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Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s instinct told him, while he was looking on from the dressing room yesterday, that Australia was there for the taking

Cricinfo staff18-Oct-2008
Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored 35 runs in the region between fine leg and midwicket © AFP
Some players have an instinct that tells them when a team is there for the taking. Mahendra Singh Dhoni knew, looking on from the dressing room yesterday, that Australia was that team. Whenever a batsman hit a few boundaries Ricky Ponting would push his field back and the bowlers would bowl wide outside off stump. The tactics caused the run flow to ebb, and Australia escaped being dominated.Dhoni, however, came in to bat determined to dominate. He was aided by Ishant Sharma, who got Australia’s attack in bouncer-bowling mood with his stubborn defence – and got out to one, in fact. Dhoni’s first delivery came from Brett Lee, who charged in, bowled short and watched the ball speed off the bat towards the square-leg boundary. Peter Siddle tried his luck with a bouncer in the next over; Dhoni got inside the line and hooked it from in front of his face over the long-leg boundary.Dhoni had laid out his agenda for all to see, and he was a brave man for doing so. He began his innings with India in danger of being bowled out for a below-par total on a terrific batting pitch. Dhoni’s critics don’t recognise him as a reliable Test batsman; it was only his second Test as captain and the extra responsibility could have justified a safer approach had he wanted to adopt one. However, Sourav Ganguly wasn’t finding it easy to score steadily and so Dhoni needed to take charge.He ruined Australia’s satisfactory start by unsettling them. They tried to retort to his happy hooking with more short deliveries and two men on the leg-side boundary, but got more hooks in return. One time, when he was in no position to either hook or duck, Dhoni merely stood still and took the blow, from Lee, on his body. He did not flinch.Australia’s innovative fields did not come into play for Dhoni, for he was hitting the ball so hard that positions such as short midwicket or silly mid-on were fraught with danger. He took his chances against the only close catcher, a leg gully, and was lucky, pulling just to the left of the fielder on one occasion.In due time, after four short balls had disappeared for a six and three fours, Australia revised their plan against Dhoni. They tried to contain him by taking pace off the ball but by then he was well set, on 26 off 22 balls. His last substantial innings had been at The Oval in 2007. He had scored 92 then, and his hitting in that match had been just as clean.Dhoni scored 92 out of the 158 runs India scored today. He managed to add 31 with tailenders who weren’t half as motivated as they had been in Bangalore. In this Test, despite being captain, he was the batsman whose head was the least cluttered.

Change for change’s sake is something that the England management rarely sees fit to sanction, even when the cosiness on display becomes so self-serving that it is ridiculed in pre-series dossiers by high-profile former opponents

Andrew Miller at Headingley09-Aug-2009In the desperate summer of 1989, England’s selectors churned their way through 29 players, only two of whom – the captain, David Gower, and the wicketkeeper, Jack Russell – featured in all six Tests. Graham Gooch asked to be dropped at Trent Bridge after his form fell through the floor, while Mike Gatting got so disillusioned with the whole national set-up, he cut a deal with Ali Bacher and recruited half the team for a rebel tour of South Africa.Twenty years on, and things haven’t quite got that bad for England just yet. For starters, they are all-square in the Ashes with one Test to play, a position of considerable strength compared to their travails in every previous series of the past two decades, barring of course the anomaly of 2005. The situation is far from panic stations, as Andrew Strauss made predictably clear, as he called for “calm reflection” in the aftermath of another remarkable English humiliation.And yet, there really is a case for, if not a herd-instinct stampede, then at least an injection of adrenalin ahead of England’s most significant Test since they last faced Australia at The Oval, four years ago. As recently as Friday, England had hoped that their showdown in SE11 would be a dead-rubber at best, and an Australian must-win at worst. Instead, all the onus is on England to force the pace and reclaim the series lead they had held since Lord’s, and it’s hard to see how that is possible with a flat-lining middle-order that has contributed 16 runs for six dismissals in 17 overs.So far in the series, England have used a mere 14 players – and two of their call-ups, Steve Harmison for Andrew Flintoff and Ian Bell for Kevin Pietersen – have come about as a consequence of injury. But as of the end of the Headingley debacle, not a single one of the chosen few averages either 50 with the bat, or below 30 with the ball. A few come close, most notably Strauss, but the overall impression is that England are all too content to wallow in mediocrity.Since crashing three centuries in consecutive innings against West Indies, Ravi Bopara has barely scraped into three figures in his next seven innings, with a tally of 105 runs at 15 so far in the series. Since starting strongly with back-to-back fifties at Cardiff, Paul Collingwood has mustered 87 runs in his next five visits to the crease, with his technique against the outswinger sorely undermined. And as for Bell, he was stunningly fortunate to reach a half-century at Edgbaston, when he might have been pinned lbw at least twice, but this week’s returns of 8 and 3 are a fairer reflection of his timidity under fire.”We need to look at what’s happened in this game, and the last four games to be honest, before coming together with the selectors to talk about what route we need to go down,” said Strauss. “Obviously that middle-order display was below what we need and the guys know that. They need to learn a lesson from that. But I don’t think you should get carried away. Everyone’s capable of getting out and making mistakes. That’s the game of cricket for you.”That may be so, but it’s also a predictable response. Change for change’s sake is something that the England management rarely sees fit to sanction, even when the cosiness on display becomes so self-serving that it is ridiculed in pre-series dossiers by high-profile former opponents. Justin Langer’s leaked document, in which he asserts that English players are “flat and lazy” and liable to crumble when put under pressure, has been shown to be spot on, just as it happened to be when England last lost a Test match, again in humiliating circumstances, at Sabina Park in February.”All I’d say is it’s time for calm reflection and selections should be based on a calm reflective manner,” said Strauss. “If you’re thinking about wholesale changes I’d be very resistant to that, but whatever decision we come to, hopefully we’ve thought through it properly. And we pick the right XI to win that Test match.”In 1989, England went into the Oval Test (with rather less at stake) with two debutants, John Stephenson and Alan Igglesden – one never played again, the other had to wait five years for two further opportunities. Such a strategy would hardly be advised this time around, but there is a case for giving the flick to continuity, which has done nothing but expose Bopara’s limitations and offer Bell innumerable opportunities to prove his lack of cojones, and appeal to a pair of county veterans to answer the call one last time. What’s the worst that could happen? It would be hard to undercut a return of 16 for 6.On Saturday at Edgbaston, Marcus Trescothick scored his sixth first-class century of the season to move clear on 1330 runs as the leading run-scorer in the County Championship. Tucked in just behind him, on 1209 but with an average that is now in excess of 100, is none other than Mark Ramprakash. For contrasting reasons, neither man has featured in the England reckoning for more than three years, and in Ramprakash’s case, the best part of a decade, but in that time he has become the 25th player, and surely the last, to score 100 first-class hundreds.According to sources close to Trescothick, the chances of him coming out of retirement, even for a one-off valedictory performance, are next to nil, although Justin Langer, his county captain at Somerset and adversary in two Ashes campaigns, told Cricinfo that his character and ability would be just what England need to re-establish their presence after such a humbling Test match.”It would be a massive call [to select Trescothick],” said Langer, “but he is a greatplayer and you can’t believe how well he’s batting at the moment. I would not be surprised at all if he got a call asking whether he would play [at The Oval], but that would open up a big can of worms.”Would it just be a one-off?” he asked. “Would he just play Tests that weren’t overseas? Then you might get a situation where other players ask to not go on overseas tours. You’ve also got to think about the message you’re sending to the younger players out there. Tres and Ramps are sensational players, though. I can’t talk highly enough of them.”Given the stress-related illness that led to Trescothick’s retirement, the likelihood of him agreeing to a recall would be remote in the extreme, but in Ramprakash’s case, it cannot be entirely ruled out, given that he was mentioned in England dispatches as recently as 2007.”We’ve got to make a judgment call about the best 11 players to win that last Test,” said Strauss. “It’s 1-1 in the series and the winner takes all. You need 11 guys to stand up to want it enough and be desperate enough to win it. If you get that situation you’ve got a good chance to win it.”

