Category Uncategorized

Sri Lanka’s batting, which crumbled against New Zealand’s seam attack in parts in the first Test, must find a way past them in more testing conditions at the P Sara Oval

Andrew Fernando in Colombo24-Nov-2012Though New Zealand lost the first Test early due to their failure against spin, Sri Lanka’s batsmen hadn’t fared too well either. On the second day, four top-order batsmen and the nightwatchman had fallen for 50 runs, and a first-innings lead, which they eventually achieved, seemed a long way away. A measured partnership between Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews rescued them then, but it was made easier by a Galle pitch that withdrew its assistance for the seamers after the 25th over. The pitch at the P Sara Oval is less generous to batsmen, and Sri Lanka’s top order cannot afford another collapse.But it is perhaps harsh to cast Sri Lanka’s wobble as a failure against swing bowling because the movement Tim Southee and Trent Boult generated was of the highest quality. Almost every delivery in the first 20 overs curved in the air, and many moved off the seam as well. At one stage, Ross Taylor had eight men stationed in a catching position, six of them behind square on the off side.But it is also not an anomaly for Sri Lanka, who have failed against the moving ball before. Against England at the P Sara Oval in March, James Anderson dismissed Sri Lanka’s top three for 30, effectively paving the way for a large first-innings total for England, and thereby, a series-levelling victory. In Sri Lanka’s tour of South Africa three months earlier, they had surrendered 30 wickets to Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn, who had a combined average of 16.8. In the third Test at Newlands, Sri Lanka lost 16 wickets to South Africa’s seam attack, while their own pace bowlers could only manage two wickets. There is no doubt that Steyn and Co are in a different league to Chanaka Welegedara and Dhammika Prasad, but the batsmen must bear some blame when they average 29.05 per wicket in a Test in which their opponents average 145.It is a weakness Sri Lanka’s batsmen have always had, and though those playing international cricket are now exposed to seam-friendly conditions even at home – with the pitches in Pallekele and Hambantota helping the quicks – a diet of dour domestic wickets that remain slow, low and dry have not allowed burgeoning talent to develop effective technique against effective seam and swing bowling. Tharanga Paranavitana is a prime example. He is adept at working the spinners around the park, and has even flayed fast men with a flowing range of strokes on the off side, but only if the ball is not moving. His judgment outside the off stump has been found wanting. He has left balls that have cannoned into his off stump and prodded at others that were never threatening the stumps, and brought his demise via a catch to the keeper or the slips.Jayawardene was perhaps the most complete batsman to debut for Sri Lanka, but ever since his maiden hundred, his record outside the subcontinent has been the cudgel with which his bids for greatness have been thumped away. Though his technique has improved despite a poor tour of South Africa, he is still far more uncertain outside off stump than a man befitting his experience and talent.Southee and Boult have barely had a bad game this tour, and if Doug Bracewell can find that difficult length for his hit-the-deck away-seamers, New Zealand will test Sri Lanka’s most obvious chink. The P Sara Oval hasn’t been a happy venue for Sri Lanka of late because of its bounce, and their pace attack is New Zealand’s best hope of sparking an upset win.”It looks a very good wicket and a competitive one, probably with something forbowlers more than in Galle,” Jayawardene said on the eve of the second Test. “We need to make use of that opportunity and try and make sure that we get on top. In Galle, we thought after the first day we were in a good position, but after two sessions on the second day, we felt that we were behind them, and had to fight our way back. On the third morning, we managed to take control of the game, but we need to make sure that we don’t get into those sorts of situations and be on top from throughout.”Having already picked their squad for Australia, the longer-term significance of their performance in this Test is not lost on Sri Lanka. If they are to avoid another overseas trip replete with an innings loss and a near-innings loss, as they did in South Africa, Sri Lanka’s top order must learn to conquer pace, bounce and movement. Peter Siddle, James Pattinson and Ben Hilfenhaus await, but first they must win past Southee, Boult and Bracewell.

