With a misfiring seam attack and the mystery absent from their chief spinner, West Indies must hope their batting can gun down all before them

David Hopps30-Sep-2012It was Poya day in Sri Lanka on Saturday and at dead of night, in the hills beyond the broad, slow-moving Mahaweli River, dogs were howling at the full moon. It was quite a concert, each howl or bark encouraging another until the luminous green hills were awash with noise.It was not a time for restful sleep and, if he heard the racket a couple of miles downriver in his Kandy hotel, West Indies’ captain, Darren Sammy, might have been tempted to emit a guttural cry of his own. The West Indies were many people’s favourites at the start of the World Twenty20, but after their convincing Super Eights defeat against Sri Lanka they, too, are howling at the moon, anxious, powerless, no longer having the strut of potential champions.Their batting can potentially overpower any opposition, especially if the chief attack dog, Chris Gayle, is in the mood, or if Kieron Pollard, hugely disappointing so far, begins to muscle the ball over the ropes, but if it takes a strong bowling attack to win Twenty20 then they might as well be discounted now.West Indies can still qualify for the semi-finals. They feel like they have the measure of their final opponents, New Zealand, after beating them heavily in the Caribbean in July, 4-1 in an ODI series as well as Test victories in Jamaica and Antigua. Victory would give them four points, enough to go through if Sri Lanka beat England, but leaving their fate to be determined on run rate if England discover the “perfect performance” against Sri Lanka that their captain, Stuart Broad, believes is just around the corner.Deep down, Sammy must know that his batsmen are best placed to fashion that victory, and that Gayle is more likely to fashion it than most. Sammy bristled during a qualifying match against Ireland when it was suggested that spectators just watched West Indies to watch Gayle – such suggestions undermine the team ethic he has fought so hard to implant – but Gayle’s influence on West Indies’ success is undeniable.Against Sri Lanka, for the first time in the tournament, Gayle failed, and West Indies failed with him, indubitably so. Even then attention remained with him. When he was dismissed, the Sri Lankan DJ dared to taunt him by playing Gangnam Style, the Korean rap song from which he has adopted his signature dance. The assumption in Sri Lanka’s celebrations was clear to see: get Gayle and you get West Indies.

To hide behind the enduring image of West Indies cricket as under-resourced and, as a result, slightly ramshackle, is hardly a vision for the future.

What was it someone once said about Sammy? That he was the sort of big-hearted, affable man they would gladly follow him into battle but they would not give much for their chances of survival? That remark sprang to mind at Pallakele on Saturday night as Sammy took it upon himself to bowl four overs of mundane medium pace while Sri Lanka eased their way past an inadequate West Indies total of 129 for 5, winning by nine wickets with nearly five overs to spare.His combined record in all formats produces a batting average of less than 20 and a bowling return in the mid-30s. In T20 cricket, he barely averages double figures with the bat. On West Indies’ tour of England last summer, he was persistently asked whether he was worth his place in the side and he would respond heartily that he was captain, he was in the side, showing no sense of ill will towards his inquisitor. When he made a rip-roaring maiden Test hundred at Trent Bridge, there can hardly have been a person in the ground who was not cheered by what they had seen.But his presence in the West Indies side at No. 8 adds further vagueness to a side that since their opening match of the tournament has omitted three specialist batsmen – Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith and Darren Bravo – and yet even with this imbalance still managed to field a bits-and-pieces attack in which it was difficult to place much faith.Tactically, West Indies came adrift against Sri Lanka. A dry pitch had the capacity to turn in the opening match between England and New Zealand. By the end of the night, it was a perfect surface for Sri Lanka’s spinners, but West Indies omitted Samuel Badree’s legspin (he will surely return against New Zealand) and, as Mahele Jaywardene batted much as he pleased, overlooked the spin options of Gayle and Marlon Samuels.As for the mystery spinner Sunil Narine, the only mystery at the moment is why there no longer seems to be much mystery. So far there has been more mystery in a bad episode of Agatha Christie. His success against New Zealand only two months ago will give him hope of better denouement on Monday.Jayawardene insisted, though, that as well as he and Kumar Sangakkara played Narine, he could not be discounted. “The bigger picture is we were just chasing 130 and we had a good start, so we didn’t have to take unnecessary risks against Sunil,” he said. “We just milked runs off him; he had a very defensive field. According to the situation we just handled him.”I have played him three or four times in the IPL but he is still a fantastic bowler. It is one thing to pick him; it is another thing to play him as well. Kumar played him for the first time and batted really well against him. When we bat against guys like Murali and Mendis in the nets we learn to watch the ball properly or those guys will have a web around us.”Either West Indies did not bowl much spin against Sri Lanka because presumably because they felt that, even if they picked Badree, they did not have the quality to trouble them or they simply misread the pitch. “I don’t think we have a pitch consultant,” Sammy said when asked how the decision had been reached. To hide behind the enduring image of West Indies cricket as under-resourced and, as a result, slightly ramshackle, was a jovial response but it was hardly a vision for the future.”I said the Sri Lankans would be a challenge in these conditions and they proved to be,” Sammy said. “The pitch definitely suited them but we are playing international cricket and in Sri Lanka we expect the wickets to turn. It is nothing new to us. But I don’t think we adapted quickly enough when we batted. Even though they had a lot of dot balls, normally they get the partnerships.”Against New Zealand, Sammy hopes for a substantial turnaround with bat and ball. “It will be good to have a big total on the board – 190 plus – so it gives our bowlers a little bit of leeway.” As the tournament progresses, the pitches tire and the scores potentially fall, that would certainly be some leeway, even with Gayle and co. at their most destructive. In fact, as the Sri Lanka hills were bathed in half-light, Poya day slipped away, and the dogs began to howl, 190-plus felt a little like moonshine.

