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There was something fitting about Ricky Ponting’s dismissal in Perth; like 17 years ago, a Pakistani umpire silenced the crowd with an lbw decision

Brydon Coverdale at the WACA01-Dec-2012Who needs a fairytale farewell anyway? Don Bradman didn’t get the four runs he needed to finish his Test career with an average of 100. It only added to the legend. It showed that he was human. Ricky Ponting, Australia’s best batsman since Bradman, has been demonstrably human over the past few years. In his farewell Test, he too failed to deliver the nostalgic innings – in the first innings at least – that the fans wanted. But there the similarities with Bradman’s finale end.For starters, Ponting was all but certain to bat again. He walked off with the score at 5 for 43, after South Africa had made 225. It was the one consolation for the WACA crowd. Bradman’s duck, also in the first innings of his last Test, made Australia’s total 2 for 117. But England had been dismissed earlier in the day for 52. The chances of Bradman being required again were slim.Nor had Bradman used a nightwatchman. When Sid Barnes was caught behind on the first day at The Oval in 1948, it was nearly 6pm. Nobody really expected Bradman to walk to the crease. Even Arthur Morris, the not-out batsman, thought he would be joined by a nightwatchman, Doug Ring perhaps, or Bill Johnston. At the WACA, Shane Watson was lbw with 25 minutes until stumps. The crowd stood to cheer Ponting to the crease, only to find they were honouring Nathan Lyon.After Bradman walked out onto the ground, he was welcomed by a handshake from his opposing captain Norman Yardley and three cheers from the England players. Ponting was greeted by the sight of Spidercam, inescapable and almost intolerable, in his face as he made his way to the pitch. There was no welcome from South Africa; this was strictly business.”I played the first ball from Hollies, though not sure I really saw it,” Bradman later wrote in . The same might be said of Ponting, who chipped his first delivery uppishly towards midwicket, just short of the fielder. Bradman was bowled by his second ball; Ponting pushed his between cover and mid-off and took off for a tight, twitchy single. The tension in his body was clear. There was no relaxed leaning on his bat, even after he got off the mark.A pull in the next over gave the crowd a glimpse of the Ponting of old. Vernon Philander dropped the ball short and Ponting watched the ball onto his bat, not quite finding the boundary but earning three runs. Was it an omen? Was it a sign that this would be an innings in which Ponting relived his past glories. No. In Philander’s next over, the dream was dead.There was something fitting about the dismissal. Seventeen years ago, a Pakistani umpire was the least popular man at the WACA when he gave Ponting out lbw, four runs short of a century on Test debut. Today, another Pakistani umpire silenced the crowd with another lbw decision.But back in 1995, Ponting and the fans had reason to be frustrated. Had the Decision Review System been available, Khizer Hayat’s call to give Ponting out lbw for 96 to Chaminda Vaas could have been overturned. On the bouncy WACA pitch of the mid ’90s, the ball would have comfortably sailed over the stumps. This time, the skiddy Philander trapped Ponting on the knee roll, and Asad Rauf’s finger went up.Ponting wandered down the pitch and spoke to his partner and captain Michael Clarke. Neither man looked confident. But on such an occasion, a review was as guaranteed as the standing ovation Ponting had been given while walking out to bat. Ponting and Clarke, Philander and South Africa, Rauf and Richard Kettleborough all fixed their eyes on the WACA’s big screen.There was silence as the Eagle Eye prediction unfolded. Red lights confirmed what the fans were afraid of. After a moment of realisation, they began to clap. Another standing ovation was delivered as Ponting walked off the field. He trudged past the ring of South Africa players celebrating their wicket. They did not acknowledge him. They had more work to do, and there would be time for farewells later.Briefly, Ponting turned and glanced over his left shoulder. It wasn’t clear if he was looking to the screen for another replay, or wistfully at the crowd, or if it was a more human impulse – like wanting to whack the invasive Spidercam with his bat. But no. That bat would be needed in the second innings. Unlike Bradman, he would have another chance.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the second day in Hyderabad

Brydon Coverdale03-Mar-2013Warm-up of the day
Xavier Doherty was entitled to be a little bit nervous as he prepared to bowl his first ball in Test cricket in more than two years, his last appearance in the baggy green having come when he took 1 for 158 against England at Adelaide in December 2010. As he warmed up for his first over in this game he sent down a few practice deliveries to Peter Siddle, who was fielding at mid-off. One of them evaded Siddle and ran away towards the boundary, which could have been viewed as a discouraging omen for Doherty. But despite that, and starting his first spell with two low full tosses, he was generally tight in his return to Test cricket.Non-DRS review of the day
On the first day of this Test, the third umpire was asked to check whether a catch was clean and in doing so discovered there was no bat involved, giving Moises Henriques a reprieve. On the second day, the on-field officials again asked for assistance to adjudicate on a catch, this time to see whether it was a bump ball. M Vijay drove Doherty to short cover where Phillip Hughes took the ball cleanly and while the initial reaction from batsman and umpire was one of disinterest, Doherty and Hughes felt it may have been a catch. Kumar Dharmasena asked for the third umpire to inspect the replay and found that it was indeed a bump ball.Wicket of the day
That there was only one says everything about this day. Virender Sehwag’s lean run continued when Siddle banged the ball in and got it to move away from Sehwag, who edged behind to Matthew Wade for 6. It was an encouraging start for the Australians. Then came the small matter of Cheteshwar Pujara and Vijay and a 294-run partnership. Back in the dressing rooms, Sehwag must have been kicking himself to miss out on the feast.Poignant moment of the day
The morning began with both squads and the match officials lining up on the field as if they were waiting for the national anthems. But what followed was a minute’s silence for the victims of the bombings in Hyderabad last month. 16 people were killed and over 100 people injured as the result of twin blasts in the Dilsukhnagar region of the city.

