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The second leg of our correspondent’s South Africa tour diary features steel bands, pelvic thrusts, Ethiopian food, and a low-key last innings

Sidharth Monga02-Jan-2014December 16
“Must” has overtaken “should”. “How are you” has become “howzit”. “I am fine, thank you?” has become “goodandyou?” “Shap shap” is okay, all right, thank you, everything. Enough time has been spent in South Africa. There hasn’t been much cricket, though. Only two completed matches in 16 days. Only one team turned up during those.Elsewhere, people have begun draining out of Johannesburg. Restaurants and coffee shops are closed for the year. Biggest loss, Wolves. Nice little coffee shop and bar near the Wanderers, with free wi-fi. Owned by slightly obscure South African rock band, the delightfully named Desmond & the Tutus. One of their songs is “Car Guard Tan”, a tan presumably got from doing standing and doing nothing all day. All of Johannesburg away for a car-guard tan.December 17
Jimmy Cook. Former South Africa opener. Most of his career passed during apartheid. When the chance finally arrived, he was out first ball of a Test. Caught at slip off Kapil Dev. Jolly good talker of cricket. Has mentored and coached Graeme Smith since his childhood. As he has Stephen Cook, his son. Stephen is part of South Africa Invitation XI that was supposed to play India but couldn’t because of bad weather and a wet outfield. Story of his life, says Jimmy.”He had one fantastic season. One-day cricket, he batted beautifully. He did really well in the four-day stuff. He had had his best year by miles. And they were picking an SA A team to go to Zimbabwe. And I said, ‘He has got to get in there. He must be there.’ Anyway the team came out, and his name wasn’t there. I said, ‘Geez, you are unlucky.’ So I looked down the names, and I said, ‘Ah I can see who they have put in his place. Don’t even know this bloke. Who is this little bloke they put in in his place?'”It was AB de Villiers.December 18
Commentary boxes at the Wanderers are next to the press box. When off air, some commentators shoot the breeze in the lounge area and watch cricket on TV, which has a lag. One way to kill time is to predict from the crowd reaction what has happened, then watch on TV to see who’s right. Shaun Pollock knows his Wanderers crowd well, and wins a lot. Not a lot of wickets to cheer on day one, though. Especially after India’s openers are gone for 24. Virat Kohli, in his first Test in South Africa, scores a century to give the first signs India can compete in South Africa.December 19
Those sleep scientists “must” conduct their studies on South Africa. Incredibly sleepy country. Especially when it pitter-patters continuously. Wake up to rain, go back to sleep, certain play won’t start on time. Wanderers drainage has other ideas, and we have not lost a minute.Lots of wickets are lost, though. India lose their last five for 16, but fight back through their quicks to take five South African wickets for 16 and leave the Test in the balance.December 20
Vernon Philander becomes the fastest South African to reach 100 Test wickets. Morne Morkel injures himself when he slips while fielding. Cheteshwar Pujara and Kohli add 222 for the third wicket to start batting South Africa out of the game.Ethiopian food in the evening in the inner-city suburb of Kensington. Almost miss the restaurant because it seems locked. Turns out they take guests in, then lock the doors again. Not very safe late in the night, they say. Surprised to see a lot of Indian influence in their food, and music: Lots of unfit singers dancing in music videos. A -like feel even to dances around a bonfire in the desert. Informed of a large Indian population working in Ethiopia. bread it is, then.December 21
With Morkel injured, India rack up the runs before leaving South Africa 135 overs to bat to save or win the Test. Jacques Kallis bowls 20 overs to make up for Morkel’s absence, so he doesn’t bat at No. 4. Faf du Plessis is his replacement. Sign of things to come?Moyo’s. Restaurant that serves African food. Has live bands every Saturday evening. Congolese this night. Despite it being live, the music is trance-like, looping. Loud. Pelvic thrusts by the frontman. Crazy. Goes on for hours. Almost possessed. Turns around to thrust to each band member’s solo. Band play with straight faces. Sreesanth, man last seen with such thrusts on a cricket field, might be missed in this Test.December 22
Great finish to Wanderers Test. Du Plessis. Hard little nut. Reprises Adelaide. AB de Villiers. Considered soft. No more. Scores a hundred that keeps chase alive. Both teams get into one-upmanship after draw. Kohli says South Africa gave up chase, Smith says India didn’t have bowling to bowl them out. Crowd boos Dale Steyn and Philander who shut shop, knowing Morkel can’t even stand up properly, and Imran Tahir is no good with the bat. Need to appreciate how much rests on decisions Steyn and Philander make. Could easily have ruined all the hard work done by du Plessis and de Villiers.December 23
Tongaat. Outside Durban. Indian town. Temples. Sugarcane farms. White gold, they called sugar when they brought indentured labour to work here. Chinatown-type establishments. Start with provisions store. One door leads into a residential hotel. Cross it to reach bar. Another door into a private bar. Door at end of bar opens into a gambling den and pool parlour. Somewhere off this road used to live the Amlas. Logan and Mirinda live there now. Mirinda was Hashim’s teacher in primary school. Logan was “Logan uncle” to Hashim.Visit TV room where Dr Mohamed Amla and babies Hashim and Ahmed spent hours and hours and days and days watching and discussing cricket. Backyard where Dr Amla installed a bowling machine and net and built a swimming pool for the kids to do their stuff. Mirinda remembers a shy kid. Balls Hashim used to practise with still lie around in the house. Dr Amla still visits Tongaat everyday to work at his surgery – South African for “clinic”.December 24
Some things I know about Durban:Its roads go up and down so steeply it is like being on a rollercoaster.
Vasco da Gama discovered it on Christmas Eve, and named it Rio de Natal, meaning “Christmas river”.
Malcolm Marshall played domestic cricket here. They still talk about it with awe.
Over 100 streets have recently been renamed to honour heroes of the struggle against apartheid. Still, people use mostly the old names.
Durban Poison is the name of a punk-rock band in Canada.
Sixto Rodriguez: big in South Africa•Getty ImagesDecember 25
Christmas day. Not many present to watch practice at Kingsmead. Kallis bowls a lot of overs in nets. Later South Africa media manager in the dressing room seen discussing stuff with Kallis. Later he takes the seat and looks at her laptop. Don’t realise he is reading the media release that hours later will inform everybody he is retiring from Test cricket. Now the slightly sombre mood during their training a day before makes sense. Told they all shed tears when informed of the decision on December 24. Also told that Smith was the first one to know when Kallis told him from second slip during Wanderers Test. Haven’t confirmed it. Better this way. Shouldn’t ruin a great story.December 26
Boxing day. Crowd not great. This is Kallis’ last Test. Joke goes around he would have got a bigger crowd had he retired in India. Quietly M Vijay accumulates 91 on stop-start day, showing admirable discipline in leaving balls outside off. Says later he had realised he was playing at too many balls in home series against Australia. Good awareness of own game.Sixto Rodriguez. Folk singer-songwriter. Born in Detroit. Completely unknown in his country. Unbeknownst to him, he became a huge hit in South Africa. tells his fascinating story. Has footage of when he was finally found – he had been rumoured to have killed himself during a performance – and brought over to play in South Africa. Goosebumps stuff. Meet people who were at the homecoming concert. They remember how he had even forgotten his lyrics. Pretty old by the time he was rediscovered. Can’t take away from his earlier work, though.December 27
Zaheer Khan plays a horrible shot first ball as India lose their last five wickets for 14 runs. Second time this series, Ajinkya Rahane stranded at the other end. Punters at the nearby Suncoast Casino more careful. Suncoast not quite Vegas. No glamour here. People mean business. Can tell these are regular faces. Running tables must be extremely difficult. Dealing with someone else’s money. Place bets for different people with different coloured chips. Calculate earnings after every spin. Sometimes times 35, sometimes 17, sometimes seven. Watch ecstasy, glee, despair, sadness. Beginner’s luck. Veteran’s muck. Chat sometimes. Stay indifferent at others. Watched by cameras all along. Wonder if they ever gamble themselves.December 28
Kallis is batting for possibly one last time, but no crowd again. Is he going too slow, though? Rain around. Forecast not bright. Alviro Petersen says you can’t trust South Africa’s weatherman. Can’t plan for the weather. Truer words never spoken.December 29
Kallis goes on to get a century in his final Test, only third South African after Barry Richards and Lee Irvine. A low-key innings from a man who forever wanted to stay low-key. Setting South Africa up for win if weather stays good.If it’s Saturday, it must be Moyo’s. Storytelling through dances this time. Steel band makes a late appearance. Originated in West Africa, perfected in Trinidad.December 30
Steyn does it for South Africa once again. Went more than 70 overs without a wicket during the series. Now has run through India twice. Says he had to do it for Kallis. When asked how it feels to have the power to change games single-handedly, humbly says anybody could have done it. Also adds, “Kinda cool.”And suddenly it is all over. Everybody is asking about flight plans, saying farewells. Stand outside press box at Kingsmead and look at buildings that have become familiar. Want to know what will go on there and at Kingsmead tomorrow. Just like when passing a cricket field on a train and wondering what happened next ball. Shall never know.

