All posts by n8rngtd.top

A look back on Mickey Arthur’s turbulent 19 months as Australia coach

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jun-2013November 22, 2011: Mickey Arthur, the former South Africa coach, becomes Australia’s first foreign-born coach. He is given the post after its redefinition under the recommendations of the Argus review, which took place after the disastrous 2010-11 Ashes. His contract is set to run until the end of the 2015 World Cup.December 2011: Arthur says the players should get used to rotation for reasons of balance, as it is something that will become more frequent under the new team-performance regime. All the players, he says, have to be prepared to accept the possibility: “That’s a maturity that we want to try to get into the group getting down the line.”December 2011: In a dramatic finish, Australia lose the Hobart Test to New Zealand – the visitors’ first victory in Australia since 1985 – to end with a 1-1 draw in Arthur’s first Test series in charge.January 2012: Australia complete their Test summer with a 4-0 drubbing of India.January 2012: Arthur says David Warner has the potential to lead the team “in any form of the game”.April 2012: Australia win the Frank Worrell Trophy in the West Indies comfortably, 2-0.July 2012: Australia are thumped 4-0 on their limited-overs tour of England.August 2012: Steve Rixon, Australia’s fielding mentor, takes over as head coach for the ODIs against Afghanistan and Pakistan in the UAE, to allow Arthur to focus on preparations for the World Twenty20.October 2012: Australia lose to West Indies in the semi-finals of the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.November-December 2012: The most anticipated Test series of the year: South Africa’s tour of Australia. After dominating but having to settle for draws in the first two Tests, Australia fall to a 309-run defeat in Perth to surrender the series.December 2012: The Perth Test against South Africa is Ricky Ponting’s last. His retirement leaves Australia and Arthur with a big minus on the experience front.January 2013: Australia whitewash the touring Sri Lankans 3-0 in the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy.January 2013: Australia and Arthur lose another vital cog in their setup, as New Year’s Test against Sri Lanka is also Michael Hussey’s last.February 2013: Australia gear up for a high-profile, demanding tour of India. Arthur talks about his plans for his batsmen to “show intent” against the Indian spinners, who were “under pressure” after losing a home Test series to England.February-March 2013: India hand Australia a 4-0 thrashing. The poor on-field performances on tour are overshadowed by the off-field chaos, as vice-captain Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, James Pattinson and Usman Khawaja are banned for the third Test, in Mohali, for failing to deliver a team-development assignment. Watson goes home, but it’s only for the birth of his first child, and he returns for the final match. Arthur says the players’ suspension was the result of “minor indiscretions that built up”, and insists that the India flop is not an Ashes barometer.April 2013: Shane Watson stands down as Australia’s vice-captain across all formats, declaring that he wants to focus his attention on his own performance.June 2013: Defending champions Australia have a woeful Champions Trophy, where they don’t win a game in the group stage. Adding to the on-field woes, again, is off-field controversy: David Warner is suspended from the tournament and the Ashes’ warm-ups following Australia’s first game, for punching England’s Joe Root in a bar-room incident after the match. Arthur then admits it would be a gamble to select Warner for the first Ashes Test, given he will not have played any competitive cricket in the preceding month.June 24, 2013: Arthur is sacked as Australia’s head coach less than three weeks before the start of the Ashes, and is replaced by Darren Lehmann.

They have slumped from grinding sides down with mountains of runs to battling to stay in matches

Jarrod Kimber in Brisbane25-Nov-20130:00

#politeenquiries: Australia win at The Gabba

The 2011 series between India and England was supposed to be a heavyweight contest for the No. 1 Test ranking. But had England played Ravi Shastri on his own holding a microphone, they would have got stiffer opposition. England won 4-0. England were No. 1.Until today, England were unbeaten in their ten Tests this year. It is not a record to be mocked. A closer look does show that five of those were draws, four against teams with far worse recent records and low rankings.It would be foolish and idiotic to say this England team is shot because they have lost this one Test. First Tests are not England’s speciality; they outlast and win over teams in the long haul. That might still happen; they could come back in Adelaide and win this series. But despite that fact, England have certainly not been at their best since they demolished India at home. Something is not quite right with this team.Jonathan Trott’s second innings shot might be the one people remember, but the sight of a well-set Alastair Cook nicking Nathan Lyon behind might be the real story of the last two years of English cricket. A lack of daddy hundreds.In 2009, Andy Flower picked Graham Gooch from commentary duties and got him to look after his batsmen. It started as part-time but soon became a full-time position. In 2010, Alastair Cook was an edgy, flawed mess at the crease. A year later he was a batting like a lizard God.Gooch may have fixed, tweaked and encouraged better results, but what the world heard was “daddy hundreds”. A hundred was okay, but a score of 150 and over was a daddy. Gooch wanted Gooch-style hundreds, he wanted England players to approach the 333s, he wanted them to control the game, grind the bowlers into the ground and cash in when they were on top.It was almost as if anything under 150 was seen by Gooch as flirting. An inconsequential occupation of the crease. The hundreds he wanted were the ones that bat companies use on the stickers of their bats. The kind that you tell your friends you were at. The ones that win series and kill bowlers.England responded by scoring many of these hundreds. They ground bowlers into the turf, they won series after series, they became the best side in the world. The daddy hundred was their foundation.The idea was simple enough; England wanted to bat for the longest time, blunting the new ball, setting up the game for their batsmen to tire out the bowlers for this Test, and the next, ensuring that their bowlers were fully rested between innings. Opposition batsmen would look at scores of 500, 600 or 700 and be mentally defeated.0:00

