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On the surface, Sri Lanka’s chances are not promising, but they have drawn steel from their rivalry with Australia in recent years

Andrew Fernando in Hobart13-Dec-2012Though Sri Lanka may not rank as highly on Australia’s list of favourite foes, for most Sri Lankan fans, a victory against Australia is sweeter than any other. Australia were the arch-villains in Sri Lanka’s adolescence in international cricket, and those memories remain vivid, and attitudes entrenched, almost 20 years later.The only time Sri Lanka played a Boxing Day Test, the man who would become their greatest cricketer was called for throwing by an Australian umpire. Several months later, Australia declined to play a World Cup match in Sri Lanka, and were their opponent in the final – an occasion which unequivocally remains Sri Lanka’s most treasured cricket memory.Even beyond Sri Lanka’s coming of age, the taunts Murali endured in Australia fueled the rivalry, particularly when then prime minister of Australia, John Howard, waded into the debate. A decade of tactics aimed at mental disintegration also failed to endear the Australian side to Sri Lankan fans, whose own team often espoused a simpler, friendlier ethos, which seemed the diametric opposite of Steve Waugh’s abrasive, but outstanding approach.Times have changed. Ricky Ponting was the final remnant of that Australian era, but will not take guard in this series, and he had softened with the tide in any case. Murali is now a coveted commodity in Australia’s Big Bash League, while Lasith Malinga – the more modern evangelist for Sri Lankan heresy – reaps scalps with abandon in the same competition. Yet, a victory against Australia, particularly in their own country, will not rank far below their World Cup triumph and will be celebrated for years to come.On the surface however, the visitors’ chances are not promising. Australia may be stitching up the cuts endured in an epic tilt at the top ranking, but a seemingly unsettled top four hides a middle order deep in form at its most fetching, while the attack has begun to reclaim the ferocity – if not quite the magic – of its predecessors. Ponting will take some replacing, but a relatively fresh batting order will find Shaminda Eranga, Chanaka Welegedara and Nuwan Kulasekara a far less daunting assignment than the venom-tipped steel of South Africa’s fast men.A pace attack bereft of a single bowler with 50 Test wickets to his name, or even 20 appearances at the top level, may serve as the perfect opportunity for Shane Watson and Phillip Hughes to break in their new roles, and for each of the top four to tune up ahead of tours in India and England. Rangana Herath has emerged as Sri Lanka’s primary match-winner in the last 18 months, but Australian pitches will likely limit his threat, and as Kumar Sangakkara hinted ahead of the first Test, only a surface approaching a greentop in Hobart will dress the Sri Lankan attack with enough penetration to effect a win there.For Sri Lanka’s batsmen, the tour shapes as a hugely defining one, particularly on a personal level. This will be the last dance in Australia for the two latest inductees into Sri Lanka’s batting pantheon, and Sangakkara in particular has a chance to confirm himself as a modern great if he succeeds over the next month. Rumours have been floating of Tillakaratne Dilshan’s Test retirement too, while Thilan Samaraweera will also want to further erode a former-reputation as a home-track hero, before what looms as a largely empty 2013 for him, with Sri Lanka’s Test postponements and cancellations having left Test specialists with little to look forward to.”A lot of the guys will be very hungry to do well,” Mahela Jayawardene said. “It’s a big occasion for some of our guys, including myself. I haven’t played Tests in Melbourne or Sydney, for example, and it’s a great atmosphere. Those are incentives for the guys to lift their game and do well. Especially when you’re playing against a top side like Australia, you want to lift your game. It’s about pride. We aren’t just there to make up the numbers, we’re going to play a good game. Individually the guys will have to come up with a game plan on how they’re going to adjust. The bowlers will have to work out how to attack a really good batting line-up as well.”Sri Lanka have drawn steel from their rivalry with Australia in recent years, and have competed well in ODI series, even winning a three-match bilateral down under in 2010. They may not have the personnel in hand to shape up as a serious challenge to Australia, but if they can find that extra tenacity in their reserves like they have in the limited-overs series, perhaps they can lift their game as Jayawardene hopes. It is the only way they can break a 24-year old duck on Australian soil.

JP Duminy’s career is still defined by his match-winning century in his debut Test series against Australia, but he is now ready to add more dimensions to it