Cricinfo staff02-Dec-2009It may sound harsh, at the end of a day when their batsmen scored 366 runs at a brisk pace, but Sri Lanka missed a trick today. The runs column looks healthy but what will concern them is the wickets lost – eight down, which might be too many on a pitch that eased after a lively first session. And, perhaps more significantly, the manner in which they were lost.The session scores are revealing: 117 for 1 off 27 overs at lunch; 213 for 4 off 56 overs (tea) and then a strong surge in the final session that produced 153 runs off 33 overs for the loss of four more wickets.Though there was never a dramatic collapse, those seven wickets in the final two sessions meant a waste of promising starts. Kumar Sangakkara and the two Jayawardenes – Mahela and Prasanna – faltered just when Sri Lanka were on top of the bowling. Sangakkara, the captain, would be most concerned about his own form – he has failed to post even a half-century in the six Tests he has played so far in India. The struggle he faced here in 2005 has been extended four years on, the same impatience proving again to be his undoing. In Ahmedabad, he went for an unnecessary pull when the situation was well under control; in Kanpur he dragged a widish delivery on to his stumps in the first innings and, in the second, accounted for the run out of Mahela Jayawardene while attempting to take an unnecessary and cheeky single.Today, despite good movement in the first hour, Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan failed to hit the right lengths consistently, allowing Tillakaratne Dilshan and Tharanga Paranavitana to compile their highest opening stand of the series (93). That seemed to have lulled them into some sense of security when the spinners came on and, after a few overs of sharp turn and flight and the day’s first maiden, Paranavitarna tried to hit Harbhajan with the spin and faltered.India went to lunch sensing hope and, after the break, their faith paid off as the batsmen. threw their wickets just when they got on top of the bowling. Sangakkara had hit two boundaries before trying an ugly charge against Pragyan Ojha only to be caught behind. Mahela, reckoned to be Sri Lanka’s most dangerous batsman given a start, caved in to the pressure built by a testing spell of both conventional and reverse swing bowling from Sreesanth and was bounced out, caught at deep backward square-leg. Later with less than an hour’s play left, Prasanna stepped out ambitiously to hit Ojha over the top but was caught at mid-on.Luckily for Sri Lanka, Dilshan and Angelo Mathews were a bit more circumspect. Dilshan played with maturity and responsibility to set up a good platform while Mathews finally revealed his potential, and put to use his physique, to retain the advantage at the end.Dilshan’s was the more impressive innings considering he adapted to the situation successfully rather than adopting his usual hell-for-leather approach, playing the anchor as Paranavitarna assumed majority of the strike. Dilshan understood the need was to persist and not perish. The bowlers tried to attack him and lure him in alternate measure but Dilshan played selflessly to notch up a century that could prove crucial in the context of the series.Later, Mathews adopted the Virender Sehwag approach to batting. Sehwag recently spoke about attacking tired bowlers and pushing the advantage your way in the final hour and today Mathews went after Harbhajan Singh by consistently sweeping him and using the long handle each time he received a loose ball. It would be a commendable effort if Mathews reaches his maiden hundred, but he would be happier if Sri Lanka can inch towards 500.

Botham had bucketloads of self-belief to go with his tremendous talent. Even when age slowed him down he could will wickets into falling with the force of his personality