All the talk about the state of Kolkata pitch has deflected attention away from the real problems in the India team

Sidharth Monga04-Dec-2012MS Dhoni must be sick and tired of being asked about the state of pitches and his preferences and groundsmen. He has had a hard time explaining to people that he doesn’t want slow turn and low bounce, and can’t understand what is wrong with his views. You can argue his way of going about getting that – public criticism of pitches – is not ideal, but his demands are ideal: Mumbai made for far more exciting cricket than Ahmedabad.It’s the result in Mumbai – when Indian spinners were thoroughly outplayed – that has lost Dhoni’s idea some fans in India, but the captain is willing to die by the spin sword. Once again, his pre-match press conference was dominated by questions surrounding the pitch.”If you are not doing that [playing on pitches that turn and bounce], the concept of playing around the world and facing different challenges goes down the drain,” Dhoni said in response. “Because if you come to India, why do you want to play on wickets that are flat on the first three or four days? Sometimes you have seen even five days are not good enough to get a result. So I feel the challenge is to play on tracks that turn and assist the spinners. It doesn’t matter if we lose a few games or if you win the series…”It’s not like when Australia play in Australia or when England play in England, they win all the games. Still they stick to the kind of speciality they have got. It’s the same for subcontinental teams.”Dhoni is not letting one defeat change his mindset. He had to make that clarification three to four times. And by all accounts, he is not getting the pitch he wants in Kolkata. Going by his own description of the surface, Dhoni and his team will have to play on just the track he doesn’t want. He expects no help for spinners, and is relying on wear and tear.At the same time, India could be secretly looking at all this pitch talk as some sort of respite. They are well and truly under the pump. If Indian Test cricket were strong right now, more than half the team would be playing for their places in the side. If this pitch talk had not dominated the aftermath of arguably India’s worst Test defeat since they first became a competitive side, Dhoni would have had a tough time defending some of his players, and some of his captaincy moves for that matter.Deep down, Dhoni will know the pitch is one of the lesser concerns for India right now. For even if they keep getting spitting turners every time, their spinners are no better than an even chance of winning them the match. Only one of their batsmen can claim to be not under pressure. Well, make it two: Virender Sehwag usually doesn’t take much pressure either.It must be getting a little tiresome for Dhoni to come out and defend some of the players. Asked about the openers – and barring Sehwag’s century in Ahmedbabad, neither of them has done anything extraordinary for two years – Dhoni said: “We are a side that relies a lot on the openers. We don’t really want to put extra pressure on them. What’s important is for them to enjoy their game.”If you see Viru Pa, he just loves to go onto the field and express himself. We just want the two individuals to back the kind of game they play. It’s just a matter of time. They have done well if you see the recent few games. Both of them have scored runs; if they score together in the same innings, it will be a great plus for us.”About whether the break between the Tests had been enough for them to sort their issues out, Dhoni said they were not losing sleep over the Mumbai defeat. “Winning and losing games is part and parcel of what we do,” he said. “I don’t think cricketers get bothered a lot if they lose a game, and they aren’t really at the top of their emotions when they win a series or a game.”The good thing is, the bowlers had to do a lot of work in both the first two matches, so the rest between the games will really help them to come back to their best. It gives time for the batsmen to assess the situation as to what went wrong, so it was a healthy break for both the sides.”There is not much else Dhoni can say when all indications from the selectors suggest there aren’t many replacements available for consistently underperforming players. What he needs from his team-mates is the kind of improvement he showed in his keeping after a horrid Test in Ahmedabad.

Vernon Philander is least bothered when people still question how he manages to pick up wickets. In Australian conditions, he is likely to be deadlier and silence a few more critics

