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Tim Paine, Australia’s Test captain, said it was now very clear what the team could and couldn’t do in the middle as they attempt to repair their reputation

Alex Malcolm29-Oct-2018Thirty-eight words. That is the full extent of Cricket Australia’s new Players’ Pact.”We recognise how lucky we are to play this great game. We respect the game and its traditions. We want to make all Australians proud. Compete with us. Smile with us. Fight on with us. Dream with us.”This was the only portion of the dual Ethics Reviews conducted into Australian cricket that was owned and presented wholly and solely by the players. It was the work of former Australia batsman Rick McCosker, Ethics Centre consultant Peter Collins, Australian coach Justin Langer, Test captain Tim Paine, stand-in women’s captain Rachael Haynes, Pat Cummins, George Bailey and Shane Watson.It was not the total sum of their contribution to the reviews, as a number of this panel’s findings are within the all-encompassing Longstaff Review.”This represents a commitment from Australian players to adhere to a set of overarching standards,” Paine said after presenting the pact. “This is a line in the sand for us as players and we’re very much looking forward to focussing on the future of the game, playing with pride and making Australians proud.”The pact pulls together common themes from team values and embeds them into a simple message.”Thirty-eight words. Paine went on to explain it’s now about actions not words for the Australia team.But herein lies the problem for Australia moving forward. The review specifically addressed on-field behaviour, particularly sledging.”Australian players have a reputation for aggressive sledging, and it appears that behaviour that would usually be described as bullying or harassment is used as an instrument of the game,” the review states.”Some current players think that it is an essential part of the kit they need to win. As one elite player replied when asked about the decision by New Zealand’s national team to stop sledging: ‘… and how are they (New Zealand) going …?'”New Zealand, it should be noted, are currently ranked ahead of Australia on the ICC’s Test and ODI rankings. The irony being that the crux of the review was to expose the cultural cost in Australian cricket of a belligerent pursuit to be ranked No.1 in all formats.The challenge for Australia’s players is not the reality of what’s ahead but rather the perception of their actions. Any hint of impropriety will be pounced upon from a global audience intent on seeing significant and perceptible change in Australia’s behaviour. Indeed, some innocent byplay between Nathan Lyon and Sarfraz Ahmed in the Abu Dhabi Test match recently led to probing questions in the aftermath.The review addressed this specific dichotomy.”Senior players and coaching staff frequently complain of ‘double standards’ – that Australians are held to account for behaviour that other teams are allowed to engage in with relative impunity

You feel uncomfortable with what’s said of how we behaved and when you actually see it, it can be a little bit confronting sometimesJosh Hazlewood on looking back at the Ashes and South Africa tour

“There is a sense that cricket as a whole should be held to account according to the same standards and that the ICC should be responsible for ensuring a level playing field – not just in terms of formal rules but also ethical standards.”Yet, when challenged about this, we have not found anyone willing to defend the claim that Australian cricket should be no better than the standard set by its competitors – or even the international order. For all of its blemishes – sometimes spectacularly awful – the general sense is that Australia should aim higher – living according to its own code of honour.”Paine said the players are unequivocal in their understanding of what they can and can’t do and that the team would police itself.”You’re never going to have a game of cricket played where the opposition aren’t going to speak to each other and I think that’s always been part of the game and that always will be,” he said.”But as we touched on before we know now. We know what’s right and we know what’s wrong. We know what Australian cricket expects of us and we’ll be holding each other accountable. If it does happen or it does start to get out of control it won’t just be me it will be a number of guys [who police it]. We know where we sit on that and how far we go and where we don’t go.”It was a noble response to a disillusioned public. But Australian cricketers know all too well their fans can be fickle, as one respondent noted in the review: “Fans love the fact we’re winning. Some may complain about the way we’re winning, but nowhere near as many who complain when we’re not winning.”It was a perceptive observation from someone who, as the review states, lives in a ‘gilded bubble’. Sledging by Australian cricketers is nothing new and anyone suggesting that past greats did not sledge and abuse opponents has a short memory. Yet only now has it become such a problem that it has in-part triggered two cultural reviews and led to a complete overhaul as to how Australians play their cricket.It is hard for natural instincts not to take over. Josh Hazlewood, a mild-mannered man by nature, spoke of how uncomfortable he feels about the aggressive persona he and his team-mates took on in both the Ashes and South Africa that led to these reviews.”I think looking back now, you feel a bit uncomfortable with how we behaved on certain occasions and in certain moments in big series,” he said. “You probably don’t notice it at the time as much. You’re sort of just going from week to week, game to game and things can build up quite quickly. But looking back I think, I haven’t watched a lot of footage from South Africa or even during the Ashes, you feel uncomfortable with what’s said of how we behaved and when you actually see it, it can be a little bit confronting sometimes.”Paine admitted the Australians have been caught up in the heat of the battle at times and his team now needs to play the game on “skill more than on emotion.”He observed that actions speak louder than words and yet it is impossible to play the game without words.How Australia wins over the public from here is a riddle in itself.