Mike Selvey03-Oct-2010Herein lies a cricket tale of a heady concoction of exceptional talent laced with self-belief to match. Such gargantuan self-belief, in fact, that just as the Piraha tribe of northwest Brazil speak an obscure language in which there is no concept of numbers, so in the lexicon of Ian Botham’s cricket existence, there is no word for “impossible”. He does not, and never has done, “can’t”. In the 15 years that he played international cricket, there was no batsman alive (or indeed, dead) who could not have been dismissed by a bouncer (this despite being, in his lithe, uninhibited pomp, before he lost his waistline and his back went, the finest swing bowler of his or perhaps any generation); no bowler who could not have been bludgeoned into submission; no slip catch that could not have been taken by the expedience of standing two yards closer than anyone else dared; and no situation so dire that it could not have been rescued by his personal intervention.His extremes, on and off the field, some of them destructive, were indicative of a strength too, a double-O cricketer with licence to thrill and a constitution that would make tungsten seem like talc. Nothing was to be done, or indeed worth doing, if not to excess: the finest all-round performance in Test history came on the back of a 48-hour bender that would have felled an elephant. If, overall, other allrounders of the modern era have come to be regarded as his equal if not his superior – Jacques Kallis, Imran Khan and Kapil Dev prominent, along with Richard Hadlee and, to an extent, Wasim Akram – then none could match the depth and breadth of his deeds in the first five years or so following his dramatic Trent Bridge debut, when the world was at his feet and the game came so easily to him.But first, a short but true illustrative anecdote. Botham is playing golf in Australia, and has a short-iron approach shot into an elevated green, while his playing partners watch from above, with a sight of the green that is denied him. He plays his stroke, the ball just clears a bunker, pitches on the fringe and just hobbles onto the putting surface, 30 feet from the pin. Botham stomps onto the green, prowls around for an old pitch-mark – any pitch-mark – close to the hole and makes great play of repairing an imaginary indentation “Spun back,” he harrumphed. “Too much action on it.” Now the point is not that this was some banal act of bravado or bullshit, but that he really did actually believe that this is what had happened. So secure in his mind was the infallibility of whatever he was trying to do that there could be no other credible explanation. How else could it have got there?Whether batting, bowling, catching swallows, quaffing bottle after bottle of fine wine, or walking his thousands of miles for charity, his belief (as distinct from self-confidence) in his indestructability was, and remains, quite staggering. He is the best broadcaster in the business: just ask him.No one has ever been able to turn round a series or his own form quite as dramatically as he, when in 1981, with Mike Brearley’s assistance, he pulled himself up from the ignominy of the Long Room’s roaring silence after completing a pair against Australia, and from the subsequent loss of the coveted England captaincy after 12 inglorious matches in charge (nine of them, unfortunately against the great West Indies team), to his great feats, shackles removed, at Headingley, Old Trafford and Edgbaston, which are now part of English cricket folklore. Friend or foe, he never did things by halves.

It was the very nature of his all-round skills and temperament that made him the player he was: bowling gave him the licence to bat without inhibition, in the knowledge that redemption could always come with the ball. Likewise, adventurous bowling could be offset with the bat

It is the benchmark of the genuine allrounder that the bowling average should be less than that for batting, and in that regard Botham fits the bill: 5200 runs at around 33; 383 wickets at 28.4. There were 14 Test centuries and 27 five-wicket hauls. He took 120 catches, an England record he holds jointly with Colin Cowdrey, and missed only a handful. He managed to score a century and take five wickets in an innings in the same match on five occasions: no one else has managed more than twice. He was the first to score a century and take 10 wickets in a match, something only Imran has succeeded in matching since. Statistics and bikinis, though: revealing and concealing at the same time.If he retired a brilliant achiever, then Botham in his youthful prime was a phenomenon. He made his debut, against Australia, in 1977, when he was still 21, and was still only 23 when he completed the double of 100 wickets and 1000 runs, with four hundreds and no fewer than 10 five-wicket innings, in fewer matches, 21, than anyone (Kapil 25, Imran 30). Three years on, just days past his 26th birthday, he reached the next level of 200 wickets and 2000 runs (a further four centuries and eight more five-fors); fewest matches again, 42 (Kapil and Imran both 50). Twenty-eight and it was 300 wickets, and to be precise, 4153 runs; fewest games, 72, once more (Kapil 83, Imran 75). His bowling average for the first 100 wickets was 18.97; for 200 it was 21.2: if he had retired then, it would have been preserved as amongst the best in history.But what sort of a cricketer was he? His character was evident from the moment, as a teenager, he picked himself up, having been felled by an Andy Roberts bouncer, spat out his broken teeth, and won a game for Somerset. By the time he made the England side, his reputation was burgeoning, his exuberance there for all to see. His bowling was waspish, the ball snaking this way and that at his command. Batsmen were seduced, slips permanently interested. At Lord’s in 1978, having made a century, he destroyed Pakistan with 8 for 34 – arguably the best display of swing bowling seen in England. Utterly compelling.Later, as his flexibility decreased and his back got worse, he resorted to bullish bowling, a rampager in a china shop, who as much through force of personality could will wickets from nothing. He had no right to bowl England to victory at Edgbaston in 1981, but from nowhere he muscled his way to a 28-ball spell of 5 for 1 and beat his chest in animalistic celebration. Even by the end of his career, reduced to military medium (his “Tom Cartwrights”, as he called his bowling, not disparaging but honouring his great mentor) he could still con his way to wickets on reputation alone: 4 for 31 against Australia in Sydney in the 1992 World Cup was a steal, a heist, a hoot. There is, he would observe, a sucker born every minute.If he had retired with 200 wickets to his name, at 21.2, his achievement would have been preserved among the best in history•Getty ImagesHe was a technically gifted batsman too, attacking by instinct but orthodox and defensively sound, so that, out of character, he was able, with massive self-denial, to take almost four and a quarter hours over scoring 51 not out, to save, rather than win, the 1984 Oval Test against Pakistan. Only three times, and each one a century, one a double, had he batted longer, and then at most by an hour. It was incidentally his last Test half-century. As a contrast, his twin 1981 epics, 149 not out at Headingley and 118 at Old Trafford, came from 148 balls and 103 balls respectively. The bats that he used, unlike those of today, were as heavy as they looked, and his muscularity allowed him to achieve enormous power from the leverage of his arms and legs. He hit beautifully straight. There is no question that with a different mindset he would have made a fine international batsman alone. But it was the very nature of his all-round skills and temperament that made him the player he was: bowling gave him the licence to bat without inhibition, in the knowledge that redemption could always come with the ball. Likewise, adventurous bowling could be offset with the bat. Such freedom of expression, and the confidence to understand its application, is a rarity.His 1981 achievements define him still, and rightly so given the circumstances. Yet no single match encapsulates more about Botham as a cricketer and person than does the Jubilee Test, played at the Wankhede Stadium in Bombay in February of the previous year.Botham was approaching the pinnacle of his all-round powers, the leading wicket-taker (including a remarkable 11 for 186 from 80.5 overs in the first Test) and run-maker in a disastrous three-match series for England in Australia. The team were on the way home when they landed in India, exhausted after an intensive winter. Botham, so legend has it, was demob-happy and had been for several days. From this unpromising base came bowling figures of 6 for 58 in the first innings (five of them with catches to Bob Taylor, who took a record seven in the innings) and 7 for 48 in the second – 13 for 106 in the match, figures bettered for England post-war only by Laker, Bedser and Underwood – with an innings of 114 as the filling in the sandwich. “It was,” said , “an extraordinary all-round performance by Botham, whose versatility was in full bloom. There was hardly a session on which he did not bring his influence to bear.” It might almost be his cricketing epitaph. In that match, the world was his oyster. It was never again quite as simple as that. The next time he took the field for England, he was captain.