Firdose Moonda in Sydney02-Nov-2012November 9, 2011. Vernon Philander made his debut against Australia at Newlands. He was given the new ball and took eight wickets, including 5 for 15 in the second innings as Australia were bowled out for 47.November 9, 2012. Philander will play Australia again at Brisbane. In 12 months, he has taken 63 wickets in 10 Tests and averages 15.96.Despite his remarkable numbers, in the last year, Philander has been regarded with suspicion from Hamilton to Headingley. In New Zealand, they were too afraid of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel to give much thought to him and in England, they called him nothing more than a county trundler. Both countries changed their minds when he took 21 and 12 wickets respectively in their backyards.”Stats don’t lie,” was his comeback. In Australia, he does not need to pull out that line. Here, he is respected, even feared. The Australia batsmen have been victims of him once before and know what he is capable of. His response to that? Nothing.Philander has learnt to treat criticism and compliments with the same indifference because both can be quite fickle. “I don’t really care how people receive me,” he said. “For me, it’s just to go out there and do my thing. As long as we take 20 wickets per Test, I’m happy. I just try and play my role in taking those 20 wickets As long as I am doing that, I don’t give a hell what people have to say about me.”Most cannot understand how and why he takes so many wickets. The destructiveness of a Steyn or Morkel is more obvious – swing and bounce – but with Philander it’s far more subtle. There is little flashy about being able to move the ball just enough both ways, certainly nothing as emphatic as stumps splattering or batsmen being hit.But that’s what Philander can do: exploit anything in the surface and expose weakness in the opposition. If they can’t figure out how he does that, that’s too bad as far as he is concerned. “The longer people keep on harping as to why I take wickets, the better for me. It’s going to take them some time to work me out. If people can’t work me out, all the better for me,” he said.Batsmen may not know what Philander is all about, but he makes sure to find out everything he can about them. Philander’s preparation involves careful strategic planning rather than endless overs in the nets.He said he bowls between six and eight overs per practice session and then spends time fine-tuning his approach. “When you bowl the first ball in a Test match, you to be ready for it and make sure you’ve got simple tactics for different batters,” he said. In Australia, he suspects he will have to make adjustments to his length, “probably to bowl a bit fuller,” and has been working on that.But there is also an overarching reason that Philander has had so much success. Steyn calls it his “super consistency,” and Philander agrees that discipline has brought him enormous rewards. “It’s just the control factor. If you land the ball five out of six times in the same area the batters have to make a mistake somewhere along the line. I just keep it really simple and wait for the batters to make errors.”On the seamer-friendly pitches that are expected in Australia, Philander hopes to have even more opportunities to show off that mastery. “Upfront, I like to see guys playing at me with the new ball. It gives us more chances to strike,” he said. “It’s definitely a plus if you can move it just enough and it catches the edge all the time.” In England, he found the edge on many occasions and the ball repeatedly fell short of the slips. That is unlikely to be the case in Australia, where the pitches should have sufficient carry to make Philander a dangerous prospect.To imagine that Philander could be more devastating than he has already been is difficult but in conditions that may assist him better than any other, it remains possible. Already he has had unprecedented achievement, something he credits with being allowed to do what he does best from the beginning.When Philander was picked as an opening bowler and Morkel relegated to first change, there was much shaking of heads. Some were of the opinion that Morkel and Steyn remained the best two bowlers in the attack and should share the new ball. Philander defied them but would not have been able to do that had he not been entrusted with the role he was best accustomed to.”In domestic cricket I’d taken the new ball and if you’re going to give a guy a chance you want to give him a chance doing what he’s good at,” he said. “For me, that’s with the new nut and that’s exactly what Gary has done, he’s given me the new nut and the freedom to perform.”In that space, Philander has already had many important feats and he said his accomplishments occasionally overwhelm him. “Sometimes it does get to you, but I’m the type of guy who goes back and finds time just to reflect on what I’ve done. I don’t let the hype get to me.”And when he does, there’s always someone like Gary Kirsten “to bring me back to earth,” Philander joked. Kirsten was doing throw-downs on Monday and struck Philander on the shoulder, so hard that he could not bowl on Tuesday and had a swelling. He laughed off the coaches’ faux pas as a way of keeping him grounded.

Michael Clarke’s successful management of degenerative back trouble has been a triumph of meticulousness. But it will only get harder from here