India’s marks out of ten after they beat West Indies 2-0 on their Caribbean tour

Karthik Krishnaswamy23-Aug-2016

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R Ashwin (17 wickets at 23.17, 235 runs at 58.75)Only three players had scored two hundreds and taken two five-wicket hauls in the same series before Ashwin, and the last time it happened was in a series that everyone now calls Botham’s Ashes. Ashwin’s West Indies-India Test series doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, but there is no doubting his impact. His bowling, particularly when there was a breeze to aid his drift, was a pleasure to watch, and he showed he is perhaps the best in the world at beating batsmen in the air. He worked hard on his batting in the off-season and he was willing to grind it out for long periods, facing more balls than any other Indian batsman in the series, but it’s still too early to say if he can bat at No. 6 against better bowling sides. His limited footwork got him into a few tangles with swing and seam, but that’s not to say he cannot improve that aspect too.

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Mohammed Shami (11 wickets at 25.81)Returning to Test cricket after a year-and-a-half’s gap, Shami showed he wasn’t just back to full fitness but also back to his best rhythm. He was India’s best fast bowler in the first two Tests, bowling with pace, making the batsmen play, and troubling them not just with swing and seam but new-found extra bounce as well. By the end of the series, he had bowled more overs than any of his fast-bowling colleagues, suggesting he had become Virat Kohli’s go-to quick.Wriddhiman Saha (205 runs at 51.25, 9 catches, 2 stumpings)A joy to watch behind the stumps, Saha came into the series with his batting ability under a bit of scrutiny, particularly with India looking to play five bowlers whenever possible. He did the job he was expected to when he scored 40 and 47 in the first two Tests, but the score when he walked in at St Lucia, 126 for 5, demanded more. A maiden Test hundred followed, and during the innings he showed on two separate occasions – late on day one and in the first session of day two – that he could switch instantly from single-minded defence to flurries of boundary-hitting, even on one of the slowest outfields in the world.Ajinkya Rahane (243 runs at 121.50)Rahane faced 522 balls in the series, and was only dismissed twice. With India dominant through most of the series, he ended up becoming something of a declaration specialist. His hundred at Sabina Park set India up perfectly, leaving them 304 runs ahead with just under half the Test match remaining. That they didn’t go on and win had little to do with Rahane’s batting and everything to do with the weather, the pitch, stubborn West Indies batting, and a bowling attack that wasn’t at its best on the final day. The second-innings 78* in St Lucia, full of hard, cheeky running, hurried India to another declaration, and this time, with far less time remaining, they managed to pull off a dramatic win.

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Bhuvneshwar Kumar (6 wickets at 9.83)Bhuvneshwar did not play the first two Tests, but delivered exactly what his team wanted from him – accuracy, new-ball swing in both directions, and the smarts to know how to bowl to which batsman – when called upon in St Lucia, and did all this in his first Test since January 2015. He was unlucky not to win the Player-of-the-Match award for his 5 for 33 in St Lucia, which broke West Indies’ batting apart and gave India both the lead and the time they needed to force a win with a day lost to rain, and is perhaps unlucky not to get an extra point in our ratings as well.Virat Kohli (251 runs at 62.75)Arriving at the crease with India moving along at under three an over on the first day of the series, Kohli set the tone with a career-best 200 at a strike rate of over 70. It was the innings of a man in stupendous form, but the remainder of the series only brought him 51 runs in three innings, including scores of 3 and 4 in St Lucia, where he batted at No. 3. It’s too early to say whether he will be as successful in that role as he has been at No. 4, and equally difficult to say how often he will try it. As captain, he was unpredictable with his selections, unafraid to make bold and sometimes unpopular calls, and never dull.KL Rahul (236 runs at 78.66)Rahul gave India a pounding selection headache when he replaced the injured M Vijay in Jamaica and promptly made a career-best 158. It was an innings that showed he had the strokes to punish wayward bowling and get off to a brisk start, as he did on the first evening; that he had the ability to shelve those strokes against disciplined bowling, as he did on the second morning; and that he had the appetite to keep going even after a troublesome bout of cramps. He followed that with a half-century in St Lucia, but it was an innings that showed he can still be a fidgety starter, prone to wafting at balls in the channel. He still has work to do on his catching as well, and put down a couple of chances at third slip in St Lucia.Bhuvneshwar Kumar broke West Indies’ batting in St Lucia, his first Test since January 2015•AFP

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Ishant Sharma (8 wickets at 32.12)A typically Ishant-esque series. At times, he attacked the stumps, used the short ball well, and looked like the most dangerous bowler in India’s attack. At other times, he struggled to make batsmen play, his line too wide of off stump to test them. There were some wayward spells too, such as the one he bowled post-lunch on the first day in Kingston, where Marlon Samuels took full toll of his long-hops. In the end, he finished with a typically Ishant-esque average – 32.12 – and strike rate – 63.0 – against an average batting side. With the likelihood that India may only play two seamers – and possibly only one – at most times during the long home season ahead, he may have to do better than that to keep his place.Ravindra Jadeja (3 wickets at 15.66)Like Bhuvneshwar, Jadeja might have finished with a better rating had he played more Tests. He did everything expected of him when he replaced Amit Mishra in St Lucia, getting through his overs in a blink and giving away less than two runs an over. But two of his wickets – Roston Chase in the first innings and Jermaine Blackwood in the second – came about in an unfamiliar manner, with the batsmen reaching out to drive slow, loopy balls outside off stump, suggesting he may have learned new tricks as well.

