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Cricinfo and Wisden writers select their best and worst moments from 2005

24-Dec-2005

John Stern

Never give up: Shane Warne gave his all for Australia and in the right spirit © Getty Images
Best
The look on Shane Warne’s face as he prepared to bowl the final over of England’s three-wicket win in the fourth Ashes Test at Trent Bridge. As he spun the ball from hand to hand, his grin betrayed the relish of a real competitor. Australia were poised to go 2-1 down but how he loved the fight and the challenge. He took the relentless barracking from Pommie fans with remarkably good cheer and simply came back for more. While other Aussies whinged and excused their Ashes defeat, Warne paid due respect to his opponents and to the game itself. He is quite simply a true champion.Worst
The ICC’s pronouncements. You cannot tell players how to behave and what spectators can and can’t drink at a match while ignoring the implosion of Zimbabwe cricket.

Dylan Cleaver

Shane Bond’s return in Zimbabwe was a pleasing sight, but should New Zealand have even been there? © Getty Images
Best
In the great scheme of things it hardly rated a mention alongside the heroic deeds of Andrew Flintoff et al, but Shane Bond’s successful comeback was a great against-the-odds story. Bond’s career has been blighted by stress fractures to his back, the bane of fast bowlers’ lives. Once more he defied the doomsayers to come back and bowl above 150km/h. A sight for New Zealand’s collective sore eyes.Worst
The fact he made his comeback on an awful tour of Zimbabwe where the term ‘Test cricket’, was stretched to its limit. Not only did the cricket range between poor and awful, but New Zealand Cricket took a hammering at home from the public and government, despite being put in an impossible position by the ICC’s insistence of its future tours programme being fulfilled. Mind you, it would have been nice if the players offered an opinion on the subject rather than parroting that mindless mantra of “we’re just here for the cricket”.Tomorrow: Zimbabwe’s dark days and Lara’s triumph

A special Christmas version of our regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect ofcricket

Steven Lynch26-Dec-2005A special Christmas version of our regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect ofcricket:

Marcus Trescothick and Simon Jones were born on Christmas Day © Getty Images
Who is the most famous cricketer to have been born on ChristmasDay? asked Jenny Sturridge from Liverpool
The most famous Christmas Day baby in cricket terms is Clarrie Grimmett, thegreat Australian legspinner, who was actually born in New Zealand on December 25 in 1891. Although Grimmett was 33 before he made his Test debut, against England in 1924-25, he nonetheless became the first bowler ever to take 200 Test wickets, and by the time he retired he had 216 at 24.21, in only 37 matches. Someone who might one day knockGrimmett off this perch is MarcusTrescothick, the current England opener, who was born on Christmas Day 1975. Coincidentally Trescothick’s England team-mate Simon Jones was also born on Christmas Day, in 1978, while Alastair Cook, the exciting Essex batsman who was part of the recent England tour of Pakistan, was born on Christmas Day in 1984. Other prominent Test players born on the big day include Hedley Howarth of New Zealand and Pakistan’s Mansoor Akhtar. (For a full list see the All Today’sYesterdays of Dec 25.)Has Test cricket ever been played on Christmas Day? asked John Canning from London
The first time it happened was in 1951, when the third Test between Australia and West Indies at Adelaide finished on Christmas Day (the third day of the match). Actually West Indies completed their six-wicket win midway through the day, so the players might have been able to scoff some turkey after all. Sixteen years later, in 1967-68, it happened at Adelaide again – the second day of the first Australia-India Test. Farokh Engineer narrowly failed to score a festive century: he was out for 89. Two years later India met Australia on Christmas Day again, this time at Madras (Chennai). At Delhi in 1972 England completed a six-wicket win over India shortly after lunch on Dec 25. And in 1979, the fourth Test between India and Pakistan started on Christmas Day at Kanpur. Actually it was supposed to happen this year (2004) too – the original itinerary for India’s tour of Bangladesh included a Test match from Dec 23-27, but the dates were changed.Did Colin Cowdrey really make his highest Test score on his birthday? asked Dave Jackson
It wasn’t his highest Test score, but it was his highest score in first-class cricket, and it came during England’s 1962-63 tour of Australia. Colin Cowdrey scored 307 against South Australia at Adelaide, the last 63 of them on Christmas Eve (Dec 24, 1962), which was his 30th birthday. For many years after that Cowdrey drove round in a car sporting the number-plate MCC 307, representing his initials (his little-used first name was Michael) and that highest score.My favourite batsman when I was growing up was Rohan Kanhai, who I think was born on Boxing Day. Did he ever score a Test century on his birthday? asked Evander Sargent from Jamaica
Yes, Rohan Kanhai was a lovely batsman to watch, and he was indeed born on Boxing Day (in 1935). He never quite managed a Test hundred on his birthday, though – he did play in the Boxing Day Test against Australia at Melbourne in 1968-69, but only managed scores of 5 and 4. The nearest he came was actually in the course of his first Test century, against India at Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1958-59. That match started on December 31, 1958 – and by the end of the first day Kanhai had made 203 of his eventual 256, which remained his highest Test score.How long has there been a Boxing Day Test at Melbourne? asked Andy Simpson from Australia
As far as I can see the first one to start on Boxing Day at the MCG wasin 1968-69, when Australia beat West Indies by an innings in the match referred to above. Bill Lawry, a local man, enjoyed the idea so much he scored 205. The next one was in 1974-75, when England drew a close match, but it wasn’t until 1981-82 that the tradition really took off, after a thrilling Test between Australia and West Indies – one in which a rampaging Dennis Lillee reduced the Windies to 10 for 4 by the close on Boxing Day after Australia had been bowled out for 198. Since then, with a few exceptions, there has usually been a Test starting on Boxing Dayat Melbourne. In 1995-96 the traditional huge crowd saw Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan no-balled for throwing by the Australian umpire Darrell Hair.Why is it called Boxing Day anyway? asked Vishal from Mumbai
This one’s a bit out of my specialist area, but I’ll have a go anyway! Apparently it is so named after the custom of putting money in church boxes during the Christmas period, to be distributed on December 26 to the poor and needy. The “Did You Know” website adds: “It is thought that Boxing Day was first observed in the Middle Ages. It found renewedpopularity in the 19th Century, when the lords and ladies of England presented gifts in boxes to their servants on December 26 in appreciation of the work they had done over the Christmas celebrations.” In the best traditions of Christmas television, this column is a repeat: it’s an edited version of one that appeared here last year. Ask Steven will be on holiday next week, but normal service will resume on January 9, 2006. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

