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It may be 15 years since he played his last Test, but Beefy is still as combative as ever, Simon Hattenstone finds

Simon Hattenstone12-Dec-2007

‘I don’t look back. Losers look back because they’re looking why they lost. Winners go forward’ © Getty Images
Everything about Ian Botham was huge – his size, of course, his power with the bat, his stamina with the ball, his gob, his self-belief, his charity work, and his unfeasible capacity for drink. Today his baggy shirt fails to disguise that Ian “Beefy” Botham at 51 is bigger and beefier than ever.As he approaches, 14 years into his retirement, I half expect to see him looking at the heavens and twirling windmills with his bat. Nobody walked out with such intent: he was not just going to flay the opposition, he was going to smite nations.Botham has just published a new autobiography. This time, he says, it is for real, the full confessional. “It’s quite honest, quite brutal, quite truthful about myself.” Brutal is the key word. He is almost as tough on himself as he was on the Aussies in his prime. He portrays himself as selfish, unquestioning, dogmatic, irascible, confrontational, overly sociable, overly solitary, an absent father and a negligent husband. reads like a 400-page apology and belated love letter to his wife Kath.Botham nods. “Absolutely. And to the family. That’s exactly what it is. What I’m trying to say is ‘Okay, it hasn’t always been a bed of roses, but it’s 30-odd years and we are still here together and stronger than ever.’ That is the most important thing.” The selfishness is painfully revealed in the details – for example, when he gets called up for his Test debut, he does not bother telling Kath, just goes out drinking. She eventually finds out from his parents.We are driving from Battersea, where he has done a photo shoot, to a hotel in central London, where he has more interviews lined up. As usual with Botham, everything is happening at hyper-speed. I ask him what Kath thinks of the book. “She was quite surprised by how honest I’ve been, that I was prepared to go out on that limb. She said she enjoyed reading it.”So to the record-straightening. Yes, he admits that he partied just as hard as he played, possibly harder. Yes, it is true that he was impetuous and quick on the draw with his fists (not least when the former Australian captain Ian Chappell was insulting the English). At the same time, he says the wildness was exaggerated. Not even he could have achieved all he did if he had constantly been drunk or stoned. “When d’you think I played cricket? These are the questions I used to put to them. You keep telling me I’m doing all this all night and all day long, well how come I’ve got 383 Test wickets, how come I’ve got over 5000 runs? When did all this happen? Then they have to say, ‘Well, this is what we’re told.’ Bunch of lemmings.” Botham has always been suspicious of the press.What about his reputation as a womaniser? “Incapable,” he says with Bothamesque eloquence. No, he says, he did not have that alleged affair with Miss Barbados, let alone break the bed. When he did stray, he says it was only the once and after he had retired. The book is most moving when he describes how his two-year affair with an Australian waitress almost cost him his marriage and the love of his children. (He writes that his son, the former rugby player Liam, “told me that, if he hadn’t been holding the baby at the time, he would have flattened me”, while his daughter Sarah refused to speak to him for a long time afterwards.)Is he surprised that Kath is still with him? “No, because that’s another thing people don’t know. And, if you read the book, you’ll see it’s a very strong bond, one that goes through my children, my grandchildren, and everyone who knows us will tell you how strong it is. Yeah, I walked the tightrope on more than one occasion but at the end of the day we’re there and we battled through and we’re stronger now than we’ve ever been.”Has there ever been a man quite so appropriately named as Beefy Botham? “B” words instantly come to mind when you think of him – boorish, brazen, belligerent, and of course, brilliant. As a child, he says, he knew he was destined to play cricket at the highest level. At 13 the careers advisor asked what he was going to do with life. Back then he was no different – brimming with certainties. His first goal was to make a living from cricket. “Then when you cross that little bridge, you want to go on. But you can only do that if you make sacrifices and the sacrifices mean you have to have that village mentality – I am going to be king of the castle, and the castle just gets bigger and bigger. So suddenly I go from village green to national stadium to international stadium and every time there is a bigger challenge, and to achieve that you have to be selfish, you have to have tunnel vision, you have to have determination, you have to have strong will power. And above all else, you have to have a very, very understanding wife, which is the point I try to make, because without Kath it wouldn’t have happened.”Have any great sportsmen not had that selfishness? “No.” He mentions two of his greatest influences and two of the most focused players in the history of the game. “It did me the world of good, growing up under the captaincy of Brian Close. And also Viv Richards.” He talks with such admiration of the fearless Close who became a punchbag for West Indies in his mid-40s and would play on undeterred with blood dripping through his laces from a four-inch gash on his shin. As for Richards, he simply refers to him as his buddy and brother.”Viv and I, you probably wouldn’t meet two stronger-willed people. Who would think two guys in a condemned flat could, 25 to 30 years down the line, both end up with as high an honour as you can get? Amazing.” He is so proud of what they have achieved – how two anti-establishment, working-class kids forced their way through the social hierarchies and became the new establishment.The press could never truly savage Botham for one simple reason: the public loved him. The averages for the second half of his career do not bear comparison with the first half, but he continued to believe he was the greatest. He did not transform just the England team, he did the same for the two county sides he gave the bulk of his career to – turning both Somerset and Worcestershire into winners Botham has always been a curious mix – eager to tackle the great and not-so-good about their snobberies and prejudices, yet sharing many of their traditional values. Two days after we meet, Botham is due to be knighted by the Queen and he says it will be the greatest day of his life. What does it feel like when people call him Sir Ian? “Very nice. Very proud. I’m very much a royalist. So yeah, all those republicans – I’d give them some time to get out of the country, then start hanging them at traitor’s gate.” I think he is joking but am not sure.Has he ever thought of going into politics? “I don’t think that would be a very good idea. I’m too honest to be a politician. A few people have suggested it. Sponsors have come up to me and suggested it.” What party would he bat for? “Well, I’m not going to get into politics but the best prime minister we’ve had in a long time is Maggie Thatcher. And sadly one that would have been a very great prime minister, and I hope he gets another chance, is William Hague. I think he’s a very clever man.”We are sitting in the lounge of a bijou hotel. Botham orders peppermint tea. As soon as the interview becomes more formal, he becomes fidgety and a little impatient. Asked about his greatest achievements, he says there are so many milestones, where do you start? Eventually he settles for winning the Ashes in Australia. “Beating them in their own backyard is always a big moment.” The England teams he played in had so many fine players – notably the three Gs (Gower, Gooch and Gatting) and Bob Willis.It has been suggested that, for all their individual talents, they underachieved. After all they were blackwashed twice by West Indies. “Only by the best bloody team that’s ever played cricket, the best team that’s played cricket.” He glares. “We didn’t get blackwashed when I was captain. It was 1-0 and 2-0, just to put the record straight.”So is it a misconception that they underachieved? “I’ve never heard that conception.” He names the West Indies team one by one, with awe. “That was the best side that played.”Botham, of course, was not the only great allrounder of his time. All the major Test-playing nations bar Australia had one in the 1970s and 1980s – Kapil Dev (India), Imran Khan (Pakistan) and Richard Hadlee (New Zealand). Botham says that as soon as he had finished a day’s cricket, he would look to see how the others had done. “The rivalry was fierce and intense but that’s how it should be. I don’t know any other way to play sport. I don’t know any other way of doing anything to be honest. Get out there and fight.”Did he think he was the best of the four? “I didn’t think! If you look at figures, then I probably was.” In terms of? “Runs, wickets, catches, 383 wickets. Where I win is 14 centuries. Win by quite a distance there.” He pauses, to change his tune. “But that’s not what it’s about. All these figures, facts and figures. That’s bullshit. Absolute bullshit.” It’s classic Botham bluster. After all, he was the one who brought up the figures. And, if we are being objective, wonderful cricketer though Botham was, Imran would perhaps emerge as the best allrounder, with averages of 37 with the bat and 22 with the ball.Botham believes that one of the reasons he was subject to such tabloid scrutiny was because the British do not like winners. He guides me through a brief history of winners who have become unstuck or gone unappreciated. “We had the greatest golfer we ever produced, Nick Faldo, and they didn’t leave him alone. We had Nigel Mansell who was the world champion and “Boring Brummy” the papers said. World champion mate! World champion! Stirling Moss, number of world championships? Oh, none. Strange that. Henry Cooper, world championships? Oh strange, none. Love him. Eddie the Eagle, master of nothing, hero. We have a tall-poppy syndrome.” Back in his day, he says, sportsmen did not get media training or protection and were left to flounder.