Solitary and often moody, Hammond was England’s giant in the age of Bradman, and his figures bear testament to a career of mammoth achievements

David Frith21-Nov-2010The classic photograph taken by Herbert Fishwick in Sydney in 1928 goes beyond being a depiction of the power and poise of Wally Hammond in the cover drive. It is surely one of the finest frozen images of any sportsman, let alone a batsman. It ranks alongside George Beldam’s thrilling, leaping Victor Trumper and Harry Martin’s glorious Keith Miller stand-up drive.A life-size copy of that iconic picture of Hammond once dominated the window display of the shop in Sydney run by Bert Oldfield, the wicketkeeper in that very picture. People would gaze at it, then wander off, perhaps with mixed feelings: what a beautiful tableau – but why Hammond and not Don Bradman? The truth was that no batsman, not even The Don, was ever the subject of quite such a captivating pictorial – besides which, it might be observed, Oldfield and Bradman were never really close friends.The photo was taken not during a Test but in the State match against the touring English side during the Australian summer of 1928-29. In that Test series Hammond pounded a phenomenal 905 runs (113.12), with 251 in Sydney, 200 in Melbourne, and 119 not out and 177 in the Adelaide Test. England went as close as they ever have to a 5-0 whitewash over Australia. The final Test, in Melbourne, went to the eighth day, England starting off with 519 (led by 142 from the 46-year-old Jack Hobbs), and yet still losing. Young Bradman was already treating Test matches like club games. Had Hammond only realised it, he was to spend the rest of his international career in the shadow of the matchless Australian.The rivalry was a source of irritation to Hammond. No sooner had he established himself as the world’s finest than his position had been usurped by “the boy from Bowral”. The somewhat reclusive cricketer could only continue to pile up the runs and wickets and slip catches for England home and away and for Gloucestershire in the County Championship.In the domestic competition as well as in international cricket Hammond left an awesome record. Englishmen continued to regard him as the world’s finest . Standing quite fine at first slip, he seemed to hold every snick; and when required to bowl, he displayed skill above the ordinary as a medium-fast cutter and swinger of the ball, with an immaculately side-on action. If one feature stood out from his athletic physique it was the powerful shoulders, whether whipping the ball down from a commanding height or cracking it through extra cover. He had the balance of a fine-tuned boxer.As for the man himself, there was a sense of solitariness about him. Born in Dover, Kent, in June 1903, son of a soldier, Walter Reginald Hammond (just as often known as Wally) spent boyhood years in Hong Kong and Malta, before his father was killed in France during the First World War. Completing his education in Gloucestershire, after a delay over his county qualification, he finally got into his stride for the county club in 1925. It was soon clear that England had a world-class cricketer in the making, and as the summers unfolded it was not merely the breath-taking returns with bat and ball that captured the nation: it was the manner in which Hammond delivered the goods.His career was nearly cut short when he was struck down by a particularly nasty illness contracted on the non-Test tour of the West Indies in 1926. After a hard-fought recovery, and the stupendous feat of a thousand runs in May 1927, he received his Test baptism in South Africa that winter, and a year later he drove his way to immortality in Australia. His 905 runs (113.13) remains the second-highest Test series aggregate to this day. The Australian bowling, almost all of it of the slower variety, was met with caution beneath the aggressive exterior, and he shrewdly restricted himself on the leg side while thrilling even his opponents with the power and timing of his strokes off front and back feet through mid-off to backward point. In 1929 he became the first cricketer to be given a sponsored motor car (just ahead of Bradman).There were to be three further tours of Australia, the last of them after the Second World War, by which time he was 43 and clearly beyond his best. His second tour, 1932-33, the “Bodyline” series, had found Hammond silently dissenting at England’s bowling tactics, and his runs tally fell to half what it had been in the Tests of 1928-29 – though it was still an estimable 440 runs at 55. It was for what came immediately afterwards that he was better remembered: in the two Tests in New Zealand he smashed 227 and 336 not out (passing Bradman’s Test record by two runs, a mark from which the Englishman derived enormous satisfaction).So with the retirement of Jack Hobbs, England now had another supreme champion to worship. Wally Hammond, the epitome of crease-domination as well as artistry, was to finish with a staggering 36 double-centuries in first-class cricket, four of them beyond 300, among his 50,551 runs (average 56.10: reaching three figures 167 times). Figures aren’t everything, but in this case they portray with accuracy a mammoth career achievement on the cricket field.And always there was his medium-fast bowling as a dream back-up for any captain (732 wickets at 30.58), as well as 819 catches in his 634 matches, his 78 in the 1928 season likely to remain a record for ever more. If consecutive matches stood out as a virtuoso bat-and-ball six-day masterpiece it was when, against Surrey in Gloucestershire’s County Championship match in the Cheltenham festival in 1928, Hammond held catches and scored a century in each innings: and he dismissed Hobbs too. Then in the next fixture he returned his best bowling, 9 for 23 against Worcestershire, took six more wickets in the second innings, and hammered 80. Spectators could hardly believe what they’d witnessed: 362 runs, 16 wickets, and 11 catches all by one man in five days’ cricket.