Firdose Moonda in Nagpur11-Mar-2011JP Duminy in mid-air, bat in one hand, punching air with the other, smile as wide as the distance between third man and long-on and Mark Nicholas’ voice saying, “You beauty, you superstar!” It’s that image and those words that christened Duminy into international cricket after a match-winning century in Melbourne that saw South Africa win the Test and the series against Australia.Almost three years have passed and those two things still define his career but he is ready to add to it. “I place a lot of expectation on myself,” Duminy told ESPNcricinfo in Nagpur. “My own goals aren’t necessarily score-oriented but to put in performances when the team needs me most.”It’s a big statement to make for someone who can still be considered a young player, 26 years old and 26 ODIs away from playing 100, but Duminy has had to grow up quickly. In a team where youth is sprouting regularly, Duminy is one of the most experienced and his role, at No. 5 in the batting line-up, is a crucial one. “I have to play a sort of in-between role and I try to help out the younger players when I can but also learn where I can. “It’s not just from a personality perspective that Duminy has to be sandwiched between two worlds, but also at the crease. With the top four of Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers shouldering the bulk of the run-scoring responsibility, it means Duminy’s role changes with the situation.In all likelihood, he may have to support one of the top four but if there is a collapse, he will have to play a role similar to the one they would, steadying the ship while marshalling the lower order, a consolidator and aggressor. If there is a platform laid for him, he has to come and take off – like he did against Netherlands in Mohali. “I really enjoyed that innings, because it was one of those situations where I could just go for it. The timing was there, I had been working hard in the nets and it was good to see it come off.”Things have all started coming back together for Duminy, which may he why he was so pleased with the way his plan worked against Netherlands. It wasn’t always this way. After a tough 2009-10 season, in which South Africa fared poorly against England, he averaged below 30 and there was continued criticism about his ability to play the short ball. The shooting star he once was came crashing down to earth in dramatic fashion. He lost his place in the national side along with some of his confidence.”It wasn’t easy,” he said. “I got to a stage where I was training harder and harder and nothing was changing.” Having fared so well against Australia, who were then ranked No 1, Duminy found it “difficult to accept what was going on.” He didn’t resort to anything drastic, no major changes in technique although some had told him that was the only solution. “I decided to just ride the wave, knowing that things would get better.”The mending began with a century against Zimbabwe at the start of the season. This time – unlike the season before, when his first ODI century against the same hapless Zimbabwe attack was the highlight – it was the start of a new beginning. Two half-centuries against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, three against India at home, even more of a can-do attitude than before and Duminy is ready to start creating more images of his career.This is the second time he is visiting the subcontinent in the past year. He batted only once the last time, and knows that the demands on him will be much greater this time. “I expected the same things at this World Cup as with a tour to India, conditions wise, but obviously being the World Cup, it would be longer with more breaks in between.” With the time Duminy has spent in the IPL, the conditions are no surprise to him. “Spin plays a major role and you have to get your head around that, but I haven’t made any big adjustments.”The change, if there is one, is in the team itself. South Africa, once known for being predictable and formulaic, have a dynamic bowling attack and an attitude that they believe will counter accusations of failing under pressure. “As a team we want to help and support each other as much as possible. The team comes first and we all want to do as best as we can for that.” It sounds as if the next image Duminy wants to define his career with is one with 14 other squad members and maybe a World Cup trophy.

Too much happened on the first day at the SCG. Close to 30,000 people got to see a fine spell of left-arm seam, a tantalising display of off spin and a counterattacking partnership straight out of a classic western flick

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan in Sydney02-Jan-2008

Too much happened on the first day at the SCG. Close to 30,000 people got to see a fine spell of left-arm seam, a tantalising display of off spin and a counterattacking partnership straight out of a classic western flick. Six wickets fell before the clock tower showed two; all hell broke loose thereafter.The Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales are doing their every bit to discourage speeding but nobody seems to have briefed the Australian lower order about speed limits. This was a notorious case of hit-and-run; a great robbery in broad daylight. Hardly had India begun to smile when Brad Hogg and Andrew Symonds, almost like a couple of gangsters, began to loot. Only once have more runs been scored on the first day at the SCG and that was nearly 100 years ago.Like at the MCG, India’s opening day was one of two halves. But unlike at the MCG, where they had a poor morning and a good afternoon, the trend was reversed. And unlike at the MCG, the umpires had a blackout. Anil Kumble might have taken 376 for 7 at the start of the day – he had lost his spearhead to injury after all – but he wouldn’t be smiling at the end of it. While a set of officials spoilt a fine day, a couple of batsmen weren’t going to miss out.Symonds walks in to a loud ovation and manufactures shots that get everyone to raise the decibel levels. Until he entered there was hardly a cut shot played, but soon they were being struck with anger. And when Hogg began to cut at the other end India were made to run ragged. India must be made to take a new-year resolution: we will not leave the third-man region vacant.A new year brings a lot of promises but some things don’t change. For every talented seamer India unearths, there will be another nursing an injury; for every top order they dismiss quickly, there will be a tail waiting to spoil the good work; for every fine batsman emerging from the , there will be a poor fielder letting the ball slip through. India dropped two catches – one a tough skier at mid-on, the other a simpler one that dipped towards short leg – and could have had one more chance if someone more athletic than Rahul Dravid was placed at fine leg. Yuvraj Singh, supposedly their best fielder, embarrassed himself too often.But a couple of Singhs brought plenty of cheer. Both hadn’t done too much at the MCG but came into their own here. RP, 22 years and eight Tests old, led the attack manfully before Harbhajan rediscovered his mojo. Until Hogg walked in, RP had the measure of every left-hander by getting the ball to straighten after hitting the right length. Phil Jaques misread the bounce, Matthew Hayden was squared up, Michael Hussey prodded tentatively, and Adam Gilchrist followed him. Three of them, seemingly impressed with Sachin Tendulkar sporting a floppy hat after suffering an allergic reaction, edged to first slip.Ishant Sharma, just 19, made an early impression and could have easily had his first wicket when Symonds was on 30. A whole stadium might have heard the edge but that’s not what matters. Some teams think Steve Bucknor needs a hearing-aid; India might be more intent on a hearing.It’s rumoured (wrongly) that the 555-run stand between Herbert Sutcliffe and Percy Holmes prompted a businessman to start the cigarette company. Someone here would be tempted to start Benson and Edges. Ponting edged twice but Mark Benson heard neither. Where is the technology, screamed a billion people. But that also didn’t make a difference for the third umpire, with all the assistance he receives, managed to get one wrong again. Symonds was on 48. The rest, as they say, was savagery.

