Goa swept aside more fancied opposition in the zonal phase of the Syed Mushtaq Ali, and are setting their sights high as they head into the Super League

Amol Karhadkar07-Apr-2014Goa were one of the surprise packages of the Ranji Trophy, and though they missed out on a knockout spot to Jammu & Kashmir by a quotient difference of 0.001 their improved performance gave the team a lift going into the limited-overs leg of the domestic season.However, their confidence was shattered as Goa, typically the minnows of the South Zone, lost all five of their one-dayers in the zonal league last month.Swapnil Asnodkar’s boys then staged a remarkable turnaround to not only qualify for the all-India Twenty20 Super League, but also maintained a clean slate during the zonal league at Visakhapatnam last week. Despite their impressive Ranji season, Goa cricket were usually mentioned in the domestic fraternity due to the presence of a foreign coach, former Sri Lanka fast bowler Nuwan Zoysa.But their five wins in five at Visakhapatnam last week has made everyone sit up and take notice.They started their T20 campaign with a comprehensive win against a strong Tamil Nadu, clinched a thriller against Kerala, rolled over Andhra and Karnataka, and justified their top ranking with a last-ball victory against Hyderabad.Going into the Super League, which will feature top 10 teams across India, opener Sagun Kamat is the highest run-getterwhile allrounder Harshad Gadekar has emerged the highest wicket-taker.The outstanding display has exceeded the expectations even of some of the Goa players themselves. “I would term it as a sweet surprise,” Kamat, the left-handed opener who scored four fifties in the league stage, said. “At the start of the tournament, we had set ourselves a target of winning at least three of the five games, which could have given us a chance to qualify. That win against a star-studded Tamil Nadu team gave us the confidence of going all the way.”The coach Zoysa credits the Goa Premier League, a local franchise-based Twenty20s tournament that was sandwiched between the one-dayers and the zonal T20s, for helping his boys get into the best frame of mind. Besides all the local cricketers, the fourth season of GPL featured a bunch of players from Hyderabad.”The presence of outstation players gave our players an idea about the need to raise the level of their game,” Zoysa said. “To their credit, they have managed to do that and have been able to execute all our plans to near-perfection.”Goa’s dream run was remarkable, especially considering the fact that the BCCI had forced all the domestic players with IPL contracts to play their respective zonal T20 leagues. As a result, the Tamil Nadu team that faced Goa featured six cricketers who have been regulars in the IPL, including India players Dinesh Karthik and M Vijay.Moreover, the star-studded Karnataka team, also including six players who will feature in IPL-2014, could manage just 66 runs against a disciplined Goa attack.Goa, on the other hand, have been one of the also-rans on the domestic circuit. While Asnodkar, whose heroics in the inaugural IPL season helped him earn an India A spot, remains their most familiar player, the spin duo of Shadab Jakati and Amit Yadav have also featured in IPL in previous seasons.Jakati, the veteran left-arm spinner who was with Chennai Super Kings till 2012, is set to be the only Goa player who will feature in this year’s IPL, having been signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore.There is a plus to not having too many IPL stars in the side. Goa will go into the Super League with an almost unchanged combination while many of their opponents will lose several of their main players to the IPL.While Zoysa remains cautious about Goa’s prospects, saying his boys “aren’t favourites but no more underdogs as well”, Kamat is more upbeat.”If we can chase down 150 against Tamil Nadu with more than two overs to spare and bundle Karnataka for less than 70 after scoring 170, we can beat any team in India,” Kamat says. “We just have to continue in the same vein in Rajkot and hope the results go our way.”If Kamat and his team-mates continue in the same vein, don’t be surprised if after the Super League in Rajkot, Goa travel to Mumbai for the final of the domestic Twenty20 next week.

In spite of its many inconveniences, cricket brought a brief calm to political turmoil in Bangladesh and left its people basking in the shared pride of having successfully hosted a global event

Mohammad Isam07-Apr-2014Sonia and her cousins will remember those nights for a long time. They would wander out in the illuminated street two blocks down from their apartment, meet a few more friends and cousins, and laze around the pavement lit up from the floodlights of the Shere Bangla National Stadium. Amid all the security barricades and protocol, there was gossiping, eating, singing and star-spotting.Sonia is a resident of Mirpur-6, a neighbourhood to the west of the Shere Bangla Stadium. Their alley leads up to the main entrance. The Milk Vita Road, as it is known locally, was barricaded from the moment the teams arrived at the venue. However, despite all its trappings, the World T20 has been a refreshing change for residents in the vicinity of the stadium.Just after the sun goes down, the neighborhood comes alive. Kids play cricket with a taped-tennis ball, the and the (street-food vendors) sneak in. Some are flying kites while others merely sit and talk, taking in the atmosphere.During match days, when the team buses moved in and out of the stadium, they would sometimes spot the stars. A crowd favourite is, of course, Shakib Al Hasan, while Mashrafe Mortaza and Mominul Haque, both Mirpur residents, are also not too far behind.Watching their stars has brought residents relief from the short shrift they get in the daily grind: lack of electricity, water and gas. Shakib, Mominul and Mashrafe don’t bring them utilities but seeing the Bangladesh players has given them a reason to believe and hope.Life isn’t easy for Dhakaites in any part of the city, but with so much cricket happening in the area, the focus has naturally shifted to the plight of locals. The economic level here is middle-class, which means they hardly get what is required; they have to manage within their means, and manage well.Within Mirpur, west of the No 10 intersection right up to Mirpur-2 and several areas within Mirpur-6, a 3-km radius was locked up for security. It was a major nuisance for residents of the area, but security was the ticket that allowed Bangladesh to host the World T20.It was not until January 20 that the ICC confirmed the tournament’s hosting rights would remain in Bangladesh, after political violence almost derailed the country’s biggest sporting event. Between November and mid-January, a week after the January 5 national elections, the situation had deteriorated so much that even those closely associated with the tournament privately expressed doubt.In spite of the inconveniences, fans were eager to be a part of the event•BCBThe girls sitting outside the street close to the Mirpur stadium, during one of the World T20 games, recalled an incident from December when a bus was burnt down near their house. Tuhin, one of Sonia’s cousins, was trapped when police started chasing protesters in Taltola. He escaped by climbing up a tree for a few minutes, and then scaling the wall of a nearby office.The protestors, meanwhile, hit back with bricks and stones, fanning a level of panic that added to the turmoil. But, with a major global event coming up so close, it was imperative for both sides of the national spectrum to come to some sort of agreement.Whether cricket is solely responsible for momentarily stopping political trouble is debatable, but it has played a major part. The BCB had gone to both leading political leaders before an ICC meeting in January, and that assurance probably won the day for Bangladesh.The event has been a time of celebration for the ordinary people. For them, attending the matches was not a necessity, but the pride over playing hosts is a shared, cherished feeling. Cricket’s popularity in Bangladesh has been described and discussed a number of times, but to feel the intensity of it, one had to experience it at the time of the tournament. There were road shows in all districts and screens were put up at intersections, parks and meeting areas.The good folks of Sylhet welcomed world cricket with open arms and filled their beloved stadium every day of the competition. Chittagong dwellers, too, reveled in the spirit, despite the continuous traffic problems due to the teams moving from their hotels in the city to the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on the outskirts.