South Africa have been the more consistent side in World Cups, but India’s batting firepower could give them a slight advantage in batting-friendly conditions

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan11-Mar-2011Australia’s decline in Test cricket has meant that India and South Africa have contested the most interesting and eagerly anticipated matches in recent times. But the story is quite different in ODIs. Both teams have managed to triumph in bilateral series against Australia in recent times, but have been unable to match the consistency of Australia in global tournaments. While Australia have won the last three World Cups and the previous two editions of the Champions Trophy, South Africa and India have won just one major tournament each in the last 15 years. However, this time the two teams are being seen as leading contenders, and their clash on Saturday could go some way in deciding which team tops the group.Evenly matched in recent years
India were no match for South Africa for most of the 1990s, winning just nine matches and losing 20. In the 2000s, however, the contests have been far more competitive, with India winning 15 to South Africa’s 19. While India won the home series 2-1 in the beginning of 2010, South Africa won a closely fought ODI series 3-2 at home in January 2011. South Africa have won both the World Cup matches played between the teams, but India have emerged on top in both matches played in the Champions Trophy. India, however, have a slight advantage over South Africa in matches played in India since 2000, winning seven matches to South Africa’s five.

India v South Africa in ODIs

PlayedWonLostW/L ratioOverall6524390.61Between 1990 and 1999309200.45Matches since 20003515190.79In India since 200012751.40Since Jan 20088441.00In World Cup2020.00Champions Trophy220-South Africa the better all-round side
India have been the more dominant side in home ODIs since 2008, averaging over 45 and scoring at over six per over. South Africa are not far behind and average over 40 while scoring at nearly six per over in tougher batting conditions. Both teams have been quite good in the bowling department in their home games with South Africa, in particular, averaging an excellent 26.73. South Africa have been the better bowling team in away ODIs with a slightly better economy rate and average than India’s. Since 2008, South Africa have also been the best batting team in the subcontinent, with an average of 45.02, which is higher than that of Australia and India. Their superb bowling average of just over 25 gives them an impressive average difference of nearly 20, which is much better than India’s 7.76.

Batting and bowling records of both teams since Jan 2008

TeamMatchesW/L ratioRuns/wicket (batting)Run rateRuns/wicket(bowling)Economy rateAverage diffRun rate diffIndia(home)283.3345.416.0832.975.6012.440.48South Africa(home)302.7540.065.8126.734.9813.330.83India(away)291.5234.245.4030.715.253.530.15South Africa(away)681.8038.775.3628.005.1410.770.22India(subcontinent)652.3139.125.7531.365.367.760.39South Africa(subcontinent)141.8045.025.3925.064.9319.960.46The teams are level 4-4 in eight matches played since 2008. However, when the batting performance in the head-to-head matches is analysed, South Africa have been the more consistent side. They average higher and score at a faster clip in the first 15 overs. India have been the more aggressive batting side in the middle overs, with a boundary percentage of 43 as compared to South Africa’s 27. The low dot-ball percentage for South Africa in the middle overs, though, demonstrates that they pick up far more ones and twos than India. South Africa have scored slightly faster than India in the last ten overs and have a lower dot-ball percentage in that phase of the innings.

Performance across the innings for teams in head-to-head matches since 2008

TeamPeriod (overs)Batting averageRun rate% of Boundary runs% dot ballsIndia0-1527.094.7454.1365.69South Africa0-1539.585.6055.2760.55India16-4034.675.7043.1648.89South Africa16-4037.375.0427.3545.41India41-5019.506.7452.0145.26South Africa41-5019.177.2043.0832.15India’s bowling a concern
The analysis of the teams’ performances in ODIs since 2008 shows that South Africa have been the better team across the various phases of an innings. While India score at a slightly faster rate in the first ten overs and middle overs, South Africa have been considerably better in the bowling department, which accounts for a better run-rate difference. In the last ten overs of the innings, South Africa have again proved to be the better team in both departments. For India, though, their high economy rate is a cause for concern going into the high-profile clash.

Performance across the innings for both teams in all matches since 2008

TeamPeriod(overs)Batting averageRun rateBowling averageEconomy rateRun rate differenceIndia0-1539.315.3238.795.140.18South Africa0-1549.005.2136.134.690.52India16-4044.285.3034.204.950.35South Africa16-4050.035.2628.874.730.53India41-5022.197.0920.877.29-0.20South Africa 41-5023.197.5818.337.020.56India bank on batting firepower
India boast an excellent batting line-up with a great mix of experience and aggression. Sachin Tendulkar, who scored a record 200 in Gwalior against South Africa, and Virat Kohli have been among the most consistent ODI batsmen in the last three years. The opening partnership of Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag will be the key for India against South Africa’s quality pace attack. Though the pair is fifth on the list of most successful opening pairs in ODIs, they have aggregated just 54 runs in five innings against South Africa. The lower middle order of Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan have taken a lot of responsibility in recent times, with Yusuf, in particular, scoring crucial runs against New Zealand and South Africa.For South Africa, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers have both scored eight centuries each and average over 55 in the last three years. de Villiers, who started the World Cup with consecutive centuries, also scored two hundreds in the ODI series in India in 2010. Among all South African pairs that have aggregated over 1000 runs, Amla and de Villiers have the best average. For a South African batting order that is top heavy and lacks the aggression in the lower order, their partnership is one of the keys to a competitive total.