Daniel Brettig20-Feb-2013Among the most revealing passages of , Mike Atherton’s autobiography, is his depiction of the compounding problems stemming from a back condition he carried into cricket. The cycle of misdiagnosis, treatment, medication, side effects and excruciating days robbed of all reasonable movement is told frankly and graphically, providing ample justification for why his batting seemed less than supple at various times, and how his career was shortened. Atherton retired at 33, and concludes he was lucky to get that far.Tellingly, the years in which Atherton was least hindered by his back were from 1993 to 1998. In that time he went from the age of 25 to 30, now widely regarded as the period most likely to represent an international cricketer’s physical peak. They also happened to be the years in which he was England captain, when the pressures and dramas of the job might have cracked a lesser man.The weight of expectation on Atherton, as England’s captain and most reliable batsman, and the nagging doubt created by a bad back, are feelings to which Australia’s captain Michael Clarke can easily relate. Clarke is also humbugged by a degenerative back condition dealt to him in his youth – believed to be the lingering cost of early attempts to bowl fast before he resorted to the gentler arts of batting and left-arm spin.He is also now leading a team that is set to rely on his batting as heavily as England leaned on Atherton’s – his wicket the one most valued by opponents who recognised the brittleness beneath. While Atherton was appointed captain early on and left the job before his body began to fail him, Clarke is entering the most vexing phase of his captaincy at an age when his physical durability is going to be increasingly tested. The imminent Test series against India, and those that follow against England away and at home, will be an examination of his batting, his captaincy and his physique – if the body fails, the other skills will be rendered useless.Few achievements in the game give Clarke more pride than never missing a Test match through injury. For all the handicaps presented by his back, which once confined him to bed for a day of the 2005 Old Trafford Ashes Test and has also forced him to miss numerous limited-overs engagements, his meticulous preparatory efforts have so far meant he has always been deemed fit enough, not only to walk out onto the field on day one but to still be thriving on day five.”I’ve been lucky throughout my career, to be honest, with the degeneration I have in my back, to have played 80-odd Test matches and not missed one is something I’m very proud of, but I certainly couldn’t do that on my own,” Clarke said recently. Alex Kountouris is the physio he has spent most of his career with around the Australian team; he also has a physio at home, and his trainer, Duncan Kerr. “I’ve been lucky to have so many people around me who know my body and have been able to get me up and continually get me on the park. It is something I’m very proud of.”Kountouris has been working with the national side since 2003, Clarke’s first year of international cricket. Over that time they have established a relationship of trust and honest judgement, making calculated gambles at various times along the way that have so far paid off handsomely in the Test match arena. Initially, Kountouris says, there was little indication to him of the back trouble that he had researched before working directly with Clarke.”When I came in I knew Michael had this history, and you do your homework on everyone, what they’ve got,” Kountouris said. “When I saw [Clarke’s first episode of back pain] I realised how much it affected him and how hard it was to do what he wanted to do. But he’s incredibly tough – tough mentally more than anything, getting himself up for games.Alex Kountouris on Michael Clarke: “He doesn’t accept second-best as an option when it comes to his preparation. He wants to be the fittest, he wants to be the strongest”•Getty Images”One thing he does do is work incredibly hard. He’s as professional as any athlete I’ve ever seen. He crosses every ‘t’ and dots every ‘i’, and that’s the key for him. He has his treatment he needs to, he does his rehab every day. If you tell him, ‘This is what you need to do’, he’ll do it. He doesn’t accept second-best as an option when it comes to his preparation. He wants to be the fittest, he wants to be the strongest.”He’s got a set-up at home to do his rehab as well – he does it in the clinic, he does it when he’s on tour. He’s up every morning, having treatment or whatever he needs to get done.”The maintenance work Clarke has done almost continually since his international career began has been focused on keeping his core as strong as possible, while also maintaining flexibility for his back. Conditioning has been vital too, and there is always a balance to be struck around training intensely to ensure he is able not only to bat but dive around in the field. He has also needed to avoid an excess of the sort of activity that might cause his back to lock up at the wrong moment. Clarke’s habit of standing up for long stretches of team bus or plane trips to save his back is well known.Just as Atherton’s batting form ebbed away on the 1998-99 Ashes tour of Australia, when his troublesome discs flared badly, and Mark Taylor’s infamous drought of Test runs was preluded by his own bout of back trouble, Clarke’s lowest series as an Australian cricketer followed one of his most unfortunately timed relapses. In the Sheffield Shield match immediately before the first Test against England in 2010, he felt the familiar pain, and hobbled through the latter stages of the match in obvious discomfort.By the time the Gabba match rolled around, his condition had improved, but there was ample evidence of restricted movement in one of his least characteristic innings, a tortured 9 from 50 balls that ended with a pained half-pull shot and an edge behind. It was an innings that more or less defined his series. Looking back, Kountouris remembers a race to get Clarke fit enough to play, though he denies he was still struggling with movement when he was cleared to play.”It was a race around the clock. He had the Shield game and then it was only a week before the first Test in a massive series and he was keen to play and the team was keen for him to play,” Kountouris says. “But by the time it got to the Test, he was pretty good. Once you’ve had an injury, you’re a bit ginger and a bit hesitant to throw yourself around and it’s a natural process to be protective and look after yourself. If he’d made a hundred, everyone would have said fantastic, but because he didn’t make runs and they bounced him, everyone said, ‘He’s restricted.'”We wouldn’t have played him if he was carrying back pain. One thing about Test cricket is how tough a game it is. It goes for five days, and you don’t want to bring people in with things like that because over the five days they’ll be exposed. That’s one of the hardest parts of the job, trying to predict what’s going to happen over five days. If the game goes for two hours, a different story, you can cope. But six hours, five days in a row, it’s pretty tough.”Conversations with the players are along the lines of, ‘Can you do this? Can you bowl 40 or 30 overs in the second innings?’ We work on the worst-case scenario in the game. When Michael Clarke goes into a game I expect him to be fit to make 150… although now I have to be sure he’s fit to make 200. We literally have that conversation: ‘Can you make 150 with how you are?’ And that’s the expectation.”The back injury has forced Michael Clarke to miss a number of limited-overs matches, but never a Test yet•Getty ImagesIt will be no tougher than over the next five weeks in India, where Clarke’s fitness will be central to his team’s chances. Towards the conclusion of each of the past two summers, Clarke has battled hamstring trouble, linked to his back, and the stubborn nature of the problems has forced him to miss numerous limited-overs matches, though not yet a Test. Kountouris is aware that Clarke is no longer the young man who burst into the side in 2004, and the captain’s management must reflect his advancing years.”You’ll say to him, ‘Yeah, you want to do that but we need to get there a different way than you used to when you were 23-24,'” Kountouris says. “With him it’s been more tinkering with what he does now, the way he goes about training. He’s 31 now, not 21 anymore, so we adjust that and then hope he gets through. He knows he’s had these injuries in the past, so because of that he does his rehabilitation or pre-habilitation, or strength training to make sure he remains strong.”There’s always times when there’s something he can go down with, like the hamstring injury in the Melbourne Test match – it happened seven days before the Boxing Day Test [against Sri Lanka]. There was concern he wasn’t going to get up for that game, and when you play someone that soon after a hamstring injury there’s a risk of re-injury. But it’s an informed decision. He’s a senior player and he’s comfortable, he understands his body. If he says he’s confident he can do it then you trust him. Fortunately we manage him on a constant level, try to be as regular as we can with his strength and his treatment and stuff like that, and we don’t get into those scenarios very often.”There will be times ahead when Clarke may need to manage himself extra carefully. The IPL that follows the India Tests is a period of particular concern. Other moments may arise when self-preservation precludes him from taking part in training, or he may disappear from the team’s inner sanctum for a visit to a clinic. Clarke’s longevity in the game is as much about his desire to continue doing all the extra work that has become a part of his career, doubly so since he became captain. After ten years there will be times when it becomes tiresome.In 1998, with England on the brink of their much-celebrated victory over South Africa at Headingley, Atherton was not in the field, nor the dressing room. He was in a cab scuttling through Leeds, having gone to hospital for a check-up on stomach problems related to his back treatment. His oblivious driver listened to , and at the moment of the final wicket exclaimed: “I knew we’d win something, now that Atherton’s not in charge.” For Clarke, the physical ailment is familiar, but the team scenario quite different – right now, no one can imagine Australia winning a series without him.

