ESPNcricinfo picks the highlights of the second round of the Ranji Trophy 2010-11

Abhishek Purohit15-Nov-2010The incredible victory I
All those clamouring about the lack of excitement in domestic first-class cricket, look no further than Gujarat and Saurashtra for inspiration. When the entire first day’s play was washed out in Surat, expecting anything more than a first-innings result would have been optimistic. And when Saurashtra were sitting pretty on a lead of 130 with eight wickets in hand at the end of day three, with ‘Mr Fevicol’ Shitanshu Kotak at the crease, a draw seemed the logical outcome. Siddharth Trivedi and Salil Yadav, Gujarat’s version of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, combined to take seven wickets as Saurashtra collapsed to 125. Gujarat were suddenly eyeing five points for an outright win out of nowhere, and were so surprised themselves that they lost eight batsmen chasing 196. It was left to Pratharesh Parmar, playing just his second first-class game, to steer Gujarat to an astonishing victory. And to add to the drama, it came in the last over of the match. Just for effect.The incredible victory II
Nasik is not very far from Surat, where Maharashtra and Vidarbha were enacting a similar script in the Plate League. Vidarbha, with a narrow first-innings lead, also had eight wickets in hand going into the final day. Another dull draw seemingly loomed on the dreary domestic first-class landscape. However, Samad Fallah and Shrikant Mundhe, Maharashtra’s version of the two Ws, needed only 18 overs to demolish Vidarbha for 61. Maharashtra gleefully knocked off the 80 needed for an unlikely nine-wicket win to move to the top of Group B with two outright victories. Who needs the first-innings lead?The bluff, and then the glut
Eden Gardens trialled a fresh pitch for the match between Mumbai and Bengal, in preparation for the World Cup. The pitch there is usually Eden for the batsmen, but no one had any idea how this one would behave. “This is not a batsman’s paradise. I think it will be a challenge to score runs on this wicket,” Wasim Jaffer, the Mumbai captain, said on the eve of the game. Mumbai then proceeded to score 907 runs for the loss of nine wickets, including one double ton, three hundreds and two half-centuries. Jaffer himself made 73 and an unbeaten 104. He was not entirely bluffing though. Bengal managed less than one-third of what Mumbai dished out, and conceded a huge first-innings lead.The tough taskmaster
After such a dominating performance from their team, it would seem the Mumbai Cricket Association would be pleased. However, they instead demanded an explanation from the team management as to why the follow-on was not enforced against Bengal after Mumbai took a 325-run first innings lead, according to a report in the . “After the team’s return, we will go through the manager’s report and will take a call. We will also have a talk with the team management,” Lalchand Rajput, the MCA joint-secretary, said.Jaffer, the captain, defended his team’s decision, finally revealing the truth about the Eden pitch. “The bowlers were very tired and there was nothing in the wicket. Victory with a bonus point would have given us six points, but there was no guarantee that it would happen. So we decided not to go for an outright win.”A hurricane hits Haryana
On a pitch where they had folded up for 127 in the first innings, Haryana would have hoped to restrict Baroda as well. However, they ran into Yusuf Pathan, and after an assault that lasted 138 deliveries, yielded 195 runs, and rained 19 fours and 10 sixes, the nine bowlers that Haryana used had nowhere to run for cover. Yusuf dominated a 279-run third-wicket partnership with veteran Connor Williams, who made 114 off 316 deliveries. It reminds one of two gentlemen who bat at No. 1 and No. 3 for India. For the record, a stunned Haryana were beaten by an innings, losing seven wickets to left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt, playing his third first-class game.The last straw, and the retirement
The veteran Railways offspinner Kulamani Parida was cautioned for a suspect action last year, and didn’t play a game after that until Assam came to the Karnail Singh Stadium last week. However, in what appeared to be the last straw, he was called again during his only over in the second innings, and promptly announced his retirement after the match ended. It was a sad end for a man who was once thought deserving of an India cap. “It was tough for me to change my action at this stage. I tried but failed. I will miss the Railways dressing room,” an emotional Parida told the . The tributes flowed in, his captain Murali Kartik called him “internally flawless”, his coach Abhay Sharma said the entire team was feeling sad, and Assam captain Amol Muzumdar told him to “look at the match-winning spells” he had bowled, and “go out on a high.”