But in the end the press could never truly savage Botham for one simple reason: the public loved him. The averages for the second half of his career do not bear comparison with the first half (the opposite of Imran) but he continued to believe he was the greatest. He did not transform just the England team, he did the same for the two county sides he gave the bulk of his career to – turning both Somerset and Worcestershire into winners. Even non-cricket fans loved Botham. When he finally retired, he did so in typical style – unzipping his trousers and running in to bowl to the Australian David Boon with his “meat and two veg” blowing in the wind. Since then he has continued to live at pretty much the same frantic pace. He transferred his voracious appetite for scoring runs and taking wickets to raising money for leukaemia with epic walks (£10m raised, and counting). He commentates around the world, writes books, advertises Shredded Wheat, and is almost as much in the public eye as he was 20 years ago. Does he ever play these days? “Never play, I’ve not played since the day I retired. And never will.” Why not? “Why? If I wanted to play, I wouldn’t have retired.”In the book he talks about how when things were not going well, he needed to escape, be by himself, relieve the pressure. Now he has stopped playing have those tensions disappeared? “No. I still like my own time, to go fishing, go to the river – the Spey, Tay or Tyne.” For the first time he talks with real tenderness. “It might take me a morning to do 150 yards and I work my way down the river. I’ve got my Jack Russell sitting there who walks me yard by yard, and that’s me at peace. And I need those times. I need my own time. Everybody does. And, if you’re in the public eye, you probably need it more so.”Looking back, does he feel embarrassed or ashamed of anything he has done? “I’ve told you, nothing. I don’t worry about it. I don’t look back. Losers look back because they’re looking why they lost. Winners go forward. Very simple.” He looks me in the eye a little too severely for comfort.It has been suggested that now Botham has his knighthood, he has softened. He seems as tough as ever. “I haven’t softened I can assure you,” he says, smiling. “There are a lot of things out there that really piss me off and I’ve got a long way to go yet. Lots of things in society are appalling.” Such as? “Grannies getting beaten and raped for a fiver. Where do you want to start? Society is a mess. We’re in a real mess at the moment and there needs to be some authority. Not just nabbing drivers doing 10 miles an hour, what about doing some real work, these rapes, gangs, drugs, sex offenders, you know. These bloody paedophiles. What is going on? There’s no deterrent. Very simple, no deterrent.” He pauses. No, he says, it is definitely not him who has gone soft. “Society’s gone soft. Too many do-gooders out there and not enough doers.”Wisden Cricketer

The plays of the day from the Twenty20 between England and New Zealand at Old Trafford

Andrew Miller at Old Trafford13-Jun-2008
The end of an anticlimax: Luke Wright dismisses Brendon McCullum © Getty Images
Over of the day
Confidence is coursing through James Anderson’s veins at present, so much so that he hasn’t even noticed he’s switched formats yet. In February he was marmalised by Brendon McCullum during the one-dayers in New Zealand, yet today he bowled with the same pace and late swing that made him England’s leading wicket-taker in the Tests. He removed Jamie How with his first ball, but his most significant feat was his maiden Twenty20 maiden. For six unsloggable balls in a row, he kept McCullum pinned to the crease, and even planted a bouncer on his helmet for good measure.Anticlimax of the day
Believe it or not, McCullum is used to slow starts in Twenty20 cricket. Even at Bangalore during his legendary IPL curtain-raiser, he saw off six dot balls before belting five fours and three sixes in his next ten legitimate deliveries. This time, however, he never really exited first gear. He scored his first run from his ninth delivery, and his first boundary from his 18th. And though he wafted a six over midwicket in Luke Wright’s third over, Wright did for him two balls later with deceptively flighted yorker.Innings of the day
In the Tests, Ian Bell couldn’t buy a run, but today he was unstoppable. In just 33 balls he hurtled past his four-innings Test tally of 45 runs, and with a perfect straight drive off Mark Gillespie, he eased to a 39-ball half-century – his third in Twenty20s. In all he cracked nine fours and a six over long-on off Michael Mason, and was – by a distance – the classiest and most composed strokemaker on display. Doubtless it helped that New Zealand’s target was so paltry, but if he could bat with this self-assurance every time he comes to the crease, England would have a world-beating batsman on their hands.Ball of the day
If the rumours are to be believed, Paul Collingwood’s shoulder is hanging by its final fibres, and his batting form – to judge by his Test return of 30 runs in four innings – has never been more off the boil. And yet, when it comes to his England place he is like a dog with a £500,000 bone. On Wednesday he produced his best Twenty20 bowling figures of 5 for 14 to help Durham beat Derbyshire, and today he produced the best ball of the match, a 75mph offcutter that fizzed through the gate to bowl the in-form Ross Taylor for 25.Drop of the day 1
Not everything that Collingwood touched turned to nuggets of gold, however. Graeme Swann, coming round the wicket, would have been on a hat-trick had his captain clung onto the sharp edge that flew his way as Daniel Flynn drove at his first delivery and squirted to slip. Instead the opportunity was parried, and Flynn went on to produce one of New Zealand’s better cameos – 22 from 18 balls. Still, best to get the drops out of the way now, rather than save them up for November.Drop of the day 2
Yesterday Michael Vaughan rather dented his Stanford prospects with a second-ball duck against Derbyshire, but then he wasn’t exactly in the frame in the first place. Imagine that match taking place without Kevin Pietersen, however? From the way he started his innings, you’d have thought he was a fringe player with a gambling debt to pay off, as he prodded and poked at a series of hand-grenades from Daniel Vettori. In fact, he should have fallen for a fourth-ball duck, when he played all around a looping leg-stump delivery and chipped a leading edge back towards the bowler. Vettori leapt, but couldn’t close his fingers round the chance, and Pietersen lived to argue his case for selection.Rock classic of the day
New Zealand have been dressed in whites for six Tests and a host of warm-up games, and – for some – there’s also been a multi-coloured sojourn in the IPL. But today, they reverted to their favourite colours for their new favourite form of the game. And, to mark the occasion, the dressing-room DJ cleverly decided their theme tune for the day should be AC/DC’s axe-widdling classic, Back in Black. Unfortunately it proved a tad too popular with the visitors – it ended up being played on ten occasions in all, once at the start and again at each fall of wicket.

Sydneygate, the IPL, high-profile retirements and more, in our look back at the first three months of 2008