Sehwag-Tendulkar v Amla-de Villiers since Jan 2008

PairMatchesRuns10050AveragePartnership run rateSehwag-Tendulkar2811512741.106.31Amla-de Villiers1611505276.665.93South Africa’s pace bowling more threatening
While Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel have combined to form a lethal fast bowling attack in the last two years, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra have been India’s best pace bowlers in ODIs since the 2003 World Cup. Much of the success for both teams will depend not only on the bowling in the first few overs, but also on the ability of the fast bowlers to use the reverse swing in the middle and late overs of the innings. In matches since 2008, Zaheer has been exceptional, averaging just under 28 and conceding under five runs per over. He has also conceded under 47% of runs in boundaries, which is an excellent effort for a fast bowler who mainly bowls in the first ten overs and the end overs of an innings. Nehra has not been as impressive as Zaheer and averages over 32 with a high economy rate of 5.88. He has also conceded over 52% of his runs in boundaries.Steyn has not quite been able to replicate his superb Test record in ODIs. He has an economy rate of five per over and high boundary percentage of nearly 51 which is quite poor when compared to the stats of Morkel. Morkel has the best average and economy rate among the four bowlers and also the lowest percentage of boundary runs.

Comparing the pace attacks (matches since 2008)

BowlerInningsRuns concededWicketsAverageEconomy rateBoundary runs conceded% of runs in boundariesZaheer Khan4117246227.804.8581046.98Ashish Nehra4620246332.125.88105852.27Dale Steyn4218216328.905.0092850.96Morne Morkel3413515524.564.7960845.00Nagpur, the venue for the game, has hosted five ODIs of which the side batting first has won two. High scores have been chased down successfully on two occasions: Sri Lanka chased India’s 300 in 2009 and England chased Netherlands’ 292 in their first World Cup match. The team winning the toss, though, has lost all three day-night matches in Nagpur. While Australia decided to chase against India in 2009 and lost by 99 runs, India and Netherlands batted first and lost despite amassing huge scores. Spinners have a better average (35.85) and lower economy rate (5.01) than fast bowlers who average 39.82 and concede 5.82 runs per over.

Patience and discipline were Suresh Raina’s watchwords when bailing India out of trouble on the opening day

Sriram Veera at Sabina Park21-Jun-2011Sometimes, the grimness of a situation can make you forget your self-doubt. Sometimes, it can even set you free. When Suresh Raina entered the crime scene littered with evidence left by Devendra Bishoo, India were limping at 69 for 4. Soon, they were reeling at 85 for 6.The personal context, too, must have pumped in additional pressure. Raina had failed in the ODI series, playing too many big shots too early. If S Badrinath hadn’t looked out of sorts in the ODI series, Raina might not even have got a chance. If Rohit Sharma was in the squad for the Tests, he might have played due to his ODI performances. Sabina Park could have felt like a slaughter house but Raina later said he went in with a “blank mind”. It seemed unbelievable. The mind wasn’t clouded by dark thoughts? His perceived demons were ensnaring our minds; weren’t they wreaking havoc inside his? His short-ball problems, his tendency to overdo the “positive” approach and let adrenaline take over are no state secrets. Blank mind? Bah!There were four bouncers in the first 12 deliveries he faced. Raina ducked, weaved and swayed away from the line of fire. “It was a two-paced pitch but there wasn’t as much pace on it as I would have liked,” Fidel Edwards said. After that initial probe, West Indies didn’t try too many short balls until later in the innings. The ball wasn’t seaming much but it was beginning to turn a fair amount. And there was uneven bounce and enormous scoreboard pressure. It was here that Harbhajan Singh helped with his counterattack and Raina began to find his feet.”I was just looking to bat straight and remain patient and maintain my shape.” Shape is a word Raina uses a lot whenever you talk to him about his batting. It refers to his body and head position and the general balance when playing a shot. The first real evidence of that “shape” appeared during the 20th delivery he faced. He had hit a four – a drive through cover point – before that, but it didn’t have the same class as the next one. It was a tossed up delivery outside off and Raina glided forward and leaned fully into the drive through extra cover. It’s his signature shot when he is in good flow.Suresh Raina had thrown away his wicket in the ODI series. Today, with his side in trouble, he stepped up by showing patience•AFPOften, in limited-overs games, Raina starts to attack through midwicket. Today, he showed patience. Perhaps, Bishoo was losing his. “He was tossing it up and getting it to turn against the right-hand batsmen. But for left-hand batsmen, he thought he would be taken over covers or midwicket. I just remained patient and wanted to play as straight as possible.”The test of that patience came shortly after that boundary. Darren Sammy removed Bishoo and brought himself on along with Ravi Rampaul. Raina added just one run in 20 deliveries. There were 15 dot balls when he was stuck on 25. In the world of Raina, that’s too many. He is no Rahul Dravid. An edged boundary and a punched cut of Sammy lessened the claustrophobia somewhat. What was he feeling then?”I told myself just hang in there. Be patient. You have to watch the hands of bowler. Rampaul was reversing. Your mind has to be clear. If you are looking to drive along the ground, your shape doesn’t get affected.” That word shape, again.In the middle, Sammy brought back Bishoo. Raina pulled a short ball to the backward square-leg boundary. Sammy gave himself one extra over. Raina drove him through mid-off and back past Harbhajan for successive fours. Bishoo tempted him with a flighted delivery but Raina dealt with it with twinkling feet. Again, it went through wide mid-off.Raina’s run chart showed signs of a disciplined mind. Barring an uncontrolled cut boundary against Edwards early in his knock, it wasn’t until he reached 70 that he hit another four against the quicker bowlers. Even then, the ball dictated the shot. He slashed a short and wide delivery from Ravi Rampaul after tea, followed by a silken straight drive against the same bowler. It was almost as if he had tattooed two phrases on his brain: drive straight and maintain shape. And by doing that he saved Indian innings from going completely pear-shaped. Maybe he did go in with a blank mind after all.