The material legacy may just be a refurbished stadium in the northeast but the event has turned cricket from being merely a sport to something woven more deeply into the public consciousness.

Conversations across the country were dominated by Darren Sammy’s West Indies, the Netherlands and the abject failure of the home side. Their performance was a contrast to what the public saw in the last two years. Bangladesh played well in 2012 and had a poor series against Zimbabwe last year. Off the field, however, there have been far too many controversies. Mohammad Ashraful’s admission of involvement in match-fixing has been the biggest of these issues.The tribunal investigating the matter recently reached a verdict and while most of the nine accused went scot-free, the Bangladesh Premier League brand suffered irreversible damage. The BCB now has to find a new T20 tournament.As the World T20 finishes with fanfare, Bangladesh has shown the ability to host a global tournament on its own. There has been whole-hearted praise from all quarters, and the sports minister recently informed parliament that the government has spent close to Tk 10 crore to ensure every aspect of the competition moved smoothly.From April 7, life will go back to what it was. There will be no extra security and no traffic jams to add to the busy roads, but given how violent Bangladesh can get (and could probably return to those bleak days), people may also miss this brief peace of mind the tournament brought. The material legacy may just be a refurbished stadium in the northeast but the event has turned cricket from being merely a sport to something woven more deeply into the public consciousness.As for Sonia and the gang, the relief from political violence and the daily trouble of dodging it is over. The fun of simply sitting in front of a giant stadium, talking to best friends and cousins, will now be just a memory. There haven’t been many in their lifetimes, so this may be the sweetest yet.