The tour of Sri Lanka has been a test of Mushfiqur’s captaincy, and he appears to have been learning to deal with the challenge

Mohammad Isam27-Mar-2013Like many Bangladesh captains before him, Mushfiqur Rahim has often stressed how important a start, of an innings, match, series, or tour, is for his team. As far as the tour of Sri Lanka is concerned, they had started well by drawing the Galle Test. A good finish, which can only happen by levelling the ODI series, will further reinforce their improvement as a team.The sole Twenty20 on March 31 is the last game of the tour but it’s the third ODI that will attract attention, and it has certainly been treated that way by their captain, the most important man in the side.Mushfiqur has gradually become the team’s central character, in the absence of Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mashrafe Mortaza. He has had to absorb the influential roles of these three key individuals in the line-up, in addition to his job of captaining the side while wicketkeeping. It is not an easy task, and Mushfiqur appears to have worked with determination to accomplish it.Mushfiqur’s meticulous preparation is now well known, pulling him out of a career-threatening axe two years ago. It has landed him in a position where he doesn’t just have his batting or wicketkeeping to hone or think of; he has 16 other minds to read and influence.Mushfiqur certainly has kept the team from falling apart as it deals with a number of high-profile injuries. His double-hundred in Galle was an innings that has had considerable influence; the team believes it is not a second-rate side without Shakib and Tamim. Head coach Shane Jurgensen has talked about how much the team has pulled itself closer, and how more decisions taken are team-centric.”Every decision we make is team-based,” he said. “We train specifically, and I try to recognise when we win what we did before and after the game.”The team does come closer [without the stars]. The young guys have been quite welcomed by the senior players. Tamim has been fantastic when he has been around. It is a bit of change for me because we are trying to work closer to each other.”In the ODI series win against West Indies in December last year, the key factors were the acceptance of responsibility of Mushfiqur and his deputy Mahmudullah, the surprising contribution of the younger players, and the manner in which some of the bit-part performers stood up.Mushfiqur has had help from some of those on this tour but the likes of Mahmudullah and Anamul Haque haven’t delivered by way of performance. The pace bowlers have been inaccurate at most times, leaving a lot to do for the spinners. The opportunities have been fewer but these have come against a quality opposition that has dominated.Doing well against Sri Lanka in their backyard was a pipedream for Bangladesh teams that have visited the country since 1986. For instance, in 2007, the Bangladesh team had failed miserably in Sri Lanka after their best World Cup campaign and a home series against India in which they had their moments. Mushfiqur’s side, however, has held its head high even after four weeks in Sri Lanka, a first.With Bangladesh now on the verge of either going home empty-handed or leaving with dignity, Mushfiqur and several issues have been pulled into the limelight. He probably never liked being the centre of attention and throughout this tour, he has tried to keep himself a little secluded. A modern-day captain has several issues to deal with and many of those are off the field, but Mushfiqur has taken his time to come to terms with the demands placed on him.As he will walk out to do the toss with Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews on Thursday, Mushfiqur should take a closer look and gauge the sort of pressure his friend from his Under-19 days is in currently. It will provide him with the perspective of the level of pressure that a captain can go through, and whether or not he must de-stress.

West Indies’ tour of India in 1948-49 may have produced four draws, but it also resulted in an interesting chronicle of cricket in that age