England’s batting was amateur’

It’s not a radical plan, although it was different to the more attacking smash-the-opposition-bowlers-around-the-head-and-mentally-beat-them style of Australia and West Indies. Most importantly, like a team of well-programmed robots, England did it almost perfectly.They lost to West Indies at the start of 2009. They were bowled out for 51. It was a low point. Andrew Strauss was the new captain, Flower interim coach. But in their next nine Test series, they won eight and drew one. And considering the one they drew was in South Africa, it was a pretty great time to be an England player. In that period they played 31 Tests and they scored 16 daddy hundreds. When their players got in, they didn’t leave until the opposition bowlers were completely defeated.By the time India arrived in England, they were entering a machine of efficiency that they couldn’t compete with. They handed their No. 1 crown straight over.England blew past them and started talking legacy. Being No. 1 was nice, but this was a team that wanted to be the sort of side that people talked about for generations to come. With only Strauss nearing retirement, No. 1 was a step on the way to cricket’s next dynasty.You had to be at the Gabba in 2010 to know how complete Cook, Strauss and Trott’s domination of Australia was. England had stuttered in the first innings. They’d very nearly broken Australia with the ball, before being smashed by Haddin and Hussey. All the hope and expectation that England had coming into the series had already started to evaporate for all but their most fanatical fans. Then came 517 for 1.Strauss made a normal hundred. Trott was on the way to a daddy. Cook made a daddy. It was solid, clinical and sweatless. Mitchell Johnson was embarrassed. Ben Hilfenhaus was milked. Neither would play in the next Test. If Steve Harmison’s first ball was a symbol of how weak and ill-equipped England were for the Ashes in 2006-07, then 517 for 1 in this series was a statement they were absolutely ready.It was only a draw. But that innings changed the dynamic of the two teams. England weren’t afraid, they weren’t useless, and once they got in, they weren’t moving.A week later, in Adelaide, Cook made 148, practically a daddy. Pietersen made 227. Dougie Bollinger, Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris bowled 88 overs. From that moment onwards, even with the freak win in Perth, Australia were never going to win that Test series.The series after beating India, England lost their first series in ten attempts. They went to play Pakistan in the UAE with a clear plan to sweep. Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehmann tormented them. England’s bowlers did very well and did everything they could to keep them in the game but their batsmen couldn’t find any runs, and Pakistan struck down the No. 1 Test side.0:00

‘Adelaide has become much more important now’

Soon after, England went to Galle and lost to Rangana Herath. In Colombo, in the second and final Test against Sri Lanka, Kevin Pietersen made a daddy hundred. England drew the series. It was a good end to a horror winter.Perhaps it was a hangover from becoming No. 1, maybe just a blip, or even a weakness against spin. But England had rightly been favoured to win both series and won neither. They bounced back by beating West Indies, and Tino Best’s innings aside, they were okay.Then South Africa arrived and there was something not quite right about England. The South Africa batsmen were playing the way England used to, and the English batsmen had become cavalier. Strauss was in a funk that would end his career. Cook started nicking off at balls he wouldn’t previously have given the time of day. Trott was loose. Ian Bell never got going. Matt Prior was good but couldn’t make a ton. Only Pietersen, who played one of the great innings, and caused off-field carnage, looked anything like his best.For South Africa, three daddy hundreds were made. Amla’s (a family patriarch 311) was the one that set up the whole series. It was only three Tests, a woeful playoff for world No. 1, but England never looked like the better team. They almost stole the Test at Headingley, they were close enough not to get embarrassed at Lord’s, but South Africa were just better.Coming off a loss to South Africa, with an ordinary result against Sri Lanka, and a beating by Pakistan in their minds, England were hammered in Ahmedabad. Almost no sides would have come back from that. And they might not have, had it not been for Cook, the new captain.Much like at the Gabba, they were massively behind in the game, and looking shaky, when Cook batted for 556 minutes and made his daddy 176. England were still humiliated by nine wickets. But Cook had shown them that they could score in India, and when they did, they could do it for a very long time.The next Test, Cook made a normal hundred, Pietersen made a daddy, England won by 10 wickets. The third Test Cook made 190. England won by seven wickets. The fourth was drawn, largely because of Trott’s 143.England had won in India for the first time since 1984-85, coming from one Test down. After losing their No. 1 crown and the ast series against South Africa, it was an amazing effort and a historical win. Perhaps the other series were a temporary blip.Graeme Swann missed the trip to New Zealand, Pietersen came home during it, both with old-man wear-and-tear injuries. A New Zealand team missing a few players as well shouldn’t have been a real challenge for the recent No. 1 and conquerors of India. It turned out that the best England could do in the series was hold on to a draw, with Prior and Monty Panesar holding on to lifeboats. They only just managed to lose a series they should never have been in a position to lose. But they atoned back in the UK with an easy win over a now-hapless New Zealand.0:00

Chappell: ‘Bit more than one-nil to Australia’