It’s all up in the air for England selection-wise, goody

Andy Zaltzman10-Jun-2014On Thursday, the English Test summer begins. England – losing finalists in the 2013-14 Ashes – take on Sri Lanka, world champions in a form of cricket so unrelated to Tests as to be almost a different sport. It is the most eagerly anticipated two-Test series against Sri Lanka that England will ever have played on home soil. Admittedly, it is the first two-Test series against Sri Lanka that England will ever have played on home soil, but even so, a combination of factors has conspired to make the forthcoming ten days of cricket the most intriguing early-season rubber since the split Test summer was introduced in 2000.Amongst these factors are:- England, after years of seemingly impenetrable selectorial stability, have fallen to pieces like an emotional jigsaw puzzle on an unlicensed roller-coaster. Assuming Woakes is omitted from the selected XI, England will have three debutants (for the second consecutive Test), a player in his second Test, and another in his first Test since Tony Blair was still prime minister. They will have used 24 players in their past seven Tests, since the selectors started getting uncharacteristically funky at The Oval last summer. By contrast, they selected just 26 different players in the 48 previous Tests, dating back to the end of the Flintoff-Harmison era four years earlier.- The Test matches are following the one-day series. As Test matches almost always should. The rivalry, a narrative, and some of the form lines, have been established. Furthermore, the tourists have had more time to acclimatise to English conditions, which will hopefully make a wholesale capitulation at the first sign of swing and seam movement considerably less likely. Since 2000, England have not lost any of their early-summer series. Only Pakistan, in 2001, and Sri Lanka, in 2006, have won a match, both in series that ended 1-1. Other than these, England have won all 12 series, by a total of 24 Tests to nil. The later-than-usual start, and the chaos from which England are attempting to emerge, give Sri Lanka a better chance of breaking this trend than any of their recent predecessors, even if their bowling attack is not likely to have Alastair Cook sitting bolt upright in the middle of the night, shouting: “Oh my god, it’s like Mitchell Johnson all over again.”- Moeen Ali. I hope he does well. England need some poetry amidst the prose.- Not only will there be five new or newish faces in the England line-up, you could have made a reasonable case for leaving out five of the remaining six on grounds of form. Cook, Bell, Root, Prior and Anderson all face legitimate queries from Dr Stats, numerically verifiable concerns that, in isolation, might have left each of them vulnerable to at least a temporary selectorial axe, had England not already sloughed off half a team. Broad is exempt, as a bowler at least, but even he is returning from a knee injury. This is the most fascinating England line-up in years. It might not play the most fascinating cricket, but it is the most fascinating line-up.Here are some of those statistical questions that England would like to see resolved:Alastair Cook
Since Cook surgically demolished the rather insipid Sri Lankan tourists in 2011, in the aftermath of his megalithic 2010-11 Ashes, he has had just one good series out of 10 – his magnificent, series-shaping three-century effort in India late in 2012. Other than that, he has had seven series in which he has only reached 50 in one innings, and the two recent Ashes, in which he averaged 27.7 and 24.6, despite scoring three half-centuries in each rubber (his 24.6 average in Australia is the lowest series average by a batsman who has scored three fifties).Ian Bell
Has had two good series in England’s last nine, since his 2010 and 2011 golden period ended. His batting in last summer’s Ashes was the pinnacle of his career, with hard and important runs scored under intense pressure, but aside from that, has averaged 30.6, scored at 38 per 100 balls, and reached 80 only once in 24 Tests since the start of 2012. He has averaged below 30 in five of those nine series.Joe Root
Since his maiden hundred a year ago, scored fluently against a good New Zealand attack after England had made a poor first-innings start, he has passed 30 in just one first innings out of nine (68 at the Oval), and scored at a strike rate of 33. His two major Ashes contributions – 180 in victory at Lord’s, and 87 in defeat in Adelaide – were both made in the second innings of matches that had been effectively decided by a mammoth first-innings lead. Root has much to prove about his Test credentials. The selectors have stuck by him in the short term, when a period re-finding and refining his game with Yorkshire might have done him long-term benefit.Matt Prior
Has averaged under 20 in five of England’s past eight Test series, and 17.6 in his last ten Tests. He had averaged 46.5 in his previous 55 Tests, since his recall in 2008-09, so unquestionably has earned some selectorial faith. Whether they needed to apply that faith now, rather than waiting for him to prove form and fitness, and taking the opportunity to examine one of the alternative glovemen in the Test arena, is open to question.James Anderson
Twenty-six wickets at 42 in the nine Tests since his decisive 10-wicket performance at Trent Bridge that shaped last summer’s Ashes. In mitigation, he had taken 177 at 25 in his previous 41 Tests. After a uncommonly lengthy break from the remorseless demands of the international circuit – Anderson has bowled more international overs in the past five years (2864) than anyone else – he looked fit and sharp in the one-dayers. However, his form was patchy in 2012 and 2012-13 (he was outstanding in India, but moderate against South Africa and in New Zealand), and England will want evidence that his Ashes decline was temporary.* Some slightly ominous stats for Sri Lanka:All Sri Lankan bowlers in Tests in England this millennium: 98 wickets, average 48.7, economy rate 3.35.Muralitharan in Tests in England this millennium: 32 wickets, average 21.9, economy rate 2.57.All other Sri Lankan bowlers, excluding Murali, in Tests in England this millennium: 66 wickets, average 61.7, economy rate 3.53.In all, Muralitharan took 48 wickets in his six Tests in England. Sri Lanka’s next-highest Test wicket-taker on these shores: Chaminda Vaas, with 9 scalps in six Tests, averages 77.6.* The controversy over the Mankading run-out of Jos Buttler in Sri Lanka’s series-deciding ODI victory last Tuesday, disappointingly for controversy fans, brought near unanimity from the English media that the dismissal was fine, Sri Lanka were within their rights in executing and maintaining the run-out, and that Buttler should have been more careful. However, it was nevertheless a disappointing incident, in that:(a) The Mankading is an objectively rubbish way for a batsman to be dismissed, as the bowling team has done nothing to earn the wicket, and the ball is, essentially, not yet in play. It is, roughly, equivalent to the batting team being awarded 25 runs for the fielding captain doing something slightly silly on the outfield, such as sacrificing a dolphin to a long-retired Incan deity, putting three fielders behind square on the leg side, or screaming the lyrics to “Born to Be Wild” while the batsman is taking guard.

Non-striking batsmen should adopt a sprinter’s crouch outside the crease, holding their bat grounded safely behind them, before blasting into action once the ball is delivered, like a fully juiced Ben Johnson in his late-’80s cheating prime

(b) Buttler was merely doing what many, if not most, batsmen do – starting to back up, and turning his eyes and attention to the striker’s end as the bowler began his delivery stride. Yes, he was trying to gain an advantage. But he was probably doing so subconsciously, out of a widely shared cricketing habit. And the advantage he was trying to gain was nothing that he could not have gained legitimately anyway, by standing a yard down the pitch, with the end of his bat still on the ground behind the crease. On the scale of surreptitious advantage-gaining, it was some way short of the full Lance Armstrong.(c) Senanayake effectively threw a dummy. He did not catch Buttler leaving his crease too soon. He tricked Buttler into leaving his crease (slightly) too soon, exploiting his run-of-the-mill backing-up (see b, above). The aforementioned ICC regulation allows this. Does cricket want to see bowlers dummying non-striking batsmen?(d) It distracted from the failure of England’s bafflingly underpowered top-order batting.None of these invalidates the suggestions that the dismissal was fine, that Sri Lanka acted within the laws and even the spirit of the game, and that Buttler should have been more careful, especially given the warnings issued.Point (a) is a minor one, as such dismissals are thankfully rare, and are likely to become rarer, given the publicity generated by the Buttler dismissal.Point (b) suggests that Buttler might have been unaware of the ICC’s tweaking of the cricketing law governing running out a backing-up batsman. It defies belief that an international cricketer in the 21st century does not lull himself to sleep every night by painstakingly reciting all the laws of the game, plus relevant ICC supplementary playing regulations, in the form of a Gregorian chant, whilst wearing Dickie Bird pyjamas, to ensure that he awakes every morning fully aware of all the obscure nooks and crannies of cricketing legality.Point (c) raises the exciting possibility of increasingly intricate and creative means of bowlers hoodwinking batsmen into thinking they are about to bowl, possibly with a short mid-on fielder sledging the non-striking batsman with words suggesting he is too scared to take a quick single.And point (d) will have its moment in the sun, probably repeatedly, as England build up to the World Cup.Such incidents are easily avoided. Non-striking batsmen should adopt a sprinter’s crouch outside the crease, holding their bat grounded safely behind them, before blasting into action once the ball is delivered, like a fully juiced Ben Johnson in his late-’80s cheating prime. Ideally the ICC should allow athletics-style starting blocks to be placed in the turf to facilitate the blast-off. Or an electronic touch-sensitive metal plate should be buried under the turf a yard outside the crease, so that if the non-striking batsman steps out of his ground before the bowler has released the ball, he receives a non-fatal electric shock to dissuade him from such heinous advantage-seeking in the future.I do think that a Mankading warning should be introduced into the laws of the game. Perhaps any batsman caught crease-sneaking twice should be forced to run without his bat for the rest of his innings, or have lead weights attached to his pads, or be made to hop instead of run.What the incident showed, once again, is that “the spirit of cricket” is a nebulous and indefinable beast, which England, and others, tend to invoke rather selectively. Even if you think that the Buttler Mankading was wrong, it was far less wrong, in my view, than England’s refusal to withdraw their appeal for the Grant Elliott run-out in 2008.

