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Having plumbed new depth with a record-low T20 total, England had their supporters running for the hills

Jarrod Kimber23-Sep-2012Harbhajan Singh has been on the outside for a while. So long in fact that he found himself back in Division Two county cricket playing for Essex. His career was not over, but with R Ashwin taking the main job, and players like Pragyan Ojha as backups, it looked like the end for India’s fighter.Harbhajan played five first class games and five List A matches at Essex with varying success. It’s doubtful that in all ten of those games he’d ever seen as many bad shots played against spin as England’s debacle at the Presmadasa.The pitch was ok for spinners. OK. Not anything more. I’ve seen many pitches in Britain that spin far more than this. For England, it was nothing like what they got sliced and diced on in the UAE. And far from the one they fell over on in Galle. But England could barely handle the bat when the spinners came on.They devolved from sensible cricketers to the crazy families you see on the apocalypse preparation shows. Shooting at imaginary invaders and stocking up for the inevitable mushroom cloud or global financial crisis. It wasn’t even one of the obvious players that ended their world. Piyush Chawla is the player Indian fans abuse when they’re tired of abusing Rohit Sharma.To most of us, these looked like standard non-lethal spinners, to England they were the black plague, and they ran madly towards the hills with canned food and shot guns.It was as bad a batting performance as England have mustered, on a fairly benign surface against a new bowling attack without their oldest and most reliable bowler and their best T20 weapon.This is the same Indian bowling attack that has the Indian media in a permanent state of panic. Some wanting four bowlers, some five, some eleven. Tonight they dismissed England with three as easily as you like, a few nights back they couldn’t get close to Afghanistan.You need a research grant and a team of technicians to look into who played the worst shot. Alex Hales didn’t even wait for the spinners. Eoin Morgan’s cut shot was to a different ball on a different pitch. Craig Kieswetter’s flick-waft should be burned before any child gets a chance to see it. Jonny Bairstow’s slog against the wrong’un defied science. Jos Buttler backed away so far he was at the SSC when he missed his ball. Graeme Swann went for a wander. And Tim Bresnan brought back memories of England’s horror winter with a top-edged sweep.All this while Kevin Pietersen was stuck in a studio with a grin stapled to his face while Dermot Reeve threw a ball at him.It’s impossible to believe England played this badly, and yet we’ve seen it all before. In their minds, England seemed to be playing on a ghost pitch from their past and not the quicker-than-everyone-thought pitches that are actually being prepared.There are no dead rubbers for a while now and far bigger killers than Harbhajan and Chawla lurk around the corner. Unless England learn to swim against the spin, their fans are the ones who should be heading to the store to buy all the canned food they can carry.

An intriguing contest has built up between India and South Africa, with the intensity found on the field of play rather than in the stands

