A collection of excellent modern newspaper pieces from a fine journalist, not too well put together

Jonathan Rice07-Feb-2009

First the good news: The Independent‘s James Lawton is a very fine writer on cricket (indeed, on all sports) and any collection of his columns is going to be stimulating, entertaining to read and chock full of opinions and marches under fire towards the moral high ground. For those who have not come across Lawton before, this is as representative a collection of his work as you are likely to get.He is particularly good on issues involving the spirit of cricket. Lawton writes superbly on Zimbabwe, notably an article from November 2004 imagining Michael Vaughan telling his grandchildren how he did his duty by playing cricket there, and he is good on the game’s characters – Matthew Hoggard, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting among others. His take on the forfeited England v Pakistan Oval Test still makes good reading, though it was written in the confusion of the moment and much has happened since.That, of course, is always the risk when articles written for immediate consumption are reprinted at a later date without changes, and with readers’ benefit of hindsight. It is a tribute to Lawton’s view of the game as much as to his way with words that he gets the mood right pretty well every time.That is the good news. The bad news is that the book shows every sign of having been put together without much thought.The editor (Ivan Ponting, an experienced cricket writer) obviously thought Lawton’s name was not enough of a selling point, so he had to find a way to pitch Lawton to bookshop browsers and Amazon surfers. Thus, even though the articles are all chosen from the Indie, from June 2000 until now, the introduction reports at length on the dispute Lawton had with Viv Richards in Antigua in 1990, when he was with the Daily Express.I assume this is because his squaring up to Sir Viv was the only time that Lawton has impinged on the game’s casual followers, but it smacks of desperation by marketing men to make use of such an irrelevant event here. Interestingly, even Lawton himself in his introduction gets the year wrong, saying it was 1989, which shows how much we all remember about it.Another pitfall of collections such as these, if not carefully edited, is that the writer appears to repeat himself. If you have an anecdote about Mike Atherton’s view of what makes a good captain, or Merv Hughes and Javed Miandad sledging each other, it is fine to tell it three times in eight years as a columnist. Three times in 250 pages of a book is less exciting.A bigger gripe is that there are no words of introduction to any of the articles themselves. We are left to remember what the big issue of the day was. A couple of lines each time to help us on our way would have been nice. Instead, all we get is cut-and-paste. Lawton deserves a better compiled book than this.On Cricket
by James Lawton
Dewi Lewis Media £9.99

When Phillip Hughes went into triple-figures with a pair of consecutive sixes he became Australia’s most youthful Test centurion in 43 years

Brydon Coverdale in Durban06-Mar-2009
Phillip Hughes let go of his cool and calm demeanour with a big grin, a kiss of the helmet and a longer than usual acknowledgment of the applause © Getty Images
Don Bradman is statistical benchmark for batting and when he made his first Test century he was aged 20 years and 124 days. Only four younger men have scored Test hundreds for Australia and it’s a list full of class. DougWalters went on to become a cult icon in the 1970s, Neil Harvey is regarded as one of the best batsmen in the country’s history and Archie Jackson would be a household name had he not died of tuberculosis at 23.The fourth is Phillip Hughes. When Hughes went into triple-figures with a pair of consecutive sixes he became Australia’s most youthful Test centurion in 43 years. He managed the feat 28 days younger than Bradman. Even if Hughes’ entire career from here is downhill – and that’s as likely as Zimbabwe winning the next World Cup – he will always occupy a special place in Australia’s Test history.Unlike at the Wanderers, where his 75 was filled with risky drives and flashy cuts, Hughes showed his full range of skills at Kingsmead. Aided by some insipid bowling in the first session particularly, Hughes clipped confidently through leg, drove with impeccable timing and cut viciously when given width. When he reached 50, he had scored 40 in boundaries.Even so, nobody could quite believe it when he went from 89 to 105 in the space of four balls. A six over long-on off Paul Harris took him to 99 and the next ball he slammed over midwicket before briefly letting go of his cool and calm demeanour with a big grin, a kiss of the helmet and a longer than usual acknowledgment of the applause.”I was on 99 after the first one and they brought the guy up from the fence and there were gaps there if I wanted to go,” Hughes said. “He threw it up so I thought I’ll go again and it just happened, it happened to be my day and it went like that.”Usually from the 90s to the hundreds is the opposite, I chip around a few singles here and there, but to bring it up with Simon [Katich] in the middle, obviously Simon and I have spent a bit of time together over the last 12 months, in the middle and off the field as well, and it was just a great feeling and one I will never forget.”That Katich also posted a century should not be forgotten. But it was his fifth in nine months. After Australia reached 303 for 4 at stumps Katich was full of praise for his partner Hughes, who is 13 years his junior, and who made his first-class debut under captain Katich for New South Wales 15 months ago.”Today was special to put on [nearly] 200 and for me it was special to be there to witness him makes his first Test hundred,” Katich said. “I said last year that I thought he was going to be a very special player and he’s already proved that and I think he’s got a long continue in front of him and he’ll continued to prove that right.”Nothing surprised me. I must admit when he was on 99 I had the burners on ready to go for a quick single but then when I saw him launch it I thought, what am I worried about? I should have realised the young bloke is going to belt it out of the ground with gay abandon.”Prior to the series Katich said Hughes, 20, had the sort of maturity that he had seen in only two other Australian batsmen at such a young age in the modern era: Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke. Ponting was 22 when he scored his first Test hundred and Clarke was 23.Hughes has joined an even more elite club. If he turns out to be anywhere near as good as Harvey or Walters, Australia will be very happy for a very long time.

