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England came as the defending champions but never played like it and, once again, it was problems in the Powerplay that led to their defeat

David Hopps in Pallekele01-Oct-2012There probably was an England side that could have reached the World Twenty20 semi-finals, but it was not the one which lost three matches out of five and, by virtue of a 19-run defeat against Sri Lanka in Pallakele, crashed out of the competition at the Super Eights stage. Sri Lanka have surely never entered a semi-final with more vigour since their breakthrough win in the World Cup 16 years ago. England, by contrast, never really found the way.The team that will never be tested (always an advantage) would have included Ian Bell alongside Alex Hales and Luke Wright at the top of the order, it would have married Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan in the middle order – Pietersen thereby making spectators’ hair stand on end in the crowd rather than making his own hair stand on end for the benefit of the TV studio – it would have recognised Samit Patel’s ability against spin bowling at No. 6, and the young guns, Craig Kieswetter and Jonny Bairstow could have contested the keeping position at No 7. Jos Buttler would have been a stand-by batsman able to observe and learn his trade.The imaginary team, or course, is just a concoction, another theory to go with countless others that flooded the social network sites as England crashed out of the tournament. The real England side, young and untutored in Asian conditions, competed and were found wanting. But they not as ordinary as many were suggesting.Stuart Broad, a captain who has spoken throughout with a refreshing mix of positivity and candour, admitted: “We can look at missed opportunities but over the whole tournament we have not been good enough. What you get with young guys is some days absolute brilliance and other days a bit of averageness and I think as a team over the past three weeks we have shown a bit of both.”The talent is certainly there. If you go onto Cricinfo these are the guys who are performing week in, week out in domestic cricket. It is very disappointing to go out because I know we have the firepower in that dressing room to go far.”England were pilloried for making three changes but that did not capture the reality. The inclusion of Patel and Jade Dernbach, in place of Tim Bresnan and Danny Briggs, who had played against New Zealand, was just a return to first principles.”We changed the team for the New Zealand game and used Danny Briggs as an attacking option in the first six overs,” Broad said. “Against Sri Lanka under lights it was unlikely a spinner was going to bowl in the first six with our seam attack. The pitch definitely changes under lights here. It gets quicker than in a day game.”

While other sides continue to speak of the need to take advantage of the initial six-over Powerplay, get a flyer and then push the ball around against the spinners in the middle overs, England obsessed over statistics purporting to prove that retention of wickets won matches more often than not

They made one change: they dropped Kieswetter. It is hard to question his omission because he had become an increasingly troubled figure at the top of the order. “Kiesy has probably not had the three weeks he would like,” Broad said. “I am sure he will bounce back but we had not had some very good starts in the last few weeks and with a must-win game we obviously wanted to rectify that.”It is fair, though, to wonder why England first picked Kieswetter at the top of the order and then seemed bent on entirely confusing him. While other sides continue to speak of the need to take advantage of the initial six-over Powerplay, get a flyer and then push the ball around against the spinners in the middle overs, England obsessed over statistics purporting to prove that retention of wickets won matches more often than not, especially when the likes of Morgan could explode in the later overs.Kieswetter, who might imagine himself a potential match-winner as a pinch-hitter, suddenly found that his job description had entirely changed and he was expected to be more conventional, in which case Bell should have been a shoo-in. Unlike Wright, he was not mentally strong enough to cope with it.It was quite a feat also for England to replace Kieswetter with the only batsman whose mental state was arguably even frailer, Ravi Bopara. He proved as much as he laboured six balls over a single before – however you want to dress it up – he missed a straight one. His England career will take some rescuing and only he can find the will to do it.Bopara had tweeted two days earlier: “A whole day of FIFA I reckon. Nothing else to do in Kandy.” Clearly the Temple of the Tooth, which tradition has it holds the tooth relic of the Buddha, did not appeal, the botanical gardens, with their wild orchid house, was equally untempting; and travelling deeper into the Hill Country was a no-no.All the talk had been of how England would play Sri Lanka’s spinners. Patel played them wonderfully well, although as Sri Lanka’s captain, Mahela Jayawardene, pointed out, they were hindered to some extent by a heavier evening dew. Akhila Dananjaya, the 18-year-old legspinner, still found time to bowl Eoin Morgan on the reverse sweep.Ravi Bopara’s return was an ill-judged selection by England and he was bowled for just a single•Getty ImagesThe Dananjaya story, a youngster who was spotted by Jayawardene at a net session, and was thrust first into the Sri Lanka Premier League and then World Twenty20, is a curiosity in Sri Lanka; in England, where players are educated, processed, re-educated, re-processed, analysed, re-evaluated, re-analysed, discussed, tried and tested, it would be a miracle. It is the equivalent of somebody not quite interesting Leicestershire and then a few months later bowling Kumar Sangakkara. It is not about to happen.”The way Samit Patel played the spin was very encouraging,” Broad said. “He looked a class act out there. His big strength is how he plays the spin and hits over the off side. He made a few spinners go for a few runs tonight. That is a huge positive not just for the Twenty20 side but for England going forward. If we could have hung around and stayed with him, the last four or five overs can go for anything.”Neither could you entirely fault Broad’s assessment of Lasith Malinga’s decisive second over in which he removed Luke Wright, Jonny Bairstow (deceived by a slower ball, lest the England captain’s description does not communicate this point) and Alex Hales, leaving England 18 for 3.”Obviously those three wickets in the third over damaged us quite a bit,” Broad said. “It is Twenty20 cricket, isn’t it. Lasith got a short, wide one, caught point, he got one caught mid-off and he got a leg side lbw that was missing six stumps. But he bowled really well, he bowled full and straight and he showed the class that the IPL pays millions for. He obviously hurt us with those three wickets but they weren’t jaffas were they? We just managed to get out to them.”And so, England’s challenge ended. Now all that is left is the end game involving Kevin Pietersen. It is meant to be imminent. It probably is. But don’t hold your breath.