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Shikhar Dhawan (138 runs at 34.50)Started the series brightly, showing plenty of self-control outside off stump while scoring 84 in Antigua, but did little of note in the next two Tests, and was left out in Port of Spain. It looks like he will remain on the bench when India begin their long home season, but as a left-handed opener capable of scoring quickly, he will remain in the team management’s thoughts.Cheteshwar Pujara (62 runs at 31.00)Only batted twice, weathered testing spells in both innings, and got out to soft dismissals after doing all the hard work. India tend not to lose top-order wickets in clusters when Pujara is part of their line-up, and that solidity cannot be underestimated, but he will remain an in-and-out member of the squad unless he makes bigger scores more consistently than he has done in the last two years.Umesh Yadav (5 wickets at 29.80)Five wickets in Antigua, where he swung the ball both ways and looked menacing in short, sharp bursts. None in Jamaica, where his bowling was wayward in both innings, particularly with the second new ball on the final day, which was India’s last chance to get through West Indies’ lower order and force a win. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s accuracy suddenly looked more enticing than Umesh’s pace, and he lost his place in St Lucia. Given the competition for fast-bowling slots and the potential narrowing of the available slots in home conditions, Umesh will need to do more to remain a first-team regular.

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Amit Mishra (6 wickets at 38.66)Sometimes, Mishra’s figures don’t reflect how well he has bowled, and there were times during the first Test and in the first innings of the second – when he bowled a classical spell of drift and turn – when this was the case. But on the final day in Kingston, he actually bowled poorly, sending down a regular allotment of full-tosses and half-volleys, and contributed to India’s worst bowling day of the tour. Having begun the series with his captain’s backing to do a more attacking job than Ravindra Jadeja in less spin-friendly conditions, he ended up losing a place in the pecking order.Rohit Sharma (50 runs at 25.00)There is some truth to Kohli’s assertion that Rohit hasn’t got a long-enough run in the Test side to establish himself properly, but there is also truth to the idea that he hasn’t done enough with the chances he’s got. His selection in St Lucia came out of the blue, and caused all manner of reshuffling in India’s line-up. He has only had two chances to bat since then, so it’s a little too early to say whether or not the move has worked.M Vijay (7 runs at 7.00)Batted once, got out to a snorter, hurt his finger in the process, and did not get to bat again. A strange sort of series for India’s best opener over the last three years. Having been left out in St Lucia despite regaining full fitness, Vijay came back in Port of Spain, at Dhawan’s expense. India look likely to start their home season with a Vijay-Rahul combination at the top of the order.

A collection of quotes over the years on Michael Clarke, the batsman and the leader

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Aug-2015″Looking at his legacy to this team, it’s aggressive, entertaining cricket, and that’s a great thing to have said about you. That’s what the game’s about at the end of the day, to have people a) enjoy playing and b) enjoy watching” – Mark Taylor•Getty Images”I have much to thank Michael for. His first Test as captain was my first as a player after I’d been selected with limited first-class experience, and he was great to me. Before the Test he told me, ‘no matter what happens I’ve got your back'” – Nathan Lyon•Getty Images”Someone in the crowd said `he’s the new Doug Walters’ and he’s probably not far away from that” – Steve Waugh’s prescient take on Clarke after batting alongside him and watching him score a century in a Pura Cup match against Queensland in March, 2003•Getty Images”To Michael, from the England team, you were a fantastic player, fantastic leader. You should be remembered as a great captain” – Alastair Cook•PA Photos”The standards in the Australian team when Ricky Ponting was captain were as high as I can ever imagine. Michael, he has been able to raise the standards again. Raise the fitness, the skinfolds, the standards of play” – Michael Hussey•Getty Images”He’s the best player of spin I bowled at and a bloody good bloke to boot” – Graeme Swann•Getty Images”Been hit in the ear, jaw, head, fingers. So it would have been easy to play a shot to try to stop that, but he hung in. It looks like he said ‘you know what? Over my dead body, you have to keep hitting me if you want until I can’t stand up'” – Shane Warne on Clarke’s courageous resistance during the Cape Town Test in March 2014•Getty Images”He had to rebuild the Australian team from scratch and to do so in such a short time speaks volumes for his ability as leader” – Sachin Tendulkar•AFP”We were in Guyana many, many years ago and I got off at the airport and this guy asked if I could take him into the city. I asked him if he was a reporter. It was Michael Clarke. We became very, very good friends since then and it’s lovely to see the way that he has gone on” – Brian Lara•Getty Images”We saw during the tragic circumstances around Phil Hughes’ passing how strong a leader he is and the way that he carried himself. We were certainly in awe of how he was able to handle himself during that time” – Brendon McCullum•AFP”He has managed the pressure really well. Just the positioning [of the fields], the way he used the bowlers, he was fantastic” – Kevin Pietersen on Clarke’s captaincy in Australia’s 5-0 Ashes win in 2013-14•Getty Images”He was in tears at the presentation ceremony, but can look back on a decorated career. He has played the game with style and elegance and has been a fine player and captain for a long time” – Michael Atherton, after Australia’s loss in Nottingham cost them the 2015 Ashes•Getty Images”He has been an excellent captain. His legacy is going to be as a captain who played a very positive and aggressive brand of cricket. He never let the game drift. I enjoyed his captaincy tactically” – Allan Border•Getty Images”He may be a very modern guy, a metrosexual, but on the field he plays it tough and expects the best from himself and his team-mates” – Glenn McGrath on Australia’s Julio captain•Getty Images”He is unselfish and very loyal to his mates. That is the Clarke that I know, the real Clarke, not the one of recent rumours” – Damien Martyn, after Australia lose the 2015 Ashes•Getty Images

Plays of the Day from the IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians in Dubai

