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Stats highlights from a wicket-fest in Mirpur

S Rajesh17-Jun-2014

• Twenty wickets fell for 163 runs in the match, an average of 8.15 runs per wicket – the seventh-lowest average in any completed ODI. The lowest is 6.63, in a 2003 World Cup game between Sri Lanka and Canada: Canada were bowled out for 36, and Sri Lanka chased it down for the loss of one wicket.
• The aggregate of 163 is the lowest, by some distance, in an ODI in which 20 wickets fell; the previous lowest was 203, in a match between Kenya and Zimbabwe in Harare in 2006 – Kenya scored 134 and bowled Zimbabwe out for 69.
• Bangladesh’s total of 58 equals their lowest ODI score – they had also made 58 in the 2011 World Cup match against West Indies. This was the 14th instance of Bangladesh getting bowled out for less than 100 in an ODI – seven of those have been in home games. It is also the lowest total for any team against India, seven runs fewer than what Zimbabwe had managed in Harare in 2005.
• Before this game, the lowest total India had successfully defended was 119, against Sri Lanka in Port of Spain last year, but that was in a 29-overs-per-side game. Against Pakistan in Sharjah in 1985, they defended 125 in a 50-over game. This is also the lowest score successfully defended by any team after being bowled out.
• Stuart Binny’s 6 for 4 is the best bowling figures by an Indian in ODIs, bettering Anil Kumble’s 6 for 12 against West Indies in the final of the Hero Cup in 1993. It is also the least runs conceded by a bowler for a haul of six or more wickets in ODIs. This is only the third instance of a bowler taking more wickets than runs conceded for a haul of four or more wickets: Phil Simmons had taken 4 for 3 against Pakistan in the 1992-93 Benson & Hedges World Series*, while Courtney Walsh had a haul of 5 for 1 against Sri Lanka in Sharjah in 1986. (Click here for the list of four or more wickets taken with least runs conceded.)
• From 44 for 2, Bangladesh lost eight wickets for 14, which is the third-lowest runs scored for an eight-wicket collapse in ODIs. The two instances of fewer runs being scored were by England in the 1979 World Cup final, when they collapsed from 183 for 2 to 194 all out, and Sri Lanka against West Indies in Sharjah in 1986, when they lost 8 for 10 (45 for 2 to 55 all out).
• The abject collapse by Bangladesh completely overshadowed a fine bowling performance by their debutant. Taskin Ahmed’s 5 for 28 is the best bowling analysis by a Bangladesh bowler on ODI debut, improving upon Sohag Gazi’s 4 for 29 against West Indies in Khulna in 2012. He joins seven others who have started their ODI careers with a haul of five or more wickets, including Fidel Edwards (6 for 22), Allan Donald (5 for 29), Zimbabwe’s Brian Vitori and Canada’s Austin Codrington. However, at 19 years and 75 days, Taskin is the youngest among the eight to take five on debut; the record was previously held by Sri Lanka’s Charitha Buddhika, who was 21 years and 65 days old when he took 5 for 67 against Zimbabwe in Sharjah in 2001.
• India’s total of 105 is easily their lowest in an ODI against Bangladesh; their previous lowest was 191 in the 2007 World Cup in Port-of-Spain, a match they lost by five wickets. In all ODIs, they’ve been bowled out for a lower score only ten times, of which four were in the first innings.
• The last time a completed Indian innings lasted fewer than 25.3 overs in an ODI was 12 years ago, against West Indies in Port-of-Spain in June 2002, when they were bowled out for 123 in 25, in what was a 25-overs-per-side game. The other instance was against Sri Lanka in Kanpur in 1986, when they were bowled out for 78 in 24.1, chasing 196 in 46. (Click here for all instances when India were bowled out in less than 30 overs.)

*0730GMT, June 18: This was earlier mentioned as 1992 World Cup, but has been corrected.

The world will now have to judge ICC chairman N Srinivasan on his actions. Not because he has suggested we do so, but because we are left with no other choice

Daniel Brettig27-Jun-2014All week, the major question hovering over the ICC annual conference was not whether N Srinivasan would become chairman. That result had been signed, sealed and delivered the moment the BCCI mailed its confirmation of his position as the Indian board’s chosen representative. Pre-meetings with the game’s Associate and Affiliate nations were less about consultation than confirmation: the gist being “we’re going with or without you, but we’re offering you the chance to come with us.” A unanimous vote, by lions and lambs alike, duly followed.Instead, the greatest mystery surrounded whether or not Srinivasan would deign to speak publicly following his coronation. While his acceptance of accountability to the full council of the ICC was clear, no one seemed entirely sure if he would follow that up by conveying his sense of duty, vision and lack of guilt about the concurrent Indian Supreme Court investigation to the world. The opaqueness of the BCCI stands as a reminder that Srinivasan has not always felt the need to explain himself.Consequently, ICC media releases about events on Thursday remained artfully vague, only confirming the fact of a press conference a handful of hours before the 3.45pm assembly time. Even then there was the line that “the time of the media conference cannot be confirmed because it will directly follow the Annual Conference”. Two rooms at the MCG had initially been set aside – the Olympic Room for an electronic media conference, and the Jim Stynes for print. Television would be seen to first, before a lengthier dialogue away from the cameras. But uncertainty about whether or not two separate events would be held at all brought reporters together in a state of considerable curiosity about what would happen next.Conference delegates had been streaming out of the Members Dining Room for some time, and around 3.40pm Srinivasan appeared, accompanied by the BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel. Stories vary as to why – including the rumour that this so sparsely covered conference might actually be benefiting from a live television link with India – but it was soon apparent that earlier plans would be set aside. Srinivasan spoke briefly first to print and radio at a table beside the television cameras, and once more even more fleetingly to the TV networks. And then it was over, before so much as a single decent follow-up question could be asked.Dressed in his tweed, country club-styled jacket and the only non-ICC tie among executive board members in the room (he has seldom donned the blue and green striped marker of the organisation he now chairs), Srinivasan batted away queries about his fitness for the role. He enlarged a little on how he came to bestride world cricket, what his vision for it might be, and on how he had little time for those who believed corruption was a major problem in the game, as match-fixing investigations and allegations tainted not only those involved but all those around them.Most of all, though, Srinivasan spoke of his rightness, and his record. He had done “nothing wrong” to bar him from taking up the post, even if the Supreme Court had asked him to step aside from his BCCI work, a fact he massaged into the expression that he had “voluntarily” stood aside, without mentioning subsequent court appeals against that volunteered action. He needed to be judged on his record, whether it be the growth of the game’s commercial value in India under his watch, or whatever progress is made at the international level over the next two years. A critical question Srinivasan was asked surrounded whether he would now act as the game’s global overseer rather than simply as the BCCI’s man. His response was indirect.