Thursday’s World Cup game between South Africa and West Indies will be the first international game at the Feroz Shah Kotla after the India-Sri Lanka ODI was abandoned in December 2009

Sharda Ugra in Delhi23-Feb-2011When West Indies meets South Africa at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Thursday, it won’t merely be Graeme Smith and Darren Sammy’s men who will be tested. The Feroz Shah Kotla itself is on trial. The first World Cup match between two non-hosting frontline teams is Kotla’s first international match after the India-Sri Lanka ODI was abandoned on December 29, 2009.For a cricket ground that nestles close to the oldest medieval parts of India’s extremely status-conscious capital, Thursday will about more than just cricket. It will be about Kotla saving face; restoring not merely pride, but that very Delhi essential, appearance.At the moment though, all is looking good. For the last six years since the Kotla’s makeover, usually every inch of the frontage of the large, unnamed North Stand at its Delhi Gate end is usually festooned with advertising hoardings whose intentions are not merely to sell products, but also to hurt the human eye. On the eve of its first World Cup game, though, all the stands actually appear almost dignified, covered by the ICC’s uniform signage, making the architect’s unspoilt image, somewhat visible.Yet tomorrow, neither signage nor stands will matter. They are but the window dressing to what will actually count: what happens on its wicket. The Kotla track has spent a good portion of its life being a , the Indian cricketing colloquialism for a flat track, before it morphed into a pit viper as 2009 drew to an end. Abandoned and deemed dangerous by international cricket, the team in charge of the Kotla wicket will spend Wednesday night hoping that they have shape-shifted the serpent into a batting-friendly lamb.West Indian Dwayne Bravo left all that in the hands of the ICC saying that had the ground had not been fit to stage an ODI, the governing body wouldn’t have approved it. South Africa captain Graeme Smith was a bit more cautious, calling the wicket an “unknown factor” before Thursday’s game. There is a good chance that the anxious officials of the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) think of it in the same manner.The last game staged at the Kotla was four months ago, when Delhi hosted two Ranji Trophy matches against Bengal and Gujarat in November to test out the wicket laid out after the December 2009 disaster. Scores at the Kotla from that November read: 473, 459, 92 for 3 followed by 71, 437 and 289. The World Cup match will be played not on the “abandoned” patch of land but on the same wicket that staged the Delhi v Bengal game.After the match with Gujarat, Delhi moved all its home games to its other ground at the Roshanara Club, which is what they turn to when “outrights” (victories that carry five points) are needed. The Kotla is the ground where the home team turns up to give its batsmen enough time in the middle. The DDCA officials maintain that once the ICC’s pitch advisor Andy Atkinson had approved the wicket and asked them to give it some ‘rest’ to let the grass grow, they decided to put it into its winter hibernation.Nothing would make the DDCA’s officials happier than if the Kotla awakes on Thursday with the back in its soul with plenty of runs for the taking. The DDCA’s much-maligned officials want their fortress to stand up for their reputations and not become the cricket World Cup’s second disaster zone, following Eden Gardens. Which is probably why there were two policemen wielding rifles found standing around the pitch all day as organisers practiced their pre- and post-match ceremonies and tried out the sound system. (A marvellously powerful rendition of left the South African journalists working in the press box undecided over what was to be shown more respect – their anthem or their deadline.)The unmistakeable figure of Atkinson wandered over to the pitch at regular intervals and even made for a great photo op as he sat on one of Kotla’s light rollers. Match referee Jeff Crowe began his perambulation of the ground as everyone fussed over the wicket: men with guns, Atkinson, ICC officials testing the firmness of its mid-section, groundsmen. Maybe the Kotla will surprise us all tomorrow – neither nor pit viper, but just the ideal venue for an entertaining 100 overs.

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.

And while cricket was not part of the entertainment, a butt-crack was

Trish Plunket15-Jan-2011Choice of game
Black Caps, at the Basin, the day after my birthday. What option did I have but to go along and have a birthday party on the bank – replete with silly hats, cake, streamers and a party dress?Team supported
We all supported New Zealand. At least once I had educated some of my less cricket-wise friends into which ones New Zealand were.Key performer
Ross Taylor earned his tag of million-dollar man by actually making it past 50.One thing I’d have changed
Top-Order Collapse are GO! Again. And it was the pretty ones who got out. If I have Brendon McCullum as party entertainment, I want him to stay in longer than six balls. And Kane Williamson did not take me up on the offer of cake.Wow moment
It says a lot about a day’s play when you just can’t pick one. Maybe “wow I didn’t need to see that” as a man in a blue dress, showing four inches of butt crack, bent over to, erm, accommodate a hotdog stick in said crack.Player watch
Maybe the Pakistanis were scared of us. They didn’t come near us at all. But Cameron Merchant was the local drinks boy, and he sat there all day being smiley. Perks you right up, a smile like that.Shot of the day
Ross Taylor’s glorious four-not-4. Hit hard, and like golf ball in a sand trap, hits the ground juuuuust inside the rope and bounces absolutely nowhere. He and Guptill run four. The crowd was baffled but amused.Crowd meter
The crowd was awesome! There was that guy in the butt-crack dress and all his similarly clad mates, and a guy who hid in a rubbish bin scaring people who wanted to dump their rubbish. How can you get that stupid on light beer? I mean really, that takes a special effort, that does.Entertainment
I love this idea that you go to a game and get entertainment that’s not the cricket. I think it should be implemented here as soon as possible!Banner of the day
Tim Southee got a lot of banner-loving. I counted three saying just how hot he is. Girls in the capital seem to be lining up to snog him.Our own chalkboard offered a “Will pay 4 runs in K.F.C” ploy to get a little on-field action happening.Overall
Apart from the wind and my subsequent sunburn, it was a great party er, I mean day at the cricket. I blew out all my candles, but I’m not gonna say what I wished for.