ESPNcricinfo selects the BPL’s best eleven, keeping in mind the tournament’s stipulation of having only five overseas players in a team

Mohammad Isam20-Feb-2013Shamsur Rahman
Before this BPL, Shamsur was one of those run-of-the-mill Bangladeshi batsmen who hadn’t done any justice to his talent. After it ended, he was the third highest run-scorer, going some way to fulfill his potential. It also won him a place in the 25-member preliminary Bangladesh side for the Sri Lanka tour. Shamsur hit six fifties in the tournament, the most by any batsman in a single BPL. Out of those six fifties, three led to wins for the Rangpur Riders. His best innings was an unbeaten 98 against Sylhet Royals, though he could have easily got to his century had he upped his scoring rate, as he made just eight run in the final five overs.Brad Hodge
It is hard to keep Hodge out of these elevens, because the 400-odd runs he scored in this edition is quite a regular performance from the Australian batsman. He is the tournament’s highest scorer with 756 runs in two seasons, and led the Barisal Burners quite well once again. They were within one win short of another last-four finish but couldn’t get through. Hodge’s best knock came in a losing cause. Against the Riders in Khulna, only two Barisal batsmen made it to double figures, yet Hodge and Sabbir Rahman went after the Riders’ competitive total of 174 runs, falling seven runs short with Hodge finishing 58 off 38 balls.Brendan Taylor
Before Taylor was thrust into the Chittagong Kings captaincy, the teams’ hopes had begun to dwindle on the field, with their only success being Brian Lara’s appearance in the dugout. After losing their first home game, Mahmudullah relinquished the captaincy, and Taylor was asked to lead. For the next seven games, he turned around the team’s fortune by not just scoring runs, but also managing the multinational team appropriately. In the knockout stage, Taylor’s presence was heavily missed as the Kings struggled to chase Duronto Rajshahi’s 107 in the elimination final. But the team will certainly take advantage of the winning mentality he instilled during the seven matches he was in charge.Shakib Al Hasan
In a Dhaka Gladiators line-up that is studded with Twenty20 stars, Shakib still stood out even if he had limited opportunities with the bat. He often had to bail out the batting line-up with considered knocks, but this BPL campaign was mostly about his bowling. Shakib tended to bowl the required quiet four-over spell, as the batsmen struggled to get him away. He conceded less than a run a ball in four games. On each of those occasions, the Gladiators walked out winners. His rapid 41 in the final was vital, along with the 38 he made in the race to the final game against the Royals. These performances were enough for the organisers to judge him as the Man-of-the-Tournament.Mushfiqur Rahim, captain and wicketkeeper
He was consistent with the bat throughout, scoring important runs and not minding where he batted, as he finished as the season’s highest run-scorer. In the latter part of the competition, Mushfiqur had to anchor the innings right till the end as Paul Stirling, Hamilton Masakadza and Shivnarine Chanderpaul were inconsistent. He was also good enough to be among the late-order hitters, striking the ball almost as long as he did hard. There can always be a debate whether Taylor was the better captain in the tournament, but to carry an underdog like Sylhet Royals all the way to the second semifinal took some doing. Mushfiqur praised coach Mohammad Salahuddin for a balanced dressing-room, but it was still he who led where and when it mattered.Ryan ten Doeschate
The Kings needed one batsman to take charge, and after Brendon Taylor left that responsibility was taken by Ryan ten Doeschate. Ten Doeschate finished as the second highest run-scorer of the tournament. The form of Ravi Bopara had initially led to ten Doeschate being benched, which seems almost improbable when you consider how successful he was for the team. Ten Doeschate held firm, and in the crucial moments, his stylish shots came out readily when required. Even when wickets were falling at the other end, and he was struggling with his timing, ten Doeschate had an answer: case in point, the second semifinal against the Sylhet Royals, when he struck a vital 44 off 28 balls to steer the Kings home, and into the BPL final.Azhar Mahmood
He tweeted his regret at missing out on the Man-of-the-Tournament award just after Shakib walked away with the car, but it had indeed been a stellar tournament for Mahmood. Much of what Barisal Burners did this year revolved around him, their captain Hodge and youngster Sabbir Rahman. Mahmood’s runs came at a fair clip, though the average was low by his standards. His wickets however, were more important as the Burners had neither the firepower nor the guile to defend small totals. He provided accuracy and skill to take wickets and kept his faltering side afloat through the tournament.Alfonso Thomas went past 200 Twenty20 wickets in this tournament•Getty ImagesAlfonso Thomas
Thomas could have finished the BPL with a hat-trick if it wasn’t for Enamul Haque jnr’s drive to sweeper cover for a couple of runs. It was the only time Thomas was thwarted in the final, where he took a three-wicket haul. He hardly gave many runs away in this tournament, yet none of his performances were particularly magnificent. He did just enough, especially at the death where he was tough to get away. Thomas also became the second bowler in Twenty20 history to take more than 200 wickets.Sohag Gazi
Gazi could have classified himself as a new-ball bowler; such was the number of times he opened for the Sylhet Royals against the oppositions’ biggest hitters. And he was successful. Most of his 17 wickets came in the first spell, with Mushfiqur Rahim using him wisely up front, and then right at the end, where he sometimes struggled to keep shape. Gazi improved tremendously as an offspinner, and was vital to the Royals’ impressive run in the tournament.Mosharraf Hossain
His 3 for 26 in the final changed the course of the game completely. Chittagong Kings were in visible comfort during their chase when he removed ten Doeschate to an attempted cut shot. But that was not all; he kept it tight thereafter, making things easier for the other spinners. This has been a fruitful tournament for Mosharraf, a left-arm spinner who has been around for a long time in domestic cricket. He was picked regularly by the Dhaka Gladiators, and performed well throughout. He finished with 17 wickets, but could have had a few more, had the Gladiators’ fielders held catches off his bowling.Enamul Haque jnr
Chittagong Kings would have had a difficult BPL campaign had it not been for Enamul Haque jnr’s wickets. He struck regularly, and also began to lead the attack. After Shakib, he is Bangladesh’s best left-arm spinner. He doesn’t enjoy the Twenty20 version too much, but did well in the last BPL (he took 13 wickets) and can now add another 18 wickets in this tournament. He is the leading wicket-taker after two editions, and without his calm overs, the Kings wouldn’t have progressed to the last four, let alone the final.