Siddhartha Talya26-Dec-2008
Harbhajan Singh was at the centre of the racism controversy that marred the Sydney Test © Herald Sun
January1 Arjuna Ranatunga, the former Sri Lanka captain, is appointed chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket following the resignation of Jayantha Dharmadasa.4 Graeme Smith scores 85 off 79 balls in the second Test against West Indies in Cape Town to help South Africa win by six wickets and square the three-Test series 1-1.6 An acrimonious second Test between India and Australia in Sydney ends with the hosts winning by 122 runs to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-Test series. Anil Kumble, India’s captain, questions the spirit of Australian players following contentious catches claimed by Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke.Harbhajan Singh is banned for three Tests for violating the ICC’s Code of Conduct after he was accused of calling Andrew Symonds a monkey during an argument between the two players in the Sydney Test. The Indian management immediately appeals against the ruling and Harbhajan is allowed to play in the rest of the series.The ICL confirms that Shane Bond, the New Zealand fast bowler, has signed a three-year contract with the league.New Zealand beat Bangladesh in the first Test in Dunedin, by nine wickets inside three days.7 The ICC replaces Steve Bucknor with Billy Bowden for the third Test between India and Australia in Perth following complaints by India about Bucknor’s decision-making at Sydney.8 Daryll Cullinan is removed from SuperSport’s television commentary panel because of his involvement with the ICL.The venue for Kenya’s Intercontinental Cup match against Namibia is switched from Nairobi to Sharjah following ethnic violence in Kenya.11 Shaun Pollock announces his retirement from international cricket during the third Test against West Indies in Durban. He finishes with 421 wickets in 108 Tests at an average of 23.11 and 3781 runs at 32.31. In ODIs, he ends with 393 wickets in 303 matches at 24.50, and 3519 runs at 26.45.12 South Africa win the deciding Test against West Indies in Durban by an innings and 100 runs, and the series 2-1.13 Marlon Samuels is reported for a suspect action by the on-field umpires after the Durban Test. An independent analysis later confirms the umpires’ judgment and Samuels is duly suspended from bowling in international cricket.14 New Zealand seal a series win against Bangladesh, beating them by an innings and 137 runs in Wellington in three days.India’s Sony television network and the Singapore-based World Sports Group secure the rights for the IPL, at a cost of more than US$1 billion.17 Anil Kumble becomes the third bowler, after Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, to take 600 wickets in Tests, when he has Andrew Symonds caught by Rahul Dravid in the Perth Test.19 India win the third Test in Perth by 72 runs, ending a 16-match Australian winning streak for the second time.Gautam Gambhir scores an unbeaten 130 to help Delhi beat Uttar Pradesh by nine wickets in Mumbai and win the Ranji Trophy.20 The Indian selectors drop Sourav Ganguly for the CB Series to focus on younger players. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman too fail to earn recalls.24 The IPL names the eight city franchises for the first season of the league, and their owners, who include some of the biggest names in business and Bollywood. Mumbai, owned by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance India Limited, is the most expensive team, costing US$111.9 million.25 Misbah-ul-Haq is appointed Pakistan’s vice-captain. Shoaib Akhtar is again denied a central contract.Adam Gilchrist goes past Mark Boucher’s world record of 413 Test dismissals on the second day of the Adelaide Test.26 Adam Gilchrist announces his retirement from Test cricket. He finishes with 5570 runs at an average of 47.60 in 96 Tests, and 416 dismissals.Sachin Tendulkar is conferred the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honour.27 New Zealand Cricket terminates Shane Bond’s contract, upon Bond’s own request for a release following his decision to join the ICL.
Shaun Pollock ended an illustrious career with five wickets in his final Test © AFP
28 Virender Sehwag scores 151 to help India draw the Adelaide Test. Australia win the series 2-1 and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.29 The three-match ban against Harbhajan Singh is lifted after Justice John Hansen finds the charge of racism against him cannot be proven.Shaun Tait quits cricket indefinitely, citing physical and emotional exhaustion. He makes his comeback later in the year, on Australia A’s tour of India in September.30 Boeta Dippenaar, the South Africa batsman, announces his decision to quit international cricket. He played 38 Tests for South Africa, scoring 1718 runs at an average of 30.14.31 Mark Vermeulen, the former Zimbabwe batsman, is cleared by a provincial magistrate of charges of arson on grounds of mental illness. Vermuelen was on trial for burning down the Zimbabwe Cricket Board’s headquarters and academy.February2 Pakistan complete a 5-0 rout of Zimbabwe in their home ODI series, with a seven-wicket win in Sheikhpura.3 Scott Styris, the New Zealand allrounder, announces his retirement from Test and first-class cricket in an attempt to prolong his ODI and Twenty20 career.South Africa inflict a 5-0 drubbing on West Indies, defeating them by eight wickets (D/L) in a rain-affected ODI in Johannesburg.Ian Bishop, Desmond Haynes, Andy Roberts, and Courtney Walsh are dropped from the West Indies Cricket Board cricket committee. They are reinstated after a meeting with WICB president Julian Hunte on February 22.7 Michael Kasprowicz retires from domestic and international cricket. He ends his 43-Test career with 113 wickets at 32.88 and later joins the ICL.A delay in the announcement of the South African squad to Bangladesh is attributed to a row between Cricket South Africa president Norman Arendse and the coach, Mickey Arthur, over the board’s transformation policy.10 Chennai Superstars win the 50-over edition of the ICL with a thrilling one-wicket win over Delhi Jets in Chennai.11 Herschelle Gibbs is dropped from South Africa’s tour of Bangladesh following a poor year in which he averaged just 22.40 in six Tests. He is replaced by JP Duminy.12 Matthew Elliott, the former Australia Test opener, who represented them in 21 Tests, announces his retirement from first-class cricket and signs up with the ICL.Jane Smit, who represented England women in 109 ODIs, including their win in the 1993 World Cup, retires from international cricket.13 Eight Pakistani players, including Mohammad Sami and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan sign up for the ICL.14 DLF Ltd, one of India’s leading real estate developers, wins the title sponsorship rights for the IPL, signs a five-year deal worth approximately US$50 million.Stephen Fleming announces he will retire from Test cricket at the end of the home series against England. Fleming, New Zealand’s most capped player, finishes with 7172 runs in 111 Tests at an average of 40.06. He captained New Zealand in 80 Tests, winning 28 and losing 27.John Gloster, India’s physiotherapist, opts not to renew his contract and declares that the CB Series will be his last assignment. India also lose another member of their support staff, Greg King, their trainer, who too decides against extending his contract.Cricket Australia rules to terminate contracts of players who appear in unsanctioned events.18 England women retain the Ashes after beating Australia by six wickets in a one-off Test in Bowral.20 The IPL holds its player auction in Mumbai. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, bought by Chennai for US$1.50 million, and Andrew Symonds, sold to the Hyderabad franchise for US$1.35 million, receive the highest bids.A thrilling tie in the fourth ODI between New Zealand and England in Napier, where the hosts get to 340 thanks to 139 by Jamie How. They retain their 2-1 series lead, and beat England in the final game in Christchurch to win the series.The ICC chief executives’ committee, after a meeting in Kuala Lumpur, recommends the 2011 World Cup in Asia field fewer teams and run for a shorter duration.
Cricketers “sold like stocks” in the IPL auction where franchise owners including Bollywood stars, like Shahrukh Khan, spent mind-boggling amounts on teams © AFP
25 Trinidad and Tobago beat Jamaica by nine wickets to claim the US$1 million prize money in the final of the second edition of the Stanford 20/20.South Africa complete a hard-fought five-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first Test in Mirpur.Allen Stanford announces plans to stage a US$20 million winner-takes-all match, hinting at England and Australia as potential participants.26 Brett Lee wins his first Allan Border Medal as well as the Test Player of the Year title.27 Brad Hogg decides to end his international career at the conclusion of the CB Series. He finishes with 156 wickets from 123 games at an average of 26.84.The ECB adopts a strong stance against players participating in unofficial tournaments. The decision has implications for overseas players contracted to English counties who participate in the ICL.28 The PCB bars Pakistan players participating in the ICL from playing county cricket.The Dubai-based broadcaster Ten Sports retains the global media rights for West Indies cricket, excluding UK, for the next four years at over US$60 million.29 Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie add an unbeaten 405 on the first day of the second Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong. They go on to break the record for the highest opening partnership, eventually finishing with 415. South Africa inflict a massive innings defeat inside three days on the hosts.March1 New Zealand cricketers receive a major financial boost following a lucrative rights deal with Sony TV in 2007.India win the Under-19 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, beating South Africa in a rain-affected final by 12 runs (D/L).3 Former Australia middle-order batsman Norm O’Neill dies at the age of 71. He scored 2779 runs from 42 Tests at 45.55.Andy Kirsten, who played first-class cricket for Western Province in South Africa, is appointed as Kenya’s coach until the World Cup qualifiers in 2009, replacing Roger Harper.4 Praveen Kumar takes 4 for 46 and Sachin Tendulkar scores 91, helping India win the CB Series by beating Australia in the second final, in Brisbane. The match is Adam Glichrist’s last international appearance. He finishes with 9619 runs and 472 dismissals in 287 ODIs.8 Ryan Sidebottom takes a hat-trick against New Zealand in England in Hamilton.Ruchira Perera, the left-arm fast bowler from Sri Lanka, is banned by his country’s cricket board for a suspect bowling action.Sri Lanka Cricket imposes another ban, on Ranmore Martinesz, the umpire, from officiating in any matches sanctioned by Sri Lanka Cricket, for joining the ICL.11 Australia postpone their scheduled tour of Pakistan due to security concerns. The boards of both countries, in a joint statement on April 19, announce Australia will tour Pakistan twice in the next two years to fulfill their commitment.The second round of the IPL auction concludes in Mumbai. James Hopes is the day’s most expensive signing – going to Mohali for US$300,000. Dimitri Mascarenhas, the first England player to join, is signed on by the Jaipur franchise for $100,000. Jaipur also sign Shane Watson and Morne Morkel.13 Taslim Arif, the former Pakistan wicketkeeper, who played six Tests for his country, dies in Karachi at the age of 53 of a lung infection.14 South Africa claim the No. 1 position in the ICC ODI rankings after completing a 3-0 rout of Bangladesh in Mirpur.The BCCI votes against a plan for staging a pre-qualifier round for Associate countries to compete for a spot in the 2011 World Cup. The move is consistent with the board’s initial proposal to cut the number of Associates in the tournament from six to four.17 Bill Brown, Australia’s oldest living Test cricketer, dies at the age of 95. He played 22 Tests, scoring 1592 runs at 46.82.Ryan Sidebottom stars in England’s 127-run series-levelling win against New Zealand in Wellington. He takes 5 for 105; England’s fast bowlers take nine wickets between them to bowl New Zealand out for 311 after setting them a daunting target of 438.Imtiaz Patel, the chief executive of SuperSport, the South African broadcasting network, is named the successor to Malcolm Speed as the CEO of the ICC. Patel, however, “withdraws his interest” in the role two weeks later.18 Darrell Hair completes his six-month rehabilitation, following the ball-tampering controversy in the Oval Test between England and Pakistan in 2006, to be reinstated by the ICC as a Test and ODI umpire.Charl Langeveldt, the South Africa fast bowler, pulls out of South Africa’s tour of India following a controversy over his selection – there is speculation he was a quota pick – ahead of Andre Nel. Monde Zondeki is named Langeveldt’s replacement.19 New South Wales beat Victoria by 258 runs in the Pura Cup final in Sydney.The ICC names Sri Lanka as an alternative venue for the Champions Trophy scheduled in Pakistan for September if the visiting teams’ concerns about security in the country are not assuaged.The ICC confirms Darrell Hair will be “kept away”from officiating in Pakistan matches when possible, following reactions of “shock and disgust” in Pakistan about his reinstatement.A format proposal by the hosts of the 2011 World Cup, suggesting two groups of seven teams with the top four in each group progressing to the knock-out stage, is approved by the ICC.
Chanderpaul was one of the few bright spots in West Indies’ generally dismal year © AFP
20 Sri Lanka agree to tour Pakistan in April for a five-match ODI series to fill in after Australia pulled out from their scheduled tour of the country.22 Marcus Trescothick announces his retirement from international cricket after a prolonged struggle with a stress-related illness.Merv Wallace, the former New Zealand captain, who played 13 Tests between 1937 and 1953, dies at the age of 91.26 England beat New Zealand in the third Test in Napier by 121 runs to record their first overseas series win in three years. The Test is Stephen Fleming’s last; he scores fifties in each innings.Jagmohan Dalmiya, the former ICC and BCCI president, is arrested for alleged embezzlement of funds from the 1996 World Cup. He is granted bail immediately and the case is later adjourned.Sri Lanka beat West Indies in the Caribbean for the first time, winning by 121 runs on the fifth day of the first Test in Guyana.Shane Warne ends his eight-year long association with Hampshire after announcing his retirement from first-class cricket.28 Herschelle Gibbs is arrested for drunken driving in Cape Town, adding to his list of disciplinary offences.Cricket South Africa make known their decision to not tour Pakistan in the aftermath of Australia’s pull-out, and refuse the option of a home bilateral series against Pakistan in the year owing to a packed schedule.29 On day five of the Chennai Test, Rahul Dravid becomes the sixth batsman to go past 10,000 runs in Tests.31 Shivnarine Chanderpaul wins three major awards, including the International Cricketer of the Year, at the West Indies Players’ Association awards in Trinidad. In 2007, he averaged 111.60 in Tests and 76.08 in ODI’s.