Steven Lynch08-Jun-2013Not long after I started working for Wisden Cricket Monthly, I asked the editor, David Frith, why Wisden’s style for Trinidad’s capital Port-of-Spain included the hyphens, as I’d usually seen it without. “Jeff Stollmeyer told me it had them,” he laughed, “and since he owned half of it, I thought he should know.”This tale was brought to mind recently when I managed to get hold of a difficult-to-find book, Stollmeyer’s diary of the 1948-49 West Indian tour of India, their first to that part of the world. It was published posthumously (by Royards of Trinidad in 2004), since Stollmeyer himself died in 1989, shortly after being shot by intruders at his home. The diary was not intended for publication, but he assiduously mailed chunks of it home during the trip to his new wife, and it is a fascinating social and cricketing document.One of six sons (brother Victor also played Test cricket) of a wealthy Trinidad cocoa planter who rebuilt the family fortunes after losing heavily in the Wall Street crash, Stollmeyer was an opener who toured England in 1939 as a teenager – he made 59 in both the Lord’s and Oval Tests, aged 18 – and played on for a decade after the war. He finished with over 2000 runs from 32 Tests.He was, by all accounts, an elegant and stylish batsman. “At his best he was a beautiful player,” wrote EW Swanton, “as he showed especially with the 43 and 78 he made on a terrible wicket against England at Old Trafford in 1950.” Other reports talk of his front-foot play, and in my mind’s eye he must have batted rather like Mike Denness – pretty to watch, a fine, upright driver, with a suggestion of fragility against extreme pace (Stollmeyer struggled at first against Ray Lindwall in Australia in 1951-52, although he was hardly alone in that).His diary of the 1948-49 Indian tour is fascinating – from time to time you’re reminded that this was an awfully long time ago, with accounts of cross-country trips taking three days by train, and visits to the cinema, rather than laptops and DVDs in the team room. But more often it reads like the story of a more recent tour, with the usual grumbles about the organisation, the heat, the travelling, and the captaincy.”If ever a tour was mismanaged, this one was,” he snaps at one point, while another observation will strike a chord with anyone who had to tour the subcontinent before air-conditioned hotels became the norm. The Indore Guest House seems unlikely to have earned many stars in the Trinidad travel guide: “The conveniences are nil. There are no mirrors, no flush lavatories, and only one shower to accommodate the team! I couldn’t swallow the food as it had the distinct flavour of cockroach.”The skipper was the white Barbadian allrounder John Goddard, with Stollmeyer as his deputy. There are frequent digs about Goddard’s captaincy style, particularly his tendency to let the game drift: at one point our indisposed diarist hurries down to the boundary from the cool of the dressing room to suggest some tactical changes, and elsewhere he implores Goddard to instruct the batsmen to get a move on.Stollmeyer’s own ambitions in this area are not exactly hidden: at one point he selects his side for the 1950 England tour – still almost 18 months away – with himself as captain. He notes the need for a left-arm spinner, and worries about the impact the Trinidadian legspinner Wilf Ferguson will make. The team ended up largely as he surmised, but the jigsaw was completed by the unexpected arrival of Alf Valentine – the slow left-armer he craved – and the right-arm mystery spin of Sonny Ramadhin. But Goddard was the skipper on that famous tour… and a few years later, Stollmeyer immediately retired (in his mid-thirties) when he learned that Goddard had been recalled to captain again in England in 1957.Many would say that George Headley should have been in charge all along: he had, after all, become West Indies’ first black captain in the first Test against England at home in 1947-48. But Headley missed the rest of that series with injury, while Goddard oversaw series-winning victories in the third and fourth Tests, so it was not entirely surprising that he took charge in India as well. Selected for the tour at 38, Headley hardly played, picking up various injuries that proved remarkably unwilling to heal. Stollmeyer, while frequently remarking with admiration about his team-mate’s tactical nous, is fed up by the end, referring to “tourist Headley” and observing, after he pulled out of the fourth Test, that “George has definitely funked this game”.

Stollmeyer immediately retired (in his mid-thirties) when he learned that Goddard had been recalled to captain again in England in 1957

To get to India the team travelled by banana boat to England, then by air. The sea voyage – enlivened by stowaways and frequent games of cards – seems to have been a useful unifying experience, although modern-day players would gasp at the idea of spending six months on one tour, large chunks of it on board ship.By and large the team seems to have been colour-blind: although Stollmeyer spent a lot of time with Gerry Gomez, a long-standing white friend from Trinidad, he’s also often to be found in the company of Jimmy Cameron and John Trim, who were black.Early on Stollmeyer was concerned that Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott, still young but soon to be hailed as two-thirds of the Three Ws (Frank Worrell was unavailable for this series), were “raw Bajans”. But both had fine tours – Weekes reeled off four successive Test centuries before being sawn off for 90 in his next innings – and by the end the admiring Stollmeyer is happy to admit: “All my fears with him were absolutely unfounded.”In a battle of two strong batting sides West Indies won the fourth Test by an innings, and the other four were drawn, which perhaps makes the series sound less interesting than it was. Stollmeyer played a big part in it, despite missing one match with a nasty bout of chickenpox that laid several of the team low. Ironically, though, victory meant Goddard was inked in as skipper for that 1950 tour of England: Stollmeyer’s captaincy ambitions were put on hold until India paid a return visit to the Caribbean early in 1953 (he did deputise in one match in Australia in 1951-52, and scored a memorable 104 in Sydney, withstanding a barrage from Lindwall and Keith Miller).EW Swanton wrote: “Looking back, it seems even more evident now than it did at the time that Stollmeyer should have been the bridge between the white leadership of the early days and that which was available from the middle fifties in the shape of the exceptionally gifted Frank Worrell.”And it’s hard to disagree with the magisterial Jim. All in all, Stollmeyer’s diary is an interesting and evocative read. I wonder if he kept such detailed accounts of his later trips, particularly in England in 1950?

There is no amount of marketing or jingoistic hubris that can dress up the Investec Ashes series as a battle between the two best Test sides