India are the only unbeaten team in the tournament, while their recent record against Sri Lanka, and in finals, is also a cause for confidence

S Rajesh05-Apr-2014The head-to-head in finals
Since the beginning of 2008, India and Sri Lanka have played 63 international matches, which equals the highest by any two teams during this period. Australia and England have played that many times as well, but while 20 of the 63 Australia-England clashes have been in Tests, India and Sri Lanka have met only nine times in the five-day format during this period, and five times in Twenty20s, which means the overwhelming majority of matches have been ODIs (49, easily the most by any two teams).Clearly, the two teams are familiar opponents for each other, but what might also worry Sri Lanka is the dominance India have had over them recently. In the 49 ODIs since 2008, India have a 29-17 advantage, and a 3-2 edge in the five Twenty20 internationals. Moreover, India have also shaken off the tag of choking in finals, something that was reinforced by a string of defeats in finals during the Sourav Ganguly era. Under MS Dhoni, they’ve exuded a confidence that only comes with deep self-belief, and they have the numbers to show they relish a big match: in their last 12 finals since the World Twenty20 in 2007 – all of them under Dhoni’s leadership – India have won eight and lost four. That’s significantly better than Sri Lanka’s 8-9 record in finals during this period.The familiarity with each other extends to the finals as well: the two teams have played each other seven times in finals, which is four times more than any other pair of teams. India have a 4-3 edge, but that also means three of their four defeats in finals have come against Sri Lanka: in the Asia Cup in 2008, a tri-nation tournament in Bangladesh in 2010, and a triangular in Sri Lanka the same year. Since then, though, India have won three finals in a row: the 2011 World Cup, the 2013 Champions Trophy, and the tri-nation tournament in the West Indies later that year. The first and the last of those wins were against Sri Lanka. In fact, of the last eight finals India have played in limited-overs tournaments, seven have been against Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka’s record in big finals isn’t that great in recent times: since 2007, they’ve lost in the title match of the World Cup and the World Twenty20 twice each. However, they’ll have more pleasant recent memories of playing a final in Mirpur: they beat Pakistan by five wickets in the Asia Cup final less than a month ago, at the same venue. That should make them feel good about playing another final there so soon.

The tournament stats
In the tournament so far, there has been little to choose between the two teams. India are the only unbeaten side so far, but Sri Lanka have lost only one game, and the conditions in Mirpur should suit them too.Sri Lanka have a slightly better run rate, economy rate, and bowling average, while India have a better batting average. Both teams have taken exactly 35 wickets, which shows the effectiveness of their bowling attacks. Sri Lanka have preferred to put the runs on the board – the only time they chased in the tournament was against Netherlands, who were bundled out for 39. India, on the other hand, have preferred to chase, doing so in four out of five matches so far. Given that they’ve also beaten Sri Lanka twice in recent finals doing so, India might prefer to bat second again if they win the toss in Mirpur.

Both India and Sri Lanka also have similar batting run rates through the first 15 overs of their innings. India have lost fewer wickets – four, to Sri Lanka’s nine – which is why their batting average is far better. Two of India’s top three have scored more than 170 runs in the tournament, with Virat Kohli’s 242 being the highest aggregate of the tournament. Kohli has been dismissed only twice in the tournament, which means he has an average of 121 at a strike rate of 128.04. Rohit Sharma has been impressive as well, with 171 runs at 42.75 and a strike rate of almost 126. (Click here for India’s batting and bowling stats.) Suresh Raina has also done well in the limited opportunities he has had, ensuring Shikhar Dhawan’s poor form has not affected the team much.Sri Lanka’s highest run-getter has been Mahela Jayawardene with 134 at a strike rate of 131, but they have also been served well by Kusal Perera at the top of the order (120 runs at a strike rate of 158), and Angelo Mathews lower down the order (100 runs at a strike rate of 143). In the last five overs, Mathews has scored 68 from 37 balls – a strike rate of 184. Thanks largely to him, Sri Lanka have scored at ten an over in the last five. (Click here for Sri Lanka’s batting and bowling averages.)

One of the most impressive aspects of both teams has been their bowling at the start of the innings. Sri Lanka have taken 13 wickets in the first six overs, the highest by any team in the tournament. South Africa’s 40 for 1 is the best Powerplay score against them, but the other teams have struggled: England were 37 for 2 after six, West Indies 30 for 2, New Zealand 23 for 4 and Netherlands 15 for 4. South Africa’s 44 for 2 is also the best Powerplay score against India; Pakistan were 34 for 1 and West Indies 24 without loss, while Australia and Bangladesh were an identical 27 for 3 after six overs.Through the middle overs there is little to choose between the two teams, while India have been a little more economical than Sri Lanka in the final five overs.

The spin strengths of both teams have also shone through in the tournament. R Ashwin is the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 10 at an economy rate of 4.91, while Amit Mishra was outstanding till the semi-final game against South Africa.Sri Lanka’s spin stars have been Rangana Herath – who destroyed New Zealand in the last group match – and Sachitra Senanayake, both of whom have economy rates of less than 4.70. However, Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers have been far more incisive than India’s, taking 16 wickets in 46.1 overs to India’s seven in 31 overs.

The final will also be the last Twenty20 international for two Sri Lankan legends, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, both of whom have contrasting T20I stats against India: Sangakkara has scored 183 from three innings at a strike rate of 181, while Jayawardene has scored 51 from four innings. Jayawardene has had the better tournament so far – Sangakkara has scored all of 19 runs in four innings. Both will want a farewell as memorable as Sachin Tendulkar’s last World Cup game, which, incidentally, was also an India-Sri Lanka final.