Stats analysis of Pakistan’s 54-run win against India

S Rajesh26-Sep-2009In a match during which the fast bowlers from both teams went for plenty, the difference between the two teams was the performance of the spinners. Ashish Nehra, RP Singh and Ishant Sharma had combined figures of 7 for 153 in 27 overs, while Mohammad Aamer, Naved-ul-Hasan and Umar Gul managed 4 for 149 in 23. However, while Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi did superbly with the ball, taking 4 for 70 off 18.5 overs, Harbhajan Singh and Yusuf Pathan leaked 127 runs in 20 overs, and took just two wickets. In fact, Harbhajan’s figures of 1 for 71 was consistent with his overall average in ODIs against Pakistan – 71.10. In 15 ODIs he has only taken ten wickets.The difference was also the fact that Pakistan had a couple of batsmen who were just perfect to see off the Indian spinners in the middle overs. Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik worked the them around superbly during their 206-run partnership, which is the second-highest for Pakistan against India. The most fascinating aspect of the partnership was the manner in which they plundered boundaries square on the off side – of the 21 fours during their stand, an incredible 15 of them were scored in that region (see graphic). Malik was the major contributor, scoring 12 of those fours. The pair also scored a vast majority of their runs – 84 out of 206 – in that region, while only 28 were scored in the V between mid-on and mid-off.The onslaught by the pair left India’s spinners clueless. Harbhajan and Yusuf conceded 11 fours between them in 20 overs, which meant India never had the chance to put Pakistan under sustained pressure. Ajmal and Afridi, on the other hand, never allowed the Indian batsmen to get away – between them, they conceded only three fours. Most of the runs the Indians scored off them were only through singles – there were 50 of them.

Comparing the spinners from the two teams

BowlerDots1s2s4s6sBallsRunsHarbhajan Singh25304606071Yusuf Pathan21322506056Saeed Ajmal32182205331Shahid Afridi27321106039The major difference between the overall stats of the two teams is also the number of fours scored by them – 35 for Pakistan, and only 19 for India.

Break-up of Pakistan and India’s innings

TeamDots1s2s4s6sPakistan14311119350India1489814194Comparing the run-rates of the two teams, India were well ahead of Pakistan for much of their innings. After 34 overs, when there was a mandatory ball change, India were 203 for 4 compared to Pakistan’s 166 for 3. However, while Pakistan scored 136 off their last 16 overs (run rate 8.50), India fell away completely once Suresh Raina was dismissed in the 35th, scoring only 45 in the last 10.5 overs.

Whenever Kolkata have run that last lap, they have stumbled and fallen just before the line. If they believe in destiny and fate, McCullum could head to Durban to find an Indian astrologer to have his palm read