Anil Kumble is far from superfluous, and he must be given the right to confront his biggest challenge yet

Reggie Hartman-Goodin15-Oct-2008

Welcome to the club, Anil Kumble. The Fab Four are now the Fab Five and the
two f-words together have become more abuse than praise recently.You are past your peak as a bowler, they say. You will be 38 in two days’ time.When you captain the Indian team and you have a bad day, or worse, a bad Test, people
are going to talk about retirement. They will tell you to go.All of this doesn’t necessarily mean Kumble has suddenly become superfluous, even as it should be acknowledged that youngsters will always get more leeway and more chances to fail. Being a bowler, in particular, comes with a special pain.If a batsman is struggling, he gets out early, or scratches around and then gets out. Off he goes, out of the frame of the TV screen, to be seen only in the second innings. A bowler has to live out his struggles in the public eye. He has no place to hide. He has to bowl
on and on and then take a break. And then he bowls on and on. Every ineffective delivery counts against him. Every hopeless appeal made in frustration is registered. Every movement is dissected for signs of an injury he might be hiding. It all seemed to happen that way in Bangalore with Kumble, who kept trying, over after over, until he had bowled 43 of them without a wicket in the first innings.The scrutiny is not completely unjustified: he has taken 17 wickets in his last eight Tests, at an average of more than 60. And Kumble’s angry reaction in a newspaper column does not quite betray the ideal mindset a captain ought to have just two days before a Test.But you can see part of the reason why Kumble is angry. It is the rhetoric that irks him. Some presume he carried an injury into the Bangalore Test, some are shouting from rooftops: if Harbhajan can get wickets, why can’t Kumble?It is plain absurd. Kumble bowled a lot of overs in the first innings; injuries can be picked up during a Test, or some old niggle can worsen too. Nor are wickets being sold as if in a supermarket. We must not forget that he was unlucky in the first innings. Simon Katich, on 34 then, got away with an lbw decision when he looked pretty much straight in front.
Michael Hussey was dropped when on 1. One wicket on a pitch like that could have done wonders for a spinner’s confidence, as it did for Harbhajan after he dismissed Katich in the second innings.Some felt sorry for Kumble, because they couldn’t bear to watch him struggle as he did in Bangalore. There was Kumble, trying to fight an injury, groping for rhythm, appealing for everything like a kid, and desperately unfortunate: he even dropped two return catches. Still, it is unreasonable to expect only either the Kumble of old or no Kumble at all.Yes, there is emotion involved in not being able to reconcile the Kumble of 2008
with the man who, given a similar pitch, would have run through any side five years ago. But every great batsman should be afforded the chance to look ungainly, and every great bowler the chance to look innocuous. Kumble is a great bowler without doubt; he has nothing left to prove, and he can walk away whenever he wants to.Perhaps, though, he has a point to prove to himself. That on one of the rare occasions in his career when he has had to justify his place in the team – and he happens to be captain at the time – he can prove his worth. He is rightly celebrated as one of the most selfless and relentless servants of Indian cricket. But move over five-fors on unhelpful pitches in England and Australia: this is Kumble’s biggest challenge. And he should be given the right to take that challenge on – at least as long as he is not blocking the path of any deserving youngster.

That’s where it gets tricky. Watching Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel bowl in the Irani Cup and in the nets at the pre-series camp was both comforting and discomfiting at once. Here were three Indian pace bowlers, at the top of their games, keeping each other, and batsmen, on their toes. Yet at the same time one knew that, try as
they might, the Indian XI is not big enough for the three of them. India were never going to depart from their two-spinner policy at home; if they did they would have had to drop either the captain or the other spinner, one who has just made a creditable comeback from a ban.It is particularly tempting to think of Munaf on that Bangalore pitch in place of Kumble, what with the reverse-swing and the up-and-down bounce. It is no disrespect to Kumble’s contributions to Indian cricket if this thought crosses the mind, even if Munaf doesn’t have the numbers to show. It would have been a bold departure on the part of the team management.But Kumble is the last person who would want to be known as a captain who couldn’t make the cut as a player. It would perhaps have been easier for him if someone else were captain. But the decision lies with him, and he genuinely believes he can contribute to India’s cause, despite his recent form.The equation, if emotions and pitches are set aside, is simple. On the selectors’ part, they have to just answer one question: is Kumble taking the place of someone who can do better? If the answer is no, we need to leave him alone, and try to appreciate his struggle. On Kumble’s part, if he is fit – he didn’t bowl in the nets today – he will celebrate his 38th birthday on the field at the PCA Stadium. The last time he played a Test there, he was the
Man of the Match.