Plays of the day from the Group B match between Barbados Tridents and Hobart Hurricanes in Mohali

Rachna Shetty28-Sep-2014The brain freeze
As captain and wicketkeeper of the side, Tim Paine rarely has the luxury of taking a moment off. But he was caught napping in the ninth over of the Barbados Tridents innings when he missed a straightforward stumping. Jonathan Carter had stepped out to counter Shoaib Malik but played across the line and Paine barely moved as the ball passed him to trickle away to the boundary.The lesson that wasn’t learned
In their last league match against Cape Cobras, Tridents had three run-outs in their innings. On Sunday, against Hurricanes, it seemed the lesson still hadn’t been learned. Tridents were struggling at 104 for 8 in the 18th over when Rayad Emrit pushed a delivery from Ben Laughlin towards mid-off and set off for a single. Non-striker Kyle Mayers, however, barely moved and Paine had plenty of time to take off the bails at the striker’s end.The brain wave
Three balls into the Hurricanes innings, Tridents came up with an inspired field placement, bringing Neil McKenzie into short mid-off for Ben Dunk. The batsman had played a drive off the last ball, a probable boundary that was saved only because the ball hit Tim Paine. Dunk repeated that shot again, off the fourth ball, playing on the up. This time, though, McKenzie was ready and dived quickly to his right to send Dunk back for a duck.The agony

Seven balls after he helped get rid of Dunk, McKenzie had a chance to pick up a second, good catch. Ravi Rampaul cramped Aiden Blizzard for room and the batsman ended up trying to force a late cut. The ball went to the left of McKenzie at first slip who could not hold on to it despite a diving attempt.The lucky streak
One can’t deny that Aiden Blizzard has enjoyed a fair bit of luck on his way to becoming the tournament’s top run-getter. During a staggering 78 against Cape Cobras, Blizzard was dismissed off a no-ball from Vernon Philander. He was dropped by Northern Knights’ Ish Sodhi for 2 before he belted a 43-ball 62. Tridents might have been contemplating similar treatment having given him two reprieves. After McKenzie put down a tough grab at slip, Raymon Reifer let the ball go through at square leg. Blizzard, however, did not hammer another fifty and fell for 21 to Dilshan Munaweera.

Stats highlights from the first day of the Sharjah Test between Pakistan and New Zealand

Bishen Jeswant26-Nov-2014112 Test matches played by Daniel Vettori for New Zealand, making him the most capped New Zealand player, overtaking Stephen Fleming (111). Vettori has played 113 Tests in all, including a game for ICC World XI against Australia in 2005.1998 The year when three specialist spinners last played in the same Test for New Zealand. Vettori, Paul Wiseman and Mark Priest played against Sri Lanka at the SSC in June 1998. Mark Craig, Ish Sodhi and Vettori are playing in this Test.7 Number of Test hundreds for Mohammad Hafeez, all as an opener – the third-most hundreds by a Pakistan opener, after Mudassar Nazar (9) and Saeed Anwar (11). Six of Hafeez’s seven hundreds have come in Asia, the other being in Zimbabwe.15 Years since a Pakistan opener made hundreds in back-to-back Test innings. Prior to his century in the first innings, Hafeez was 101 not-out in Abu Dhabi, in the first Test of this series. Wajahatullah Wasti was the last Pakistan opener to do this, against Sri Lanka, in 1999. In all, eight Pakistan openers have achieved this feat – Hafeez, Wasti, Nazar, Hanif Mohammad, Aamer Sohail, Mohsin Khan, Shoaib Mohammad and Aamer Malik28 Sixes conceded by Craig in 2014 – the most by any New Zealand bowler, and the third-most overall. The only bowlers to have conceded more sixes in a year are Nathan Lyon (30 in 2013) and Graeme Swann (34 in 2013).1 Number of Pakistan openers to make two 150-plus scores in the last 15 years; Hafeez is the only one. Prior to his innings of 178 not out in this Test, Hafeez made 196 against Sri Lanka in 2012. In all,
six Pakistan openers have made at least two scores of 150 or more in their careers, with Mudassar Nazar having four such scores.5 Runs scored by Younis Khan in the first innings, his lowest Test score in more than a year. The last time he made a lower score was when he was dismissed for 1 against South Africa in Abu Dhabi in October 2013.

Australia won this series in spite of some of the flattest pitches seen down under for years. It is three decades since Melbourne and Sydney both ended in stalemate

Daniel Brettig at the SCG10-Jan-20153:46

Agarkar and Bevan’s combined XI

Last time the Melbourne and Sydney Tests both finished in draws, it was 1986. Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border were opposing each other on the field rather than presenting their trophy to the victorious captain. Steve Waugh, Merv Hughes and Geoff Marsh were uncertain debutants, Ravi Shastri a wiry twenty-something allrounder.India were an emerging power in the game, having won the 1983 World Cup and the 1985 World Championship of Cricket. But they were still considered a poor relation by the likes of England and Australia, and it had not been long since they were required to pay for the reciprocal right to tour other nations.Test cricket was a sedate affair – draws were frequent, and scoring rates commonly hovered around 2.5 an over. In Adelaide, the first Test of that series, Australia pottered around for 149 overs to make 381, and India responded with 520 across 202 overs. As Wisden put it: “Adverse weather, which cost 300 minutes’ play during the last three days, was only one of the factors leading to the draw.”For all that, Melbourne would have been an Indian victory without rain washing out the final session when the visitors stood poised at 2 for 59 in pursuit of 126. Sydney was also in the lap of Kapil Dev’s team, and had they batted with a little more purpose early on the second day there would surely have been enough time to round up a nervy Australian team when they followed on later.What this illustrates is how rare it has been for the Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests to both end in stalemates, and how much Test cricket has moved on in pace and proactivity to lessen the possibility of such non-results. What the observer of history and trend is left to conclude is that the pitches for Melbourne and Sydney – and to a lesser extent Adelaide and Brisbane – have left too much to the batsmen’s imagination.As they are apt to do, Australia’s pace bowlers were first to suggest that the surfaces for this series have been a little too friendly to those who wield the willow. Mitchell Johnson reckoned that while Adelaide is expected to be a difficult week for fast bowlers, Brisbane had lost pace and bounce relative to the rapid strip prepared for England, and Melbourne’s drop-in was neither lively enough at the start nor cracked enough at the finish.Johnson’s pace dropped away significantly during the series, as he was pushed into longer spells by Steven Smith and Darren Lehmann on unresponsive pitches. Ryan Harris and Josh Hazlewood had their moments, but the former offered similar critiques of the pitches, and the major share of the work was left to Nathan Lyon. His response was admirable – 23 wickets was a career-best in a single series, the first time an Australian spinner had led the series aggregates in a home bout since Nathan Hauritz against Pakistan in 2009-10.But the struggles of the faster men against opponents who have a reputation of being uncomfortable on pitches affording bounce or movement told a story that went beyond the relative merits of the two teams. Australia’s curators for 2014-15 have been a timid lot, preparing surfaces that they hoped would produce a result on the last day, but not providing enough assistance at either end to make it certain.The administrators, too, have played a part, by excising Perth from the rota of Test match grounds for the first time since 1973. The WACA Ground’s facilities are a matter of some debate, and there has been much conjecture about the future of the ground given the widespread move towards homogenised all-sport stadia with drop-in pitches, as will be built at Burswood in 2018. India would not mind never playing a Test at the WACA Ground again, but Australia’s fast bowlers – and more than a few batsmen – would weep at the same thought.Where is the variable bounce? Where is the seam movement? What do bowlers turn to?•Cricket AustraliaThe bowlers were driven almost to tears on day five in Sydney, as the uncertain bounce they hoped for did not materialise. Only Lyon managed to get the sort of variation desired, one ball in each of first and second innings sliding fast along the floor to defeat Rohit Sharma then R Ashwin. Mitchell Starc gained a tad of new-ball swing and rather more reverse in arguably his best Test match display. But when he and Ryan Harris took the second new ball they found remarkably little movement off the surface.Steven Smith and Virat Kohli, the two opposing captains in this series, have also been masters of every bowler they surveyed. Four hundreds and near enough to 700 runs each, they have batted to a wondrously high standard. But they have had to, in the knowledge that a first innings short of 500 would be decidedly pregnable, and a fourth innings chase was always conceivable no matter how distant the target.”It has been tough to get 20 wickets in this Test series,” Smith said. “The wickets haven’t broken up quite as we thought they might have, I don’t know the reasons for that. But it’s been tough and the bowlers have toiled extremely hard throughout these four Test matches, and I’m really proud of how they’ve gone throughout these games.”I thought 90 overs with them having a little dip at us with the bat, we would be a good chance to win this game but it wasn’t to be. I think the wicket didn’t break up quite as much as I thought it would, there wasn’t much up and down movement with balls on the stumps, I think with Nathan into the rough there were a few that hit the gloves and went straight into the ground, on a different day those pop up and you get wickets.”Kohli cast his mind back to 2011-12. While he reasoned that the MCG’s drop-in barely changed and Adelaide retained its character, he reckoned that Sydney had slowed considerably, while the replacement of the WACA with the Gabba reaped the most equitable pitch of the series.”Melbourne I think was pretty similar last time, I don’t think we played that well the last time around,” Kohli said. “Adelaide again was similar. I think Brisbane was probably was the most true wicket this series. It had a bit for both bowlers and batsmen. This wicket was surprisingly slow. Sydney the last time around was much quicker as far as I remember.”That Indian team had been unhappy with the wickets served up, most notably those in Sydney and Perth. This time they have managed to halve the margin from 4-0 to 2-0, helped in no small part by the pitches prepared. If the cricket of 2014-15 was not quite as slow burning as that of 1985-86, then the gap was uncomfortably close.