The visitors have been hampered by a new problem in this series – a lack of consistency in the middle order – and although Faf du Plessis’ outstanding start to Test cricket has offered some solace there remain plenty of issues

Firdose Moonda at the WACA30-Nov-2012Limp middle-orders used to infect South Africa’s limited-overs teams. It was the reason they failed at the 2011 World Cup and many a tournament before that, but it was not a disease that spread to the longer format. There a mixture of dynamism and dependability existed. Both those are qualities that are absent in it on this tour of Australia.Of the five innings South Africa have batted in so far, the middle order has let them down every time. In Brisbane they lost 4 for 52 in the first innings and 3 for 63 in the second. In Adelaide, the collapse was more dramatic when five wickets tumbled for 17 runs on the third day.The six overs after lunch in Perth saw three wickets fall as Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Dean Elgar were all dismissed for the addition of only 12 runs. It is this folding that will seem the most glaring because it resulted in a below-par score despite the later recovery.The inability to minimise risk is the root cause for the wobbles illustrated by two of the three dismissals in Perth. Amla was run-out after answering a de Villiers call that should have been more circumspect. De Villiers himself was on the receiving end of a good ball that swung away late to find his edge but then Elgar’s inexperience showed in his short selection. He played an unnecessary pull after being primed by a series of pitched up deliveries from Mitchell Johnson.Jacques Rudolph, who was dropped for this match, was guilty of exactly the same thing in the previous two Tests. His could not blame it on inexperience, though, but a technical flaw. Rudolph played Nathan Lyon in the air in both Brisbane and Adelaide to further underline his vulnerability against offspin and he was left out of the XI to play the deciding Test.Rudolph’s average in his last eight innings was 26.87 and he was an obvious weak link. Because of that South Africa have needed seven batsmen, not to lengthen the line-up as they would have us believe but to recover. In Faf du Plessis they have found an able Mr Fix It. He has the temperament and confidence of someone whose Test career is much older but even his patch-up job on the opening day here could not harden the soft middle order.Just a year ago, South Africa had players who could act as solidifying agents. With de Villiers at No.5 with Ashwell Prince at No.6 there was a combination which could be both sensational and stable. Neither are around anymore: Prince literally so and de Villiers not as we knew him.Prince was dropped after the Boxing Day Test last year, even though he scored a half-century the match before that. He was retained on national contract but has been given no indication that he will play for his country again.De Villiers has become a shadow of the batsman he once was. Although his resilience remains as both his innings in Adelaide showed, his flamboyance has gone. Despite his insistence to the contrary, becoming the full time wicketkeeper has affected his batting and he has not scored a half-century in nine innings since taking over the role.On most occasions he has managed a start but been unable to convert and it appeared to be a problem with patience. Adelaide debunked that myth. He batted for over four hours and faced 220 balls for his 33. His forward defensive made more appearances in that innings that it has done in the ten before them and it was as unbreakable as the wall he had erected around his state of mind.Du Plessis said de Villiers was so defensive in his approach it took even him by surprise. When he joined his school-friend and team-mate at the crease, he hoped they could stay positive at first but de Villiers turned down singles they would normally have run for fun. They both knew they could not present even a sliver of an opening to Australia and de Villiers took that instruction very seriously. As a result, the pair “blocked balls we could have hit for a few,” as du Plessis later said.De Villiers emerged out of that innings with proof that he had the stamina to bat for a long period and that he was able to do that without presenting the chances he had before. Not even a week has passed since that day and de Villiers has reverted back to the player who chased a short and wide Peter Siddle delivery in Brisbane.His running out of Amla and subsequent succumbing to a ball he could have got behind, albeit it a good one, left South Africa facing a paltry first innings total. While Elgar also contributed to that, he cannot be judged yet. To walk in on debut with the team in trouble is difficult. Although he had du Plessis to draw inspiration from, his duck, notable for being the first by a South Africa Test debutant since 1998, will not close his door. A player of the experience and calibre of de Villiers though, should have taken more responsibility.That could be what the South Africa middle order currently lacks most: someone to front up. With a top four that carries the heavyweight credentials of Graeme Smith, the form of Alviro Petersen who has scored three hundreds and two fifties this year and the aura of Amla and Jacques Kallis, it is easy for the rest to think they won’t have much to do.But they will and they need to be properly equipped for that. For as long as de Villiers continues to don the gloves the decision between six and seven batsmen remains unresolved, as does the identity of those players, which is far from the ideal position for solidity.

From Vipul Gupta, India At the risk of shooting off my mouth and sounding presumptuous, I would like to make a proclamation that our bowling line-up at present is the best in the world.