Against Australia earlier this year, they were never at their best. They went very close to losing the first Test, smashed Australia in the second, were in a very dangerous position when the rain came in the third, founded an inspirational Stuart Broad to win the fourth, and almost stole the fifth before bad light spoiled the party.For the batsmen, Bell was outstanding, but no one else was. Pietersen was good, Root had one amazing innings, but without Bell, the entire series might have looked different. The Australian bowlers were never pushed into the ground. The Australian batsmen were never kept waiting for hours on end. England just won almost every important moment in the series.In their eight series since becoming No. 1, England had won four, drawn two, and lost two. It was hardly a collapse, but it was a long way from 517 for 1.The early Flower years had 16 daddy hundreds. The last two years had only five from five fewer Tests, three of which were in their amazing win over India. Back in the old days, even Broad was making daddy hundreds.In the last two years all their regular batsmen are averaging below their career averages. Cook is minus five, Prior minus four, even Bell minus eight despite his magical Ashes. Trott is down eight runs, along with Pietersen, even though he has made two of the best Test hundreds ever in that time. The story has been one of deterioration.In the two years before that, Cook averaged 12 runs above his career total (17 more than in the previous two-year period), Prior 1 more (an increase of five), Bell 26 more (an increase of 34), Pietersen 1 more (nine ahead), and Trott 11 more (19 runs better). That was a whole lot of improvement.But with poorer individual numbers have come lower totals. England have not passed 400 in the last 18 attempts. And it’s hard to grind the opposition down when you don’t pass 400.None of the other batsmen have fared much better. Strauss retired. Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara are now perceived as limited-overs specialists. Samit Patel was a horse for a course in Sri Lanka. James Taylor and Nick Compton are out of favour; one might come back, the other probably never will. Jonny Bairstow never really got going but should be back. Root oozes talent, and has a decent record so far, but he needs to find his position and be trusted for a while. Other than Strauss, none of the above average over 40 in Test cricket.

The legacy England were trying to build is now secondary to just trying to regain their best form

Anderson, Swann and Broad haven’t had the same drop-off. They are all the same or better than their career averages in both periods. Even without the rest and the psychological advantage that their batsmen used to provide, they are still players who have been constantly winning matches for England, or keeping them in them.The only weakness in England’s bowling in that time has been the fourth man in the attack. Tim Bresnan, once presented as a novelty good-luck charm, was actually averaging 23 with the ball in that period, and often bowled the hard spells to rest the strike bowlers. He had the ability to keep the run rate down or take the wickets.Then Bresnan picked up an elbow injury. Because it was Bresnan, and everything about him is so low key, it was barely talked about. But from that point on, Bresnan never looked like the same bowler. In the last two years, he has averaged 45 with the ball. Some of that was on Asian pitches but his average at home is also 40. Currently Bresnan is out of the team, his recovery from a stress fracture not yet proven.The other fourth bowlers have not been much better. Chris Tremlett was brought back much on the form of three years ago and looks like a bad artist’s impression of the Tremlett from then. Steve Finn is deemed too expensive and cannot consistently stay in the team. Graham Onions dominates county cricket but couldn’t get in the squad for this tour, let alone the team.England’s newer options haven’t looked great. Chris Woakes and Simon Kerrigan were average and poor respectively at The Oval, but they at least have youth and, in Woakes’ case, batting on their side. Panesar will be back, possibly as soon as Adelaide, but his form in county cricket won’t have Australia scared. A long-term answer for the fourth bowling spot is not that apparent, unless Finn learns the discipline Flower craves.That England could not win or save the Test at the Gabba was always inevitable. None of their batsmen stepped up, none of them ever looked remotely unmovable, and at no time did two men get together and become the rocks that at least would bring England some respect. There was no fight, no runs, and no hundreds, let alone a daddy.The key men are changing. Strauss is gone. Geoff Miller has announced his intention to stand down as chairman of selectors. Flower might be next. The core of the team is still almost all there – because you don’t fluke repeated double-centuries and totals of over 500 – but will this lot of quality players be able to lift England to those heights again?The legacy they were trying to build is now secondary to just trying to regain their best form, and chasing South Africa as the best team on earth. There was a time when a missed run-out of Cook would have almost certainly cost you a daddy hundred, and any chance of winning a game. This time it cost Australia 65 runs and an earlier finish.

Umar Akmal batted like he did against Sri Lanka on Tuesday evening, with a lot of awe-inspiring shots particularly through the on side

Mohammad Isam in Fatullah27-Feb-2014After Pakistan’s 12-run loss to Sri Lanka two days ago, Misbah-ul-Haq had rued Umar Akmal’s dismissal, which he thought was ill-timed. If there had been one more of those, against Afghanistan, Pakistan’s collapse would have spread to the tail faster and resulted in a more difficult second half of the game.In the Asia Cup opener, Akmal and Misbah added 121 runs for the fifth wicket, which took their chase to an advanced stage. Pakistan still had six wickets in hand when they entered the last 10 overs, but Akmal fell to a wide Suranga Lakmal delivery that could have been resisted even at that stage of the game. Pakistan lost their way from that point, as Misbah was unable to force the chase without a solid enforcer at the other end.On Tuesday too, Akmal did give a chance when batting on 28 but Samiullah Shenwari misjudged the skier at point. It kept Pakistan on 146 for 6, but it could have been a lot worse. It was unusual to see Akmal bat that way, despite having such a wide repertoire of shots.Some numbers also back him. Since August 2009, when he made his ODI debut, he has scored more runs than MS Dhoni among the No. 6 batsmen in matches won. In all games, Akmal is the second-highest scorer at the position during the same period, this time behind Dhoni. He averages less than Dhoni due to the Indian captain’s ability to stay unbeaten more often.It is clearly not a comparison with Dhoni but just circumstantial, and these figures demonstrate how important a batsman Akmal is to Pakistan’s one-day setup, as well as being an effective No. 6, which he displayed during his hundred.Akmal batted like he did against Sri Lanka on Tuesday evening, with a lot of awe-inspiring shots particularly through the on side. He used the bottom hand very well, particularly in the end overs. He ended up hitting seven fours and three sixes, bringing the momentum back to Pakistan.He had arrived at the crease on the back of Misbah’s comical run-out in the 24th over. He saw Sohaib Maqsood and Shahid Afridi hand more advantage to Afghanistan, but with Anwar Ali, Akmal wrested back the control.Akmal added 60 runs with Anwar for the seventh wicket and another 40 for the eighth wicket with Umar Gul. It helped setup a final thrust, which got them 48 runs in the last five overs.For a batting line-up that was in tatters before the 30th over, the last push was invaluable. Right at the end, Akmal decided to play out the final over, which enabled him to reach his second ODI hundred too. He celebrated long and hard upon reaching the landmark, which would definitely seem out of place for an innings against a less-experienced bowling attack.But it was a personal triumph for Akmal, having now corrected his mistake that was so crucial in the defeat to Sri Lanka. This time he didn’t disappoint his captain with a silly shot, sometimes that can be a big enough triumph.