ESPNcricinfo’s correspondents travelling around Australia and New Zealand pick their best moments from the second week of the World Cup

28-Feb-2015George Dobell: Remembering Christchurch past

As chance would have it, England’s match against Scotland was the day after the fourth anniversary of the Christchurch earthquake. Christchurch is the place my family comes from. My grandfather nicknamed me Hadlee, after one of the city’s most famous sons. My parents were there when the earthquake struck. I probably should have been aware of the enormity of the disaster that struck this pretty little city.I wasn’t. Until you’ve walked through the empty city centre, stopped at the memorial to the dead, seen the condemned Lancaster Park stadium – the Hadlee Stand has already been pulled down at New Zealand’s first Test venue – and understood that homes and offices and shops once stood where all these vacant blocks now lie, it is hard to fully take in the extent of the tragedy. The centre – once beautiful – has simply gone. Most of the people who lived and worked there have gone with it.It’s incredible that the city has recovered enough to host a sporting event of global significance, albeit in a park setting. In years to come, I’m pretty sure I won’t recall who won or even who played. But I’ll remember – and be grateful – that sport, and something approaching normality, returned to Christchurch.Brydon Coverdale: Russell gets in gear

Andre Russell walked to the crease with 2.5 overs left against Pakistan in Christchurch. He faced 13 balls, including two he didn’t score runs off. He still managed to finish unbeaten on 42. With hair and beard trimmed to look like Mr T’s Clubber Lang character from , Russell decided to club ‘er long. Strong down the ground, Russell smashed four sixes and hit the ball with ferocious power. He had walked out at 259 for 5 after 47.1, and walked off with the total at 310 off 50 overs. The fastest ODI fifty was on the cards, had he not run out of time.Andrew McGlashan: The Hamid Show

The spirit of Afghanistan’s quick bowlers is infectious. Shapoor Zadran, his flowing locks and steaming run-up, has commanded much of the attention but Hamid Hassan – flags on his face, heart on his sleeve – stole the show against Sri Lanka. In Dunedin, he ripped a delivery through the defences of Kumar Sangakkara, pegging back middle and off stumps, and then celebrated with a cartwheel that probably left the physio in a state of panic. It would have struggled for top marks from any Olympic judges, but the Afghanistan supporters will not have cared at all that he ended up flat on his back.Jarrod Kimber: Hot streak

Public nudity can go wrong. And pitch invaders are some of the most horrendous bores of all time. But every once in a while one shows such daring, such speed, such everything, that you have to be on their side. The Hagley Oval invader for the England-Scotland game actually improved the entire game of cricket just by his naked jiggle-running. When he faked right, went left, and left behind a puddle of sweaty security guards, he became a beautiful naked streak. He jumped the ground fence, ran through the media zone, past the nets and then over another fence that could have, on another day, ended in some of the worst pain imaginable. But as they say, if you are going to slash, slash hard. Somewhere in Hagley Park, north or south, where there used to be a pop-up cricket stadium, a naked man roams. May he never go home, may he never be clothed.Chris Gayle: reminding the world he’s still relevant•ICCDevashish Fuloria: The joy of slow

A race is on at one end of the bowling spectrum among a bevy of faster men to bowl quick, hurry batsmen, test their eyes and reflexes. At the other end, one man stands alone. In Scotland’s match against Afghanistan, a delivery from Majid Haq was clocked at , surely one of the slowest ever recorded. And that was with the wind behind him. Each delivery hung in the air for what seemed an eternity, leaving the batsmen to fight their instincts and wait. If records haven’t been maintained, they should now, for a man with the gall to bowl that slow, to mess with the heads of batsmen in this era of batting madness, must be celebrated.Andrew Fidel Fernando: The swap

Sri Lanka are often the flag bearers for amateurism in world cricket but not at this World Cup. Hamid Hassan was halfway through his fifth over in the match against Sri Lanka, when he felt something wrong with his boot. He stopped, redid his laces and bowled another one, but on his walk back to his mark, he was clearly unhappy again. As soon as Shapoor Zadran saw this, he jogged over from cover and asked what the problem was. When the two discovered they were the same shoe size, without thinking, Shapoor offered his own boot to his team-mate. This is a team playing on the biggest stage their sport has, but in spirit as well as in name they are representing children all over their nation. Children who will be swapping shoes and balls, and bats, and shirts as they play cricket into the Afghan sunset.Firdose Moonda: The Gayle carousel

and
Chris Gayle has seemed to be on his knees since the series in South Africa and had struggled to buy a run, as one fan put it and the WICB president reminded. The ups and downs continued at the World Cup. His double-century against Zimbabwe was one part hard work, one part heartless. But he showed what the knock meant to him when he got on his knees in celebration. Two days later, he had been struck down again. AB de Villiers was the man with no mercy, who hit a stupendous century which left Gayle in the dust. Watching the ebb and flow has been fascinating.Abhishek Purohit:

Indian fans love to celebrate individual player landmarks. Expectation starts building up from the time the batsman enters the late 80s. In the 90s, each ball is an event. At the MCG, the match seemed like one raucous, extended event, with close to 90,000 filling the stadium. Having watched a large part of the game from the stands, I was on my way back up to the media box when I changed my mind and decided to hang on longer. The reward was three near-celebrations and the big, actual one. For Shikhar Dhawan played three dot balls on 99, and if the crowd could have had its way, he would have reached the landmark three times before he finally did. And when he did, four packed tiers of gigantic stands gave him an ovation he will probably never forget.Andy Zaltzman: Cross sizzles

The post-Moeen phase of England’s innings against Scotland was a masterpiece of failing to capitalise on a perfectly laid platform, as Scotland’s bowlers found some control and England’s middle order took the team strategy of avoiding roughing up the ball on the boundary boards to curious extremes. It was enlivened by a sizzling piece of glovework by Scotland wicketkeeper Matthew Cross, standing up to the medium-pace of Josh Davey. James Taylor skipped down the wicket to no discernible purpose, Davey bowled a wide half-volley way outside off, beating Taylor’s ungainly smear, reminiscent of a drunken waiter swiping breadcrumbs off a table onto the floor whilst hoping no one was watching. This ugly duckling of a delivery was transformed into a glorious cricketing swan by Cross, who took the ball a good two feet from the stumps, swivelled and sprang back stumpwards in a predatory blur to clatter the timbers with Taylor still stranded, and his breadcrumbs still mid-air. A twinkling stumping to gladden the hearts of long-dead specialist glovemen from the wicketkeeping past. Bert Oldfield must have been high-fiving himself in his grave.

