Marlon Samuels has been to hell and back, for reasons well known, but no one could have predicted the kind of second coming that he is scripting

Subash Jayaraman in Jamaica04-Aug-2012It was as though Marlon Samuels was not challenged enough by the conditions and the opposition bowlers in Antigua, as though it was not the right stage to showcase his class and sublime skill. While almost everybody helped themselves to runs there in the first Test, padding their numbers on a flat deck at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium, Samuels showed why he was always considered a special talent in the second in Jamaica, with 123 on a pitch that had bounce and pace, against a youthful yet disciplined four-pronged New Zealand pace attack.Led by Trent Boult and Tim Southee, New Zealand, with a one-side-of-the-wicket line and some short-pitched aggression, nipped off early wickets and kept even Chris Gayle quiet. The early moisture of the track helped their quicks move the ball off the pitch, and also attain a certain amount of swing in the air. Samuels walked in at 17 for 2, with Gayle plodding along.There were few early jitters for Samuels, with the New Zealand bowlers on the ascendancy, but this pitch at Sabina Park is one he knows quite well. “It is never easy to go in and start flowing [on this pitch]. You have to spend a bit of time. It isn’t the easiest pitch to bat on,” Samuels said after Friday’s play. “It seems flat but isn’t. [A] ball here and there does something, and I had to apply myself, and concentrate a little bit harder.”There were some inside edges, a couple of glides through the slip region when he was not totally in control, but once he was set, it was going to be hard to remove Samuels. Even a sightscreen that got stuck, not switching from the red sponsor ad to a white background, could not distract him today. Once settled, he got boundaries at will, making pretty decent deliveries look very ordinary. It was only when he was saddled with the desperation of being stuck alone, that he eventually succumbed.Drives straight down the ground scorching his home turf, dismissive slaps through cover, delicate nudges, powerful pulls and expert scythes through the slip cordon, they were all there. He continued his fine form from the Test series in England and attributed this knock to the technique that is required to perform well in England. “This was the kind of pitch you have to play late on, like in England, because of the bounce.”The New Zealand bowlers stuck to their task, constantly questioning the West Indies batsmen. Only those that were ready to bide their time, giving themselves a chance to get set, were going to succeed and the only one who did today for West Indies was Samuels. “Patience is definitely the key, especially on a wicket like today’s. All the New Zealand bowlers bowled well, their lengths and their lines were proper. It was tough for us to score runs. It’s a wicket you can’t just come up and play shots and dominate. You have to spend some time.”There was a brief but brisk partnership of 49 with Darren Sammy but soon, Samuels was running out of partners as he neared his personal landmark – something that he has never done, score a 100 in front of his home crowd, with family and friends in attendance. Southee – as well as he had bowled throughout – bore the brunt of that final surge from Samuels. Three back-to-back-to-back sixes took Samuels from 98 to 116 with only No. 11 Tino Best for company. A tennis forehand sort of slap over cover brought up his first Test century in West Indies. One that was deposited over the sightscreen followed and another was flayed over long off, not too violently.This week marks the 50th year of independence from the British rule in Jamaica. Kingston has been painted in black, green and gold. And the local boy chose the perfect time to put on a show for his people. “It’s a special time for Jamaica, the 50th,” Samuels said. “To come out here and put in my piece of celebration with my people [is special]”.Samuels has been to hell and back, for reasons well known, but no one could have predicted the kind of second coming to cricket that he is scripting. Even though he made his Test debut in 2000, two of his highest scores in Tests have come in the last two series, 117 against England at Nottingham and the cool, almost nonchalant century today. Another famous former resident of Jamaica would have been proud of this “redemption song”.Samuels recalled the hard times: “There were so many problems, I played [and] I quit. It is just now I am over these hurdles. I’ve been through some tough times. I’m here still playing cricket.”It’s my time to enjoy my cricket. Waking up in the morning, I don’t worry about getting a game. I know I’m going to get a game. I worry about how I’m going to start my innings. It’s a different mindset [now]. I am definitely at peace with myself.”

West Indies have some tricky issues to solve as they try to keep themselves in the one-day series with their preference for a host of allrounders not bringing success