Sriram Veera in Johannesburg16-May-2009Poor Brendon McCullum. What do you do when you have 21 runs to defend in the last over? Have three men inside the circle to concede a no-ball, argue with the umpires, watch your bowler hurl wides and full tosses and lose the game. Can he ever snap the losing streak?Whenever Kolkata have run that last lap, they have stumbled and fallen just before the line. If they believe in destiny and fate, McCullum could head to Durban to find an Indian astrologer to have his palm read. Every time he has scented victory, his team-mates have discovered new botch-up artists. Ajit Agarkar has been a guilty couple of times, Ishant Sharma too and today the villain was Mashrafe Mortaza, playing his first game in Kolkata colours. There will also be questions about why he was given the final over but he bowled a wonderful 18th over and there were few others available who hadn’t choked at the end, so the choice was quite justified.Poor Agarkar. That description is almost an oxymoron, considering he is easily the most mocked among modern India bowlers. He has been the villain in previous games but today with 27 runs needed in two overs, he bowled a tight over, that included two yorkers, giving away just six runs. Yet incredibly it wasn’t enough. Fans have wondered about his numerous comebacks, have talked about his tendency to lose a close game with full tosses and in-the-slot bowling.One of the most enduring images of his career has been Agarkar standing in the middle of the pitch after being hit for a boundary in the end overs. His right hand is on his hip, his left ruffling the back of his hair. It’s as if he is wondering, How did I do that? Again? But he is an amiable, likeable sort with a sense of humour. Returning to Australia after a series where he was nicknamed the Bombay Duck, he raised his bat after scoring a single. He would need that sense of humour to survive today – and, indeed, through the rest of Kolkata’s sorry season.Poor Murali Kartik. Once again he was Kolkata’s best bowler and once again he had to end up on the losing side. And in this year’s IPL, he has bowled really well without much luck in pressure situations. Against Punjab, he nearly won the game but a plausible lbw appeal against Mahela Jayawardene was turned down at the end overs and Jayawardene went on to win the game. Today, he gave away just 12 runs in his four overs and would have been hoping that his seamers didn’t screw it up. If Agarkar has had many a comeback, Kartik has been dropped many a time in his career. He has been perennially the bench-warmer or the man who just missed the selection.His attitude is modern Indian, confident and aggressive, but his art has something that is reminiscent of an earlier era. With his trademark woven tight around his neck, he jogs gently diagonally across past the stumps, the pivot is even more gentler, and it appears as if he doesn’t rip the ball enough. But he is a very clever bowler, one in control of his art. Today, as he has done through the tournament, he hit the right lengths and varied his pace and always, found spin to keep the batsmen in check. But not every day can one man win a game alone.Poor Mashrafe Mortaza. Bought for a bunch of dollars that surprised even him, he was benched through the tournament, to the consternation and anger of his millions of fans back home in Bangladesh. He got his chance today but was laid low by a mixture of nerves and the Kolkata virus. He is actually a decent bowler in the death as he showed in his penultimate over. Yorkers, slower ones and even a dot ball. But it all turned downhill in the last over.

“Your daily habits will determine how far you go,” says India’s vision document for the World Cup. At the moment India need to stop their habit of making silly errors with large consequences

Sharda Ugra in Chennai19-Mar-2011Chennai is a city of early risers. At the first sliver of light, the streets are dotted with people delivering milk and newspapers, setting up flower stalls, going for walks. Even the sun over Marina Beach switches swiftly onto a full beam in March, demanding that the day be seized.India are not the early risers of this World Cup. They come to Chennai knowing that every little detail of the team will soon be under its fierce glare, from their brightest parts to all that is hidden in India’s shadows. On Sunday, the team will not only wrestle against West Indies, but also try to clutch at their reputation that has dangerously peeled away, layer by layer, over the course of this World Cup.At the moment, all attention is focussed on India’s brightest parts: the batting that is due one blazing firecracker of a performance, the bowling that could be revitalised with a fresh face and a new edge, and the undeniable fact that their rivals can often be brittle under pressure and have a great sense of detachment from the art of playing spin.Yet it is from the shadow that India must find their answers, because after Sunday, they will be into what captain MS Dhoni calls the World Cup’s “lottery stages”. India’s ‘vision document’ for the tournament contains a paragraph that says, “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses. You don’t succeed when your dream is accomplished … you are succeeding or failing right now. Your daily habits will determine how far you go.”As India prepare for their last group game, the result of which will determine whom they play against in the Ahmedabad quarter-final, they will have to undo all habits formed over the five group games sprawled over a month. With the undeniable advantage of hindsight, Dhoni and his team know that what they are missing in this World Cup (apart from sharp fielders, of course) is the detailing.This has happened at an event where the broadest brush has been constantly swept around in their favour: the format has been fool-proofed so that the disasters of 2007 are avoided. Barring their opening match, India play every single game in conditions they know well. Australia and Sri Lanka are now on gas awaiting Sunday’s result to work out who will travel to Ahmedabad for the quarter-final. No-one on BCCI’s payroll will be lent out to visiting teams as temporary support staff even in emergencies. In this environment, the team has not performed with an assurance its fans need, its Board wants and its competitors would be daunted by. Sachin Tendulkar’s two centuries have virtually disappeared behind a blur of India’s uncrossed ‘t’s.Against England, India’s first World Cup match against one of the stronger teams in its group, a single was run short on the last ball of the innings. Against Ireland and Netherlands, India lost its top four within 100 runs when chasing, a warning sign about the batting’s collective sense of direction. That then morphed into the thoughtless 9 for 29, against South Africa.Eight balls were left unplayed in that innings. At the tail-end of the South African innings in Nagpur, a catch dropped of Morne van Wyk was forgotten because the batsmen fell three balls later but then the ball had also wobbled over the boundary. That was runs conceded. In the 49th over in Nagpur, an easy run-out chance with the two batsmen stranded at handshaking distance in the middle of the pitch was fluffed because of a bad throw. The batsman? Robin Petersen, who got a streaky inside-edged four off Ashish Nehra’s first ball in the last over, and then hit the six that swung the match South Africa’s way.On Sunday night, India and West Indies will fill in the final details as to how the World Cup knockouts will be shaped. India needs its most precise performance, with no straggly bits in selection, batting orders or bowling changes. The injury to Virender Sehwag may see him sit out the game and give him time to get ready for Ahmedabad, and it will also act as India’s best option to still persist with its power hitter Yusuf Pathan and try out both newbies, Suresh Raina and R Ashwin.It is as if the pieces of advice offered in the vision document by Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong are now taking on a life of their own. “Pick your battles,” Armstrong advises, saying that businesses and teams need “detailed strategies on which stages to win and which to sit back.” The World Cup is the same, Dhoni’s team has been told. “You can’t win every battle. However, you can win the important ones.”Sunday’s game qualifies as one of those. Irrespective of the result, West Indies are not expected be India’s most formidable opposition in the tournament. Yet, it could be the match in which the World Cup’s late risers finally reveal what they are really capable of doing when fully awake.

The darling of Bangladesh cricket six years ago is now an outcast. But he believes he still has plenty to offer to the side, on and off the field

Firdose Moonda05-May-2011Mohammad Ashraful does not look a day older than 18. He is a small-built man with a youthful face, a thick crop of black hair and a childlike smile. When he says that he has “at least 10 years of international cricket” left in him, it’s easy to believe. Then you think of how much cricket he has already played.It’s been almost a decade since Ashraful debuted against Sri Lanka, stunning the cricket world with a fluent century. He was nothing more than a boy then, and he remembers his exact age without prompting. “I was 17 years and 63 days old then,” he said, recalling how he arrived on the scene and how, in the years since, he has squandered chances and been the victim of a struggling team.Now he’s clawing to get his career back. “I’ve played 55 Tests and 166 ODIs, so I have experience,” he said. “Now I need support.”Ashraful has steadily slipped from being the darling of Bangladesh cricket, and perhaps the country’s most popular sportsman at one point, to an outcast. He went from being a boy wonder to an ambassador for cricket in the country before he turned 21. In that time he was dropped from the team once, when poor form saw him left out of a series against England in 2003. At 22, he was handed the captaincy.He had already showed his ability to command respect, during the 2007 World Cup, when Bangladesh culled two major giants, first knocking India out of the group stage with a five-wicket win and then tripping South Africa up in the Super Eights. It’s the second victory that Ashraful recalls as his finest moment. “South Africa were No. 1 in the world then and I scored 87 off 83 balls. It was my best game,” he said.Unfortunately for him, that was as about good as it got. He failed to reach those heights in his captaincy, which was given to him soon after the tournament. Under him, Bangladesh only recorded eight victories in 38 ODIs. Ashraful’s own form slumped, and when he failed to see Bangladesh through to the second round of the World Twenty20 in 2009 in England, he was stripped of the leadership.”I was a little bit upset because I wanted to carry on as captain,” he said. He scored two ODI half-centuries on the tour of the West Indies but couldn’t keep it going. Save for a 75 against Sri Lanka early the next year, his highest ODI score since then against opposition excluding Zimbabwe has been 31. He was regularly out to careless strokes. Thus began a period of yo-yoing in and out of the side.After one match in a home series last December against Zimbabwe he was dropped. “I was told I would get three games,” he said. Against New Zealand, whom Bangladesh blanked 4-0, he was not picked. He then made the World Cup squad on the back of a hundred in a four-day match, and being named Player of the Tournament in the one-day league.Again, the old familiar inconsistency came back to haunt him. “I played two games but I was batting at No. 7,” he said. “After the match against West Indies [where Bangladesh were bowled out for 58], which was a bad game for everyone, only I was dropped. I spoke with the coach after that game and said that everybody fell down. I had even bowled well in that match and felt that I looked good.”Ashraful said it was never explained to him why he was being dipped in and out of the international side like a teabag, even though his relationship with then-coach Jamie Siddons was healthy. “When he [Siddons] first came to Bangladesh, I was the captain and we were good friends.”