It’s as if this Test match is being played on two different pitches – one on which Rahul Dravid is batting, and the other on which the rest of the 21 players are battling it out

On the Ball with S Rajesh02-Jul-2006It’s as if this Test match is being played on two different pitches – one on which Rahul Dravid is batting, and the other on which the rest of the 21 players are battling it out. Over two days of the match, Dravid has faced 345 deliveries and been dismissed once; the rest of the motley crew from both sides have lost 25 wickets in 687 balls – that’s an average of less than 28 deliveries per dismissal.The outstanding feature of Dravid’s two innings in this match have been his limitless patience and his impeccable shot selection: out of the 345 balls he has faced in both innings, his response on 202 occasions has either been a dead defence or letting it go through to the wicketkeeper. The two-paced nature of the pitch has meant that batsmen haven’t been comfortable driving, but Dravid has played the stroke extremely well, getting 56 runs from his front-foot drives, evidence of just how well he has been able to judge the length and get to the pitch of the ball. It has mostly been a defensive effort, but whenever the short balls have come along, Dravid has unleashed some superb cuts and pulls – 21 such shots have brought him 45 runs.Dravid’s mastery of the conditions can be gleaned from his in-control factor over his two innings – 91.3%, nearly eight percentage points more than the rest of his team-mates over the two innings.West Indies had one batsman who batted with as much composure as Dravid did – Daren Ganga, fresh from a century and an unbeaten fifty in the previous Test, made a fluent 40 before falling to a huge offbreak in Harbhajan Singh’s first over. In the 64 deliveries he faced, Ganga’s in-control factor was 89%, ten percentage points more than the rest of the West Indian batsmen managed. For much of their innings, it seemed the other batsmen wanted to hit their way out of trouble and get a few runs against their name before an unplayable delivery got them. They will have to do much better than that if they are to chase down a target which is likely to be in the vicinity of around 250 in the final innings.

Anjum Chopra’s Arjuna award marks another step in the evolution of the women’s game in India, writes Nishi Narayanan

Nishi Narayanan30-Aug-2007

Anjum Chopra is the seventh woman cricketer to win the Arjuna award © Indian Express
At a time when disillusionment with the establishment is rife and higher pay packets are luring players to rival leagues, take a moment to appreciate those who have stayed in cricket for years on end purely for the love of the game. Anjum Chopra, who was yesterday presented with an Arjuna award, one of India’s highest civilian honours, is among that company.Chopra is only the seventh woman cricketer to win the award since it was first established in 1961, and no male cricketer has been nominated since Harbhajan Singh won in 2003. The honour comes a few days after the Indian board announced an allocation of Rs 60 to 70 million ($1.47-1.71 million) for women’s cricket this season – almost twice last year’s allotment. The future may look bright for women’s cricket in India, but for the likes of Chopra, who played the best part of their careers in the years when there were no financial incentives, it may be a little too late.The women’s game still retains an amateurish feel, with many international players taking leave (without pay) from their regular jobs to play for the country for small daily allowances. Chopra is among the very few players who have consistently performed well and remained on top despite the hardships.She considers herself fortunate to have witnessed the change of guard from the amateur body that was the Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI) to the BCCI, with all its monetary and organisational power. “It has been a very nice journey with the WCAI who worked hard to keep the game alive,” she said, speaking to Cricinfo a day before she received the award. “But this is just the beginning of the road with the BCCI and we have a long way to go.”Chopra has already come a long way herself. She made her debut in 1995 and is the first Indian woman to play over 100 ODIs. When asked what her most satisfying series as a player has been, she prefers to go with the line that satisfaction comes from the team’s success, whatever one’s individual contribution may be. “You don’t make headlines, the country makes headlines,” she says. On being pressed further she nominates India’s Test victory in South Africa in 2002, their first away win and second overall in 28 Tests. She fails to mention that she led the side and top scored with a patient 80 as India won by 10 wickets.Neetu David, her former India team-mate, remembers another memorable Chopra game. “It was her first tour of England. Anjum batted on while the others around her were dismissed for low scores. That was her first one-day hundred. We celebrated wildly after the game.” India won the match by 86 runs and the series 2-0.In 2006 when India won their first Test in England, Chopra once again top scored for her side with 98. Indeed, her successes have more often than not come in Indian victories – 13 of her 15 half-centuries in ODIs have been in matches won – a stat any player would like to boast of. ‘You don’t make headlines, the country makes headlines,’ Chopra says, when asked what her most satisfying series as a player has been It hasn’t always been rosy, though, especially recently. Chopra took over the captaincy from Anju Jain in January 2002, but held it for only a year before being replaced by the current captain, Mithali Raj, in February 2003. And she hasn’t been having too good a time of it with the bat either. In her last 17 ODIs, dating back to July 2006, she has been about 10 points off her overall career average. She was even dropped for two games in the Quadrangular series in Chennai early this year.Shubhangi Kulkarni, who was the secretary of the WCAI and is now the convenor of theBCCI’s women’s committee, and herself an Arjuna award winner, believes Chopra truly deserves the recognition she is receiving. “Anjum is one of the most attractive batsmen on the circuit and she is a role model for younger cricketers with the way she carries herself on the field.”Chopra may have unwittingly become a representative for women’s cricket also by virtue of her appearances on television as an expert during men’s international tournaments, butwhere she truly represents women cricketers, across generations, is in achieving what she has while playing without incentive and recognition. This award, which recognises her efforts, makes some of the struggle worth it.