It’s all up in the air for England selection-wise, goody

Andy Zaltzman10-Jun-2014On Thursday, the English Test summer begins. England – losing finalists in the 2013-14 Ashes – take on Sri Lanka, world champions in a form of cricket so unrelated to Tests as to be almost a different sport. It is the most eagerly anticipated two-Test series against Sri Lanka that England will ever have played on home soil. Admittedly, it is the first two-Test series against Sri Lanka that England will ever have played on home soil, but even so, a combination of factors has conspired to make the forthcoming ten days of cricket the most intriguing early-season rubber since the split Test summer was introduced in 2000.Amongst these factors are:- England, after years of seemingly impenetrable selectorial stability, have fallen to pieces like an emotional jigsaw puzzle on an unlicensed roller-coaster. Assuming Woakes is omitted from the selected XI, England will have three debutants (for the second consecutive Test), a player in his second Test, and another in his first Test since Tony Blair was still prime minister. They will have used 24 players in their past seven Tests, since the selectors started getting uncharacteristically funky at The Oval last summer. By contrast, they selected just 26 different players in the 48 previous Tests, dating back to the end of the Flintoff-Harmison era four years earlier.- The Test matches are following the one-day series. As Test matches almost always should. The rivalry, a narrative, and some of the form lines, have been established. Furthermore, the tourists have had more time to acclimatise to English conditions, which will hopefully make a wholesale capitulation at the first sign of swing and seam movement considerably less likely. Since 2000, England have not lost any of their early-summer series. Only Pakistan, in 2001, and Sri Lanka, in 2006, have won a match, both in series that ended 1-1. Other than these, England have won all 12 series, by a total of 24 Tests to nil. The later-than-usual start, and the chaos from which England are attempting to emerge, give Sri Lanka a better chance of breaking this trend than any of their recent predecessors, even if their bowling attack is not likely to have Alastair Cook sitting bolt upright in the middle of the night, shouting: “Oh my god, it’s like Mitchell Johnson all over again.”- Moeen Ali. I hope he does well. England need some poetry amidst the prose.- Not only will there be five new or newish faces in the England line-up, you could have made a reasonable case for leaving out five of the remaining six on grounds of form. Cook, Bell, Root, Prior and Anderson all face legitimate queries from Dr Stats, numerically verifiable concerns that, in isolation, might have left each of them vulnerable to at least a temporary selectorial axe, had England not already sloughed off half a team. Broad is exempt, as a bowler at least, but even he is returning from a knee injury. This is the most fascinating England line-up in years. It might not play the most fascinating cricket, but it is the most fascinating line-up.Here are some of those statistical questions that England would like to see resolved:Alastair Cook
Since Cook surgically demolished the rather insipid Sri Lankan tourists in 2011, in the aftermath of his megalithic 2010-11 Ashes, he has had just one good series out of 10 – his magnificent, series-shaping three-century effort in India late in 2012. Other than that, he has had seven series in which he has only reached 50 in one innings, and the two recent Ashes, in which he averaged 27.7 and 24.6, despite scoring three half-centuries in each rubber (his 24.6 average in Australia is the lowest series average by a batsman who has scored three fifties).Ian Bell
Has had two good series in England’s last nine, since his 2010 and 2011 golden period ended. His batting in last summer’s Ashes was the pinnacle of his career, with hard and important runs scored under intense pressure, but aside from that, has averaged 30.6, scored at 38 per 100 balls, and reached 80 only once in 24 Tests since the start of 2012. He has averaged below 30 in five of those nine series.Joe Root
Since his maiden hundred a year ago, scored fluently against a good New Zealand attack after England had made a poor first-innings start, he has passed 30 in just one first innings out of nine (68 at the Oval), and scored at a strike rate of 33. His two major Ashes contributions – 180 in victory at Lord’s, and 87 in defeat in Adelaide – were both made in the second innings of matches that had been effectively decided by a mammoth first-innings lead. Root has much to prove about his Test credentials. The selectors have stuck by him in the short term, when a period re-finding and refining his game with Yorkshire might have done him long-term benefit.Matt Prior
Has averaged under 20 in five of England’s past eight Test series, and 17.6 in his last ten Tests. He had averaged 46.5 in his previous 55 Tests, since his recall in 2008-09, so unquestionably has earned some selectorial faith. Whether they needed to apply that faith now, rather than waiting for him to prove form and fitness, and taking the opportunity to examine one of the alternative glovemen in the Test arena, is open to question.James Anderson
Twenty-six wickets at 42 in the nine Tests since his decisive 10-wicket performance at Trent Bridge that shaped last summer’s Ashes. In mitigation, he had taken 177 at 25 in his previous 41 Tests. After a uncommonly lengthy break from the remorseless demands of the international circuit – Anderson has bowled more international overs in the past five years (2864) than anyone else – he looked fit and sharp in the one-dayers. However, his form was patchy in 2012 and 2012-13 (he was outstanding in India, but moderate against South Africa and in New Zealand), and England will want evidence that his Ashes decline was temporary.* Some slightly ominous stats for Sri Lanka:All Sri Lankan bowlers in Tests in England this millennium: 98 wickets, average 48.7, economy rate 3.35.Muralitharan in Tests in England this millennium: 32 wickets, average 21.9, economy rate 2.57.All other Sri Lankan bowlers, excluding Murali, in Tests in England this millennium: 66 wickets, average 61.7, economy rate 3.53.In all, Muralitharan took 48 wickets in his six Tests in England. Sri Lanka’s next-highest Test wicket-taker on these shores: Chaminda Vaas, with 9 scalps in six Tests, averages 77.6.* The controversy over the Mankading run-out of Jos Buttler in Sri Lanka’s series-deciding ODI victory last Tuesday, disappointingly for controversy fans, brought near unanimity from the English media that the dismissal was fine, Sri Lanka were within their rights in executing and maintaining the run-out, and that Buttler should have been more careful. However, it was nevertheless a disappointing incident, in that:(a) The Mankading is an objectively rubbish way for a batsman to be dismissed, as the bowling team has done nothing to earn the wicket, and the ball is, essentially, not yet in play. It is, roughly, equivalent to the batting team being awarded 25 runs for the fielding captain doing something slightly silly on the outfield, such as sacrificing a dolphin to a long-retired Incan deity, putting three fielders behind square on the leg side, or screaming the lyrics to “Born to Be Wild” while the batsman is taking guard.