George Dobell08-Jul-2013While the careers of most England and Australia players will be judged disproportionately on their performances in Ashes series, it is worth putting this encounter into context. England are currently No. 3 in the Test rankings; Australia are No. 4. There is no amount of marketing or jingoistic hubris that can dress this series as a battle between the two best Test sides.It is, like the Glasgow or Liverpool derbies, an encounter dripping with tradition and significance for those involved but, in the grand scheme of things, it is another step on the journey for both sides as they seek to retrace their steps on the road back to former heights. England cannot claim to be No. 1 again until they defeat South Africa. But defeating Australia would represent a decent step in the right direction.They are expected to do just that. Not since 1978-79 have England gone into an Ashes series as such overwhelming favourites. On that occasion, when England went on to win 5-1, Australia had the valid excuse that their squad had been weakened by World Series Cricket and could therefore dismiss the result as something of an aberration. This time, neither side can have any excuse.It is worth reflecting on how that situation has arisen: how a side that for many years beat England with almost embarrassing ease has sunk to arguably the lowest point in its history and how an England team that, less than a decade-and-a-half ago, sunk to the bottom of the Test rankings, has risen to touch – albeit briefly – the top spot in the rankings in all three formats.The root of the answer is in the question. England were so awful for so long that there was, eventually, a realisation that things had to change. The defeats were so painful and so damaging to the ECB’s hopes of developing the game commercially that it was agreed – at long last – that the England team had to be prioritised and every act in domestic cricket geared towards ensuring the success of the national team.So, central contracts were introduced in 2000 to help ensure that players reached international cricket in the physical and mental condition to give it their best. Two divisions were also introduced to the County Championship in 2000 to introduce a tougher competitive edge to domestic cricket, while the ECB also invested in a very well-equipped national performance centre in Loughborough and more age-group and A team tours to help bridge the gap between the domestic and international games.They invested in better facilities and the best coaches; they invested in longer tours and better planning; they identified the best players at a young age and they tried, wherever possible, to stick with them whatever the fluctuations of form and fortune. In short, a game that was still amateur in many ways in 1999, has been dragged into the professional world by 2013.It would be stretching a point to suggest that Australia have gone in the other direction. But, while England made a point of toughening up their domestic cricket, Australia introduced an age qualification into their second XI competition, so that only three players in each team could be aged over 25. As a result, there was an exodus of wisdom and experience in Australian domestic cricket.Meanwhile, they altered their academy system so that, instead of identifying the best young teenage players in the country, they started to concentrate on those who had already started their professional careers.And while England have made a point of consistency of selection over the last decade, Australia are just hours from the start of an Ashes series yet it remains almost impossible to predict the identity of their side. They have changed their coach, their keeper, their opening batsmen and their new ball bowlers in recent months and, since the retirement of Shane Warne, have given a Test cap to every spin bowler in Australia with a pulse and bladder control.There are some lessons there for England. County cricket is currently awash with rules that incentivise counties for picking young players and regulations that render it increasingly hard to register non-England qualified cricketers.Equally, there are ever fewer appearances from the best international players in domestic cricket, reducing not only the quality of competition but the ability of young players to learn first hand from the best in the business. While the motivations for that are admirable, they are in danger of compromising the standard of the domestic game which may well, in a few years, manifest itself in a weaker international team.The current team is benefitting from the tough domestic scene that pervaded about a decade ago. It was that environment in which Kevin Pietersen, who arrived in the UK as a modest spinner and has developed into one of the best middle-order batsmen England has ever selected, learned his trade. It was that environment in which Alastair Cook, who has already broken a host of England Test batting records and has much power to add, learned his trade.It was that environment in which James Anderson, England’s most skilful swing bowler since Sir Ian Botham, and Graeme Swann, their best off-spinner since Jim Laker, honed their trade. And it may well prove to be that environment that makes the difference between the two side in this series.There are concerns for England. England’s slip catching has, of late, been fallible and they have never adequately replaced the fielding of Paul Collingwood, in particular. They may have some issues, too, over the potency of the attack on a Trent Bridge pitch that is not expected to help conventional swing or spin bowling. Reverse swing, a skill with which England probably hold the edge, may prove crucial in the first Test.Jonny Bairstow is also a concern simply due to the fact that he has not enjoyed enough cricket to find any form; he has one innings in competitive cricket since the Test series against New Zealand ended in May and that was in a T20 match.England are favourites. But a series between Nos 3 and 4 in the rankings should not be by any stretch of the imagination be considered a mismatch.