England’s new captain may not be too experienced, but no one could be more up for the job

Will Luke10-Oct-2008
“I love being involved all the time. I like to be involved, I like to make people feel loved – make them feel they deserve to be there” © Getty Images
Kevin Pietersen ambles into the room and immediately owns it. There is no cocky swagger or affected poise: he is simply very tall, very healthy, very sporty. And very relaxed. A bone-crushing handshake joins a wide-melon smile; the jeans and lumberjack shirt lend a laidback feel to the occasion. “Let’s go for it, mate,” he announces.Is this really the England cricket captain? No blazer, no England emblem, no sponsor labels – not even a cameraman. His agent is nonplussed outside, and no fingernail-biting ECB officials are lurking. The occasion bears merit for all of the above – a promotional event for the Stanford 20/20 for 20 tournament – and his casual confidence reminds you that Pietersen will be doing this job his way, and his way only. And although he has only been in charge for a matter of weeks, he has already marked his scent in the dressing room. “They know what kind of skipper I am: no nonsense and no mediocrity,” he says. “I want them to strive for perfection and for them to be the best they can possibly be, every single day. I give my lads freedom to play however they want, because I know how talented they are. ‘Just go and chuck your talent out on a cricket field,’ I tell ’em and they’ve done that brilliantly.”It almost feels like fate that Pietersen should be captain at this critical, shape-shifting time in English cricket. England’s most ebullient cricketer taking centre-stage for cricket’s greatest payday: Allen Stanford’s uncompromisingly bold vision, or exercise, or lark – no one really seems sure which it is – gets underway on November 1. For Pietersen, however, it is nothing more than another opportunity, even if it is one that promises unprecedented riches. “It’ll be a learning curve to see how the guys cope under pressure. Extreme amounts of pressure. In the next 12 months we have something called the Ashes, which is huge, so what we’re going to find out [in Antigua] is how the guys cope under pressure, how their minds work and how we get through it. It’s huge, but it’s not as big as winning games for England: winning in India, going to the Caribbean to try and beat West Indies again, then obviously the Ashes next year.”Ah, yes. What of the Ashes then? Pietersen’s rival and best mate, Shane Warne – “Top man, Warney. Top man, eh?” – last week fired a premature Ashes salvo, cackling at England’s prematurely swaggering optimism. He has a point. England’s victory over South Africa was, after all, a dead rubber.No matter for KP, apparently. England may have the dusty outgrounds of India to contend with, and then West Indies in the new year, but Pietersen’s England are gagging at the prospect of an Australia side lacking Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, and Warne. “In 2006-07 we went to Australia with no Simon Jones, Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan. Steve Harmison, he was there… well, he wasn’t there… so we had some really big players who missed that series, and it’s one of those things which happens in sport. Those big players we had missing there – they’ve got even bigger players that they’re missing. We’re licking our lips at the moment, to be honest.”Refreshingly – or rather, thankfully – captaincy hasn’t dampened Pietersen’s honesty or straightforwardness. He is only marginally more coy than the whirlwind whose three hundreds in his native South Africa practically caused a riot. “I’m definitely a lot more grown up, in terms of my outlook on life.” Nevertheless, for all the undoubted maturity – the bombast has lessened, his skunk haircut has been shorn – the more Australia is discussed, the more animated he becomes.Hansie Cronje was such a hero of mine too. I liked how he did, well, the positive stuff. Not all of what he did, obviouslyKevin Pietersen on his birth-country’s famous son”I’m in a fortunate position to be here, captaining England going into the Ashes next year – hopefully without any injuries. I see that as a privilege. I don’t see it as a hindrance; it’s an opportunity to go and do well and restore some happiness after what happened in Australia. I know with all the help of my team-mates, the management and the nation… we want the nation to get behind us. We want the nation right behind us next summer.” He picks up his phone, gesturing with it persuasively, lowering his gaze. “It’s one of our biggest goals to get the nation really, really fighting hard like it was in 2005. The media, everybody – we want them on side so we can go out and smash Australia now.”It is quite a statement for someone who witnessed the horrors of England’s last trip to Australia. Having enjoyed success under Vaughan in his debut series in 2005, he then watched Andrew Flintoff surrender to Ricky Ponting’s embittered, scorned, revenge-seeking