Wally Hammond, the epitome of crease-domination as well as artistry, was to finish with a staggering 36 double-centuries in first-class cricket, four of them beyond 300, among his 50,551 runs

It has been suggested that only someone burning with a fierce desire to prove himself could sustain such an output, yet Hammond was not alone in having had a lonely childhood or having faced the threat of losing his chance through serious illness or injury. There were those who cherished his friendship and there were others who considered him blunt and moody. What was beyond question was Hammond’s supremacy in most of the matches he played.In the immediate aftermath of the Bodyline series he faced a barrage of short bowling from the West Indies fast men in 1933, and in the Old Trafford Test he had his chin split open. This led to an outburst: if this is what cricket was coming to, he was losing interest. Tacit international agreements saw to it that bouncers became rarities for the rest of the 1930s, and the prolific careers of Hammond and his contemporaries marched on.Hampered by further ill health, for three years Hammond found his Test career in recession, until he roared back with 167 and 217 in the 1936 home Tests against India. That winter he was again kept under control by Australia’s spinners, though he unleashed a wondrous 231 not out in Sydney, his favourite ground. And by the time Bradman’s team arrived in England in 1938, “Hammond, WR” had become “Mr WR Hammond”: that’s to say he was now an amateur – as always elegantly dressed at that – and was therefore now qualified to captain his country.In the second Test, at Lord’s, he marked his accession with a stupendous innings of 240, rescuing England from the wreckage of 31 for 3 created by Australian fast man Ernie McCormick’s fiery opening spell. Once again Hammond had the worshipping crowd on its feet in admiration and excitement. The Ashes were not regained, but he did oversee a crushing victory in the final Test, when he generously declared with England 903 for 7, Bradman and Fingleton by then injured and unable to bat.Three centuries came in that winter’s Tests in South Africa, and another, at The Oval against West Indies, in the final Test match before the World War closed proceedings for six years.Hammond served in the Royal Air Force, and was 43 when England next played a Test match. Bradman made a somewhat creaky comeback at 38, but Hammond was even older (by five years). After heading the English first-class batting averages for a record eighth consecutive season, he took England to Australia for the 1946-47 Ashes series, but it was clear that most of his power had drained away. Young spectators were assured that what they were seeing bore little resemblance to the pre-war batting giant.At a time when divorce was spoken of only in hushed tones, the break-up of Hammond’s marriage cast an extra shadow over that final tour. His retirement did not draw the mighty fanfares that were his due, though he left Test cricket with 7249 runs (58.45), 85 appearances, and 110 catches, all records for some years to come.He went to South Africa, home of his second wife, suffered a failed business partnership, became a car sales executive, and finally settled quietly into a job as sports administrator at Natal University. A road accident in 1960 left him severely weakened, and yet he was still able to stroke a century in a friendly match a year later. Much mellowed after the recent setbacks, Wally Hammond died in 1965, aged 62. In the obituaries, the word “great” was, for once, appropriately applied.The quiet old man who had sat unobtrusively as the students went about their cricket was the same person who had once enchanted teeming crowds at Lord’s and Sydney and elsewhere, and who had sent a reporter out of the dressing room with his ears ringing after he had requested confirmation that Hammond had indeed succumbed, in the Adelaide Test of the Bodyline series, to a full toss. The unlikely bowler was Don Bradman.