Mohammad Isam03-Dec-2012West Indies’ decision to stick to a single plan in the one-day series against Bangladesh has made them overlook two important facets of the limited-overs game. They haven’t paid heed to current form and the importance of risk-free middle-order batting while at the same time have indulged on an overdose of similar skilled allrounders.West Indies lost both ODIs in Khulna, the second by a record margin against Bangladesh of 160 runs. The two defeats inflicted on the visitors have completely changed the atmosphere of the tour following the Test victories and as West Indies moved to Dhaka on Monday morning issues were piling up at their feet.Lendl Simmons’ form is the first of those problems. He has partnered Chris Gayle at the top of the order in the first two games and has had scores of 13 and 9. His last ODI fifty came a year ago but more importantly he has been through a poor time in this format. Since the fifty in India he has averaged below 10 in nine games with a highest of 36. Kieran Powell may take his place and could have justified a place in the side at the start of the series after his two centuries in the Dhaka Test. Though he has since had four low scores he would freshen up the top order.”Throughout the Test series we had a lot of performances coming from the younger players,” Darren Sammy said. “The Bravos, Powells, Ramdin, young Permaul and all the guys have done well. Cricket is a team game and you have to perform together. Obviously you have days when some individual had a brilliant moment and gets the Man-of-the-Match, but at the end of the day it takes a total team effort to win games.”Sammy, though, credited Bangladesh’s plans, particularly their bowlers’ confidence when responding to boundaries. “I think everybody would want to go out there and perform and I believe every single batsman goes out there to perform for West Indies. Credit to the way the Bangladesh team has bowled.”They have a plan for every batsman. Gazi, Razzak and Mashrafe stuck to the plan. Even though we hit a couple of boundaries you see them executing properly. That’s where we are lacking. We are not executing our plans well. So far Bangladesh have seized the moment.”The lack of runs from Gayle, Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels has also hurt West Indies’ chances. Gayle hasn’t made up his mind on whether to start slowly or blaze away while Sohag Gazi has had the better of the in-form Samuels in both games. Bravo hasn’t done justice to the range of shots he possesses and his ability to play spin bowling in this series by giving away two starts. The early dismissals of Samuels and Bravo against spin have also impacted the rest of the batsmen who have still some way to go when dealing with spinners.”We have not rotated the strike against spin as much as we could over the last few years. But we get better at it when we spend time at the crease,” Sammy said. “So far none of our batsmen have done so. In order to score runs you must be present at the crease.”There are also issues around the balance of the side with a preference for allrounders, such as Andre Russell and Dwayne Smith, ahead of specialist quick Kemar Roach. Russell, Smith and Darren Sammy took one wicket between them in the second match while none of them have made the sort of contributions expected from them with the bat, especially under the new fielding restrictions.The continued struggle of Sunil Narine has been the other setback while in the opposition Razzak and Gazi thrived in Khulna where the wicket offered turn. It would not be a huge surprise if Veerasammy Permaul, the left-arm spinner, replaced Narine for the remaining ODIs.Sammy has a tough task ahead of him, both in selecting the right personnel and in making sure the attitude is right. West Indies are running out of time and defeat in this series would be a blow to their growing reputation as a returning force in world cricket.

A new book looks at the less-than-pleasant backdrop to England’s dominance in the post-war years

Rob Steen29-Dec-2012To look back at English cricket in the 1950s is to marvel. Those of a certain vintage could rewrite “My Favourite Things”:Small wonder no Test series was lost between mid-1952 and late 1958. The natural order had finally righted itself: after decades of Australian impertinence, Britannia ruled the waves anew. Trouble was, the ends did nothing to justify the means. The ensuing bumblings and humblings, concludes Tim Quelch, were a consequence of nothing more scientific than complacency, a vice echoed, he charges, in Abu Dhabi and Dubai last winter. The main title of his terrific tome refers to rank hypocrisy over chuckers and the “patriotic” pitches that facilitated victorious Ashes campaigns; it serves both a literal and figurative function.This is the second of two important recent books to address the shameful spills and conspicuous ills of post-war cricket in Blighty; both, helpfully, are the work of outsiders. Business guru Guy Fraser-Sampson’s skewered the snobbery, racism and class warfare that connected the D’Oliveira Affair to the Packer revolt. Quelch, a retired social services officer, offers a worthy prequel, examining the blind ferocity with which the old-school ties tethered themselves to the past as the Empire dissolved.Covering the decade and a half after the Second World War, Quelch skilfully sets the pitifully slow death of shamateurism and the Gents-Players divide against a backdrop of a country divided, one basking in glory yet lacking not only food and funds but acceptance of a less deferential, more meritocratic world. Imperial superiority died hard. The 1956 Suez crisis offers rich symbolism: “As a result of its reckless, abhorrent action, Britain not only bade farewell to its status as a global power, it shattered any pretension it once had of higher integrity. In short, Britain could no longer claim to be a credible arbiter of what was, and what was not, cricket.”Time and place are captured astutely. Between 1950 and 1970, Britain’s share of world manufacturing exports fell from over 25% to barely 10%. “I don’t understand my country anymore,” bemoans Colin McInnes in his landmark 1959 novel . “The English race has spread itself all over the damn world… no one invited us… yet when a few hundred thousand come and settle among our fifty millions, we just can’t take it.” Quelch contrasts such inhospitality with the Indian tourists of 1946, a mix of Hindus, Muslims and Christians, then plunders Sir Everton Weekes’ memoirs for evidence of how imperious and provocative Lord’s seemed to a poor colonial dreaming of a fairer planet.On the field, we are told, dominance was achieved despite “class snobbery, anachronistic fixations, an uncompetitive domestic game, unreliable playing surfaces and limited coaching opportunities for those from less privileged backgrounds”. Quelch finds it “amazing”, as should we, that so much talent still wriggled through: the renaissance was always destined to be brief.He also nails the ultimate contradiction. In seeking to revive the adventurous influence of the (sh)amateur, MCC repeatedly appointed as captain and tour manager Freddie Brown, who is painted in all his perplexing colours. To Fred Trueman, he was “a snob, bad-mannered, ignorant and a bigot”. Brown blew a gasket when Denis Compton had the temerity to pull out of a Test, yet empathised after Len Hutton’s deplorable negativity had denied Australia victory: the first was unheard-of, the second old hat. Brown’s treatment of the young Brian Close was merciless. How ironic, then, that the success of Hutton’s and Peter May’s sides should owe everything to “a contradictory, tough, combative, professional style of play that was practised as dutifully by its leading unpaid players as it was by its paid ones”.Quelch likes one quote so much he wheels it out twice, on the second occasion as the aptest of sign-offs: “Tradition,” as “Uncle” Joe Mercer, the kindly yet progressive former England football manager, asserted, “is a wonderful friend but a dangerous enemy”.Bent Arms and Dodgy Wickets – England’s Troubled Reign as Test Match Kings in the Fifties