Dileep Premachandran05-Feb-2010With so few teams in the fray at the highest level, cricket suffers in comparison to other sports when it comes to rivalries. The Ashes, with more than a century of history and tradition, has retained its hallowed status, while other head-to-head contests have ebbed and flowed with the passage of time. For four decades, from the time that Sir Frank Worrell’s side captivated Australia in 1960-61, the tussle for the trophy that came to bear his name was often memorable and fiercely fought. Then, the West Indies went into decline, and the lustre was lost.There was never a shortage of spice when India or Pakistan played England, with those of subcontinental origin spectacularly failing the Tebbitt Test at venues like Headingley and The Oval. There was more than a bit of the coloniser-versus-colonised about those contests, and Indian and Pakistani victories (1986 and 1992, in particular) saw some chips drop off a few shoulders.The unlikeliest rivalry to take shape in recent times though has been that between India and Australia. Long before Monkeygate, Sydney, Steve Bucknor and alleged planes on the tarmac, there had been some needle. Australia’s golden generation of the 1970s never toured India, and the complaints of their predecessors about the hardships of touring are still raised each time there’s a flashpoint.At some point in the 1990s, around the time that the West Indies started to fade, India started figuring out how to play Australia. And while others continued to be swept away by the baggy-green tide, the Indians stood their ground. Apart from one disastrous tour in 1999-2000, ruined by appalling selection as much as anything else, India have fought Australia to a standstill on more than one occasion.There are intriguing facets to these Indo-Australian jousts. One country has produced the finest cricketers and teams, from the days of Spofforth, through Trumper, Armstrong, Bradman and the Chappells, to Ponting. The other has the world’s largest captive audience for the game. India’s fascination with Twenty20 cricket and the lack of passion for the longer version of the game is often overstated. There were capacity crowds for the Ranji Trophy final in Mysore, which suggests that the board needs to think again about where it schedules games in future.But what of India and South Africa? In the early days, there were no cricketing ties, with India playing a prominent role in the justified isolation of apartheid South Africa. After Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor Verster Prison in Paarl in February 1990, it was the Indian board that helped accelerate South African cricket’s return to the international fold. Without the BCCI championing the United Cricket Board’s cause, it’s unlikely that Kepler Wessels’ side would have played, and made such an impact, at the World Cup in 1992.The bilateral series that followed was characterised by some bland safety-first cricket, and decided by the pace and fury of Allan Donald at Port Elizabeth. Wessels’ bat made contact with Kapil Dev’s shin after the controversial “Mankaded” dismissal of Peter Kirsten, but even that incident created nothing like the sort of animosity seen after Sydney.India seldom did themselves justice in the southern cape, and it took a long time for the South African public to think of them as a half-decent side. Even when individuals dazzled, as Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin did in Cape Town (1996), the collective showing was dismal. That, of course, was the tour in which India made 100 and 66 in Durban.Even on Indian soil, the South Africans found ways to be competitive. But for a splendid spell from Javagal Srinath at Motera in the first Test of the ’96-’97 series, Cronje’s side might have walked away with series honours. Gary Kirsten’s resolute batting had set the stage for a mammoth win at the Eden Gardens and the visitors had shown that even without a great spinner in the ranks, their pace bowlers had the nous to adjust and even thrive on slow-and-low pitches.By their next tour, with Donald once again rampant, the pace men had perfected their subcontinent strategy. Having prevailed in a tense contest at the Wankhede in Mumbai – a pitch that was given the wire-brush treatment, no less – they were far too good for India in Bangalore. It should have gone down in the annals as one of South Africa’s greatest triumphs – no team had won in India since Pakistan edged a series by 16 runs in 1987 – but instead it was obscured by the match-fixing scandal that claimed prominent victims on both sides of the divide.The Mike Denness affair cast a pall over India’s subsequent tour of South Africa, though once again the hosts were far too good out on the field. It was only three years ago, on a Wanderers pitch that Mickey Arthur had reckoned would be tailor-made for his quicks, that India’s cricketers finally went some distance towards solving the puzzle. Sreesanth’s pelvic thrusts with bat-in-hand might be the memorable image from that game, but it was his outswing bowling that saw South Africa routed for just 84 in the first innings. It was a series that hung in the balance right up to the final session, when Jacques Kallis’ composure and poise saw the home side home in the shadow of Table Mountain.South Africa will be tested by Indian spin, but keeping the camp harmonious will be as much of a challenge•AFPZaheer Khan’s tussles with Graeme Smith formed a fascinating sub-text to that series, and Smith’s revival in the final three innings played a huge part in his team’s come-from-behind victory. The return series in India was shared, with both sides winning convincingly in contrasting conditions. South Africa bowled India out for 76 on a well-grassed pitch in Ahmedabad, and were then at the receiving end of a spin ambush in Kanpur. But while the matches were hard-fought and the South Africans were none too happy with the Green Park surface, there was an absence of the malice that had taken the sheen off India’s series in Australia.Even three years ago, neither of these sides would have imagined that they would leave Australia in the shade, at least as far as the rankings are concerned. South Africa came back from hopeless positions at both Perth and Melbourne to win the series, but then discovered that climbing to the top was a lot easier than staying there. Australia continued with their tradition of handing out beatings to South Africa in the Cape, and the ordinary run continued against England later in the year.India, in contrast, have built on the confidence engendered by a comprehensive home series win against the Australians. England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have been defeated since, and the manner in which they fought back to draw games at Napier and Ahmedabad was indicative of the belief that courses through the ranks. Already without Rahul Dravid, they might be deprived of VVS Laxman’s services as well, but those that take their places are unlikely to freeze in the face of a pace barrage.South Africa will be tested by Indian spin, but keeping the camp harmonious will be as much of a challenge. Makhaya Ntini, the team’s lone black icon, is fading, and it’ll be intriguing to see if politics plays much of a part in team selection over the next fortnight. Transformation certainly has provided benefits, with Hashim Amla, blooded on the tour here in 2004, now established as an integral part of the top order.These two teams spent more than a decade in Australia’s shadow, and it’ll be fascinating to see which of them is best equipped to try and cling to the top branches. Both have a battle-hardened core, and youngsters with huge potential. What neither has yet discovered is the ruthlessness that was the hallmark of the great West Indian and Australian sides. Natural allies less than two decades ago, and still great friends at board level, the players must now focus on a new rivalry. For decades now, the sight of the green Pakistani or Australian cap was enough to fire up those in India blue. Now the endeavour will be to be similarly aroused by a different shade of green.In recent times, clashes with Australia and Pakistan have been marred by distressing levels of jingoism. That’s unlikely to be the case here, with the intensity found on the field of play rather than in the stands. Given that the alternate appears to be monkey noises or chants of “Pakistan hai hai”, it’s perhaps better that way.

The five-man pace attack India has sent to South Africa looks impressive on paper, but now does it compare to previous fast-bowling contingents that India have taken overseas since 2000? Vote for which one you think was the best

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jan-2018Note: All figures are from the time of the respective tours

From a strong IPL influence to persistent questions over financial sustainability, here are four talking points as CPL 2016 gets underway