Non-striking batsmen should adopt a sprinter’s crouch outside the crease, holding their bat grounded safely behind them, before blasting into action once the ball is delivered, like a fully juiced Ben Johnson in his late-’80s cheating prime

(b) Buttler was merely doing what many, if not most, batsmen do – starting to back up, and turning his eyes and attention to the striker’s end as the bowler began his delivery stride. Yes, he was trying to gain an advantage. But he was probably doing so subconsciously, out of a widely shared cricketing habit. And the advantage he was trying to gain was nothing that he could not have gained legitimately anyway, by standing a yard down the pitch, with the end of his bat still on the ground behind the crease. On the scale of surreptitious advantage-gaining, it was some way short of the full Lance Armstrong.(c) Senanayake effectively threw a dummy. He did not catch Buttler leaving his crease too soon. He tricked Buttler into leaving his crease (slightly) too soon, exploiting his run-of-the-mill backing-up (see b, above). The aforementioned ICC regulation allows this. Does cricket want to see bowlers dummying non-striking batsmen?(d) It distracted from the failure of England’s bafflingly underpowered top-order batting.None of these invalidates the suggestions that the dismissal was fine, that Sri Lanka acted within the laws and even the spirit of the game, and that Buttler should have been more careful, especially given the warnings issued.Point (a) is a minor one, as such dismissals are thankfully rare, and are likely to become rarer, given the publicity generated by the Buttler dismissal.Point (b) suggests that Buttler might have been unaware of the ICC’s tweaking of the cricketing law governing running out a backing-up batsman. It defies belief that an international cricketer in the 21st century does not lull himself to sleep every night by painstakingly reciting all the laws of the game, plus relevant ICC supplementary playing regulations, in the form of a Gregorian chant, whilst wearing Dickie Bird pyjamas, to ensure that he awakes every morning fully aware of all the obscure nooks and crannies of cricketing legality.Point (c) raises the exciting possibility of increasingly intricate and creative means of bowlers hoodwinking batsmen into thinking they are about to bowl, possibly with a short mid-on fielder sledging the non-striking batsman with words suggesting he is too scared to take a quick single.And point (d) will have its moment in the sun, probably repeatedly, as England build up to the World Cup.Such incidents are easily avoided. Non-striking batsmen should adopt a sprinter’s crouch outside the crease, holding their bat grounded safely behind them, before blasting into action once the ball is delivered, like a fully juiced Ben Johnson in his late-’80s cheating prime. Ideally the ICC should allow athletics-style starting blocks to be placed in the turf to facilitate the blast-off. Or an electronic touch-sensitive metal plate should be buried under the turf a yard outside the crease, so that if the non-striking batsman steps out of his ground before the bowler has released the ball, he receives a non-fatal electric shock to dissuade him from such heinous advantage-seeking in the future.I do think that a Mankading warning should be introduced into the laws of the game. Perhaps any batsman caught crease-sneaking twice should be forced to run without his bat for the rest of his innings, or have lead weights attached to his pads, or be made to hop instead of run.What the incident showed, once again, is that “the spirit of cricket” is a nebulous and indefinable beast, which England, and others, tend to invoke rather selectively. Even if you think that the Buttler Mankading was wrong, it was far less wrong, in my view, than England’s refusal to withdraw their appeal for the Grant Elliott run-out in 2008.

In July 2013, South Africa tried four different opening pairs in a five-match series in Sri Lanka. Now Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock are churning out solid and speedy starts, and rapidly climbing the statistical ladder