What is his attitude to cricket at the Olympics? Why had other nations, and indeed his own board secretary, stated that India’s threat of leaving the game was very real? Would he comply with the ICC’s new ethics code if he were to be implicated by the Supreme Court investigation? When will the BCCI respond to requests by Afghanistan and Nepal to use playing facilities in India? But these questions had to be left for another time and another place.

“Cricket is a very old game,” Srinivasan said. “It has evolved over time, from Test cricket we went to ODI cricket, on to T20 cricket. One of the issues that is facing cricket is we are, in many countries, not seeing the kind of attendances at grounds that we are used to in the past. Some forms of cricket are more popular and see more spectator attention. Having said that, I think the most important thing we must look at is how to make cricket more interesting by making it more competitive. You will find in this new structure there is a lot of emphasis on meritocracy. The glass ceiling has been broken, the Associates and Affiliates, up and coming teams, they can come up and play the longer version.”As the public sees there is greater competition, I think cricket will also improve. That is something we will drive.”Signing off with a declaration that India would never “have even dreamed” of leaving the ICC, Srinivasan left plenty of other queries hanging in the air. What is his attitude to cricket at the Olympics? Why had other nations, and indeed his own board secretary, stated that India’s threat of leaving the game was very real? Would he comply with the ICC’s new ethics code if he were to be implicated by the Supreme Court investigation? Does his view that smaller cricket nations should concentrate more on indigenous game development mean that he prefers tournaments played by fewer nations? When will the BCCI respond to requests by Afghanistan and Nepal to use playing facilities in India?But these questions had to be left for another time and another place, as Srinivasan went about the work he has been in such a hurry to do that he insisted he be allowed to begin acting as chairman from the moment the conference concluded. Previous convention had the ICC president handing over to his successor not when the change was announced at annual conference but several months later. This time, Srinivasan moved straight from his press conference into meetings, and after appearing briefly at evening drinks eschewed the showpiece annual conference dinner in favour of a commercial rights tender meeting.The engagement of Srinivasan and other chairmen of major nations with the Associates and Affiliates was a major selling point of the week. ICC management figures were encouraged by how they witnessed more face-to-face contact between all countries great and small this week than at any time in the past. Srinivasan has offered to show his own brand of leadership on growing the game by chairing the ICC’s development sub-committee – and actually turning up to meetings. But as one Associate member pointed out, the glad-handing and flesh-pressing may simply have been a matter of smoothing the changes that are now gospel. It is all a question of taking the powerful on good faith that they will do what is right. Checks and balances have been replaced by cheques and balance sheets.Much as it was for the journalists who waited outside MCG meeting rooms all week to discover what was transpiring at the annual conference, cricket must now wait for, and wait on, Srinivasan. There are sure to be times when no one will know what is happening until it has already happened, and when the decisions of the few will be imposed upon the wills of the many. The world will now have to judge Srinivasan on his actions. Not because he has suggested we do so, but because we are left with no other choice.

A historic sporting artefact adds a touch of character to the purpose-built capital

Russell Jackson04-Nov-2014It’s my single favourite thing about Canberra, the Jack Fingleton scoreboard. An understated, beautiful relic of cricket’s past. With every cog and nameplate redolent with the dust of history in the calm, quaint surrounds of the Manuka Oval, the scoreboard is also a symbol of everything notable about the lush, green and famously roundabout-ed national capital of Canberra.Fingleton had won a significant reputation as a flint-hard and stubborn opener for New South Wales and Australia between the wars when, in 1944, he arrived in town as a member of the parliamentary press gallery. Now he was not in Australia’s cricket capital but in its new political equivalent. In both senses, he was still always right on the spot.One day in 1951, Prime Minister Robert Menzies was cornered in the parliamentary library by deputy senate clerk WI Emerton, who in his other life as the ACT Cricket Association president had been dismayed to learn that Canberra’s Manuka Oval had just had its upcoming match against the touring West Indians handed to Newcastle. What could the cricket-loving Menzies do about this slight to the city?His plan was to stage the first Prime Minister’s XI match. On the way out of the room, he bumped into Fingleton; of course, he would captain Menzies’ side. Thus Canberra’s one truly significant cricketing tradition was born. Till that point, Menzies’ visits to Manuka were hailed with little fanfare. Sometimes local players and administrators would only know he’d stopped by to watch a game when his chauffeured car was spotted pulling out from the boundary’s edge.Like the man himself, the Jack Fingleton scoreboard is an import to Canberra. From its construction in 1901 – seven years before the future Test player was born – till 1982, it sat at the MCG. At that point it was superseded by a giant electronic number. Today it is one of the last significant hand-operated scoreboards in Australia. When the local cricket association decided that the future of Manuka was the past of a more famous ground, they also had to pay $110,000 to relocate the scoreboard. I think it was worth every penny.My message to visitors for the Oval’s three upcoming World Cup matches: enjoy it while it’s still there. The maintenance of its winches, pulleys and panels is just as expensive as hiring the eight people it needs for operation. Unusually for its type, player-name panels are colour-coded to match their respective team strips.