New Zealand hope a man who brought professionalism to lawn bowls in Australia can do the same to the selection process in cricket

Brydon Coverdale22-Sep-2011John Buchanan’s decision to appoint Kim Littlejohn as New Zealand’s national selection manager didn’t just come from left field, but from somewhere over the bleachers and into the car-park. Giving one of the most influential positions in New Zealand Cricket to an Australian lawn bowls manager was startling, even by Buchanan’s standards.But for all Buchanan’s quirks, he is a man of precision, who speaks of systems and processes. Rash decisions do not fit with his style. So who exactly is Kim Littlejohn? Who is this man who beat former Test stars like Glenn Turner, Mark Greatbatch and Ken Rutherford to become the coach John Wright’s co-selector?The short answer is that Littlejohn, 47, is a former club cricketer, who has made a career in sports administration, first in baseball and then in lawn bowls. Renowned for his meticulous planning and analysis, traits that fit with Buchanan’s modus operandi, Littlejohn has spent the past seven years as the high-performance manager with Bowls Australia.He joined the organisation at a time when bowls was considered primarily a social game, but a sophisticated high-performance programme was needed. Australia’s lawn bowls team had fared poorly at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and government funding was made available to turn that performance around.”That’s where the degree of a level of professionalism needed to be introduced,” the Bowls Australia chief executive officer, Neil Dalrymple, told ESPNcricinfo. “That meant performance measures and more analysis was introduced into the programme. Kim introduced some biomechanical analysis, statistical analysis, the use of video and tracking of player performance. In individual matches there was a lot of analysis of where the bowls were being delivered – bowl-by-bowl analysis. That was used as a coaching technique to feed back to the players.”The real focus of the programme was with the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the introduction of part-time coaches and sports science, sports medicine, more of a fitness programme, which hadn’t been part of bowls programmes in the past. He was the person who was employed to manage the introduction of those systems and personnel.”The results spoke for themselves. In 2002, Australia had not won a gold medal in Manchester, and managed just one silver. At the Melbourne Games, the team claimed three of the six gold medals that were up for grabs.Dalrymple described Littlejohn as “very focussed”. “He’s a very hard worker and he’ll stick to the task,” he said. “He ticks the boxes. He’s very careful on detail. Planning and detail are his strengths.”Littlejohn had joined Bowls Australia after serving for a year as operations manager at Baseball Victoria. The move into sports management was quite a change; he had previously worked in investment banking.But Littlejohn’s background had been in cricket, albeit at sub-elite levels. In 1983-84, he played 15 first-grade games – the next step down from state cricket – for the Southern Districts side in Perth. In more recent years, he was an assistant coach with the Melbourne University club, again one level below first-class cricket, and he ran the club’s junior pathways programme.

Buchanan hopes Littlejohn can introduce to cricket selection, which has traditionally been based around part-time selectors, the kind of professionalism he brought to bowls. For his own part, Littlejohn believes cricket is the sport where he can offer the most

“He was a fantastic guy and very well organised,” John MacWhirter, Victoria’s chairman of selectors, who was at the time Melbourne University’s director of cricket, said. “He was obviously highly intelligent and was fantastic with the kids. He was a student of the game.”That cricket background, combined with his administration skills, was enough to convince Buchanan, New Zealand Cricket’s director of cricket, that he was the right man for a job that will be heavy on planning and analysis. As the national selection manager, Littlejohn will use the major association coaches as his key source of information on players.”He can have good conversations with coaches or former selectors or former players because of the amount of cricket background that he has,” Buchanan said. “I think that is sufficient for the job. One of his key roles is his ability to harness the knowledge and experience of so many experts over here. I think he’s excellent at doing that.”Buchanan hopes Littlejohn can introduce to cricket selection, which has traditionally been based around part-time selectors, the kind of professionalism he brought to bowls. For his own part, Littlejohn believes cricket is the sport where he can offer the most.”Of all the sports I’ve worked in, cricket is the one that I really understand the most about and can talk the language of cricket,” Littlejohn said. “When I went and worked in baseball and lawn bowls I hadn’t actually had any experience of those sports when I started to work in them, so it was a very steep learning curve for me to get up to speed on the sport itself. I can hit the ground running in cricket because I understand the sport back to front.”That’s half the battle. Now all New Zealand need is for cricket in the country to understand Littlejohn back to front.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the day from the second ODI between New Zealand and Zimbabwe, in Whangarei

Andrew Fernando06-Feb-2012The miss
In their first association of the day, Elton Chigumbura and Tatenda Taibu combined to cap off perhaps the worst all-round piece of cricket of the match. Having pushed to mid-on, Martin Guptill and Rob Nicol started, stuttered then started again, giving Chigumbura plenty of time to effect the run out. Despite a dismissal almost being guaranteed at Guptill’s end, the fielder threw to Nicol’s end. Zimbabwe should have still got the wicket, but Taibu fumbled a straightforward collection. Better fielding teams could have dismissed one batsman, and broken the stumps at the other end for good measure.The miss – II
Taibu and Chigumbura’s second bungled dismissal could have cut Jacob Oram’s devastating knock short. Hamilton Masakadza induced a top edge that flew high, and Taibu raced after it, calling for the catch as he did. Chigumbura hung back at mid-on after hearing the call, but Taibu, realising he could not get there in time, yelled for the fielder to take the catch. Too late. Chigumbura couldn’t lay a hand on the ball, despite having started metres from where it eventually fell.The plan
Rarely do promotions in batting work so well, not only in the context of the match, but as a confidence boost for the player being shunted up. Despite his batting prowess, Jacob Oram has been picked primarily as a bowler following a drastic decline in batting form over the years. His promotion yielded him a fifty at a strike-rate of over 200, and helped him reprise a few favoured shots from his early days, in what New Zealand will hope is a rediscovery of his batting talent. In 2003-04 Oram laid waste to the South African attack with a series of such stunning knocks. A week before they arrive in 2012, he seems hungry to do so again.The dolly
Having begun brightly, Zimbabwe’s fielding suffered a rapid decline in standards once the batsmen began to pepper the ropes. Perhaps the most woeful of their fielding misadventures was when Kyle Jarvis dropped a sitter off Brendon McCullum in the 37th over. McCullum mistimed a cut, and the ball looped to Jarvis, who only had to put his hands in front of his face to collect the ball. He dropped it cold, and an unimpressed Brendan Taylor repositioned him elsewhere for the rest of the innings.The belated boundary
After New Zealand’s 372 for 6 featured 45 boundary hits, Zimbabwe were expected to come out playing their shots. It was not to be. After three early losses, the batsmen began to treat the lifeless Cobham Oval pitch with respect, and shelved all their shots. With the batsmen dropping like Lady Gaga singles early on, one might have wondered if Zimbabwe would hit a boundary at all. But Malcolm Waller finally did the honours in the sixteenth over, slamming Andrew Ellis past point for four.The redemption
After having combined to ruin two simple wicket-taking opportunities, Taibu and Chigumbura found a dollop of respectability with the bat, as Zimbabwe’s top scorers. With five wickets down, and the target still miles away, the visitors were in danger of slumping to their worst one-day defeat ever. But Taibu and Chigumbura added 80 for the sixth wicket and provided some substance to the reply, ineffective though it was.

