India settle most key issues ahead of World Cup

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan01-Feb-2007

“When people score runs, it solves a lot of problems.” Rahul Dravid’s
forthright assertion at the end of the opening game against West Indies at Nagpur summed up India’s series, one which they began with several questions and ended with
most answered. The margin of victory (3-1) conveys their dominance and it
was mainly the shocking middle-order collapse at Chennai that prevented a
clean sweep.India returned from South Africa a destroyed one-day side and the home series offered a chance to get things back on track by finding answers to the various questions the team composition posed. We look at the crucial issues:The openers: The opening combination was kaput – Sachin Tendulkar out of sorts, Virender Sehwag struggling and Wasim Jaffer not being able to make the cut – and that was having a knock-on effect on the middle order. All it required was some tweaking and fine-tuning and India were away. Sehwag was dropped, Tendulkar pushed down the order. Sourav Ganguly returned in fine style and the tyros who opened with him – Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir – seized one chance apiece.Gambhir’s series was illustrative of his career – confidence at Nagpur, misjudgement, maybe even misfortune, at Cuttack, and sloppiness at Chennai. He could have eyed the reserve-opener slot for the World Cup but Sehwag’s imminent return makes it an extremely long shot because Uthappa might just have upstaged him for that berth. His 41-ball 70 will be hard to match for its sheer impact, with crisply struck swats clattering
into the boundary hoardings. The jury is still out on his technique
-sophisticated slogger or adept thumper? – but this isn’t the time for
such philosophical questions.Uthappa has amassed 854 runs in seven games in a bowler-dominated Ranji Trophy
– significantly, three of his hundreds were on the first morning of games – and done
enough, one might say, in the ODIs to deserve a spot. He needs to cash in on the starts he’s got – in Chennai he gave it away when in the zone, in Vadodara he tried a cute glide to one that lifted from a good length – but he’s an explosive talent and must be persisted with.The middle order: India still don’t know how well equipped they are in run-chases. Brian Lara chose to field on three occasions and Dravid decided to bat at
Cuttack, the only venue where he won the toss. But Tendulkar shepherding
in the middle order provides an element of calm. His hundred at Vadodara
was a fine mix of strike-rotation and acceleration, giving India exactly
what they missed over the last few months – consolidation followed by the
final kick.Word is that Virender Sehwag, likely to return for the Sri Lanka series,
will bat in the middle order and, along with the impressive Dinesh
Karthik and destructive Mahendra Singh Dhoni, provide the much-needed
firepower at the death.If Sehwag is indeed tried out in the middle order then he may have to compete with Dinesh Karthik for a place. Sehwag provides the offspin option but Karthik’s agility, in a side that’s loaded with weak fielders, will be impossible to ignore. And where does this leave Suresh Raina, who squandered his only chance at Chennai? India’s ideal 12th man but whether fielding alone is enough for a spot remains to be seen.The allrounder: This is one slot that doesn’t seem to have any takers – Joginder Sharma muffed his chance at Cuttack, reckless with the bat and listless with the
ball. Ramesh Powar, till recently a handy domestic allrounder, seized his
chance with the ball, in his only opportunity at Cuttack, but his batting
seems to have fallen away (and he doesn’t have fielding to fall back on). He would anyway struggle to make the World Cup squad, with India almost set on picking two specialist spinners and the part-timers being slow bowlers as well. Irfan Pathan, lackluster in his only appearance at Vadodara, looks the ideal one to step into the No.7
void, he regains some sort of bowling rhythm.Unanswered questions: What does one expect against Sri Lanka? The main question over the bowling is the choice between the erratic Sreesanth and the fragile Munaf Patel, with only one of them likely to be picked for the West Indies, and there’s still a doubt over Pathan’s rhythm. Yuvraj Singh hasn’t done much with the bat since his return from injury and India will hope that the few remaining wrinkles are ironed over during
the last lap of their World Cup preparations.

After another weekend of lurid tabloid revelations, Shane Warne was back doing what he does best today – spinning a cricket ball, inspiring a group of kids, and talking up Australia’s Ashes prospects