When the local cricket association decided that the future of Manuka was the past of a more famous ground, they also had to pay $110,000 to relocate the scoreboard. I think it was worth every penny

It’s fitting that the great cricket landmark of this man-made capital should be shipped in from somewhere else. Dreamt up but never quite completed by American architect Walter Burley Griffin, Canberra is a composite. Manuka, the area set aside for the Oval and a shopping precinct, now sits on Canberra Avenue but Burley Griffin had originally named it Wellington Avenue in anticipation of New Zealand joining the Australasian Federation. It didn’t but Manuka, the Maori word for tea-tree, remains.One thing is for certain, though: the World Cup fixtures will not hark back to the chaos that surrounded the 1984 return of the Prime Minister’s XI game at the insistence of another cricket-mad leader, Bob Hawke. Around 13,000 tickets were sold for the then-12,000 capacity venue; another 2000 more people were encouraged by radio reports to turn up on the morning of the day to buy an extra allocation. As early-morning queues swelled, front-runners somehow convinced staff at the gate to sell them lots of 40-50 tickets at a time and proceeded to scalp them at the back of the 1500-metre line. An estimated 17,000 fans crammed into the stadium on that infamous day but it’s testament to the relaxed nature of the locals that there was no riot. Bangladesh and Afghanistan might struggle to pull similar numbers but fans can, these days, experience the game in far more comfort, thanks to the addition of the Bradman, Menzies and Hawke stands over the years.If you’re in town for an extra day either side of Manuka’s three World Cup clashes, rewards lie mostly in the city’s galleries and museums, because like a leafier, slightly more friendly Washington DC, the genuinely interesting things happen in Canberra behind closed doors.The town was purpose-built for politics. On the top of Capital Hill lies Parliament House and its swooping grassed roof, the ideal place to get a panoramic view of the small city. A full tour around town doesn’t take long but you’ll need a hire car or the help of a friendly local to see anything beyond the city centre because public transport is still an abstract concept.Poppies placed in remembrance of Australians who lost their lives in World War I, at the War Memorial•AFPUnless you want to watch parliamentary proceedings – accessible on free guided tours – a more moving local experience awaits at the Australian War Memorial. It’s impossible not to be affected by the sight of row upon row of red poppies placed in remembrance of fallen Australian soldiers. It’s here that I found a sense of Canberra as a repository of Australian history; far more than is evident, for instance, when you arrive in town through the oft-mocked maze of roundabouts.If you’re not museumed-out or overwhelmed by the War Memorial experience, the National Gallery of Australia lets you judge for yourself whether the Whitlam Government’s $1.3 million purchase of Jackson Pollock’s Number 11 (Blue Poles) was worth the ire generated in 1973. Many more treasures await visitors to the gallery but I can’t recall many museum experiences as vivid as the first time I looked at Pollock’s work as a 12-year-old.Foodies might leave Canberra wondering exactly what it is that the hordes of local public servants eat because quality restaurants are scarce and mostly prohibitively expensive. You’ll find mixed results anywhere in the middle of the spectrum between fine-dining and down-and-dirty takeaways. The lower end of the market satisfies the local population of Australian National University students, whose presence characterises the surprisingly raucous local nightlife.If this all makes Canberra sound like a sterile and lifeless place, it’s worth noting that many of the most pleasant surprises will come from the people you meet and the unique angles and landscapes within Burley Griffin’s grand vision.Canberra’s charms are too subtle for some. While joining some fellow MCC tourists in paying the friendless city a non-playing visit during the 1932-33 Bodyline Ashes series, Douglas Jardine chose to forgo a trip to Manuka in favour of a spot of duck-shooting. Now on a calm summer afternoon as you look across the ground to the Fingleton scoreboard, you’d have to agree that he was missing a trick.

Crunching the numbers of the top eight teams from the last two years, it’s clear that Australia, South Africa and New Zealand have stood out for their consistency and all-round efficiency

Kartik Kannan06-Feb-2015How important is history in determining the future? I’ve seen quotes saying the future is not always determined by the past, but when we look to predict a winner from multiple choices, our brain is hardwired to look at history. So how much of history is relevant in such a discussion? Two years, four years, eight years, or previous editions of the World Cup?Looking ahead to how the top eight sides might perform at the World Cup, I shall take into account their performances over the last two years, in conditions broadly similar to those they might experience at the tournament – i.e. in Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa.The world has changed quite a bit since 1992, when the tournament was last played in Australia and New Zealand. But one thing has stood the test of time – the World Cup is usually won by sides that are exceptional in one or more of the three skills of batting, bowling and fielding, and by sides that keep mental reserves handy for managing pressure.The 2015 World Cup is likely to be played on pitches that aid batting, and perhaps slower than the pitches seen during the Australian ODI summer so far. With two new balls and less scope for the ball to reverse-swing, the onus will be on strong opening partnerships and preserving wickets to push scoring at the end of the innings.Unless the opposition strives hard to attack and take wickets, most of the top batting sides will find a way to make 270-plus scores, as England found out in the final of the tri-series when they let Australia waltz their way to 278 after being on the mat at 60 for 4. One-dimensional sides that are good at one of the skills might find it tough to survive in conditions for this year’s World Cup.Given all this, I have crunched some numbers to determine what we can expect, realistically, from the top eight teams. The sides are ranked on a string of parameters and grouped into slots. All matches played in Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa between January 1, 2013 and January 31, 2015 have been taken into account, and points awarded for meeting various criteria.These include teams’ batting and bowling averages, batting and bowling run-rates, and their win percentages over the two-year period. Teams that score on all of these criteria are likely to be well-rounded sides that aren’t too reliant on either their batting or their bowling.Here are my findings:Record of top eight teams playing in Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa over the last 25 months•ESPNcricinfo LtdRanking of top eight sides based on recent results•ESPNcricinfo LtdFavourites – Australia, New Zealand, South Africa
These three teams tick all the boxes, with a high win percentage in the last two years and strong numbers with both bat and ball.Level 1 – India, England, Sri Lanka
Despite their weak bowling, India overall pack the most punch among sides ranked 4-8 in my simulation, with their batting coming to their rescue. England and Sri Lanka have shown signs of blooming a month before the World Cup, but haven’t enjoyed great results over the last two years in the kind of conditions expected at the World Cup. All three are one-dimensional sides, and are dependent on good days when their skillsets somehow come together. I’d pick one of these sides for the semi-finals, and maybe all of them for the quarter-finals.Level 2 – Pakistan, West Indies
These two sides have had poor runs of late, and have struggled to make an impact with both bat and ball. While Pakistan were in a more or less similar situation in 1992, their bowling had far more experience and penetration, and they had a decent batting line-up and a leader who made his men believe they were cornered tigers. This time around, they could still spring a surprise or two but recent history suggests they just about have enough in them to make the quarters. West Indies seem like an aged cobra without fangs, and hardly look like challenging anyone in this format.If you have a submission for Inbox, send it to us here, with “Inbox” in the subject line.