From Pradeep Ramaratnam, USA

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013From Pradeep Ramaratnam, USAMy grandfather was an amazing man.The shipment of my books, from Mumbai along with the rest of my stuff arrived in New York this morning. All mental and physical faculties were singularly focused on ensuring they were stacked in their rightful positions in my bookshelf. Fat History Books at the bottom, Craig Thompson, Gaiman and Sacco at the top and my beloved cricket books at eye level. I was almost done, when I chanced upon The MCC 1787-1937.My grandpa grew up in a place called Manathattai in Tamil Nadu, India. Growing up, we were conned into thinking it is a village, while all it was was an “Agraharam”, a tenement of nine or ten homes, with fewer people than at my neighbourhood Irish Bar on a Tuesday afternoon. So his first real brush with cricket came in college, when he had a chance to be coached by the legendary AG Ram Singh.My grandfather was a wrist spinner (leg, of course), and was renowned among his peers for his fourth-innings performances on the dusty TN provincial centres. One particularly favorite uncle from Papanasam told me about his 6/19 against Thanjavur Colleges in 1941.Thanjavur was a fancied team, although the captain, from memory, was a curious blend of Vizzy (he had a masseur tend to him between innings), Rajam from Swami and Friends (he had 4 Junior Willard bats) and Sultan Zarawani (he had a car).I would like to believe the Kulithalai town administration declared a holiday the day after my grandfather won them their most important match.I can’t remember if my grandfather gave me any toys or comic books. I do remember, though, on my ninth birthday, there was a cricket kit and a copy of Bradman’s How to Play cricket waiting for me. On my tenth birthday, my granddad pulled out an innocuous bunch of bound Sport and Pastime magazines from the 40s. I saw pictures of the Bedser Brothers and Vijay Merchant, I saw pictures of Vizzy, who seemed exactly what I thought he would be like (an overgrown Billy Bunter), and read a most magnificent anthology of Jack Hobbs by, of all people, Dattu Phadkar. I came 51st out of 55 students in my fourth standard finals.But I was going to be a leg spinner, just like my grandpa.As years grew by, my granddad fed my fascination with cricket with books I have never seen since – Cricket Delightful by Mushtaq Ali (with a foreword by Keith Miller. Respect), Indian Cricket’s almanacks of the late 40s, and a most magnificent Esso Scrapbook when the MCC team visited in 1961. And so on. I fell asleep on his bed many times , listening to why CF Walters trumped Frank Woolley in the elegance stakes and how MA Sathasivam from Ceylon made the greatest double hundred he ever saw, in the MJ Gopalan trophy between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. I never saw Walters, or Sathasivam, or Ramchand or Vasant Ranjane. But I have an unpixellated, graphic picture in my head of what their backlift must have looked like, what their run-ups must have looked like, and I am fairly sure I’m close to the real thing.My grandfather was a man of incredible virtue. He said in his time, a batsman was given not out if even the wrist of the fielder catching the ball touched the ground.He would have cringed at Ponting in the Sydney Test of ’08. He extended his values to other facets of life. Businessmen of high repute and who possessed many safari suits were summarily discharged from my house if they tried to bribe the good chartered accountant.My grandfather never even “thumbed”, while playing carrom, a form of cheating so accepted, it is incorporated in the rules now.It has been 10 years since he left us. But I have hung on to his memory, like Eknath Solkar to an inside edge. His memory, and his incredible impact on me growing up lives through these faded, yellowing books. And it is for this reason, that I will never be sick of cricket.As I said, my grandfather was an amazing man.

Plays of the Day from the second day of the first Test between New Zealand and England in Dunedin.