by Tim Quelch
Pitch Publishing
253pp, £16.99

From Gopal Rangachary, India While the cricketing world spent the last week rejoicing at the end of Australia’s era of domination, and celebrating the definitive Tendulkar innings, a quite extraordinary set of events were quietly unfolding

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013Gopal Rangachary, India
While the cricketing world spent the last week rejoicing at the end of Australia’s era of domination, and celebrating the definitive Tendulkar innings, a quite extraordinary set of events were quietly unfolding themselves in Napier, New Zealand. No – it wasnt that Chanderpaul got a first ball duck, or that Chris Gayle batted 5 sessions – but that the Test match, and hence the Test series ended in a draw.Well – the basement battle between two uninspiring sides ended in a draw. Nothing to write home about you would think. But, especially if you were Tony Cozier or one of the long suffering West Indies cricket journalists, this was a red letter day. For the first time in 13 years, and after 17 series (since the English summer of 1995), West Indies were NOT beaten in an overseas Test series ( of course let’s leave the pseudo Tests against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh out). To put this in perspective, for the entire duration of Saurav Ganguly’s Test career, West Indies lost every overseas tour they went on.Chanderpaul is the only West Indies player to have tasted anything but defeat in this period. A closer reading is even more depressing. In the 60 matches that were played across those 17 series, West Indies won just 4, drew 6 ( of which 4 were rain-affected) and lost the other 50 matches. What is most mind-numbing is to recall that West Indies were unbeaten in 27 test series in the preceding 15 years (1980-1995). They fell off a particularly steep cliff didn’t they?There have been a few false dawns in these dark days of West Indies cricket – particularly at home. They have won Test series against Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka , England and New Zealand, and shared one with Australia. Despite the Perth heroics of de Villiers & Co., they still hold the record for the highest 4th innings target chased. Lara has played several memorable innings, Chanderpaul many valiant ones, Courtney Walsh became the leading wicket taker in world cricket and even Chris Gayle has a Test triple hundred. However, with the West Indies, it has seemed every step forward was inevitably followed by three longer ones backward.That said, there is some reason for cautious optimism in the Chris Gayle era – A first ever Test win in South Africa, a drawn Test series against a decent SL side, a Test series against Australia which was much more competitive than was anticipated, and now this drawn one in New Zealand . Of course the backdrop to this has been the Bradmanesque efforts of the under-appreciated Chanderpaul in this period, but there have been other signs of life – Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor are a handy bowling partnership, Dwayne Bravo is enthusiastic and talented, and the fielding and the general way that the West Indies seem to be going about their business has significantly improved.There are many areas to fix though, scarcely a series goes by without wrangling between Digicel and Cable and Wireless (although the toxic West Indies Players Association and the obnoxious Dinanath Ramnarine seem to have evaporated), Allen Stanford has funded the game, but muddied the waters, and the regional infighting seems to grow in inverse proportion to the team’s performance on the field. Darren Powell shouldn’t see the inside of a Test ground again, and surely there must be someone other than Dinesh Ramdin and Carlton Baugh. Chris Gayle needs to find an opening batsman who will be a partner rather than a one-night stand. However this draw against a mediocre New Zealand side may just be the beginning of the era of the era of West Indies submission.If only that maniac, John Bracewell had been around as NZ coach, the West Indies may even have won it.