The 21-year-old Ellyse Perry is already women’s cricket’s poster girl. But with her continuing success, she could soon cross the gender divide and be just a cricket hero

Nagraj Gollapudi23-Mar-2012A day after she took five wickets in a massive victory for Australia over India in a virtually empty Wankhede Stadium, Australian fast bowler Ellyse Perry found herself surrounded by a group of young girls, mostly net bowlers, wanting to take pictures with her. Perry spent the next five minutes posing for photos with each girl and then thanked them by folding her hands and bowing at them. No other Australian player got requests for photos, but the girls had patiently waited till Perry finished her training.It’s easy to see why Perry’s appeal is universal. She is a double-international, representing Australia in cricket and football, and has played crucial roles in World Cups of both sports.In the 2010 World Twenty20 final Perry bowled the final over against New Zealand. The Australians were defending a small target of 106 but the momentum kept shifting. New Zealand needed 14 when the ball was handed to Perry for the last over. In each of her previous three overs, she had taken a wicket.”I was in a fantastic position of having the opportunity to bowl that last over. It was actually more calming and settling for me because I had the ball in hand and I knew I had a job to do rather than standing in the field and not knowing whether or not the ball was come to you and what was going to happen.”The first ball went for a single; Sophie Devine picked twos off the next four deliveries. Five runs from the final delivery, then. Devine hit hard and straight and it looked like the game would be tied. But the footballer in Perry kicked in to intercept the shot. Lisa Sthalekar, Perry’s senior team-mate, remembers the incident. “No one can forget the last ball when she stuck her big hoof out and it deflected to me at mid-on, which ultimately ensured our three-run victory,” Sthalekar says. For Perry, that win was instrumental for the team’s confidence. “As a team the Twenty20 World Cup is ahead of everything because that sort of created a belief in us that we were capable of being the best team in the world again.”A year later she used her left foot to boot a screamer into the top-left corner of the goalpost against Sweden in the women’s football World Cup.Perry, who, at 16, was the youngest Australian cricketer to play an international match, has also helped her side regain the Ashes and flatten New Zealand to lift the Rose Bowl Trophy.And recently she raised eyebrows when she became the first woman to play for a men’s side in the highly competitive environment of Sydney grade cricket. Perry took two wickets for the Sydney Under-21 side in the Poidevin-Gray Shield Twenty20 against Blacktown and was at the non-striker’s end when the winning runs were scored.”One of the main things I take away is just the way the boys approach the game and carry on. You are in the dressing room and it is very much just about getting in and doing as well as you can, putting everything you can and having fun. There is no underlying context to it other than just playing the game.”Perry laughs and says the Australian women’s dressing room is much quieter. “I have never heard a bunch of boys carry on with so much rubbish. There is a lot of bravado. The boys really embrace the sense of fun and mateship. They are willing to give each other a bit of stick but they are also willing to take it and that transfers on-field quite nicely.”Today, at 21, she is already a hero to many young girls who talk about how much she motivates and inspires them in everyday life. Though proud of her achievements, Perry remains unsure about her influence. “To me sport and physical activity have been a huge and beneficial part of life and have given me a lot of joy. In that respect, if I encourage young kids to become involved in sport that is something I would feel quite glad about. Sport is something I am passionate about and it does make a difference in people’s lives.”

“To play a Test match is a pinnacle, I dare say, for all of us. I have only played 12 days of Test cricket in my life but I could recount every day. They certainly mean a lot”

When Perry was growing up, her sporting hero was Ian Thorpe, the Australian swimmer. “What I admire most about people is the way they approach whatever it is they do, and the passionate enthusiasm for what is they do and for life in general. Someone else who I admire in that sense is Roger Federer, because of the way he carries himself on and off the tennis court is incredible.”Though she hasn’t met either, Perry was present for another thrilling moment in Australian sporting history. On January 3, 2003 she was a flagbearer at the SCG, on the day Steve Waugh equalled Don Bradman’s 29 Test centuries. “It is a very strong memory for me because I was holding the Australian flag and it was huge thrill for a young girl like me to see players like Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne run past you.” A few years later she was making history herself at the World T20 final.In person, Perry is impressive as much for her calm persona as for her articulate speech. But on the field the aggression takes over. Even while training in Mumbai, she slapped her leg, frustrated after feeding a half-volley to the batsman. When asked about the incident, Perry said she was “embarrassed” someone had watched her lose her cool..”What I love about sport is the just the continued challenge about it – you’re never as good as you can be. And that is what really motivates me and excites me about playing. The good thing is you can always come back, the next ball, the next day. You can keep working on things. I do enjoy the challenge of trying to get better and I do get competitive.”That probably explains why she was such a hit on the Australian radio station Triple J, in a segment called , where listeners challenged her in certain skills, often “quite funny”, like holding her breath underwater for a minute and nine seconds.There are many famous and successful players in women’s cricket, like England captain Charlotte Edwards and Australian warhorse Sthalekar, but Perry could become the sport’s most valuable player. But she says she is still cutting her teeth at the sport. “There are some incredibly talented and successful players in women’s cricket. Lisa has played over 100 matches for Australia and is the best allrounder and best bowler in the world currently. I really look up to her. She is the most valuable player in our team, if you want to put such tag.”While the men have more advantages and help in improving their games, the women seem more passionate, despite negligible contracts. Perry agrees, but says it is a privilege to play cricket for the country. “It is a good point. I don’t really like getting money into it but none of us play for our welfare or for a career. It is because we really love it. A lot of girls make sacrifices and they actually play for pure love and passion for cricket. It provides a lot of balance to our lives because we have something outside of sport to pursue and experience.Perry and other women cricketers around the world wear their coat of achievements lightly. But you realise that for them, more than for men, Test cricket matters so much, especially since they barely play any. “Test cricket is something we really cherish. To play a Test match is a pinnacle, I dare say, for all of us. I have only played 12 days of Test cricket in my life but I could recount every day. They certainly mean a lot.”Unlike the men who continue to be around the game and continue being remembered even after they retire, many international women cricketers recede from the memory as the years go by. But Perry, you can be pretty certain, will stay in the headlines and in fans’ hearts for a long time.