Pakistan lost their last six wickets for just 24 runs, to succumb to a narrow defeat in Abu Dhabi

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Nov-2018New Zealand beat Pakistan by 4 runs
Abu Dhabi, November 2018At lunch on day four, Pakistan looked like they would cruise to a win in Abu Dhabi. They needed 46 runs and had six wickets in hand, with Azhar Ali, their No.3, well set. That quickly became 29 to win after the break, but then a run-out started a collapse. Debutant Ajaz Patel struck twice with his left-arm spin, the second wicket coming after No.8 Bilal Asif attempted a hare-brained slog sweep and missed. Neil Wagner, New Zealand’s man for crunch moments, took wicket No.8 before Patel struck again. Azhar Ali was left 12 runs to get with the No.11. He battled for seven and a half overs, farming the strike, scoring singles late in overs, and brought the equation down to five to win. Then, Patel capped a memorable game with his fifth wicket of the innings. He trapped Azhar in front with a beautiful delivery that drifted into the pads, and then turned, beating the edge and hitting the pad in front of off stump. The Test had been a low-scoring one. New Zealand were bowled out for 153, then fought back to dismiss Pakistan for 227. Half-centuries by Henry Nicholls and BJ Watling ensured New Zealand had something to bowl at and it proved just enough.England celebrate as Australia fall three short•Getty ImagesEngland beat Australia by 3 runs
Melbourne, December 1982It was almost the greatest last-wicket partnership in history, but after putting on 70 runs with Alan Border, No.11 Jeff Thomson nicked to the slips leaving Australia three runs short. Already 2-0 up in the series, Australia were set a daunting target of 292 at the MCG. Half-centuries by Alan Border and David Hookes kept Australia in the game, but then wickets tumbled, with fast bowler Norman Cowans ripping through the middle order. Australia were nine down with 74 still required to win. Thomson came to the crease without much pressure on him, but managed to stick around as poor tactics and some loose bowling allowed Border to whittle the runs required down to 37 by stumps on day four. On day five, Australia’s last pair continued to resist, as the crowd at the MCG grew bigger. With four needed, Border was unable to get a single, leaving Thomson an entire over to face from Ian Botham. He banged one in, and Thomson’s attempted fend travelled towards second slip, where Chris Tavare spilled the catch, only for the ball to lob up gently and allow Geoff Miller to complete a relay catch. “When Thommo hit it, my initial reaction was that it was going over the top and for four,” Border said in Gideon Haigh’s . “Then I thought: ‘It’s in Tavare’s hands and we’re gone’. And when it bounced out of his hands, I thought: ‘Beauty, we’re back in it’. Then all of a sudden, Miller was there.”Australia beat England by 3 runs
Old Trafford, July 1902The 1902 Ashes is remembered as one of the most keenly contested. Having gone 1-0 up against hosts England in Sheffield, Australia pulled off a thrilling win at Old Trafford to seal the series. The series win was considered an upset since England had greats such as Sydney Barnes, Wilfred Rhodes, Johnny Tyldesley and KS Ranjitsinhji in their squad. At Old Trafford, Australia spinners Hugh Trumble and Jack Saunders bowled England out for 120 on a crumbling pitch to secure the win. England reached 72 for 2 in chase of 124 before Trumble struck twice in quick succession to begin a collapse. Eight runs were needed when Fred Tate, the last man, joined Rhodes. He hit the first ball he faced from Saunders for four, but was bowled off the fourth, an arm ball that kept low.Andrew Flintoff consoles Brett Lee after a dramatic finish•Getty ImagesEngland beat Australia by 2 runs
Edgbaston, August 2005In one of the most famous Ashes Tests ever, England survived a special Shane Warne spell and a fourth-innings rearguard by Warne, Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz to get back into a series that they would go on to win, breaking an 18-year Ashes drought. Having lost the first Test handily, England were buoyed by news of a late injury to Australia’s spearhead, Glenn McGrath. They took a 99-run first-innings lead, but Warne’s six-for in the second left Australia a difficult but gettable 282 to win. At 175 for 8, the game seemed over, but Lee and Warne resisted, and then Kasprowicz scored 20 to bring Australia within a stroke of victory. Steve Harmison bowled a bouncer, Kasprowicz gloved while trying to sway away, and England burst into celebration while Lee was left on his haunches, deflated.Courtney Walsh wheels away in century after taking the final wicket in a one-run win•Getty ImagesWest Indies beat Australia by 1 run
Adelaide, January 1993Set 186 to win, Australia were reduced to 102 for 8 by a fearsome pace bowling line-up of Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Ian Bishop and Kenny Benjamin. Justin Langer, on debut, battled to make a half-century, but when he was dismissed, there were still 42 left to get with only No.10 Tim May and No.11 Craig McDermott left. The pair put on 40, but with just one to get to tie the scores, Walsh had McDermott caught behind. It had been May and McDermott who got Australia back into the Test with the ball too, bowling West Indies out for 146 in the second innings after they had taken a small first-innings lead. The narrow win levelled the series 1-1, and West Indies went on to take it after an innings win in the fifth Test in Perth.

The newbies. The keepers. The star batsmen. The spinners. Plenty to look out for in this marquee series