Was it Trott trying to recreate a scene from The Omen

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013Watching the Sri Lankan bowlers struggle in this series – 21 wickets at 61, aided by a late flurry of slog-induced dismissals as England cut loose in an attempt to make sure the game was at least 101% safe before declaring, rather than a risky 100% safe – it is hard to be optimistic about their team’s prospects as a Test force in the near future.Life after Murali is proving to be as difficult as everyone had thought it would be. It was, of course, obvious that Sri Lanka would miss the great tweakster very much, in the same way that a champion racehorse would miss one of its legs, or Sebastian Vettel would miss his steering wheel, or Michelangelo would have missed his paintbrush.In the seven Tests since Murali bid his spectacular and victorious farewell last July, bowling his team to victory and himself even further into statistical immortality, in Galle against India, Sri Lanka’s bowlers have dismissed their opponents for under 430 just once, and have collectively averaged 50. Four of those seven Tests have been against the formidable batting line-ups of India and England, on some fairly unforgiving pitches, but they are inauspicious figures nonetheless.ESPNcricinfo’s undisputed Jimi Hendrix of Stats, S Rajesh, compiled this excellent comparison of Murali and Warne when the former retired last year. The numbers suggest, strongly, that both men were very good at bowling a cricket ball.No team has ever been as reliant on one bowler as Sri Lanka were on the Kandy Konjuror. Over the course of his career, Murali took 41% of his team’s wickets, and bowled 33% of their overs – so he was bowling a third of the time that Sri Lanka were in the field. For nearly two decades. (By comparison, Warne, in a much stronger Australian attack, took 28% of Australia’s wickets, and bowled 28% of their overs.)Sri Lanka have played 190 Tests since being admitted to Test cricket in 1982. Murali played in 132 of them; and they won 54 of those games. He was his team’s leading wicket-taker in 43 of those 54 wins, including 37 of 41 between September 1996 and December 2007. Sri Lanka have won just seven of the 68 Tests that Murali has not played in. History suggests Sri Lanka were four times as likely to win with Murali than without him. And that the Sistine Chapel would have 25% of the current number of tourists visiting it if Michelangelo had had to paint it with his fingers.The closest equivalent in terms of importance to a Test team is probably Richard Hadlee, who over the course of his unstoppably moustachioed career bowled a quarter of New Zealand’s overs, and took 35% of their wickets. His country had won seven out of 102 Tests before he made his debut. They won 22 of the 86 in which he played, with Hadlee top wicket-taker in 16 of those. They won none of the 14 Tests he missed during his career, and only seven of the next 55 after he retired. Until a new generation emerged in the late 1990s, New Zealand without Hadlee were like steak and chips without the steak. And often without the chips.In all, it was a decent but ultimately unsatisfying Test match, decorated by Dilshan’s brilliantly ballsy 193, an innings of mental and physical courage against a strong if misfiring attack whose pace bowlers looked increasingly one-paced and one-heighted as the Sri Lankan skipper unfurled his masterpiece.Dilshan is a captivating player, a risk-taking strokeplayer who has become increasingly daring and attacking as he has become older and moved higher up the order. Since being shunted up to open two years ago, he averages almost 54 – the highest of any Sri Lankan opener – with a strike rate of 80. As a younger middle-order player, he scored significantly fewer runs significantly less quickly, which suggests that, by traditional standards, Dilshan is living his Test career backwards, a cricketing Benjamin Button. And also suggests that, when he is 75, he is going to be one hell of a player.ExtrasThe closing stages of the match, and indeed the entire modern history of Test cricket, were overshadowed by the Smashed Window Incident, which threatened to plunge the international game into a crisis from which it may never have emerged. Thankfully this seems to have been averted after a swift apology and an explanation that proved to be disappointingly mundane and suspiciously plausible.As soon as the sound of shattering glass was heard, the rumours abounded – had a passing Graeme Smith popped in for a chat with his English pals, casually picked up a bat, and watched himself play a cover drive in a mirror? Or was it Jonathan Trott’s attempt to recreate a rather grisly scene from the 1970s horror classic ? Or perhaps Steve Finn’s lucky pelican had escaped from his kit bag and flown beak-first into the window in an attempt to make it to the fish-and-chip van at the Nursery End before they had sold out of fresh herring? Or had a local burglar chosen an extremely inopportune moment to try to furtively break into the England dressing room?A story then emerged that Matt Prior had been so incandescent with rage at falling an agonising 96 runs short of becoming the first wicketkeeper to score hundreds in both innings of a Lord’s Test, that he marched up to the window and growled at it until it smashed itself in fear. Or put his bat through it.This was soon contradicted by the rather prosaic official explanation proferred by the England management, who blamed that convenient old scapegoat, Physics. They claimed that Prior’s bat had simply fallen down and broken the window in a freak accident.England’s numerous back-room team fortunately includes a glazier, who replaced the shattered pane with some very fetching stained glass depicting Alistair Cook nurdling a single to fine leg.(Incidentally, the last recorded instance of a window-smashing at Lord’s was when a hung-over Denis Compton was woken up from his traditional pre-innings snooze whilst in the middle of a dream about being attacked by a giant wasp. He attempted to swat Peter Parfitt with his bat, which smithereened the window. Compton then went out to the middle using a shard of glass as a bat, and promptly scored a brilliant century against a Yorkshire attack featuring Freddie Trueman, Johnny Wardle and Bob Appleyard. Compton later claimed he preferred playing with a glass bat to a wooden one, as “it gave me a great incentive to wait for ball and stroke it, rather than trying to hit it too hard”. Here endeth the lie.)