Also, highest total without extras, most match awards in a series, South African centurions in their final Tests, and century stands in both innings

Steven Lynch07-Jan-2014Brad Haddin scored at least a half-century in each Test of the Ashes series. Has anyone else ever done this? asked Steve Austin from Australia

Rather surprisingly, this turned out to be the 23rd time that a batsman had scored a fifty in every match of a five-Test series, the last occasion being by Shivnarine Chanderpaul for West Indies at home to India in 2002. John Edrich (1970-71 Ashes) and Mark Taylor (1989 Ashes) went one better, scoring at least one half-century in every Test of a six-match series. Where Brad Haddin is unique, though, is in the fact that all his half-centuries came from No. 7 in the batting order. Another wicketkeeper, the West Indian Gerry Alexander, achieved the feat in the famous 1960-61 series in Australia, but one of his fifties came after he was promoted to No. 6. Garry Sobers (West Indies v England in 1966) and Chanderpaul in 2002 also made all their half-centuries from No. 6 or lower in the order. No one has ever achieved the feat twice – and one of the closest to doing so is Haddin, who passed 50 in the first four Tests of the 2010-11 Ashes Down Under, before being out for 6 and 30 in the final game.Australia fielded the same team throughout the just-finished Ashes series. How often has this happened? asked Matt from the UK

This was only the fourth time that a team had survived unchanged throughout an entire five-match Test series. The last time it happened was in 1990-91, when West Indies fielded the same XI throughout their home series against Australia, which they won 2-1. The last time it happened before that was in 1905-06, when South Africa were unchanged throughout their home series against England, while in 1884-85 England fielded the same XI in all five Tests of that winter’s Australian tour. India (at home to Pakistan in 1979-80) and Australia (in England in 1989) both used only 12 players in six-Test series.Services made 135 in a recent Ranji Trophy match without any extras. Is this a record in first-class cricket? And what is the highest total without extras in a Test? asked Vikas Vadgama from India

The answer is that it isn’t even close – remarkably, when Victoria made 647 against Tasmania in Melbourne in 1951-52, there wasn’t a single extra. Next on this list is MCC’s 484 against North Eastern Transvaal in Benoni in 1948-49, in the innings in which Denis Compton made a triple-century in three hours. There have been 26 other totals of 300 or more which did not include a single extra, the most recent being Gujarat’s 301 for 6 declared against Orissa in Ahmedabad in 2009-10. The Test record is 328, by Pakistan against India in Lahore in 1954-55.Mitchell Johnson won three Man-of-the-Match awards in the Ashes series – has anyone done this before? asked Bruce Sivewright from Australia

This has really only been done twice before – by Ian Botham in the 1981 Ashes series, and by Michael Hussey for Australia in Sri Lanka in 2011. Hussey’s performance was particularly remarkable, as there were only three Tests in that series! Shaun Pollock also collected three match awards at home against West Indies in 1998-99, but the third one came when the award in the final Test was given to the whole South African side, who had just completed a 5-0 whitewash. Pollock’s own contribution in that match was three wickets, and innings of 13 and 3 not out. It should be pointed out that Man-of-the-Match awards only became a regular feature of Test matches during the 1980s.Is Jacques Kallis the first South African to score a hundred in his final Test? asked James Laird from Austria

He’s actually the fourth, but the first one who retired immediately after doing it. The first South African to score a century in what turned out to be his final Test was Pieter van der Bijl, who made 125 and 97 in the final Test of the 1938-39 home series against England – the famous Timeless Test in Durban. Because of the Second World War, South Africa did not play another Test until 1947, and van der Bijl was nearly 40 by then: the five matches of that 1938-39 series were his only taste of Test cricket. Then, early in 1970, Barry Richards and Lee Irvine both scored hundreds as South Africa completed a 4-0 whitewash of Australia in Port Elizabeth. Shortly afterwards, South Africa were excommunicated from Test cricket because of their government’s apartheid policies, and did not play another one for 22 years. Richards, one of the greatest batsmen of all, played only those four matches, and said later of his 140 at St George’s Park: “If I’d known that was my last Test they’d never have got me out!”Besides Hutton and Washbrook against Australia at Leeds in 1948, and Logie and Dujon against England at Lord’s in 1988, has any other batting pair been involved in century partnerships in both innings of a Test? asked AK Srivastava from India

There have actually been 37 instances of this, including the two you mention – the most recent one being by Peter Fulton and Kane Williamson for New Zealand against Bangladesh in Chittagong in October 2013. The first occasion was in Sydney back in 1924-25, when Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe shared opening stands of 157 and 110 for England. Len Hutton and Cyril Washbrook actually did it twice, as did AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis (Kallis also did it with Hashim Amla; he and Younis Khan are the only person to feature three times on this list). For the full list, click here. There is only one instance of a pair sharing two stands of more than 150 in a Test: in the first match of England’s 1938-39 series in South Africa, in Johannesburg, Paul Gibb (who was making his debut) put on 184 with Eddie Paynter in the first innings, and 168 in the second.