Alan Gardner08-Nov-2016England’s batting versus spinAlastair Cook has shown he can thrive in India, but can he handle India’s red-hot spin pair?•ESPNcricinfo LtdR Ashwin tweeted his congratulations after Bangladesh secured their historic Test win over England last month – but the details of England’s collapse on the third evening in Dhaka, when they lost 10 wickets in a session, surely excited him even more. The teenaged Mehedi Hasan, an orthodox offspinner, picked up his third six-for in four innings to be named Man of the Series and left England in no doubt about the size of the challenge facing them on the subcontinent. Ashwin recently claimed 27 wickets at 17.77 in three Tests against New Zealand, while Ravindra Jadeja is a metronomic menace on helpful surfaces, and they are primed to pick apart English techniques against spin; among the top seven, only Alastair Cook (who averages 61.85 in India) has significant experience of the conditions. England’s batsmen face not so much a learning curve as a cliff if they are to avoid getting turned over.The leading lights: Kohli and RootContrasting records, but Joe Root is yet to show his best in Asia, while Virat Kohli has racked up some big scores lately•ESPNcricinfo LtdIndia’s captain, Virat Kohli, sets the tone in the field and with bat in hand, while England will seek inspiration from Joe Root, the highest-ranked batsman on either side. For both, this could be a defining series. Kohli has banked more than his share of failures against England, averaging 20.12 in 17 Test innings, but has a vastly improved record since taking over from MS Dhoni, which includes two double-hundreds in the last four months. Root, meanwhile, has established himself among the best in his generation since making 73 on debut in Nagpur four years ago – but is still awaiting a first Test hundred in Asia. Sam Billings, one of the few Englishmen to play in the IPL, says Kohli and Root share a work ethic that sets them apart. “They’re both seriously, seriously good,” he said. “I’d go as far as to say they’re freaks, but with a kind of un-freakish nature.” May the best freak win.India versus Moeen Ali: Round TwoMoeen Ali enjoyed bowling against India at home, but how will he fare in India?•ESPNcricinfo LtdDuring the summer of 2014, England faced a dilemma about how to replace Graeme Swann. Moeen Ali was picked and, despite an underwhelming debut series against Sri Lanka, he suckered India spectacularly on the way to 19 wickets at 23.00 as England came from behind for a 3-1 series win. A couple of years on and England still have plenty of problems in the spin department but Moeen is sure to have a key role (not least because of his batting). He admitted in Bangladesh that he is still “nowhere near where I want to be as a spinner” and has struggled with the demands of leading an inexperienced spin attack: wicket-taking deliveries will doubtless materialise but control remains an issue. Bangladesh and, in particular, Pakistan have found success in attacking Moeen but that was India’s downfall in their last meeting. If Moeen maintains his mozz, things could get interesting.The role of the rookiesWhich of these new faces will make an impact this series?•ESPNcricinfo LtdIndia have three uncapped players in their 15-man squad, while England head into the first Test having fielded a debutant in their previous two matches. India’s young guns, Hardik Pandya and Karun Nair, may be in a shootout for one place but the absence of Rohit Sharma means an inexperienced pivot at No. 6 (unless they go for a five-man attack); there is also the possibility of KL Rahul returning from injury to win his 10th Test cap, should Gautam Gambhir’s latest comeback not go to plan. For the tourists, there is a decision to make on whether to stick Ben Duckett and his reverse-sweep stylings at the top of the order – after one fifty in four innings in Bangladesh – or bring in another new face in Haseeb Hameed. England may also stick with Zafar Ansari, on the grounds that he will turn the ball away from India’s right-handers. By Christmas, some of those names might ring a few more bells.Batsman-wicketkeeper versus wicketkeeper-batsmanA record-breaking year for Jonny Bairstow, but his biggest challenge still lies ahead•ESPNcricinfo LtdJonny Bairstow is two-thirds of the way through a record-breaking year as England’s Test wicketkeeper. In Bangladesh, he first passed Andy Flower’s mark for the most runs by a wicketkeeper in a calendar year (and could still eclipse Michael Vaughan’s overall England record); then he moved ahead of Matt Prior with the most calendar year dismissals for England. And yet… as soon as Bairstow drops a chance, as he did in the Chittagong Test, the murmurs about whether he merits the gloves will return. Five matches in six weeks in India will stretch him in every way imaginable and the scrutiny will be sharpened by the contrast with the opposition’s man. Wriddhiman Saha is something of a throwback, a wicketkeeper first and batsman second (although he can certainly hold his own), tidying up assiduously behind the stumps. He was only required to take two catches in three Tests against New Zealand but, after almost two years in the job, he has achieved the wicketkeeper’s grail: not being talked about.

It’s not often that cricket hogs the limelight during the festive season in Mysore. Unless, of course, Virender Sehwag is in town

Shashank Kishore in Mysore22-Oct-2015Mysore in October is the place to be. The nine-day carnival’s crescendo is best witnessed in the city of palaces. A state holiday adds to the colour and festivities. The tradition grips everyone, but the cool air that signals the onset of the winter feels infectious. So, there is little chance of a cricket match hogging the limelight on , an auspicious day in the Hindu calendar.For all its evolution into an IT hub, Mysore is still widely regarded as a pensioner’s paradise. Not surprisingly, you invite ridicule when you hitch an auto-rickshaw ride from the bus station to the Gangothri Glades Stadium, now named after late Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, a scion of the Mysore royal family. Distances here are measured in kilometers, and not time, like it is in big Indian cities.The sight of the stadium amidst lush greenery paints a pretty picture. A handful of spectators are seated in anticipation of a Virender Sehwag special. So what if he announced his retirement? His popularity has not dimmed one bit. That Karnataka are bowling first has no effect on them. The grass banks are free for all, but students from the adjacent Mysore University campus prefer climbing the compound wall to enjoy an uninterrupted view without the metal fencing affecting their line of sight.Given the city is a regular pit stop in the domestic calendar, preparations for the game would have been like any other first-class match. But that, of course, is in an ideal world. Sehwag is no ordinary cricketer. He revolutionised the art of Test match batting. The bamboo sticks erected to support the Shamiana even in parts of the ground that are normally left baking in the sun were the first signs of this being a “big game.”It was clear that the fans, who Sehwag termed as his “greatest partners” in a heartwarming, yet typically jocular farewell media release, were going to lap up every minute of his presence, on and off the field.

