All posts by h716a5.icu

Stats highlights from an extraordinary day’s play when Zimbabwe were bowled out twice

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan28-Jan-2012Chris Martin ran through Zimbawe picking up his best figures of 6 for 26•Getty ImagesZimbabwe, in response to New Zealand’s 495, were bowled out for just 51. This is their lowest total in Tests. Their previous lowest total was 54 against South Africa in Cape Town in 2005 when they lost by an innings inside two days. Overall, Zimbabwe have now been bowled out for totals less than 100 on eight occasions. Six of those eight totals have come in away Tests and the only two occasions Zimbabwe have been bowled out less than 100 in home Tests have come against New Zealand. Zimbabwe also suffered the ignominy of being bowled out twice in a day. Zimbabwe and India are the only teams to suffer the fate previously. However, they managed to go past their lowest aggregate in a match (158) which came against New Zealand in 2005. Zimbabwe, who faced only 28.5 overs, beat their previous record for the fewest overs faced in a completed innings.Zimbabwe’s 51 is now the lowest total by any team in Tests against New Zealand. The previous lowest mark was also set by Zimbabwe in 2005 (59). Overall, teams have been bowled out for sub-100 totals 15 times against New Zealand. This is also the first time that a team has been bowled out for less than 100 in an innings in Napier. New Zealand, by bowling out Zimbabwe for 51, gained a lead of 444 at the end of the first innings. This is the first time that New Zealand have gained a first-innings lead over 400 in Tests. Their previous highest lead (393) also came against Zimbabwe in 2005 in Harare when they bowled Zimbabwe out for 59. Click here for a list of matches when New Zealand have batted first and here for a list of matches when they have batted second.The first five wickets fell for 19 in Zimbabwe’s first innings and for 12 in their second innings. The match aggregate of 31 for the top five partnerships is the lowest ever for Zimbabwe in Tests. Their previous lowest was 84 against England at Lord’s in 2000. This is Zimbabwe’s highest defeat margin (in terms of runs) in Tests. Their previous highest was by an innings and 294 runs against New Zealand in Harare in 2005. The innings-and-301-run victory margin is also New Zealand’s largest ever in Tests. New Zealand’s total of 495 is their highest against Zimbabwe surpassing their previous best of 487 in Wellington in 2000. Their total of 495 is the third-highest in Napier.Chris Martin picked up his tenth five-wicket haul in Tests. His figures of 6 for 26 are his best bowling figures and the best for a New Zealand bowler against Zimbabwe. Martin’s match haul of 8 for 31 is the second-best against Zimbabwe for a New Zealand bowler after Shane Bond’s 10 for 99 in Bulawayo in 2005.BJ Watling scored his maiden Test century in his seventh Test. He now has one century and one fifty and averages 34.70.

After surviving a career-threatening illness, Michael Carberry wants to state his case for England once again