side. Now it’s Pietersen’s turn, and he has no doubt who his two chief allies will be.”I guess I’ve been pretty fortunate that I’ve had Flintoff come back, and play the way he has played with the head that he has on his shoulders now. It’s superstar stuff. He’s an absolute genius at the moment, which is very refreshing. And his old mucker Harmison, he too has got a real good head on him at the moment. He is very, very, very good at the moment. I am such a huge Steve Harmison fan.”His excitement briefly threatens to go overboard. Instead he pours a glass of water and shakes his head, as though weary of Harmison’s many detractors since he climbed the rankings, then plummeted, then shot back this summer. “I face him in the nets and I it. He’s quick, the ball bounces, and you know you’re in with a competition, in for a fight. On numerous occasions Steve’s nearly cleaned me up and it’s not fun. I’m here to tell you.”I think with a good head on his shoulders, like he has now, if he keeps this mental strength he could be top of the world rankings in a year. He should be. That’s what I see in him.”Judging by Harmison’s genuinely impressive comeback this summer – 60 Championship wickets, leading Durham to their first ever title – Pietersen could well be right. The new Harmison is the Harmison of old, though history has taught England to enjoy his form while they can. Can Pietersen take credit for Harmison’s resurrection? In part, yes. “I think some of the best stuff I’ve heard in the last month is how the guys have spoken to me about my captaincy, how they like playing under me – the confidence I give them – and the fact they can go out there and just perform, entertain and be the best players they want to be. You can’t ask more than that.”
“Steve Harmison could be top of the world rankings in a year. He should be. That’s what I see in him” © Getty Images
It is all too easy to forget just how inexperienced Pietersen is. He was no FEC – “Future England Captain” – certainly not in the way a young Mike Atherton was. Pietersen is entirely his own man. How couldn’t he be, after calling Graeme Smith a muppet and scolding South Africa for their quota policy before legging it to England – not to mention baffling logic by engineering a new stroke? But his leadership differs from the bull-in-a-china-shop of Flintoff.”I love being involved all the time. I like to be involved, I like to make people feel loved – make them feel they deserve to be there. That’s how I want to be treated so that’s how I treat others. I want them to know they’ll be there [in the team] a while.”I like how Steve Waugh conducted himself on the field, and against opposition. Hansie Cronje was such a hero of mine too. I liked how he did, well, the positive stuff. Not all of what he did, obviously. The way he carried himself, the fact he got up at 6am every morning to train, ran 5km before breakfast before anyone else. He led from the front in terms of his work ethic, which according to some people was absolutely incredible. What strength he had. And that’s what I aspire to: train hard, and it breeds success. I’m a simple person really.”It became a trend that after a long spiel he would end it with that phrase: “I’m a simple person”. The cynic questions whether this is a form of false modesty, but he needn’t bother. Pietersen thinks only about winning, and to be the “best I can possibly be”. There is a deep-rooted concern that the burden of captaincy might affect his swashbuckling brilliance at the crease; it has, in various formats of the game, affected his predecessors since the 1990s.Pietersen’s curled lip of distaste answers the question silently, before adding: “I’m not a captain when I go out to bat. I just bat. Whatever happens in my career as captain, they’ll just blame the captaincy. If I do well they’ll say, ‘Oh, it’s because he’s captain’. I don’t think that’s right, but we shall see. I just want to do it and deal with it. I’m a simple person. I don’t like to… I mean… I don’t go too deep into things.”Of course, it is too early to judge his tenure. The champagne corks are still pinging off the ceiling, and everybody – players and media alike – has been instantly impressed. When he leads England out on November 1 with the hope his side will net nearly half-a-million each, it’ll be four years almost to the day that he qualified for England, a fact he was surprised by.”I do have to pinch myself sometimes to realise where I am. There’s a lot that’s happened in my career so far, but you know what, it’s just about me enjoying myself. My success hasn’t come about by a fluke or because I’m lucky, it’s because I’m so, so driven; so clear in my thoughts about where I want to go and what I want to achieve. I train harder than anybody, I try harder than anybody and do as much as I can to improve on a daily basis. That’s where I’m at.”Simple man, simple plan. It might just work, too.

Stats highlights from the second Test between New Zealand and India, which ended in a high-scoring draw in Napier