From the hungriest captain to a date with fate, here are XI reasons for Pakistan fans to believe

Saad Shafqat12-Feb-2011They have the hungriest captain Beware the carefree man who suddenly decides to become preoccupied. For most of his career, Shahid Afridi has played with such daredevil abandon that Pakistan supporters often wondered whose side he was on. Now he cuts a determined leonine figure, hungrily eyeing prey as he prowls open grasslands. You can see the single-mindedness written all over his face. In the twilight of his career, he can see the greatest of prizes on the horizon, and all he has to do is outrun the competition. He is going to drain every ounce to get it done.Stars are lined up for an Asian team that is not the hostWe often think of Australia as the dominant force of recent World Cup history, but Asian teams haven’t been far behind. In fact, there has been an Asian team in each World Cup final since 1992, which augurs well for an Asian team making it to the last two in 2011 as well. Add to this the well known World Cup adage that the host side never wins, and you can see that Pakistan – the only Asian team that happens not to be the host – is comfortably placed to come out on top.Honesty of effort is guaranteedThankfully, the spot-fixers have now been tarred and feathered. This landmark development will surely motivate the remaining cricketers to play to the best of their potential. Cleared of distractions that have been diluting their efforts, a more linear relationship between Pakistan’s talent and output can be expected to emerge. Everybody better watch out.Their momentum is surgingBy November last year, Pakistan had the poorest ODI record of any team in 2010, worse even than Zimbabwe. Yet they started to pick themselves up bit by bit, and now enter the World Cup with a win-loss ratio that places them ahead of West Indies, New Zealand, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe. Extrapolated over the next few weeks, this steady trajectory is headed straight to the top of the heap.They know how to hold their nerveKnockout matches in the World Cup can easily become a high-stakes quicksand heading into the final overs, when panic can unravel the best talent and preparation. Pakistanis are famous for squandering and surrendering, but they also know how to handle themselves in a close finish. Of the eighteen matches in ODI history decided by 1 wicket with 1 ball or less to spare, Pakistan has been the winner in six, more often than any other team. Pakistani supporters will be loath to agree, but statistics show that tense endings can bring the best out of Pakistan.They fire best when corneredWe all know the “cornered tigers” story – Imran Khan’s stirring exhortation that transformed his scattered 1992 side into champions. There’s a good reason it has become folklore – it’s utterly true. Squeeze them into a corner and push them against the wall, and Pakistan will explode with the force of a nuclear warhead. Circumstances have lately been pushing and squeezing Pakistan badly – a forfeited Test, doping scandals, an inexplicably dead coach, the stigma of insecurity, and a terrorist attack. The spot-fixing catastrophe may well prove to be the final trigger.The 2011 format favours a mercurial outfitAfter the disaster of the 2007 World Cup, when crowd-pullers India and Pakistan made preliminary exits, the ICC came up with a new formula for 2011, in which wins against unranked teams guarantee a quarter-final spot. After that, it’s a rapid-fire shootout and three wins gets you the cup. This creates a truly open field in which Pakistan’s unpredictability is a potential advantage.Their talent is deceptive and disarmingPakistani players are recognized for world-class talent, but they often apply it haphazardly, getting out to senseless shots and suicidal run outs, and undermining clever bowling by needless wides, no-balls, dropped catches, and erratic ground fielding. The overall effect is to appear attractive but not threatening, like a beautiful cat striking a languid pose. Sharp claws lurk beneath the surface, but you just don’t see them and it can trick you into dropping your guard.They have a seasoned brain trustImagine a Pakistan team meeting, and it immediately inspires confidence. Captain Afridi is at the head of the table, vice-captain Misbah is next to him, and Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Akhtar occupy the other senior spots. When tactics are discussed, wisdom and experience flows. There are over a thousand ODIs between them, and invaluable know-how from numerous high-stakes encounters, including a successful World Twenty20 title fight. If and when it hits the fan, these are the guys you want in charge.What doesn’t kill you makes you strongerIt’s one of Friedrich Nietzsche’s most memorable quotes, and it applies unambiguously to Pakistan, a team that has been through hardships of all kinds. Any one of these blows could have proved lethal, but it didn’t. Not only has the Pakistan team lived to tell the tale, it has managed to accumulate the skills for handling adversity that no other team possesses.They have a date with fatePakistan is a team that has been slapped, beaten, shamed, and kicked about. Murphy’s Law states that if anything can go wrong, it will, and for Pakistan this has proven to be a resounding truth. So much has gone wrong for them, in fact, that they are finally due for some much-needed relief. No season lasts forever, it is darkest before the dawn, and nature loves a balance. In short, several pieces of time-honoured wisdom point to Pakistan finally catching a break.