Colin Benjamin30-Jun-2016Ever since Carlos Brathwaite’s heroics in the World T20 final in April this year, West Indian fans have been waiting to celebrate their world-champion cricketers. They were denied an opportunity to do so during the tri-series against Australia and South Africa in June, after Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy and Andre Russell were left out of the team because of their absence from the WICB’s List A tournament.This then is an opportunity for fans to celebrate with their winning stars in a tournament that also has a strong IPL influence and the best selection of overseas talent. From a West Indies perspective, here are four points of note for this season.Emerging playersWest Indies coach Phil Simmons told after CPL 2015 that, “The tournament is good, but not enough young West Indian players came to the fore. Just the established stars and the overseas players and as coach I would have liked to see more from the young players. I hope that improves in next year’s competition.”Unless the WICB changes its selection policy, or is disbanded in July’s CARICOM government meeting, most of the senior West Indies players could be excluded for a longer period. Thus, big performances in a platform like the CPL will be key for a few next-generation players looking to make a mark.One of them is 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Nicholas Pooran [Barbados Tridents], who made his T20 debut against Guyana Amazon Warriors in the 2013 edition of the tournament. He showed his abilities in a knock of 143 against Australia at the 2014 Under-19 World Cup. He will return to competitive cricket for the first time since December 2014, following a recovery from a car accident that injured his left leg in January 2015. Pooran will have to build on his early potential as West Indies could do with more back-up options for their first-choice wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin.The tournament also presents an opportunity for quick bowlers like Ronsford Beaton [Trinbago Knight Riders] and Delorn Johnson [St Lucia Zouks], and allrounders Kyle Mayers [Zouks] and Raymon Reifer [Tridents]. West Indies are short of options in the fast bowling department, even as the selection status of senior allrounders, Bravo, Russell and Sammy, remains unclear.Offspinner Jon-Russ Jaggesar, who played a key role in Trinidad & Tobago’s title win in the Nagico Super50 competition this season with 14 wickets, will be able to test his guile against established international batsmen when he takes the field for Jamaica Tallawahs. Another young player to watch out for is Shimron Hetmyer [Guyana Amazon Warriors], who led West Indies to victory at the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year.One interesting subplot in the tournament is be the presence of Ramnaresh Sarwan, who is part of the Knight Riders’ squad. Sarwan hasn’t played competitive cricket in almost two years but could be an important figure for the team once Darren Bravo leaves for the India Tests. After Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s retirement, young batsmen like Shai Hope and Jermaine Blackwood have not been convincing, so the tournament is a chance for Sarwan to remind the selectors of his quality.The clash with the India TestsOne of the biggest issues for contracted West Indies players who were likely to feature in the home Tests against India was that they would not be allowed to participate in the CPL.Earlier this month, however, the WICB released five players – captain Jason Holder, batsman Darren Bravo, allrounder Carlos Brathwaite, legspinner Devendra Bishoo, and wicketkeeper-batsman Denesh Ramdin for the T20 tournament. They have been permitted to remain with their franchises until July 11, ten days before the first Test against India in Antigua. Marlon Samuels, Man of the Match in the World T20 final, was not picked by any franchise during the draft in February this year.During the tri-series in Barbados, Simmons explained the rationale behind the decision to allow players. “It was an easy decision, we would have a five-day camp, then three days before the first test”, he said. “It’s something that everybody in world cricket allows. Joe Root just played a Twenty20 game in between the England and Sri Lanka Tests and, when we were in Australia, [Usman] Khawaja played a few T20 games before the Melbourne Test and came into that game with brilliant form.”A tender for the finals venue is an important source of income for the CPL but questions remain on the league’s financial sustainability•Caribbean Premier LeagueFinancial sustainabilityIn an interview to ESPNcricinfo recently, CPL CEO Damien O’Donohoe offered an interesting insight into how the league made money, particularly through tenders for hosting the finals.”We tender the finals, and last year it couldn’t have been a bigger success than it was in Trinidad,” he said. “The government there paid a decent sum – US$3.5 million – to get the finals last year. Now we’re still in negotiations in relation to the finals, because Trinidad’s economy’s been badly hit with the oil prices and they’re in deep recession. They don’t have that level of money to pay, which is a big challenge for us because that’s a very important revenue line for us. What I explained to the government is that the final is one thing, but actually supporting the team is a huge part of making CPL work long term.”Months of speculation over Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago and Florida hosting the final was put to rest when it was announced only days before the start of the tournament that St Kitts would host the final. According to local media reports in T&T, the government did not want to give US $1 million in foreign currency to host the finals when the country is facing a shortage of foreign exchange. Instead they wanted pay the CPL in T&T currency, which the organisers reportedly rejected.Unlike the IPL and the Big Bash League – where the BCCI and Cricket Australia have strong control over the organisation of the tournament and infrastructure – the WICB have sold the rights to run the tournament in the West Indies. The question, therefore, is how sustainable will it be, in the long term, for cash-strapped CARICOM governments to pay money to host CPL finals?The CPL is a welcome initiative that has also brought in funds for the domestic competitions, but many have criticised the WICB for signing a 50-year contract with the league. This was reportedly one of the factors that led to Dave Cameron’s election over Julian Hunte as WICB president in 2013. Concerns remain over whether the board needed to sign such a long-term contract, considering the uncertain fixtures climate in world cricket.The IPL influenceWhen CPL first started in 2013, there was no indication that linking up IPL teams was part of the league’s plans. In the inaugural year, Hollywood actors Mark Wahlberg and Gerard Butler purchased stakes in Barbados Tridents and Jamaica Tallawahs respectively.Over the last two years, however, the CPL has stumbled upon partnerships with IPL teams. The owners of IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders bought the Trinidad & Tobago team, and renamed it Trinbago Knight Riders, and Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, former owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore, purchased Tridents. As Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore said, the IPL-CPL partnerships are potentially “perfect marriages”.West Indies’ legendary commentator Tony Cozier had earlier revealed before Mallya’s acquisition that the league was contemplating disbanding the Tridents as it had done with the Antigua franchise in 2015.In the current global climate of co-operation at the ICC, perhaps what Mysore and Mallya are doing could lead to the CPL being the first of many T20 leagues where Indian players will be allowed to participate.

Ben Rohrer’s story tells us a lot about how we used to view head protection and bouncers, and how the death of Phillip Hughes means we never will again