S Rajesh30-Mar-2009Gautam Gambhir’s 643-minute innings is the seventh-longest by an Indian batsman•Associated Press India batted 180 overs in their second innings, which is the eighth-highest number of deliveries they’ve batted in the second try. The first six of those instances had all been before 1980, which indicates how the nature of the game has changed. The last time they batted more overs was also against New Zealand, in 1999 in Mohali, when they scored 505 for 3 in their second innings after being bundled out for 83 in their first. Surprisingly, seven of the top nine such efforts have happened overseas. It’s also the second-highest number of overs they’ve played when following on – the only occasion they batted longer was at Leeds in 1967 against England, when they faced 209.2 overs to score 510 in a match they ultimately lost by six wickets. Of the 30 games when India have been asked to follow on, they’ve saved eight, lost 21 and won one.India managed to draw a Test after conceding a lead of over 200 in the first innings for the tenth time. Overall, such a feat has been achieved on 78 occasions. For New Zealand, it was the first instance of not winning a Test after enforcing the follow-on at home. Before this match, they had a perfect 7-0 record in games in which the opposition followed on. Overall, of the 14 occasions they’ve asked teams to follow on, New Zealand have won ten and drawn four. Gautam Gambhir’s 436-ball 137 was easily the slowest of his 15 fifty-plus scores in Tests. His innings spanned 643 minutes, which is the seventh-longest by an Indian. (Click here for the entire list of longest Test innings in terms of minutes.) Gambhir’s knock is the slowest by an Indian, in terms of balls faced, for an innings of less than 150. His strike rate of 31.42 is still better than Sanjay Manjrekar’s strike rate of 24.64, when he scored 104 off 422 balls against Zimbabwe in Harare in 1992. There were 12 scores of 50 or more in this Test, which equals the record in New Zealand for most number of 50-plus scores in a match. The only previous occasion when this happened in New Zealand was also in a Test against India, in 1999 in Hamilton. This is the ninth drawn game among the last 25 when captains have enforced the follow-on. Eight of those games involved Zimbabwe or Bangladesh, all of which the minnows lost. Exclude them from the equation, and there have been nine draws out of the last 17 Tests which have involved the follow-on. VVS Laxman’s unbeaten 124 contained 25 fours, which is the highest by any batsman in an innings of 125 or less. Extend the filter to 150 runs, and still only six batsmen rank above him. Laxman’s century was also his first in New Zealand, and his second against them in six Tests.

Stats review of the three-Test series between India and New Zealand

Siddhartha Talya08-Apr-2009India were expected to win the Test series going into the tour, and though they met expectations, the final 1-0 scoreline, as a result of the rain-affected final day in Wellington, did not appropriately reflect the gulf between the two teams. India had a far more experienced team, riding on a wave of success after wins at home against Australia and England while New Zealand had performed poorly in Tests in 2008. The most glaring differences lay in the batting, with India’s top six outclassing New Zealand’s, particularly in the second innings.Gautam Gambhir was the star for India, emerging as the highest-run getter in the series. His tally of 445 runs is the highest for an Indian batsman in a three-Test series outside the subcontinent, and his best overseas performance in terms of averages. India’s big three, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman also cashed in, with each averaging over 60. Tendulkar scored a fifty-plus score in each Test – his 160 in Hamilton being his best effort – while Laxman’s highlight was his match-saving century in Napier. Dravid was highly consistent, notching up four half-centuries, and recording his best series average in close to two years. MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh bettered their records with some fluent batting further down the order but the one name conspicuous in its absence from the list of India’s top performers was Virender Sehwag, who averaged just 28.India averaged 52.51 overall for each wicket, a difference of more than 17 runs compared to New Zealand. If one focuses only on the performances of the teams in the second innings, the difference increases to 55 in India’s favour, proving decisive in the outcome. In Hamilton, New Zealand were bowled out for 279 after India had gained a first-innings lead of 241, and in Wellington, they were on the brink of defeat with eight wickets down chasing 617 before rain came to their rescue. India’s statistics were boosted by their defiance in Napier, where they saved the Test after following on, and a combined batting display in the final Test where they consolidated on a sizable lead to set the hosts an improbable target.

Average runs-per-wicket

IndiaNew ZealandOverall52.5135.21Second Innings86.2731.11With more success from their top six, India’s top and middle-order partnerships invariably were far more productive. However, New Zealand had serious problems up the order, losing their first three wickets consistently with the score under three figures in all their five innings. The average partnership for the first three wickets for the hosts was under 25, with the likes of Tim McIntosh, Martin Guptill, and Daniel Flynn struggling to get going. The difference in the statistics for partnerships in the second innings is starker, with the home team faltering each time, though in Wellington, Ross Taylor and James Franklin kept India at bay for a considerable while. For India, Sehwag’s relatively disappointing performance in the series did slightly dent his opening record with Gambhir, though partnerships for subsequent wickets, particularly those involving the big three together with Gambhir, helped their team dominate with the bat.

Average partnership runs

TeamOverallFor wickets 1-6100s/50s2nd innings – For wickets 1-6100s/50sIndia52.5164.216/991.204/3New Zealand35.2135.333/233.161/1Equally important was the performance of the two specialist spinners Harbhajan Singh and Daniel Vettori. On wickets that are traditionally more conducive to pace, Harbhajan spearheaded India’s bowling attack, emerging as the highest wicket-taker in the series, but his counterpart was well below-par.New Zealand’s fast bowlers tried hard, but without adequate support from their ace spinner, whom India negotiated easily, their bowling failed to measure up against a formidable batting line-up. Only Chris Martin, who picked his 150th Test wicket during the series, proved penetrative, grabbing 14 wickets at 32.71. While India’s pace bowlers handed their team the initiative, bowling out the opponents cheaply in the first innings, Harbhajan preserved his best in the second – his 6 for 63 in Hamilton was his best performance overseas – with the track taking more turn after his batsmen had provided him the cushion of a sizable lead.