In a team with Steven Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, James Faulkner and Tim Southee, centrestage might elude Dhawal Kulkarni and Pravin Tambe. But it would be hard to argue against their utility

Arun Venugopal in Visakhapatnam16-Apr-20153:08

Agarkar: Fresher and stronger Kulkarni getting more zip

About an hour before the start of the game, the giant screens at the stadium alternated between flashing ‘dance cam’ and ‘oblivious cam.’ While the former recorded images of the dancing crowd, the curiously-named oblivious cam captured the audience without them being aware of it. Should such a camera have been trained on Rajasthan Royals, the focus would have remained firmly on the efforts of Dhawal Kulkarni and Pravin Tambe. Well before Royals fussed over a modest target, Kulkarni and Tambe had ensured they didn’t have a lot more to chase.The Mumbai duo’s understated efficiency was on display at different stages of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s innings, as they picked up two wickets each. When Kulkarni was handed the ball in the third over – he has been introduced no later than the fourth over this IPL – he immediately brought out his full range.After a full delivery that Shikhar Dhawan drove unconvincingly for a single, he sent down a shortish slider that went past David Warner’s attempted pull. Kulkarni followed it up with a slower cutter that eluded the batsman’s slash. Warner got off strike the next ball, and Dhawan skipped down the pitch for a slap over cover to the boundary. One more ball remained. Kulkarni shortened his length and slanted it across to Dhawan, inducing a nick behind. Job done. Job begun.In his next over, Kulkarni put himself on course for a hat-trick with a fuller ball homing in on middle and leg pinning KL Rahul to the crease. New batsman Eoin Morgan, playing his first game for Sunrisers, nearly bagged a golden duck, inside-edging a late in-ducker onto his pad. The following four deliveries were either on length or slightly back of it, as Morgan mustered only blocks and mishits.Kulkarni’s wicket-maiden was at the heart of a 10-ball phase where Sunrisers didn’t score a run, losing two wickets, including Warner’s run-out. Kulkarni conceded three more runs in his third over, and wasn’t given another over. While Steven Smith’s reluctance to using him at the death is evident, it’s less clear why he hasn’t finished his quota in any of the matches.If Kulkarni owned the early overs, Tambe took charge of the middle stages. He began with a sharp legbreak to beat Naman Ojha. Four balls later, Ojha was reprieved at deep cover. Tambe had his man in his next over though with one that spun sharply from outside leg to crash into middle. Arms aloft and down on one knee, Tambe unleashed his trademark celebration.Pravin Tambe’s passionate efforts have been an inspiration to Rajasthan Royals in their undefeated campaign thus far•BCCIIn Tambe’s third over, Sanju Samson failed to stump Morgan. Putting the let off behind him, he pitched the next delivery well up to Morgan, who missed the reverse-sweep and was plumb in front. At one point, Tambe appeared to be cramping up, but he shrugged it off with a few stretches and even put in a couple of diving saves off his bowling.Whenever Tambe wasn’t bowling, he kept himself busy by encouraging his team-mates or constantly checking with his captain if he had marked down his position at third man correctly. There was also the surprised smile and a shy wave of his hands to the crowd when they chanted his name. Ajinkya Rahane called Tambe an “inspiration.””He has been phenomenal for us,” Rahane said after the match. “42, 43-years-old guy and he is putting in his 100 percent every time. Lots to learn from him personally and also for everyone.”At different stages of their careers they might be, but Kulkarni and Tambe have similar plotlines. Tambe is the late bloomer, emerging from club cricket to play in the IPL and then make his first-class debut at the age of 42. Kulkarni, on the other hand, has been the invisible man of Indian cricket. After being selected to tour New Zealand with the India squad for the first time in 2009, Kulkarni had to wait five more years to make his international debut.In the context of the IPL, it’s an irony how these two have been overshadowed by superstars in a team that has always thrived on small names making it big. Granted that Deepak Hooda has ticked that box this season, much like Tambe himself did a couple of years ago. But, save for him, it has largely been about Smith, Rahane, James Faulkner and Tim Southee.Neither Tambe nor Kulkarni has done badly. In fact with four scalps each, they are joint-highest on the wicket-takers list for Rajasthan as well as being one-two in terms of holding the lowest economy-rate – Tambe at 6.07, Kulkarni at 6.30 – among those having bowled 10 overs. The centrestage might elude them, but it would be hard to argue against their utility.

Mumbai Indians took the final by the scruff of the neck and left the Chennai Super Kings with too much to do on a wicket that had slowed down over the course of the game

Arun Venugopal in Kolkata 25-May-2015This has been the best year for teams batting first Also, Chennai Super Kings have traditionally relied on amassing a huge total before their bowlers put the opposition under stress by exploiting the scoreboard pressure.MS Dhoni, though, thought otherwise ahead of the second Qualifier in Ranchi and was proved right, even if only by a whisker. But, after winning the toss and opting to field again in the final in Kolkata, he wouldn’t go on to defy the numbers for the second time in a row.Chennai Super Kings wouldn’t have expected their opponents to post the score they did. Their head coach, Stephen Fleming, later said they would have batted first in hindsight because “of the way they played.” The decision to bowl, he said, was dictated by the “fresh wicket and a good amount of grass.””Everything suggested [that we] bowl [first]. What we didn’t expect is the inconsistency [in the surface],” Fleming said. “We were playing catch up and that can also make conditions look a little bit worse than what it was.”False dawn(s)
When Faf du Plessis’ loopy, reverse flick found the stumps to catch Parthiv Patel short of his crease in the first over, it appeared that the stage was set for Super Kings to chip away. But then, Rohit Sharma and Lendl Simmons ransacked 119 runs in 11.1 overs to unhinge Super Kings.But, when Rohit and Simmons were out in successive deliveries – Simmons to Dwayne Smith’s first ball in this year’s competition – Super Kings, like they have so often done in the past, surely had a shot at crippling the scoring-rate. Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu, however, put paid to that line of thinking with a belligerent middle-overs assault.Contrasting support cast
One of the key differentiators at the end of the game was the performance of the Indian bowlers. None of Super Kings’ Indian bowlers went for less than nine runs an over. In sharp contrast, the likes of Vinay Kumar and Hardik Pandya, apart from Harbhajan Singh, provided excellent back-up to the pace pairing of Lasith Malinga and Mitchell McClenaghan.Mumbai Indians also read the conditions better, their bowlers dealing in skiddy cutters just outside off stump. Pandya, in particular, troubled Dhoni with deliveries that pinged back in from just short of a length.Smith’s crawl and a limp Powerplay
As often as getting out at the wrong moment is denounced, it’s probably just as important in T20 cricket for a struggling batsman to depart at the right moment without wasting deliveries. The opposite of that happened to Super Kings.Smith and Michael Hussey raised the anxiety levels in their dugout, as only 31 runs were mustered in the Powerplay. Hussey, at one stage, failed to put bat on ball for more than three balls in a row. However, he got out in the fifth over, ceding the stage to others who could charge the run-rate.Smith’s innings, however, was a tenuous battle between runs scored and balls faced. Smith batted till the 12th over to score 57 in 48 balls, and when he looked set to take off, he was trapped in front by Harbhajan.Pace aces
While a target of 203 was intimidating, Mumbai still needed to back that up with some aggressive bowling upfront given the small boundaries and the quick outfield. Malinga and McClenaghan provided just that. Bristling with purpose, they sent down four overs in the Powerplay, catching the Super Kings openers by surprise with their pace. Malinga’s sleight of hand as he varied his trajectory melded favourably with McClenaghan’s unrelenting pace. When they returned to bowl in the middle overs, they merely had to slam the door shut on the opposition.