“After the match against West Indies [where Bangladesh were bowled out for 58], which was a bad game for everyone, only I was dropped. I spoke with the coach after that game and said that everybody fell down”

He had not been forgotten altogether, though. While his team-mates were playing against Australia in the aftermath of the World Cup, Ashraful was leading an A side to South Africa, the start of his bid to get back into the national team. The tour resulted in a 0-1 unofficial Test series loss and a 1-3 loss in the one-dayers. Ashraful was the standout Bangladesh batsman in the one-dayers, scoring 172 runs, including a match-winning century, with an average of 57.33 and a strike rate of almost 100.His first hope is that a new coach will open the door for him again as Bangladesh look to enter a new era. “Jamie was working with us for four years so a new guy might be good for us,” he said. Having worked under Dav Whatmore, who “always wanted to win and was a motivator,” and Siddons who “always wanted to improve”, Ashraful thinks Bangladesh should now make use of foreigners and former Bangladesh players to take real steps in moving up the world rankings. “There are local guys who want to come and help us, like Habibul Bashar and Khaled Mahmud.”While new guidance is the first route to change, Ashraful wants also to see a wholesale improvement in Bangladesh cricket, not just for himself but for the team. He said more cricket, and exposure to different conditions, are the main ingredients necessary for success in future, especially as far as batting, which he thinks is Bangladesh’s biggest weakness, goes. “Our domestic cricket needs to improve. We play a maximum of nine first-class games in a season and that’s too little.”Tours like the one he has just completed in South Africa could help to bridge that gap. “We should tour a few more countries for experience,” he said. “It is not easy for us. The bounce is chest-high in South Africa and we are used to knee-high bounce at home. Our batsmen have to learn to leave the ball. In our conditions, we have to play the ball.”England is another place Ashraful would like Bangladesh’s youngsters to play more in. “I played a season of club cricket in England and conditions are beautiful for batting in June and July. Bangladesh has a lot of uneven bounce because wickets are not prepared properly.”He’s in favour of stints in the IPL as well, to broaden players’ horizons. Ashraful enjoyed a stint with the Mumbai Indians in 2009, and current captain Shakib Al Hasan is contracted to the Kolkata Knight Riders. “I spent 45 days with Sachin Tendulkar, Shaun Pollock, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan and learnt so much about cricket,” he said, “from watching them play to watching how they behave.”When he starts reeling off stories about the different places he has played in and people he has played with, it becomes evident that Ashraful still has a lot to offer Bangladesh cricket, on and off the field.He knows a turnaround has to come. “For the last one and a half years, I have not been performing as well as I should be internationally, but I will do well again.” He dreams of an average over 40 in Test cricket, which is not beyond a man of his skills.If he wasn’t a cricketer, Ashraful could have been a statistician, such is the precision with which he recalls numbers. He remembers all his own scores exactly – not just the big ones like the 158 not out against India but also the 11 against West Indies that was his last international game so far (and coincidentally also how much he made in his last Test, in England last year). The 10 years he throws out casually as a time frame for his future involvement with the Bangladesh national side sounds like a calculated figure and not a random number. Could it turn out to be the decade Bangladesh cricket needs?

ESPNcricinfo looks at the highlights of the third round of the Ranji Trophy 2011-12

Abhishek Purohit22-Nov-2011If it’s the Kotla …
… the pitch has got to be upto something. After dishing out the low variety of bounce for the second Test against West Indies, the Kotla brought out the other version which batsmen dread even more – uneven bounce, for Delhi’s game against Tamil Nadu. The surface had an unusual green tinge which was masking a web of gaping cracks. Mithun Manhas, the Delhi captain, soon found out just how much was happening when he got hit on the box by a Yo Mahesh delivery that nipped in. Some minutes of wincing, catching his breath and stretching did it for Manhas but Abhinav Mukund wasn’t as lucky. Pradeep Sangwan isn’t someone who you would fear facing but he got a delivery to misbehave enough to hit Mukund on the jaw. Mukund had to leave the field but came back later to find deliveries beating both batsman and keeper as they scooted close to the ground. He did earn Tamil Nadu a substantial lead before being dismissed on 99. By Sangwan.The chase that wasn’t
After they almost chased down an improbable 146 in 13 overs against Haryana in the previous round, you would have expected Tamil Nadu to go after the target of 218 off a maximum 49 overs against Delhi. It would have required more skill against a better attack on a tricky Kotla surface but with Mukund not available to bat, Tamil Nadu had reason to be warier this time. A watchful start, followed by the quick departure of Arun Karthik and M Vijay meant it was down to Dinesh Karthik. He hit ten boundaries in making 52 but his dismissal brought a tame end with Tamil Nadu requiring 89 off 14 overs in fading light. “We had decided not to go for the runs knowing we will get some 15-17 overs less due to bad light,” Karthik told the . If only the Delhi fog hadn’t delayed the start by a couple of hours in the morning.What not to do on the eve of a game
Delhi and Kolkata Knight Riders allrounder Rajat Bhatia was playing with his pet dog a day before the start of the match against Tamil Nadu. Which wasn’t dangerous by itself. There was some new glass being fitted into the house windows. Which also wasn’t dangerous by itself. The combination of the two proved to be. While playing with the dog, Bhatia slipped and fell onto a sheet of glass, ending up with eight stitches in his batting, bowling and throwing hand, the right one. Bhatia managed to see a brighter side to the incident though. “Thankfully, I did not hurt my fingers or split the webbing between them,” Bhatia told ESPNcricinfo. “Or I would have been out for far longer.” He hopes to be back for Delhi’s next game against Baroda which starts in a week.A different league
Bat the opposition out of the game. Rajasthan won their maiden Ranji Trophy title last season with this strategy. This approach was backed up by the new-ball duo of Pankaj Singh and Deepak Chahar who were ran through sides in the Plate League and later restricted the might of the Mumbai and Tamil Nadu batting line-ups in the knockouts. The start of this season has been an entirely different experience. Karnataka beat them at their own strategy in their opening game, posting 623 after which Rajasthan crumbled. They returned to their big-scoring ways against Mumbai and Railways, posting totals in excess of 500 each time but still ended up conceding the lead as the bowling failed to click. With three points from three games, the defending champions have a lot to prove.The record
It is said that a wicketkeeper who goes unnoticed is doing a fine job. But there was no missing Hyderabad keeper Ibrahim Khaleel’s performance against Assam. Hyderabad roared back with a big innings win after having lost to Maharashtra by an innings in the previous round. There were two centuries, a five-for and two four-fors for Hyderabad but Khaleel grabbed all the attention with a first-class record 14 dismissals in the match. Seven in each innings, 11 catches, three stumpings. “Actually when the match ended we all thought that it was an Indian record,” Khaleel told the . “But then we checked the internet and saw that it’s a record in first-class cricket. Definitely, we had some disappointing outings but hope my performance and the big win changes things for us.”The comeback
A familiar figure ran in for Delhi against Tamil Nadu, sending back M Vijay and Arun Karthik off consecutive deliveries with movement and nip. The last time Ashish Nehra played first-class cricket was in November 2008. Injuries took over after that, and Nehra decided to play only the shorter formats to prolong his career. This time he was returning after breaking his fingers during the World Cup 2011 semi-final against Pakistan. Would he be able to bowl across three sessions in a day? Turned out that wasn’t his biggest worry. “I know my body cannot handle two four-day games with a gap of only three days between them. It’s not the bowling that is a problem, it’s the 90 overs in the field that in the past, have caused strains and injuries,” he told ESPNcricinfo. He got through the game in the end. Uninjured.The results
Saurashtra’s demolition of Punjab was the only outright result in the Elite League with the other six games being drawn. The Plate League, as always, provided more excitement, producing four results in six matches. There would have been a fifth result as well, but captain Yashpal Singh’s unbeaten century helped Services avoid an innings defeat to Vidarbha.The quote
“I did not feel under pressure at the start of the day, but I was thinking, ‘will I be okay, will everything go well?’ And so far it has.”