Harbhajan and Vettori in the series

PlayerWicketsAverageStrike RateEconomy RateHarbhajan1621.3755.32.31India’s fast bowlers (Zaheer, Munaf and Ishant)2740.2869.333.48Vettori752.28117.12.67New Zealand’s fast bowlers (Martin, O’Brien, Southee, Mills, Franklin)27113.6182.264.04However, the hosts, still adapting to a new phase with a young team will take heart from their performance in Napier, and some individual successes that will bode well for them in the coming future. New Zealand managed six centuries in the series – only the second time they have done so – and yet, lost. India had four. The Napier Test also witnessed a host of records being broken, and marked a return to form of two of their key performers – Taylor, who put behind him a lean phase to score 151, and Brendon McCullum who, until now, had failed to replicate his ODI success in the Test arena but struck gold with a quick ton. The biggest individual success for New Zealand, though, was Jesse Ryder, who finished the series with 327 runs, including a maiden Test century in the first Test and a double in the second.Head-to-Head contests
Harbhajan was particularly successful against Taylor, dismissing him thrice. Ryder played him well, though fell to him on both occasions in the second innings. McCullum, during his century in Napier, and Vettori, in Hamilton, got runs against him, while James Franklin struggled. Zaheer was highly effective against the top order, dismissing Guptill, McIntosh and Flynn thrice each.Vettori was generally negotiated well by the Indian batsmen, especially Gambhir who scored 101 against him without being dismissed. He was relatively successful against Dravid, and Sehwag, whose audacious waft off his bowling in the Napier Test deprived India of the start it needed to scale a mammoth New Zealand score of 619. Chris Martin had more success against the Indian middle order, getting rid of Yuvraj thrice, and Tendulkar and Laxman on two occasions. However, he came in for some harsh treatment from Sehwag who scored 56 at almost a run-a-ball.

Player v player

BatsmanBowlerRunsBallsDismissalsAverageJesse RyderHarbhajan Singh81187240.50Ross TaylorHarbhajan Singh63151321Brendon McCullumHarbhajan Singh58112158Daniel VettoriHarbhajan Singh44117144James FranklinHarbhajan Singh38126219Martin GuptillHarbhajan Singh34421.5Jesse RyderZaheer Khan80111240Ross TaylorZaheer Khan721230-Martin GuptillZaheer Khan6177320.33Tim McIntoshZaheer Khan299539.66Daniel FlynnZaheer Khan229237.33Gautam GambhirDaniel Vettori1011960-Rahul DravidDaniel Vettori63194231.50Sachin TendulkarDaniel Vettori47130147Harbhajan SinghDaniel Vettori37400-Gautam GambhirChris Martin73171173Sachin TendulkarChris Martin87120243.50Rahul DravidChris Martin63176163Virender SehwagChris Martin5659156VVS LaxmanChris Martin3785218.50Yuvraj SinghChris Martin3454311.33

Reaching the summit is one challenge, staying there is something entirely different

Andrew McGlashan in Durban30-Dec-2009Reaching the summit is one challenge, staying there is something entirely different. When South Africa took Australia’s crown as the No. 1 Test team in the world, they seemed to have the makings of a side to hold that spot. A strong-willed captain, a mighty batting order, a great allrounder and a fearsome strike bowler.They couldn’t do much to prevent the mace being handed over to India at the start of this month as they hadn’t played Test cricket for eight months, but after an innings-and-98-run thrashing at Durban, they look anything but world-leaders. It’s the nature of the defeat that is causing the greatest alarm. South Africa have always been beatable, but they rarely get hammered.Overcoming Australia on their home soil proved such a pinnacle for Graeme Smith’s team. It was the fruition of two years’ building and followed a victory in Pakistan, a draw away to India then an historic series win in England. Each of those achievements was memorable in its own right, but when Neil McKenzie and Hashim Amla knocked off the runs at the MCG that was the moment a generation (and more) had waited for. Since then, alas, there has been a steady slide.Defeat in a dead rubber at Sydney could be excused – particularly as it came with just 10 balls of the match remaining – but the loss of the return series in South Africa was a real shock to the system. Questions were asked about how the team had prepared, while familiar differences of opinion emerged between the captain and the selectors.The eight-month hiatus from Tests allowed that particular dust-cloud to settle, but South Africa’s performances in limited-overs cricket also suffered. After a crushing defeat in the semi-finals of the World Twenty20, they flopped at home in the Champions Trophy, with a first-round exit, and went on to lose the one-day series against England. Now this innings defeat at Durban has ensured that a year that began with so much promise has turned into one to forget.Mark Boucher troops off as South Africa’s last hope departs•Getty Images”We have to honest with ourselves and look in the mirror. We represent a lot of people’s hopes in South Africa and just weren’t good enough,” Smith said of his team’s capitulation. “We haven’t played the same amount of Tests as we did in 2008, but 2009 really hasn’t lived up to the hype we managed to build last year, and that’s disappointing.”As a team we reached a point and haven’t been able to go to the next level. That’s something we need to address as a team and maybe as a leadership group. From a coaching perspective we need to look at why we haven’t been able to take the next step, and that’s something hopefully we can reassess in 2010 and make it a better year.”The similarities between South Africa’s post-Australia blues and England’s post-2005 Ashes hangover are stark. Under Michael Vaughan, England reached their zenith during that memorable summer and seemingly had a team to dominate for years to come. But it wasn’t to be. They just couldn’t reach those levels of intensity again for consistent periods. The could be becoming true for South Africa.Injuries, too, played a part, perhaps more so in England’s case but the recent problems for Dale Steyn and Jacques Kallis haven’t helped the hosts. Then there’s the loss of form and confidence. Steve Harmison was never the same after 2005, while Makhaya Ntini is now a shadow of his former self.And what of the coaches? Duncan Fletcher backed his players to the hilt until it got too much during the 2006-07 Ashes drubbing, when the performances were indefensible and relationships reached breaking point, not least between Fletcher and his captain, Andrew Flintoff. Things are not as dire for Mickey Arthur, but the warning signs are there. He has the utmost faith in his players and his game plans – however, sometimes the call to change becomes too loud to resist.Smith, though, is cautious of knee-jerk reactions. “We’ve had one collapse and as disappointing as that is, I don’t think it’s a call to make massive changes,” he said. “It’s disappointing when it does happen, it never looks good, but generally the top six have been solid even in this series. Maybe we got a little tentative and didn’t commit to our shots as well as have.”The guys have got good records. It’s always important to have these wake-up calls, but disappointing when it does happen. In this series the guys have batted well and handled conditions well, even in the first innings here, 340 was a good effort but we have to go away and improve.”However, his support of Ntini sounded less fulsome than in the days leading up to this Test when he had made it clear there was never a chance of him being omitted despite Friedel de Wet’s impressive debut at Centurion. Former players have been critical of the decision, and public opinion may even be swaying against Ntini.”Makhaya would be the first one to put his hand up and say he’s disappointed with the way he has bowled,” Smith said. “He comes with a lot of experience and has performed well over a period of time. We have given him all the support we can from behind the scenes and he is an important cog in the line-up. We need to look at all those aspects going into Cape Town and see what we can do.”We’ve got a crucial Test starting out the year and we need to make those decisions and move forward pretty quickly. We can turn it all around in a few days time.”Newlands is a stronghold for South Africa and their three previous Tests against England since admission have been crushing victories, including two by an innings. The difference, though, is that on each of those occasions they have entered the New Year Test on the back of a draw, not a confidence-sapping defeat. The force is against them and they will have to dig deep. Smith will be glad there’s only one day of 2009 remaining.