The West Indies selectors’ purpose in choosing the new-look teams that take the field against Pakistan at the Beausejour Stadium this week is ostensibly is to “build a broad pool of international players”, but given the build-up, we could be in for an six

Tony Cozier17-Apr-2011Short of proclaiming it in flashing neon lights at the top of Frederick Street, the intention was clear.Ottis Gibson flagged it with his censure of the “senior players” after the quarter-final exit from the World Cup last month. His observation that the results for the previous ten years had been “pretty much the same and we’ve had the same players” was straightforward enough. There was certainly nothing ambiguous in his pointed comment that “we need some senior guys who have the hunger and the desire”.Head coaches don’t choose the most prominent global stage for such strong words without expecting consequent action. Yet, West Indies being West Indies and aware of the experience of some of his predecessors, Gibson might well have prepared his resignation even as he spoke, just in case.The first man in the position was Rohan Kanhai, a former esteemed captain. When he reported three of his players for insubordination after the 1995 tour of New Zealand, he was sacked, the players remained. Andy Roberts, the great fast bowler who was Kanhai’s successor, detailed the difficulties he encountered from within the team. He was replaced mid-way through the 1996 World Cup. Roger Harper, Bennett King and John Dyson had to deal with similar problems. Harper chose to move on to coach Kenya when his contract expired, the two Australians, King and Dyson, didn’t last the distance.None of those was as publicly forthright, or demanding, as Gibson has been after less than a year in the position. He has identified what he believes is urgently needed for West Indies to start the climb up from the bottom rungs of international cricket’s ladder and he has influenced the selectors and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to buy into it.”There is not much time until the Pakistan series and there are serious decisions to be made, decisions about players,” he said after the World Cup three weeks ago. Those “serious decisions” have now been made.Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan, a trio with 34 ODI hundreds between them and respective averages of 41.60, 39.37 and 43.20 in 659 such matches, have all been omitted for the first two ODIs in St.Lucia.The steadfast Chanderpaul, the most dependable and adaptable batsman through the hard times, has been a fixture in long and short formats for a dozen years. Gayle, as feared a hitter as there is in the game, has been the only settled opener in the team for a decade. Five months ago, his 333 against Sri Lanka in Galle made him only the fourth batsman to score two Test triple hundreds. Like both Chanderpaul and Gayle, Sarwan’s position was guaranteed, at No.3 or 4, almost from the time he made his Test debut, aged 19. That was until he was dropped for last year’s tour of Sri Lanka for what the board stated was his “extremely indifferent attitude and sporadic approach towards fitness”.The move was the precursor to the “serious decisions” that have now been effected. The disappointing batting of all three in the World Cup–Gayle’s carefree approach and the inability of Sarwan and Chanderpaul to pass 50 or raise their run-rates above 55 per 100 balls – were enough to seal their ensuing omissions.Only time will tell whether such decisions prove more “serious” for coach, selectors and, indeed, the board than for the players themselves.

It is a daunting task for such an inexperienced team, led by Darren Sammy, just six months in charge and already showing the inevitable strain of the captaincy, especially for one struggling to assert his all-round credentials