Andrew Miller08-May-2006

Shane Warne has launched a new spin-bowling initiative © Getty Images
After another weekend of lurid tabloid revelations, Shane Warne was back doing what he does best today – spinning a cricket ball, inspiring a group of kids, and talking up Australia’s Ashes prospects. Speaking at the launch of a new spin-bowling initiative in Bethnal Green in East London, Warne stressed that the Aussies were ideally placed to regain the urn, and warned England not to muddle their priorities in their bid for further glory this winter.”You guys in particular are pretty obsessed with the Ashes,” he told reporters. “You’ve got this summer to get through first, so I wouldn’t get too far ahead of yourselves. The Ashes are at the back of everyone’s minds, but Australia are in a very good position. Beating South Africa 3-0 away was an excellent achievement, we’ve got blokes who’ve found form with bat and ball, and we couldn’t have done anything more since losing the Ashes.”Warne gave particularly short shrift to comments made by his former captain, Steve Waugh, who told The Daily Mail on Monday that Australia had been too friendly with the England players last summer, and as a consequence, lost their aura of invincibility. “I don’t think that had anything to do with it,” Warne retorted sharply. “If we’d batted better we might have been okay. The way we play is our style of play, and it’s been pretty successful except for one series. I wouldn’t get carried away about what Steve Waugh’s got to say, it’s easy to sit back when you’re not playing now and say you should be doing this and you should be doing that.”We missed out on one series and were beaten by a better side,” Warne added. “England outplayed us, and all credit to them, as we’ve said four million times! Hopefully they’ll be saying the same about us at the end of next summer.”Not only did Warne refuse to apologise for Australia’s attitude to the 2005 Ashes, he added that the spirit between the sides had been one of the single most important factors in raising the profile of the game to new heights – a fact not lost on the 25 or so pupils sat on the floor in front of him, who were about to be given a masterclass in the mysterious art of legspin.”We need to make sure that kids stay involved in the game of cricket,” Warne explained, “and that’s the duty of all the captains in international cricket, and of all the players who are playing in a positive manner. We’ve not seen many draws in Test cricket lately, while in the Ashes last summer, one of the things that really captured the imagination was the spirit in which it was played, those images of shaking hands and clapping guys off who made hundreds and took five wickets. That’s what really put cricket on the map again.”Warne’s current mission is to keep the game on the map – even if that means helping out his arch-rivals, England. In signing a new five-year deal with Mitre, he has given a further indication of his longevity and stressed he would “never say never” when it came to another tour of England in 2009, when he would be coming up for 40 years old.In the long term, however, Warne is beginning to think about his legacy, and to that end, his involvement with Capital Kids Cricket, a London-based charity that is supported by the Lord’s Taverners, could provide the role-model that English spinners so desperately need in order to come through the system.”I like to think there are young cricketers out there who want to be like me,” he said modestly. “It’s my duty to keep that spin-bowling brotherhood going all around the world, and if [this initiative] produces a wristie who plays for England, we’ll all have done our jobs well, and I’ll be pretty proud.”Warne cited various factors why spinners tend not to thrive in England. The weather was the most obvious reason, but so too was a tendency towards unsympathetic and negative leadership. “Too many captains in county cricket prefer to revert back to medium pacers with one slip and a ring of fielders, and defend,” he explained. “They might take 0 for 25 in ten overs, but I’d sooner see 1 for 50 in a spell that changes the course of a game.”As a young kid it can be very frustrating, embarrassing even, if you drop one halfway down the wicket, and it’s hit for six out of the ground and your mates take the mickey. Sometimes you’ve got to be pretty strong, because spinners need a lot of love, especially from their captains.”There are two things you like to see as a player and a spectator,” Warne continued. “One is a fast bowler running in and trying to knock people’s heads off, with Flintoff taking them on on the hook. And the other is a spinner bowling with Pietersen trying to slog them for six. I’ve been hit for more sixes than anyone in international cricket. You always get a ball back, and another chance to get them out the next time.”Of his untimely appearance in the weekend papers, Warne remained understandably tight-lipped. “Private life should be private life,” he stressed. “I’m here for cricket, and to talk about all the good things in the game.” And to watch him in the nets afterwards, demonstrating the full nuances of his art to his young audience, with his wrist appearing to rotate through 180 degrees as he mixed vast legbreaks with flippers, topspinners and googlies, was to be reminded of the real reason of why he is still the brightest star in the game.”Everyone needs heroes,” Warne emphasised. With due respect to Ashley Giles, English spinners have struggled without an idol for years. Now, however, the best in the business is offering his services to England. If anyone is going to capture the imagination of the 25 on show in Bethnal Green, or the 100 young spinners who are set to attend an exclusive coaching day in September, no-one will capture it better than Warne.

In the first part of our investigation into cricket inside Zimbabwe, a look at what’s happening in the schools

Steven Price03-Feb-2008

Finding out what is happening in any walk of life inside Zimbabwe is getting harder by the day, and cricket is no exception. Foreign journalists are rarely permitted to enter the country, and few local reporters are still working – those that remain write for outlets vigorously policed by the state.The only exposure cricket gets is when the national side plays. Outside that, the government-controlled Herald newspaper covers some local matches, but more often than not its reports are provided by Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC).In the aftermath of the World Cup, it was well publicised that Zimbabwe received approximately US$ 11 million from the ICC, and questions were inevitably raised as to how that sum was being spent, given the relatively few matches played by the team – they remain in self-imposed suspension from Test cricket – and the small number of players inside the country.The board, and Peter Chingoka, its chairman, countered the queries with bullish rhetoric about the state of school and club cricket and the investment being made in those areas. But for all the confident talk there remained rumours all was not well, and so I decided to find out for myself.I started at the bottom, schools cricket. Historically, private schools have provided the core of Zimbabwe’s provincial and national players – Chingoka himself was educated at the prestigious St George’s College – and given the money they have been able to spend on basics such as grounds and equipment, that was not surprising.The story in many of the schools was surprisingly good. “All the traditional junior and high schools are still playing cricket and the structures still seem to be there,” one administrator told me. “All the age groups are still running.” There was also good news among the government schools in high-density areas, where some were lucky enough to have ZC-funded coaches and many were still playing competitive cricket.But there were claims that the distribution was not necessarily even. “Many school grounds are not being used due to the high cost of maintaining the facilities,” one local player/coach admitted. “Only a few selected schools who are prepared to toe the line get funding from ZC for tractors and mowers to cut the outfields.”The increasing lack of good coaches is a growing problem, and one that is affecting even the private schools. “The current teachers require a second income to survive and can’t afford the time to coach in the afternoons,” said one former Test cricketer who helps out when he can. “It’s been a pleasure coaching a young side that is so keen, but without an experienced coach who has played the game at some level, how is any sport going to grow in this country?”The other big difference between government and private schools is equipment, which has always been scarce but now, as the economic crisis worsens, has become almost impossible to get hold of without foreign currency. Kit is shared between players – sides often have only one or two bats between them – and there are also growing issues with maintaining anything approaching reasonable surfaces for them to play on.