The only consolation for this Bangalore fan was the chance to get to see Rahul Dravid live

Minoshni Pillay18-Sep-2010The game
My usual group of suspects and I snapped up tickets for all the Durban games when we heard that the Champions League would be played in South Africa. Having been a Royal Challengers fan since the inception of the Indian Premier League, it was a given that I would be out in full force backing the boys, especially on my home turf in Durban.Team supported
Although it was a choice between two shades of red, it was not a tough decision. I have backed Bangalore since Vijay Mallya signed on the dotted line as owner of the franchise. His heir apparent Siddarth Mallya (Number 82) was at the game. And with my favourite cricketer of all time, Rahul Dravid, as an icon player, I was champing at the bit to see the boys carry on the form from their fine opening game.Key performer
I will be honest and say that the standout performances must go to the Redbacks. Daniel Christian stole the bowling show with 4 for 23 and Shaun Tait steamed down the track and shone under the Durban lights. South Australia’s opening batsman Michael Klinger proved yet again why he currently holds the tournament’s golden bat. Ross Taylor and local boy Dillon du Preez were the only Bangalore players who had performances of note.One thing I’d have changed
I would have relished the opportunity to see Manish Pandey blaze the ball to all parts of the ground. Pandey replaced the domineering and sublime Jacques Kallis and this was a ripe opportunity for this young talent to cement his place. But he only managed four runs. Robin Uthappa was also lackluster, missing the blitz we have all grown accustomed to watching.Face-off I relished
My eyes always light up when Dale Steyn takes the ball. And I expected him to give the South Australia openers some hell tonight. Alas, I found in hell as I watched him dispatched to all ends of the ground. Nothing seemed to go according to my plan tonight.Player watch
Poor captain Kumble dived in front of our seats to stop a boundary late in the Redbacks innings when they were almost home. Not only did he miss the ball (at which point I threw my hands up in frustration and waved around madly) but then limped about when he did get to his feet.Shot of the day
Ross Taylor, the only Bangalore player who did anything worth mentioning, hit a six over midwicket that was poised, glorious and a perfect example of the why the team relies on him to bring out the big guns.Crowd metre
As is typical for a night game in Durban, the fans were out in full strength, despite it being an uncharacteristically chilly night. As far as the eye could see, the Bangalore flags dominated the ground, alongside the odd Indian, South African and Sri Lankan flags.Fancy dress index
The unwelcome cold forced most fans to don their hoodies and beanies. But one lone South African supporter did come to the party dressed in a South African ODI kit, complete with helmet, bat and pads. Good on him for staying strong till the end!Entertainment
One of South Africa’s most loved cricketers and Durban’s most cherished red-haired fast bowler, Shaun Pollock, delighted the fans with a few swift moves to the music. It was at a time when the game looked thoroughly one-sided and the fans needed the pick-up big time!Marks out of 10
6. Any live cricket match with my mates is always a fantastic experience. We have been through many losses and wins and have come away loving the good and laughing about the not-so-good (like this annoying old man who insisted on bringing a conch and pair of cymbals to this game). So although my team lost, this game gets points for great company, some good opposition and for the fact that I got to see Dravid play live again. That always counts for something in my books!Overall experience
The one aspect missing from this game was some kind of Twenty20 excitement. And the weather can only take so much of the blame here. What we needed was to see Bangalore at least try their utmost to secure a win. The Redbacks knew all they had to do was push the ball into the right gaps. Bangalore lacked the hunger to stamp their authority in this game. So now with the Redbacks through to the semi-finals, all I can do is close my eyes and rely on a hope and prayer come Sunday, when Bangalore take on Mumbai in Durban.