When R Ashwin was actually onto something, however briefly, the other end mattered. If only India can sort out the other end, all the runs that Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane have been scoring might amount to something

Sidharth Monga at the SCG09-Jan-20154:50

Agarkar: The best Ashwin has looked overseas

On a day that he became the third-fastest Test player to the double of 100 wickets and 1000 runs, R Ashwin was left an unsatisfied man. He came in at the early fall of Virat Kohli, put his head down to bat for close to three hours to take India to what seemed like safety, then he threatened with the new ball, but saw his colleagues release all the pressure and leave the visitors with a tough task on a pitch that could pose challenges on the final day.This was Ashwin’s slowest innings of 30 or more, which ate into the time for Australia to force a result, only India gave away 251 runs in 40 overs, easily the worst run-rate the team has conceded in all the Tests that he has played. Ashwin was pleased with his own effort with the bat and saw some promise when one spun sharply to get David Warner in the second over of Australia’s innings. But India lost it after that.On a pitch that has been slow, where the ball is turning as much as it did for Ashwin, there is no way a side should be conceding more than six an over over 40 overs and India will now have to bat longer than they might prefer to save this Test, although they have the ability to threaten like in Adelaide.”We definitely leaked a lot more runs than we would have liked to have,” Ashwin said. “They played a few good shots, we started off pretty poorly with the new ball as well. Definitely the game could have been different. The way we applied pressure, the way the ball was spinning, the way it was coming out for me, it could have been a lot different. Having said that, it is still pretty decently poised. They definitely have an ace up, but we will have to see how it goes. We batted pretty well in Adelaide. When I batted there weren’t many devils in the wicket. I definitely found it a little hard to score. It’s a new-ball wicket.”Even though Ashwin asked questions with the new ball, there was no pressure from the other end. With no swing or seam, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s gentle pace was easy to hit, and Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav were their usual profligate selves. Yadav, going for 45 that included 10 boundaries, even registered the worst economy rate ever for a bowler who has bowled a minimum of three overs in an innings. In his last over, he showed total lack of application by bowling short when the field had been set to protect the off-side boundary down the ground.The pressure Ashwin built being released so regularly did not please him too much. “When what you have been working on, and what efforts you have put in, when it pays off in numbers, it feels heartening,” he said. “Yes genuinely I thought this could be a chance where I could create something for the team. Ideally, I would have liked a little bit more control from the other side. It would have been nice. But they also took us on. I mean you have to give credit to them. They batted very positively.”They took us on. A few shots were played. We started pretty poorly with the new ball. We have to admit it. When we picked up wickets, we kept on leaking 15-16 runs from the other end. That wasn’t helping the cause. That’s gone now. You have to look forward. We put ourselves in a decent situation this Test after batting well, but we will have to see how it goes. Even in Adelaide it was similar. We will see how they take this up.”Ashwin’s seemingly mild annoyance at the support cast now that the pitch was doing tricks for him was at odds with his reaction towards them throughout the series. In Melbourne, when only he and Ishant Sharma had maintained any sort of pressure, Ashwin had said, “It’s too far-fetched for me to think along those lines. I can only think what best I can offer the team. At the end of the day you can’t point a finger at anybody else that he went wrong. It is a team game.”When asked in Brisbane what difference it made for him bowling alongside two genuinely quick bowlers, Ashwin had said: “As far as I was concerned, I had my focus very sharp. It really didn’t matter what was happening at the other end. Not from the point of view of the team’s cause. From my perspective, whatever happened at the other end I would have forgotten and gone about my job. Having faced the music ourselves, it is a pleasure actually to see the opposition also face similar kind of music.”When Ashwin was actually onto something, however briefly, the other end mattered. If only India can sort out the other end, all the runs that Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane have been scoring might amount to something.