The five ODIs and two Tests against Pakistan are to be followed by five ODIs and three Tests against India, now World Cup champions and acknowledged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as the No.1 Test team.Without Chanderpaul, Gayle and Sarwan, the players for the initial ODIs against Pakistan count a mere 464 ODIs and four hundreds between them. Only two batsmen average over 30; no bowler has more than 60 wickets.The sub-standard regional tournaments don’t offer chief selector Clyde Butts and his panel many alternatives.It is a daunting task for such an inexperienced team, led by Darren Sammy, just six months in charge and already showing the inevitable strain of the captaincy, especially for one struggling to assert his all-round credentials. After the World Cup, he headed to Miami for time off, rather than captain Windward Islands in the semi-final of the Regional 4-day tournament. He was, he pleaded, physically and mentally drained. It was not a good sign, although he will now probably feel more at ease without three high-profile former captains shadowing his every move.Two of the replacements are Marlon Samuels and Lendl Simmons, both recalled after absences that, apart from Samuels’ two-year ICC suspension for his contacts with an illegal Indian bookmaker, almost certainly involved matters of attitude. Both are genuinely gifted cricketers. Samuels, at 31, and Simmons, 27, now have a belated chance to maximise the potential wasted in their earlier incarnations. Samuels especially has scored heavily and consistently at regional level since his return last October.His is an interesting case. Only six weeks ago, he declined his selection as the injured Dwayne Bravo’s replacement in the World Cup, stating that he wasn’t 100% ready as he “wanted to focus on four-day and not one-day cricket”. It has been a quick turnaround.The positions of the fit-again Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard are no less curious. Like Gayle, the two Trinidadians declined the WICB’s retainer contract, both returning to Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises instead. Now, according to WICB chief executive Ernest Hilaire, there have been “fruitful discussions” with both–but, significantly, no mention of such discussions with Gayle. Bravo, recently reinstated as vice-captain, and Pollard have both agreed to be “available for future selection to the West Indies team in all formats”. As a result of the negotiations, Pollard has been released for the IPL throughout the entire Digicel Series against Pakistan, while Bravo remains for the ODIs but misses the Tests to finish off the IPL season.”It was mutually determined that Pollard would be best served by being allowed to hone his T20 skills in the Indian Premier League which will bring future benefit to West Indies cricket,” Hilaire said.In truth, what the power-hitting allrounder’s game needs now is more longer, and less Twenty20, cricket to get himself back into the routine of building a score, rather than crash-bang, 20-ball 50s. But then, million-dollar IPL and Big Bash contracts cannot be ignored.According to Hilaire, the selectors’ purpose in choosing the new-look teams that take the field at the Beausejour Stadium this week is to “build a broad pool of international players”. Perhaps, just in case things don’t go quite according to plan, he has pointed out that, while “the first action is to expose more players, that does not mean that the WICB is abandoning older players”.One way or the other we’re in for six intriguing weeks.

Publishers may be keen to get their Ashes books out as fast as possible. Is that a bad thing? Not if the writer is Gideon Haigh

Steve James09-Apr-2011Not even a month had passed since the final day of England’s triumphant Ashes campaign when the first book about it pounded through my letter box. My reaction? Utter indifference. It was just too early. It was like seeing Easter eggs for sale days after Christmas. For goodness’ sake, this was published when England were still in Australia slogging their way through a seven-match one-day series.So it is fair to say that I approached with a healthy dose of cynicism. Haigh is a brilliant writer, probably the best in the business, but I had read his daily columns in the (he and a chap called Atherton do make the financial leap over their paper’s paywall worthwhile) during the series, and exceptional though they were, I expected not much more than a collection of these pieces. Microwaved journalism to us, money for old rope to the author.What I had not bargained on were daily match reports, filed for Business Spectator, an Australian website. Combined with the column on every day’s play, they provide the most comprehensive and thoughtful review of the Ashes possible. Suddenly I was recalling the sheer excitement that, in cricket anyway, only an Ashes series can provide. It was my first trip to Australia and this book will serve nicely as both reminder and reference.Haigh did, of course, have to commit fingers to keyboard for this. His introduction is laced with warning about the immediacy of his observations, all filed within an hour of each day’s conclusion and left unaltered since. “Caveat lector,” he writes.There really is no need. Not once does hindsight render Haigh foolish. The closest he comes is when writing at the end of day three in the first, eventually drawn, Brisbane Test. “England now need to bat perhaps 150 overs,” he says, “about twice as long as in their first innings, to salvage a draw; it is not beyond them by any means, but nor theoretically is a political comeback by Margaret Thatcher.”Haigh’s unique power of description stands him apart. Take Alastair Cook’s batting: “He wears his method like a shabby but comfortable jacket, too-long sleeves worn through at the elbows, yet imbued with pleasant associations.” Or a poor shot from Shane Watson, “as arrogant and foolhardy as lighting a cigar with a $100 note”. Or the opening partnership of Watson and Simon Katich: “Of Ponting at number three they have been contrasting protectors, Katich stepping across his stumps like a secret serviceman guarding a president, Watson more like a bouncer in a swanky nightclub.”The technical analysis is sharp. On Ricky Ponting’s batting travails: “Anxious to cover off stump, Ponting has been jumping into, and outside of, the line of the ball; moving so far across, in fact, as to expose his leg stump, down which side he has twice nicked fatally.”After the second day’s play in Perth, Haigh used a tale about Keith Miller to begin a piece about the frustrations with Mitchell Johnson following his heroics that day. Having taken 7 for 12 to bowl out South Australia for 26, Miller was asked by a journalist about the spell’s secrets: “There are three reasons,” he answered, “First, I bowled bloody well. Second… Second… Awww, ya can forget about the other two.”I saw Haigh the next day in Perth. “Nice tale,” I said. “There are plenty more where that came from,” responded Haigh with a glint in his eye. Indeed there are.Ashes 2011
by Gideon Haigh
Aurum, hb
285pp, £12.99