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013Vipul Gupta, India
At the risk of shooting off my mouth and sounding presumptuous, I would like to make a proclamation that our bowling line-up at present is the best in the world.In Zaheer Khan we have a shrewd canny seasoned professional who is relishing his role as that of the leader of the bowling pack. Ishant Sharma the youngster is improving by leaps and bounds and has surprised everyone with the progress he has made with in the last eighteen months or so. Harbhajan Singh has shown that on his day he can run through any side in the world. Amit Mishra is a leggie in the classical orthodox mould whose virtues are flight, drift, turn and the ability to lure batsmen to their doom.The ingredients are intoxicating to say the least. A left-armer who can make both the new as well as old ball talk. Zak has shown a terrific understanding of the use of the angles whenever he comes on to bowl round the wicket to the right-handers. And his phenomenal ability to reverse swing early only means that the batsmen can relax at their own peril. Add to that the tall lanky Ishant who with his nagging accuracy and the ability to extract disconcerting bounce even on the most placid of wickets has made it amply clear that he is a force to reckon with at all times. The pressure exerted by these two is unbearable which forces batsmen to commit errors.The performance of Hayden and Ponting, the two bulwarks of the Aussie batting line up, against these two is a testimony to this fact and had a massive bearing on the ultimate result in the most recently concluded Border-Gavaskar series. Both these bowlers make it very easy for someone like Bhajji to come and bowl to the new batsmen who have not yet got settled in the crease. Furthermore, we are spoilt for choices too and can pick anyone from Mishra, Munaf, RP Singh and Sreesanth to name a few more.India has a long and impressive history of producing good batsmen, but sadly we have never had confluence of great bowlers at the same time which explains our poor win record. Agreed , that the quartet of Bedi, Prasanna, Chandra, Venkat had their time in the sun, but even they will admit that they could not win as many matches as they would have liked particularly abroad and the presence of a good fast bowler would have definitely helped them.Kapil Dev shouldered the burden of bowling throughout his career and only K Ghavri and M Prabhakar lent him some support for a brief period of tme. The story was the same with Anl Kumble who ploughed a lone furrow but nevertheless still did a fabulous job as a strike and stock bowler throughout his career. But now I feel that the tide has turned and now we have a bowling Attack that can take 20 wickets in most conditions and on most wickets.Bowlers are the unsung heroes of this game and it is a misnomer that bowlers will win you only Test matches. Australia has won the last 3 World Cups because their bowlers had pulverized the batsmen into submission. And take the latest ODI between England and India at Bangalore which was a curtailed 22 over match. The magnificent performance of Zak, Munaf and Ishant in the 3 powerplays was decisive. A new dawn is being quietly ushered in Indian Cricket which I feel will be the best in its history.

Darren Bravo’s inspiration was Brian Lara but he played an innings that was the antithesis of his hero’s career at The Oval

Andrew Fidel Fernando at The Oval11-Jun-2013When Darren Bravo was in his early teens, he watched cricket for just one man. Perhaps he still recalls the famous innings; the 153 in Bridgetown or the 400 in Antigua. As soon as Brian Lara was dismissed, Bravo would turn away. There was perhaps little else to enjoy in West Indies’ cricket as their empire fell. Dreaming one day to play like his idol, Bravo went out to bat.In the hours before he strapped on the pads, he had absorbed Lara through the television screen. The “Prince” is Bravo’s first cousin, once removed, on his mother’s side. Maybe he figured his blood ran blue as well.Now 24, the languid lunge that precedes Bravo’s cover drive bears the same royal air. The hands and feet glide through the crease like liquid, like Lara. Bravo lacks for a touch of majesty, but the high backlift, the chin that grazes his shoulder in his stance and the leap upon reaching a ton are all there. Only, at The Oval, against India, he played an innings that was the antithesis of his hero’s career. Where Lara had waged a lone, lionhearted war while a once-great side withered beside him, Bravo’s knock robbed West Indies of their early momentum, and amplified the burden on the surrounding batsmen.Upon arrival at the beginning of the sixth over, Bravo blocked a few, then glanced a four. Nothing was awry yet and Johnson Charles soon began his surge, hiding to some extent, the pedestrian strike rate Bravo nursed. Spin came into the attack and Bravo’s plight worsened. Having made only 18 from 38, he dead-batted Ravindra Jadeja’s first over, though there was no alarming turn or exceptional skill on the bowler’s part. After Jadeja removed Charles, next over, Bravo made no move to assume the responsibility for run-scoring, 46-balls old at the crease though he was at the time. His innings grew more laboured still.R Ashwin bowled another maiden against him, after Marlon Samuels and Ramnaresh Sarwan had floundered and fallen at the other end. Having gone at over five runs an over in the first 20 overs, West Indies managed only 25 in the next 10. Finally resolving to attack, Bravo skipped down the track to Ashwin in the 34th over, only to change his mind midway, and find himself comprehensively beaten and stumped. There were many occasions during his 83-ball stay that Bravo might have seized the initiative but instead he oversaw a meandering middle-overs effort that made the task of achieving a par score nearly impossible.How differently Lara might have handled it. Unconquered by the two best spin bowlers to ever play the game, he relished attack, and planned never to let a bowler settle when they began against him. Bravo is proficient against slow bowling, and it is unfair to expect him to replicate the success of the brightest raw batting talent of the last 30 years but, though he has mined Lara footage to recreate his idol’s style, there are vital lessons on substance yet to be gleaned.”This innings to me was one of Darren’s worst innings,” Dwayne Bravo, West Indies’ captain, said. “We’re aware of it and we’ve already spoken to him. Batting on top of the order, we expect a bit more from him, but at the same time, while he stayed in there, we kept losing wickets. So it also makes his job a lot more difficult.””But it’s all in the experience with him. He’s young, and he’s one of our better batters, and once we show a little faith in him and try to let him know where he went wrong, he can improve. Definitely it will do good for him and for us as a team once we can get him scoring runs and turning over the strike a bit more. Like I said, it’s a learning curve.”Dwayne Bravo’s point about rotating the strike is a crucial one. The West Indies batting order carries artillery at the top and furious finishers lower down but, in between, they are short of an engine room. Of the 300 legal deliveries West Indies faced today, a staggering 194 were dot balls. In Tests Darren Bravo has displayed the aptitude to become the link man, whose graft glues the innings together, but in ODIs, the gear in between stonewall and sprint has eluded him.A score of 260 or 270 might have made for a different result, Dwayne Bravo reflected, but perhaps the strength of India’s batting in this tournament would have made easy work of any total on the lighter side of 300. West Indies now enter a shootout with South Africa for the second semi-final berth in their group. If Darren Bravo can imbibe a little more of Lara before that encounter, perhaps the West Indies cannonade will have a sturdier base from which to launch.