Stats highlights of Mark Boucher’s career of 100 Tests

Kanishkaa Balachandran11-Jan-2007

Mark Boucher will walk out for the 100th time in a Test when South Africa take on Pakistan at Centurion © Cricinfo Ltd
Mark Boucher shares an affinity with Pakistan. In October 1997, an injury to Dave Richardson gave him an emergency call-up to the tour of Pakistan. His debut at Sheikhupura was as unspectacular as the match itself, facing 11 balls before an Azhar Mahmood yorker sent his middle stump cartwheeling. With Richardson’s impending retirement, the search was on for a successor, and in the tour of Australia that followed, Richardson virtually warmed the seat for the promising wicketkeeper.The return series by Pakistan the following year made Boucher’s career, both as a batsman and a ‘keeper. Such was his impact on that series that he went on to play 75 consecutive Tests, a South African record. Against the same opposition nine years later, he has two milestones to look forward to, one of which is guaranteed. He will be the fourth South African to play 100 Tests, and is two catches away from breaking Ian Healy’s world record of 366 catches, the most by any wicketkeeper. In terms of total dismissals, including stumpings, he has 380, behind Healy (395) and Adam Gilchrist (381).He is also the third wicketkeeper to play 100 Tests – including the one-off Super Test against Australia in 2005 – after Healy and Alec Stewart. The table below lists Boucher’s progression, and his first ten games were indicative of his proficiency behind the stumps.

Road to 365 Catches No. of Tests

1-50 10 51-100 13 101-150 15 151-200 14 201-250 11 251-300 16 Boucher’s first entry into the record books came as early as his second Test, sharing a world-record ninth-wicket stand of 195 with Pat Symcox at Johannesburg against Pakistan, rescuing the side from a precarious position at 166 for 8. He made the third Test of that series at Port Elizabeth his own, aiding South Africa’s revival with 52 and taking six catches in Pakistan’s first innings and nine for the match. He repeated the feat of six dismissals in an innings twice since then, against Sri Lanka in 1997-98 and against Zimbabwe at Centurion in 2004-05. December 13, 1999, was a special day for Boucher as he held the record for the quickest to 100 dismissals in Tests, taking just 23 matches. He broke the previous record set by Australia’s Wally Grout, one which stood for 38 years. Gilchrist, who often competed with Boucher for the wicketkeeper’s spot in imaginary World XI and fantasy squads, overtook Boucher two years later. Boucher’s aggregate of 3721 runs at an average of exactly 30 may not be earth shattering for a quality player, but statistics cannot measure the value of Boucher’s crucial knocks at No. 7, often bailing the team out of deep waters like an unsung hero. Among wicketkeepers, his 25 half-centuries places him behind England’s Alan Knott, who has 30 half-centuries to his credit. South Africa have won 10 matches in which Boucher has scored a half-century and his team has never lost a Test when he crossed 100. South Africa’s fast men have Boucher to thank for pouching several edges, none more so than Shaun Pollock. The description of ‘c Boucher b Pollock’ has occured 79 times, while Makhaya Ntini has 57 wickets with Boucher’s assistance. Allan Donald finished his career with 53 victims with Boucher’s help.