Firdose Moonda18-Aug-2014Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock don’t appear to have much in common. Amla is experienced, de Kock is just starting out, Amla commands respect, de Kock attracts awe and while Amla has admitted to being a deep thinker, de Kock is self-confessed about being exactly the opposite. But look a little closer and there are more similarities than first meet the eye.Both Amla and de Kock were identified as promising prospects at school, both captained the national Under-19 side and both had shaky starts to their international careers, which required a rethink in approach before they saw success. Now both open the batting for South Africa’s fifty-over forces and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.That South Africa have rubber-stamped the pair shows the progress they have made from just over a year ago when they rotated through four different duos in a five-match series in Sri Lanka and then swayed between other options in the series which followed against Pakistan. Graeme Smith, Colin Ingram and Alviro Petersen were some of the candidates considered to partner one of Amla or de Kock but as South Africa have since discovered, the secret was moving past the others and putting the latter two together.In just 14 innings, Amla and de Kock are already South Africa’s seventh-most successful opening pair and they have a better average than any of the six above them. Only Smith has partnered Amla more successfully. Already, Amla and de Kock have the same number of century stands (4) as Andrew Hudson and Gary Kirsten did and more than Amla and Smith (2) and Hudson and Kepler Wessels (3).Best of all, Amla and de Kock seem to enjoy each other’s company more than some of the pairs of the past. “There’s a bit of chemistry between myself and Quinny; we get on quite well,” Amla said. “He is quite an entertaining guy to bat with. He is extremely attacking but he is also quite smart in the way he plays his game. It’s not just reckless shots, it’s quite calculated stroke-making.”De Kock’s development from a wild-child to a wily wielder of willow has been his biggest improvement over the last 12 months. His ability to hit the ball hard and place it well was built-in along with the tendency to waft outside the off stump. The latter threatened to overshadow the former until de Kock took action.Following a poor series in Sri Lanka last year, de Kock requested extra net sessions with his franchise coach Geoffrey Toyana, tightened up and honed his work ethic. “We all knew he was an exceptionally talented player from the domestic scene and ever since he has come into the team, he has shown a willingness to improve,” Amla said. ‘He had a difficult one-day series in Sri Lanka and he went off and worked and the next thing we knew he was scoring more runs.”When de Kock’s self-inflicted boot camp was over, it took him just two matches to score his first international hundred. That was followed by three consecutive centuries against India, to make him only the fifth batsman in the world to string together that kind of success. Another hundred came in Sri Lanka and de Kock had an opportunity to rack up a sixth in Bulawayo but Zimbabwe ended his 100% conversion record.Although de Kock did not reach the milestone, the opening stand he took part in set South Africa up for a big win, and he did most of it almost single-handedly. De Kock scored 42 of the 46 runs that came between overs five to nine to ensure the run-rate did not stagnate early on. “If he gets off to a good start, it gives me time to build the partnership with him,” Amla said. “And if I get off to a good start, it gives him a bit of leeway to settle in.”The give and take between Amla and de Kock is the reason they are already climbing the statistical ladder. While Amla’s aggression in shorter formats has increased exponentially in recent years, he is probably a more natural careful starter. De Kock is the opposite and likes to burst open in the beginning before quietening down later on, if at all.Their different approaches mean South Africa have some certainty their starts will not just be solid but speedy too. The Amla-de Kock partnership already has an average run-rate of 5.17 to the over, the second-highest for all South Africa opening pairs who have played at least 10 innings.Those confident starts set the tone, which is something South Africa sometimes struggled to do in the past. And if that tone is too high-pitched, does Amla ask de Kock to turn it down? “No, he doesn’t listen to me,” Amla joked. “I don’t tell him what to do. I just see my role as playing to the situation.” So they are different, after all.

Plays of the day from the Group B match between Hobart Hurricanes and Northern Knights

Rachna Shetty23-Sep-2014The screamer
Hurricanes needed a special effort in the field to thwart a confident Knights batting line-up and Ben Laughlin came up with exactly that at point to get rid of Anton Devcich. The batsman wanted to hit down the ground but the ball from Joe Mennie took the outside edge and lobbed towards backward point. Laughlin dived high and to his right to help Mennie complete the first wicket-maiden in this CLT20. The wicket would also have brought relief to Doug Bollinger, who had dropped the batsman at mid-on three balls earlier.The stroke of luck
It was one of those days when most things Hurricanes tried appeared to work, including a rather fortuitous delivery that got rid of BJ Watling. With dew a constant issue in Raipur, Ben Hilfenhaus appeared to lose his grip on the ball and sent a full toss Watling’s way. The Knights batsman, however, missed it completely and was hit on the back thigh. The ball had swung and straightened enough for the umpire to rule an lbw and a few Hurricanes fielders had surprised grins when they ran into celebrate.The committed fielder
Playing his first game in nearly six months, Jono Boult was in action in the second over. A thick edge off Ben Dunk came swiftly to Boult near third man and he dived to push the ball away. It was in danger of rolling over the rope for a four but Boult, quick on his feet, got up and flicked it back in time.The accidental six
The skill of fielding on the boundary is undergoing a fascinating evolution in T20 cricket with dives, relay catches and some help from folks like Brendon McCullum. Against Knights, Joe Mennie almost pulled off a good catch that could have got rid of Scott Styris. The batsman had hit a slower ball from Doug Bollinger high towards long-on and Mennie, like all good fielders, kept his eyes on the ball and took it. His momentum, however, was taking him backwards and the tactic of tossing the ball back over the rope did not quite work as he stepped on the boundary.

After a harrowing fortnight, Australia’s captain tries to get back to meeting on-field challenges