A stats round-up of the second day’s play of the first Test between England and Sri Lanka at Lord’s

Bishen Jeswant13-Jun-2014England have never posted a 600-plus total against Sri Lanka in Test cricket and their declaration at Lord’s on 575 for 9 meant that the landmark would have to be achieved on another day. However, this was still England’s highest score against Sri Lanka in Test cricket. Sri Lanka have, however, managed to score 600 against England on one previous occasion, at Colombo, and came close another time when they got to 591 at The Oval in August 1998. It is therefore Sri Lanka, and not England, who hold the record for the highest team score in an innings for Tests played between these two countries in the UK.In the last four Tests that England have now played against Sri Lanka at Lord’s (2002, 2006, 2011 and 2014), they have scored 500-plus runs in at least one innings of all those games. Despite this, England only managed to draw the previous three games. In fact, England have only managed to win one of the last five matches when have scored 500-plus runs in an innings at Lord’s, and that against Bangladesh.England got their 575 runs in 130.3 overs and in a little less than five sessions. England’s run rate of 4.40 was the seventh highest in their Test history for a score of 500 or more. Excluding a couple of sub-hundred chases in the fourth innings at Manchester and Colombo, this was the highest innings run rate for England in a Test against Sri Lanka.Joe Root’s maiden double-century was the third instance of a player batting at No. 5 or below and scoring a double-century at Lord’s and is the first such instance since 1949. New Zealand’s Martin Donnelly was the last man to achieve this feat, during a dull draw in June 1949. The last time Root batted at Lord’s he played a match-winning knock of 180 to give England a huge victory, by 347 runs, against Australia in the 2013 Ashes. Root’s maiden double-hundred makes him one of only four Englishmen to have scored a double century by the age of 24.Also crucial to posting this big total was the ninth-wicket partnership of 81 runs between Root and Liam Plunkett – who is making a comeback since last playing a Test in June 2007. England need to look 70 innings into the past to find a better ninth-wicket partnership. Root and Plunkett put together their stand in only 84 balls at a run-rate of 5.78. From the time ball-by-ball data is available, this is England’s best partnership run rate for a ninth-wicket stand of 75 or more runs.While England piled on the runs, Shaminda Eranga did pick up three important wickets for Sri Lanka but conceded 163 runs in the process, which is the second-most expensive spell for a Sri Lanka fast bowler in Test cricket.When Sri Lanka came out to bat, they finished the day strongly on 140-1, with the openers putting together a strong first-wicket partnership of 54 runs. This was the third time that a Sri Lanka opening pair posted a 50-plus opening partnership at Lord’s. Kumar Sangakkara, who is at the crease and batting on 32*, went past Allan Border’s total of 11174 to go eighth on the list of leading run-scorers in Tests. However, he is yet to score a century at Lord’s, while his close friend Mahela Jayawardene is the only Sri Lankan whose name features twice on the honour’s board. Sri Lanka will be hoping to finish tomorrow with at least one, if not two, more entries on that hallowed board.

India may feel wronged by the Anderson-Jadeja verdict, but it is time to put the issue behind them and rally forward for the remaining two Tests

Sidharth Monga at Old Trafford06-Aug-2014When the hearing in the Grand Harbour hotel in Southampton finished, you could sense that the spirit had left the Indian team.Not all of them were present in Southampton- only MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Gautam Gambhir, Duncan Fletcher and physiotherapist Evan Speechly were there. They were all whisked away through the back of their hotel as soon as the verdict had been announced to them. We did not know yet what the verdict was, but there was a quiet around them.Why always us?: India feel the whole world is against them•PA PhotosIndia believed the England players had lied, and that James Anderson got away with it. India believed the incessant abuse had crossed all the limits when Jadeja was pushed. They brought it to the authority’s notice, and yet they could not do anything about it because there was no evidence.They felt wronged. Helpless. No matter how much you might try to move on from this, it will remain a factor when India play England in the fourth Test of the series, at Old Trafford.Recent history suggests India channel this kind of righteous indignation well. After the fractious and infamous Sydney Test of 2007-08, they came back to win in Perth. One week they could not bat out 72 overs to save a Test, another week they put in a determined stellar performance to outplay Australia at the WACA Ground.At a press conference last year, just before coming to England for Champions Trophy, all sorts of questions were being asked of India. It was frustrating for the public to not get any answers or reassurances from the team as Dhoni went away without taking even a single question about the spot-fixing case.The players felt equally indignant – rightly or wrongly – that they were being interrogated as if they had done something wrong. There was similar quiet around the players when India left for England, but when they took the field, they were a galvanised unit.Earlier this year, just before the World Twenty20, another controversy had broken out. The spot-fixing matter had reached the Supreme Court, one of the lawyers there had accused Dhoni of lying under oath during the investigation, and Dhoni’s employer N Srinivasan was being asked to leave once again. Similar silence and steel followed.Once again, India feel the whole world is against them. That might not be the case – that was not the case in the three aforementioned instances – but India have shown they are quick to feel so, and that it galvanises them.Which is why it was surprising that they called Ian Bell back at Trent Bridge during their last tour to England. India had done nothing wrong then: they had legitimately run Bell out, and when they were booed by the crowd for having done that, that might have given India a last spark when their flame was dying. India did not take it, and proceeded to meekly lose the remaining matches.This controversy is sure to bring the team closer, to make them more determined, but Test matches are not won on determination alone. You have to take 20 wickets. India will need all the motivation from indignation they can muster to come close to doing that.In Ishant Sharma’s absence and with Mohammed Shami’s poor form, India went in to the Southampton Test with a toothless attack. It was not a green pitch where you just put the ball up and it seams; it required the bowlers to hit the deck hard, and India do not believe in those kind of bowlers. Ishant is the only exception to that rule, but he will not be available here, and this pitch is not green either.

