort of close scrutiny. The first was back in 2000, when I was despatched down the M4 to report on Hampshire’s visit to Taunton. I’ve got one vivid flashback of that day – and it’s not the left-handed Piran Holloway’s workmanlike century for Somerset (sorry Piran, I had to look it up). No, the recollections are all of Warne, who had a long afternoon spell for which I had the perfect vantage point.

In September 2007, I made a pilgrimage to the Rose Bowl. As I was walking in, I realised the man behind me – and his son, who was about eight – had come for the same reason: ‘You’re going to see Warnie,’ said dad. ‘This is his last home game’

Here’s what Sunday Telegraph readers were regaled with the following day:

“Hampshire’s bowling looked gentle – with one exception. Warne was low-key before lunch, but was still the most dangerous bowler on show and finished with four wickets. The Taunton press box, with its over-the-right-shoulder view, is an ideal spot to watch him trot out his variations. One ripped legbreak darted back in and nearly stranded Holloway, while others looped up invitingly outside off, before snaking back in and turning out to be not quite as driveable as they looked.”

There were many more Warne sightings, but it was a while before I had quite such a good view again. In 2005 I was fortunate to be Wisden’s man at the match for the Ashes Test at Edgbaston. When I found my allotted seat in the press box, opposite the pavilion, I was quietly pleased to discover it was right behind the bowler’s arm (I once had a seat somewhere where the window pillar neatly obscured both sets of stumps, and another in the old box at The Oval from which no grass was actually visible). What I didn’t realise, of course, was that I was about to witness one of the greatest of all Test matches.It was undoubtedly the most continuously absorbing Test I’ve ever been at – every other one has had the odd quiet period, when it was safe to go for a chat or a wander around the ground. At this one you didn’t even want to nip to the loo in case you missed anything.And one major reason for that was Warne: he bowled nearly 50 overs in that match, all from my end. Each ball was an examination: Andrew Strauss was bowled in each innings, in the second by one that zipped across him, past a pad thrust towards cover, to crash into the stumps. It was Warne’s second ball of the innings – and his 100th wicket in Tests in England.Warne troubled every batsman in that game, finished with ten wickets and, if that wasn’t enough, helped scare England rigid on the last day by scoring 42 as Australia inched to within three runs of victory. But his bowling was an education in itself.A couple of years later, in September 2007, I made a pilgrimage to the Rose Bowl. As I was walking in, I realised the man behind me – and his son, who was about eight – had come for the same reason: “You’re going to see Warnie,” said dad. “This is his last home game.” The great man took a couple of late wickets, although Hampshire eventually lost. It was actually his last home match (there was one soggy final first-class appearance, a draw up in Yorkshire). I hope the little boy remembers it.We didn’t really know then, of course, that there was a PS to come, in the glitzy form of high-profile T20 appearances for Rajasthan Royals and Melbourne Stars. Cherish him while you can – even in fun-size four-over chunks.

Deprived of their full-strength bowling attack, South Africa looked an altogether woollier proposition