Over the next five days, in a splendid new stadium off National Highway 7 in Nagpur, three fast bowlers will get a chance to determine their international future

Sriram Veera in Nagpur30-Sep-2009Over the next five days, in a splendid new stadium off National Highway 7 on the outskirts of Nagpur, three fast bowlers will get a chance to fight for their international futures.There are two national spots up for grabs: RP Singh and Ishant Sharma look likely to be dropped, given their recent performances in South Africa. Unfortunately, Irfan Pathan will miss the chance to showcase his skills due to an ill-timed injury but Sreesanth, Munaf Patel and Sudeep Tyagi get an early crack at the coveted India job.The three contenders couldn’t have more differing personalities. There is nothing to be said about Sreesanth that is not known, but it will suffice to say he’s trying to rediscover himself. Munaf Patel, currently the earthiest Indian cricketer, has found and lost himself in the past but, right now, he is the most self-aware of the lot. And then there is Tyagi, with genuine talent and hunger, beginning to walk the path towards self-discovery and that India cap.The three couldn’t be more different in their bowling styles as well. Sreesanth looks for early swing before shifting focus to seaming the ball. Munaf is your steady hit-the-deck bowler, who doesn’t surprise the batsman with any tricks but will try to wear him down with his discipline. Tyagi is a combination of Sreesanth and Munaf; he tries to be steady with his short-of-a-length attack and looks to extract bounce and seam movement.Sreesanth’s capabilities are well known: that wonderfully steady, vertical seam rushing from his hand towards the batsman has featured in many slow-motion replays on television. But he is also capable of self-destruction: his capricious mind, his outlandish comments, and his, for lack of a better word, “antics” which have featured more on Page 3 than the sports pages. However, he has been unfairly tainted with the criticism that he isn’t serious about his game. He is and it hurts. When you speak to him, you know it. But he is still a boy who, it seems, refuses to grow up.A week ago, he was in the papers again with some quotable quotes: “I am a changed man,” he told DNA. “As in, I don’t get mad on the field anymore. I’ve worked on it. Every time I’m hit for a boundary off a good ball, I congratulate the batsman. I clap and say ‘good shot, man. And when I dismiss a batsman, I have learnt to say ‘sorry to get you out, mate’.” Not one journalist or fan I’ve spoken to thinks it’s anything more than an “antic”. It’s a reputation he will have to live with for a while, and only performances can put it to rest. He is fresh from a stint with Warwickshire, under Allan Donald’s supervision, and this Irani Cup will give us a glimpse of how far he has come.These days, Munaf is everything Sreesanth isn’t. He offers what Ishant and RP failed to give MS Dhoni: consistent line and length, and an ability to bowl to a field. He is not a visually arresting bowler like Sreesanth – the ball won’t dart in and out. He no longer gets the bounce of Tyagi, but lands the ball on a spot and makes it cut in a bit. And he is the one bowler, apart from Ashish Nehra, who is in complete control of his art. RP has lost his swing and is a misfit on batting tracks, Ishant has lost his radar, pace and, crucially, his confidence, Irfan still can’t be trusted to bowl steadily without leaking too many runs, Sreesanth is still an quixotic commodity, Praveen Kumar had lost his stock ball – that lovely inswing to right-hand batsmen, and Tyagi is still raw. Under the circumstances, Munaf, though unspectacular, will be steady. He can hit the back-of-a-length more often than not and if the pitch offers help, make use of it to cut it around.Tyagi, the tyro, is a talent for the future. He had a great first year but injuries affected his second season, and he is steadily moving towards re-discovering his zing. His strength is the bounce he gets from short-of-a-length at an impressive pace and a good offcutter. In his first year, he also had a cracking delivery that left the batsman, and took quite a few wickets with reverse swing. The injury forced him to tinker with his bowling action and the outswinger was the first casualty. It’s said that he is in the process of regaining it; the Irani Cup game and the coming domestic season will offer proof.The Irani Cup, like most domestic tournaments facing the IPL onslaught, has increasingly lost its sheen but the current bowling crisis in the Indian team presents the three men in focus a great opportunity to seize the day.

Cricinfo takes a look at what each competing team needs to do for that all-important semi-final spot in the IPL