Thilan Samaraweera reflects on his international career and looks ahead to an enriching county stint with Worcestershire

Tim Wigmore24-Apr-2013Thilan Samaraweera may have played for 12 years for Sri Lanka but his first season in county cricket, where he is fulfilling “one of my dreams”, is bringing its own challenges. Samaraweera’s enthusiasm, after fielding for Worcestershire, is in stark contrast to Manchester’s rain, wind and unrelenting chill, which are enough to make anyone question the sanity of organising first-class cricket at Old Trafford in April.”You get tougher and tougher when you field in this cold weather,” he said. “It’s not easy. You get tougher and tougher living away from home.”Samaraweera’s international career may have been overshadowed by those of Sri Lanka’s big beasts, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. Yet in his own charmingly unobtrusive way he averaged 48.76 in Tests and there is a very legitimate case for him being Sri Lanka’s third-best Test batsman, even ahead of Aravinda de Silva and Sanath Jayasuriya.He earned a deserved reputation as Sri Lanka’s stylish man for a crisis – their VVS Laxman – cemented by a pair of centuries in South Africa in 2011-12, including 102 and 43 in Sri Lanka’s Boxing Day Test win. Not bad for someone who began cricketing life as an offspinner.While Samaraweera laments neither winning a Test Match in Australia nor scoring a hundred against them, what particularly grates – because it was so out of character – is the way his Test career ended: an aberrant slog when on nought in Sri Lanka’s defeat in Sydney in January.”Because of desperation I came down the track and tried to hit over the top and got caught at mid-on,” he said. “Every time I go to Sri Lanka people ask and remind me about that shot – that’s a little annoying because I did a lot of things for Sri Lankan cricket but still people remember that shot. Because every time the team needed me I did better every time – in South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand.”At the time, no one thought it would be Samaraweera’s final Test innings. He had been looking forward to playing Test series against West Indies and South Africa this summer, and then retiring after playing Pakistan in December. The series against West Indies and South Africa were both cancelled.

“We are a little bit weak on our system – 20 first-class teams, I believe that is too much. It should be six, maximum seven to eight. And we have to encourage playing four-day cricket. At the moment it’s only three-day cricket”

“That’s six Test matches, a tough six Test matches and definitely the selectors [would have] looked at me because of my experience. Unfortunately we cancelled because of the shorter-format cricket and after that I had a big chat with the selectors and they said they would go with two senior players [Jayawardene and Sangakkara] with the youngsters against Bangladesh, and then Zimbabwe in October.”The selectors tried to persuade Samaraweera not to retire from Test cricket – “They said they need me in December in Pakistan” – but he decided against waiting ten months between internationals.The rescheduling is just the latest piece of evidence that the Sri Lankan board is not prioritising Test cricket. “Definitely I’m worried about the future in Sri Lanka. If you play 12 years of international cricket, you have to play 100 Test matches but in Sri Lanka if you play 12, you end up on 75 [he finished on 81 Tests].”Samaraweera always regarded Tests as the ultimate goal but it is perhaps not a view shared by many of those involved in Sri Lankan cricket today. One issue is the Sri Lankan first-class structure. “We are a little bit weak on our system – 20 first-class teams, I believe that is too much. It should be six, maximum seven to eight. And we have to encourage playing four-day cricket. At the moment it’s only three-day cricket.”Another – perhaps more significant – factor is the proliferation of T20 cricket. “If you send a bad message to the youngsters [about] playing the shorter formats, I think that’s kills their technique. You never find good spinners, you never find fast bowlers because of that mindset.”He calls for restrictions on T20 in age-group cricket: “You have to stop Under-19-level T20 cricket in Sri Lanka. If you play T20 cricket at 18, 19, there’s no point.”Samaraweera’s first-class debut came in 1995-96, months before Sri Lankan cricket was transformed with their victory in the World Cup. But he feels that the legacy could have been so much better.”The biggest, saddest thing is, after the 1996 World Cup win the board got money, a lot of money. We did well but financially we were very mismanaged. Unfortunately mismanagement happens but people don’t take action. That’s the way sometime our system goes – we can’t control those things.”There are few better players of spin on the county circuit than Samaraweera, whose adroit footwork against Simon Kerrigan’s left-arm spin was one of the highlights of the first day of the new season at Old Trafford. It was a matter of considerable surprise and, to all but the most parochial of Lancastrians, disappointment when Samaraweera misread a quicker delivery to edge a back-cut for 28. In seaming conditions in Cardiff last week he made a four-ball duck, but a second-innings 79 illustrated his technical fortitude.It also illustrated Samaraweera’s enduring capacity for self-improvement, nowhere seen better than in his performances in England.”I travelled here in 2002 with the Sri Lankan team, but I didn’t get a game here. In 2006 I had an awful national tour. After that I was dropped. I came in 2008 on a Sri Lankan A team tour and did really well. And in 2011 I averaged 52 in the Test series here.”If that trend continues, county bowlers will suffer this season – though it will be damage of the most gracefully inflicted sort. Samaraweera only wishes that his county chance had come sooner.”If I got this chance ten years before, I would be a better cricketer definitely.”