David Hopps in Cardiff06-Jun-2013South Africa’s Test side has a discipline, know-how and physicality that has worn down the best the world can offer. Opponents bounce off the South Africa Test side like rubber balls off an oak door. South Africa’s one-day side does not possess the same authority. It is a side trying to disguise its deficiencies as well as it can.AB de Villiers wants South Africa’s one-day side to have the same resilience and sense of threat. That is only natural, it is the side he captains. He had promised to release a pack of wolves against India but, if it suffers many more bowling injuries, it could become the sort of wolf pack that even Mowgli learned he could stare down in .India’s ODI side has moved on from Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvraj and remains a side to be reckoned with. South Africa must envy their array of young talent and the way it has been integrated so seamlessly. They took on India without Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn, and then saw Morne Morkel fail to complete his allocation because of a strained quad. Those who replaced them lack the same presence.Morkel will undergo a scan on Friday and even if the provisional assessment is that it is only a minor strain, it can still take up to seven days to clear, leaving the disturbing prospect that Steyn and Morkel might miss the next match against Pakistan in a day-night encounter at Edgbaston. Chris Morris, who had a good IPL for Chennai Super Kings, might be a preferred replacement on the grounds that South Africa have been reluctant to risk Vernon Philander’s vulnerable physique in the one-day game.Ryan McLaren acquitted himself respectably well but South Africa’s second-string attack looked just that•AFPUnable to call on such talent as India, South Africa were forced to gamble. Robin Peterson had never reached 50 in 68 previous ODIs, and only batted in the top six on seven previous occasions, but he was thrown in at No. 3.It was logical enough. Pre-tournament talk had concentrated on exacting batting conditions in English conditions, with two new balls, but the reality was far more amenable to batsmen. Here was a promoted lower-order batsman playing the ODI innings of his life on a flat pitch under sunny skies. As India’s spinners fought back by suffocating South Africa in the middle order, not much seemed to have changed.If South Africa experimented with their batting line-up, with the ball they played according to pre-set notions. They chose to bowl, said de Villiers, because the stats told them to, even though the forecast indicated that the morning cloud would burn off almost as soon as the match started. They made liberal use of the short ball, said de Villiers, because it was the best way to go against subcontinent batsmen.”Against a subcontinent team, I still prefer some of the batters to hit us off our lengths instead of hitting us down the ground when we are on the fullish side, especially in English conditions,” de Villiers said.”I don’t mind the guys having that aggressive mindset. I am very proud of the way we fought back. We got five wickets in a very short time in the middle overs and I think that was probably the short ball paying off.”There was 100percent of the pack of wolves out there today. Every time I connected with the team, their energy and intent and awareness was there. Losing Morne Morkel was a shock but the way the boys fought back to restrict them to a chase-able score was a great effort.”

Kleinveldt is the wolf that looks as if it has dined out on too much elk and moose. He recently suggested that he had lost 10kgs but, if he had lost it, it looked easy enough to find

But two of the wolves were Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Rory Kleinveldt. Tsotsobe was the wolf who keeps losing his bearings and has to be guided back into the pack before he strays too much. Kleinveldt is the wolf that looks as if it has dined out on too much elk and moose. He recently suggested that he had lost 10kgs but, if he had lost it, it looked easy enough to find.Kleinveldt is 30 and only made his ODI debut earlier this year. He was probably a little taken aback when the opportunity finally came. It must have seemed “a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world”, as the Kinks once sung about Lola. When he did force an error against the short ball, it twice sailed just out of the reach of South Africa’s fielders; Shikhar Dhawan was 27 when he cleared Morkel at fine leg and 69 when he pulled over the head of Peterson, well in from the rope at deep square.At least Ryan McLaren, portrayed as Kallis lite, had a thoroughly decent game. He bowled with more intelligent than most, conceding 70 but dismissing three of India’s top six in the process. He even bowled a yorker – such a rarity it almost amounted to insubordination.He then made an unbeaten 71 at No. 8 to take South Africa within 26 runs, a more respectable outcome than seemed had likely when Morkel limped out at No. 11 with South Africa still 75 shy of their target. South Africa accepted that it was a calculated risk for Morkel to bat, but if they are to qualify, it might now come down to net run rate and the 48 runs added in the last 7.1 overs, seemingly with no damage done in the process, was a rewarding outcome.Without two disastrous run outs – first Peterson, later David Miller, potentially destructive but run out without facing a ball – South Africa would have got closer than many expected. At 155 for 2 around midway, they were in the match; at 188 for 6, with Miller and Faf du Plessis standing at the same end, discussing who had been run out, they were out of the match.”Miscommunication in the heat of battle,” de Villiers called it. “The run outs cost us dearly today.” He smiled, but it was the smile of the wannabe leader of a wolf pack. The rabbits in Bute Park would have been best advised to remain out of sight if South Africa’s captain fancied creeping through a gap in the hedge for a late-night stroll