Abhishek Purohit19-Apr-2014The drops
Royal Challengers Bangalore couldn’t seem to catch anything at the start. Third ball of the game, Michael Hussey scooped a drive straight to Yuzvendra Chahal at backward point off Mitchell Starc, and the fielder put it down. Second ball of the second over, Aditya Tare drove weakly at an Albie Morkel outswinger. The outside edge went straight to slip this time, where Nic Maddinson failed to hold on.The triple tag
Fielders regularly speed after balls in pairs now, one of them slides, stops and lobs up the ball to the other to make the throw. Here, three Royal Challengers man were after a Tare mis-hit over cover. Chahal reached the ball, and relayed it to the man closest to him. The fielder slipped but help was at hand, as another relay found the palms of a third man, who threw the ball towards the wicketkeeper. There might have been a run-out after all this teamwork, had Parthiv Patel not removed the bails without collecting the ball.The strikes
Chahal continued to make up for dropping Hussey, on the field and with his legspin. He first had Rohit Sharma mishit a googly to long-off. The legspinner continued to toss the ball up, and the reward was the big wicket of Kieron Pollard, who slammed a full delivery for long-on to take a leaping catch.The delivery
This was vintage Zaheer Khan. He’d already dismissed Virat Kohli and welcomed Yuvraj Singh with an away-going lifter that he thought had been edged, but Tare could not gather the high take behind the stumps. Zaheer did it all by himself next ball. It was fast, just outside off, and nipped in after pitching to strike a surprised Yuvraj plumb in front.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the third day of the Hobart Test

Andrew Fernando16-Dec-2012The substitute


In a week in which England unveiled a batsman whose name was every sub-editor’s dream, Australia provided a pun-susceptible player of their own as a substitute fielder for Ben Hilfenhaus. Jordan Silk’s sleek running on the square fence saved Australia runs on several occasions, and though Matthew Wade’s hard hands had given Nuwan Kulasekara a reprieve on three, Silk’s fielding was cut from a different cloth when he settled under a skied sweep at deep square leg, and accepted the catch with luxuriant, soft palms. No word yet on whether he is in possession of a flowing cover drive, or if he is a batsman who often retreats into a cocoon.The shot


Australia have been the victims of ferocious Angelo Mathews pull shots in the past, but they conspired to fashion a downfall out of that strength when they put two catching men in front of square on the leg side and plied Mathews with short bowling. Not one to slink away from a challenge, Mathews regularly took the field on, but his best pull came off Shane Watson’s seventh over. Watson delivered a waist-high short ball outside off stump and Mathews stepped back and bludgeoned it hard, low and in front of square to the fence.The statement


Tillakaratne Dilshan did not take long to reveal Sri Lanka’s plans for Nathan Lyon when he stepped out of his crease to scorch the offspinner straight of mid-off, and three balls later, Mathews continued the aggression, hitting Lyon aerially down the ground this time. Michael Clarke was already hamstrung by an injury to Ben Hilfenhaus, and when Lyon disappeared to the fence again in his second over, Clarke had little choice but to bring himself into the attack. But he too was quickly pummeled out of it.The chance


Mathews and Dilshan had several close brushes in their running, but none so worrisome as the indecision that led to David Warner’s shy at the stumps in the 70th over. Dilshan hit the ball square towards Warner, who was at a deepish point, and though the pair had scampered several singles to that fielder throughout the day, this one was hit straight to him. Almost out of habit Dilshan called Mathews through, but just as his partner took off, Dilshan had a change of heart. Warner had already collected the ball when Mathews turned back, and though the batsman dived, he would have been at least a foot out of his crease had Warner’s throw hit the almost-three stumps visible to him.The covert edge


Dilshan was the recipient of some good fortune in the afternoon session, when he edged Peter Siddle to the keeper on 125, but the nick was missed by almost everybody. Siddle got one to leap up from a back of a length, and believed he had merely beaten the outside edge, even when Matthew Wade yelped out a half-hearted appeal. With no support from any of his teammates, umpire Tony Hill made little of Wade’s cry, but replays showed the wicketkeeper had been right to go up, as hotspot suggested a faint nick.

Cricinfo picks out the highlights of the first two rounds of the Ranji Trophy 2009-10