Cricinfo staff20-May-2009Rajasthan need a win to have any chance of making it to the semi-finals•Associated PressTeam: Royal Challengers Bangalore
Points/ Net run-rate: 14/ -0.252
Matches remaining: 1
Opponent: DeccanBangalore’s victory over Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday ensured that they successfully took the first step towards a semi-final spot. Now placed fourth in the points table, a victory over Deccan Chargers in their final league match will guarantee a place in the last four.If Bangalore lose to Deccan, they will have to count on defeats for Punjab and Rajasthan to make the cut. A win for either of those teams will shut Bangalore out, if they lose to Deccan.Team: Rajasthan Royals
Points/ Net run-rate: 13/ -0.360
Matches remaining: 1
Opponent: KolkataA victory against Kolkata Knight Riders is essential for Rajasthan Royals to stay in the race. If Rajasthan win, the team will turn its attention to the match between Chennai and Punjab, hoping for a Chennai victory which will then seal the deal for them.In the event of a Punjab victory, Rajasthan will then compete with Chennai for the fourth spot with both teams on 15 points. Only a miracle can then take Rajasthan through, as Chennai are miles ahead in the net run-rate calculations. Here’s an example to illustrate how wide the gap between the teams is: assume Rajasthan defeat Kolkata by 40 runs while Chennai loses to Punjab by the same margin (with the winning team scoring 160 and the losing one scoring 120). Chennai’s net run-rate would drop to +0.71 while Rajasthan’s would improve to -0.18, still comfortably short of Chennai.Team: Kings XI Punjab
Points/ Net run-rate: 14/ -0.423
Matches remaining: 1
Opponent: ChennaiPunjab play their final league match against Chennai Super Kings, and a victory assures them a place in the knockout stages. A loss for Punjab would mean they will stay on 14 points, which would still give them a chance, but a very slim one, considering their NRR is the poorer than Deccan’s and Bangalore’s, and a loss against Chennai would only worsen it further.Team: Chennai Super Kings
Points/ Net run-rate: 15/ +0.932
Matches remaining: 1
Opponent: Kings XI PunjabAmong the teams vying for a top-four spot, Chennai Super Kings are best placed to make it through. Sitting at second position with 15 points with a match to play against Punjab, they are at a distinct advantage with a very high net run-rate which will come into play in the event of a loss.
If Chennai lose and if Rajasthan win against Kolkata, both teams will be tied on 15 points. But, as the example above illustrates, only a statistical miracle can stop Chennai from going to the next level once the NRR comes into play.Team: Deccan Chargers
Points/ Net run-rate: 14/ +0.265
Matches remaining: 1
Opponent: BangaloreAs is the case with most teams, a win in the final round robin match will see the Deccan Chargers cruise into the semis. A loss, however, will complicate things for them.Deccan will compete with Punjab and Rajasthan if they lose to Bangalore on Thursday. Both Punjab and Rajasthan need to come off second best in their final matches, after which Deccan’s superior run rate is likely do the trick.

In terms of producing the goods when his team needs a leading role there are few better than Smith

Andrew McGlashan at the Wanderers15-Jan-2010Remove from the equation the fact that Graeme Smith had a huge stroke of luck early in his 105. This was another captain’s innings of the highest order. There are many more graceful batsmen in the game and many who are more technically sound, but in terms of producing the goods when his team needs a leading role there are few better than Smith.It is impossible not to admire his single-minded determination. The situation today was ideal for Smith to take the game by the scruff of the neck, as he did at Newlands last week through his brutal 183, with South Africa needing to push on after routing England for 180. There has only been one side in this match so far and Smith, who hasn’t been shy of making big statements during this tour, is desperate to make England pay this time.”It’s a pretty meaningful one,” he said of his hundred, which followed the recent death of his grandfather. “It’s been a tough month having lost a family member and things haven’t gone as we would have liked. We’ve played good cricket but have just lacked the knockout punches.”We’ve dominated the first two days of this Test. I would like to think we are the hungrier team. I think we’ve played that brand of cricket in this game. Hopefully we can jump on the fact that they are 1-0 up and maybe won’t be giving 100%.”As with his innings at Cape Town this was a knock with distinct phases. Unlike England’s batsmen yesterday, Smith realised the new ball was a time to show respect to the bowlers. On the first evening, and again this morning, he was watchful against the swing and seam movement. Once he had done the hard work, he began to take advantage of the softer ball and the bowlers’ increasing desperation.”This was a big day and I knew it would go around,” he said. “You have to dig deep. I know I’m not the prettiest batsman, but I pride myself on being effective and sticking to my game plans, capitalising when I see my opportunity. Towards the back end of that first session, once I’d got through that tough period, I felt England had tired a bit with their three seamers and it was an opportunity for us against an older ball.”In his first 69 balls Smith struck two boundaries in 24 runs, but when he brought up his hundred it was with his 16th four. The most enthralling period of the innings once again came when he was facing Graeme Swann, who beat Smith with a ripping off-break in his first over. Smith was determined to dominate, however, and although that came with risks it also brought great rewards.The contrast between the form of Smith and his opener partner, Ashwell Prince, couldn’t be greater. Prince did well to survive tough conditions on the previous evening, but never gave any sense of permanency about his stay at the crease and it was no great surprise when, three balls after Smith’s reprieve, he edged Stuart Broad to second slip. If this match goes according to plan for the home side he may not get another innings with which to prove himself, and his place for the tour to India has to be in doubt.It is a tough situation for Prince, who is a middle-order batsman by trade but was shoehorned into the opening role at the end of last year’s home series against Australia. He began with 150 at Cape Town, but admitted before this series that he would be happier back in his traditional position. The problem, though, is a log-jam in the middle order and a shortage of openers.The early signs were promising when he battled to an important 45 on the opening day of the first Test at Centurion, but since then it has been a tale of diminishing returns, while Smith’s contributions have gone the other way. Even if South Africa end up securing a share of the spoils in this campaign, their best opening partnership of the series is the 36 made in this innings. That is not an ideal foundation even if Smith’s own performances are helping to compensate.Alviro Petersen is next in line for the opening slot, having impressed during the one-day series, and has been part of the Test squad throughout England’s tour. Youngsters who are in contention include Dean Elgar, the Eagles batsman, who tops the domestic batting charts with 892 runs at 68.61 but is again a middle-order player. Rilee Rossouw, a 20-year-old who also plays for Eagles, is very highly rated and has enjoyed a strong season in both four-day and one-day cricket, while the other name suggested is Cape Cobras’ Andrew Puttick.One other option, albeit an unlikely one, is to return to the man who had the job before Prince and recall Neil McKenzie, who himself moved from the middle order to forge a successful spell alongside Smith. Prince may yet survive the chop, but which ever route the selectors take in the next few weeks Smith’s own performances deserve a partner who can offer him more support.