The make-up and history of these New Zealand and South Africa units are not dissimilar, and on Tuesday one of them will break new ground at Eden Park

Sambit Bal in Auckland23-Mar-2015Call it destiny or the quirk of the draw, the battle at Eden Park will ensure that one of the teams shed the baggage of history to make it to a maiden World Cup final. The trophy will still be a match away but for South Africa and New Zealand, one a perpetual underachiever in global tournaments, the other perpetually punching above its weight but always finding the last two steps just that bit steeper, the semi-final represents an opportunity to break free from the scars of the past. And scale a height never achieved.As contests, the quarter-finals were a dampener. Apart from the hour when Wahab Riaz electrified the Adelaide Oval with a spell as fearsome and inspired as ever seen in a one-dayer, the matches never acquired the intensity of a knockout clash. But perhaps for the first time since the semi-finals came into existence, the four pre-tournament favourites, and undeniably the four best teams in the tournament, are left standing. Upsets bring delight and the currency of unpredictability, but the best teams provide the better chance of an even contest.Because of the way the group matches panned out, though, each semi-final will the contested by opponents with common attributes. Australia and India are historically the two most consummate teams in the World Cup knockout games, with six titles and nine appearances in the final between them. They will not be awed by the stage, fazed by the expectations, or freeze when it comes to the last steps in closing out the most important match of their lives. One of New Zealand or South Africa will achieve a massive breakthrough tomorrow: but it cannot escape either team that failure will condemn them to familiar territory – for New Zealand the glass ceiling will remain unbroken; for South Africa, even worse, the continued stigma that has repeatedly held them back will stick.New Zealand and South Africa have more in common than just their frustrating World Cup past•Associated PressBut they have more in common than just their past. The teams are in similar mould. Both strong on fast bowling but carrying a spinner who can prove decisive. In Imran Tahir, South Africa, in their most significant break from the past, have an attacking legspinner who is in the best wicket-taking form of his career. Daniel Vettori is the canny old fox for New Zealand, bowling with the control and guile that many thought had gone absent after a long, injury-induced lay-off.Both teams have powerful, muscular batsmen whose eyes will delight at the outrageously short straight boundaries at Eden Park, but they do also possess batsmen with the temperament and skills to dig in.Most of all, though, they have been by led from the front by two men of contrasting styles but a common passion. AB de Villiers, who has taken one-day batting to a height so dizzy that bowlers must now feel grateful just not having to bowl to him at the end of an innings, had led with his bat. He has been refreshingly candid with his emotions, not holding back from berating his team in public.He described the loss to India as an embarrassment, and ticked his team off for not turning up against Pakistan. Teams and captains in the past have bristled at the “C” word, but de Villiers has confronted it by saying that this team is not going to choke. That’s a brave thing to say because if they do, these words will come to bite him with an even greater ferocity. And psyching yourself up to play a certain way can sometimes be counter-productive. In the 2007 World Cup semi-final, the South African batsman came out looking so charged and so determined to match Australia’s fire that they had lost five wickets in the first 10 overs with two men, one of them Jacques Kallis, being bowled charging to the bowler.Their road to the semi-final has been choppy but, in reaching the semi-final, they have already had their best World Cup. Their first knockout win was achieved in some style and authority, and the way they strangled a red-hot Kumar Sangakkara with pin-point accuracy and spectacular in-the-ring fielding was remarkable. The only blip – if it can be termed that – in that performance was that it didn’t test them in a chase, historically their biggest weakness. That could be their challenge to overcome tomorrow.Brendon McCullum is not New Zealand’s best batsman. He battered the new ball against England and Australia, but the job had been done by the bowlers. It’s the force of his leadership that has driven New Zealand.His boldness has been a product of imagination and tactical nous. On the smaller grounds in New Zealand, containment is a hopeless aspiration with the new rules. Men on the fence are little value if the ball keeps soaring over their heads. Instead he has stationed them behind the stumps and relentlessly sought wickets. Consequently, New Zealand have conceded the least number of runs among the teams left in the competition that have played seven games (Australia’s lower figure was helped by a washout). But because the wickets have come upfront, the bowlers haven’t been challenged at the death. That could be their biggest test against South Africa.Even though they have lost more knockout games than South Africa – seven in nine matches – given the limitation of their resources, each of their World Cup campaigns, including their tearful loss to Pakistan in 1992, has been considered a triumph. But this time the nation, and the world, expects more. Undoubtedly, New Zealand will buoyed by a passionate audience tomorrow – the country’s leading newspaper front-paged a letter from McCullum urging the fans to turn up at the ground to cheer the team – but expectation brings its own weight.Unlike the quarter-finals, there are no clear favourites tomorrow, and that makes the prospect so compelling. The match could turn in one spell, one hitting spree, or even in a moment through a blinding catch or a spectacular run-out.But pray, let this not be decided by mistakes. On top of defeat, that’s not a burden you wish on cricketers.

Five takeaways from a day where Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated the elements and their opponents to move a step closer to the knockout stage of IPL 2015