Here was Karnataka collectively being booed in their own home for the love of one man. Perhaps, therein lies the magic of Sehwag. Someone who thrilled and entertained the entire spectrum of cricket fans irrespective of nationalities, counties, states or clubs

As shots started flowing off Sehwag’s broad blade, the crowd swelled. Suddenly, security personnel were seen hurrying to get the metal detectors installed. Power sockets that were nowhere to be seen miraculously made an appearance. There were not enough plastic chairs to seat them all, but the fans did not mind.Perhaps this sight was last seen in Mysore during a charged-up Ranji Trophy final between Karnataka and Mumbai in the 2009-10 season, a match remembered as much for the acrimony as it was for the thriller it turned out to be. Similar scenes were witnessed in Ghaziabad three winters ago, when a star-studded Delhi boasting of Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Ishant Sharma took on Uttar Pradesh, who had Suresh Raina, Mohammad Kaif and Praveen Kumar in their ranks.Back then, close to 10000 fans squeezed into a venue that could seat half that number. While it was not as cramped in Mysore, the buzz was palpable. Lahli too deserves a mention, for the sleepy little town created a noise like no other when Sachin Tendulkar arrived to play his last Ranji Trophy game in October 2013.Sehwag, the man at the centre of it all in Mysore, was a symbol of calm. He did not have dark shades to mask his eyes. The unwieldy noise-cancelling headphones were perhaps lodged deep inside his kit bag as he went for a casual stroll around the ropes soon after being dismissed, before settling down for a casual chat with a few of the Karnataka players. His fans may or may not have relented to his Twitter plea at the Kotla last week, but in Mysore, they were there by the hordes. Not for nothing did he put “bums on seats” more often than not. Of course, all of this was for free. No tickets, no queues, and water bottles were welcomed with a smile to help fans deal with their parched throats. Of course, no one seemed to mind that one bit.Sehwag did not ignore his team-mates amidst the craze. Batting tips were given, and light throw-downs were taken. Of course, the intensity of his drills were not the same. The trainer did not seem mind, for once, even though his warm-down and recovery took a tad longer. But Sehwag looked every inch a man who did not have the pressure of expectation, something he admirably handled every time he went out to bat for India.As shots started flowing off Sehwag’s broad blade, the crowd swelled•PTI Amidst the Sehwag chants, Karnataka – the home team, and defending champions with stars of their own – felt a little lost. Catches were dropped, half-chances were missed, and their bowling largely, lacked the bite. All this amounted to a Sehwag party for a better part of the first two sessions. The whip off his hip, the nonchalant slap over cover, the ferocious trademark cut shot, delicate dabs and upper cuts were all out in full glory over the course of the day. With every stroke, the cheers only got louder, so much that the crowd was not appreciative of him risking delicate singles to mid-off.Screams of ‘No Viru, no’ soon did rounds. And then there was some liberal heckling of David Mathias, the debutant, for attempting to unsettle Sehwag with bouncers. When Sehwag miscued a lofted hit over the in-field, there were chants of ‘drop, drop’ even before the fielder moved in the direction of the ball. When HS Sharath threatened to throw the ball at the striker’s end after a straight drive was hit hard at him, he was booed.Here was a team, winners of two successive domestic trebles being collectively booed in their own home for the love of one man. Perhaps, therein lies the magic of Sehwag. Someone who thrilled and entertained the entire spectrum of cricket fans irrespective of nationalities, counties, states or clubs. It was a welcome change from giant concrete blocks of the bigger stadiums echoing every word uttered in the middle that makes for poor advertisement of domestic cricket.Apart from their fanaticism for Sehwag, the knowledge of the fans stood out too. Jayant Yadav, who played a pugnacious knock after his early reprieves, was recognised as a Delhi Daredevils player. Of course, the cheer was muted when he reached three figures. But once both batsmen were dismissed after a mammoth stand, the mood changed. A collective cry of anguish that accompanied Sehwag’s dismissal made way to plaintive pleas to Vinay Kumar and Sharath to do something.Strike they did, towards the end of the day with Sharath picking up a hat-trick to trigger a sensational collapse. In isolation, it was one of the few moments of cheer for Vinay’s boys on a long and grinding day when Sehwag single-handedly stole the show and charmed the city over with his ‘see ball, hit ball’ philosophy that has brought him immeasurable success for a decade and more.

Answer these questions on Moeen the Mendacious, Gary the Gumptious, and Southampton the Specious to win an imaginary prize