Daniel Brettig05-Mar-2015Ben Rohrer is over the worst of it. So much so that he blazed 276 for the New South Wales Futures League team last week and has taken his place in the Blues’ Sheffield Shield XI playing Tasmania this one. But there will still be moments when he remembers November 3 at the MCG, where he was struck a horrid blow behind the right ear.Chief among these was the day in early February when Rohrer came face to face – and bat to ball – with Chris Tremain, the man who had struck him that very blow with a short ball whirring in at him from around the wicket.As former NSW team-mates, Rohrer and Tremain are on good terms, and there was even a gentlemen’s agreement before the second XI game began. “We spoke before the game and he said ‘I’ll promise not to bounce you if you don’t bounce me’,” Rohrer told ESPNcricinfo, “and I took him up on that pretty quickly!”But it was still an odd experience for Rohrer, facing the man who had felled him all over again. “It was just weird watching him run in and bowl to me,” he said. “Just seeing him running in might have brought something back.”The something was less to do with the blow itself than its prelude and aftermath, which reflect the way cricket’s attitude to head injuries once was and now can never be again. In the winter, Rohrer had glimpsed the new helmet devised by the NSW supplier Masuri, and asked for his own edition of the improved headgear, which provided more extensive protection for the sides and rear.Around this time, Cricket NSW had entered into an agreement with Masuri to order enough of the new helmets to fit out those members of the state squad who wanted them, but the lag time between order in August and delivery in November was considerable. Rohrer asked for the helmet both before and after the state limited-overs tournament, but was told they were yet to arrive.After he was struck by Tremain, driven from the field via motorised stretcher and taken to hospital for assessment of what turned out to be a heavy and long-lasting concussion, Rohrer returned to the MCG. Some of the Victorian players had already been able to get their hands on the new helmets, and upon donning one worn by Marcus Stoinis, Rohrer discovered his injury could have been avoided. It still rankles.”I was obviously very frustrated and still at the moment I’ve got some symptoms, but very frustrated with the whole process,” Rohrer said. “Especially with a new model coming out, I thought it’d be quite easy to get a hold of, but whatever it was, we just didn’t have the access to the safest helmets. It was frustrating more than anything.”In the weeks after he was struck, Rohrer was not only physically unwell but mentally unsteady. Sitting alongside Trent Copeland at the SCG cafe later in November he looked awfully pale, and he was battling equally to get his buffeted head around normally simple tasks such as choosing his words. Mercifully, most of this gradually passed.”I was a different person there for quite a while,” Rohrer said. “Especially the first few weeks I even knew my personality wasn’t the same. I felt like I had to really think about what I was saying and my words and how to pronounce words, which is a very funny feeling. But that’s all gone now, which is great, it’s just the little bit of dizziness but that hopefully will go in the next month or two.”Ben Rohrer wearing the new Masuri helmet, showing where he was struck•Cricket NSWA first attempt to get back and play the week after he had been struck was aborted after one difficult net session, and Rohrer was working his way through a longer rehabilitation process when Phillip Hughes was hit on November 25, collapsing to the ground in a scene no one present at the ground would ever wish to revisit. Through the shock, pain and grieving that followed, Rohrer was placed in the difficult position of being repeatedly told how lucky he had been. He did not want to hear it.”The worst part of that time was people telling me how I should feel about it and telling me I should feel lucky and all that sort of stuff,” he said. “But I didn’t really feel any of that, I was more just feeling grief at losing a good mate and thinking how terribly unlucky he was. To think how many people do get hit, I’ve seen at least one guy get hit in the helmet every game since I’ve been back. It’s just incredibly unlucky that he was injured like that, whereas the rest of us get away with it.”As the rest of Australia’s cricket community tried to get on with playing the game, Rohrer fashioned his own rehabilitation. He returned in a Melbourne Renegades trial fixture in early December, then delivered performances of increasing assurance during the BBL. After facing Tremain, he clattered the ACT’s bowlers for the double century and has actually found himself feeling less apprehensive about being hit than before.”More than anything spending those few second XI and club games in the middle has allowed me to push past a few things and get a clear mind, which is a pretty key thing to batting,” Rohrer said. “The last thing you want is a little man on your shoulder talking to you, so that was a nice thing.”I think I’m less cautious early, I’ll really be pushing forward, making sure I’m making the right movements and I don’t know why that is. Whether it is because I’ve been hit badly now and got through that, my mindset’s changed where I’m not fearing it as much as I did before. That’s the odd thing – you’d think you’d go the other way.”What has certainly gone the other way is cricket’s attitude to head injuries. Where once Rohrer could remember the fielding team’s principle concern with a helmet hit being to exhort their fast bowler to go in even harder next time, now the looks of concern and rushes towards the batsmen in a spirit of care are palpable.”There’s noticeable changes, the first thing now is for people to check if they’re alright rather than, they used to want to be seen to be encouraging their bowlers to keep bowling that way,” he said. “That’s the one thing I’ve noticed, every time someone gets hit there’s nine or 10 players checking straight away whether they’re ok, and then off the field Masuri presented us with a new design for a bit more protection around the neck area. People have been woken up by this and it’s only going to be a good thing for protection.”The new urgency about protection was summed up by the fact that in the days after Rohrer was hit, NSW staff searched Sydney sports goods stores to find any early deliveries of the new helmets, while when the Australian Test team resumed for the delayed Adelaide Test, they were ever present. Further developments have come in the shape of proposed new neck guards from Masuri, while at the World Cup Ireland’s John Mooney has modelled his own version of a rear grille.As for Rohrer, he is back playing Shield cricket as he should be, and looking forward to resuming battle with Tremain. He does not expect the gentlemen’s agreement to last long, mind. “He’s too competitive to let that one stand – I’m sure it’ll be on for young and old next time I face him.”