Andrew McGlashan at Northampton09-May-2012For any player, being selected for England Lions is a significant moment, marking them out as being in the selectors’ thoughts for higher honours. However, Michael Carberry could be forgiven for feeling more satisfied than most by his appearance against West Indies this week after recovering from an illness that threatened his cricket career.Shortly before he was due to depart for Australia with the Lions in November 2010, to be part of the squad shadowing the Ashes party, he was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism – blood clots on his lungs – which left him in hospital for two weeks and then on strong medication to thin the blood that left his career in doubt. But he returned midway through last season and finished the 2011 campaign with 793 runs from nine Championship matches, including a triple century against Yorkshire, which made him Hampshire’s fourth-highest run-scorer, and is averaging 35 this summer.Now he is potentially one injury away from being able to add to the single Test cap he won against Bangladesh in Chittagong in early 2010, where he replaced the resting Andrew Strauss on the Alastair Cook’s first tour as captain. “It’s nice to be back playing and to be back in the fold. It’s been a long road,” he said, conceding that his thoughts had turned to life after cricket. “As years tick over it’s something I had in mind anyway, then with the illness it was something I had to look into. My club has been fantastic and my family, not to mention England as well. I’ve had a lot of support.”Future careers, though, can be put on hold again. It is by no means certain Carberry will ever increase his Test tally – at the age of 31, time is not really on his side – but to even be in the frame is a huge credit to his motivation and belief. “Where’s there’s a will there’s a way,” he said. “It’s about a state of mind. There are always fears but when you cross the rope they have to go to the back of your mind.”Beyond Carberry’s personal drive there is another factor in his favour. As an opening batsman by trade he fills one of the areas where England are not overrun with reserve options. When murmurings started in Sri Lanka about Strauss’s future (a story that could develop again this season) one of the significant factors was who is actually around to replace him should the need arise. Jonathan Trott could be a short-term option if injury struck, but the selectors would be reluctant to move him from No. 3. With a summer filled with fast bowlers awaiting Strauss and Cook a broken digit or two is not out of the question although Carberry does not want to be typecast into one role.”I’d like to think I can bat anywhere and have stressed that to the selectors,” he said. “During my career I’ve batted in various different positions because I’ve played in some strong elevens and you’ve had to slot in where you can. I’ve batted in the middle order for the Lions and got a hundred and I feel I can bat anywhere.”Carberry’s Test debut brought scores of 34 and 30 (and a superb run out as he displayed his brilliance in the field) before he was left out in Dhaka as England, on a rare occasion, opted for five bowlers. Strauss and Cook have not been separated since, so even without illness Carberry would most likely have been on the sidelines, but it was an experience he savoured.”I didn’t feel out of my depth, I played pretty well. I think everyone is allowed to be a little nervous, it was something I’d worked 13 years towards,” he said. “I think I gave a reasonable account of myself without setting the world alight. I’d like another taste of it. I’d like to think I’m better than I was, that was nearly two years ago. I’m two years older and two years wiser.”

Kent’s England U-19 opener Daniel Bell-Drummond showed his promise against South Africa but will seek success at his own pace

Firdose Moonda16-Jul-2012It only took 18-year-old Daniel Bell-Drummond 14 deliveries to realise he could drive against the South Africa Test attack. He drove, not with the hesitation of someone whose foot was unsure of the relative positions of the accelerator and brake but with the confidence of an experienced hand behind the wheel. He drove straight, he drove square, he drove through the covers and when he was done driving, he pulled.In two innings, Bell-Drummond scored 90 runs and faced almost a third of the total overs bowled by the South Africans. With Sam Northeast, who is not much older at 22, he made it look easy to deny one of the most feared bowling outfits in world cricket. For 107 minutes in the first innings and almost the same amount in the second, neither showed signs of vulnerability – but Bell-Drummond said every second was close to terrifying.”I watched these bowlers against New Zealand [on South Africa’s last tour] and they just destroyed those batsmen so I was really nervous going in,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “They are really quick, especially Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn. In the first innings when there was a little bit more in the wicket, I found it really tough and testing. But the second was nice, the wicket was really flat and slow and I think I came through quite nicely.”Self-assured on the crease but bashful off it, Bell-Drummond was careful not to talk himself up too much, especially with Steyn hovering nearby. He chose his words carefully, particularly those that were about his approach to his craft. “I decided to be quite attacking because the bowlers are quite quick and there was more sense in driving than trying to pull Morkel,” he said. “I like the pace coming on to the bat as well.”On overhearing that statement, Steyn could not stop himself from interrupting. “And I gave him a lot of shit out there too, especially in the first innings,” he said, before patting Bell-Drummond on the arm. “But well batted, bud. I’ll be gone now so you can carry on.”Bell-Drummond’s expression melted. He went from a cricketer in his own right to nothing more than a star-star-struck youngster. The world’s No. 1 Test bowler had paid him a massive compliment but instead of gobbling it up greedily, he savoured it and allowed it to sink in slowly.The ability to stop himself from rushing emerged as one of Bell-Drummond’s best qualities in the match, as a cricketer and as a person. He is not overly anxious about his absence from Kent’s Championship XI, for example. “I’ve just got to carry on, keep doing what I’m doing and scoring runs and when that place comes up for grabs hopefully I will be in a position to take it,” he said.For most of the summer, he has played for the second team, where he has done well. The tour match against the South Africans was his only first-class game of the season. Kent had to ask special permission from England’s Under-19 management to field him and he repaid them handsomely.It must have been similar maturity and composure that led to Bell-Drummond being spotted by Kent as a seven-year old at Catford Wanderers CC. They immediately made him a part of their junior systems, an experience he describes as his biggest break and a great reward for his cricket-mad family.Born to Jamaican parents, Bell-Drummond grew up with Brian Lara as his hero. “My dad brought me up playing cricket,” he said. “He was quite good at it himself. He didn’t play at a very high level but he definitely knows what he is talking about. And Lara was in prime then, we loved watching him on television. I’ve never seen him live, though.”Playing at a “very Caribbean” club allowed West Indian influences to shape Bell-Drummond’s early years and he hopes those will remain as he gets older. He also credits Mark Davis, coach at Millfield School where Bell-Drummond completed his education just a few weeks ago, with teaching him more about his own style and helping him improve in areas of weakness, such as playing against spin. “I didn’t face a lot of spin because I was an opening batsmen and when I was younger, I was quite small and I couldn’t hit it very far. But I am improving on that,” he said.He hopes that development will be on display at next month’s Under-19 World Cup in Australia, which Bell-Drummond believes England are in prime position to triumph in. “The last England team to win it was the one Robert Key was in in 1998,” Bell-Drummond said, referring to his Kent captain. “He is always telling how we’re not going to win it as a joke. But we’ve worked hard for three years, we’ve played a lot of the teams already and we’ve beaten them. Hopefully we can turn up and win the competition.”While Bell-Drummond admits his main objective is to “stick to my individual game plan to and get the team off to a good start,” he also said he wants to show he is capable of shouldering responsibility. “I want to try and help some of the other batsmen and let them know what’s happening out there because, as an opening batsman, I can assess what each bowler is trying to do.” After the way he fronted up to the South Africans, there is evidence that he is capable of doing that, and much more.