Andy Zaltzman05-Aug-2014Stop whatever you are doing. It is quiz time.Below is a multiple-choice stats quiz for you to help pass the agonisingly Test-free hours until the action begins at Old Trafford. All you have to do is pick the one false stat from the list of otherwise true numbers.If you correctly select all three bogus statistics, you win the right to commentate on the final two Tests of the summer, live, in the privacy of your own living room, to whichever of your friends, family members and pets are prepared to listen.QUESTION 1: MOEEN ALI – TWEAKMASTER GENERALSTAT A: Moeen, with 15 wickets at 26 in three Tests, has now taken more wickets against India in Tests outside Asia than any spinner since 1980.STAT B: Moeen’s 6 for 67 were the best figures by a spinner against India outside Asia since Jack Noreiga’s 9 for 95 for West Indies in the 1971 Trinidad Test, and the best by an England spinner against India since Ray Illingworth’s 6 for 29 at Lord’s in 1967.STAT C: Moeen took the first six-wicket haul in the fourth innings of a Test against India since Lance Klusener’s 8 for 64 on his South Africa debut in November 1996, and only the second ever fourth-innings bag of six by a spinner against India, after John Bracewell’s 6 for 51 for New Zealand in Mumbai in November 1988.STAT D: Moeen’s figures were the best fourth-innings analysis by an English spinner since Derek Underwood tweaked the Kiwis to defeat with 7 for 32 at Lord’s in 1969, and the best by a right-arm England spinner since Tom Goddard’s 6 for 27, also against the Kiwis, in 1937.STAT E: Moeen holds the British record of 224.7 miles hopped on a pogo stick, after misunderstanding the instructions for Worcestershire’s pre-season training in 2012.QUESTION 2: GARY BALLANCE – THE YORKSHIROZIMBABWEAN GARRY SOBERSSTAT A: Gary Ballance has scored 70 or more in each of the first five Tests of the English summer – the first man to do so since Ken Barrington in 1967.STAT B: Ballance is the seventh player to score 70 or more five times in an English Test summer. The last to do so were Graham Gooch and Michael Atherton, who each posted seven 70-plus scores in the batsman-friendly summer of 1990; Gordon Greenidge and Garry Sobers achieved the feat for the West Indies on their 1976 and 1966 tours respectively; Barrington reached 70 six times in 1967, and Peter May in five innings in 1955.Sobers’ performance in 1966 was particularly impressive. He passed 150 three times, whilst also taking 20 wickets at an average of 27 (and bowling 270 overs in five Tests), pouching ten catches, and skippering his team to a 3-1 series win. “A useful cricketer, playing useful cricket” – , October 1966. May is the only England player to have scored five 70-plus scores in a home summer without having faced Indian bowling.STAT C: Ballance co-holds the record score ever made by a pantomime cow – 213 not out, scored by Ermintrude (Ballance and Leeds-based soap-opera actress Balthazara-Kelly Lagroache) for the West Yorkshire Playhouse Jack & The Beanstalk XI, for whom Ballance was the guest pro, versus the Derby Assembly Rooms Robin Hood XI (featuring Derbyshire overseas player Chris Rogers as Maid Marian), in December 2010, during the Bagshaw’s Hosepipes Northern Pantomime Cricket League.Lagroache later complained about being forced to play the back half of Ermintrude for the entire innings. Ballance claimed he was doing what was best for the team. In the Beanstalkers’ next game, against the Manchester Opera House Cinderella XI, Ermintrude, with Lagroache as the front half, was clean-bowled for a golden duck by the Fairy Godmother (Sajid Mahmood).STAT D: Ballance is only the second England player to score three Test centuries in his first home summer, after Peter Parfitt, who did so against Pakistan in 1962, having made his Test debut the previous winter. Ballance’s three centuries are the 18th instance of an England player scoring three hundreds in a home Test summer (ten of which have occurred since the seven-Test summer was introduced in 2000).STAT E: Ballance is the third player to reach three figures three times batting at No. 3 for England in a home summer, after Barrington in 1967 and David Gower in 1985. (Five visiting No. 3s have scored three three-figure scores on tours of England – Macartney (1926), Bradman (1930) and Boon (1993) for Australia, Viv Richards for West Indies in 1976, and India’s Dravid (2002)). Ballance needs 104 more runs to surpass David Gower’s England record of 710 runs at No. 3 in a home summer; Bradman’s all-comers’ record of 966 in 1930 is just about within reach.QUESTION 3: SOUTHAMPTON TEST – BOWLERS’ STATATTACK STAT A: The 15 wickets taken by spinners in the Southampton Test is the equal second most in a Test in England since 1999. In that time, the Trent Bridge Test of 2006, when Murali took 11 of the 19 spin wickets to lead Sri Lanka to victory, was the only match in which tweakers have taken more than the 15 scalps harvested by Moeen (8), Jadeja (5), Root and Rohit (one each) at the Ageas Bowl. Which does slightly beg the question: was it a good move by India to leave Ashwin sitting in the pavilion, and Ojha sitting at home?STAT B: Southampton was the venue for the record number of consecutive wides bowled in a first-class match – 732, sent down by the Hampshire player VV Snutterbuck, in the County Championship match versus Gloucestershire that began on July 31, 1931. Snutterbuck, on his first-class debut, opened the bowling at the old County Ground, and proceeded deliberately to bowl wide after wide in what he claimed was a political protest at the economic policies of the Ramsay MacDonald government.The bowler claimed that he was attempting to express his view that the government’s attempts to navigate Britain’s way through the Great Depression that followed the 1929 Wall Street Crash were “way out of line”.With the score at 732 for 0 off 0.0 overs, after a scintillating display of wicketkeeping by seven-times-capped England stumper George Brown, umpire Len Braund unilaterally called stumps, announcing: “Gentlemen, my shoulders feel like a pair of watermelons after a fight with a rhinoceros. Let’s call it a day.” Both teams agreed to restart the match the following morning, with Snutterbuck absent due to an elbow injury, and a demoralised Hampshire duly lost by 256 runs.Snutterbuck never appeared in the first-class game again, but is credited with the collapse of the Labour Party at the general election in October 1931, and later masterminded an escape from a Prisoner Of War camp by distracting the German guards with an in-depth tactical analysis of Bodyline, whilst his fellow inmates escaped in a tunnel dug under the camp’s cricket score box, which Snutterbuck himself had constructed out of chewed-up newspapers and sawdust.STAT C: Ravi Jadeja, with match figures of 5 for 205, became the first Indian left-arm spinner to take five wickets in a Test in England since Dilip Doshi took 5 for 222 at The Oval in 1982 (after hauling in 6 for 102 at Old Trafford in the previous Test).STAT D: The Southampton Test was only the second time that England have won a Test match despite having two bowlers send down 20 or more overs without taking a wicket – Jordan had match figures of 0 for 81 off 22, Woakes 0 for 83 off 30).The previous occasion was the Old Trafford Test of 1956, when England’s opening bowlers Brian Statham and Trevor Bailey failed to collect any Australian wickets in 22 and 24 miserly overs respectively. Their inability to make early breakthroughs, or indeed any breakthroughs, was of limited relevance, as Jim Laker took 19 baggy-green wickets (which, incidentally, was more than he managed to take in any other series). (Even more incidentally, that Test match was the only time that England’s opening bowlers have been wicketless in both innings of a home Test.)STAT E: Southampton was the 11th time in all that a team has won a Test despite two bowlers remaining wicketless in 20 or more overs, the most recent being when Monde Zondeki and Jacques Kallis played unincisive support roles for South Africa as Makhaya Ntini destroyed West Indies, in Trinidad in 2005.You have one minute to finish the quiz. Here is a clue in case you are struggling to pick out the false stats from the true ones – the answers make an acronym for a prominent British-based cricket governing body.And… pens down.The correct incorrect answers are as follows.Question 1: E. (Moeen fell off and remounted after 34 miles, so his final distance was never ratified by the IPSA.)Question 2: C. (The record score by a pantomime cow was 299, by Donald Bradman in the Adelaide Test against South Africa in 1931-32, with legspinner Bill O’Reilly as the back half. With Australia 3-0 up in the series, and Bradman having already scored a double-hundred and two other tons, the great batsman claimed he could score a hundred dressed as a cow against the struggling Proteas. O’Reilly lost the draw to accompany the Don in the costume, and the two never saw eye to eye again.)Question 3: B. (Snutterbuck’s 345th delivery was a no-ball, not a wide.)All the other stats are true. Here endeth the stats. Amen. Please send help.