Stats highlights from the 1st round of the Ranji Trophy 2013/14

Shiva Jayaraman30-Oct-2013 Tendulkar averages 81.8 in Mumbai wins
Sachin Tendulkar’s unbeaten 79 against Haryana was his 19th half-century in the Ranji Trophy and his 115th in first-class cricket. This was Tendulkar’s first fifty-plus score in eight first-class innings since his 81 against Australia at Chennai earlier this year. Tendulkar has ended his Ranji Trophy-career with an average of 81.8 in Mumbai’s wins; he has hit 2290 runs from 23 matches including nine centuries. Harbhajan’s first five-for in 39 first-class innings
Harbhajan Singh’s bowling figures of 6 for 54 against Odisha in Punjab’s opening match are his best in the tournament. The last time Harbhajan took a five-wicket haul in a first-class match was against South Africa in Cape Town in 2011, when he took 7 for 120 in the second innings. Between these two innings, Harbhajan has taken 57 wickets from 38 first-class innings, at an average of 38.3 and a strike rate of 94.0. First hat-trick in Ranji for Gujarat
Rakesh Dhurv’s hat-trick against Vidarbha was the first for Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy and the 68th in the tournament’s history. This was also Dhurv’s tenth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Sixth double-hundred by a debutant in Ranji
Vijay Zol’s unbeaten 200 against Tripura is the sixth double-hundred by a debutant in the Ranji Trophy. The previous two seasons of the tournament also saw double-hundreds from debutants, with Jiwanjot Singh scoring 213 on his debut for Punjab against Hyderabad in the last season and Manpreet Juneja hitting an unbeaten 201 against Tamil Nadu in the 2011-12 season. Gundappa Viswanath (230, Mysore v Andhra), Anshuman Pandey (209* MP v UP) and Amol Muzumdar (260, Bombay v Haryana) are the other batsmen to do it. Zol has now hit two centuries in his four first-class innings.Fourth-highest individual score for Kerala
Sanju Samson’s 211 against Assam is the fourth-highest score in the Ranji Trophy by a Kerala batsman. Sreekumar Nair’s unbeaten 306 against Services in the 2007-08 season is the highest score by a Kerala batsman in the tournament. Balan Pandit (262* against Andhra, 1959/60), Sujith Somasunder (222 against Tripura, 2002/03) and KN Ananthapadmanabhan (200 against Orissa, 1996/97) are the other batsmen from Kerala to hit double-hundreds.Satyam Choudhary doubles his tally and more
Satyam Choudhary had scored all of 217 runs from 11 innings last year in the Ranji Trophy; he more than doubled that score in his first innings of the tournament this season, with an unbeaten 239 against Railways. This is the third-highest score by a Madhya Pradesh batsman in the Ranji Trophy. Four of Madhya Pradesh’s 13 double-hundreds have come against Railways. Jai Prakash Yadav (265 v Railways, 1999/00) holds the record for the highest individual score for Madhya Pradesh in the tournament. The previous double-hundred from a Madhya Pradesh batsman was Mohnish Mishra’s 214 against Hyderabad in the 2010-11 season. Paras Dogra’s third double-hundred
Paras Dogra’s unbeaten 209 against Goa was the third double-century of his first-class career. His highest score in first-class cricket is 210 which he scored against Services in the previous season. Himachal batsmen have hit eight double-hundreds in the Ranji Trophy and three of them have come from Dogra. Himachal’s opener Sangram Singh has hit four double-centuries for them in the Ranji Trophy. Rajiv Nair’s 271 against Jammu and Kashmir in the 1999-00 season is the highest individual score for Himachal Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy. Ishwar Pandey’s best first-class haul
Ishwar Pandey’s 8 for 84 against Railways are his best bowling figures in first-class cricket and his seventh five-wicket haul in first-class matches. These were also the fourth-best figures in the Ranji Trophy by a Madhya Pradesh bowler. Narendra Hirwani’s 8 for 52 against Vidarbha in 1993-94 season are the best bowling figures by a Madhya Pradesh bowler in the Ranji Trophy. Aparajith’s third hundred in four matches
Baba Aparajith’s 203 against Services was his third century in four first-class matches and the second double-century of his career. Aparajith is now averaging 176.33 from five innings in first-class matches in the 2013-14 season. Rishi Dhawan takes 100 wickets
The dismissal of Goa wicketkeeper Keenan Vaz was Rishi Dhawan’s 100th in first-class cricket. Dhawan took 5 for 62 in Goa’s first innings; this was the seventh five-wicket haul of his first-class career. Shitanshu Kotak completes 8000 first-class runs in his last innings
Shitanshu Kotak ended his first-class career with 8061 runs from 210 innings with 15 centuries and 55 half-centuries. He crossed 8000 first-class runs during his 65 against Rajasthan in his final innings. Kotak is the sixth-highest run-scorer in the Ranji Trophy with 7542 runs after Wasim Jaffer (9155), Amol Muzumdar (9105), Hrishikesh Kanitkar (7885), Amarjit Kaypee (7623) and Pankaj Dharmani (7621). First to score hundred in each innings for Tripura
Yogesh Takawale became the first Tripura batsman to score hundreds in each innings of a match in the Ranji Trophy. Takawale had just one century playing for Maharashtra – his previous team and the team at the receiving end in this match – from 20 innings. Sachin Chaudhari takes a ten-for
Sachin Chaudhari took a seven-for in an innings and 11 wickets for the match against Tripura, in what was only his second first-class match.

Grant Bradburn, former coach of Northern Districts, recounts the rise of Corey Anderson, who took some brave decisions, overcame the hurdles of debilitating injuries and countered weight issues