Pakistan have led the way in providing opportunities for the less fortunate to play international cricket. Now it’s up to those who govern the game to take it forward

George Dobell02-Apr-2012It does not take long to recognise that Matloob Qureshi is a special cricketer. Facing Saeed Ajmal in the nets at the ICC’s Global Academy in Dubai, the left-handed batsman uses his nimble feet to come down the pitch and, several times, thumps the destroyer of England’s Test team back over his head. Ian Bell could learn a few tricks from this fella. The next day Matloob makes his maiden international century.It marks a significant milestone on his remarkable journey. He suffered a horrific accident when he was six years old: he was just leaving school when he was hit by a truck. His arm, as he puts it, was “turned into mincemeat”. For a time it seemed he would lose his life; in the end he lost his right arm. With characteristic understatement he calls the incident “unfortunate”.Some might have accepted a life on the sidelines. A future as a spectator, not a performer. But not Matloob. Such was his unquenchable spirit and his passion for the sport, he participated in every game of street cricket, school cricket and club cricket he could find. And he proved to be better than most of his able-bodied colleagues.Last month he was part of the Pakistan side – he was more than that; he was Man of the Series – that beat England in Twenty20 and ODI series in Dubai. More important than the result or any individual success, however, was that the matches were contested at all. It was the first Physical Disability international series.And that marks a significant milestone in the history of international cricket. While the Paralympics has become an accepted feature in the sporting landscape, disability cricket has, until now, remained the preserve of well-meaning organisations, often lacking structure, funding or scope. While several national cricket boards are implementing plans to provide opportunities for disability cricket, the ICC has done little to help.That is a shame. There is so much enthusiasm among disability cricketers, be they deaf, visually impaired, physically disabled or learning disabled. There is so much ability.That is the key point that Matloob and his colleagues want to be understood: that the emphasis should be on what they can do, not what they cannot. As he puts it: “I want to thank God for giving me the strength that I have in this one hand and the capabilities that I have to play with this one hand. I can do so many things with it.” Nor is Matloob unique. Every individual in each of these sides can tell his own tale of courage and determination.Most were born with disabilities; some had disability thrust upon them. Every one of them found a way to cope – some days, no doubt, better than others – and now they participate in a groundbreaking series that might offer encouragement to lovers of disabled cricket across the world. It would be a hardhearted fellow who cannot find inspiration in the performances of these challenged cricketers.The image of Farhan Saeed bowling is one that endures. Having lost the use of a leg to polio, Saeed admits he feared he would “spend my life in a corner of my house”. But cricket gave him the motivation to approach life with renewed enthusiasm.

“We’re introducing a new type of cricket to the world: it’s not about Pakistan winning or England winning; it’s about the whole game winning. I hope physical disability cricket will be seen as Pakistan’s gift to the cricket world”Amir Ansari, Pakistan Disability team coach

That enthusiasm is a quality abundantly obvious when he bowls. Ignoring the logical difficulties, Farhan doesn’t just stand and deliver, he charges in off a long run-up and hurls the ball towards the batsman amid a whirl of crutches, arms, floppy hair and legs, with remarkable pace and control.”Disabled cricket has given me a new lease of life,” Farhan said. “I couldn’t have achieved all this success without it. I believe that disabled people can do a lot more than people think they can. Many people just like me get involved with drugs due to the inferiority complex they attain from somewhere and waste their lives.”I strongly advise them to live just like normal people. Forget that you have a disability. That will help them come out of the hole they’ve gone in. Explore yourself because you can then discover extraordinary qualities in you.””He inspires us all,” the Pakistan coach, Amir Ansari, said. “We look at him and he reminds us we can achieve more. He is our ambassador and our motivator. Every time I see him bowl I am inspired to work harder to provide more opportunities for more disabled cricketers.”Pakistan have taken a leading role in the development of physical disability cricket. It is not that they are able to direct many resources towards it – much of the funding has come from a private donor, Saleem Karim – but they were the first to provide a route from domestic to international cricket.”Saleem just thought to himself: why is there no [formal] physical disability cricket?” Ansari said. “So he organised teams to play against one another, and once we had regional teams and a national championship, we started to talk to other countries. England was keen to take part, but it took time as most of their physical disability cricket had been played with a soft ball. Now we can proudly say that Pakistan is the founder and the promoter of physical disability cricket.”The ECB’s record is good, too. They have appointed Ian Martin – who approaches the role with a vocational zeal that money cannot buy – to the full-time position of manager of disability cricket, and have built upon the excellent work of volunteer groups to provide support, funding and, now, a route to international cricket. The work is not complete – far from it – but the ECB has allocated resources to the development of disability cricket, and each year the opportunity to play cricket – and good-quality cricket – should become available to more people.Pakistan won both the T20 and ODI series in Dubai. But Martin, recognising that participation was more important than the result, described himself as the “proudest man in the world”. As he put it: “Players have been looking for international competition for years, and in this series we have provided pathways for them to achieve their goals. I hope other countries can follow our lead.”If they are to do so, the ICC will have a huge role to play. As yet it has been reluctant to get involved, but with this series played right under its nose, there is no excuse for further prevarication. Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, was in attendance and suggested more help in future. “It is an area we have not focused much on in the past, but this series has certainly created awareness,” he said. “Disabled cricket is on the agenda – albeit still in a small way – and hopefully it will gain momentum.Farhan Saeed: “Disabled cricket has given me a new lease of life. I couldn’t have achieved all this success without it”•AFP”I would liken it to women’s cricket. In the past the ICC was not involved with women’s cricket but it went through a process and is now under the ICC, so disabled cricket will also have to go through a process.” Whether it is disability cricket or the ICC that has to “go through a process” is a question that bears asking. Many are impatient for change.”If Pakistan and England can arrange international teams,” Ansari says, “then every other country can do it. The ICC has to get involved and make it happen. It can happen very quickly.”We’re introducing a new type of cricket to the world: it’s not about Pakistan winning or England winning; it’s about the whole game winning. I hope physical disability cricket will be seen as Pakistan’s gift to the cricket world.”The ball is now in the ICC’s court. It has the opportunity to do something worthy. The provision of disability cricket – all types of disability cricket – is as basic a requirement as access ramps to shops and to the offices from which the ICC works. The ICC needs to act. The eyes of the world are upon it.