ESPNcricinfo takes a look back at how the New Zealand players performed during their series win over West Indies

Andrew McGlashan23-Dec-201310Ross TaylorIs a player ever worth a full 10? It’s hard to argue that Taylor isn’t. Three hundreds in a variety of conditions and almost 500 runs. For a player who began the year considering his future after being sacked as captain it was a magnificent way to end 2013. Comparisons with his mentor Martin Crowe will continue and now they don’t appear out of place, even if tougher attacks await him.9Trent BoultSkillful, precise, menacing. There was barely a bad spell from Boult, save perhaps the opening day in Hamilton where he suffered a hangover from the career-best 10 for 80 in Wellington. Sure, he’ll face stronger resistance from many batting line-ups, but the sharp late swing – and not just with the new ball – makes him a constant threat. This year has set up his career.8Tim SoutheeDoes not always get the rewards he deserves for high-class spells of swing bowling. Not express pace, but can sustain a decent clip and his stamina is far improved of a few years ago. His third-day spell in Wellington of 9-1-19-3 during the follow-on was his best of the series. Reached 100 wickets in Hamilton. A very sharp slip fielder, but his batting is more miss than hit.7Kane WilliamsonMissed the first Test with a thumb injury, then looked a classy batsman in the matches he played. His back-foot strokes are outstanding – just needs to work on chasing deliveries outside off stump that he could leave alone. Bowling remains very useful and his catching can be breath-taking as witnessed by his grab in Hamilton to remove Shivnarine Chanderpaul.Brendon McCullumEnded a three-year wait for a hundred in Dunedin but couldn’t quite sustain his batting after that and continues to divide opinion in New Zealand cricket. However, he captained with verve and held his nerve about the follow-on in Wellington which proved fully justified. His attacking instincts are aided by a strong new-ball attack, but the runs will need to continue.Corey Anderson continued to suggest he could be a long-term solution to the allrounder’s role•Getty ImagesCorey AndersonHas all the makings of a top-class allrounder. His batting is a touch unrefined at the moment, but does not look out of place at No. 6 even if Sunil Narine posed him problems. His poise at 44 for 4 in Dunedin bodes well for future rescue acts. Did more with the ball than was probably expected and his economy is an added bonus. Another safe catcher.BJ WatlingCemented as the Test wicketkeeper because of what he brings with the bat as much as the gloves. His innings in Wellington was another example of his ability with the lower order. No huge mistakes behind the stumps.5Hamish Rutherford Started with a sparkling innings in Dunedin and ended unbeaten in the Hamilton chase, but careless dismissals undermined his series and he has yet to fulfill the promise shown by his debut 171 against England.Ish SodhiHad a minor role in the final two Tests. It would have been fascinating to see how he’d handled the pressure if the seamers hadn’t dismantled West Indies in the second innings in Hamilton. Dunedin showed much promise, as well as reminders of how raw he is. Will New Zealand hold their nerve with him when India arrive? Batting helps bolster the lower order. Fielding needs work.Neil Wagner You can’t deny the effort, but an average of over 45 will test the faith of the selectors against stronger batting teams. However, he does extract wickets during flat periods of play and got better as the series went on.3Peter FultonAfter his twin hundreds at Eden Park in March, Fulton is starting to tread water again at Test level. Like Rutherford, Fulton made one half century. Still very vulnerable to the moving and struggles to rotate strike against spin. The domestic form of players such as Tom Latham will be making him nervous.Aaron RedmondFollowed the Fulton route with a belated recall to cover for Williamson, but it may have been a brief return. Technically he remains next in line if an injury occurs.

The Plays of the day from the fourth ODI between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, in Colombo

Kanishkaa Balachandran in Colombo16-Jun-2012The over

When Thisara Perera came on for a new spell after the 40th over, Pakistan needed a very gettable 68 off 60 balls with six wickets in hand. Going by their experience against Perera at Pallekele, you’d reckon they’d be a bit cautious. A wobbly Younis Khan tried to fend Perera to the off side but edged it to Kumar Sangakkara. Pakistan needed Shahid Afridi to support a limping Azhar Ali at the other end, but he tamely chipped his first ball straight to cover. Perera became the fourth Sri Lankan to pick up an ODI hat-trick when he got Sarfraz Ahmed to edge to Mahela Jayawardene who took a sharp catch at slip. Perera wasn’t done yet. Sohail Tanvir tapped the ball to the on side, a cramping Azhar called for the run but sent him back on realising that he wasn’t going to be able to make it. Perera swooped down on the ball and in one motion under-armed the ball at the stumps. 176 for 4 became 176 for 8 after that over. Game, set and match Sri Lanka.Heads up

It’s not uncommon to see wicketkeepers wearing helmets while keeping to spinners. Sarfraz, though, seemed confident of his reflexes to not warrant any headgear. Until he faced Shahid Afridi. The ball was a touch slow through the air but bounced a bit more than Kumar Sangakkara expected. The inside-edge lobbed off the pads and knocked Sarfraz flush on the forehead. After a few seconds, which would have seemed like hours for the wicketkeeper, he was back on his feet. No nasty cut or blood on the pitch. Remarkably, he decided not to signal for a helmet.The direct-hit

The Pakistan fielders had several direct-hit opportunities but not all managed to hit the stumps. What hurt them especially was that a couple of those allowed Sri Lanka’s top scorer Sangakkara to get away. Umar Akmal failed to nail the target from point with Sangakkara on 10, and a short while later, Afridi too went off the mark, costing Pakistan an overthrow. It seemed like Pakistan’s best hope of hitting the stumps was by rolling their arm over, as Sohail Tanvir and Mohammad Hafeez managed from 22 yards. However, Afridi redeemed himself when a flat throw from point which caught Lahiru Thirimanne short by the narrowest of margins.The bowling change

Pakistan’s need to beef up their batting meant that they had to leave out their third seamer, irrespective of Mohammad Sami’s fitness. After an accurate spell by the frontline seamers in the first Powerplay, Misbah-ul-Haq turned to the part-time option of Younis Khan – princely average of 86 with three ODI wickets. He has bowled 260 balls and conceded as many runs. He began inauspiciously with a wide, too far for Tillakaratne Dilshan to stretch the bat out to. However, in his second over, his gentle seam-up nearly cleaned up Kumar Sangakkara when an inside-edge sailed past the stumps. That wasn’t enough to reward him another over for the rest of the innings.