Daniel Vettori’s parents remember his Test debut and the days before it

Brydon Coverdale25-Mar-2010Robyn Vettori still remembers the day her son, just turned 18, stepped out onto the Basin Reserve for his Test debut. She was nervous; Daniel wasn’t. Or at least, it didn’t show. He’d become an adult 10 days earlier, had just enrolled in a health sciences course at university with the hope of becoming a pharmacist, and all of a sudden was playing cricket for his country.Thirteen years later, Robyn and Renzo Vettori will be there once again to watch their boy become only the second New Zealander to play 100 Tests. Except that he’s not a boy any more. He’s the captain of his country, a loving husband and father to one-year-old James. He’s also one of the most accomplished players in the world.”I can still remember him walking out for his first Test and I had two cups of tea in my hands and they were shaking as he walked across the ground,” Robyn says. “And I can remember thinking, ‘He always looks so relaxed when he walks out there.’ He’ll probably be the same again.”For him, inside it will feel like a great achievement but he always keeps it pretty close to his chest. We’ll reminisce a bit that, goodness me, he walked out there as an 18-year-old and now he’s a man, he’s a father. But he’ll come home and James will be running around and it will all just be normal.”It will help that the milestone is arriving in Hamilton. Robyn, a nurse, and Renzo, who works for a dairy company, live only a ten-minute drive from Seddon Park, the venue of Daniel’s debut for Northern Districts when he was 17. Hamilton is a small city and they will both be there, along with other family and friends, for the big day on Saturday.The fame, money and travel involved in elite cricket these days makes it easy to forget that international players are just normal people, from normal families. Parents are always proud of their offspring and the Vettoris are no different; their walls bear photos of weddings and grandchildren, and Renzo has kept scrapbooks of his son’s sporting journey.There are 10 books, with photographs and articles dating back to the time when a 15-year-old Daniel, who was also a talented soccer player, fractured his vertebrae when the bus carrying his football team crashed. Then there’s the back page that screams “But he’s only 18!” when he was first named in the New Zealand team.Renzo nearly ran off the road when he picked up his car-phone back in 1997 and was told to pack for Wellington to watch his son in the Test team. It was a remarkable achievement, especially given that it was only three years earlier that Daniel had taken up spin, after toiling as a frustrated medium-pacer in the school team.But Daniel Vettori had always shown natural sporting ability. It’s not really surprising, given that his mother’s side of the family boasts rugby league legend Ken Stirling and Olympic swimmer Glenda Stirling, while on Renzo’s side Daniel is a cousin of the former All Blacks fly-half David Hill and first-class cricketer Joseph Hill.Soccer and cricket were the two sports that Daniel starred in as a child – he took up cricket as a seven-year-old when the family lived in Sydney – and his competitive nature was on display from an early age. Robyn remembers the day her 11-year-old son was supposed to head to Auckland to play in an Under-14 representative soccer team, only for the bus driver to forget him.”He was most distraught and I thought, ‘Hmm, this is a bit strange,’ but I probably realise now there was this absolute competitiveness there. Contained, but competitive and a quiet confidence in himself.”It was that same nature that drove the young Vettori to head off to play for representative teams during his school holidays most summers, meaning he usually missed the family trips to the beach. Not that he didn’t want to be with his parents, brother Nicholas and sister Kimberly; he is a loyal family man.Robyn and Renzo Vettori with the news of their son’s 1997 Test debut•Brydon CoverdaleHe was close to his grandparents; Renzo’s father was a concrete worker who moved out from the Italian village of Roncone in the Dolomites when Renzo was six. When Daniel hit the big time, his grandparents loved it. “It was nuts. They suddenly became cricket experts,” Renzo says. “It was the last thing they knew, or thought they knew.”Watching their son play is still a nerve-wracking experience for Renzo and Robyn, especially since he has become captain. But when he comes home to visit – Daniel now lives in Auckland with wife Mary and baby James – the conversation usually veers away from the game.”There’s not much cricket talk when he comes home. It’s anything but, really,” Renzo says. “You might ask him a few questions about this or that but it’s not an interrogation, it’s just anything else but cricket.””I think he needs that,” Robyn says of Daniel’s escape from cricket when he’s around his family. “He’s not exactly captaining a winning team all the time so he needs that getaway from it, to become a dad and husband.”Come Saturday, he’ll still be dad, husband, son, brother. He’ll also be the second New Zealander to reach 100 Tests, and no doubt his parents will be more nervous than he is.