From Fergus Peace, Australia

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013
The baton has passed in the stands as well•Getty Images“Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!” Ben Hilfenhaus’ final nick behind was ten minutes in the past and the MCG was emptying rapidly. One spectator, wandering down the ramp towards the exit, let loose that most archetypal, uninventive Australian chant, a gesture of defiance to make up for his team’s submission. On the best days, the cry is met with instant, triumphant response. Here, seconds passed and the words subsided before another fan took up the cause and returned an equally solitary “Oi! Oi! Oi!” And his hopeful words too subsided, but not into silence, for there was no silence within a mile of the hallowed turf.That was ensured by the Barmy Army, whose chants were not gestures of defiance but raucous expressions of triumph, the kind the Australian chant once signified. The baton has been passed, not only on the field but in the stands. It is unlikely to change any time soon. England’s crop of players hardly know what it is to lose to Australia: none have lost the Ashes more than once, five never at all. When they have lost – Headingley in 2009, Perth this year – it has been because England played atrociously and Australia lifted their game.There is only one dominant team, and it can be seen in the way they carry themselves. Graeme Swann, even when he has been mandated to bowl flat and fast and hold up an end, always walks with a strut and a glimmer in his eye; it is coming. Tim Bresnan, regarded by most Australians as little more than an honest toiler, turns at his mark not in fear of being crashed to the cover boundary, as did Sajid Mahmood, James Anderson and even Matthew Hoggard last tour, but eagerly anticipating the next step in his plan. Chris Tremlett, delivering a series of gems and beating the edge with regularity that can easily frustrate a bowler, smiles and in spite of his professed gentleness enjoys, or at least appreciates, the torment he is giving. Matt Prior thinks everything is out. These are signs of a team used to beating Australia and not looking to the heavens for thanks.Meanwhile, Mitchell Johnson seems to hope for a wicket rather than expecting one, and not without reason. Steven Smith bowled a good ball during the final session of day two in Melbourne, pitching on middle and leg, turning and bouncing and drawing a cautious defensive prod. What was needed was another twenty such deliveries to induce a mistake; what came was a half-tracker, pummeled to the midwicket boundary. But this crunching boundary, unlike the forward-defensive, went in the air – comfortably wide of the fieldsman, but enough to encourage Smith to bowl similarly next delivery, with similar results. Hilfenhaus avoids this impetuousness but his patience is more resigned than plotting, having accepted that he is likely to bend at least ninety deliveries a day away from the right-hander to be comfortably left, no damage done.Enough has been written about the failings of the Australian team and the strengths of the English one. In Perth in 2006, when Geraint Jones emerged on a pair, the Barmy Army – never deniers of reality – sang out Living on a Prayer. Late on day three in Melbourne, the scoreboard showing that six Australian wickets had already tumbled, the same song rang from the Army’s ranks, this time as an offering to their vanquished opponents. After so many years of pain, they are enjoying it. And Australia seems to have been almost as successful at forgetting its own greatness as England has been at forgetting the lows they sank too.Two local members of the crowd, discussing the parlous state of the batting order, offered this: “Apart from Hussey, and maybe Watson, there’s nobody else in that line-up who can score runs.” “Exactly. Although somebody the other day was talking about Ponting, I think?” Walking down from the MCG in a throng of Australian fans, there is no more talk of the cricket, past or present. A boy attempts soccer tricks with a plastic bottle on the footpath. As they approach the train station, a young man asks his friends, “Where to next?” He is not discussing the cricket, but he could be. Where to, indeed. And in a moment of silence, from inside the ground the Barmy Army can still be heard.