Daniel Brettig08-Dec-2014In early afternoon at Coffs Harbour Airport on Thursday, Michael Clarke sat quietly with his wife Kyly and his fitness trainer and friend Duncan Kerr. Clarke had been with Phillip Hughes’ family earlier that day as they bid final farewell to their son and brother at a private cremation.Now Clarke was heading back to Sydney and then Adelaide, a day behind his team-mates and still grieving. His only concession to cricket had been to continue daily training and work on his recovering hamstring in the company of Kerr, who also happens to be a paramedic.Their transport back to Sydney was to be by helicopter, but as they waited in the airport lounge a Virgin flight was boarding. Crossing paths with me, Clarke spoke quietly and with gratitude about the way the previous day’s funeral had unfolded. The time had come though to leave the New South Wales north coast and return to cricket. “See you,” were his parting words, “through the summer.”There is not a single person in Australian cricket anything other than delighted that Clarke is now fit to play and ready again to be captain. His qualities as a leader have come through in the most distressing of situations, where he balanced his own grieving with long hours working as the link man between the Hughes family, the national team and other friends and mourners.The time Clarke spent as a spokesman was also notable, from his brief statement for the family on the day Hughes died, to a more emotional address on behalf of the team. Finally there was his speech at the funeral, which no less an authority on the matter of words than Malcolm Knox said “might have been the finest speech ever given by an Australian sportsman”.Notably, Clarke has not spoken publicly since his arrival in Adelaide. This has effectively been the team returning a favour to Clarke for his time at the forefront of public attention in the days between Hughes’ collapse at the SCG and the funeral in Macksville. Ryan Harris, Brad Haddin, Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson have all taken up the slack as senior players by extemporising honestly and at times painfully about the challenges of resuming cricket in circumstances no-one had ever conceived of encountering.But Clarke’s absence from public discussion has served another purpose, allowing him vital extra time to steel himself for what lies ahead. It should not be forgotten that before Hughes was hit, the mixed messages surrounding Clarke’s recovery from increasingly stubborn hamstring troubles suggested a captain at odds with his selection panel and a body growing ever more problematic in the face of physical scrutiny.In Adelaide, Clarke has done all he needed to prove he is limber and strong enough to push through the next five days, whether it be by running in the parklands or batting in the Oval nets. Like other team-mates clad by Masuri, he has opted for the company’s newest variety of helmet this week, and taken the required time to get used to its slightly greater weight and wider protective radius.Clarke has been driven by a desire to lead the team that he has stood at the front of since 2011, and by that to honour Hughes with runs and a victory over India. He has also been encouraged by the memories of batting in Adelaide, where his record is marked not just by some staggeringly high scores but also the rarest kind of consistency. Since a quiet first Test at the ground against New Zealand in 2004, Clarke has never left Adelaide without at least cresting 70, and six times he has saluted the Oval members by passing three figures.One of Clarke’s batting habits is to have a song or two in his head while batting. The tunes allow him to switch off between balls, and he frequently asks his partners for a recommendation. Walking to the wicket on Tuesday, there is some chance Clarke’s mind will cast back to the songs played at Hughes’ funeral. Youth Group’s and Elton John’s were not just fitting bookends to the service; they would be poignant accompaniment to the sort of innings Clarke will dearly want to craft this week.

Sarfraz Ahmed was long seen as a lightweight in international cricket, but he is changing that perception with sheer weight of runs

Umar Farooq in Dubai23-Oct-2014 (son of a poor man) was a line used for Sarfraz Ahmed in the Dubai press box as he scored his second Test hundred. It’s not that he belongs to a poor family but it’s a common phrase referring to someone who is never taken seriously.But now he has earned respect after scoring more runs than any of his team-mates in his last five Test matches, averaging 63.50, and scoring hundreds in successive Tests. Today’s century, off 80 deliveries, was the fourth fastest in Pakistan’s history, and the second quickest by any wicketkeeper.Sarfraz hails from a religious family and became a , someone who has memorised the entire Qur’an. His father, who set up a stationery shop in Karachi, always wanted Sarfraz to focus on his studies rather than waste his time playing cricket. Sarfraz always wanted to make a name in cricket but his father didn’t live long enough to see Sarfraz reach the top.Sarfraz captained the Pakistan Under-19 team that won the Word Cup in 2006 and though he broke through to the senior team in the next year, he wasn’t seen as an integral part of the team until his 48 against Sri Lanka in the Sharjah Test earlier this year.He didn’t get long enough spells to settle down in the Pakistan set-up, and wasn’t regarded as international material in those years. “Earlier in my career I was more concerned about whether I will get another opportunity or not and that was the thing that kept me occupied,” he explained.”But now I am given all the support even though still I have a lot in mind but the focus is to perform. I am playing with more freedom and support back in the [dressing room] and [that has] helped me a lot in giving my performance. Players might have been performing individually but our efforts unfortunately are not able to win but I am hopeful soon we will be winning track again.”Since his comeback in January, his Test-match scores – 7, 74, 5, 48, 55, 52*, 103, 55, 109 – are weighty enough to make him the long-term option for the wicketkeeper-batsman slot, especially given Pakistan’s troubles with the bat in recent years.Early in his career, Sarfraz carried the reputation of being a fine wicketkeeper but a mediocre batsman. Over the past year, the questions about his batting have started to disappear. Although he is happy with his recent form, he suggests that his “best is yet to come”. His exuberant celebrations after scoring a fifty or a hundred show how desperate he is for runs, and he acknowledges the support he has received by bowing to the dressing room.Though he bats at No. 7, he has set his sights on big hundreds. He averages 41.36 in first-class cricket and has a highest score of 213*. “It’s just a start,” he said, when asked if this was the best innings he has played. “My number is low in the order and I mostly have had to play with the tail so it’s not like I can’t score big but it’s a matter of chance. Sometime if I get a lengthy partnership with someone in the top order I can do it.”

Players who had a starring role in the only World Cup that they played

Bishen Jeswant30-Jan-2015Peter Kirsten
South Africa
1992

Kirsten was 37 years old by the time he played his first and only World Cup, in 1992. South Africa could not play the first four World Cups because they were suspended by the ICC between 1970 and 1991 due the government’s policy of apartheid. Kirsten was the third-highest run getter in that edition, scoring 410 runs, including four fifties, at an average of 68.3.Geoff Allott’s 20-wicket haul was, at the time, a record for the most wickets in a World Cup•AFPGeoff Allott
New Zealand
1999

Allott was the leading wicket-taker at the 1999 World Cup, picking up 20 wickets at an average of 16.3. He is the only New Zealand bowler to have topped the wickets tally at any edition of the World Cup. However, a series of injuries, primarily a persistent back problem, meant that Allott would play his last international match in 2000, at the relatively young age of 29.Neil Johnson is one of only two players to score 350 runs and take ten wickets in the same World Cup•Getty ImagesNeil Johnson
Zimbabwe
1999

Johnson had a starring role with both bat and ball during the 1999 World Cup, scoring 367 runs at an average of 52.4, including a hundred and three fifties, while also picking up 12 wickets along the way. He had three Man-of-the-Match citations to show for his efforts. However, Johnson left for South Africa in 2000 thanks to differences with coach Dave Houghton and low pay offers from the Zimbabwe Cricket Union.Andy Bichel contributed with bat and ball during the 2003 World Cup•ReutersAndy Bichel
Australia
2003

During the 2003 World Cup, Bichel picked up 16 wickets at an average of 12.3, the best for any bowler who had taken at least ten wickets. During that edition, he was also part of Australia’s two best lower-order stands (eighth to tenth wickets) in all World Cups, sharing 73* and 97-run partnerships with Michael Bevan. Despite this, Bichel’s contract was not renewed in 2004, which meant that he was an ODI regular in that strong Australia team for only a brief period between 2002 and 2004.Gary Gilmour bagged five-wicket hauls in the only two World Cup matches that he ever played•Patrick EagarGary Gilmour
Australia
1975

Gary Gilmour didn’t play a game in the 1975 tournament till the semi-final, after which he left an indelible mark on the tournament’s history. He returned figures of 6 for 14 in the semi-final against England and 5 for 48 in the final against West Indies. Glenn McGrath, the highest wicket-taker in World Cups, has only two five-fors from 39 games. Injuries, a dearth of ODIs and poor fitness meant that Gilmour played only one ODI after the 1975 final.