Amol Karhadkar in Hyderabad16-May-2015Captain’s knockEven before the umpires had asked the ground staff to take the covers off one last time and set Royal Challengers Bangalore a revised target, Virat Kohli was not just padded up but was sitting in the dugout wearing his helmet. The Royal Challengers captain was desperate for what he later described as “two most important points for RCB in the last three years”.He let Chris Gayle sizzle but once Gayle and AB de Villers perished off successive balls in the third over, it was up to him to see his team home and Kohli wrote the script to perfection. Just when the game had looked like it was starting to get away from RCB, Kohli hit a six off Karn Sharma to end the fourth over in style and pull the target down to two runs a ball.With 13 required off the last over, Dinesh Karthik took an easy single to long leg off the first ball from Bhuvneshwar Kumar but Kohli declined the second run to get himself on strike. On the next ball, Kohli’s full-blooded straight drive smashed into Karthik’s pads and as Karthik ran for a single, Kohli yet again turned his back on him to leave the wicketkeeper stranded in no man’s land when Bhuvneshwar flicked the bails at the non-striker’s end.Twelve required off four and he had to do it on his own. A perfect yorker, slightly outside off, but Kohli somehow managed to slide it to the point boundary. Eight off three, seeing Kohli premeditating a glide over short fine leg, Bhuvneshwar bowled it wide of off stump and to his bemusement, Kohli adjusted the stroke at the last minute and bisected point and short third man. Then he sealed the deal, albeit with a bit of help from David Warner on the boundary line, with a straight six off the penultimate ball of the match.Captain knocked downWhile Kohli’s graph went upwards as the match progressed, Warner’s moved in reverse gear. The Sunrisers captain hardly put a foot wrong in the first half, blazing his way to an astonishing seventh fifty of the season, hitting a trademark switch hit six during his unbeaten 52.But when it came to defending a target in a shorter second innings, Warner appeared to have been found out in terms of tactics. The first five overs he appeared to have followed the plan of revolving each of his five main bowlers. But when it came to the last over, Warner preferred to go with Bhuvneshwar over Moises Henriques.No doubt Bhuvneshwar has been the tried and tested death bowler for Sunrisers this season. But with Henriques having picked two wickets for just three runs in his solitary over, perhaps Warner could have thrown the ball to the in-form Australian.To make matters worse, Warner completed Royal Challengers’ victory by stepping onto the boundary cushion after catching Virat Kohli. With four required off two balls, Kohli lofted Bhuvneshwar back over his head. It wasn’t a well-timed stroke so the ball earned more of high trajectory arc than distance.Warner seemed to have settled below the ball comfortably and pouched it but didn’t realise how close he was to the rope. As Warner started to celebrate the catch, he took one extra step back that put his foot in contact with the boundary. Agony turned to ecstasy in no time for RCB as the game, not Kohli’s innings, was over.Fortune favours HenriquesThe 28-year-old Australian has been a revelation ever since being promoted in the batting order and he continued his dream run by making short work of the Royal Challengers bowlers soon after the fielding restrictions were lifted. Had it not been for three lives in eight balls, Henriques wouldn’t have been able to raise his bat for the second time this season.Mandeep Singh dropped a straightforward chance at long-off off Harshal Patel on the first ball of the seventh over that turned into a boundary. On the last ball of the over, the bowler couldn’t hit the stumps when Henriques had attempted a single that was never there. Two balls into the next over, it was Sarfaraz Khan’s turn to show butterfingers as he dropped a regulation catch at point.Despite the chances, nothing can be taken away from Henriques’ clean hitting. His awesome form with the bat trickled into his bowling as well as he brought Sunrisers back into the game by getting rid of Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers off consecutive balls.Caribbean cruiseSo pumped up with the win was Chris Gayle that he had a prolonged set of push-ups on the Uppal wicket after Kohli finished the game off. Those push-ups didn’t really push Royal Challengers into the play-offs. What played a vital role in it was Gayle’s burst at the top.In a six-over chase of 81, the first two overs of fielding restrictions were going to be crucial and Gayle tormented Dale Steyn and Bhuvneshwar to get Royal Challengers on top. The nine balls he faced against them – the first three to Steyn and then the entire second over from Bhuvneshwar – went for 4, 6, 1, 4, 4, 0, 6, 4, 6. Even though he picked out Shikhar Dhawan deep on the onside off his tenth ball from Henriques, the first nine balls had done enough damage.The raining championsIPL television presenter Gaurav Kapur tweeted sometime before the delayed start of the match that Royal Challengers Bangalore are the “raining champions” of this IPL. Of the five rain-affected games this season, Royal Challengers have been involved in four.Their three previous rain-affected matches had ended up with a different result on every occasion. While the game against Rajasthan Royals didn’t produce a result, Mandeep Singh’s cameo helped them chase down a difficult target against Kolkata Knight Riders. Two nights ago, they didn’t find any saviour while chasing an equally difficult ask versus Kings XI Punjab.In neither of the two shortened games did the heavens open back up once the game had started. That wasn’t the case on Friday in Hyderabad. A drizzle started soon after toss, then progressed into a downpour before clearing up suddenly. Just as a full game was set to begin 50 minutes after the scheduled start, the drizzle returned.After playing the first nine overs uninterrupted, showers resumed during the last two overs of Sunrisers’ essay and lasted for more than 20 minutes to force Royal Challengers into having a go at a revised target of 81 in six overs.

Joining Matthew Hayden as opening partner in the former Australia captain’s Ashes XI: an unflappable run-getter from England

Ricky Ponting07-Jul-20151:37

Alastair Cook

“He is a dogged player, not flamboyant but once he’s in, he’s very hard to get out. He’s had a very good career with over a 100 Tests and also captained England. His best attribute is his temperament as he is unflappable at the crease”

Stats

*OVERALL: Matches 114 Innings 204 Runs 9000 Average 46.87 100s/50s 27/42
ASHES: Matches 25 Innings 46 Runs 1787 Average 39.71 100s/50s 4/9

Best performance

235 not out in Brisbane, 2010
England had regained the Ashes at home, but their previous visit to Australia in 2006-07 had been a 5-0 whitewash. And it wasn’t looking good after Australia took a 221-run first-innings lead. But nothing would been more deflating for the hosts than Cook’s 10-and-a-half hour stay at the crease, racking up 235 and combining with Andrew Strauss and Jonathon Trott to pile up 517 for 1 declared to help his side draw the Test and get the psychological advantage. Cook went past Don Bradman’s 226 to record the highest score at the Gabba, and scored a total of 302 runs in the Test.