Why those who say the somnolent pace of (some of) the recent Test proves women’s cricket is not worth watching are wrong

Andy Zaltzman18-Aug-2015If I had to describe the 2015 Ashes in just 46 words, they would be these: a dramatic, unpredictable, disappointing, one-sided, captivating, unsettling, evenly matched, fluctuating, heroic, limp, brilliant, average, feisty, unsettling, invigorating, tired, worrying, brutal, flimsy, intense, uncompetitive, sensational, anticlimactic series, adorned with high-class, inept, tough, supine, thoughtless, anaemic and vigorous cricket, which produced fascinating, drab, unmissable, humdrum, spectacular, monochrome matches.Coincidentally, 46 is also the number of runs scored off the bat in Australia’s alleged first innings at Trent Bridge, Stuart Broad’s spectacular urn-clinching apotheosis, and one of the low-water marks in the history of Test batsmanship. In some ways, the series has defied rational explanation. In others it has been one of the simplest of recent Ashes – England played well, then Australia played well, then England bowled brilliantly on successive first days, Australia disintegrated with record-breaking crumblability, and that was that. England’s batting had been worryingly permeable at Lord’s. England’s incandescent pace attack, and Australia’s clueless, stiff-handed, pseudo-positive batting, ensured that it has not been put under severe strain since.It has been a magnificent victory in an unsatisfying series. As Woody Allen might have written, had he decided to make more films about being a cricket fan supporting a team in the Ashes: “An Ashes victory without a defining contest or a satisfactory denouement is an empty experience. But as empty experiences go, it is one of the best.”The scale of England’s achievement, and the quality and potential of their exciting team of emerging stars and re-energised veterans, will be judged in the context of their winter performances against Pakistan and South Africa, two teams that have been sidelined by the Ashes mania of England’s recent schedule, but who should be among their defining opponents.Australia’s campaign has gone an impressively long way towards matching England’s 2013-14 effort in the annals of Cricket Tours In Which The Most Possible Things Have Gone Wrong. Amid the wreckage and recrimination, England’s seamers have ripped back the tiddliest trophy in international cricket, winning the series with an unprecedented sequence of four consecutive innings in which a different bowler has taken six or more wickets (this after no bowler had taken six in the match in Cardiff, in a complete team performance). Anderson and Finn did the damage at Edgbaston; Broad and Stokes in Nottingham. Only three times in Test history had four different bowlers on the same team taken a six-for in a series (all by Australia in Ashes series – Armstrong, Macartney, Laver and Cotter in 1909; Miller, Johnson, Toshack and Lindwall in 1946-47; McGrath, Warne, Gillespie and Kasprowicz in 1997). Never had they done so in the space of just two matches.It has all been very weird. Magnificent from an England perspective. Puzzling, perplexing and concerning for Australia. And weird.A rather more traditional pace of cricket was on display in Canterbury, where Australia won the women’s Ashes Test to take an almost unassailable lead in the multi-format series.Not all of the coverage has been entirely complimentary, with Mike Selvey in the advocating the abolition of women’s Test cricket, highlighting the “excruciating” English batting, which produced 436 dot balls from 513 deliveries faced in the first innings. Martin Samuel in the , under the headline, “It’s patronising to pretend the Women’s Test was good”, wrote that “anyone tuning in to the Women’s Ashes Test match… would have been turned off cricket for life”.I did not see all of the game, but watched a fair amount of it on television, much of it with my children. I found most of what I watched engaging and, at times, engrossing. The first day was a proper wrestle for supremacy, Australia fighting back gradually into a position of advantage, guided by a superb debut innings of 99 by Jess Jonassen, who batted like the long-form veteran that she emphatically is not. She resisted, consolidated, expanded and eventually controlled. It was a masterclass of Test batting craft, which, after the frantic, harebrained surrender-batting that has scarred much of the men’s series, including its decisive passages, was a delight to watch. She followed with an attacking second-innings match-accelerating half-century that broke the scoreboard torpor with crisp, wide-ranging strokeplay. Many Australians currently engaged as professional batsmen in this country would have done well to watch and learn from her approach, her pacing, and her patience. Although whether they would have recognised what strange form of cricket Jonassen was playing might be open to question.

As Woody Allen might have written: “An Ashes victory without a defining contest or a satisfactory denouement is an empty experience. But as empty experiences go, it is one of the best”

Much of England’s batting was counterproductively tentative – not the first time those words have been written about an England cricket team in recent years (albeit generally one of a different gender, as fans of, for example, the 2015 World Cup would testify; as would aficionados of the 2011-12 Test series in the UAE, or the 1998 Oval Test against Sri Lanka, or .)Unusually by the standards of Ashes Tests in 2015, the match-winning bowling performance occurred in the final session of the final day (the first final day of the Ashes summer, if you exclude the four final days in the men’s series that were not supposed to have been final days), as Ellyse Perry made up for a rare batting disappointment by obliterating England when the draw was within their grasp.Whether you think the criticisms about the pace and quality of play have any validity is clearly a matter of opinion. However, it should be pointed out that:1. There are two sides in a Test match. As a cricket fan, you are allowed to watch both of them.2. There is so little long-form cricket played in the women’s game that, on the rare occasion of a Test match, there is bound to be an understandable degree of learning on the hoof, unfamiliarity, and caution.3. Sarah Taylor’s wicketkeeping is a pure cricketing joy whatever the match situation, even when England are being thrashed.4. The previous women’s Ashes Test (i.e. one Test match ago), in Perth in January 2014, produced a closer match than any of the last nine men’s Ashes Tests. The run rate in each innings was between 2.2 and 2.6. It twisted and turned through three and a bit days of ratcheting bowler-dominated tension. If it had been a men’s match, played out on television instead of an internet stream, it would have been revered as a classic.5. Australia not only played some excellent cricket in this latest women’s Ashes Test, they produced some excellent stats. Perry’s 6 for 32 was the second-best fourth-innings analysis in women’s Test history, behind England hall-of-fame allrounder Enid Bakewell’s 7 for 61 against West Indies at Edgbaston in 1979 (in her final Test, a match in which she also scored 68 and took 3 for 14 in the first innings, then carried her bat for 112 in a total of 164 all out) (imagine what would happen to the internet if Stuart Binny does something similar for India in the second Test against Sri Lanka).Ellyse Perry: now there’s a clichéd Australia v England performance for you•Getty ImagesJonassen scored the only two half-centuries of the Test – no woman had ever achieved this feat, in 137 previous matches, and in the 2176-Test history of men’s cricket, only three batsmen had played the only two 50-plus innings in a game (most recently, Dilip Vengsarkar, who made 61 and 102 not out in India’s Headingley victory in 1986, where no other batsman on either side reached 40; New Zealand’s John Reid scored 74 and 100 but still ended on the losing side as England recorded a half-century-free win in Christchurch in March 1963; and, in the second ever Test, at the MCG in 1877, George Ulyett batted England to their first Test triumph with 52 and 63, although England’s first innings did include two 49s and a 48).Jonassen was also the first woman to score two half-centuries batting at six or lower in a Test. It was, given the context, some of the best batting of the summer – stylish, significant, and statistically striking. Something for all cricket fans to savour. Whether or not they thought that England batting slowly, before ultimately buckling under the pressure of the final session of a Test and a remarkable opponent, meant that women’s Test cricket was pointless.6. Picking on the dull phases of a single match as evidence of a general malaise is a risky approach. Explaining why he thought viewers would have been turned off cricket for life by what they saw from Canterbury, Martin Samuel wrote: “Dot after dot. Leave after leave. Dreadful, stupefying cricket, bearing no relation to the modern game. The England innings featured 436 dots in a score of 168 and that isn’t how the sport is meant to be played…”Now apply those words, or similar, to the one or more of the following efforts by England’s men’s team in recent years:Exhibit A: May 2013, day one v New Zealand, Lord’s

England crawl to 160 for 4 in 80 overs: 421 dot balls blocked, out of 485 deliveries faced, and just 22 singles scored, in one of the least initiative-filled days of cricket in English history. A stultifying, aimless, supine grind. The batsmen: Cook (91st Test), Compton (nine years of first-class experience), Trott (42nd Test), Bell (87th Test), and towards the end, relative newcomers Root and Bairstow. A line-up unquestionably more seasoned at long-form cricket than England’s Canterbury dawdlers, whose run rate and dot rate were very similar. The following morning, England anti-rocket along to 232 all out in the 113th over, their 2.06 run rate their slowest in a home Test innings for 13 years.Exhibit B: Nagpur, 2012, India v England
A dismal morass of cricketing sludge, played out on a pitch that could have neutered an entire herd of randy elephants. England needed a draw to win the series. So they batted for a draw. The pitch was dreadful. The cricket was dreadful. Not wrong, from England’s point of view, but dreadful. I will write no more of this travesty of a cricket match, as I am trying to restrict myself to fewer than ten coffees a day, and I need to stay awake to finish this piece.Exhibit C: May 2013, day three v New Zealand, Leeds
England, 1-0 up and with a first-innings lead of 180, in total control of match and series, begin their second innings after tea. Forty-one overs remain in the day. In those 41 overs, Compton and Trott between them score 18 off 114 balls. Cook begins positively, at almost a run a ball, then slows. The world stops turning. Birds fall out of the sky, drained of will, hypnotised by the sense of inexplicable stasis.