Simon Fry is in India as part of an exchange programme for umpires, and has some interesting observations about the first-class game in the country

Sharda Ugra in Delhi27-Nov-2012Within the course of less than a month, Australian first-class umpire Simon Fry could find himself following an itinerary that belongs to an episode of the Amazing Race: from Adelaide to Delhi, Meerut, Delhi and then back. His umpiring roster for the last five weeks of 2012 could include the Ranji Trophy, the Big Bash and the Sheffield Shield.Fry has stood in two Ranji Trophy matches as part of an umpires’ exchange programme between some Test-playing nations; during the first half of the Indo-Australian exchange umpire Vineet Kulkarni stood in two first-class matches in Australia. In early November, Kulkarni officiated in the Victoria v Western Australia match at the MCG and Tasmania v Queensland at Hobart. In Hobart, he partnered Fry, who is almost finished with a fortnight’s stint in India.The abiding thought from Fry’s experience? “One thing I’ll say is that I don’t think cricket changes much no matter where it is played. Players still appeal for the same things, they still suffer the same disappointments on getting out and still celebrate getting wickets in the same manner.”In a sport where cultural differences can often be magnified, Fry, spending time in what he believes is really the “best seat in the house”, has found common ground. Fry, 46, began umpiring in 1998-99 and stood in his first first-class match in 2002. His first time in India had him landing into Delhi and then being transported into the other world of Meerut and the Ranji game between Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. He’s back in Delhi, officiating in the Delhi v Tamil Nadu game at the Kotla.After two Ranji games he says, he found several distinctions: that the Indian domestic system tended to closely follow the ICC’s playing conditions of 90 overs in a day when compared to Australia’s 96. It gave captains in India more time to organise fields and make bowling changes, and also meant that domestic cricket in Australia was usually, “flowing a lot quicker.”Indian domestic players, Fry pointed out, had, “a strong sense of the code of conduct” which translated into good behavior on the field. While he didn’t usually have problems with players over discipline issues, Fry said there was “perhaps a little more intensity in our Sheffield Shield.” In umpire-speak that meant, he explained, “appealing might be a bit more aggressive back home.”That assessment certainly broke the stereotype of India being the centerpiece of a continent known for turning pitches, a tight knot of close-in fielders and vociferous bat-pad appeals. “Well I thought I would be seeing a lot more of that but I didn’t,” Fry said. “Even here in Kotla we’ve seen very few overs with close-in fields. Perhaps tracks are now more batsmen-friendly.” With India being beaten by England in the Mumbai Test over three days and a session, perhaps India’s pitches are not the best topic of discussion at the moment.The conditions he had officiated in, said Fry, were “ideal for first-class cricket.” While he has mostly had the time to go from hotel to ground to hotel, Fry had the briefest of snapshots of India in a fortnight: a quick trip to the Taj Mahal, the hard lives of the urban poor and Meerut’s overwhelming contrasts: its pristine green cricket ground, the warmth and hospitality of its cricket people and the world of dust elsewhere. His biggest adventure has been an auto-rickshaw ride around Delhi.This has been Fry’s first visit to India and if the next one happens around a cricket match again, he would like to learn a little of what is being said on a Ranji field. “I’m sure there’s sledging out there but I don’t understand a word of it. All I can figure out are words of encouragement,” and with a big grin, offers the best-known example, “Shabash, shabash.”

Former players and columnists on the latest saga to unfold in Pakistan cricket

Cricinfo staff18-Jul-2010″If he was not prepared for Test cricket then he should have thought about this before accepting the captaincy. His decision has come at a wrong time for Pakistan cricket and will complicate issues in the team.”

“It makes no sense that Afridi should decide now he is not ready to play Test matches. He is himself totally confused as to what he wants do. To make him the Test captain was a wrong decision.”