Andrew McGlashan in Dunedin07-Mar-2013Relief of the dayBruce Martin’s first significant touch of the ball in Test cricket was not the best. Diving to his left at midwicket he spilled a chance offered by Alastair Cook, on nine, not a batsman who normally misses out on on a reprieve. However, in the next over, Neil Wagner’s first, Cook was offered width and instead of sending it to the boundary picked out Hamish Rutherford at point. Nobody enjoyed it more than Martin.First ball of the dayFor a great batsman, Kevin Pietersen is a very jumpy starter. Bowlers around the world know they have a very small window to make the most of it. Wagner, already with his tail up after Cook’s wicket, was spot on with his first delivery; full and straight with just a hint of shape to catch Pietersen in front. It was the fifth golden duck of Pietersen’s Test career, the previous one was against Pakistan, at Lord’s, in 2010 when he edged Mohammad Amir to the wicketkeeper. It also meant he joined Ian Botham at the top of the list of  the number of golden ducks by those considered batsmen for England.Spitting image of the dayDaniel Vettori, New Zealand’s premier slow bowler since 1997, is currently sidelined by injury but in nearly everything except the name there was a replica on show at the University Oval. Martin has operated in Vettori’s shadow since being named in a Test squad in 2000 and 13 years later his chance had finally come. His run-up, gather and delivery stride were the signs of someone who has studied Vettori for years. The moment he had waited for arrived early in the afternoon session when Matt Prior cut to point and in the blink of eye Martin then had three. By the end of the innings he had four.Dim shot of the dayThere was competition for this tag from the England batsmen, but Stuart Broad’s demise topped the list. Following a strong sweep against Martin that went for a boundary, Brendon McCullum moved Dean Brownlie back towards the rope. Martin served up another delivery that Broad felt he could dispatch but either he hadn’t noticed the field change, or inexplicably forgot about it in the few seconds that elapsed because he could not have placed it better for Brownlie to take the catch.Father-son stat of the dayHamish Rutherford does not overly enjoy being asked about his father, Ken, and the meaning of following him into Test cricket. However, there was an obvious comparison to make because when Hamish reached 12, which came swiftly off 12 deliveries, he had made more than his old man managed in his first seven innings. Ken bagged a pair in his first Test, against West Indies, so as soon as Hamish clipped his fourth ball sweetly through midwicket he had avoided a repeat of that.Partnership of the dayHundred opening stands for New Zealand have been like hens’ teeth. On the eve of this Test, McCullum admitted he was at “risk” to bring together a new pair but by the end of the day it looked like a masterstroke. Rutherford and Peter Fulton combined for New Zealand’s first 100-run opening stand since Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum put on 124 against Zimbabwe in Napier 12 Tests ago. Their previous against a major nation was facing Pakistan in January 2011.

How has South Africa’s captain lasted so long with a technique that shouldn’t work in Test cricket?

Aakash Chopra28-Feb-2013When at 22, Graeme Smith was charged with leading South African cricket following the Cronje storm and Shaun Pollock’s matter-of-fact captaincy, not many envisaged this unorthodox, upfront, untested player would bring back to their cricket its lost loyalty and pilot the team in a whopping 100 Tests.That is an epic stat, and Smith is the first in the history of the game to acquire it. So much so that his batting successes, which have been tremendous, look a bit pale in comparison.Going only by his style of batting – a strong bottom hand, stiff foot movements, and an unhealthy affinity for the on side – no one would have handed him a lot of Tests. But Smith has, first with his bat and then with his astute mind, rewritten the rules of consistency.It’s an extraordinary feat to not only survive but also thrive in Test cricket without having changed a technique that is considered un-Test like. In fact, Smith’s skill has made quality bowlers look completely clueless at times, for their good balls to other batsmen are run-scoring opportunities to Smith.Is it his captaincy that builds the batsman in him, or is it the player in him that leads by example? That’s a tough one to answer. From a technical vantage point, though, this is how he does it.Angles
Few have mastered the art of decoding the angles bowlers bowl better than Smith. He has a reasonable back-and-across movement to all fast bowlers, which allows him to get inside the line of the ball. Since he covers all three stumps even before the ball is bowled, most bowlers get lured into attempting to hit his pads, because he will be trapped in front if he misses. But Smith seldom misses balls pitched within the stumps.To complement their lines of operation within the stumps, bowlers crowd the on-side field, but even that doesn’t work on Smith, because he has the ability to create unbelievable angles with his bat. While most batsmen turn their wrist at the point of impact, Smith brings the bat down with the blade facing the on side. At times the leading edge of his bat is facing the bowler even before the point of impact. Conventional field placements simply don’t work with Smith, for his method isn’t conventional. Even the most astute bowlers have been sucked into this trap and have bowled to his strengths – on the legs.He also knows how to deal with changes in angles when bowlers switch sides. Whenever a right-hand bowler goes around the stumps, Smith goes further across and works even the balls pitched outside off through leg. By doing this, he makes sure that if he’s hit on the pads, it’s always outside the off stump.

Whenever a right-hand bowler goes around the stumps, Smith goes further across and works even the balls pitched outside off through leg. By doing this, he makes sure that if he’s hit on the pads, it’s always outside the off stump

Self-control
For an opener who doesn’t cover-drive, it’s an achievement to last over 100 Test matches, especially when you play most of your cricket on seamer-friendly pitches. The most common mode of operation for new-ball bowlers is to bowl in the corridor outside the off stump to induce edges off the front foot. But since the cover drive isn’t Smith’s most preferred shot (because his dominating bottom hand and limited front-foot movement make him susceptible to nicking), he exercises immense self-control to avoid playing it. But while he rarely attempts to cover-drive balls that aren’t full, he’s always quick to latch on to anything that’s short and wide. He’s a ferocious cutter of the ball, and that, somewhat makes up for his lack of fluency on the front foot through the off side.Where to bowl to him?
It’s imperative that the bowler guards against the lure of trying to hit Smith’s pads. Instead, focus on the channel outside off, with the length on the fuller side. If you err in line, you must err towards off and if you err in length, it must be fuller. While Smith is at his best against right-arm bowlers operating from over or around the stumps, he finds it difficult when a left-armer bowls to him from over the stumps, because that bowler has the option of coming close to the stumps and bowling straight on the off-stump line, which doesn’t give Smith the angles he likes to work with. That’s why Zaheer Khan has enjoyed an upper hand in their duels.No matter how close a right-arm fast bowler gets to the stumps while bowling over the wicket, it’s nearly impossible to bowl a straight ball that pitches on off and finishes on off, because the straight ball tends to go through to the slips. Similarly, it’s impossible to come close enough to the stumps while bowling around the stumps; and bowling from the edge of the crease creates an angle that Smith is happy to work with.It’s relatively easier to contain Smith if you have a good left-arm fast bowler in your team, but if you don’t enjoy that luxury, it’s prudent to devise an off-side strategy and stick to it for as long as possible. If you can’t get Smith out, try not to fall into his leg-side trap.Playing 100 Tests is a huge milestone. Smith has not only played but captained in as many. He’ll be remembered for both, and that is rare.