The circumstances of the match and the series demanded, beseeched and implored something of the batsmen but they collapsed in a messy heap

Daniel Brettig at Lord's19-Jul-2013So this is what happens when Australia are not illogically bailed out by their tail. On a glorious day, a flat, dry pitch, against bowling of moderate standard, the tourists fell utterly and comically apart. At the moment of greatest possible importance in the series so far, they conjured the worst performance possible. Englishmen wondered aloud if they had ever been quite as bad as this during 16 years of Ashes embarrassments up to 2005. Australians looked sheepishly for somewhere to hide, or to drink.Up on the balcony, the coach Darren Lehmann could offer only rueful smiles as a succession of his batsmen found increasingly idiotic ways of getting out. For all his qualities as a mentor and uniting-force, Lehmann can do little about such a woeful lack of application, now clearly established as the dominant pattern of Australian batsmanship in the era beyond Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey. There will surely be no coming back from this. Not in this match, nor this series, nor possibly the next one in Australia.Of course the chances of the touring batsmen putting together a decent, coherent first innings response to England’s quite middling 361 were always slim, based on all recent evidence. They had run the Trent Bridge Test so unforgettably close mainly due to the freak contributions of the Nos. 11, Ashton Agar in the first innings and James Pattinson in the second. They had been called to account for this by Lehmann in the aftermath of the Test, and the omission of Ed Cowan had provided a reminder to all that mediocrity was not to be tolerated.Yet the circumstances of the match and the series demanded, beseeched and implored something of the batsmen. There was no better stage on which to perform than a sun-drenched second day at Lord’s, the crowd packed into St John’s Wood, the sky flecked with the merest clouds and the opposition’s first innings far short of intimidating – propped up by England’s last pair, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann, coshing a joyful 48 in half an hour. This was not a day to lose wickets, but Australia gifted them away. England’s bowlers go home as well stocked as rich kids at Christmas.No great signs of peril were initially evident. Shane Watson and Chris Rogers began soundly enough, surviving the typically probing early overs of James Anderson and then accelerating nicely towards the lunch interval. Tim Bresnan looked unthreatening, and Swann’s first over decidedly tame, Watson nudging a single and Rogers cuffing him twice for two.Alastair Cook swung Bresnan around to the Pavilion End for the final over of the morning session, hoping for a change of fortune. He was to get it in maddening circumstances for Australia.

In Nottingham, Australia’s final pair had been the source of miracles. At Lord’s it was simply a reminder of how horridly inadequate the rest had been.

Watson squanders a lot of starts, gets out lbw almost as often, and wastes precious decision referrals with similar profligacy. Now he was to do all three at once. Playing around his front pad at Bresnan’s nip-backer, he immediately granted England an opening into the unstable and reshuffled batting beneath. Whatever the merits of Michael Clarke’s alleged description of Watson as a cancer on the team, his dismissal on the stroke of lunch infected Australia’s batsmen and their thinking.Having lost a review, Rogers and the new No. 3 Usman Khawaja were conscious of not wasting the one they had remaining. So when Rogers contrived quite bizarrely to miss a high full toss from Swann, his shock was also accompanied by worry about burning the other referral. Khawaja had little to offer in the way of a second opinion, and Rogers wandered off in a daze that would only be enhanced by replays showing the ball drifting well past leg stump. Suddenly the Australians were not only two down but mortified at having double-crossed themselves in doing so.The man walking out at No. 4 would not be Clarke but Phillip Hughes, the captain choosing to demote himself to his favoured spot in the order. As the only batsman who could be said to have completely succeeded in his chosen position during one innings at Trent Bridge, Hughes had reason to be miffed about his move. His state of mind would be exposed by a haywire slash at a Bresnan ball not there for the drive and a thin edge behind. Hughes was not sure he had hit the ball and so reviewed the decision. Moments later Australia had lost their final review.The run out of Ashton Agar compounded Australia’s misery•Getty ImagesKhawaja had waited more than 18 months for this chance but on the evidence of this innings he had not made sufficient use of that time. In a halting display that appeared wracked by nerves, he edged pace through the cordon, was dropped at slip when Swann extracted a nick, evaded a staunch lbw appeal and then perished to a panicked attempt to loft down the ground. Before the series Khawaja had spoken of his hunger to play Test matches again. In circumstances demanding patience, composure and desire, he did not appear particularly famished at all.Steve Smith and Clarke were then to fall in ways that reflected some credit on the bowlers, but also demonstrated a limited capacity to thwart them. Noted as a good player of spin, Smith’s hands wandered too low so a Swann delivery with some top spin kicked up and struck the gloves on the way to short leg. Clarke made a start of some promise, showing more energy and intent than he had managed at Trent Bridge, but fell to the simplest of bowling plans. Broad hurled down a few short balls to push Clarke back, then a full one to pin him in front of the stumps. England celebrated raucously but might have expected more of a fight for the most prized wicket of all.Agar and Brad Haddin represented Australia’s last real hope of significantly reducing the deficit. Their runs in Nottingham had pushed Australia to the brink. Their parting at Lord’s would epitomise a day of infamy. A short ball directed at Haddin’s hip bobbled away on the legside, but he was oblivious to Agar’s call and sprint for a single. As Matt Prior collected the ball and threw neatly to the non-striker’s end, Agar turned and hared back for the crease, but found himself well short.If anguish had been the natural response to the dismissals of Watson, Rogers, Hughes and Khawaja, then Agar’s departure was something like the final insult. From 42 for 0, Australia had dived to 96 for 7, ceding all control of the match and the series to their hosts. When Ryan Harris and James Pattinson cobbled 24 for the final wicket, they posted the second highest partnership of the innings. In Nottingham, Australia’s final pair had been the source of miracles. At Lord’s it was simply a reminder of how horridly inadequate the rest had been.