There’s no doubt cricket in the country has moved forward, and the sponsors are coming in as well. But that will only continue as long as they keep winning

Firdose Moonda 04-Aug-2011Harare Sports Club looked like it was readying itself for a classic southern African . In fact, it was preparing to be the venue of Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket, but if not for the sprinkling of ground staff on the outfield and around the pitch, it could have been mistaken for someone’s very large backyard.In the left corner some men were playing cricket, the youngsters charging in to bowl and being batted off like flies by the older players. In the right, the music of Bob Marley, Jennifer Lopez and bhangra singer Sukhwinder Singh was blaring out of the speakers. In the middle was the Maiden pub, hosting a corporate conference as well as a smattering of regulars drinking Coke (too early for beer), and, as they say in Zimbabwe “having humour” on the verandah.Inside, Alistair Campbell’s interview with SuperSport on Tuesday night was being re-run. Zimbabwe’s convenor of selectors lashed out at senior wicketkeeper-batsman Tatenda Taibu for criticising the administration on the eve of the team’s return to Test cricket. Campbell called Taibu’s outburst a “slap in the face” and said the timing of his comments was bad.This is how cricket happens here. On the face of it, it’s as relaxed as a Sunday afternoon, but open the door and it’s a closet of secrets. It would be simplistic to say that while things have changed, much has the stayed the same. Cricket has obviously moved forward in Zimbabwe, but how that was achieved remains complicated.Meet Brian Vitori, a 21-year old left-arm seamer who will almost certainly become a Test debutant on Thursday. Vitori is from the south-eastern Masvingo province, a place known for the Great Zimbabwe ruins, not cricketing prowess. He is a product of the new franchise system, which is in its second season. Ambitious, confident and resolute, he encapsulates everything that is shiny and new about Zimbabwean cricket.Despite having played provincial cricket from the age of 15, Vitori has only played 18 first-class matches and 11 List A games, mostly because of the lack of cricket in the country in 2007 and 2008. He featured in the Faithwear domestic one-day competition in the 2005-06 season, arguably Zimbabwe’s lowest point in the sport, with little success, but emerged out of recent tournaments as one of the most promising bowlers in the country.As a reader of this website, you probably already know as much about Vitori as any international batsman does, because the administration has kept him hidden from prying eyes. Bangladesh arrived at the ground while Vitori was practising in the nets on Tuesday, and Heath Streak, the bowling coach, promptly excluded him from any further participation in the session. Only when the game gets underway will anyone, including Vitori, be able to judge how good he really is.”I have never been under the speed gun,” Vitori told ESPNCricinfo. “So it will be nice to see how quick I am.” Then he quickly changed tack. “But I know I am quick. I think I have the ability to do most things with the ball.” He believes he will help carry the name of Masvingo. “Some people from my home town will be coming here to watch the Test match. They are interested to see how the team does, but I know they also want to see how I will represent them.”Vitori has spent the last three months training intensely for this chance to be an ambassador for his region. “It all started at the big training camp that we had in May. Thirty-two players were invited to take part, and we learnt a lot. Heath taught me the most because we worked on everything, from my fitness to my accuracy. The main thing about bowling is to keep it simple – no pressure, no panic – so that’s what I do. After all that training, last month we played against Australia A, and even though we lost, it was good to play a competitive side because it showed us what we need to work on.”Vitori’s positive story – including the fact that he doesn’t come from Harare or Bulawayo, the big cricket centres – is an indicator of the progress Zimbabwe has made. But when you add Taibu’s dissenting voice, the picture looks less pretty. Taibu claimed cricket in Zimbabwe was teetering on the brink of disarray because there were no central contracts and not enough professional structures. Coming from Taibu, the media and public paid attention, but his story presents only one aspect.Vitori confirmed that the money he earns from his franchise contract is enough to live on comfortably and that it is possible to have “financial security and make a living from cricket” today.