Recent history suggests India channel this kind of righteous indignation well. After the fractious and infamous Sydney Test of 2007-08, they came back to win in Perth

India’s best bet here will be to win the toss and bat first. Once the opposition gets off to a half-decent start, as England did in Southampton, India get deflated faster than any other major side in the world, and start thinking of the draw.Dhoni plays a big part in this attitude; he did so by bowling Jadeja throughout the middle session of the first day, at times with a seven-two leg-side field. You can argue his lean bowling sources do not allow him to do much more, but if you make milking runs easy for the opposition so early in the match, your batsmen come under extreme pressure after having fielded for close to two days.The batsmen have not really kicked on at any rate, which is a little strange because with the exception of Shikhar Dhawan, they have not been struggling overtly. A small mistake here, a bad habit there, and Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli do not have the numbers India expected of them.Two Tests to go, and with India’s bowlers looking exhausted in Southampton, Ishant not available for this match, and with that demoralising verdict handed to them, it would be easy to forget the series is still 1-1.India theoretically have a good chance of doing something special. Given their resources now, though, they will need liberal doses of that invisible force that they somehow seem to summon when they feel the whole world is against them.

It was in Australia in 2011 that Virat Kohli announced himself as an emerging talent in Test cricket. Now, as the leader of a young batting group, he has owned the stage

Sambit Bal at the MCG28-Dec-20143:26

Bevan: Kohli in control for 95% of the day

Virat Kohli has made a little pre-ball routine his own. Before facing up, he stands upright in the crease, holds the bat upwards and twirls it clockwise in quick motion. No gardening, no adjusting gear, no fidgeting around the crease. And then he is ready, standing as tall as possible, feet apart, bat raised to the stump level. It’s the build-up of a warrior: everything about it radiates intent.On the field, his passion sometimes gets the better of him. He must be a part of every piece of action, he must have the last word in every confrontation. He appeals for leg-before from cover, and drops a lot of catches in the slips – perhaps he has too much of nervous energy to field there.But batting focuses his rage. His movements are fluid, precise, and for a batsman so wristy, the bat swing has no exaggeration. His eyes aren’t burning, they are almost looking inwards. He doesn’t mind a chat and he lets it rip upon reaching a landmark, or after pulling off yet another chase, but while batting, all his energy and all his emotions are channeled into that fateful meeting with the ball. When things are aligned for him, he is a magical, irresistible force.And what a difference a few months can make. As the English summer wore on earlier this year, it seemed that the English seamers, led by James Anderson, had only to put the ball in the channel around the off stump to get him to nick on the off. It was in Australia in 2011, when the grandest of Indian batsmen collectively slumped into terminal decline, that Kohli announced himself as an emerging talent in Test cricket. Now back as the lone survivor from that top order and as the leader of a young batting group, he has owned the stage. Something would have to go horribly amiss for him to not be placed alongside the greats he has succeeded when he finishes his career. But on this tour, he has already managed to achieve what none of them did: three Test hundreds in a series in Australia. And three innings remain still.Many Australian commentators have described his second hundred in Adelaide as the finest fourth-innings performance they have seen on these shores. And his hundred at the MCG on Sunday must rank among the finest by an Indian batsman chasing such a tall first-innings score. His 262-run partnership with Ajinkya Rahane was reminiscent of a similar effort from Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman in Adelaide in 2003. Dravid and Laxman came together when India’s situation was more dire, and the partnership became even more memorable because it led to an unexpected and unforgettable win. While building that partnership, however, Dravid and Laxman’s sole focus was to keep India in the game. The thought of a win was remote.What set this partnership apart was the charge it contained. R Ashwin’s claim last evening that India were going for 650 had seemed both fanciful and boastful. But it was perhaps reflective of the outlook of this bunch of players. At no point during the last day in Adelaide did they abandon the quest for victory and throughout this innings, the tempo has been dictated by the desire not merely to get close to the Australian score or surpass it, but also to gain time to be able to force a win that will keep them in the series.On the field, Virat Kohli’s passion can sometimes get the better of him, but batting channels his rage•Getty ImagesAnd no one has personified that resolve with more intensity than Kohli. In Brisbane, the second-innings collapse began when Kohli was dismissed – he was forced to bat first up in the morning after Shikhar Dhawan pulled out in the final minutes leading up to play. Here, he entered at the third ball, after an airy waft from Cheteshwar Pujara, and punched three fours within five overs, leaning forward on each occasion and driving on the off side.He has made adjustments to his stance after his horror run in England. He now stands closer to the off stump, which brings him in line with the imaginary fourth stump when he shapes to play, and today he stood outside the crease to most Australian quicks to make their good length his driving length. Barring one edge that Shane Watson grassed in the slips, his judgement of both line and length, and the driveable ball was faultless.But playing against Mitchell Johnson, with whom he had a war of words all day, it was never going to be merely about the drive. Throughout last summer, Johnson pinned his victims back by aiming at their throat and not a single England batsman found a counter. Kohli and Rahane dismantled him breathtakingly because they refused to be either bullied or quietened by the short ball. Every bouncer was treated as an opportunity to score and, even when they were not being hit to the fence, the deliveries were being tapped down for singles. M Vijay was hit on the side of the head this morning, but these Indian batsmen have let Johnson know, through words followed by action, that he holds no terror for them. That is the first, and a major, battle won.By the end of the day, they were the ones bullying Johnson. With the second new ball just nine overs old, and the field set for the bouncer trap, Kohli produced three consecutive pull shots that evaded three fielders stationed to swallow them. They were all played in the air, but none without control, and each went where it was intended to go. And when Johnson threw one up on off stump, that, too, went through the covers for three. In the following over, Rahane simply dismissed Johnson with disdain, opening his stance and carting him wherever he wished. Three Johnson overs produced 31 runs in that spell and, at that stage, India were not merely running Australia ragged, they were simply doing as they pleased. Johnson’s 20 overs cost 109 runs today, and Kohli rampaged 68 of them off 73 balls. And he still dished them out to him at the press conference.India are still behind in this match because once again their lower order has been no match for Australia and, since they are to bat last here, it is possible for them to fall behind 3-0 on day five. But, barring the collapse in Brisbane, this young Indian top-order has already won hearts and admiration. And Kohli has provided it soul, charge and substance. Last time, India went home from Australia despondent. Irrespective of how the series ends, this team will go home with promise. And Kohli with his reputation not merely restored, but considerably enhanced.