Trivia

Cook’s eventual score of 235 not out in Brisbane was nearly nine times his previous average in Tests against Australia.*Numbers as on July 7, 2015

New Zealand coach Mike Hesson talks about why a coach can be successful without having played first-class cricket

Tim Wigmore25-Oct-2015Mike Hesson is a self-described “pretty boring bloke”. His is an ethos built upon emboldening his players while remaining unobtrusive. Yet if the New Zealand coach’s eschewing of the media marks him out as an anti-Mourinho, in a sense he is also cricket coaching’s nearest to José Mourinho. No one has done more to show that a paucity of playing experience need not be a barrier to a plum coaching job.When John Wright quit as New Zealand coach in 2012, Hesson became one of the few full-time coaches of a Test nation not to have played a single first-class match. It was a breed small and undistinguished. Together with South Africa coach Russell Domingo, Hesson has proved that first-class, let alone international, experience need not be a prerequisite to international success.”There’s a preconception that it helps to have played to coach – that has some advantages, but it’s not completely necessary. If you haven’t played you need to be able to look, learn, watch and absorb – Mike’s got those qualities,” his predecessor Wright reflects. Hesson’s three years as New Zealand coach have already brought them their first World Cup final and an ongoing unbeaten run of seven Test series, a record for them.To Hesson, not playing international cricket deprives a new coach of “a honeymoon period” that illustrious former players enjoy. Not that he minds. “If you can’t pass on the knowledge that you have, it doesn’t matter whether you played 100 Tests or none. The players will make the decision whether they deem you to be useful or not. That’s the art of coaching – making yourself as useful as possible. I’m quite happy to be judged on how I coach because it’s been a long time since I played.”

“For any coach, if you want to challenge yourself, you have to make yourself really uncomfortable, and I certainly did that travelling to Argentina and Kenya and learning different languages”

Indeed it has. Hesson is not yet 41, an age when most coaching careers are nascent, and he already has nigh on two decades’ experience to call upon.His coaching journey began accidentally. When he was a player for Otago A aged 21, he was offered a contract for a club in Cambridgeshire in England on the condition that he was involved in coaching too. “It was more a necessity than anything,” he reflects. “I didn’t realise it was going to lead to a career path, it was a short-term move.” Hesson swiftly found he had a natural aptitude for coaching. In 1998, at the age of 23, he became the youngest person to gain a Level Three New Zealand Cricket coaching qualification. Otago appointed Hesson coaching director, working under Glenn Turner.He remained there for six years. After taking up an offer to become Argentina’s coach, Hesson returned to Otago a year later, replacing Turner as head coach. In 2008, Otago won the one-day trophy, their first silverware for 20 years; domestic T20 triumph followed in 2009. This success led to involvement with New Zealand A, but it was Kenya that provided Hesson’s next international job when he was hired after the 2011 World Cup.Only 11 months later he resigned, fearing for his family’s security after his family fell victim to an attempted car-jacking and a grenade exploded near their house in Nairobi. Yet Hesson does not speak of his Kenyan stint with acrimony. “I loved it and loved the players – a really good group of guys, really keen to get better. It’s a struggle in terms of facilities and there’s quite a small playing group, so you had to make the most of everything you had and had to be adaptable.”John Wright on Hesson: “If you haven’t played you need to be able to look, learn, watch and absorb – Mike’s got those qualities”•Getty ImagesSuch experiences afforded Hesson a more rounded experience as a coach and, indeed, a man. “Sometimes in international cricket you forget where you’ve come from and you forget how hard it is for players at different levels to push their case. You have to be creative in how you train – there’s no point in having excuses, you just have to try and find ways,” he reflects. “I’ve been lucky enough to work in different countries around the world and been taken out of my comfort zone many times. For any coach, if you want to challenge yourself you have to make yourself really uncomfortable, and I certainly did that travelling to Argentina and Kenya and learning different languages. Those sort of things help to evolve you as a coach.”In his final months as New Zealand coach, before resigning after a power struggle with John Buchanan, Wright tried to enlist Hesson as team manager. “I valued his organisational and interpersonal skills very highly,” Wright says. “He’s got a good mind, he’s well organised and not afraid to ask questions. He’s an intelligent man with a strong capacity to learn.”When Wright stepped down, New Zealand Cricket soon asked Hesson to become the national team’s coach. Some coaches without international playing experience who had succeeded in domestic cricket – like the headmasterly Bennett King (castigated as “one of the worst coaches” by Ramnaresh Sarwan when King left the West Indies job in 2007), and Peter Moores in his first spell as England coach – were criticised for failing to adapt their methods to Test cricket, where players are fully formed and there is less need for intense coaching. “At international level it’s another type of job,” Wright reflects.”You have to be across most things but you also need to allow your support staff their heads”•Getty ImagesHesson has recognised as much. “I don’t do as much hands-on coaching as I have in previous jobs, but I still do plenty,” he explains. “There are some players that the last thing they need is some technical advice, but there are others who you need to intervene with.” He cites Martin Guptill as a player he works extensively with. “That’s the beauty of having coached at different levels – you understand the continuum of coaching and you know when to intervene and when best to say nothing. That’s a big art.”As he is also a selector, Hesson is more powerful than many international coaches. Yet he has not been shy about hiring prominent coaches, including former players Shane Bond (who has since departed) and Craig McMillan. “You have to be across most things, but you also need to allow your support staff their heads. A lot of them have a huge amount of skill, and I trust and allow them to go ahead and do their jobs. As head coach you have to make sure everything’s ticking over nicely, and you fill the gaps when it’s required. My job is continually building relationships with players and making sure they’ve got the support they need and the skills around them to get better.”If it can be distilled, the Hesson formula boils down to the empowerment of his team. “The players have to make decisions out in the middle. A big part of what we do as support staff is try and give them as much support as we can, so when they go out there, they’re capable of making decisions.”It helps, of course, having Brendon McCullum as leader. His appointment, coming after Ross Taylor had been sacked as ODI and T20 captain and then quit as Test captain, was controversial. Some even talked of the Otago mafia, as McCullum had batted with Hesson for Otago A at the start of his career.”When you’re in a job like this you have to make some really tough decisions. As long as you can refer back and make sure that whatever decision you made was in the best interests of the team, then it’s far easier to justify,” Hesson reflects. “Your relationship with any leading in the group is very important. I’ve got a good working relationship with Brendon and we’ve also got a really good senior player group that all contribute at different times, and we’ve had different leaders as well. It’s hugely important that when the team goes out onto the park you’ve got someone that the players are really keen to play for and head towards that common goal.”Hesson on New Zealand’s current success: “Players are playing for the team rather than perhaps having to look after their own spot”•Getty ImagesFrom the transformation of youth cricket a generation ago to McCullum’s leadership today, the reasons for New Zealand’s revival are multifarious. To Hesson, continuity of selection has been critical. “Players are playing for the team rather than perhaps having to look after their own spot. That’s made a difference.” The head coach has also sought to achieve another type of continuity: in the team’s mood, regardless of the most recent result. “What we try and do is be consistent day to day, the way we try and play the game and act and the way we behave. By doing that you try and get consistent performances.”Along the way Hesson hopes to do more than win cricket matches. Allan Border’s mantra – “I’d rather be a prick and win” – does not sit easily with the current New Zealand set-up. “A big part of what we do is try and grow the individual as well. We talk a lot about the fact that we have some players come in when they’re 18 or 19 and they don’t leave for a long time, and they need to grow up as people as well. We take that responsibility pretty seriously.”Hesson might not get recognised in the street but his side’s success is already helping to build New Zealand’s team of tomorrow. “Post World Cup the number of participants is dramatically up this year. That’s huge for us, in terms of having a sustainable team in the future. When you have a World Cup in your own backyard, you’ve got to make the most of that opportunity.”It wasn’t so much just the performance, it was also the style of play and the way we went about our business – it was able to capture the public. A lot of young players are choosing to play cricket for the first time and that’s exciting.”New Zealand cricket will become cooler still if New Zealand can win a Test series in Australia for the first time in 30 years. “It’s exciting for this group to test ourselves against our big brothers across the ditch – it’s a big challenge for us. We’ve prepared well but we also know that Australia in their own backyard are particularly difficult to beat, so we know we’re going to have to play well,” Hesson says.The final match of the series, in Adelaide, will make history: cricket’s first ever day-night Test, something not all New Zealand players are overly enthusiastic about. “The players were initially a little apprehensive. The fact that we had a two-day trial just removed a little bit of doubt – not all of it, just a little bit. Come that third Test hopefully the series is well alive.”Other challenges can wait while there is a series across the Tasman to relish. “The beauty of the group at the moment is, we never look too far ahead. We’re very process-driven, getting better every day. Rather than looking at a goal that’s way over there we’re very much focused on this series against Australia. If we do that right hopefully we can achieve some good things.”Hesson’s words are rather less rabble-rousing than McCullum’s clarion cry of “Dream big, New Zealand” during the World Cup. That’s just how he likes it.