Keacy Carty’s 87 was the only bright spark in another error-strewn display from West Indies

Madushka Balasuriya07-Jul-2023

A second straight ton by Pathum Nissanka and yet another four-for from Maheesh Theekshana headlined a dominant eight-wicket win over West Indies, as Sri Lanka completed a comfortable warm-up for Sunday’s final against Netherlands, in Harare.Set a middling target of 244, Sri Lanka ran it down with little fuss, inclusive of a tournament-best opening stand of 190 between Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne – though both were handed lifelines by an abject West Indian performance in the field. While both would fall before the chase was completed, Nissanka for 104 and Karunaratne for 83, Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama closed the game out with 34 balls to spare.For West Indies, the only bright spark was Keacy Carty, whose 96-ball 87 dragged his side to a fighting total, when at one point it seemed like they would become the seventh consecutive side to be skittled for less than 200 runs by Sri Lanka in this tournament.This had not seemed the case when Johnson Charles was flying high during a brisk 36-run opening stand with Brandon King. With Dasun Shanaka opening the bowling alongside Dilshan Madushanka, Charles and King had found the Lankan captain’s gentle pace to their liking. But the early introduction of eventual Player of the Match Theekshana turned the game.King was the first to go, his middle stump disturbed after he went too far across attempting to sweep. Shamarh Brooks then got a faint nick through to the keeper that was confirmed on review, while Shai Hope was trapped in front by one that skidded through off a good length to catch him sitting in his crease.Charles was still going strong at this point, but then the sometimes wayward Matheesha Pathirana grabbed his only scalp, trapping him lbw with one that was quick, straight and kept a touch low from back of a length. Theekshana returned later to leave the West Indies reeling on 155 for 8 when he knocked back Romario Shepherd’s middle stump.Pathum Nissanka scored back-to-back hundreds•ICC via Getty Images

At that point, it seemed like West Indies would struggle to reach 40 overs, let alone the full 50, but Carty – aided by the fact he was dropped on 8 – strung together a series of lower-order stands to haul his side into the game, on a pitch that had few demons in it.He first came to the crease at 62 for 4 with Nicholas Pooran already there, but the latter became legspinner Dushan Hemantha’s maiden ODI scalp, holing out at deep midwicket. Hemantha was playing for the rested Wanindu Hasaranga.Carty then put on 41 with Kyle Mayers, before the latter was castled by Sahan Arachchige – yet another debutant, in for Dhananjaya de Silva. Roston Chase shortly after became Hemantha’s second scalp of the game, caught lbw by a ripping googly, before Carty stitched together another defiant stand – this time 32 with Shepherd.Once Shepherd fell, the writing appeared to be on the wall, but Carty guided Kevin Sinclair and Akeal Hossein through stands of 63 and 25 respectively – the former the best of the innings – to lift the total to respectability.The application shown by Carty throughout would serve as an example from an otherwise dire West Indian effort. This was no more apparent than in the field when several chances of varying difficulty were dropped – a recurring theme throughout this tournament – the most glaring of which was by captain Hope himself, who let through a skier, despite having the gloves on.In a game that many might have assumed would have had far more significance when it was pencilled in at the start of the tournament, in the end only served to show the differing trajectories, not just of these two sides, but of West Indies and the Associates as well. When Sri Lanka turn up on Sunday to face the Dutch, they are likely to be in for a far sterner test.

Thomas Muller says he now considers Lionel Messi the best player of all time, having previously hailed Cristiano Ronaldo in higher regard.

Muller has declared Lionel Messi the GOATChange of heart stems from 'more romantic' view of the gameSays previous stance was based on statsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

In an interview with MLS, Muller, the latest high-profile signing for the Vancouver Whitecaps, took a definitive stand in the long-standing "GOAT" debate. While he had previously favoured Real Madrid and Manchester United legend Ronaldo, the ex-Bayern Munich player has now officially declared Messi as the greatest the game has ever seen. This surprising shift in his opinion comes after years of fierce competition against both players on the biggest stages.