As another Under-19 World Cup gets underway, we look at the boys of the 2008 edition who are now men with international responsibilities

George Binoy15-Jan-2010Adrian Barath
Barath came to Kuala Lumpur as the boy who had caught Brian Lara’s eye at the age of 11. He was short and stocky, wore braces, and spoke confidently with a strong Trinidadian accent, recalling with pride his rise through age-group cricket, reeling off details meticulously. His earnestness and ambition shone through – both fine qualities to possess when on the cusp of global recognition. Barath, however, had an ordinary World Cup: he was under the weather and, although he possessed a tight technique, made only 84 runs in five matches. His opening partner, the towering Kieran Powell, was the attention grabber for his flamboyant hitting. In November 2009, though, Barath was opening with another physically imposing partner, Chris Gayle, facing the new ball against Australia at the Gabba. His first innings produced only 15 but his second was a 104 remarkable for its poise; a final glimpse of promise in a miserable decade for West Indies. Barath spoke, after his century, of the importance he gave Test cricket in this world of Twenty20. He wasn’t being just politically correct, for he did not register for the IPL auction in 2010. During the time between the U-19 World Cup and his Test debut, the highlights of Barath’s progress were a century for West Indies A against an England XI attack comprising James Anderson, Steve Harmison, Ryan Sidebottom and Graeme Swann; a call-up to the Test squad for the home series against Bangladesh; and a string of impressive performances for Trinidad & Tobago in the Champions League Twenty20.Virat Kohli
As captain of one of the teams tipped to win the U-19 World Cup, Kohli exuded a confidence beyond his 19 years. Walking around the Sunway Pyramid hotel in shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops, Kohli, ear studs, tattoos and all, carried the swagger of someone who knew he belonged. It wasn’t a façade either, for he had already represented his zonal side, and exhibited immense mental strength by playing a valuable innings for Delhi hours after his father’s death. Kohli was aggressive during the World Cup – in batting, fielding and captaincy – and played the innings of the tournament: a century off 74 balls against West Indies, notable for powerful drives straight and through the off side. He also led by example during a ruthless defence of 159 in the final against South Africa. Kohli’s performances in Malaysia caught Vijay Mallya’s attention and won him an IPL contract with the Royal Challengers Bangalore. A strong showing during an Emerging Players tournament in Australia resulted in a surprise call-up to India’s ODI squad for a tour to Sri Lanka as early as August 2008. Kohli has now played 20 ODIs and has moved ahead of the likes of Rohit Sharma in the pecking order, though his opportunities have come only when one of the team’s regulars is unavailable or injured. Encouragingly he has made starts in virtually all his games but also displayed a worrying tendency to give it away with ill-advised aggressive shots. His maiden century finally came in his 13th innings, when he scored 107 chasing 316 against Sri Lanka, and it could be the breakthrough that sets his India career on course.Wayne Parnell
Parnell was arguably the most impressive cricketer at the 2008 World Cup. His responsibilities included South Africa’s captaincy, aggressive middle-order batting and potent new-ball swing bowling. He was tough too: Parnell took the field in the quarter-final against Bangladesh despite a fever and sore throat, scored 57, took 6 for 8 in five devastating overs and set-up a 201-run victory. He left Malaysia as the leading wicket-taker, with 18 in six matches. His mates at Eastern Province wouldn’t have been surprised, for Parnell had been a hot talent since the age of 12 and made his first-class debut in October 2006. Thereafter, he started to climb the rungs towards the senior team. He was part of the Emerging Players squad to Australia in March 2008, won the South African Under-19 Player of the Year award in June, was part of the South Africa A squad for the home series against Sri Lanka A in July, and received an inevitable call-up to the national side for the limited-overs leg of the Australia tour in December, where he made his ODI and Twenty20 debuts. Parnell was also included in the squad for the third Test of the home series against Australia in March 2009, although he didn’t play. Later that month he became the youngest player to be awarded a central contract by CSA. Kent signed him for the 2009 county season and it was in England, during the World Twenty20, that he arrived. He bowled with pace and accuracy, during the Powerplay and final overs, and took nine wickets at an economy rate of less than six an over. But it hasn’t been all rosy. He was suspended by his domestic side, the Warriors, for a Supersport Series match because of disciplinary issues and had to wait till the final match of the home series against England to make his Test debut.Mohammad Aamer’s U-19 World Cup was cut short due to illness, but there have been no such hiccups in his impressive international career so far•Getty ImagesUmar Akmal