Stats highlights from the second day of the third Test between South Africa and West Indies in Cape Town

Bishen Jeswant03-Jan-201510 Number of innings since Alviro Petersen last scored a Test fifty. His highest score in this period is the 42 runs that he scored during South Africa’s first innings in this Test. Petersen had scored three fifties in the six innings preceding this lean patch.47 Percentage of innings where Petersen is dismissed between the scores of 20 and 50. Out of the 59 times he has been dismissed in Tests, on 28 instances he was batting between 20 and 50.5 Number of West Indian batsmen who were dismissed between the scores of 40 and 60. Devon Smith (47), Leon Johnson (54), Marlon Samuels (43), Jermaine Blackwood (56) and Denesh Ramdin (53) all got past 42, with no one going past 56. This has happened once previously to West Indies, in 1965, making them the only team which has had batsmen getting such starts and not converting on two occasions. In all, there have been six such instances in Tests.1499 Partnership runs scored by AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla since 2012. No other pair has scored more runs together in this period. Amla and De Villiers went past Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson (1472) during their partnership of 70* in South Africa’s first innings. They average 74.95 together since 2012.329 The total posted by West Indies in their first innings. This is West Indies’ second-highest score in the first innings of a Test in South Africa. Their highest score in the first innings is the 408 they posted in Port Elizabeth in 2007.2 Number of South African batsmen (Nos. 1 to 7) who have been stumped against West Indies. Faf du Plessis was stumped off Sulieman Benn in the first innings, with Mark Boucher being the only other South African batsman to have been stumped against West Indies, in 2003.6 Number of partnerships of 30 or more runs posted by West Indies during their first innings. This is only the fourth time in the last five years that West Indies have managed to stitch together as many or more such partnerships.1 Number of previous instances where South Africa’s top four partnerships have all posted 40-plus runs each in the same innings against West Indies. South Africa’s first four wickets posted 48, 56, 53 and 70* during in their first innings in this Test. The only previous instance when this happened was in St Kitts in 2010.

Stats analysis from the sixth ODI between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Dunedin

Bishen Jeswant25-Jan-20153 Number of times Tillakaratne Dilshan has scored 300-plus runs in a bilateral ODI series. He has scored 316 runs in this series so far. The only other batsmen to score 300-plus run in three or more separate bilateral series are Rahul Dravid (4) and Desmond Haynes (3).280 Number of ODIs that Daniel Vettori has played in, more than any other New Zealand player. Vettori went past Stephen Fleming, who has played 279 ODIs. Chris Harris (250) is the only other New Zealand player to have played 250 or more ODIs.1 Number of ODIs in which two batsmen from the same team scored 95 runs or more but were dimissed before scoring a hundred. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor scored 97 and 96 runs respectively. There have been eight instances of two batsmen from the same team being dismissed in the 90s in ODIs.3 Number of instances when a New Zealand player has scored 40-plus runs and taken four or more wickets in the same ODI. Corey Anderson – with 40 runs and 4 for 52 in this game – is the third player to complete this all-round double after Scott Styris and Nathan Astle.3 Number of times that Sri Lanka have lost four or more ODIs in a bilateral ODI series outside Asia. Sri Lanka lost 5-1 in South Africa in 2000-01 and 4-1 in 2002-03, in the same country. Sri Lanka are currently 4-1 down in this series. They have played 14 series of four or more ODIs outside Asia.16 Number of times Sri Lanka have been bowled out for less than 200 against New Zealand. The teams against whom Sri Lanka have suffered this fate more often are Pakistan (26), Australia (20) and India (18).27 Number of times that Kumar Sangakkara has been dismissed between the scores of 75 and 99 in ODIs, the second-most after Sachin Tendulkar (33). Sangakkara went past Ganguly (26), with his knock of 81 in this ODI.113 Number of 50-plus scores for Sangakkara, the second-most after Tendulkar (145). Sangakkara went past Ricky Ponting (112)in this game. The Sri Lanka batsman has 93 fifties, which is also second only to Tendulkar (96).