The most heartening sign of change in cricket in the country has been the development of black African cricket. Players like Sibanda, Masakadza and Mpofu, who were part of a young side during the rebel saga in 2004, are still around, and cricket here has become a more equal game across races than in neighbouring South Africa

“The ZC gave grants to the franchises and they contracted players with that money,” Streak said. “The idea is that once we start playing more cricket, we will have between 10 and 15 centrally contracted players.”After abandoning his international career in 2006, Streak returned to the fold two years ago as part of a wave of former players who came back in an effort to rebuild Zimbabwe cricket. “I walked away from the game when I was in my prime, my early 30s, but I don’t question what I did morally. I came back because I hope one day if my son wants to pursue a career in cricket he will be able to play for the country of his birth.”Streak thinks the country’s economic problems overall, not just in cricket, are holding the game back. “The clubs at lower levels have suffered the most because they have very little funding to maintain their facilities. But under these circumstances to have still managed to get sponsors is encouraging,” he said. Banks Stanbic (for domestic 20-overs), Metropolitan (for domestic 40-overs), Castle Lager (for first-class) and Delta Group have all been contracted recently. “Of course, with that, we’ve created a cycle. In order to keep the sponsors we have to keep winning, and that is the next challenge,” Streak said. “Most of all, we have to perform to a certain standard in Test cricket so that we keep our Full Member status.”That is a test Vusi Sibanda, the experienced opening batsman, thinks Zimbabwe will pass. “We have put in so much hard work over the last five years. The mindset has also changed. Zimbabwe cricket will be more aggressive in future.”The most heartening sign of change in cricket in the country has been the development of black African cricket. Players like Sibanda, Hamilton Masakadza and Chris Mpofu, who were part of a young side during the rebel saga in 2004, are still around, and cricket here has become a more equal game across races than in neighbouring South Africa, among players and fans. “It’s got to do with self-willingness,” Sibanda said. “There is a strong cricket culture here and black players have shown that they want to get involved.”Unlike in other African countries, where football trumps cricket, in Zimbabwe it is the opposite, partly because of the poor state of the country’s football, which is currently embroiled in a match-fixing scandal. “We’ve always taken our cricket seriously. Even when we withdrew from Test cricket, we knew we would be back. Cricket has more funding and sponsors than football and the game has been marketed well. We kept ourselves in the picture all the time and people want to see more of us,” Sibanda said.Starting on Thursday, they will.

He can take wickets and he can give the batsmen lip. What’s not to love?

Osama Siddiqui27-Oct-2011Choice of game
I’d always wanted to watch the opening day of a Test match, and with Pakistan’s second Test against Sri Lanka being held in Dubai, where I live and work, I took the day off and made sure I was there.Team supported
As a Pakistani, it was only natural for me to be supporting Pakistan. I hoped they would get to bowl first because I believed that was my best chance to see some exciting cricket. Dilshan won the toss, elected to bat, and the Pakistan bowling line-up duly delivered.Key performer
Umar Gul, without a doubt. He shook the Sri Lankan top order with three wickets in his first five overs. His sensational new-ball spell set the tone for the rest of the innings, and though he took no further wickets, the damage had already been done. He also dispelled any doubts about his match fitness by bowling close to 20 overs in the dayOne thing I’d have changed
I would have picked a third seamer for Pakistan. The choice to include two specialist spinners, Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman, might end up being vindicated, but today, with the conditions offering some assistance to the seamers and Sri Lanka at 73 for 5, Pakistan really missed the pace and energy that Aizaz Cheema or Wahab Riaz would have offered them.Interplay I enjoyed
The 65th over of play was an absolute cracker. It was after tea and Sri Lanka’s ninth-wicket partnership was beginning to frustrate Pakistan. Misbah-ul-Haq had just replaced Ajmal with Rehman, and Junaid Khan looked like he was warming up to replace Gul, who walked up to Misbah and requested one more over.Gul’s first ball to Herath hit him on the pads, and the fielders and the crowd went up in an almighty appeal, which was turned down. Gul turned around and gave Herath a earful. The crowd, loving the aggression, turned the noise up even further; Gul, seemingly spurred on by the crowd, kept the verbal barrage going. Herath’s strike partner, Chanaka Welegedara, came up and had a word, only to get his own share of abuse. As Gul finally returned to the top of his mark, the crowd could sense the battle in the middle was heating up. Herath took a single off the next ball, bringing Welegedara on strike to face some fiery short-pitched stuff. The first delivery was, incredibly, hooked for six, and the remaining ones safely if not utterly convincingly negotiated. It would be the last over Gul would bowl in the day. He had quite clearly given it his all and the crowd let him know his efforts were appreciated.Wow moment
Pakistan’s catching in the morning stood out for its assuredness. After the catching in the second innings of the Abu Dhabi Test, it was remarkable to see the first four catching opportunities offered today being comfortably snapped up. Unfortunately Pakistan soon reverted to type: Sangakkara was dropped by Taufeeq Umar before he had reached 30, and Herath by Younis Khan off the first ball he faced.Shot of the day
Although there was some brilliant strokeplay all around the wicket from Sangakkara, the shot of the day had to be Welegedara’s pull shot off Junaid Khan right before tea. It was positively thumped for four, and the crack literally reverberated around the stadium. The fact that it came completely against the run of play with Pakistan well on top and Junaid in the middle of another probing spell from around the wicket made it even more remarkable.Banner of the day
The only ones I saw were the ones I was holding up! Despite my best efforts I remained unsuccessful in catching the cameraman’s eye with a “Who needs Amir and Asif when you have Junaid and Gul” poster, and one offering some freelance consultancy to the PCB.Marks out of 10
An 8. I do wish more people had turned up to watch than the few hundred in attendance. There were moments when the crowd really got into the game. Had it been 10,000 people making noise rather than a few hundred, it would have made for a truly memorable experience.Overall
The day lived up to all that I had hoped for and I thoroughly enjoyed the cricket. I especially loved the ebbs and flows through the day and the battles within the game that seem to be a luxury afforded only to the longest format of cricket.A very well-informed British gentleman of Pakistani origin was next to me in the stands. He was here especially for the Test match. As he took his seat, Junaid had just bowled the first ball of the 12th over from over the wicket to Dilshan and had had a leg before-appeal turned down. “He needs to go around the wicket if he wants to take a wicket,” my new neighbour said. The very next ball Junaid went around the wicket, and with the last ball of the over, bowling from around the wicket, he dismissed Dilshan.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the fourth day of the third Test in Dubai