The hosts have won 18 of the 29 triangular series but have lost the last two in the finals

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan03-Feb-2012After two seasons of Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket, the idea of the triangular series took shape in 1979-80, with Australia, England and West Indies participating in the Benson and Hedges World Series Cup. The inaugural tournament also featured the first ever floodlit game, between Australia and West Indies in Sydney. Between then and 2007-08, the tri-series became an annual fixture and an important part of the Australian cricket season. Till the mid-1990s, Australia and West Indies dominated the competition, winning all but one tournament. Since the decline of West Indies as a cricketing force, Australia have hardly been threatened in the tri-series. Between 1997-98 and 2005-06, Australia failed to win in only one season, in 2001-02 when they finished behind South Africa and New Zealand. Surprisingly, in the last two seasons of the tri-series before the tournament was replaced by bilateral series for three seasons, Australia lost in the finals, to England in 2006-07, and India in 2007-08. That marked the first instance of them failing to win in consecutive home tri-series tournaments since 1983-84 and 1984-85.Australia have figured in 300 matches in the tournament and have an impressive win-loss record over the years. West Indies were by far the best team in the 1980s and registered all their tournament wins (6) between its inception in 1979-80 and 1992-93. Their win-loss ratio between 1979 and 1989 was an outstanding 2.35 (47 wins and 20 losses) but it fell away rapidly through the 1990s and 2000s. In their heyday (the 1980s), West Indies had an average difference (difference between batting and bowling average) of 6.77, easily the best among all teams. Their run-rate difference (difference between batting run-rate and economy-rate) was also the highest (0.36). Overall, however, Australia have been the dominant side with corresponding numbers of 6.66 and 0.34 respectively. India and Sri Lanka, the two teams playing in this year’s tournament, have played 60 and 73 matches so far in the tri-series respectively, with win-loss ratios of 0.62 and 0.33. India won the tournament in 2007-08, beating Australia in the first two finals while Sri Lanka made the finals in 2005-06 in which they lost to Australia.

Record of teams in the Australian tri-series

TeamMatchesWinsLossesW/L ratioBat avg/bowl avgavg diffRR/ERRR diffAustralia3001911001.9131.74/25.086.664.66/4.320.34West Indies12068481.4128.02/25.552.474.34/4.180.16South Africa3921181.1628.60/26.232.374.44/4.53-0.09England7332410.7826.19/29.85-3.664.42/4.54-0.12India6022350.6226.08/29.97-3.894.36/4.60-0.28New Zealand8933540.6125.35/29.35-4.004.26/4.47-0.21Pakistan7426460.5624.76/29.84-5.084.25/4.52-0.27Sri Lanka7318540.3325.09/39.36-14.274.48/5.01-0.53The tournament usually features a long league phase and a best-of-three final, giving teams an opportunity to make comebacks. There have been cases when teams that struggled to qualify for the final have ended up winning the tournament. In 1993-94, Australia lost twice to South Africa in the group phase and again in the first final but went on to win the second and third finals. In 1996-97, West Indies beat Pakistan in three of four group games but lost in the first two finals against the same opponents. The hosts have a top-class record in the tri-series finals, winning 18 of the 25 they have featured in. West Indies won each of the first six finals they contested and lost two, in 1997 and 2001. Apart from South Africa, who have an even win-loss record in final matches (4-4), all other teams have lost more matches than they have managed to win. New Zealand have been very ordinary in finals, losing 11 matches and winning just one.

Performance of teams in tri-series finals (only teams that have made finals)

TeamNo of finals playedNo of series wonWins/Losses (in finals)Australia251838/21West Indies8613/7England524/6South Africa314/4India412/6Pakistan412/6New Zealand501/11Sri Lanka201/4Over the years, patterns in the tri-series have changed. In the first ten years (1979-89), teams batting first did not have any distinct advantage, winning 82 and losing 81 matches. There were very few 300-plus scores in the period (3) and the overall run-rate and runs per wicket were 4.28 and 27.21 respectively. In the 1990s, the win-loss record for teams batting first improved considerably (54.88% of matches) but the number of 300-plus scores did not increase by much (5). The scoring-rate and runs-per-wicket figures for the period came down from the corresponding numbers in the previous period. However, since 2000, the stats have been completely different. There have been 23 scores over 300 and teams batting first have won nearly 60% of their matches. The run-rates in the first and second innings (5.08 and 4.79) are considerably higher than the numbers in the previous two periods.

Numbers over the years in the tri-series

PeriodMatches *% wins (batting first)No of 300-plus scoresRuns per wicket (1st innings)Run-rate (1st innings)Runs per wicket (2nd innings)Run-rate (2nd innings)RPW/RR (Overall)1979-198916749.10327.204.3727.234.1827.21/4.281990-199913354.88526.994.2925.944.1726.49/4.242000 onwards12458.872332.035.0828.714.7930.44/4.95Overall42453.773128.544.5527.254.3527.93/4.46The tracks in Australia have generally favoured pace bowlers, and this is evident in the bowling stats across the years in the tri-series. In the first ten years of the tri-series, pace bowlers had the better average (27.71) and strike-rate (42.01) as compared to the spinners. The fast bowlers also had a lower economy rate (3.95) as compared to that of the spinners (4.28). The difference in bowling average between pace bowlers and spinners dropped from 7.10 in the first ten years to 4.27 in the 1990s. The presence of Shane Warne meant that spinners also contributed a higher percentage of wickets in the 1990s as compared to the previous decade. Warne, who picked up 93 wickets at 21.04, was by far the best spinner in the tri-series matches in the 1990s. In the 2000s, the declining quality of spin meant that the average difference between pace and spin once again shot up to 8.58 and the spinners’ percentage contribution to wickets also dropped. However, the economy-rates for pace bowlers and spinners were approximately equal, although much higher than the corresponding numbers in the 1990s.

Stats for pace/spin bowlers in the tri-series

PeriodMatchesPace (wickets/ER, avg/SR)Pace (4WI/5WI)Spin (wickets/ER, avg/SR)Spin (4WI/5WI)1979-19891671757/3.95, 27.71/42.0144/15284/4.28, 34.81/48.786/11990-19991331191/3.99, 28.84/43.3030/12443/4.34, 33.11/45.708/42000 onwards1241214/4.80, 31.09/38.8039/15362/4.86, 39.67/48.9011/1Overall4244162/4.20, 29.02/41.40113/421089/4.50, 35.74/47.6025/6Michael Bevan announced himself with a stunning 78 to help Australia win a last-gasp thriller against West Indies in Sydney in 1996. Bevan went on to become the most consistent batsman in the triangular series (min 2000 runs) with an average of 57.11. He scored only one century, a knock that gave Australia a win after they had virtually no hope of chasing 246 against New Zealand in 2002. Bevan proved to be even more prolific in finals, scoring over 400 runs at 66.83 with five half-centuries. Dean Jones, one of Australia’s most successful ODI players, was also tremendous in the tri-series, averaging nearly 47. Viv Richards, perhaps the finest ODI player of his era, stood out among overseas batsman who played in the tri-series, averaging 46.60 overall and 53.25 in the finals. While Ricky Ponting is the highest run-getter in the history of the triangular series, Mark Waugh and Adam Gilchrist remain the only batsmen to score two centuries in finals.