To its credit, ZC has a scholarship programme that enables talented players at junior schools to be sent to traditional cricket-playing private schools, such as Prince Edward School, Churchill Boys High School, and Milton High School. Exact numbers are hard to obtain but one master reckoned that at any one time there were around 25 boys on the scheme. Several of the current national side – for example, Tatenda Taibu, Hamilton Masakadza, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Chamu Chibhabha, Elton Chigumbura and Vusi Sibanda – have benefited from this programme.The downside is that the Zimbabwe Academy, which Chingoka recently claimed was operational and which takes in “youngsters between the ages of 17 and 23″, does not appear to have had an intake for at least two years. The buildings were burned down in late 2006, though the practice facilities remain.Outside Harare the picture is gloomier, and the lack of players means that many schoolboys are fast-tracked into senior sides, purely to keep the clubs functioning. In Manicaland it is estimated that as many as three quarters of those playing for clubs are still at school.”There’s just a little bit going on as there are only two schools that had a cricket culture on the school curriculum,” a local player said. Although he said there were attempts to spread the game, it was failing through a lack of investment. “Equipment for those taking up the game should be made available free, which isn’t happening,” he said. “The parents desire to have their children involved in the game, but then with the spiralling cost of basics such as food, transport, and school fees, cricket isn’t one of the priorities.”

In Matabeleland, the private schools, such as Falcon College outside Bulawayo, still function. “The standard of play at school level is good … it’s really competitive,” one local said. “I know at High School they play two-day cricket, which is good in preparing the boys for the longer version of the game.” But outside the elite institutions things are not as rosy, and the coaching is a problem. “The board has got coaches at some of the schools in Bulawayo … but not all of them because many of them have left for South Africa. The private schools do have their own full-time coaches who are qualified enough.”What is of concern, and an observation that kept cropping up, is the perception that standards have fallen markedly in the last five years, a natural knock-on of deteriorating facilities, and as one headmaster told me, of the fact that for an increasing number of Zimbabweans survival is the priority and not sport. And only this week the United Nations reported that an increasing number of teachers are deserting their schools as they have not been paid.”Once they leave school they are on their own to fend for themselves. After school one has to get a job immediately to cope with inflation,” a coach said. “Half of them end up working and can’t afford the time to play cricket.”The falling standards in the schools and the drop in the numbers of those who continue to play the game is having an impact. One source close to the Under-19 side stated that man for man, the current side is weaker than the one that did so well at the 2006 U-19 World Cup, and that is also reflected across the age groups. Given that many of the current full side have come from the U-19s in the last two or three years, that more than anything should concern the administrators.Clearly, there is little ZC can do about the general malaise, but it does seem to be offering support where it can. There is a suspicion that Harare is much better catered for than some of the other centres; ZC would counter that the bulk of cricket is played there. It’s a chicken-and-egg situation.What is heartening is that despite all the hardships, cricket in schools is surviving, and that offers some hope for the future. The worry is that maintaining the structures gets harder with every passing day.Next week: Club cricket in Zimbabwe

England thought they had a plan to master India’s spinners, but it didn’t work in the Under-19 quarter-final as Iqbal Abdulla and Ravindra Jadeja tied them in knots