AdvertisementWHAT MULLER SAID

When asked in the interview to speak on the GOAT debate, Muller explained: "Lionel Messi is the GOAT. In my first 10 years as a professional player, I would have chosen Cristiano Ronaldo, but since the 2022 World Cup with Argentina, it's been Messi for me. Now, as I get older and more romantic myself, playing style and aesthetics are more important to me than individual performance, work ethic, and so on."

He further added: "Both are absolutely crazy. I don't know why it worked so often against him [Messi]."

Getty Images SportTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Muller's change of mind is particularly noteworthy given his storied history against both superstars. With Bayern, he inflicted a number of memorable defeats on Messi's Barcelona, including the historic 8-2 thrashing in the 2020 Champions League. With the German national team, he was part of the squad that defeated Argentina in the 2014 World Cup final. In a previous interview, Muller had openly admitted that he chose Ronaldo because he "had good stats against Messi, but not against Ronaldo." However, with age, his criteria for greatness have shifted from a purely statistical, data-driven perspective to a more philosophical one.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

Getty Images SportWHAT'S NEXT FOR MULLER?

Muller has recently settled into his new life in Canada after an emotional departure from Munich. After having a goal disallowed in his debut against Houston Dynamo, he went on to score a last-minute penalty to secure a 3-2 victory for the Whitecaps against St Louis City, captaining the team in his first start. The Vancouver club are currently third in their MLS conference and face Philadelphia Union on September 14.

Antonio Cassano looked back on his disastrous Real Madrid stint, admitting to weight fines, regrets and turning up to his unveiling in a fur coat.

Admits fur coat was a shocking choiceJoined Real Madrid in 2006 after Roma riseKnown more for antics than football in SpainFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Former Italian forward Cassano has reflected on his ill-fated Real Madrid stint, revealing why he believes club legend and sporting director Emilio Butragueno thought he was an “idiot” after turning up to his unveiling in a fur coat. The outspoken Italian, who joined Los Blancos in 2006, admitted he made a “madman” decision during his arrival in Spain, which immediately shaped the perception of him inside the club. Cassano’s story came from a revealing interview where he opened up about the first impressions he left, and why, in hindsight, he agrees with them.

AdvertisementTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Cassano’s time at Madrid remains one of the most chaotic chapters of his career. Despite his undoubted talent, he failed to make an impact in Spain due to poor discipline, lack of fitness and personal clashes. The anecdote about his fur coat perfectly captures the culture clash and lack of professionalism that derailed his stint at the Bernabeu. While the likes of Butragueno embodied the old-guard values of the club, Cassano’s flamboyance and unpredictability didn’t align, making his Madrid spell more memorable for off-field stories than footballing achievements.

AFPWHAT CASSANO SAID

Recalling the moment he first met Butragueno, the former Italy international painted a vivid picture of his eccentric debut: "Great, Butragueno. Polite, very shy, calm. Always reserved. I remember arriving [in Madrid after his signing] with a fur coat that, my goodness… I'm embarrassed. And he said: 'Please, tomorrow put on a suit'. I told him to relax, but then I thought that these people had signed me knowing that I'm crazy. And I went with that coat. They introduced me to Di Stefano, another legend. And I remember Emilio looking at me, petrified, and I think that in his head, Butragueno believed that I was an idiot, an imbecile, and why the hell had they signed me. And today I agree with him. Because only a madman like me could do something like that."

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

DID YOU KNOW?

Cassano made just 29 appearances and scored four goals during a chaotic 18-month spell at Madrid. He was suspended for disrespecting coach Fabio Capello, claimed on air he’d walk back to Italy to rejoin Roma, suffered injuries and was eventually loaned to Sampdoria. His time in Spain was also marred by poor fitness, Cassano admitted to gaining 14kg and receiving weekly fines for being overweight. Despite his flop at Madrid, he revived his career in Italy, winning Serie A with AC Milan and playing a key role in the Azzurri's run to the Euro 2012 final.