I will write no more of the travesty of a cricket match that was Nagpur 2012, as I am trying to restrict myself to fewer than ten coffees a day and I need to stay awake to finish this piece

Exhibit D: July 2013, days two and three v Australia, Lord’s

England have taken a 233-run first-innings lead. They lose three quick wickets, but Root and the nightwatchman rebuild, and England remain totally dominant. Root bats slowly. Very slowly. After 71 overs, they have scored 142 for 4, at exactly 2 per over. No one minds particularly, as it is merely a temporary stodge during a rampant England win, but in terms of grind-justifiability, it is some way short of the Canterbury go-slow.Exhibit E: March 2008, days two through four, Hamilton

Replying to New Zealand’s first-innings 470, England bat for the draw from midway through the second day. All six of their specialist batsmen, and wicketkeeper Ambrose, score between 25 and 70. None scores at a strike rate of over 40. Not even Pietersen (42 off 131). They end 348 all out in 173 overs. Play is interrupted due to the ground shaking and disturbing the TV cameras. It transpires to have been caused by the simultaneous snoring of spectators. Nearby fish attempt to drown themselves to alleviate the ennui. They die of confusion instead. England match their two-runs-per-over scoring rate in the second innings, but at least have the decency to do so while subsiding to 110 all out and a resoundingly merited defeat.Exhibits F-Z: Pick your own.

You might include The Oval 2013, when England, 3-0 up in the Ashes and having already slightly embarrassed themselves by posting nine men on the boundary to Australia’s tailenders, flump their way to 269 for 5 off 122 overs, before Prior and then Swann perk things up. Again, the top six all score between 25 and 70. Again, none scores at more than 40 per 100 balls. Not even Pietersen (50 off 133). Root bats slowly. Very slowly. You might also include Root’s determined but strokeless Adelaide rearguard in 2013, when he made 10 off his first 76 balls, before hitting his only four, then getting out for 15 off 80.Root appears in several of these examples from 2013. Now, he is a lethal, proactive, versatile destroyer who might transpire to be England’s most successful batsman for 50 years. His career to date shows how exposure to Test cricket is a learning process, which, if persisted with, can result in a player improving and learning to bat with habitual positivity and purpose. He had a strike rate of 40 in his first 15 Tests, before being briefly dropped; he has had a strike rate of 64 since. If he played one Test match a year, he might well still be prodding around at two an over.I digress. The point is that any claims that the somnolent pace of (some of) the Canterbury Test proves the inadequacy of women’s cricket for the modern sporting marketplace ignore the facts that: (a) sometimes, breakneck-paced cricket can produce uninteresting matches; (b) cricket when a bowling side has basically stopped trying to take wickets can be just as dull, and often much more dull than cricket when batting teams have basically stopped trying to score runs; and, most importantly, (c) that teams and players can and do learn and improve, often quite quickly.I can make no claims to be a long-term supporter of women’s cricket. I have rarely if ever written about it before, have limited knowledge of it, and before today, had never combined it with Statsguru. Given how much time I have spent with Statsguru, this is frankly a bit of an embarrassment. But I did not find that Canterbury put me off cricket for life. In the same way that Chris Tavaré did not put me off cricket for life in the 1980s. My love of the game survived even Gary Kirsten’s Old Trafford double-hundred (which cost me a week’s holiday, a degree of sanity, and almost a girlfriend and future wife). I enjoyed the struggle. My children enjoyed the bits of the struggle that they watched with me, still at an age when they do not really care whether they are watching men, women or robots. I hope that if they become long-term cricket fans, they will follow the women’s game as well as they do the men’s.Women’s cricket has a rare opportunity. Its Test game had almost died, reduced to a sporadic trickle (Charlotte Edwards: 23 Tests in 19 years; Mithali Raj: 10 in 13 years; Suzie Bates: zero Tests in nine years). The growing appetite and market for women’s sport, the nascent professionalism of some of its nations, the innovative multi-format cricketing triathlon that marks it apart from the men’s game, a moderate but significant influx of money and exposure, and the almost blank canvas available to its administrators, all offer a rare, perhaps one-off, opportunity for women’s cricket to advance and expand. It can (and I believe should) do so while embracing the Test format as the ultimate Test of cricketing skills, regardless of its run rates, audience, or perceived lack of modernity.Women’s Test cricket will need commitment from its authorities, good pitches that do not Nagpurise batting, patience from its followers and its critics, and an acknowledgement that positive cricket does not have to equate to recklessly flinging the bat at everything.Canterbury showed that the women’s Test game has flaws and vast scope for improvement. The age of professionalism brings closer scrutiny and harsher judgements. That scrutiny should be accurately targeted. Those judgements should be fair, balanced, and properly contextualised.

A lack of basic facilities, administrative problems, selection politics, age-group frauds… it all plagues Delhi cricket, the home of many an Indian cricketer in recent times