George Binoy in Kuala Lumpur24-Feb-2008
Iqbal Abdulla is forming an impressive partnership with Ravindra Jadeja and making life tough for batsmen © Getty Images
England’s batsmen tried to bat to a plan in their quarter-final against India: they were cautious against the new-ball and concentrated on keeping wickets in tact with the aim of steadily building momentum as the innings progressed. It did not turn out that way because after the fast bowlers tied them down, India’s left-arm spin duo – Iqbal Abdulla and Ravindra Jadeja – bowled with such accuracy that, between them, they took 5 for 52 in 19 overs as the batsmen tried to raise the run-rate.Abdulla and Jadeja didn’t have much to do in India’s initial games and bowled a total of 17.1 overs in the first two matches against Papua New Guinea and South Africa. However, Jadeja sent down 20 overs against West Indies and England while Abdulla was needed to bowl 18.5. As a result both bowlers’ rhythm has grown stronger as India approached the business end of the tournament.Abdulla took 3 for 29 in the match. He trapped the England captain Alex Wakely lbw with one that drifted in, and had Steve Finn stumped. However, it was his second wicket Tom Westley, who was caught by Virat Kohli at cover, which he was happiest with.”I had planned it [Westley’s dismissal],” Abdulla said. “It was a ball bowled according to the field and it dipped a bit. It feels good to bowl your entire spell. Though it was one over less, it was better than the earlier games.”England were 56 for 1 after 19 overs when the first spinner, Jadeja, was brought on to bowl and Abdulla felt that the fast bowlers had created an ideal situation for them.”The batsmen had a tough task. They had to score runs and keep wickets intact so they slowed down. When the runs didn’t come, I think they planned to play out all 50 overs. Once I flighted it and got hit out of the ground. After that I thought it was better to bowl tight. It wasn’t a very helpful track; it was turning just a bit.”Though both are left-arm orthodox spinners, they have contrasting styles. Abdulla tends to give the ball a little more air while Jadeja fires them in fast with the primary aim of frustrating the batsmen into making mistakes because of the lack of scoring opportunities.”We work well in tandem because, if I create pressure at one end, he [Abdulla] can get wickets at the other and vice versa,” Jadeja said. “I was mixing it up today. I was bowling arm balls, yorkers and some that even dipped in the air. The turn wasn’t much so the batsmen had to keep thinking whether the ball would turn a bit or go straight.”Jadeja says that he’s been working on his yorker and has come close to mastering it. “It comes in from outside off stump, drifts in the air, and also moves towards the stumps after pitching. Initially the batsman isn’t ready to face such a ball so it’s a problem.”Jadeja has developed a reputation of being hard to score against in the domestic limited-overs matches in India. He has seven wickets in the World Cup so far at an economy-rate of 2.77. Add Abdulla’s nine scalps at 9.11 apiece and India have a potent spin attack to back up the disciplined performances of their fast bowlers.

With the captain not only unsure of where to bat, but also apparently unwilling to fulfill his all-round role, Pakistan have been uninspiring

Osman Samiuddin in Karachi26-Jun-2008

When Imran Khan pontificates, people still listen. He’s not wrong as often
as his critics claim or right as often as his supporters do, but take note
they all do. So when he writes a column, part of which robustly questions
Shoaib Malik’s credentials as player and captain, ripples are inevitable.”A captain can only earn respect if he is doing his bit as a player,”
Imran wrote in today’s . “Shoaib [Malik] is a good
cricketer and seems to have a sensible head. However, the question is,
does he automatically select himself as a batsman? Unfortunately, the
answer is no, and till he changes that he cannot lead with authority.”It is unlikely Malik read the column before he went out to open today
against India. But as the beginnings of a response, his wasn’t half bad.
Malik as a top-order batsman is a different beast altogether to Malik
anywhere else. Indeed, part of the problem through his career, why people
never think him a certain starter, is that he has never made one spot
his own. Instead he has batted here, there and everywhere.Why this is so is unclear. The 58 ODIs in his career where he has batted
in the top four, he averages nearly 44 from. All his centuries and nearly
half his fifties have come from here. More than all these stats, he looks
more authoritative up there, able to run the singles and take advantage of
fielding restrictions, as he did here.His sixth hundred was a fine hand, controlled and always up-tempo. It gave
Pakistan just the base they wanted, though it ended just when it shouldn’t
have. Yet as captain, in 28 matches, he has batted in the top four only
four times. Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf at three and four are
accomplished batsmen, but not immoveable from their spots: if Malik is not
going to impose himself as captain, when will he? “We always look for the
right combination in our batting,” Malik said later. “It’s not that every
time you open you score a hundred.”Ultimately, after this loss and the nature of it, Imran’s questions still
hang in the air, awkwardly unanswered. So Malik was handicapped from the
off by the early loss of Umar Gul, as acknowledged by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Defending 300 with two seamers and one spinner on what Dhoni said was one of the
flattest tracks in the world was never going to be easy.Though cramps and time off the field meant he couldn’t bowl today, his
lack of bowling is also problematic. Board officials and Malik himself
insist that he is in the team as an allrounder. Yet against the teams
that matter – South Africa, India and Sri Lanka – Malik has bowled just 49
overs in 16 matches. If three overs per match is the criteria, then
Virender Sehwag is a bona fide allrounder. When asked about Pakistan’s
recent performances and whether morale is down, he replied bizarrely,
“Are you sitting in my heart? The Pakistan team is famous for comebacks.
My form if it wasn’t good, at least I am still the best allrounder as far
as I know.”Perhaps on an evening lit up by Suresh Raina and Sehwag, none of it might
have mattered anyway. But how many can deny that Pakistan under Malik,
Kitply Cup or not, have been, not just uninspiring, but unsure of
themselves?Little wonder, when the captain is not only unsure of where to bat, but
also apparently unwilling to fulfill his all-round role. He has to decide
on one spot in the order, he has to stick to it and perform. Either he is
an allrounder or he isn’t. A surly press conference later, where he
inadvertently re-lit a simmering selectorial debate, wasn’t the ideal way
to finish off a demanding night. More results like this and this time
Imran Khan may well be proven correct.