Abhishek Purohit in Hamilton23-Jan-20140:00

Crowe: Anderson the difference between the teams

Grant Bradburn: “He is more determined and confident now that he has the ability to bat for longer periods of time”•Getty Images”The biggest compliment I could give Corey Anderson is I wish I could hit the ball like him,” Chris Cairns had said after Anderson smashed the fastest ODI hundred recently. How would you feel if the man you consider your idol said this about you? To get this far, however, Anderson has had to overcome a potentially debilitating cocktail of injuries, surgeries and weight issues.He also shifted domestic teams for better prospects when he was only 20, an age when most players would be happy to be part of the squad and get the odd look-in. Anderson might still be quite young in terms of years, but for someone who made his first-class debut aged 16, and was the youngest domestic contracted player in New Zealand, maturity has come early.The talent has been there from Anderson’s junior days. Virat Kohli remembers him hitting big sixes in Under-19 games. “He smashed us at Kuala Lumpur as well in the Under-19 World Cup, he hit some massive sixes,” Kohli said. “Even then he had a lot of power. Even when we came to New Zealand with the Under-19s, in Dunedin he scored a hundred on a drop-in wicket which was very difficult and he hit some massive sixes there as well.”It is good to see someone from the same batch coming in, maybe from another country but doing well. He has a lot of talent, bowls decently as well, good fielder, pretty strong lad. He is a huge bonus for the New Zealand team. Especially, I don’t think they had any pinch-hitters in the middle order before him, so they were struggling after Ross Taylor would get out. Now they have a dangerous player like him who can change the course of the game anytime.”Before he started changing the course of games for New Zealand, Anderson took a route that led up north from his hometown Christchurch, and one that was to turn around his career. Grant Bradburn, who was the coach at Northern Districts when Anderson shifted there from Canterbury in 2011, said the move revealed a lot about Anderson.”He made the decision himself that he needed to move away from his home association and wanted to push himself to take his game to a new level,” said Bradburn, also a former New Zealand player. “He decided to move here without even being contracted. That makes it even more special that a guy with such talent was prepared to come up here knowing that he was going to be under pressure to perform, and he did it. He challenged himself by coming out of his comfort zone. That was a big decision to leave his family, leave his association where he first started the game. He’ll always hold huge respect from me and all the staff and players for that.”That is a sign of his integrity, of his desire to prove himself, to make himself accountable. He knew he needed to play his way into a very strong squad here. He made some big physical changes, lost 20 kgs very quickly and became a lot more resilient because of that.”Anderson had missed most of the 2010 season for Canterbury with a severe groin injury and wanted a “fresh start.” But he had been known to have troubles with his weight and Bradburn said it was “non-negotiable” that he work on that when he joined Northern Districts. To Anderson’s credit, he drew motivation from his new colleagues and worked hard to shed the excess weight.”He knew that strength and conditioning was very important up here in this environment in terms of how it related to performance. It was almost non-negotiable when he came into this environment. There were a number of dedicated cricketers around him training very hard. He is very close to Kane Williamson and [Trent] Boult, for example, who are exemplary with their physical conditioning. Corey realised even before he made the move that it was not going to be easy up here. Physically it was going to be tough. He was up for that challenge. He wanted to make those changes. Without him wanting to make those changes, they would not have happened.”We have just provided the environment for him to do that. We recognised his immense ability. We welcomed him into our environment. He recognised, too, that Northern Districts was a place where he would be valued and supported.”A leaner, fitter frame has also helped Corey Anderson become more effective with the ball•Getty ImagesAnderson has been marked out for his talent for a long time, but, for all his potential, he did not have any first-class hundreds until 2012, and often used to fall after getting starts. Then he cracked a second-innings 167 against Otago in Hamilton. Bradburn calls that knock the “turning point” in Anderson’s career, and says the allrounder has learned to control himself. A fitter body has also meant a stronger mind, and Bradburn says Anderson is able to concentrate hard and long now.”He’s always had the ability to hit the ball hard but also had the tendency to get out too early. During that innings he showed, most of all to himself, that he has the ability to think tactically through a situation and apply his skills for a longer period of time. He learned so much during that first breakthrough innings.”He is more determined and confident now that he has the ability to bat for longer periods of time, and therefore, much more significant innings than short, explosive ones. Technically we haven’t had to make many changes. It is more applying those skills to the situation that we have worked hard with him.”Within a year of moving to Northern Districts, Anderson had earned himself a new contract. With a leaner frame, he became much more effective with the ball as well. And crucially, the injuries are less frequent now.”With the better physical condition, he was able to be a lot more effective for longer periods of time, was able to stay on the park a lot more,” Bradburn said. “It really helped his whole game and his confidence.”He’s always been a very strong, powerful man. Because of that immense power, his body has taken a little bit of time to build the resilience it needs to control the power. He’s always got some niggles here and there, but because he is in great shape now and his body has matured, we are finding that he is getting a lot less injuries.”He’s always been quick because of his power. With the coaching up here, he has learned to control that power and also use if more effectively. He has learned so much about his bowling rather than just coming in and charging. He has learned the finer points of release and good strong body position. We always had the feeling it was a matter of when and not if Corey would make the necessary physical changes to go to the next level.”The next level is well and truly his now. But there is plenty more to come. Anderson is widely expected to earn a huge IPL contract at the February auction. Can all the success, and money, get to his head? He is still only 23, after all. Bradburn thinks there is no chance.”Corey is fortunate that he is from a well-balanced and a very supportive family, and he is a very well-balanced man himself. He has the right people around him to keep him under control. Knowing Corey so well, he will be enjoying the fact that he is playing good cricket and improving all the time, that he is proving to himself that he can do it at the highest level. There will be no problem now.”

Also, the Pringles’ World Cup record, winning the most successive tosses, and most runs in T20s

Steven Lynch06-May-2014Who are the youngest and oldest players to be picked as one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year? Mushtaq Mohammad is my guess for the youngest … asked Gulu Ezekiel from India

The annual accolade, which started in 1889, is the oldest individual award in cricket, and probably in any sport. You’re right in thinking that Mushtaq Mohammad is the youngest player to be picked as one of the Five Cricketers of the Year: he was only 19 when chosen in 1963 for his feats on Pakistan’s tour of England the previous year. However, there is a complication: during the First World War, when no county cricket was played,

“Further to the reference to Derek Underwood’s maiden century in 1984, I recall that he had been interviewed – perhaps by Peter West – the previous Sunday during the BBC’s cricket coverage. After answering lots of questions about his fantastic England career, Underwood was asked if he had any remaining ambitions after more than 20 years in the game. He jokingly suggested that scoring a hundred would be wonderful. Less than a week later, he’d done it!”