No other cricketer from the U-19 World Cup has become as important to his national side as the younger Akmal: a precocious talent and the future of Pakistan’s batting. At the moment he’s aggressive, charged by the fearlessness of youth, has technique, and has shown adaptability, playing valuable innings in all three formats: an unbeaten 72-ball 102 against Sri Lanka in his third ODI, a match-winning Twenty20 half-century against New Zealand on a tough pitch in Dubai, and an attacking hundred and a mature fifty on Test debut in Dunedin. He coped admirably at No. 3 on a seaming green top in Wellington, and had success in Australia as well. He averages 55 after five Tests and if he tempers his tendency to self-destruct when in control, he could go far. An indication of what was to come, though, wasn’t on show in Malaysia. Akmal opened the innings for Pakistan and rarely stayed at the crease long enough to make an impact, falling for single-digit scores in three out of five innings. His best, 17 off 13 balls, included four boundaries. His coach, Mansoor Rana, however, had immense faith in Akmal’s abilities, saying he could win a game in 10 overs. Akmal, while speaking, was shy, not as expressive as some of the others in Malaysia. He confessed a desire, before the semi-final against Australia, to play an innings that “will make people forget the failures”. He didn’t do it then but he has now.Mohammad Aamer
Singled out as a special talent as early as May 2007 by no less than Wasim Akram, Aamer, not yet 16 at the time, was tipped to be one of the stars of the World Cup. He began well, with 3 for 12 against Malaysia, but his tournament ended soon after because he caught the dengue virus and returned home. Aamer, however, did not need the youth World Cup to rise. As a lithe, wiry fast bowler capable of speeds around 150kph, he took 55 wickets in his debut first-class season and was included in Pakistan’s World Twenty20 squad. Sohail Tanvir’s poor form gave Aamer a chance to bowl with the new ball in England and he was exceptional. Few more experienced bowlers could have bowled a better opening over in the final – a maiden and the wicket of Tillakaratne Dilshan, the tournament’s best batsman, bounced out for a five-ball duck. Aamer went on to make his ODI and Test debuts in Sri Lanka in July 2009 and is currently part of Pakistan’s first-choice pace attack.Tim Southee
Southee was one of a kind in the 2008 World Cup – the only player, out of 240, with international experience, having played two Twenty20s against England. He was also the tournament’s fiercest bowler, using his height and strong build to good effect. His pace and ability to bounce the ball sharply brought him 17 wickets at an average of 6.64 and economy of 2.52, and the Player-of-the-Tournament award. He was the first bowler to challenge a strong Indian batting order, taking 4 for 29 in the semi-final. The World Cup performance fast-tracked his career and he was part of the New Zealand line-up for the deciding Napier Test against England in March 2008. He surprised everyone, taking 5 for 55 in the first innings and then biffing 77 off 40 balls with nine sixes in the second. With New Zealand losing players, to retirement and the ICL, Southee was given a national contract the following month. He has been a regular member of New Zealand squads in all three formats and should soon find a permanent spot in the XI.Phil Hughes started his international career with two centuries in his first three Tests•AFPPhillip Hughes
Short, confident, sporting spiky blond hair and ear studs, Hughes was one of only two Australians in the U-19 World Cup squad with first-class experience (Steven Smith was the other). But like most of his team-mates, he had an ordinary tournament – 89 runs in four innings – as Australia were eliminated in the quarter-finals. However, coach Brian McFadyen said Hughes was definitely one to watch out for because it was a rarity for an U-19 cricketer to already have played first-class cricket. Less than a month later, 19-year-old Hughes became the youngest to score a century in a Pura Cup final. He then made the Australia A squad for the tour of India in August 2008, scored plenty of centuries for New South Wales, and was the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year. Matthew Hayden’s retirement at the end of the home series against South Africa in 2008-09 created a vacancy at the top of the order and Hughes beat Phil Jaques to it. At the Wanderers, Hughes became Australia’s youngest debutant since Craig McDermott. He followed a duck on debut with 75, 115 and 160 in his next three innings and seemed destined to be Hayden’s successor. A stint with Middlesex – 574 runs in five innings – preceded the Ashes but that was where the honeymoon ended. England exploited his susceptibility against the short ball, and after failures in three Ashes innings Hughes was dropped and watched Shane Watson forge a productive opening partnership with Simon Katich.Ravindra Jadeja
Jadeja had played the U-19 World Cup in 2006 and in Malaysia he had the confidence that only experience can give. He was one of India’s leading players – a cool head on the field and a jovial prankster off it – and contributed to India’s victory with a crucial spell in the final. His all-round skills – energetic batting, economical left-arm spin, and swift fielding – were vital and he was Kohli’s right-hand man. Jadeja’s performances won him a place in the Rajasthan Royals squad for the inaugural IPL, and Shane Warne’s admiration. Jadeja caught the selectors’ eye with 42 wickets and 729 runs in the 2008-09 Ranji Trophy and was called up for a tour of Sri Lanka in February 2009. He’s been in India’s limited-overs set-up since – moving ahead of Yusuf Pathan in the allrounders’ pecking order – and went to the World Twenty20 as well, but is yet to cement his spot.Seven other players from that World Cup have also made their international debuts: Darren Bravo and Kieran Powell (West Indies), Dolar Mahmud and Rubel Hossain (Bangladesh), Thissara Perera and Lahiru Thirimanne (Sri Lanka), and Ahmed Shezhad (Pakistan).