He was England’s inexhaustible colossus in the lean post-war years – both wicket-taker and stock bowler. A salute to Alec Bedser on his 90th birthday

Alan Hill04-Jul-2008
‘If his labours as a bowler could be collected and piled up around him in some visible shape he would be seen to be standing beside a mountain’ © Getty Images
The cricket challenges faced by Alec Bedser in the lean post-war years paled by comparison with the pressures confronting him on more forbidding battlegrounds. He was one of a host of emerging cricketers when war broke out in 1939. Six years of active service, latterly as an investigative military policeman, gave him a steel and maturity to counter all other trials. The returning warrior, then aged 28, was supremely equipped to engage in the tensions and intrigues of a Test match.Sir Alec, as he celebrates his 90th birthday, turns back the years to assess his enduring stamina as a cricketer. His fortitude is attributed to the countless hours of practice in the nets at The Oval. He and his twin brother Eric loved practising as boys. From their early years they set themselves the task of aiming to hit a piece of newspaper on a good length, and then bowling six balls each at a time, with one stump as a target. Alec offers this advice to erring bowlers. “Remember”, he says, “the stumps are only 28 inches high and if you don’t pitch it up enough you won’t hit the wicket and you won’t get anyone out lbw.”John Woodcock, the veteran cricket writer, has referred to Bedser as “loyal, kind and incorruptible”. He adroitly observed: “If his labours as a bowler could be collected and piled up around him in some visible shape he would be seen to be standing beside a mountain.” Bedser’s monumental endeavours were sorely needed by both Surrey and England. Testimony to his workload is indelibly contained in the statistical lists. Between April 1946 and September 1947 – two English summers and one overseas tour to Australia – he bowled 17,395 balls. In five summers of Test and county duties at home, he busily accumulated an aggregate of 5636 overs, well over 1000 each season. Throughout the long haul of post-war summers, Alec was unflaggingly both wicket-taker and stock bowler.The ascent to greatness was accomplished without a settled partner. Fast bowlers traditionally hunt in pairs. As England’s standard-bearer, Bedser had little respite from his labours until the arrival of Trevor Bailey, Fred Trueman and Brian Statham – all of them eagerly accepted as worthy companions. Juggling the meagre resources available, the England selectors discovered and discarded a variable contingent of new-ball allies, 17 in all, through Bedser’s Test career.Bedser would summon his powers of endurance, as he single-handedly held sway before Surrey’s years of plenty. Michael Barton, his captain from 1948 to 1951, conceded that Bedser was overbowled in his formative seasons. “Alec really carried us during that time. There is no question that he was the man who contributed most to our successes. He was a very hard worker, with great stamina, and he was a brilliant bowler, particularly on a bad wicket.”Bedser was nowhere more venerated as a bowler than in Australia, and he especially cherishes his exploits against his rivals from down under. He took 104 wickets, an average of almost five per match, in 21 Tests against Australia. He followed Wilfred Rhodes as only the second bowler since before the First World War to reach this milestone. Another 25 years would elapse after Bedser’s achievement before Derek Underwood added his name to this elite of bowling centurions against Australia.Events were to link Bedser with his good friend, Don Bradman, the greatest batsman to all who came within his sphere of command. From his first triumph at Adelaide in 1947, in the subsequent 15 innings of their rivalry, Bedser took Bradman’s wicket eight times. His feat in dismissing the Australian five times in consecutive Test innings is an unprecedented achievement. The delivery which produced a Bradman duck ten minutes before the close of play at Adelaide was the harbinger of things to come. The wonderful legcutter, deviating sharply and coaxed by enormous hands, was the weapon of confusion. It was “spun at speed” and the effect was a genuine legbreak. Bradman related: “It must have come three-quarters of the way straight on my off stump, then suddenly dipped to pitch on the leg stump, only to turn off the pitch and hit the middle and off stumps.”
Bedser dismisses Ron Archer, his 39th and final wicket in the 1953 Ashes series © The Cricketer
Remembrances of the newly installed nonagenarian pay attention to the economy of Bedser’s action – an unvarying run-up of ten paces, all designed to preserve maximum efficiency. It was estimated that each of his overs lasted two and a half minutes each. One former England colleague, Bob Appleyard, says that Bedser was so grooved in his action, which was rhythmical and economical, that he was able to continue for long periods. Staying at the wicket for two to three hours against Bedser constituted an achievement beyond the norm. Trevor Bailey still winces at the memory of his tussles. “The most significant feature was that Alec was responsible for bruising the inside of my right hand. He just kept on hitting the bat. Alec jarred my hand more than any other bowler I faced.”Bedser was called upon to dispense his wisdom and diplomacy in a record-breaking term as a Test selector at the start of the 1960s. The sequence included 12 seasons as chairman when his teams won ten, drew three and lost only five out of 18 series. His renown as a cricketer – and, perhaps more importantly, his integrity and status as a former professional – earned him acceptance as a trustee of the game. He never allowed popular clamour to cloud his judgment. Doug Insole, then chairman of the selectors, provided one telling story. Soon after Bedser’s elevation to the selection panel, he presided at a Test match dinner and was introduced to the assembled players. “If he says you’re fairly useful,” Insole explained, “you can be reasonably sure that he means you are among the best in the world.”Bedser was closely associated with the swiftly changing order in cricket. Usurping the old amateur supremacy was a surge in player power, which carried perils and impending conflict. He had to call heavily on his reserves of tenacity and patience in a succession of crises involving Geoffrey Boycott, Tony Greig and Ian Botham. Botham’s spectacular revival against Australia at Leeds in 1981 was a direct consequence of the unpalatable decision to sack him as captain.For Bedser, in his last season as chairman, the momentous events of that summer were the most pleasing of farewells. “All who know him and admire his sense of duty and enjoy his bluff humour will have been delighted he ended on a winning note,” observed Woodcock, then editor of Wisden. The happiness of the occasion ensnared another cricket correspondent. “That was a marvellous performance by Ian Botham,” enthused Christopher Martin-Jenkins. “Yes,” said Bedser. “Well, he’s a good cricketer.”