Sidharth Monga14-Nov-2009The action

The BCCI has become rather strict with suspect actions, empowering the on-field umpires to call bowlers – who are already on suspect actions’ list – for chucking. Live time. No warning. Just to simplify the procedure: the match referee and the umpires meet the captains before the start of the match, and just remind the captain if his team features one of the 32 bowlers with suspect actions. After that, no more warnings. It’s the naked eye versus the action. Right intention, wrong way, feel the coaches and the players. At least before the first match, the situation was not so clear, and the associations were caught unawares. And the same bowlers had bowled in the domestic Twenty20s. Baroda’s Salim Veragi was called twice, his team-mate Rajesh Pawar once, after he had bowled 20 overs on the first day. Baroda acted after the first match, pulling out the duo from their next match. “We need to get rid of suspect actions,” says Paras Mhambrey, Baroda’s coach, “But we need a bit more clarity in the process.”Cricket returns to the valley
Belatedly. And fleetingly. First the Services team, controlled by the defence ministry, refused to travel to Srinagar for their first-round match against Jammu & Kashmir. Apparently players themselves still don’t know the reasons. The BCCI acted swiftly, banning Services for the rest of the season, taking away all the monetary benefits that come with being a BCCI-affiliated association. Caught in the crossfire are Services players, who lose out on all their match fees and chances to make it to zonal sides. But cricket did return to Srinagar, in the next round when Haryana made the trip. The weather, though, allowed just 133.2 overs’ play, during which time Haryana did enough to take a first-innings lead and three points.The debut
Karnataka’s right-arm medium-pacer, Abhimanyu Mithun, took 11 wickets in his first first-class match, including a second-innings hat-trick, against Uttar Pradesh in Meerut. The last Karnataka bowler to take a hat-trick on debut was Javagal Srinath.And just for his name, Sachin Baby, from Kerela. He was born to Thodupuzha’s PC Baby on December 17, 1989 – a day before Sachin Tendulkar made his Test debut 20 years ago. What a visionary PC Baby was, to name his son after Tendulkar, whom he had barely seen play. Can the selectors please learn something?The triple
Haryana’s Sunny Singh bettered his previous best of 137 and went on and on against Madhya Pradesh in Indore, hitting 44 fours and seven sixes in a 333-ball 312. At a strike-rate of 93.69, it has to be one of the quickest Ranji innings of such magnitude. We don’t have exact details of some of the earlier ones, but Vijay Hazare’s 316 in 387 and BB Nimbalkar’s 443 not out in 494 minutes might just be quicker. Anyway, Sunny’s innings is the sixth triple-century of what seems to have become a deluge since 2006-07, when SS Das’ 300 not out against J&K broke a seven-year drought of triple-hundreds in the Ranji Trophy.Angry young men
What is it about Eden Gardens and flared tempers? After the third day of Baroda’s second-round match against Bengal, Irfan Pathan – as reported by – was so peeved with the curator that he “rushed menacingly towards him”. The elder Pathan (Yusuf) was around, and he prevented physical contact. Interestingly the curator and the bowler were not fighting over the grass or lack of it on the Eden surface, but Prabir Mukherjee objected to Irfan doing an interview with a television channel inside the ground.Elsewhere Dinesh Karthik earned himself a one-match ban for excessive appealing on the final day of Tamil Nadu’s second-round match in Ahmedabad. That too when the match was headed for a draw. Tamil Nadu will now lose out on three main batsmen in the third round, with M Vijay and S Badrinath will be away on national duty.The record, and the shadower
For about 15 seasons, he embodied Mumbai cricket, watching his mates go on and achieve greater goals at the international level, and not letting bitterness come in the way of his love for cricket and Mumbai cricket. But as he approached the record for the most Ranji runs, Amol Muzumdar was playing for Assam at the obscure North-East Frontier Railway Stadium in Guwahati. He crossed Amarjit Kaypee’s mark of 7623 runs, and later told : “How many players achieve things they wish for? I find myself as one of the unluckiest ones not to get the Indian cap, but it’s okay. At least now I can tell my daughter that her father is the highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy.”Pankaj Dharmani, another man who can consider himself unlucky for not winning a Test cap, is hot on Muzumdar’s trail. In his match against Hyderabad, the wicketkeeper became the seventh batsman to cross the 7000-run mark.Variable light, bad light
Ever heard of light varying in the same city? Last week, at the the Karnail Singh Stadium in the heart of New Delhi, bad light didn’t allow enough play for Railways and Himachal Pradesh to even resolve their game on the basis of first innings. At the Roshanara Club Ground in the same city, the Karnataka and Delhi match was blessed with good light for three days, and a close finish on the fourth was spoiled by, er, bad light. On the final day, when the match was curtailed, Karnataka needed another 23 runs in a stipulated 19 more overs.Quotehanger
“I am not just angry, I want to tear them into pieces.”
The president of the Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association, Farooq Abdullah vents his anger after Services’ pullout

For Malinga Bandara the two-month stint with Gloucestershire was the next-best thing to representing his country