Quinton de Kock took on England’s pace spearhead after Rassie van der Dussen shone on debut

Firdose Moonda in Centurion28-Dec-2019Jofra Archer greeted Quinton de Kock with a warning, but a friendly one: a 141kph bouncer that waved at him as it went down leg. De Kock didn’t bother with pleasantries in response. He clubbed Archer’s next ball over square leg for six and then top-edged him over fine leg for six more. De Kock might as well have said, “Since you’re still bowling, you might as well have some of this.”There’s no doubt that South Africa were irritated that Archer had not been withdrawn from the attack after he sent down a beamer and a ball which closely resembled a beamer late on the second evening. Some in the South African camp voiced their concerns to match referee Andy Pycroft immediately after play, others made their disapproval known on the field; but Archer himself was unaffected by being in the naughty corner and continued with an aggressive, albeit sometimes ineffective, approach.He bowled quick and short and was in South Africa’s face, but grinned rather than snarled whenever they took him on. The overnight pair, Rassie van der Dussen and Anrich Nortje didn’t – understandably so for a man on a debut trying to make a name for himself and another the nighwatchman doing more than his job – but de Kock, as we know from the first innings, has no need for any of that. He had one message for Archer: we didn’t want you to bowl and now maybe you won’t want to.ALSO READ: Markram out of series with fractured fingerAfter de Kock’s opening assault, Archer held his length back. De Kock latched on and sent a third six over backward square before clobbering the next ball through mid-on. Archer refused to go fuller and his next ball was a bumper, and wide. He didn’t smile at that.De Kock scored 26 runs off the first 12 balls he faced and seemed in a hurry for South Africa to finalise their target, but he didn’t push the lead above 350. That was the job of Vernon Philander, who has put in a strong performance worthy the opening salvo of his final series. Philander won the cricketing duel with his opposite number, Ben Stokes, with two silken cover drives and a dismissive whack through midwicket. Stokes won the physical one. He hit Philander on the bottom hand and then in the unspeakables but could not stop the steady stream of runs.South Africa ended up setting England a target that is 125 runs more than the last successful chase at this ground – 251 for 8 by England in 2000. Only one captain was trying to win that “Test” so maybe the comparison is immaterial, but it illustrates how tough fourth innings are at the venue and how challenging a task England had been set – their efforts in getting to the close one down notwithstanding.It also speaks to how much better South Africa batted than they have throughout 2019. The last time South Africa’s batsmen set the opposition such a daunting target was in January, when Pakistan fell 107 runs short of 381 in Johannesburg. The last time they set the opposition a target that looked unchaseable was the 304 against Sri Lanka in Durban a month later, but it was not enough.Following that defeat, South Africa only posted totals over 200 three times in eight innings and their batting confidence looked shot. They regained some of it here, on a surface where the bounce became inconsistent and the bowlers remained aggressive.Though there are still problems – such as the malfunctioning opening partnership – there are also some solutions, particularly in the middle order. Van der Dussen became the first player to make half-centuries on his T20, ODI and Test debuts and showed he belongs in all formats. That may turn out to work against him, especially when the balance of the team is considered for the next Test.Rassie van der Dussen and Anrich Nortje frustrated England•Getty ImagesAiden Markram is out of the series after fracturing his finger. All things being equal, the reserve opener Pieter Malan should come into the XI for the New Year’s Test. But this is South Africa and all things are not equal. Temba Bavuma, who has been netting this week, may have recovered from his injury by the time 2020 dawns and there will be pressure to get him back into the team. Not only is Bavuma the Test vice-captain but he would significantly increase representation in the side, especially after South Africa missed their transformation target at SuperSport Park.Injuries to Bavuma and Lungi Ngidi (who may only be fit by the third Test, if at all) means team playing in this match includes only one black African (Kagiso Rabada) and three players of colour (Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj and Philander), two short of the target of two black African players and four others of colour. Although that target is only applied on average over the course of a season, missing it early on is ill-advised.The complication is how to fit Bavuma in, after van der Dussen’s fine debut. Usually, the team policy is that the incumbent always slots straight back in (that was why Kyle Abbott and Marchant de Lange were left out after their maiden outings, both in place of an injured Philander) but this time the man in possession in under pressure. Bavuma has not scored a century in four years and averages 31.24, so handing him back his place will cause debate, if nothing else. The option to keep both van der Dussen and Bavuma can only be considered at the expense of an allrounder, most likely Dwaine Pretorius, but South Africa have seen the worth of a fourth seamer.So the only alternative is to move one of Bavuma or van der Dussen into Markram’s opening spot. Both of them have done the job before – Bavuma in a Test, van der Dussen extensively at first-class level – but being thrust into the position now would seem unfair on everyone. For van der Dussen or Bavuma, it would only be a makeshift solution, because Markram will be back and the reality is that they are battling it out for a middle-order spot. And to ignore Malan would send all the wrong messages about whether domestic performances are rewarded.But for now, that is not something South Africa need to concern themselves with. There are still nine wickets to be taken, a series lead to secure and bragging rights over Archer, one of the two players South Africa were targeting, to earn.

Luke Ronchi and Sikandar Raza were the only standouts for the Chittagong team that finished rock bottom on the points table, with only three wins in 12 games

Mohammad Isam07-Dec-2017Tournament reviewChittagong Vikings were the first team to be knocked out when they lost to Rajshahi Kings on November 29, seven days before the BPL’s league stage ended. They won only three matches, and in no stage did their squad’s combination look like a force.What has come out from their 12 matches is that their bowlers did not match up to their batsmen, and on the few days that they did bowl well, the batsmen failed. Luke Ronchi and Sikandar Raza were their best performers by a distance while Stiaan van Zyl was occasionally effective.Chittagong also suffered due to a lack of performances from most of the local players. Chief among them was Soumya Sarkar, who averaged 15.36 in 11 innings as a top-order batsman. Taskin Ahmed and Sunzamul Islam took 14 and 11 wickets respectively, though there were very times when they looked like match winners. Anamul Haque also struck two fifties but missed the back end through a hand injury. Fingers have also been pointed towards the capabilities of Chittagong’s team management. The owners too, perhaps, need to be better prepared for the next season.What didn’t workChittagong’s bowling attack. Taskin, Tanbir, Raza and Sunzamul bowled regularly but apart from Taskin, the others were not effective. Raza, an occasional offspinner, did better than his career average but looking at the team’s scatter-gun bowling, none of the other bowlers settled into their roles properly.What workedRonchi and Raza. They contributed regularly, with Ronchi applying pressure on the opposition bowlers in the Powerplay. He was their highest run-getter with 321 runs at an average of 29.18, scored two fifties in the process. His batting strike-rate finished at a shade under 170. Raza nearly made the season’s first hundred while also taking his career’s first four-wicket haul.Tips for 2018Chittagong have to focus their finances on building a stronger bowling attack, and if possible retain some of their in-form batsmen.