Stats highlights from the second day of the first Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Karachi

Cricinfo staff23-Feb-2009

• Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera’s partnership of 437 is the highest for the fourth wicket in Tests. It’s also only the second 400-plus stand for that wicket in Tests, after Colin Cowdrey and Peter May’s 411 against West Indies in Birmingham in 1957.
• This is the fourth instance of two Sri Lankan batsmen – and the 15th overall in Tests – scoring double-hundreds in a single innings, which is the most by any team. Australia and Pakistan have achieved this on three occasions each. The last time this had happened in Pakistan, Sri Lanka had been at the receiving end, as Qasim Umar and Javed Miandad hammered doubles in Faisalabad in 1985.
• In 27 innings, Jayawardene and Samaraweera have averaged 68.80 together, which is marginally higher than the 68.59 that Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara average. Click here for Jayawardene’s average stands with each batsman.
• Jayawardene scored his fifth double-century, and his first outside Sri Lanka. Only two Sri Lankans – Marvan Atpattu and Sangakkara – have scored more double-hundreds. Click here for the full list of Sri Lankan double-centurions.
• There were no sixes in the Sri Lankan innings. It’s the eleventh time a team has scored 600 or above in an innings without hitting a six.
• Sohail Khan conceded 131 runs in 21 overs. His figures are the fourth-worst in terms of runs conceded for debutants who’ve gone wicketless in an innings.
• In their epic stand, Jayawardene and Samaraweera scored 110 runs behind the point region – 60 of them in boundaries. Most of these runs came on the first day, as Pakistan did not keep a third man.

So what if England didn’t win too much last summer? The video chronicle makes for compelling viewing

Edward Craig24-Jan-2009

Any DVD called should be a seminal record of the game’s shifting sands: helicopters landing at Lord’s, players auctioned for millions of dollars, and bitter power struggles between governing bodies.The problem is it has to contain the cricket. It can be only as good as the material it has to chose from – and bore draws at Lord’s, an awful lot of rain and England losing do not help. There were good games and great moments. The trouble is that England were on the wrong end when it mattered.Despite this the DVD is compulsive viewing. And that is because it is put together by Sunset and Vine, the company that produced Channel 4’s coverage and still does Five’s daily highlights. This is essentially Five’s highlights of all the internationals edited and slung together.Mark Nicholas gushes his way through the summer, Geoff Boycott is brutal and accurate, and Simon Hughes is fantastic. As The Analyst on Channel 4, Hughes offered insight that Sky fails to match.Additional details knit it together well. The news-round before each Test explains what happened off the pitch: Stanford’s millions, Pattinson’s selection, Vaughan’s resignation. As a refresher it is priceless.How good was England’s comeback at Old Trafford against New Zealand? How poorly did Ryan Sidebottom bowl (the end-of-day summaries constantly refer to him as “off-colour”)? How good was Graeme Smith’s knock at Edgbaston? Who played the innings of the summer? (Answer: Ross Taylor, 154 at Old Trafford – the flair of Lara, the technique of Tendulkar.)You might not want to see Daniel Flynn’s tooth slowly dislodged from his mouth but then the same goes for much of England’s summer. England’s Summer of Cricket 2008
2 Entertain, 682 min, £29.99

Under Daren Ganga’s enlightened leadership, the team is all that counts – and the trophies are a testament to that ethos