Sa'adi Thawfeeq05-Oct-2005

Malinga Bandara in action in a match against Pakistan A: is he the answer to Sri Lanka’s search for a long-term partner for Murali © Getty Images
They say no player’s cricketing education is complete without a tour of England. If one cannot make it to the national team for a tour to England, the next best thing is to get a contract to one of the 18 English counties and play out a season, or perhaps even half a season.For Malinga Bandara, the 25-year-old right-arm legspinner, the two-month stint with Gloucestershire was the next-best thing to representing his country at the highest level. “The experience I went through and the things I learnt during that time is something that you cannot place a value on,” said Bandara, who returned to Sri Lanka on Saturday. He will be turning out for Ragama CC in the upcoming domestic cricket season.For the record, Bandara represented Gloucestershire in eight first-class matches and took 45 wickets at an average of 24.15 to top the county’s bowling averages for the season. For his excellent bowling efforts Bandara was first named Player of the Month for August – he took 30 first-class wickets in five matches during the month – and then Player of the Year for his outstanding contribution with the ball during the season.Despite his untiring efforts – he sent down 352.4 overs for 1087 runs and 45 wickets – Gloucestershire failed to make an impact and were relegated to division two for next season. The chief cause of the county’s failure in a season in which they had only one win and suffered ten losses in 16 matches was due to their batting, which was not consistent throughout the season despite having the services of West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan.What was most rewarding for Bandara during his spell with Gloucestershire was meeting Pakistan’s legendary legspinner Mushtaq Ahmed, who was playing for Sussex. “Mushaq taught me a few things which I tried out during the match and was successful in capturing eight wickets,” said Bandara. Bandara said that Mushtaq had taught him to try out as many variations as he could in one over so as to confuse the batsmen and get him caught in two minds. “Most bowlers are afraid to try out variations in a match because they are afraid of getting hit, Mushtaq said.”Mushtaq also told me what Shane Warne had taught him, how to confuse the batsman into a false sense of security by bowling over the wicket for a couple of overs and then changing the line by coming round the wicket but maintaining the same field. This way, he said, the batsman would get tied down and be forced to make an error.”Bandara bowls the legspinner and the googly and has added another delivery to his armoury – the slider, which is a faster delivery which doesn’t turn and often traps batsmen in front of the stumps.Bandara said he experienced a big difference between playing club cricket in Sri Lanka and county cricket in England. “No one thinks negatively at any stage of the match,” said Bandara. “Even if we lose badly or perform badly the coach would always encourage us to do well in the next match. This way no player is put under any kind of pressure. The players are always kept on top and the pressure is taken completely off him.”What I’ve learnt from Gloucestershire is professionalism. Every player has a role to play and it is his duty to go out and perform. If he is struggling for form he is expected to work himself out of the rut with help from the coach and players.”Bandara said that playing for Gloucestershire has opened up a whole new chapter in his budding cricket career. “Luck plays a big role in cricket. Without luck you cannot great the breaks. I was lucky to get a break and play for Gloucestershire.” Bandara replaced another legspinner from Sri Lanka, Upul Chandana, who had to return home for national duty.An agent referred Bandara to the county, but with only one Test appearance against his name he was a virtual unknown to Gloucestershire, who was trying to recruit him. Fortunately for Bandara, Alex Gidman and John Lewis, two members of the club, were touring Sri Lanka with the England A team. At the time when the county was in search of a replacement for Chandana, Bandara turned in a magnificent spell of legspin bowling, returning career-best figures of 8 for 49 runs and subjecting England A to defeat in the second unofficial Test at the NCC grounds.Bandara received high recommendations from Gidman and Lewis and he did not disappoint them and the county. He made a memorable start to his county career by bowling Gloucestershire to a 130-run win over Bangladesh A at Bristol with figures of 5 for 45 off 17.3 overs, and has not looked back since. His best performance was against Middlesex at Bristol where he took five wickets and scored 70 off 89 balls.Bandara said that the although the county was interested in signing him up for another season, they were keeping their options open as they reckoned Bandara might be on national duty when Sri Lanka tour England next summer. Bandara’s performances with the ball have not gone unnoticed by the Sri Lankan selectors, who have included him in a 20-member pool for the tour of India later this year.

The BCCI’s acting secretary was responding to comments by CoA chief Vinod Rai who has accused office bearers of obstructing change within the board