Almost everything has gone right for England in Melbourne, but Paul Collingwood’s poor form continued with another failure

Andrew Miller at the MCG27-Dec-2010″I’m probably not the best-looking batsman in the middle, and that has gone against me in the past, but my job is a run-getter not a batsman. Sometimes people forget that it is the scoring the runs that is the most important thing, and not how you get them. That is how I’ve always approached it.”Paul Collingwood said those words in Chittagong back in March, as he basked in the occasion of his tenth Test century, a long-since-forgotten 145 against Bangladesh that turned a strong position into an impregnable one. At the time his achievement was dismissed as a reward for services rendered, for rare has been the occasion in which Collingwood has indulged in soft runs. Take that trio of famous rearguards at Cardiff, Centurion and Cape Town, for example, where his influence in the middle had been of fundamental value to the cause. His scores in those fixtures – 74, 26 not out and 40 – were of unquantifiable consequence, even if the statistics stand out only to those in the know.But when pressed on the subject at Chittagong, the man himself refused to denigrate his own achievement. “To get ten centuries is something I thought I’d never achieve when I first started the game,” he said, as he became the 25th England batsman to reach a milestone that eluded such notables as Robin Smith and Ted Dexter, among others. It was that very determination to treat every international appearance as an end in itself, and an honour rather than a right, that turned a nuggetty county pro with a workmanlike technique into a critical component of England’s post-2005 resurgence.Nine months down the line, however, neither the “how” nor the “how many” are ticking the boxes for the doughtiest batsmen in England’s line-up. Since that innings, Collingwood has led England to their maiden ICC trophy, the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, and remains an indispensable cog in a 50-over line-up that could surpass expectations in the subcontinent come February. But at Test level he’s a fading force, and at 34, and with England in sight of an Ashes-sealing innings victory, it could that the final curtain is drawing ominously nigh.In his last 13 Test innings, Collingwood has passed 11 just three times, although true to his reputation, his only innings of note was a hard-earned 82 against Pakistan at Trent Bridge, which came with England on the brink of a crisis at 118 for 4. Either side of that, however, he’s been incapable of resistance. The wiles of Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir proved too much for a succession of players in a particularly swing-heavy English summer, but whereas Alastair Cook in particular has been a batsman reborn in Australia, the same cannot be said of his team-mate.Collingwood has looked ponderous in his five innings to date, with his 42 at Adelaide coming on the flattest deck of the series and with the score ramped up towards 400 by Kevin Pietersen’s double-century. On a flyer at Perth, however – and in precisely the scenario for which he has habitually earned his keep – Collingwood missed a Mitchell Johnson inswinger by nearly a foot to be pinned lbw for 5, and then fell for 11 to the final ball of the third day’s play, as England were hustled to a thumping defeat.There was no clamour for change at the MCG because that is not England’s way – under the leadership of Strauss and Flower, loyalty is of paramount importance. Privately, however, Collingwood must have recognised that he was facing another Edgbaston moment, a time in his career when a life-saving performance was required, just as he produced in his last-chance saloon against South Africa in 2008. Back then he had admitted that one slip would have meant he was a “goner”, but he responded with a brilliantly bold 135 in the second innings.This time, however, he couldn’t do it, and he never looked like doing it either, not even on a slow deck that suited his low backlift and crease-bound style. He got off the mark with an inside-edge to short fine leg, his solitary boundary was an edge through gully, and though he threaded Ryan Harris through the covers for an attractive three, he fell without addition three balls later when he swiped a Johnson bouncer to Peter Siddle at fine leg.Given the service that Collingwood has provided, he doubtless deserves the chance to leave on a high in the fifth Test at Sydney, and England’s refusal to push him down the order for this contest suggests that they could yet allow him that grace. But with Eoin Morgan itching for a game after playing just one first-class innings all tour, the unsentimental – and, dare one say it, Australian – option would be to starting the planning for 2013 in the first week of 2011, and bid farewell to a battler whose journey in five-day cricket looks to have run its course.And were he to miss out at Sydney, it would provide a strangely appropriate closure to a remarkable Test career. To all intents and purposes, Collingwood’s true Test debut came at The Oval in 2005, when he was recalled to the team for the Ashes decider after a two-year gap between appearances, following the loss of Simon Jones to injury. A bowler would have been the logical selection, but England wanted a character for the toughest challenge of their careers to date.Shane Warne famously scoffed at the awarding of an MBE on the strength of Collingwood’s twin scores of 7 and 10 in that match, but looking back now from the safe distance of half-a-decade, it’s easier to appreciate the discipline he brought to that performance, particularly the 72 minutes he endured on the final day, in which he drew the sting of England’s pre-lunch collapse and provided Kevin Pietersen the ballast he needed for a counterattack.Times have moved on since that series, however. England have regenerated and matured. Bell now demonstrates an ability to endure as well as sparkle, while Cook and Jonathan Trott showed at Brisbane and beyond that they can tough it out with the best of them. For another England nugget, Nasser Hussain, the realisation dawned in 2004 that his time had passed, and he retired upon completing his 14th and final Test century. For Collingwood, the ultimate team man, the retention of the Ashes, in the country in which he made his highest and most poignantly overshadowed century in 2006-07, would be every bit as fitting a finale. Especially with his unfinished business remaining in one-day cricket.