The new, tight domestic schedule also allows young regional players a better chance to develop into reliable first-class cricketers

Umar Farooq23-Oct-2013Pakistan’s domestic structure has been constantly transforming over the past decade, with change occurring every two years. But this year the season’s format has remained consistent from the previous year, though the calendar is tightly planned for better financial viability. Two major first-class tournaments will run simultaneously while two List A events happen concurrently. Besides making it financially cost effective, the season has been ideally planned to stop mixing top departmental players with the regional teams in order to allow more young players to feature for the regional sides. If executed efficiently, this calendar could eventually allow an increase in the quantity of first-class cricketers in the country.Last year, the re-structuring of the domestic structure centered around the President’s Trophy, the country’s new premier first-class tournament, with the eminence of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy fading. Previously the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was the nucleus of the first-class competition in the country, comprising 22 teams (13 regional and nine department teams) in two divisions, based on a promotion and relegation system. It was revamped last year by separating regional and departmental cricket, creating two first-class events with equal quality. This structure has created a sense of stability and promoted a competitive spirit, with the top teams in the President’s Trophy playing against a mixture of tough opponents rather than the rookie cricketers of the region. Players who might have failed in the President’s Trophy, made their way into the regional teams to work on their deficiencies.This year, the board has planned both events concurrently to maintain a balance in the levels of competition. The number of teams in the President’s Trophy has been increased from 10 to 11 with Pakistan Television being promoted to Grade1 cricket. Eleven departmental teams will play a round-robin league phase, with the top two teams making the final.As many as 350 players are registered to feature in the 14 teams in QEA, while around 220 player are signed with the various 11 department teams. The 14 regional teams will field only local and non-departmental players. Teams in QEA will be divided in two groups – the top eight will be in a super-eight group while the remaining six teams will play a plate league. The two top teams from super eights will play the final. Either way, each team will at least play nine matches. Once a prime means for players to earn national call-up, QEA is no more relevant in that regard.

A player of his magnitude cannot exactly be replaced, but South Africa have options to help them rejig their line-up

Firdose Moonda13-Jan-2014For the first time in 18 years, South Africa’s selectors will have to pick a Test squad without one of its certainties. Jacques Kallis’ retirement has left a gap many have said will be impossible to fill.While it’s understood a player of his magnitude cannot be replaced, South Africa have to, as Shaun Pollock said, find a way to move forward without him as quickly as possible. They have a lot to ponder as they search for a new strategy in the post-Kallis era.The first consideration is the No. 4 spot. For years, it was thought AB de Villiers was being groomed for that role. De Villiers is the most outrageously talented and adaptable batsman in South Africa’s line-up and is capable of switching between the two most important roles in that position: he scores runs under pressure (like at Headingley 2008, and in Hamilton 2012 and Johannesburg 2013) and is the best person to have on hand when there is a platform to take off from (Perth 2012 being a standout illustration).But de Villiers is not an automatic pick for No. 4 because he is already heavily burdened. He keeps wicket and is also the team’s vice-captain; there’s also a strong chance he will eventually succeed Graeme Smith, and though that is not imminent, it is something to bear in mind for the long term.That’s why Faf du Plessis is likely to fill the No. 4 spot. Du Plessis’ batting style is similar to de Villiers’ in that he understands when to attack and when to defend, and has the skills for both. Batting is his only responsibility, although he is also expected to take Kodak-moment catches, so he is a good pick for the crucial role.Du Plessis also prefers to bat higher up and has openly said so on several occasions. In his 11-Test career, he has already been pushed up three times. The first was against Pakistan in Cape Town last February, when he came in ahead of Kallis, with South Africa in trouble at 50 for 2. The second was in the next match, in Centurion, when Kallis sat out because of injury, and the third, and most telling, was against India in Johannesburg in December 2013.In that last match Kallis had bowled more than his quota of overs and the team management wanted to give him an extra night’s rest. South Africa needed a consolidator and du Plessis was trusted with the job. His century, crafted with patience, took them to the brink of a historic win. It was a performance that underlined his claim to be slotted in at No. 4.Because Kallis’ place in the batting line-up is likely to be occupied by one of de Villiers or du Plessis, the change to the XI will have to happen lower down, at No. 7. That spot has been occupied by an extra specialist batsman since Mark Boucher’s retirement in July 2012, and South Africa have always said it is a berth they would like to use creatively, which suggests some experimentation could be in order.Without Kallis, the only way they can keep a specialist batsman in that position is if JP Duminy becomes their premier allrounder. That would mean forsaking the specialist spinner, a role that has yo-yoed between Imran Tahir and Robin Peterson, though neither has taken ownership of the spot, and tasking Duminy with filling that role in order to include another seamer and maintain the side’s balance.

Du Plessis’ batting style is similar to de Villiers’ in that he understands when to attack and when to defend. Batting is his only responsibility, although he is also expected to take Kodak-moment catches, so he is a good pick for No. 4