The downed catches are the cause of so much of their woe, but also, are a reflection of the confidence of a side, that has lost 12 out of 19 completed ODIs, plus two Tests, since mid-October

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Christchurch14-Feb-20151:26

Agarkar: SL will need big players to perform

No loss inspires as much regret as one conceived by spilled catches. No day feels so wasted as the one defined by a few sorry moments. For Sri Lanka, their time in New Zealand has been continually marred this heartbreak; a grim, empty eddy of “what ifs”.That a Brendon McCullum salvo might come off and that an off-colour new-ball pair would be crashed around is not so surprising, but couldn’t it have been so much better if Kane Williamson was snapped up for none? It was 57 runs that he scored today, after Kumar Sangakkara failed to cling to a sharp one, low to his right. It was 213 runs and a Test series, when Sri Lanka spurned the first of the four chances he gave them in Wellington, six weeks ago. Sri Lanka had a second shot at Williamson, on 27, but Angelo Mathews parried that one overhead.In the 37th over, Corey Anderson could probably have been held by substitute Dinesh Chandimal for 2. Instead, he made the chance seem tougher than it was and it flew over the rope. Those three at least were somewhat difficult opportunities. Jeevan Mendis circled under one, with Anderson on 43, and collected only fresh air as the ball descended, leather striking him somewhere near the groin on the way down, to add comical injury to insult.The downed catches are the cause of so much of their woe, but also, are a reflection of the confidence of a side, that has lost 12 out of 19 completed ODIs, plus two Tests, since mid-October. That there is quality in this squad is hard to deny. Eight of the 11 men who triumphed in last year’s World T20 final, were on the field on Saturday.’Happy opening the innings’ – Thirimanne

Lahiru Thirimanne, who top-scored for Sri Lanka with 65 off 60, said he was comfortable with being moved around the batting order. Sri Lanka have been unsure with how to use him in the past 18 months, often asking him to plug holes in the batting order, when other batsmen begin underperforming.
The selectors had hoped to bat him at No. 6 throughout the World Cup, but as woes at the top of the order persisted, he has now been returned to the opening position, where he has sporadically batted before.
“I’m happy opening the innings because that gives me time to settle down and score big innings,” he said. “Unfortunately I couldn’t make that 60 into a hundred. I’m very disappointed about that, but I’m happy about my role. I’ve been batting everywhere from opener to No. 8, so I’m used to being moved around.”

How much worse do they seem now, than they did a mere eight months ago? When Sri Lanka are surging, their modest shards of talent are fused together into a menacing point. Not only are the catches held, but even their rarer celestial events begin to run together. Fours begin pouring off Nuwan Kulasekara’s blade. Tillakaratne Dilshan makes big breakthroughs. Boundary riders execute manoeuvres no coach has ever taught them.When Sri Lanka are flagging, all their foibles come into sharp focus. In pursuit of a ball, Lasith Malinga’s belly wobbles more than his deliveries do off the seam. Rangana Herath lumbers like he is dragging the remains of his own broken body around. Mahela Jayawardene is in a perpetual frump because even the young men who can move quickly, only flail at the ball as it whooshes past them.The fielding has been poor for so long that it has now become self-parody. “Their guys get to the ball much faster than ours”, was a warning Dilshan audibly issued to his opening partner early in Sri Lanka’s innings. All through the first roaring eight months of 2014, Mathews had spoken of Sri Lanka playing for each other, “like a family”. Now, when losses have stacked up, the frayed edges that are a perpetual presence in any Sri Lanka outfit, begin to unspool.The innings’ top-scorer, Lahiru Thirimanne, approximated the cost of those spills. “It was a good wicket, but 280-290 would have been really chaseable in this ground,” he said. “But I thought we didn’t field well, so that cost us. As a team we have to put that extra effort because sometimes crucial catches might cost end of the game. As a team we have to put our heads down and do the extra work.”The fielding lapses compounded, and the street-smarts that get Sri Lanka deep into big tournaments, deserted them. Mathews saved one Rangana Herath over, as if for a rainy day, only for Anderson to hit them like a flash flood. In contrast, Daniel Vettori was through his full quota in the 35th over. McCullum had a chasing team on the run, of course, so he was under no great stress. But Sri Lanka and Mathews – a team and captain that pride themselves on their cool heads under duress – allowed their best bowler to have one over unforgivably unused.Mendis’ two wickets for five runs from two overs also jars in comparison with Malinga and Kulasekara’s combined 1 for 162, from 18 overs. Mendis’ bowling form over the past month has not suggested he should be entrusted a long spell, but when frontliners are going for plenty, the bowling plan could do with a little massaging. Isn’t that the nimbleness that has defined them in past campaigns, when they have ridden on the coattails of unlikely performers? Even leaving that aside, isn’t that the flexibility they build into their attack when they stack the team with allrounders?In the past, Sri Lanka have arrived at world tournaments unfancied, then taken the events by the collar. This time, when they have the most experienced top order in the world, the finest contemporary death bowler, and arguably the best spinner in the tournament, they are waiting for the World Cup to come to them, and shake them to life.