George Dobell in Dubai06-Feb-2012Drop of the day

There were a couple of candidates here. In the end Adnan Akmal’s remarkable miss off Andrew Strauss is just eclipsed by Umar Gul’s dropping of Alastair Cook off the unfortunate Abdur Rehman. Cook had top-edged the ball just to the right of Gul, at deep backward square leg, only for the fielder to somehow misjudge the flight of the ball and barely lay a finger on it. In the grand scheme of things, it made little difference, but it gave England – and Cook – another four runs and denied Rehman a well-deserved wicket.Catch of the day

Yonuis Khan enjoyed an excellent match. Quite apart from his sublime century, he proved again to be a wonderfully reliable catcher in the slips. He held on to a very sharp chance to end James Anderson’s spirited second innings resistance. With Anderson forcing hard off the back foot, the ball flew hard and fast to Younis’ right but, despite falling over in his attempt to control the ball, he held on. Might Younis be the best slip fielder Pakistan have had?Milestone of the day

When Alastair Cook clipped one off his legs from Umar Gul to run three and reach 22, he passed 6,000 Test runs at the age of 27 years and 43 days. That makes him the second youngest man to reach the milestone. Predictably, Sachin Tendulkar, who reached it at the age of 26 years and 313 days, holds the record, though Cook took fewer games. It was one of the few bright spots on a grim day for English cricket.Dismissal of the day

Kevin Pietersen might not have scored many runs this series – just 67 at an average of 11.16 – but he remained the prize wicket for Pakistan. In many ways, his dismissal summed up England’s batting in this series. Pressing forward to an off-break from Saeed Ajmal, Pietersen was punished for a basic technical flaw: his bat came across, rather than straight, and the ball crept through the gate. There was no DRS, no doosra and no left-arm spin to blame this time: until he rediscovers the ability to play straight, Pietersen’s struggles in Test cricket will continue.Headrush of the day

England still required 128 runs when Stuart Broad was seventh man out. It was always going to be an uphill struggle. But it was still possible. Broad and Matt Prior had added 37, counter-attacking where appropriate and reviving England’s slim hopes of victory. But then Broad aimed a thumping drive at the first delivery with the second new ball and hit it straight to the man positioned for the stroke at long off. The pair had clearly elected to take a positive approach but some discretion was still needed. For a man with a Test century to his name, it was a reckless, thoughtless stroke. Particularly as he could have pushed a single and allowed his very experienced colleague – a man with six Test centuries – to continue the chase.Statistic of the day

Between them, Abdur Rehman, 19 wickets, and Saeed Ajmal, 24, claimed 43 England wickets in the series. Mohammad Hazeez, the part-time off-spinner, claimed another five. That means that spin accounted for 48 of the 60 England wickets to fall. It really does not take an analyst to work out where England have been going wrong.