If you are a fan of Indian cricket, the Sunday game in Delhi would have made you very happy

Prithvijit Roy22-Apr-2013Choice of game
It was my dream to watch a good Virender Sehwag innings live and write an account of the day. I have watched matches in stadiums since 2005, my under-grad days, and it’s an addictive exercise. This was the first time I got to watch Sehwag in the flesh.Getting to the stadium
Since it was a marquee game, the stadium was packed. With all the security checks and general crowd mismanagement by the authorities, we missed the first three balls. I was heartbroken, because I had wanted to watch Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting walk in together. However, I was relieved to see that it was Dwayne Smith and not Ponting who had accompanied Tendulkar.Fan love
All the spectators watched Tendulkar’s entry with bated breath, regardless of the team they supported. Everyone must have cheered his defensive prod as much they did as his trademark straight drives or his vicious pulls to the boundary line. Shahbaz Nadeem became the darling of the crowd because he dropped a catch off on 37. It was only when Tendulkar was dismissed that you could make out the difference in allegiances.As the evening wore on and a cool breeze blew into the stadium, Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard made mincemeat of Delhi’s hapless attack.Key perfomer
I had already got my money’s worth from seeing Tendulkar bat. But I soon realised that was only the appetiser, because the main course was to be served by the artist and the butcher – Mahela Jayawardene and Virender Sehwag. From a spectator’s point of view, both styles were equally appealing. While you could hear a loud thwack when Sehwag struck the ball, it was only when you saw the ball race towards the boundary that you realised Jayawardene had made contact.My friends know I am an ardent Sehwag fan and he was indeed the showstopper yesterday, but in the years to come, perhaps, I will recall the razor-like precision with which Jayawardene manipulated the field. Who could believe this team was at the bottom of the table? I can proudly say I was a part of an evening crowd that watched one of the best batting displays. There were no slogs, no dilscoops or ugly hoicks. Just proper cricketing shots that struck a chord with the audience.One thing I’d have changed about the match
I’d have preferred to see Ponting bat rather than sit in his pads in the dugout.The comic relief
In between all the Sehwag-Jayawardene mania, Harbhajan Singh entertained us when he got hold of a kite that had floated down to the ground.Crowd meter
I usually try to get tickets for the East Stand, which has a better view, but this time I only managed to get seats in the West Stand. It was fascinating to watch all those mobile phone flashing across the stand to capture Tendulkar at the boundary line, the closest many fans would get to him. The good thing about players like Tendulkar and Harbhajan is that they acknowledge their supporters wherever they play, making it a point to wave to the crowd.Unfortunately my phone had got switched off, so I could not analyse the match with my friends who were watching TV, nor could I add a photo of Tendulkar on the boundary to Facebook to make them envious.Overall
As the match was drawing to a close, with Daredevils needing seven to win (and Sehwag on 91) David Warner became the villain of the day as he clipped a boundary and prevented Sehwag from getting a hundred before the match finished.Knowing that it would take us a long time to get out of the stadium, we hurried down from the third floor to the first so that it would be easy to make our exit. Seeing the floodlit stadium from the bottom up made me think how beautiful some of the innovations of this game are, like coloured clothing and day-night cricket. It has given the sport a wider appeal.

N Srinivasan has been free to stay on as BCCI president because politicians in the organisation kept silent

ESPNcricinfo staff29-May-2013N Srinivasan’s future as BCCI president is now in the hands of a group of senior politicians who are part of the BCCI, some of them holding positions on the board. These politicians, cutting across party lines, had maintained a studied silence through the spot-fixing and betting scandal and even after Srinivasan asserted his decision to stay on in charge following the arrest of his son-in-law and top Chennai Super Kings official Gurunath Meiyappan. That sparked outrage among the public, and especially in the media, that these politiians had failed to apply the standards of probity and transparency to Srinivasan that they demand in the political sphere. On Wednesday, it seemed that the wheels had started moving – prompted, most likely, with an eye on the general elections due in 2014 – and politicians began speaking out. The power they wield goes far beyond cricket and is more than sufficient to twist arms on the board. Here’s the who’s who of the BCCI’s political bossesArun Jaitley
President, Delhi & District Cricket Association; vice-president, BCCI; and member, IPL governing council
MP (BJP), Leader of the Opposition Party in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament
The Supreme Court has given it (BCCI) a 15-day time limit. It will give its report which will come up before the Disciplinary Committee. Be rest assured we are going to take tough action (against anyone found guilty).Narendra Modi
President, Gujarat Cricket Association
Chief Minister, Gujarat (from the BJP)
NothingAnurag Thakur
President, Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association and joint secretary, BCCI
MP, Lok Sabha (BJP)
NothingRajiv Shukla
Secretary, Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association and chairman, IPL governing council
MP (Congress), federal junior minister for parliamentary affairs
No official press conference since the first arrests on May 16.Jyotiraditya Scindia
President, Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association
MP (Congress), federal junior minister for power
The only politician in the BCCI to say Srinivasan should step downCP Joshi
President, Rajasthan Cricket Association
MP (Congress), federal minister for railways and road transport
NothingFarooq Abdullah
President, Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association
MP (National Conference) and federal minister for new and renewable energy
“Let the investigation get over. If it comes out in investigation that N Srinivasan is responsible, he will go, he is an honourable man.”