Top batsmen in tri-series overall (min 2000 runs) and in the tournament finals (min 500 runs)

Batsman (overall)Overall (Runs, average/SR)Overall (100/50)Batsman (finals)Finals (Runs, average/SR)Finals (100/50)Michael Bevan2570, 57.11/72.431/18Michael Bevan401, 66.83/77.260/5Dean Jones3456, 46.70/70.312/28Matthew Hayden570, 57.00/76.101/5Viv Richards2563, 46.60/85.293/22Viv Richards639, 53.25/82.130/9Damien Martyn2090, 42.65/78.243/10Gordon Greenidge408. 51.00/60.170/4Ricky Ponting4030, 39.90/79.519/25Dean Jones921, 48.47/71.110/8Mark Waugh3618, 37.29/74.308/21Andrew Symonds475, 47.50/96.151/2Desmond Haynes2782, 37.09/59.504/21Ricky Ponting434, 28.93/61.040/3Adam Gilchrist3375, 36.29/97.888/14Graeme Wood517, 39.76/58.550/4The highest team total in the triangular series is 368, by Australia against Sri Lanka in the second final in Sydney in 2005-06. Four of the top five scores have been made in Sydney. Mark Waugh holds the record for the highest individual score in the history of the tri-series, with 173 against West Indies in Melbourne in 2001. Of the seven batsmen who have scored over 150, four did so playing for Australia. Ajit Agarkar’s 6 for 42 against Australia in Melbourne in 2003-04 is the best bowling performance in the tri-series. While Glenn McGrath has the most wickets, Brett Lee has the highest number of five-fors. The record partnership in the triangular series is 237 which has been achieved by Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya in Sydney in 2002-03 and also by Ponting and Andrew Symonds in 2005-06.

He may not have played with the Invincibles but Australia’s second-oldest living Test cricketer has plenty to be grateful for

Brydon Coverdale26-Apr-2012Len Maddocks is Australia’s second-oldest living Test cricketer.He nearly wasn’t.”About 12 years ago I died from a heart attack,” Maddocks says. “I was sitting here at home on my own, my wife was away, and I raced out to the kitchen and grabbed the phone and rang 000. In about three minutes the ambulance pulled up in our drive, grabbed me and stuck me on a trolley, stuck me in the ambulance and headed for Box Hill hospital. I carked it on the way. They zapped me back to life.”I’ve been one of the few who have seen the other side. I think I saw a white light but I’m not sure. The first thing I remember of it was waking up at Box Hill hospital with my daughter and her eldest daughter sitting there. I remember opening my eyes and looking up and seeing a window and blue sky and I realised I was still alive.”Every day since then has been a bonus for Maddocks, who is now 85. A small, slight man with a voice that would suit a jockey, Maddocks sits at the kitchen table in his home in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, surrounded by photos of his family. He knows he is lucky; his younger brother Dick, who was a talented batsman for Victoria in the 1950s, suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 40.Maddocks is now afflicted by skin cancers, a result of playing cricket for three decades in an era when “if you put on sunscreen people thought you were a sissy”. He estimates he has had about 30 cancerous growths removed so far.”Still, I can’t complain,” he says. “I’m the second-oldest living Test cricketer [from Australia]. Artie Morris has got me done though.”Morris, 90, became Australia’s oldest living Test cricketer when Sam Loxton died last December. As members of the 1948 Invincibles, they were household names. Maddocks, by comparison, is something of a forgotten man, a wicketkeeper who was second in line to Gil Langley during the mid-1950s and went on numerous tours but played only seven Tests.As a player, he will go down in history as the man Jim Laker trapped lbw in Manchester in 1956 to wrap up his 19-wicket Test. Off the field, he will be remembered as the Australian team manager on the 1977 Ashes tour, when the World Series Cricket split came to light.Despite these legacies, Maddocks is content with his place in Australia’s cricketing landscape. He is philosophical when remembering the WSC rebellion – “somebody had to [be the manager], and all you can do is your best” – and he is happy to have played for Australia in an era when the country was blessed with great wicketkeeping depth.”Don Tallon was the best keeper I’ve ever seen,” he says. “He was much bigger than the rest of us. His footwork was perfect. I can remember going to the MCG for any match he was playing, just to watch him. He was magic as a keeper. Footwork is the most important thing for a wicketkeeper. If your feet are right, everything moves with it.”Remarkably for a man who kept wicket for 30 years at club, state or international level, Maddocks only once broke a digit, the little finger on his right hand. Some glovemen end their careers with fingers gnarled and bent in unnatural directions. Maddocks’ hands look perfectly normal, a testament to his skill and judgement behind the stumps.He considers Ian Healy the best of the modern wicketkeepers and believes Matthew Wade, the first Victoria player to keep wicket for Australia in a Test since Maddocks, is a “good player who will become a very good player”. Unlike some former cricketers of his generation, Maddocks has few gripes about the current state of the game, although the ongoing encroachment of the boundary rope further and further in from the fence does bother him.”I don’t think the players have changed that much,” he says. “I watch the players going on the ground and coming off more closely than most people. You can see they are friendly, which is what we were. Of course, we couldn’t help being friendly with our opponents because Keith Miller was always getting sozzled with them!”Maddocks regards Miller as the most memorable character he ever played with. Even now, he cannot comprehend the effect Miller had on women. Tales of Miller’s conquests are told with a conspiratorial preface – “You can’t print this!” – but it was as a player that the great allrounder most amazed Maddocks.

“We were just unbelievable. We played cricket Saturday morning in one competition, Saturday afternoon in another, Sunday morning in a third competition and Sunday afternoon in a fourth”

“He was interesting in everything that he did,” Maddocks says. “When he batted he was different, when he bowled he was different, fielding he was different. Ian Johnson, for example, always stood behind me at first slip, so the ball couldn’t go to his left hand. He couldn’t catch left-handed. When Miller was at first slip he used to stand yards away and he’d be diving all over the place.”Like Miller, Maddocks was a talented Australian Rules footballer. He was on North Melbourne’s list in the 1940s, but unlike his brother Dick, did not win a senior game with the club. He did, however, play baseball for Victoria as a teenager, and whatever sport was on the agenda, his parents were behind him and his two brothers all the way.”In hindsight, we were just unbelievable,” he says. “We played cricket Saturday morning in one competition, Saturday afternoon in another, Sunday morning in a third competition and Sunday afternoon in a fourth. After each day’s play, dad would discuss with us the things that had happened, where other kids had made mistakes and where we could have done better.””Mum used to go to all of our cricket, all of our football, all of our baseball. We’d set out from home at Newport with the old man out front on his bike, then my older brother Alan, then me, then Dick on our three bikes. Behind us came Mum, and the old man had built a little platform thing on her bike so that she could carry the soft drinks and the afternoon tea and the scorebooks. She had to score. I remember saying to her later in life, ‘how did you put up with us Mum?’ She said, ‘if I hadn’t put up with you and gone with you, I would never have seen any of you!’ They were great days.”The drive and determination that Maddocks showed in his early cricketing days propelled him into the Victoria team, and ultimately to Test cricket. All the while, he was working as an accountant for Australian Paper Manufacturers, where he had started work as a 16-year-old.A transfer to the company’s Hobart office allowed him to captain Tasmania for seven years, during which time the state played regularly against the other states and touring sides – though they were not part of the Sheffield Shield. When he became an ACB board member after his retirement, Maddocks chaired an ACB sub-committee on Tasmania’s push to enter the Shield.”We put it all together and said, ‘There’s your deal,'” he says. “The other states unanimously agreed, some of them with a bit of doubt at first. Tasmania have done well. They’ve turned out some good cricketers.”Maddocks considers helping Tasmania break into the mainstream of Australian cricket to be one of his finest achievements. But it was playing the game that brought him the greatest joy. His love of the game kept him playing club cricket for North Melbourne until he was 46.His association with the club has been as close to lifelong as is possible. His father signed him up as a junior member with the North Melbourne Football club as in 1932, when he was six. In February of this year, Maddocks was back at North Melbourne for a cricket club reunion, 80 years since he first set foot in the team’s Arden Street headquarters.Now that six-year-old from the depression era sits at his kitchen table with a Macbook plugged in and ready to use. Maddocks and his wife Heather use Skype to keep in touch with their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.He knows that every chance he’s had to see his family in the past 12 years has been a blessing. Everything else is secondary.