Cricket does not seem ready to give up Mahela Jayawardene – but the game rarely does perfect endings

Sambit Bal in Sydney18-Mar-20154:55

Holding: SL will struggle in the immediate future without Sanga-Mahela

Yesterday afternoon I watched Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara at the nets. I have seen them bat together on a cricket field a million times, but watching two batsmen in the nets is different. They are next to each other, facing the ball at the same time, one right-handed, one left-handed, their bats facing one another, Sangakkara’s lifted higher, Jayawardene’s coming down straighter, but each making sweet music as it meets the ball.I waited for the moment, and it came, two cover drives, played almost simultaneously, Jayawardene’s a caress, Sangakkara’s a thrust, and I imagined the balls meeting each other to exchange notes. They wouldn’t have, because Sangakkara’s went squarer and Jayawardene’s straighter, but for a brief moment their eyes met, or so I imagined, almost appreciative of each other, and then they resumed the business of focusing on the task at hand as the next bowler ran in.And then the horrible thought struck me: Mahela and Sanga, friends and comrades, the nicest men you would ever know, among the most prolific run-getters of our times, leaders of men and torchbearers of a wounded nation, and this is the last time they might be batting together in the nets, preparing for what could be their final battle together. Were they as aware of it as we were? Was it going to weigh them down or stir them to something magical? Surely, we were not about to see the last of Mahela. We are not ready. Not just yet.Net loss: Mahela Jayawardene won’t be at Sri Lanka practice any more•AFPBut cricket writes its own script. It denied Don Bradman the perfect finish, and the perfect average, but in doing so it created the most poignant ending in the game. Sri Lanka, the finalists of the last two World Cups entered this quarter-final not as favourites, but they were against a team up against the scars of their own history. The toss was won, and it was down to the batsmen, Sanga and Mahela, the most prolific and the most dependable in their history, to deliver a score that would melt the most nervous of chasers at World Cups.Sangakkara came to this match having made four silky hundreds, a World Cup record. Mahela had the pedigree of big-match temperament, if not the greatest form. His only hundred in the tournament had been against Afghanistan but it came when his team had been four down for 51 chasing 232. Two of his other World Cup hundreds had been the semi-final-winning effort in 2007 and a poetic and elegiac one in the 2011 final, both at more than run-a-ball and both when the start had been less than ideal. Apart from South Africa’s battle against their own demons, that was the advantage Sri Lanka carried in to this match: experience of men who knew how to own the big stage. At three wickets down, Sri Lanka waited for deliverance.Jayawardene’s walk to the middle was brisk. A couple of springy hops outside the ropes and he was on his way, head down, past the departing batsman, to be met by his trusted accomplice, who had walked past the 30-yard circle to escort him to the battlefield. Jayawardene and Sangakkarra bumped fists but not a word was spoken. They had spent the previous evening together, dining with their wives, as they had done on many occasions before, not talking cricket but perhaps drawing comfort and security from the familiarity. It was down to them now to make sure this wasn’t their last time together in Sri Lankan colours.But something wasn’t right. Sangakkara’s majesty had deserted him. The South African new-ball bowling was sharp and aggressive and the fielding predatory, but Sangakkara’s strokes were finding the fielders with worrying precision. It was down to Lahiru Thirimanne to get the Sri Lanka innings going but it was his dismissal to a miscued drive that brought together the familiar partners. By now, 300 was perhaps out of reach but, with the ball stopping and a hint of turn, perhaps even 250 would keep Sri Lanka’s nose ahead.The first runs with Jayawardene at the crease come via leg byes, an attempted tickle failing to find the bat, and 11 balls later he survives a leg-before appeal which, upon review is found to be marginal. But the worry is that Jayawardene has failed to pick Imran Tahir’s googly. It is not the script written by Sri Lanka. Not a trial by spin for sure?But there is spin from two ends already. There is nearly a run-out in the next over, from JP Duminy, as Sangakkara charges down the wicket while Jayawardene is ball watching. Four balls later, Jayawardene shapes to pull Tahir but ends up giving a limp catch to midwicket.Batting can feel cruel. In no other sport can a single mistake be so utterly devastating. On another day, Jayawardene would have put that ball away for four. But today, it brought a magnificent career to an end. Who would have thought Sri Lanka would lose seven wickets to spin against South Africa? Who would have foreseen a hat-trick for Duminy?There was sadness too in that Jayawardene was denied a shot at opening in this World Cup, a position he thought — as did many others — would have suited him, and the team, more in the final phase of his career. The selectors were convinced that they needed him to marshall the backend of the innings. But when Sri Lanka, as they had done in their final match in the 2011 World Cup, made a couple of surprising changes, they opened with Kushal Perera, who had played only one match in this World Cup, and handed an ODI debut to a rookie spinner. Jayawerdene was left to bat at the No.5.A few minutes after his innings ended, I met Rahul Dravid in one of the commentary boxes. The game owes a fairytale ending to no one, he said, and no one should expect one. But no one, he added, would judge or remember Mahela Jayawardene by his final innings. There were tears in the Sri Lanka dressing room after the match ended. Not all the moist eyes around the cricket world would have been Sri Lankan. No one is bigger than the game, but cricket might miss him more than he misses cricket.