From Nishad Jayasundara, Sri Lanka

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013
The tussle is on•AFPSixty years ago, Sri Lankan cricket used to be a gentleman’s game. Gentlemen used to be and had to be only English-speaking elite from Colombo. Wild-haired Malingas and wide-eyed Muralitharans were clinging on to metal fences outside prestigious cricket clubs watching men in white taking tea breaks.Times have changed for Sri Lankan cricket and cricketers. Since independence, if there is anything Sri Lanka has made a significant progress in, it is cricket. It has become a part of life, a topic of debate in the parliament and in the street corners. It has pierced through to the smallest village in the country, crossing socio-economic boundaries and defying ethnic barriers. Over the last two decades players from all corners have rallied together making an unorthodox yet very effective unit, ready to take on the world. And they did it in style in 1996.They named it the Sri Lankan brand of cricket; it is a blend of aggression of the Australians, efficiency of the South Africans, raw talent of the Pakistanis, passion of the Bangladeshis (now) mixed with a Caribbean flair. The Sri Lankan brand has been a treat to watch. In this World Cup, the Sri Lankan team looks more prepared than ever, with a mix of youth and experience in the likes of Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews coupled with the flamboyance and fortitude of Kumar Sangakkara and Thilan Samraweera.Unlike a few centuries ago, this time they are prepared for the Queen’s team. In their own backyard, playing against a team known for its weakness on spin-friendly surfaces and looks visibly tired from being on the road for the past six months, the Sri Lankans could not have asked for a better team to play against in a crunch match. Twenty million people are hoping for a re-enactment of 1996 quarterfinals – when the English were comprehensively beaten.Although a repeat of that act appears just around the corner, there is a hint of skepticism in every fan. There is something about the Sri Lankan outfit that creates a doubt in your mind. It might be the fact that Sri Lanka, barring New Zealand, haven’t yet beaten a significant opponent this tournament. Even against New Zealand, the Sri Lankan middle order faltered. Malinga has been wayward, except for one game against Kenya, Upul Tharanga looks a bit edgy and Tillakaratne Dilshan is due a big score.Compared to 1996, England have come a long way as an ODI team. They boast a group of utility players in Ravi Bopara, Paul Collingwood, James Tredwell and Tim Bresnan. Greame Swann looks threatening on spinning tracks, except when there is dew. More importantly, England are the only team in this World Cup to not to lose a game to a bigger Test-playing nation. No matter how tired they look, regardless of the battered psychological state of the English camp, when they are up against a formidable side, they seem to pull it off.Can they do it on Saturday on a tricky Premadasa track against the quality of Murali and Malinga? Would they be mystified by Mendis? A couple of solid performances from the top order, accurate bowling from Malinga and some late over fireworks from Mathews should be enough to take Sri Lanka through. We all know Sri Lanka can do it. But no one wants to say it, every one gulps the words when they appear to come out, because you just never know. After all it is against the Queen’s team, and they invented the game.

This week Brendon McCullum will lead his country’s team in the town where he grew up

Andrew McGlashan in Dunedin05-Mar-2013If it hadn’t been for the absence of a pair of boots, Brendon McCullum might have been representing New Zealand in a different sport.Like other southern hemisphere cricketers, McCullum could have chosen rugby for his career. And it would not have been the lesser option. He was once good enough to keep Dan Carter out of a South Islands schools team.There is a story told by those who know him from his days at Kings High School in Dunedin – which has perhaps been slightly embellished over time – that shortly after being selected for a rugby match at about the age of 20, McCullum was hurrying around trying to find a pair of boots to borrow. However, before he could find them, Richard Hadlee, who was New Zealand’s chairman of selectors at the time, was on the phone with the message, “Don’t give him those boots.”McCullum had already been involved in New Zealand age-group cricket, and Hadlee was understandably reluctant to let one of the sport’s most talented youngsters go. McCullum had a decision to make: All Blacks or Black Caps? He picked cricket.”He was a freak,” says Daryl Paterson, who worked at Kings High School during McCullum’s time there, and still does today. “I’ve no doubt he could have played rugby for New Zealand. But he stood out at everything: batting, keeping, scoring tries. I was only involved in his cricket for a short time because I coached Year 9, and Brendon scored so many runs he was soon moved up a level. He was only a little bit taller than the stumps and he was standing up to the fast bowlers.”Now he is New Zealand’s captain, a position acquired in a messy turn of events that exposed divisions in the side. On Wednesday he will lead his country on his home ground. He has previously captained in a one-day international here, but that was a far more subdued affair, against Zimbabwe. There are few grander occasions than a Test against England.McCullum isn’t the first New Zealand captain from Kings High School. Ken Rutherford, whose son Hamish is set to make his Test debut this week and is another alumnus, came from the school. “We are very proud about that,” says Paterson.McCullum’s mother will be in the crowd, although his father, Stuart, a former Otago player, will miss Brendon’s homecoming, as he is on business in Adelaide. But he will be keeping a close eye on his oldest son and speaks with great pride about both him and his brother Nathan, who is part of the one-day and T20 teams.”You always hoped that they would play for New Zealand,” he says, “but to captain them, it’s a wonderful honour, and hopefully he will do a fitting job. It will be a very proud day. He’s proud of his roots. Any game he plays is special but there’s some added significance [to this one].”Did it hurt to see his son caught up in the melee that occurred when Ross Taylor was sacked? “It wasn’t so much how it happened,” Stuart says. “Some people don’t understand Brendon, some have a false impression of what he is like. Brendon looks upon the captaincy as a privilege rather than a matter of course. He is a team man through and through. He never actively went out and sought the captaincy. He had nothing to do with the process. It took him a long time to decide whether he would accept it.