The team’s bowling combinations and choice of second spinner could primarily depend on the injury status of JP Duminy and Morne Morkel

Firdose Moonda in Mumbai31-Oct-2015South Africa could field two specialist spinners as Imran Tahir and one of Simon Harmer or Dane Piedt are likely to be in the XI for the first Test against India next week, if the evidence of the warm-up match and the utterances of coach Russell Domingo are anything to go by.”A lot of the rumours have been around the wickets being very spin-friendly although Mohali does not have that reputation so we’ll need to look at conditions and decide whether we want an attacking spinner or someone who can hold an end,” Domingo said. “Imran is the attacking option and Dane Piedt and Simon Harmer are pretty similar type of bowlers so we’ll have to see.”If South Africa are anticipating turn, they will want Tahir in the team and all indications are that the legspinner will make a Test return. Tahir was treated as the front-liner in the warm-up game, in the same way Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel were, in that he bowled minimally but with maximum effort, unlike Harmer and Piedt, who were put through their paces in what looked like a bid to decide between them.After underwhelming showings on the first day of the warm-up game, Harmer and Piedt were made to open the bowling on the second day. Despite the match reaching that stage where everyone just wants it over with – and most practice games get to that point – the pair operated in fast-forward mode. They hurried through overs and exclaimed excitedly whenever there was a half-chance.Their efforts did not yield anything though and South Africa may decide they are better off without both if they want a complete pace pack. South Africa’s seam attack is usually three-pronged but conditions and Morkel’s fitness could cause that to change. Morkel injured his quad during the third ODI, forcing him to miss the last two ODIs and has been making steady progress. He bowled five overs on the first day of the warm-up match, all maidens, but felt his injury “a little bit,” according to Domingo and then four on the second day in the nets. He will undergo a fitness test in the week to decide his availability.If Morkel is ruled out, South Africa have a reserve pacer in uncapped Kagiso Rabada but may choose to include a spinner instead. Their decision will also be influenced by whether JP Duminy is ready to play the first Test and as things stand, that looks unlikely. Duminy cut his hand during the ODIs, also missing the last two ODIs, but has not made as much progress as Morkel. His stitches will be removed this week and then he will be monitored but Domingo cautioned that the nature of the injury will mean South Africa have to “be sure he is ready,” before playing him.If Duminy is ruled out, South Africa will not only lose their experience in the middle order but also a part-time spinner and will have to decide whether to include Temba Bavuma as the extra batsman or one of Harmer or Piedt as a spinner. Both bat a bit but South Africa may be more comfortable with a specialist batsman and call on Dean Elgar, who bowled a fair bit in the warm-up match, to play the role of a part-time spinner.”On the recent A tour here, Dean bowled the third-most overs in the limited-overs matches,” Domingo said. “He’s got the knack of getting wickets at strange times because he’s a left-arm spinner with not much expertise as a left-arm spinner. Maybe players relax a little bit against him and that provides the opportunity to take wickets. He’s by no means a first-choice spinner but he’s able to bowl 10 overs a day for us and that’s a big help,” Domingo said.With Elgar also providing an option, much of Harmer and Piedt’s fate lies in Morkel and Duminy’s fitness, especially as South Africa’s confidence in Tahir to finally make an impact in the longest format seems to be growing.