Interview by Sidharth Monga04-Aug-2018The Committee of Administrators (CoA) has failed at implementing the Lodha Committee reforms and, along the way, lost sight of its mandate. That is the withering assessment of BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary about the CoA’s 18 months in charge.The CoA was appointed by the Supreme Court and tasked with not only bringing in reforms in the BCCI but also to supervise day-to-day board activities. Instead, significant reforms are yet to be put in place, and the Court has reserved its final order on certain key reforms, which has led to expectations that the Lodha reforms might face significant alteration.Choudhary, speaking to ESPNcricinfo, was responding to comments by CoA chief Vinod Rai who has accused office bearers, such as Choudhary himself, of obstructing change and the members of exploiting “loopholes” in the court order.The view the CoA seems to hold is that the office bearers have been obstructionist instead of cooperative. Can you personally say you have cooperated to the best of your ability in the implementation of reforms?I had given an undertaking to the honourable Supreme Court that I was for reforms, and would cooperate in implementation. Have a look at the so-called status reports. The same status reports were all praise for me – the fourth in particular – that I was cooperating and trying my best. So on and so forth. Had that not been the fact, why did I, in the month of February, persuade these 13 states to accept the reforms? They stood persuaded barring two or three points, which liberty the honourable court itself had granted, which they mentioned. I forwarded the opinions and suggestions of these 13 states. Was I not cooperating with the reforms? My job was to cooperate, I had given that undertaking. But I am not there to cooperate with any individual. Any mistakes on that, I am sorry to say, I am not there for that.But the individual has contended that the states did not come forward with any suggestions for the draft constitution.This is untruth, because I am a signatory as secretary of the BCCI to the written statements of 13 full members of BCCI, including the pillar of Indian cricket, Mumbai, Ranji champions Vidarbha and Full Members from each and every zone.Mr Rai says the court has taken an unduly long time and that’s why the impasse. So the entire fault lies with the system which means either the Supreme Court or the office bearers or the BCCI? How can anyone talk about Supreme Court in such manner? He says the argument to take off the cooling-off period is untenable but on July 5, the honourable Supreme Court heard the matter, spoke on the subject and thereafter said we reserve our judgement. So the honorary Supreme Court is seized with the matter, is considering a view on the matter, taking a view on the matter. How is he stating his view? On a subject that Supreme Court is taking a view, he has no right to take a view.Vinod Rai, the former Comptroller and Auditor General of India, who is on the Supreme-Court appointed interim panel to oversee the BCCI•Associated PressMr Rai has also spoken about your daily allowances, USD 750 for foreign tours, which in his view is a vested interest and in effect takes away your honorary status.Are our allowances in accordance with rules as they are today in the BCCI? If they are, then so be it. If you are comparing to those of the players, you are conveniently forgetting the fact that the players for playing these matches – and I am not even remotely referring to sponsorships – are getting match fees apart from annual central contracts. This DA that Mr Rai is quoting and juxtaposing with that of the office bearers is unfair.Also this TA-DA is in accordance with the amount cleared by Mr Rai himself on June 22, 2018.But he is saying the amount is unreasonableFair enough. Make it reasonable, through due processes. I am all for that. But you must find out what DA I was drawing at the time of the fourth status report and what I am drawing now. It hasn’t changed. Why has this issue come up suddenly?You said you were there to co-operate with the reforms and not with an individual. It was going fine as you say until the fourth status report. What went wrong after that?I began to block appointments made through rank opaque processes. One of Priya Gupta (GM, marketing) and the other of Ajit Singh (head of ACSU). Nobody knew what the processes were, what the selection panel were, when the selections were done. We were just presented with a that A has been selected, B has been selected, and when some queries were raised, we were treated as if we were obstructionists. And even in overlooking our objections, they were not consistent: Ajit Singh’s appointment was authenticated by the CEO despite my refusal, but Priya Gupta has been left out in the cold. He should have been truthful to both. Mr Rai selected both Priya Gupta and Ajit Singh. Both were rejected by me. Both should have been appointed by the CEO. Only one was.The BCCI officials at the IPL opening ceremony•BCCIDid disagreements also extend to cricketing matters?Yes. Take day-night Test cricket, for example. The issue is absolutely clear. It had to be brought to the stakeholders. Who are the stakeholders? Players. Public. Visiting team. Broadcasters. Also those who work for cricket, those who select the team. Everyone had been consulted, and I had put it on record. I didn’t only speak to the head coach, I told him don’t take a decision in a hurry. You take two days, and then send me an email about your view on the subject, incorporating the players’ views. He said they were okay with it as long as we had only one session under lights. But now the plan stands cancelled because apparently the team doesn’t want it. Nobody else has shown me anything in black and white from the head coach. Remember the fact that apart from Bangladesh, India is the only country which has still not started playing day-night Test cricket. Indian cricket team as represented by the head coach was ready, the opposition was ready, the broadcaster was ready. Nobody has shown me an on-the-record refusal from the team because apparently none exists.You also didn’t sign the new player contracts.We knew nothing about them. To assign categories to different players is the job of the selectors. They did not meet. I should know because I am the convenor of the selection committee. Nor was I informed of the criteria of the contracts. That is why I didn’t sign the contracts. I said come what way I will not sign. It is only after the general body agreed to them in the June 20 meeting that I signed.They tried to intimidate me in the Priya Gupta case but I stood my ground. I said I will appear personally in the Supreme Court, and argue against it.There seems to be a general dislike for Mr Rai and the CoA because they have begun to rule on the day-to-day matters. Mr Rai’s counter always has been that their mandate was to supervise the functioning of the board until the reforms were implemented.Do you accept the fact that a district magistrate supervises affairs of the district? If the answer is yes, do tell me when the DM goes to a district, does he frame new laws or work under the laws that exist? He doesn’t have the mandate from the Supreme Court to change rules except for these reforms.The CoA’s opinion of the office bearers is known now. How do you rate the way the CoA has gone about implementing the reforms, and also have they stuck to their mandate?They have lost sight of the mandate. Sorry, they had lost sight of the mandate. Now the time is over. That is why they failed. For the simple reason that if they had focused on the mandate, they would have at least travelled the distance that I could travel with the members wherein I persuaded 13 Full Members to accept the reforms only exercising slight discretion with regards to the July 24 2017 order where some liberty had been granted by the honourable Supreme Court. They have not been able to persuade one single member of the BCCI.

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2016Imrul Kayes continued his fine recent form with 46 from 58 balls•Associated Press… adding 80 for the first wicket with Tamim Iqbal, who made 45•Getty ImagesBen Stokes broke the opening stand when Imrul holed out to square leg•Associated PressAdil Rashid claimed the big wicket of Tamim, who misread the googly•Getty Images… and slapped a catch to James Vince at cover•Getty ImagesMahmudullah was Rashid’s second victim, caught at short cover by Jonny Bairstow•AFP… before Sabbir Rahman edged a fizzing legbreak to depart for 49•Getty ImagesMushfiqur Rahim anchored Bangladesh’s lower-order with a well-constructed fifty•AFPEngland’s target was 278 for a 2-1 series win•Getty ImagesNasir Hossain ended a solid opening stand with the wicket of James Vince for 32•Getty ImagesTempers briefly frayed when Sam Billings and Mashrafe Mortaza collided going for a single•Getty ImagesBillings used the sweep to good effect to record a career-best 62•Getty ImagesHis second ODI fifty put England in command•AFPBen Duckett made his second half-century of the series to keep the chase on track•Getty ImagesShafiul Islam struck twice to give England pause for thought•Getty ImagesBut Ben Stokes continued his recent form with an unbeaten 47•AFPJos Buttler gave Bangladesh another glimmer when he dragged on for 25•AFPBut Stokes turned up the tempo to put the match beyond doubt•Getty ImagesGetty ImagesEngland’s cricketers pose with the series trophy after their 2-1 win•Getty Images

Also: players dismissed on the same score in both innings, oldest T20 players, and longest unbroken bowling spells

Steven Lynch05-May-2015Graham Gooch was lbw b Holding for 51 in both innings of a Test in 1986. Is this the highest score by anyone out the same way in both innings? asked Shriram Moharil from India