Andrew Miller in Antigua28-Oct-2008

Daren Ganga is becoming cosily familiar with Sir Allen Stanford’s largesse. In 2006, he was the recipient of the runners-up cheque when Guyana pipped Trinidad to the final of the inaugural Stanford 20/20. Earlier this year, he and his team-mates made handsome amends for that setback by winning the follow-up event and the million-dollar cheque that came with it. Now, by seeing off Middlesex in the most compelling match yet witnessed in the Stanford Super Series, he’s claimed a further substantial slice of Texan pie to see him through the economic downturn.It was Stanford himself who handed over the spoils, and he could scarcely have been more satisfied at the outcome. Though the match once again lacked the pyrotechnics usually associated with Twenty20 cricket, the end result was a vindication of the quality that Stanford would have the world believe he is fostering through his involvement with Caribbean cricket. Middlesex arrived in Antigua with pedigree and were the favourites for this contest in many people’s estimation, but on the night they were outwitted – brought low in a tactical battle that arguably had more in common with Test cricket than the biff-bang-wallop format that most people had turned up expecting to see.It certainly wasn’t the manner in which a West Indian side might be expected to make off with the loot, but under Ganga’s guidance, Trinidad have become a cerebral bunch of cricketers. They paced their chase to perfection, keeping themselves in touch with wickets in hand before locating a vein of aggression at precisely the right moment. The match was sealed with a six, a towering clunk over long-on from Darren Bravo, but it had been in the bag for several overs beforehand, during Bravo and Denesh Ramdin’s momentum-shifting stand of 67 in eight overs.”We came here switched on, and we totally deserved our victory,” Ganga said, whose stature as a leader continues to mushroom. Eighteen months ago, he was leading West Indies on a tour of England, and though that appointment unravelled through a debilitating loss of form, the reasoning behind it remains sound to this day. Not so long ago, Trinidad cricket was synonymous with Brian Lara, a consummate genius but a selfish and divisive character. These days, under Ganga’s enlightened leadership, the team is all that counts – and the trophies are a testament to that ethos.In the space of four years, Trinidad has become the powerhouse of West Indian regional cricket. In that time it has won two 50-overs titles, the four-day regional championship, consecutive Carib Beer Challenge Finals, and now two of Stanford’s crowns. “Trinidad & Tobago cricket has a bunch of young players eager to make their mark, who want to enhance their reputation, and our reputation as a team,” Ganga said. “We had everything to play for, and have relished the opportunity to compete against teams outside our region. Our planning has been spot on and it all came to fruition.”

Ganga added that people might have questioned the thinking behind the team selection for this series, but sure enough there was no quibbling with the end product. Rather than fret about the vagaries of the wicket or the balance of the side, Trinidad concentrated on the dressing-room first and foremost. Three debutants were blooded in the Superstars match on Saturday evening – Justin Guillen, Kevon Cooper and Rishi Bachan – and all three acquitted themselves well in trying circumstances.For the money match, however, Trinidad delved deeper into their squad and introduced the greater experience of Amit Jaggernauth and Richard Kelly, not to mention the teenage fearlessness of Bravo Jr, whose love of the big occasion could prove every bit the equal of his brother, Dwayne.It all left Middlesex feeling rather bewildered. “When it came to the big occasion, we just weren’t quite up for it,” said their captain, Shaun Udal. “We didn’t bring our A game to the party, which I was confident about us doing. For some reason we were slow out of the blocks with the bat, had a dodgy spell and if it wasn’t for Neil Dexter at the end, we would have been lucky to get 100.”Ultimately the match was won and lost in six balls of bedlam at the end of the 16th over of Trinidad’s chase, which was arguably the first sighting of Twenty20 cricket as the world knows and loves it. With the hapless Neil Carter in the thick of the action, two sixes and two dropped catches marked a momentum shift which stayed till the end.”All the teams have struggled to hit boundaries,” said Middlesex’s opener, Andrew Strauss. “But the way Trinidad did it today was to stay in the game, keep wickets in hand, and then [attack] in the last five overs. This was an important game for us, we were representing our country as Twenty20 champions and it hurts we weren’t good enough. But these are very different wickets to England and we haven’t adjusted quickly enough.”In truth, Middlesex were not allowed to be good enough. The speedy legspin of Samuel Badree, who shared the new ball with the Man of the Match, Ravi Rampaul, left them groping for a response right from the start. Later, when it seemed they might start to reclaim the ascendancy with the ball, they were thwarted first by Ganga – whose unflustered style of accumulation has rarely been so suited to 20-over cricket – then by Bravo and Denesh Ramdin, whose spunky innings of 41 from 28 balls was the real difference between the sides.He was not able to make it to the finish, but as he trooped off the pitch with a satisfied waft of the bat after carrying his team to within two runs of victory, Ramdin offered another insight into why this match had been Trinidad’s to lose, rather than Middlesex’s to win. Three Trinidadians were named in the Superstars squad – Keiron Pollard, Dave Mohammad and Rayad Emrit. Ramdin, the incumbent West Indies wicketkeeper, was not among their number, and there’s no doubt it rankled. “Us players left out of the Superstars (squad) wanted to prove a point,” said Ganga. They’ve done just that, and in some style.

The horrors of Sri Lanka behind him, the new, grown-up Matt Prior is back in contention for England