Afghanistan have shown they can win even without their stars. Now Netherlands, Ireland and Nepal need to emulate them

Peter Della Penna27-Jul-2014The 2015 World Cup is less than seven months away, but Afghanistan’s drawn four-match ODI series with Zimbabwe will go a long way towards filling the build-up with positive anticipation that Associate teams will not be content just to show up and collect medals for participation. Like Ireland, Scotland and UAE, who will be there representing the Associate cause along with them, Afghanistan are desperate to prove they belong with the big boys of the Test world, and this week’s results have demonstrated emphatically that they merit inclusion not just for the 2015 World Cup but for ICC events beyond.In years past, the premier Associates like Canada and Kenya were able to come up with once-in-a-generation match-winners like John Davison or Steve Tikolo to serve as the backbone of their squad. The inability to develop a supporting cast to bridge the gap into the next generation of talent has been exposed, with both countries falling back into mediocrity.The ability to generate squad depth is perhaps the most significant hurdle for any Associate squad. When a star player is struck down by injury or suffers a loss of form, Associate teams do not have the luxuries of like-for-like replacements, which can reasonably be expected of Full Member structures. The 2012 World T20 champions, West Indies, were able to advance to the 2014 semi-finals without the services of Kieron Pollard, and a possible return to the final was thwarted by rain in their showdown with Sri Lanka.Sabermetrics analysts in American sports have identified and attached a value to players beyond traditional stats by formulating the WAR or WARP category, short for Wins Above Replacement Player. The stat measures a star player’s total impact over the course of a season by attributing a number of wins that a player’s team would theoretically lose if he was replaced by an average player. In baseball in 2013, reigning American League MVP Miguel Cabrera had a WAR rating of 7.5 for the Detroit Tigers, who won their division with a 93-69 record. If you subtract Cabrera and the seven wins he represents, the Tigers would have finished 86-76, six games behind the Cleveland Indians for the division title and five games behind the Texas Rangers for the final wildcard playoff spot. Similarly, National League MVP Andrew McCutcheon of the Pittsburgh Pirates had a WAR rating of 7.9 on a team that won a wildcard playoff berth in 2013 with a record of 94-68. If McCutcheon disappeared from the team, the Pirates were projected to finish 86-76 on the season, tied with Washington Nationals for the final playoff spot instead of clinching it outright.Cricket, though it has a rich statistical history, has yet to formulate its own version of WAR, but a theoretically crude interpretation of WAR is more acutely applicable at Associate level when players are missing. Prior to the World T20, Ireland went on a tour of the Caribbean where they played in the Nagico Super50 domestic tournament. Ed Joyce was rested and Paul Stirling, a player with multiple ODI centuries against Pakistan to his name, was injured in training before the first match. Reliable allrounder John Mooney also went home after the first match against Guyana with a stress-related illness.Ireland struggled badly without Stirling in the first two games, losing by 114 runs to Guyana and by six wickets to Jamaica, who chased 162 with 21 overs to spare. Upon Stirling’s return for the third match, Ireland defeated Windward Islands by 64 runs. His impact was evident in a number of ways: he may have only scored 11, but by being reinserted into the opening role, Stirling allowed Niall O’Brien to move down to No. 3 and provide a buffer for the middle order. O’Brien top-scored on the day with 44.In addition to being one of Ireland’s better fielders and someone who can save runs inside the circle, Stirling also provided an enhanced spin option, returning figures of 7-2-13-1. His presence arguably influenced the success of lead spinner George Dockrell. In two matches without Stirling, Dockrell returned combined figures of 0 for 64 in ten overs. With Stirling applying pressure from the opposite end, Dockrell had figures of 7-1-14-3 in the win over Windward Islands. Also worth mentioning are the two run-outs that occurred from pressure built off each other’s restrictive bowling as Windward Islands collapsed for 115 in 35 overs.Six days after the win over Windward Islands, Ireland notched a three-wicket win in a T20 tour match against Trinidad & Tobago A, where Stirling scored 70 off 38 balls. Replace Ireland’s best batsman with the eighth-best batsman, the next cab off the rank, and more than likely Ireland lose, as they did to Guyana and Jamaica. Extending this argument, Joyce returned to the squad for the two T20Is and lone ODI against West Indies, enhancing the team’s strength and depth. Ireland won the first T20 by six wickets, with Man-of-the-Match Joyce scoring 40 not out, before narrowly losing the second T20 by 11 runs on a difficult batting pitch.Just three weeks earlier a team without Stirling and Joyce was losing heavily to regional teams, but with them they were capable of knocking over a West Indies side that included Dwayne Smith, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine and Darren Sammy. Ireland’s overall depth is very strong, and it’s hard to find a weak link in a starting XI that includes Kevin O’Brien, William Porterfield and other county pros like Tim Murtagh and Gary Wilson. However, Stirling’s WAR rating would arguably turn up higher because of the overall impact he has on the squad with his batting, bowling and fielding.The impact felt by the presence, or lack thereof, of star players applies to several other current Associate teams. Nepal star Paras Khadka was laid low by a back injury at the ICC World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand. He missed one game and struggled through the rest of the tournament as Nepal lost all four of their group matches to Scotland, Hong Kong, UAE and Canada. Fast forward to the World T20 in Bangladesh and a healthy Khadka inspired the team to wins over Hong Kong and Afghanistan, not to mention turning in a top score of 41 in a losing effort against Bangladesh.Netherlands have also experienced this to varying degrees in recent times. Without Tom Cooper, they finished seventh at the World Cup Qualifier and lost ODI status. With Cooper, at the World T20 they produced a record chase against Ireland to advance into the main draw. It was not just Cooper striking 45 off 15 balls that aided them. His overall presence gave freedom to Stephan Myburgh to swing away at the top of the order without any fear of two out turning into all out in the space of a few overs.Although Netherlands subsequently suffered a humiliating defeat to Sri Lanka when they were bowled out for 39, history will show by the end of the tournament how special Sri Lanka were when they were eventually crowned T20 world champions. Sri Lanka’s run to the title included another famous bowling display when they knocked over New Zealand for just 60. On that same day, Netherlands beat England by 45 runs. So a team that finished behind Namibia a few months earlier without Cooper was now beating Ireland and England with him.The ability to develop squad depth is the biggest obstacle to overcoming the profound impact of losing a player with a high WAR rating. Afghanistan’s pair of ODI victories in Zimbabwe signals that they have begun producing more players who can fill the void when big names aren’t in the starting XI. Among those absentees are Hamid Hassan and Mohammad Shahzad, although at this point Afghanistan should no longer entertain “what ifs” about Hassan due to his chronic ailments.Shahzad’s absence was not felt as badly as might have been feared due to this improved depth. Four players – Samiullah Shenwari, Mohammad Nabi, Javed Ahmadi and Shafiqullah – produced half-centuries for Afghanistan during the ODI series, while 17-year-old Usman Ghani scored Afghanistan’s first ODI century against a Full Member. In their victory over Bangladesh in the Asia Cup, Afghanistan also got an important half-century from Asghar Stanikzai. The run-scoring load is being shared.On the bowling side, Afghanistan have now shown that Hassan’s presence should be considered a bonus instead of a prerequisite for victory. An attack spearheaded by the 135kph-plus pace of Shapoor Zadran, Dawlat Zadran and Aftab Alam was capable of slaying Zimbabwe not once but twice. Add in the spin of Nabi, Shenwari, and the emerging Sharafuddin Ashraf and it becomes hard to find a weak link in their attack. Hassan’s WAR rating would arguably be lower because the drop-off between Hassan and Alam is not as severe as the replacements offered by the absences of the likes of Stirling, Khadka and Cooper.Without Paul Stirling, Ireland struggled against regional Caribbean sides•ICCThe major drawback for any Associate playing in the World Cup is their lack of exposure to Full Member opportunities. Ireland are currently in the midst of hosting Sri Lanka A, while Scotland will host New Zealand A for three games in August. Ireland and Scotland then square off for three ODIs at Malahide in September, with nothing else before the start of the World Cup. Meanwhile UAE have been totally starved of fixtures since the end of the Asian Cricket Council Premier League on May 7. Due to a lack of competitive preparation, they will have the biggest mountain to climb in order to be ready for their first match of the World Cup in New Zealand on February 19 against Zimbabwe.The competitive standard of Associate cricket has perhaps never been stronger. Two teams that do not hold ODI status – Netherlands and Nepal – registered headline-grabbing victories at the World T20 over England and Afghanistan respectively. Hong Kong also managed to humble Bangladesh with a two-wicket win at the same event. Ireland’s World Cup giant-killing exploits have continued in the form of more wins against Full Members – West Indies and Zimbabwe – in 2014.Afghanistan’s 100-run victory over Zimbabwe on July 24 showed that their dramatic two-wicket win two days earlier was no fluke and piles on more evidence that not just Afghanistan but many other Associates deserve increased opportunities against Full Members. They’ll just have to wait until February in Australia and New Zealand to remind administrators of it.