“He was a freak. I’ve no doubt he could have played rugby for New Zealand. He was only a little bit taller than the stumps when he was standing up to the fast bowlers”Daryl Paterson, who worked at Brendon McCullum’s school

“He has no beef with Ross at all – they are friends. It was disappointing to hear some people casting aspersions over his integrity, but you just have to sit back and listen to it. I admit there are times when you’d just like to get on the phone and ask if they actually know the facts, but it’s not for me to get involved. People seem to get the wrong idea of what he’s like.”Brendon, his father says, has always had drive and determination. There is also a combativeness about him, which stands out in a New Zealand side that can often struggle to impose itself. “He’s always been confident,” says Stuart. “He’s a ‘see ball, hit ball’ kind of batsman, but I don’t think anyone can play down his skill.”It was towards the end of Stuart McCullum’s first-class career with Otago that the cricketing future of the next generation of McCullums started to be forged. When aged about six and seven, Brendon and Nathan would accompany their dad to training, but he was never a pushy father. He didn’t need to be, really, as it was clear his sons would chart their own paths.”They were always around when I was playing, and used to take part in a lot of fielding practice when they were young kids. But it was very much a natural course of events. If they ever wanted extra time in the nets I’d happily go with them.”Paterson remembers Brendon as someone with vast self-confidence. “He has always carried himself that way,” he says, “but it never verged into cockiness. Everyone knew he was something special but he was also one of the lads.”At stages during the T20 and one-day series, it was very much Brendon McCullum v England. He struck three blistering half-centuries in the one-dayers, and a match-winning 74 in the Hamilton T20. If they are to compete in the Tests, McCullum will again have to lead the way.Do that he will. “He loves challenging himself against the best,” Stuart says. “He measures himself against the best. He’s never completely satisfied with his own performance, and that’s an attitude he has had all the way through his career. He never takes anything for granted.”

He’s got the height and the bounce, but staying on the park may prove to be a challenge he’ll need to work on through his career

Firdose Moonda27-Mar-2013The first pitch Mohammad Irfan bowled on in South Africa was the one Makhaya Ntini made his own. East London’s lifeless track offered neither bowler any assistance, so all Irfan could take from it was a lesson – and the man to provide it was watching from the sidelines.While Irfan went about his work, terrifying the South African Invitation XI batsmen in the first tour match, late in January, Ntini watched. He marvelled at the smooth action, the bounce extracted from the surface not even a grasshopper could spring off, and the testing length. But he did not like what he saw before and after each delivery.Irfan did not run, he lumbered. He got to his delivery stride with very little force behind him, and when he finished his follow-through he strolled back to his mark, although it only took a few steps. As the world’s tallest cricketer, he could afford to do that, but he seemed to rely overly on his height at the cost of other virtues.Ntini was known for steaming in and jogging back after each ball. Now retired, he remains exceptionally fit, and did not pick up any major injuries over his 17-year professional career. Ntini attributed his physique to his conditioning and advised Irfan to take note.”He is a very good bowler but he needs to get fitter and stronger, then he can use his height even more,” Ntini said. “He is someone who will make it. He knows what his role is and he is someone who can be a bit like Wasim Akram.”Many agree with that assessment of the seven-foot-one quick, who has just completed his first full tour. His ability is not in question, as proved by the 25 wickets he took in seven matches across all formats. He was Pakistan’s biggest (and some may say only) positive, taking full advantage of bowler-friendly surfaces, with steep bounce and impressive control.Irfan is naturally gifted but it must not be forgotten that even talent needs hard work before it can translate into success. Part of that grind is getting enough exercise to avoid picking up preventable niggles.Twice in the space of two months, Irfan has been injured. Both times it affected his participation in games. Misbah-ul-Haq, who agreed that Irfan “really needs to work hard on fitness if he wants to play in all three formats”, revealed on the team’s departure that Irfan may have played in the Wanderers Test but was ruled out because of a sore shoulder. Had he debuted then, on a spicy track, instead of on the flatter Cape Town pitch, the tone of Pakistan tour may have been set completely differently.He also picked up a hamstring strain during the second ODI, in Centurion, in which he could not complete his full quota of overs. Luckily for Pakistan, he had done enough damage by then for it to not matter too much. “With the kind of physique he has, you have to be careful with him,” Misbah admitted.Modern schedules and managed workloads means the latter half of that statement could apply to almost any player. Australia have introduced a rotation policy for their fast bowlers, and South Africa have placed restrictions on the number of overs Jacques Kallis bowls. Irfan may not need such strict guidelines if he gets fitter.

“He doesn’t come across as a spit-and-blood kind of guy. He seems to be quite placid, and as he plays more Tests he will learn when to get more in batsmen’s faces”Allan Donald