Duminy’s offspin has developed significantly. He has shown himself capable of holding up an end and he makes timely breakthroughs, but whether he is good enough to operate as the sole spinner is still a matter of debate. South Africa could try him out at home, where spin rarely plays a role, before deciding if he is a viable option for away Tests as well. In that case, Dean Elgar, who has been on the fringes and has played a handful of matches, would slot in as the additional batsmen. South Africa’s XI would then look like this:Smith, Petersen, Amla, du Plessis, de Villiers, Duminy, Elgar, Philander, Steyn, Morkel, extra seamer (Tsotsobe/Abbott/Kleinveldt).Another, more likely, option for No. 7 is to slot in an allrounder. That person will be more of a bowling two-in-one, as opposed to Kallis, who was seen as a batting allrounder. Even though there appears to be a dearth of these rare cricketers around, South Africa have some options in that regard.Ryan McLaren is first name that pops up. He established himself as the first-choice allrounder in the ODI team when Kallis was unavailable for bilateral series, and blossomed once given a regular run. McLaren has only played one Test, against England in 2010, but more than 100 first-class matches. He has a batting average of over 30, with three centuries and 20 fifties, and has taken 329 wickets at 25.47.Wayne Parnell is the other option. After falling by the wayside, following an impressive start that included three Tests, he has made a full recovery from a serious groin injury, plays regularly for his franchise, and is performing well. Parnell has racked up two List A hundreds, has even opened the batting for the Warriors, and is in good form with the ball. So far in the 2013-14 season he has eight wickets at 12.75 from one match.South Africa could also look for the allrounder within the group they already have, where three candidates emerge. Rory Kleinveldt is a regular member of the squad and someone who is considered front of the queue. Kleinveldt has scored one first-class hundred and nine fifties and has been one of the most consistent wicket-takers in the domestic game.The other two options are already part of the team. Both Vernon Philander and Robin Peterson are capable of batting at No. 7. They have three Test fifties each and have batted South Africa out of difficult positions in the recent past – Philander at Lord’s in August 2012, Peterson in Durban in December 2013.If South Africa make use of one of them, they will have a free spot to toy with in the XI, which can be used for either an extra bowler or batsman. The team would look something like this, with the unallocated role able to move anywhere in the order:Smith, Petersen, Amla, du Plessis, de Villiers, Duminy, No. 7, Philander, Peterson, Steyn, MorkelVernon Philander has shown he is capable of shoring up the batting from No. 7•Associated PressMike Procter, the former convenor of selectors, who admits his panel “never thought of a team without Kallis”, is in favour of this approach. He would use the gap to bring in a specialist wicketkeeper, because even though de Villiers’ batting average has increased since he took over from Boucher, Procter thinks he is better off as a batsman only. “His batting will progress even more if he does not keep.” Some may wonder how much better de Villiers can get but Procter believes he can score match-winning double-hundreds if freed from the gloves.Should South Africa go this way, they will have to bring in one of the reserve glovemen – Thami Tsolekile or his Lions team-mate Quinton de Kock. Tsolekile is probably the first choice. His issue has also become political because of the lack of black African players in the team. South Africa’s Test side has gone more than three years without a member of the country’s biggest demographic group and it is understood CSA board members are pushing for Tsolekile’s inclusion.But there is a wave of public support for de Kock, who went from a promising youngster to proven international in the space of a week in which he scored three consecutive ODI hundreds against India. De Kock has played 19 first-class matches, averages 51.96, and has scored four centuries. He is only in his second season as a franchise cricketer and the selectors are wary of rushing him, as current convenor Andrew Hudson confirmed when the squad for India was announced. They also believe his glovework could do with some improvement. De Kock will definitely come into the picture in the future but the Australia series may be a little soon to expect his inclusion.What all this highlights is that South Africa have options. There is depth, they have different players who offer different skills, and several capable candidates. Kallis’ absence will require a rethinking of strategy, but that is not an insurmountable task. Nobody can fill in for the sun but if the stars band together in the correct combinations they can produce something that could be just as good.

Also, New Zealand’s Caribbean record, England’s youngest double-centurions, and four-fors without fivers

Steven Lynch17-Jun-2014Mark Craig hit his first ball in Test cricket for six. How many people have done this? asked Hemil Maniar from India
The answer is that, as far as records show, no one has ever hit their very first ball in Test cricket for six before, as New Zealand’s Mark Craig did in Kingston last week. Seven others are known to have opened their accounts in Tests with a six (but not from their first ball): Australia’s Eric Freeman in 1967-68, Carlisle Best of West Indies in 1985-86, Zimbabwe’s Keith Dabengwa in 2005, Dale Richards of West Indies in 2009, and three Bangladesh players – Shafiul Islam and Jahurul Islam in 2009-10, and Al-Amin Hossain in 2013-14. Both Shafiul and Jahurul started their Test batting careers with two sixes before any other scoring shots.Has anyone bettered Mark Craig’s haul of eight wickets on Test debut for New Zealand? asked Tim Carney from Auckland
In another first for Otago’s Mark Craig, he became the only New Zealander to take eight wickets on his Test debut in Kingston. The previous-best was by another offspinner, Paul Wiseman, who took 7 for 143 on his debut, against Sri Lanka in Colombo in May 1998. Six other New Zealanders – including Doug Bracewell in Bulawayo in 2011-12 – took six wickets in their debut Test. New Zealand’s best innings figures on debut are legspinner Alex Moir’s 6 for 155 against England in Christchurch in 1950-51 (England only batted once so they were his match figures too).No. 11 Shane Shillingford top-scored – and hit five sixes – during the first Test in Jamaica. Is either of these a record? asked Craig Hartman from Barbados
Shane Shillingford’s five sixes in his rapid 53 not out in Kingston last week is indeed a record for any No. 11 in a Test: the previous mark of four was shared by Bill Voce (England v South Africa in Johannesburg in 1930-31), Alan Connolly (Australia v India in Calcutta in 1969-70), Sylvester Clarke (West Indies v Pakistan in Faisalabad in 1980-81), Mushtaq Ahmed (Pakistan v South Africa in Rawalpindi in 1997-98) and Al-Amin Hossain (Bangladesh v Sri Lanka in Mirpur in 2013-14). Shillingford was only the 16th No. 11 ever to score a half-century in a Test, and he got there in just 25 balls – a rate beaten only by Jacques Kallis, who reached his fifty in 24 deliveries for South Africa against Zimbabwe in Cape Town in 2004-05. Shillingford was also only the tenth No. 11 to top-score in a Test innings, a list headed by Ashton Agar with his 98 on debut for Australia against England at Trent Bridge last year. For the full list of No. 11’s top-scoring, click here.Was New Zealand’s 186-run win at Kingston their first Test victory in the West Indies? asked Douglas Berkheiser from Denmark
New Zealand had played 15 previous Tests in the West Indies before last week’s win Kingston, and you’re right to think they haven’t had too much success there – but they have won one previous Test in the Caribbean, in Bridgetown in 2002, coming out on top by 204 runs in a match notable for Stephen Fleming’s fine 130 and seven wickets apiece for Shane Bond and Daniel Vettori. West Indies have won five of those other matches, and there have been nine draws, including the first seven encounters between the teams in the Caribbean (kicked off by a five-match 0-0 stalemate in 1971-72).Was Joe Root the youngest man to score a double-century for England, or at Lord’s? asked Dennis Morgan from Cyprus
Only three batsmen have scored double-centuries for England at a younger age than 23-year-old Joe Root, who made 200 not out against Sri Lanka in the match that has just finished at Lord’s: Len Hutton (364 v Australia at The Oval in 1938), David Gower (200 not out against India at Edgbaston in 1979) and Bill Edrich (219 v South Africa in Durban in 1938-39) were all 22. The only younger batsmen to make Test double-centuries at Lord’s were Don Bradman, who was just 21 when he made his superb 254 – the innings he rated the best of all his many masterpieces – for Australia against England in 1930, and Graeme Smith, who was 22 when he hit 259 for South Africa in 2003.Which bowler has picked up the most four-wicket hauls without ever taking a five-for in Tests? asked Siddhartha from India
The answer here is the Western Australian fast-medium bowler Wayne Clark, whose ten Tests included seven instances of four wickets in an innings, but no five-fors. Clark took eight wickets in a match three times, including on his debut against India in Brisbane in 1977-78. Dayle Hadlee of New Zealand and England’s Mike Hendrick both took five four-fors, without ever managing a five: Hendrick’s overall tally of 87 wickets remains the most by any bowler in Tests without the aid of a five-for.