Signs from India’s training sessions suggest they are ready to move back to their preferred combination of six specialist batsmen and four specialist bowlers

Sidharth Monga at Ageas Bowl25-Jul-20148:38

Should India play Rohit or Ashwin?

Stuart Binny has bowled only 20 overs in two Tests of this series. In the second innings at Lord’s, he was not called upon to bowl at all.Although he has played a match-saving innings, signs from India’s training sessions leading into the Test suggest they are ready to go back to the more orthodox combination of playing six specialist batsmen with MS Dhoni batting at No. 7 and with four specialist bowlers to follow.The sixth batsman, if India carry on with the trends from the nets, will be Rohit Sharma, who has scored two centuries in his six Tests but was left out to accommodate the extra seam-bowling allrounder.Leading into the first two Tests, India seemed more or less certain about the combination. While the likely playing XI would get into action right away after the ritual warm-up over a football game, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and R Ashwin would await their turn in the nets. Just before Ageas Bowl, though, Rohit has been getting long hits in the nets. On Friday, he was the first one to get a net.One of the reasons to go back to the orthodox combination could be that Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been providing the runs down the order, and the quick bowlers have maintained a certain amount of intensity over long spells, which was one of MS Dhoni’s concerns over the last two tours outside Asia.Rohit Sharma could make his first appearance of the series•BCCIAlso, the pitch at Ageas Bowl is more orthodox than Trent Bridge and Lord’s. Trent Bridge looked brown and flat, which might have necessitated the buffer of an extra seamer so that the main pace bowlers did not bowl themselves into ground. Lord’s was green, probably greener than it ever has been, which would have meant ideal conditions for Binny, who likes to put the ball there and let the conditions take effect.Ageas Bowl is a hard, quick pitch with good bounce, but it not overly green to afford excessive seam movement. India seem pretty happy about the surface. In a long Test series, they do not want their bowlers to have to slog for their wickets.India could of course go ahead and change the combination on the morning of the match, but Binny has hardly been getting the attention of the coaches that he got in the lead-up to the first two Tests. In fact, he did not even get a hit in the main net on Friday.As far as the role of bowling a few tight overs when waiting for the new ball goes, India will have to rely on Rohit’s offspin. Not to mention M Vijay, who took Moeen Ali’s crucial wicket at Lord’s and has been bowling more in the nets than usual.