Andrew McGlashan15-Oct-2008
His time has come… again: Prior expected to be back during the winter, but was recalled to the one-day side before that © Getty Images
The earring has gone, the verbals have been toned down, and the hard work has paid off. In short, Matt Prior has grown up and got his England place back – it’s been one heck of a 12 months for him. “The most important year of my career,” he admits.This time last year Prior was still England’s Test wicketkeeper, and had only lost his one-day place because he had broken his thumb during the World Twenty20 in South Africa. Then he went to Sri Lanka and averaged 40 against Muttiah Muralitharan and Co. For an England wicketkeeper, that is the magic number. But for Prior there was a problem: he was missing catches. He was dropped for the tour of New Zealand and had to go away and do plenty of soul-searching.”It’s been a year of ups and downs, highs and lows, and a massive year for learning,” Prior tells Cricinfo at the launch of Slazenger’s 2009 kit range. “The experiences I’ve had will stand me in good stead for the future. I’ve matured as a player and a person.”His path back to international colours began on the south coast with Sussex. He was the leading batsman in the country during the first two months of the season and finished with 931 runs and 51.72 in the Championship. Meanwhile, England’s wicketkeeping position looked as undecided as ever.Tim Ambrose, Prior’s former team-mate at Sussex, made a bright start to his Test career with a century in only his second Test, in Wellington. But Ambrose’s challenges became harder, and while he caught most of what came his way, the runs dried up. His brief taste of one-day cricket was a struggle too. England were back to the drawing board. Prior’s time had come again, and it exceeded his expectations.”My goal when I got left out was to get a winter tour,” Prior says. “I thought that was a realistic goal. Breaking back into the team during the summer might be a bit much, I thought. So when I found out I was involved with the India tour, that was the major tick for me. At no stage during the summer did I change those goals. I said to myself, ‘That’s where I want to be in the winter, and if anything happens before then it’s a bonus.’ During the South Africa series my aim was still a winter tour.”That ambition has been achieved, and Prior starts the winter as England’s one-day keeper and on the verge of a Test recall. Predictably he plays down his hopes of replacing Ambrose – “I’m not thinking that far ahead” – but it would be a huge surprise if he isn’t back in Tests, come December. After a year of challenges, Prior will face one of his toughest – keeping on the dusty, low pitches England are likely to encounter.”I think if you ask many experienced international wicketkeepers, India and Sri Lanka are the two toughest places to keep wicket,” he says, with a clear relish for the task. “Not just because of the climate and heat, but also the wickets. You are normally standing very close. It is hard work, it’s an unforgiving place, but you can get a huge amount from it and get so much confidence from keeping well in the subcontinent.”How is he preparing himself for the pressure of those energy-sapping conditions, where every chance is a priceless commodity? After all, it was in similar circumstances that he lost his place, after he dropped vital catches off an increasingly furious Ryan Sidebottom in Colombo and Galle.”When I walk out there all I want to do is score a hundred and catch everything, but as you know we aren’t robots. Mistakes happen. They will happen. I hate to say it, but I will make another mistake””It’s about putting things into perspective, being able to get excited by things, but also realising that it may or may not be your day,” Prior says, giving an insight into his more mature mindset, before using the example of his blinding catch to remove Herschelle Gibbs in the one-day series to illustrate the stresses. “In a lot ways it’s in the hands of the gods. You can take a flying catch in front of first slip, but if I’d dropped it that would have been a different story. That’s the fine lines you work between in international cricket, especially as a wicketkeeper.”As international cricketers, as sportsmen, all you can do is work as hard as you can to prepare yourself to perform. When I walk out there all I want to do is score a hundred and catch everything, but as you know we aren’t robots and mistakes happen. They will happen. I hate to say it, but I will make another mistake. I’ll be trying my level best not to, but I’m human. Then it’s dealing with that mistake, otherwise it can ruin your whole day.”Prior’s battle for the wicketkeeping position with Ambrose has brought both their careers full circle. They went head to head at Hove, and the challenge persuaded Ambrose to search for pastures new, and he headed to Warwickshire to ensure himself regular first-team action. The two are still close friends and Prior sees it as a huge advantage that they are touring together.”It’s like an old-school keepers union. It will be good to have a guy I consider a mate to bounce the ideas and vice versa. We are still massively close and when we saw each other for the first time in a while recently it was just like being back at Sussex.”Timmy is a great lad. We have always got on – or at least I think we have – and I am really looking forward to the tour. We said years ago that we’d love to be in an England squad competing for a place. We’ll work hard and push each other like we did at Sussex.”At the moment the one-day role is a no-contest after Prior’s successful return against South Africa, where he caught all his catches and helped launch England’s innings with Ian Bell. “I hate being called a pinch-hitter,” Prior says with a hint of annoyance, “I’m a batsman.
Prior’s performances in the NatWest Series against South Africa brought him back into the frame © Getty Images
“There’s been a lot written that Belly is the one that sits in and I go on the attack. But the game at The Oval [where the pair added 101 in 15 overs], Belly was having his day and I had to stay at the other getting singles. Making a successful partnership is all about realising whose day it is.”Prior has certainly picked the right time to get back in the England side, with the small matter of $1 million on offer on November 1 in Antigua. “I was waiting for this,” he says when asked how he’ll spend the money. “There’ll be no flash cars, Swanny is in a world of his own,” he adds in reference to team-mate Graeme Swann’s call that he’ll buy a pink Ferrari if he wins.”I honestly haven’t thought about it. Over the last few weeks I’ve been trying to forget cricket and work on my gold handicap. I’m just looking at it as a fantastic opportunity.”And as is becoming a common theme among the England squad, Prior says the thought of a mega payday pales in comparison with the thought of regaining the Ashes next year. “To be part of an Ashes-winning team or a Stanford team – it’s a no-contest. I think that runs the side. We had to jot it down, the challenges over the next year, and from a cricketing point of view Stanford was the lowest on the list. India is a massive challenge, a hard, tough tour, then of course the Ashes, but that’s a long way off.”There’s so much happening; it’s a very exciting winter. I don’t want to look too far ahead.” Prior may believe the last 12 months have been the most important of his career, but the prizes on offer over the next year could change his life forever.