Sidharth Monga21-Oct-2015At 8am on Wednesday morning, a day before the start of a Ranji Trophy match between Delhi and Virender Sehwag’s Haryana, the guards at Feroz Shah Kotla are not letting the press in. When asked why, one of them points to a newspaper and says, “Probably because of this.” The newspaper has a photograph of Chetan Chauhan, former India Test opener, former member of parliament, and now vice-president in Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA), with Mohammad Azharuddin, former India captain now banned by BCCI for match-fixing.Chauhan had invited Azharuddin to the match. Now the BCCI doesn’t stop Azhar from attending the match, but he was seen talking to a couple of Vidarbha players and some Delhi support staff, regaling them with funny tales and advice. All went fine until a DDCA official went and brought this to the match referee’s attention. This was not done out of some great duty to BCCI regulations, which nobody knows fully yet, but to bring the other down. Just another day at the DDCA office.This year DDCA has had more such days than the usual. The BCCI has stopped DDCA’s funds because the association has not filed its accounts. It has not filed the accounts because there are allegations of fraud against the president Sneh Bansal. One bank account has been frozen, and no signing authority in DDCA wants to issue a cheque now and risk facing serious investigation. There has been a free for all when it comes to administration, with three teams selected, not enough balls or drinking water at the preparatory camp. The players, and various other vendors – team kit, for example – haven’t been paid for two seasons.A player’s earnings in Ranji Trophy is made up of two factors. Match fee, paid by his association. Arrears, paid by the BCCI, a share of its annual profits. Some players have asked the BCCI why they haven’t been paid those arrears, having given up on DDCA’s match fee. They have been told the DDCA needs to give the BCCI a list of players who have played for Delhi in the season, and how many matches. The DDCA hasn’t found time to do that.Mithun Manhas, a senior player, transferred to Jammu and Kashmir ahead of the 2015-16 season•ESPNcricinfo LtdVirender Sehwag and Mithun Manhas have already left, but Rajat Bhatia was being asked to stay back, and made to hope he would captain the side, while eventual captain Gautam Gambhir didn’t want him in the side. The idea was to contain the power Gambhir enjoys. , as it is referred to as behind the tinted glasses of the Willingdon Pavilion from where many officials and former Delhi cricketers watch the Ranji Trophy match. Some even floated the name of young Unmukt Chand for captaincy. Gambhir has prevailed, and continues to get the team he wants and conditions he wants.The way Vijay Dahiya – the coach after Ajay Jadeja, the choice of government nominees for the role, left mysteriously – talks of the combination a day before the Ranji Trophy match suggests a clear thinking within the group. There is solid reasoning to all three changes he is making, and he has announced the XI on the eve of the match. This is completely at odds with an association that couldn’t even ensure they had a coach when the first match began.Delhi have just won a match outright after a slow start to the season, conceding a lead to Rajasthan in Jaipur. Mother of all ironies is that cricket in Rajasthan – at least on paper – is now being run by a DDCA member. A letter in its notice board says, “It gives me great pleasure to advise you that Mr CK Khanna has achieved another milestone and brought laurels to DDCA as he is appointed on the ad-hoc committee for managing cricket affairs in Rajasthan.” Next to it is a missive to a Mr Sarkar who is allegedly not collecting charges from members who are using the gym at Feroz Shah Kotla.Day one
There was recently a brilliant investigation in on the frauds committed by and against Food Panda. The food app tried to woo the customers with unrealistic offers, often buy-one-get-one. The get-one cost would be borne by Food Panda, not by the restaurants. Suddenly fake restaurants began to swindle that money through fake orders placed by their own people. No food was delivered, but the offer money, running up to lakhs per restaurant per month, was gone. This was earning by proxy. Through restaurants that Food Panda recognised without due diligence.Similarly DDCA is run by proxy. Proxies are people who vote for DDCA’s executive committee, but they vote by proxy. They are such old members that no outsider can even establish who they are. They have given their proxies to those in power. Some of them are dead, but no one knows. In some cases 70-80 people live in the same house, on paper of course. No outsider can breach this hold of the few in power. You can litigate, but the DDCA has the backing of the biggest lawyer in India, union finance minister Arun Jaitley, who was the president of DDCA from 2000 to 2013. The funda is clear: let us drag the litigation, and no one has as much muscle as us to keep fighting in the court.Kirti Azad, a former India cricketer, member of parliament, and anti-DDCA activist is now trying to fight the DDCA from the outside. He recently registered police cases for age fraud in Delhi’s age group teams, and some DDCA officials are actually fearing arrest. Yet the attitude in Delhi cricket is best summed by a former player and official: “Kirti Azad. He is the son of a chief minister. He is himself an MP. He played for India. It should be beneath him to do these things. When I played Under-19, XXX played with me, but he was at least 23-24. Now if Kirti Azad had filed a police case then, would we have got such a good cricketer?” Age fraud is in DDCA. Petty.On the field, Sehwag bats against his home team. He plays a cut early on in the innings. Nobody has paid to enter the ground, but the small crowd says this shot in itself is [money’s worth]. Sehwag then does what he does, plonking his bat after calling his partner through for a quick single, and is run out when sliding the bat would have got him home.Despite enduring multiple troubles, Delhi have managed to produce more India cricketers than other states in recent times•ESPNcricinfo LtdDay two
Back. /bak/. Noun and verb. In Delhi dictionary it means the support of a godfather. As in, “You want to play for Delhi? What is your back?”Yet Delhi has been producing more India cricketers than other states in recent times. Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma. Before that Gambhir, Aakash Chopra, Ashish Nehra, Sehwag. Before that, Dahiya. Add to it players who represent other states but learnt their cricket in Delhi. Amit Mishra. Praveen Kumar. Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Murali Kartik. Mohammad Kaif.A former Delhi player turns up at the Kotla. He doesn’t sit behind the tinted glasses of Willingdon Pavilion, but watches cricket from outside. He knows the system. I ask him what is the process for a talented young cricketer to get into the Delhi team. “We knew early on this is Dhokha Dhadi [cheating and fraud] Cricket Association,” he says. “When I was young I went for trials. I played four balls. The selectors asked three questions, ‘Son, what is your name? What does your father do? What club do you play for?'”I didn’t have an answer for the third because I didn’t play for a club. I was asked to leave. Next year I had enrolled at a club run by a DDCA official, and I was picked.”Delhi’s brittle and almost entirely new middle order collapses, but youngster Nitish Rana, only in his second first-class match, shows composure to score 48 before Pradeep Sangwan and Sarang Rawat strike late blows to take Delhi into lead. Not bad for a team in an administrative mess.Day three
A successful local coach – but not a former player – shows up to follow the progress of his wards. I ask him the same question as I did the former Delhi cricketer. “Keep the talented kid away from DDCA,” the coach says. “Just avoid the age-group teams. These teams are not representative of the kids’ talent, but of their fathers’ influence and money.”In fact I don’t like kids who come to my academy with their fathers. Because you can’t fight in the presence of your father. Playing cricket in Delhi is a fight. You have to fight. Cricket talent is natural, my job is to teach them to fight. There is a lot of talent in Delhi, but outside DDCA. It is in the local tournaments.”But what about the back? “Kids with influential fathers never go as far as Ranji,” he says. “That’s why I avoid age-group tournaments. These kids don’t know how to fight.”You look at Mohit Ahlawat, Delhi’s young wicketkeeper. He is a son of an autorickshaw driver. He has no back, in the traditional sense. He has the support of his captain, who has picked him out of nowhere. Ahlawat plays for the club that Gambhir used to play for, but that is not the case with Navdeep Saini, whom he brought from Karnal to Delhi last year despite protests from the sports committee of DDCA, or with Sumit Narwal, the much-valued veteran seam bowler and handy lower-order batsman from Karnal. This is a U-turn from the times Amit Mishra had to leave Delhi for Haryana because he was ignored by DDCA selectors. Mishra’s official communication and cheques still arrive at a friend’s house in Rohtak.It is unfortunate that Gambhir won’t talk and explain his thought process and motives. Whatever might have happened between him and some other seniors who have now left Delhi, right now there seems no need for the conventional back. Most of the private academies in Delhi have been told to send net bowlers to Delhi nets, and there is every chance a good bowler there can bypass all the DDCA systems to play for Delhi.Manan Sharma, a left-arm spinner, meanwhile takes six wickets to make up for the loss of Ishant Sharma to injury, bowling 30 overs on the trot, holding one end up, and also taking wickets on a seventh-day track (previous match was played here too) where if the batsman begins to defend, it is difficult to get him out. Delhi need 224 to win.Day four
Unmukt Chand scores 99, Sangwan hits a couple of blows after a mini collapse, and then Milind Kumar, the 25-year-old playing his 12th first-class match in his fifth season, shows composure to take Delhi home. Despite all the pre-season troubles, Delhi are now top of the table, with 14 points. “We don’t care about what is said in even 50 metres’ radius of us,” Dahiya says.I ask him how Delhi produces so many cricketers. “Is there a system to produce cricketers in Delhi? No. Then why are you saying Delhi produces so many cricketers? They produce themselves. They fight it out. Nobody complains.”You are from Bombay. A guy makes a fifty, you make them a star. That is the legacy of Bombay and Calcutta. I have been going to Calcutta for 15 years. A guy makes two hundreds in the league. This big picture. Here you don’t get anything. So much bickering, so much negativity. Cream comes to the top. You go through everything in the beginning. Once you get there you make it count. There is so much talent in Delhi it is unbelievable.”This is, of course, not ideal or to be endorsed, but is there a slight chance that unwittingly DDCA makes its cricketer mentally strong? Like Pakistan does. Like Uttar Pradesh does. Those who have had their careers ruined by the politics might disagree.