Problems, they say, come in threes and that’s exactly the number of questions still hanging over South Africa’s batting line-up

Firdose Moonda26-Mar-2014Problems, they say, come in threes and that’s exactly the number of questions still hanging over South Africa’s batting line-up. Despite posting their highest total at a World T20 since the 2010 edition on Monday and keeping themselves alive in the competition, the spotlight remains on Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and David Miller.The concerns surrounding the trio do not concern their quality but question why they are being deployed in their current positions. Amla is seen as too slow a starter to open, de Villiers too explosive a player to be left for the middle order and Miller as too inexperienced to be a come-in-and-tee-off finisher. Despite public protestations Faf du Plessis explained South Africa won’t deviate from where they play de Villiers because they believe he is best utilised at No. 4 but will he rethink the Amla and Miller roles? And does he even have to?An obvious argument against Amla’s inclusion is that he just doesn’t approach the game like a T20 player and specifically like a T20 opener. Unlike David Warner or Chris Gayle, Amla does not make an entrance as excitable as an over-sugared jelly baby, he does not jump about, swing his arms and stretch his legs while waiting for the ball to be delivered and he does not bludgeon anything. The only thing emphatic about him is his wristiness and even that is inherently subtle.Those characteristics point to a slow strike rate, a no-no in this format, but a closer examination reveals Amla does not meander along without purpose. He balances the demands of fronting up first in this format with anchoring an innings, albeit in the shallow waters of a T20 game. The most recent domestic season is clear evidence of that.Amla, in his first summer with the Cobras, was the third-highest run scorer and played fewer matches than anyone else in the top 10. He featured in eight games and accumulated 317 runs with a top-score of 84. His strike-rate was 143.43 and he was able to score at that speed despite losing his opening partner inside the first two overs in five of those matches. That points to Amla’s ability to hold things together and move the team forward when they are in trouble, something he has to do at national level as well.In both South Africa’s matches at this World T20 so far, Amla has outlasted Quinton de Kock and paved the way for the middle-order to strike out. He has done what he said he would before the competition started. “Not a lot changes for me. There might be a few more expansive shots but the basics of the game are still there,” he said when South Africa arrived in Bangladesh. “I’ll just try and fit into my role in the team and play good cricket shots with the odd swipe here and there. We’ve got guys like AB de Villiers and David Miller who can hit the ball a really long way. So, not a lot will change for me, but hopefully I’ll have a quicker strike-rate.”In South Africa’s opening match against Sri Lanka, Amla was the only one of his team-mates with a strike-rate under 100. In the second game against New Zealand, South Africa had only two contributors who scored more than 20. Amla was one, JP Duminy the other and Amla’s strike-rate of 102.50 was little over half Duminy’s, which sat at 200.But it’s not a crisis for Amla because that is the role South Africa want him to play. They need him to provide stability for others to bat with freedom and he admitted he is still growing into the position. “I haven’t played a lot of international T20 games,” he said. “I haven’t quite got the experience so I almost feel every game is a learning experience for me.”Amla, whose international career is a decade old, has only played 23 international T20s, the same number as Miller, who debuted in 2010. Miller was picked on the strength of his ability to accelerate but has yet to do that in a T20 for South Africa. His highest score is 36, made against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, and he has not gone past 25 in his last six innings.Miller is not fulfilling his obvious potential, something which was again on display in the domestic T20 competition. He was the top-scorer with 383 runs from 12 innings and came at a strike rate of 153.20 and included four fifties, one of which ballooned to an unbeaten 93 and took the Dolphins to victory in their playoff.The bulk of Miller’s runs, including two of his half-centuries, came when he was batting at No. 4 and was not under too much pressure. Apart from one occasion when the Dolphins were 13 for 2 against the Warriors and Miller’s 60 off 40 balls rescued them, when there was a mini-collapse upfront, Miller was caught in it as well. His other three fifties came when there were at least 70 runs on the board and around 10 overs left in the innings.Miller does not get that much time at the crease for South Africa. He comes in at No. 6 and is expected to spend no time having a sighter and just go big. Albie Morkel has shown he can do that to some extent – he has heaved from the get-go in both matches and fallen on his sword shortly after – but Miller seems to a little more time and a little more certainty and he knows it.”I’ve been batting six, and there have been different situations the whole time. It’s difficult to get something going in certain situations,” he said before the tournament started. “I haven’t done as well as I wanted to do but I feel it’s around the corner. If I bat up the order, I want to make a difference with that promotion. If I get two overs, I want to make a difference in those two overs.”Miller has a much greater chance of the latter happening than the former and he will have to work much harder to make the difference he wants. South Africa may be expecting too much too soon from him but if Amla can give de Villiers something to launch from and de Villiers can combine with Miller to set off the fireworks, solutions, like problems, could also come in threes for South Africa.