Graham Gooch’s double of 51 in each innings in Antigua in 1985-86 is one of 19 instances of a batsman making an identical score of 50-plus twice in the same Test. It’s unusual for the dismissals to be identical too – but the record in this regard (and the only higher double) is Frank Worrell’s twin 65s in the famous tied Test in Brisbane in 1960-61: Worrell was caught by Wally Grout off the bowling of Alan Davidson in both innings at the Gabba. The highest repeat score in any Test is Duleep Mendis’ brace of 105s for Sri Lanka against India in Madras (now Chennai) in 1982-83. He was out in different ways, though. There have been 37 instances in Tests of a batsman being out the same way twice for a pair: perhaps the unluckiest was the West Indian fast bowler John Trim, who was run out for 0 in both innings against Australia in Melbourne in 1951-52.Sussex’s Oliver Robinson scored a century on debut from No. 9. How many people have done this? asked George Murray from England

The Sussex fast bowler (or maybe allrounder) Oliver Robinson hit 110 on his first-class debut against Durham in Chester-le-Street last week. He’s only the seventh player to score a debut century from No. 9 in the order, the first since Ryan McCone hit 102 – still his only first-class hundred, after 39 more matches – for Canterbury against Otago in Christchurch in 2008-09. The highest debut score from No. 9 remains James O’Halloran’s 128 not out for Victoria against South Australia in Melbourne in 1896-97. Robinson, who’s 21 and the stepson of England’s assistant coach Paul Farbrace, shared a tenth-wicket stand of 164 with Matthew Hobden, breaking the 107-year-old Sussex record of 156, set by George Cox senior and Harry Butt against Cambridge University at Fenner’s in 1908.Is Brad Hogg the oldest man to play in a Twenty20 international? asked Lindsay Curtis from Australia

The Australian left-arm unorthodox spinner Brad Hogg does sit on top of this particular list – he was 43 years 45 days old when he played his most recent T20 international, against Pakistan during the World T20 in Mirpur in March 2014. Second at the moment is the UAE’s Khurram Khan, who was 42 years 273 days old when he played his most recent T20 international, also in that World T20, against Zimbabwe in Sylhet: if Khurram, who featured in the recent 50-over World Cup, were to play another one now then he would break Hogg’s record. In all, seven 40-year-olds have played official T20 internationals: the only one apart from Hogg from a Test-playing country is Sanath Jayasuriya, who was just short of his 42nd birthday when he played his last one for Sri Lanka, against England in Bristol in 2011.What is the longest spell in a Test in which the bowling was not changed at all? asked Michael Durbridge from England

I’m not sure whether this can be verified, because we don’t have full details for an awful lot of Tests. My suspicion is that it probably happened during West Indies’ tour of England in 1950, when Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine got through some marathon spells – they took 59 wickets between them in the four Tests, while the other bowlers managed only 18. In England’s long second innings in the second Test at Lord’s, Valentine bowled 71 overs and Ramadhin 72, the others only 48.3; and in the second innings at Trent Bridge, Ramadhin sent down 81.2 overs and Valentine 92 (a record at the time, broken a few years later by Ramadhin). A contender from a different series might be the fifth Test in Port Elizabeth in 1948-49, when South Africa’s spinners Athol Rowan and Tufty Mann did a lot of work against England: they both got through more than 40 eight-ball overs on the third day, although not entirely consecutively. The longest unbroken spell by one bowler is 59 overs (354 balls), by Narendra Hirwani for India against England at The Oval in 1990. If you mean the longest innings in which there were no bowling changes at all, that was in one of the earliest Test matches: in Sydney in 1881-82 the Australian opening pair of Joey Palmer and Edwin Evans bowled unchanged for 115 four-ball overs (460 deliveries in all) as England were dismissed for 133. In the second Ashes Test in Melbourne in 1901-02, there were no bowling changes at all until well into the third innings of the match.Bob Simpson converted his maiden Test century to 311 at Old Trafford in 1964•Getty ImagesIt’s been reported that England may award six new caps in next week’s one-day international against Ireland. Have they ever blooded so many players at once before? asked Daniel Harrison from England

Apart from the inaugural one-day international against Australia in Melbourne in 1970-71, when obviously all the players made their ODI debuts, the England record is six new players, which happened against West Indies at Headingley in 1973. The new boys were Mike Denness, Mike Hendrick, Chris Old, Mike Smith (Middlesex), Bob Taylor and Bob Willis. That was West Indies’ first one-day international, so they also had 11 debutants – including Garry Sobers, who never played another one. England had five first-timers (Robert Croft, Dean Headley, Nick Knight, Graham Lloyd and Alan Mullally) in the first one-day international against Pakistan at Old Trafford in 1996, and Adam Hollioake made his debut two days later, at Edgbaston.What’s the highest score to which someone has extended their maiden Test century? asked Aniket Singh from India

Two men have turned their maiden Test hundred into a triple-century: Garry Sobers famously made 365 not out for West Indies against Pakistan in Kingston in 1957-58, and not long afterwards Australia’s Bob Simpson – having taken a long time to reach three figures in Tests – made up for lost time in his 30th match by going on to amass 311 against England at Old Trafford in 1964. In third place is Reginald “Tip” Foster of England, whose 287 against Australia at Sydney in 1903-04 came on his debut – and remained his only Test century too. For the full list, click here.