Ntini recommends learning how to run better. “He hasn’t got a very steady running mechanism. So he needs to find someone who can motivate him and help him to just run more. If he gets the momentum of running to the wicket, he can get his pace higher too.”Irfan already regularly bowls above the 140kph mark, which surprised the South Africans, because the reports they heard indicated he was in the mid-130s. If he gets even quicker, he could be more dangerous still, which Misbah is looking forward to.Irfan’s impact in the 50-over game was evident during the team’s tour of India, and he underlined it with his opening spells in South Africa. He troubled the openers consistently and when brought back to make breakthroughs later on, he did not disappoint even if the batsmen were settled.A player that reliable would be an automatic pick for a starting XI but it’s likely Irfan will not be on the team sheet every time Pakistan play. “He should only play selective matches because Pakistan need to give him plenty of rest to avoid long-term injuries,” Azhar Mahmood said, while emphasising that “he is good enough to play all three formats”.Ntini recommends Irfan does not play T20 but concentrates on ODIs and Tests. Allan Donald suggested even those be limited. “I wouldn’t play him in every Test but I would make sure to look after him for the World Cup in 2015.” Pakistan are scheduled to play Tests against everyone except India and England before that tournament and many more ODIs, so the challenge of managing Irfan cannot be ignored.Donald pointed to Irfan’s adaptability. “I’m not just talking about conditions but also about lengths,” he said. “He was able to come in and bowl that Test length, which is just a bit fuller for a tall man, right from the beginning. That’s difficult to do, especially with his height, but he did it well and made the new ball work for him.” Playing more Tests, will also hopefully “teach Irfan to be more aggressive”, a quality Donald has tried to instil in every attack under his command.”He is definitely not shy to get down the pitch and into the impact area, so it looks like he wants to get involved,” Donald said. “But he doesn’t come across as a spit-and-blood kind of guy. He seems to be quite placid, and as he plays more Tests he will learn when to get more in batsmen’s faces and when to try and provoke some sort of reaction.”South Africa’s line-up was often on the receiving end of a cold stare from Irfan, but not many verbal attacks. Apart from the obvious – that his English is limited – Irfan is also the epitome of a gentle giant. At the only post-match press conference he attended, after the Centurion ODI, he was wide-eyed, beaming at everything. He answered questions politely through a translator and soaked up the attention. Afterwards he patiently let the many people who wanted to measure themselves against him and take photographs enjoy the novelty of doing so.He came across as easy-going and unfussed, two important things to take onto a sports field. “I like his demeanour in that he doesn’t get flustered, and he just goes back and bowls,” Donald said. Misbah too has praised Irfan’s temperament, which he said remained level despite the various challenging situations he found himself in.Mentally there is almost nothing Irfan needs to work on, but in terms of technique, Mahmood suggested he put more effort into a certain type of delivery. “He needs to bring the ball back into the right-handers, the inswinger,” he said.Mastering that art takes time, which is not on Irfan’s side. A late bloomer, he is 30, which means he will probably only enjoy half a decade at the international level. Ntini said it could be more but it will be up to Irfan to make it so.”Age does not matter. He will get stronger after 30, but a lot will depend on his knees and ankles. It was only when I got to 30 that I started to understand my game better, and I bowled every delivery better,” he said.Ntini is not the only cricketer to say getting older did, in fact, make him wiser, but he is one of few who could benefit from that knowledge because he had the body to keep going. If Irfan takes only one thing from his tour of South Africa, that should be it.

Plays of the day for the match between Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab in Delhi

Kanishkaa Balachandran23-Apr-2013The catch
After losing two early wickets, Delhi Daredevils needed to push on and build a partnership. Virender Sehwag was just starting to open up, but Harmeet Singh’s slower deliveries were starting to annoy him. Off the last ball of Harmeet’s second over, he made room and tried to improvise, looking to slap it over the off side. He ended up scooping it towards extra cover and the ball began to dip towards Mandeep Singh, who timed his dive well and hung on. Mandeep, though, didn’t claim the catch immediately, indicating to the umpires that he wasn’t sure. Sehwag too stopped in his tracks. Replays showed that he plucked it clean, leaving little room for doubt and Sehwag was on his way. Kings XI would have scored on the Fair Play points too, if they care about it, thanks to Mandeep’s honesty.The flop
With a top score of 26 in six games (including four single-digit scores), patience was running out for the ageing Adam Gilchrist to finally score big. Being a non-performing overseas captain only increased the pressure on him to perform. With a modest 121 to chase, Gilchrist came out with the intention of hitting his way into form. His first ball was an outside edge off Irfan Pathan that raced to third man for four, while the second was a mistimed loft that cleared cover. Gilchrist didn’t hold back the following ball despite his unconvincing start. Irfan angled it in, Gilchrist tried to clear the infield again but got a tame top edge that swirled to extra cover. Will Kings XI take a tough call on his place next match?The near miss
When Kings XI lost their fourth wicket at 70, Daredevils would have sensed they were at least another quick wicket away from a sniff. Four balls after dismissing Manan Vohra, Johan Botha nearly had another wicket for the over when he got one to straighten to the left-handed David Miller. The ball squeezed through the gap between pad and bat and for a split second it appeared as if the ball clipped the bails. It only just sailed over the stumps and sailed past the wicketkeeper Kedar Jadhav, who barely moved. To make matters worse for Daredevils, they conceded four byes.The run-out
Kings XI set a fine example in the field, keeping the target to a modest 121, but Daredevils had to be twice as good in order to be able to defend that. Mandeep Singh stepped on the gas with a breezy 24, but a promising knock was caught short thanks to a brilliant effort by David Warner. Mandeep rushed out of his crease for a risky single and was sent back by David Miller as Warner attacked the ball from square leg. Mandeep dived and there was a direct hit at the bowler’s end. Replays showed that Mandeep had only just raised his bat when the bails came off the groove. It was a tight call for the third umpire. The fielding effort perked up Daredevils, but only temporarily.