“Test cricket will be none the poorer for his absence. His brainless batting besmirched this match; his astonishing lack of leadership mocked some of his team-mates’ best efforts.”
Telegraph’s
“I ask the board, is this not a violation of the code of conduct to announce such a big decision without taking team management into confidence?”
“We all know he took the captaincy unwillingly, but when he took the responsibility he should have fulfilled it. His sudden decision will also affect younger players.”
“Clearly he made the decision himself; he could not be pushed, having been beseeched so recently by his board to return to Test cricket.”
Observer”Afridi was a misfit in Test team so it put added pressure on him.”
“I don’t think there was ever any place in the Test squad for Afridi, and in the first place he should not have been considered for the Tests”
“Afridi was lamentable, an indisciplined disaster, whose sole virtue, bless him, was to recognise that he did not have the temperament for Test cricket.”
Independent on Sunday

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

Steven Lynch09-Oct-2006The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket:

Tatenda Taibu: allround star © AFP
Which Test player, in a domestic match in 2004, scored 175 not out and then took 8 for 43, both in the second innings? asked Amith Rao from India
That sounds like a quiz question … but the compiler missed out an even more amazing fact: the player concerned started the match as the wicketkeeper! The allrounder was Tatenda Taibu, the recent Zimbabwe captain, who was captaining Mashonaland in their Logan Cup match against Midlands at Kwekwe in April 2004. In the second innings Taibu made 175 not out, to help his side to an overall lead of 514, then decided not to keep wicket and bowl instead. He then took 8 for 43 with his offbreaks as Midlands crashed to 185 all out.What is the highest first-wicket stand ever in a first-class match? And a Test? asked Ewen McDonald from New Zealand
The Test record is 413, by Vinoo Mankad (who made 231) and Pankaj Roy (173) for India against New Zealand at Madras in 1955-56. That came under severe threat in January this year, when Virender Sehwag (254) and Rahul Dravid (180 not out) put on 410 for India against Pakistan at Lahore before Sehwag was out. The first-class record is a lofty 561, by Waheed Mirza (324) and Mansoor Akhtar (224 not out) for Karachi Whites against Quetta (who had been bowled out for 104 shortly beforehand) at Karachi in 1976-77. Just to complete the set, the highest opening stand in a one-day international was set in July this year: Upul Tharanga (109) and Sanath Jayasuriya (152) piled on 286 against England at Headingley as Sri Lanka sailed past England’s imposing-looking total of 321 with amazing ease, winning with 12.3 overs to spare.Has any batsman scored hundreds in both innings of the same Test match at the Adelaide Oval? asked Omkar Persaud from Canada
Five batsmen have scored two separate centuries in a Test at Adelaide – two of them in the same match, in 1946-47, when Arthur Morris made 122 and 124 not out for Australia, and Denis Compton replied with 147 and 103 not out for England. The following year Vijay Hazare made 116 and 145 for India there – but Australia still won by an innings. Rohan Kanhai made 117 and 115 for West Indies during the 1960-61 series that included the first Tied Test. The first instance was by England’s Wally Hammond, with 119 not out and 177 in 1928-29, and the most recent was by Dean Jones, who made 116 and 121 not out for Australia against Pakistan in 1989-90. For a complete list of batsmen who scored a hundred in each innings of a Test, click here.Who has scored the most centuries in one Test series? asked Ian James Bull from Surrey
The only man to score five centuries in the same Test series was the West Indian Clyde Walcott, who did it against Australia at home in 1954-55. Walcott, who sadly died recently, hammered 827 runs in that five-Test series, and his five centuries included two in the second Test at Port-of-Spain, and two more in the final Test, at Kingston. Walcott also made 108 in the first Test, which was also at Kingston – and yet despite his efforts Australia still won the series 3-0! Don Bradman (three times), Denis Compton, Sunil Gavaskar (twice, including his first series, in the West Indies in 1970-71), Walter Hammond, Neil Harvey (twice), George Headley, Jacques Kallis, Mudassar Nazar, Herbert Sutcliffe (twice), Doug Walters and Everton Weekes all scored four centuries in the same Test series.

Apart from batting in all 11 positions, Wilfred Rhodes shared record stands for the first and tenth wickets in Ashes Tests © The Cricketer International
Has anyone batted in all 11 places in the order in Tests? asked Jared Thorn from Australia
There are only three players who have batted in every position in Tests during their careers (this counts opening as both No. 1 and No. 2, as there’s some doubt about who actually took first strike in several early Tests). The versatile trio are Wilfred Rhodes of England – who famously shared in record stands for the first and tenth wickets in Ashes Tests – Australia’s Syd Gregory (who had one innings each at 9, 10 and 11, and managed eight runs in total from them), and Vinoo Mankad of India, who rather bizarrely went in at No. 11 in the first innings of the Barbados Test of 1952- 53, then opened in the second innings. Quite a few people just missed out on a full set, batting in ten different spots: Warwick Armstrong, Jack Blackham, Ian Johnson, Sammy Jones and Hugh Trumble of Australia, Farokh Engineer and Ravi Shastri of India, and Pakistan’s Nasim-ul-Ghani, Shujauddin and Wasim Bari. In ODIs six players have batted in 10 of the 11 possible spots: Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik of Pakistan, South Africa’s Lance Klusener, Mohammad Rafique of Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka’s Hashan Tillekeratne.I noticed that Ray Lindwall took 228 Test wickets without ever taking ten in a match. Is this the highest number of wickets taken without a ten-wicket haul? asked Vikram Ravi Menezes from India
Ray Lindwall’s 228 Test wickets without a ten-for is quite a long way off the record, as this table shows. Top of this particular list is Bob Willis, who took 325 wickets without ever quite managing ten, although he did take nine in a match four times – his best match figures were 9 for 92 against New Zealand at Headingley in 1983. The other bowlers above Lindwall are Joel Garner (259), Jason Gillespie (259 to date), Garry Sobers (235) and Darren Gough (229). Below Lindwall, Heath Streak, Brett Lee and Jeff Thomson all reached 200 Test wickets without the aid of a ten-for