Plays of the day from the fourth day of the first Test between Sri Lanka and West Indies in Galle

Andrew Fernando in Galle19-Nov-2010Missed review opportunity of the day
Since unsuccessfully using up a UDRS attempt trying to get Mahela Jayawardene trapped in front yesterday, West Indies captain Darren Sammy, has been reluctant to use any more reviews. And when Thilan Samaraweera was caught down the leg side after the ball had brushed his gloves on its way to the wicketkeeper, the West Indians were convinced they had their man. But Sammy, perhaps remembering his previous error, decided against challenging the decision.Unfortunate dismissal of the day
It’s bad enough for any Test batsman to be run out when your team is in dire straits, but to be dismissed when your batting partner has just cracked one out of the middle takes a special kind of misfortune. Angelo Mathews met Dwayne Bravo’s over-pitched delivery with the full face of the bat, and the ball seemed to be heading just past the stumps and on towards the boundary, when Bravo flicked it with his outstretched boot and redirected it towards the stumps. Samaraweera was caught out of his crease, and Sri Lanka slipped even further into trouble.Brain explosion of the dayPrasanna Jayawardene had done almost everything necessary to get his team past the follow-on mark, but when three quick wickets fell at the other end to leave the Sri Lanka nine down, he might have wondered if all his good work would be in vain. So when No. 11 Thilan Thushara drove the last ball of the over for four, to give him the strike and leave the team just three shy of avoiding the follow on, what does he do? Get himself out of course! An aggressive sweep shot in the next over caught the top edge of Prasanna’s bat and flew to the fielder at long leg leaving the entire Sri Lankan team dreading the proposition of having to bat again.Close call of the day
Tillakaratne Dilshan had made a two-ball duck in the first innings. So when he pulled his first ball of the second innings in the air towards Darren Bravo at midwicket, the opener looked set to record a Test pair. Luckily for Dilshan, the ball flew just inches past Bravo’s outstretched fingers and onto the midwicket boundary.

Zimbabwe’s new captain, talks about the progress his team is making, his experiences as captain, and the possibility of a return to Test cricket

Interview by Liam Brickhill26-Jun-2010In possession of a calmness and maturity that belie his young age, and a genuinely disarming smile that encompasses his whole face, Elton Chigumbura, Zimbabwe’s premier allrounder, and captain of the national side, is every bit Zimbabwe’s poster boy as they attempt to re-establish their cricket credentials on the international stage.Born in the tiny town of Kwekwe in Zimbabwe’s Midlands province, at just 24 years old his passion and talent for cricket have already taken him around the world. With Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket mooted for sometime in the next year, Chigumbura will have a vital role to play at almost every level.”I’m looking forward to leading Zimbabwe in Test cricket,” Chigumbura told Cricinfo. “I think it’s an honour to lead any team, and if you play well, you can say I led this team to become a better team or to be recognised as one of the best teams in the world. I’m looking forward to it and looking forward to pushing the guys back home to become more competitive and start winning games. I know Test cricket is hard, but you can only improve at it by playing.”With increasing regularity, Chigumbura has displayed the same game-changing effervescence as another young allrounder, Dwayne Bravo, and has the ability to lift his team through personal brilliance. Now, as he looks to broaden his horizons and expand his game, he finds himself as Northamptonshire’s overseas signing in England’s own East Midlands. It is the sort of experience that will stand him in good stead when he steps onto the field as captain of what will be, essentially, a fledgling side totally new to Test cricket.”When I was growing up, I wanted to play county cricket. It was one of my dreams, after playing for my nation, and now it has come to reality. So I take this as a big opportunity. I’m honoured to be here and hopefully I’ll have success and so help the team to win. I’ll take my experience here and help the guys who are playing back home.””Back home” is not a place many Zimbabweans in the UK (and there are over 100,000 of them, according to the Office for National Statistics) are considering going to yet, but thanks to the relative stability in the country and the recent facelift of its cricket infrastructure, it is now a much more welcoming place for cricketers. Chigumbura suggested this was the reason behind the change in the national team’s fortunes.”Standards have gone up, and there’s also more cricket being played throughout the first-class season. Guys like Dave Houghton and Heath Streak helping the team has improved us a lot. If you look at the team from two years ago and compare it to this past year, we’ve been going in the right direction and improving. Now there’s more competition among the players.”It is healthy to have competition like that, and it’s been a positive for Zimbabwe cricket. Even when we’re playing internationals it’s been hard to choose a first XI, because lots of guys are now starting to perform consistently.”Houghton and Streak are just two of a number of foreign and local professionals to have been involved with Zimbabwe cricket, at some level, in the last year. Chris Silverwood, the former England seamer and current Essex bowling coach, was another who turned up in the restructured domestic scene, and proved very popular as player/coach of the Mashonaland Eagles, to whom he has pledged to return to next season.”He’s a good guy,” Chigumbura said of Silverwood. “I learned a lot from him last season. He’s helped me become a better captain and a better player. He’s a guy who wants to improve players, and he’s honest. Spoons has done a lot for the franchise, and I hope he’ll stay for a long time. “Chigumbura also had praise for Alan Butcher, who took over the role of head coach after Zimbabwe’s tour of the Caribbean earlier this year, and whose clear-cut, open approach to the job seems to be bringing out the best in the players.”He gives players room to think for themselves, and when he needs to help someone, he can do that. He wants to bring the team together. Since he took over, the guys have become as one team, a big unit. He just brings calm into the team, and guys are now confident about their play. What he says is always clear as well – no one doubts what they are supposed to do.”

“We knew that we had responsibilities on our shoulders, so it was a very good team effort to put smiles on the faces of Zimbabwean people. It can only move us forward as a nation”

Chigumbura took over the captaincy from Prosper Utseya, who had been in charge of the team since 2006, before the recent triangular series in Zimbabwe. He had had some success as captain of the Mashonaland Eagles, leading the team to success in the Logan Cup first-class competition last season, and his appointment as national captain was reportedly unanimously supported by the ZC board.But despite recent wins over India and Sri Lanka it is still too early to judge his tenure as captain, and amid those successes Chigumbura’s own returns were somewhat modest. Although he scored at a run a ball, his batting average of 25.50 for the series was boosted by two not-outs, and his bowling was completely off the mark: he bowled 13 wicketless overs for 111 runs.”At international level, it’s a bigger challenge than captaining a provincial first-class team. But i’ve enjoyed it so far, and also with the guys gelling well as a team it’s made my job much easier. I know there are bigger challenges to come, but I’m looking forward to them.”The sterner challenges ahead include a World Cup in the subcontinent in early 2011, and following that, Zimbabwe are going to tentatively dip their feet into the challenging waters of Test cricket, with a return against Bangladesh their first appointment. Though Chigumbura was reticent when asked about the World Cup – suggesting only that it is likely that conditions could suit Zimbabwe’s spin-heavy bowling attack – he opened up when asked about the opportunity to lead his country on its return to cricket’s pinnacle.He argued that Zimbabwe’s rehabilitation must include as much top-level cricket as possible, and games against the A sides of the stronger nations. Zimbabwe’s only major engagements between now and the World Cup are two Twenty20s and three ODIs against South Africa; Chigumbura suggested that it is only with an increased volume of cricket that Zimbabwe could continue to develop their game.”[Playing top teams] is a major part of Zimbabwe moving forward. You can only learn from them, and you can improve by watching what they do. We just need to keep playing more games. Unfortunately these [the tri-series] were our last games before quite a long break. We would have loved to play another international team because we’ve been playing well as a team and going forward.”Last season, the four-day stuff we played, that’s a good place to start preparing for Test cricket. Playing A sides will definitely help. And also by actually playing cricket most of the time, rather than just practising, you know where you are and what you need to do to get to the top level. I just hope we will play more cricket before we get back to Tests.”When that return comes, a lot of responsibility will rest with Chigumbura, whose personal performances often mirror that of the team. Zimbabwe have won 10 ODIs in the last 12 months and Chigumbura played in eight of those wins, averaging 72 with the bat and 31 with the ball. In the 17 games Zimbabwe have lost in the same time, his batting figures fall to 18.17 and his bowling average inflates to 49.09.The greater consistency of Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor at the top of the order, the increasing solidity of the middle order, and a reliable hydra of spinners have taken some of the weight off Chigumbura’s shoulders, but he realises that a cricketer’s duties, while focussed on the field of play, can often also have a far-reaching effect off of it.Chigumbura’s performances dipped slightly when he took over the captaincy, but he has been a consistent performer for Zimbabwe•AFP”After we won the first game [against India], it got people that didn’t want to come and watch cricket to take notice. By the second game there were more people watching, and the fans that were watching now believed that we could win games. After that, there was more support, and when you’re playing and you can see guys behind you, supporting you, it gives confidence to the players.”Our job is to entertain people, and you can only entertain people by winning games. We knew that we had responsibilities on our shoulders, so it was a very good team effort to put smiles on the faces of Zimbabwean people. It can only move us forward as a nation.”Zimbabwe cricket, much like the country, faces an uncertain future, but if homegrown talent like Chigumbura can be nurtured then it’s possible they will continue to progress. Chigumbura is hopeful when he talks about what has been achieved, and about the future.”First, my goal was to start winning games as a team and to build consistency, not to just win one game and then lose a series. Obviously I’d like to win series, but at the moment we’re just trying to win more games to give confidence to the guys, and that’s when we can start believing that we can win series against big teams. So it’s a process. In the long run it’ll become a habit and the team will go far.”I’d like to become one of the best allrounders in the world, and one that will be recognised even after I retire. I’m still working towards that. I’d also like to see a Zimbabwe team that will start winning games and a team that other countries will love playing against. If we can achieve that then we can set further goals after that.”

Sticking to a winning combination has its advantages, but given the way India have bowled so far in the World Cup, trying something new is logical; it is time for R Ashwin to get a game

Sharda Ugra in Delhi08-Mar-2011The country that gave the world ‘total football’ has come up with another catchphrase for a sport that is most detached from the land of Cryuff, clogs and cheese. Peter Borren calls it ‘brave cricket’. Netherlands captain Borren used the phrase several times as he fronted the largest mass of media he ever has in his career, at the Feroz Shah Kotla. ‘Brave cricket’ was what his team would need, he said, when they meet India at the Kotla on Wednesday.Netherlands will be up against the hosts in front of a crowd that will convey via every cheer and hand-clap that they believe that Netherlands are at the World Cup merely to fill the numbers; that for India, Netherlands are merely a box to be ticked off.Borren’s men have had a rough World Cup, unable to make an impression after their first game, in which they gave England a scare. When Borren talked about being ‘brave’, he was referring to his team pushing their skills to the edge, rather than finding reserves of extra courage. In events like the World Cup, smaller teams often jump into uneven contests with complete optimism. It is the bigger outfit that must walk onto the ground not merely looking the part but playing it.India are the only team in their group not to have lost a game, though they dropped a point against England, and their place in the quarter-finals will be as good as secure should they beat Netherlands. However, India must look at the game as something more than just one they need to win, but one in which they can try something different in the bowling department, which has been an area of concern so far in the tournament.MS Dhoni was in Mr Quick Quote mode when he summarised India’s World Cup so far as being “a tight game, a close game and a good win.” What was due now he said, with the smile that has launched a thousand endorsements, was an “easy game”. It would be perfect for the side, yet should it come by taking the easy route, that would be something of a cop-out. More than an option, going by how the Indian bowling has panned out over the last two weeks, experimentation would perhaps be common sense.In keeping with cricket’s ancient social orders, experimentation for India, in this event, means that it is the bowlers who must lump it. All barring Zaheer Khan, of course, who through his indispensability these days could surely lay claim to the title of Indian cricket’s most-valuable player ahead even of the team’s most feted batsmen. Other than Zaheer, India’s most impactful bowler so far in three games has been the part-timer Yuvraj Singh, while the rest have mostly been works in not-very-rapid progress.It may be time for R Ashwin to get a go ahead of Piyush Chawla•AFPAshish Nehra’s comeback is awaited, Munaf Patel must demonstrate he can lead, Harbhajan Singh must fill in his wickets column, Piyush Chawla is finding that bowling on a turner in a warm-up is not the same as trying to rein in England on a belter, while Sreesanth must once again understand that being liked and picked are somehow interconnected.It is time to give R Ashwin a go, not because the commentariat wants it, or experts are filling in hundreds of column inches or that it is the tea-stall talk, but because it is the logical option. Cricket teams are not, and rightly so, political parties who must go with the popular mood. There are times though that popular opinion may be the most appropriate one. To turn away from it, merely because it is popular, is to respond not to logic but to ego. There is only one way to see if Ashwin’s wicket-taking ability has not melted away and that is by giving him a game.Dhoni said he “did not want to bring any particular bowler under pressure” and thought he saw “signs of improvement.” India will, he indicated, keep juggling combinations and “hopefully, we will have the best attack by the end of the league stage.” Hopefully for their breathless public, ‘hopefully’ is not the operative word for India in this World Cup.If India can lay claim to having structure and balance in some areas, it is, not surprisingly, in their batting. It is now clearly established that the No. 4 and No. 5 slot will be switched between Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh depending on the state of play, and Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan are ready to float along too. Should wickets fall early, Kohli goes in at No. 4 to be given the time and breadth to construct an innings of the kind that has made him the fastest Indian to a 1000 one-day runs. Should the innings need a lift in the run-rate, it will be Yuvraj who goes in at No. 4, like he did in the match against England, a move that is believed to have been made on coach Gary Kirsten’s prompting. Dhoni virtually stated on Tuesday that Suresh Raina would be unable to squeeze into the XI should things stay the same.The “signs of progress” that Dhoni sees in the bowling were somewhat more evident in the measured Indian batting versus Ireland, where the India batsmen, for a change, ran more singles than their feisty competitors.The logic and success rate of sticking to a winning combination is a hard one to argue against at most times. Yet, in a six-week long World Cup, gaps between games may be long but the windows of opportunity to try different things are fewer. The match versus Netherlands is one of those windows for India. After Wednesday, all dramatic changes in personnel will come either from injury or panic. That cricket will not be so brave.