He may not be part of South Africa’s plans anymore but the Lions batsman remains an integral part of the country’s domestic scene

Firdose Moonda22-Oct-2012If you go down to the Wanderers on any day in the South African summer you’ll find one player staying back after the usual training sessions and team meetings: Neil McKenzie.You might find him gathering the equipment after the Lions squad has left the nets, or arranging the sweets the way he likes them best in the dressing room, or going into the office to say hello to the people who have worked there for as many years as McKenzie has been alive. “Like Eddie, who rolls the wickets, and Phil, who does the outfield – both of them were here when my dad was playing,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “You just need to look around. This is a nice place to be.”The Wanderers was McKenzie’s playground when he was a young boy. He and his brother Gavin played on the grass banks and in later years shared drinks with the Pollock brothers while their fathers were out in the middle. Three decades later, it is still his home. Apart from a small stint at Northerns in Centurion, which he refers to as a “holiday”, McKenzie has played all his domestic cricket in South Africa for Gauteng.He is a local legend and still one of the Lions’ most reliable run scorers. He was second on last season’s first-class batting charts and has already scored two fifties this season, one of which was instrumental in the Lions’ opening victory in the Champions League Twenty20 and proof that McKenzie has still got it, no matter what the format.The administrators at Corlett Drive always knew McKenzie had it. Weeks after he finished school, he was contracted by Gauteng, along with Zander de Bruyn and David Terbrugge, and seemed destined to follow his father’s lead. He had expectations to fulfil, and McKenzie said he had nothing but support from his family.”My dad tried to give us the opportunity to play as many sports as possible. His only stipulation was that we had to play a team sport while we were growing up. There was no real pressure from his side in terms of what we wanted to do after that, but he did say I had to try and get a degree behind me. Being a cricketer, he knew how the sports industry is and how everything can be taken away from you in an instant. I’m glad he pushed me in that direction.”While playing, McKenzie applied for a degree in commerce at the University of Johannesburg, although cricket remained a priority. For five seasons, he racked up the runs before being picked in the national one-day squad. He remembered batting in the middle order with Hansie Cronje in that time. But it was in the longer form of the game that McKenzie made his name.He became a regular member of South Africa’s Test side, playing 41 matches between July 2000 and March 2004. He scored only two hundreds in that time, against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, both made before February 2001. In the latter stages of the first part of his Test career, he became better known for his odd superstitions, which included strapping his bat to the ceiling, stipulating a seating arrangement for his team-mates in the dressing room, and making sure all the toilet seats were down when he went in to bat.McKenzie now has an explanation for his unusual behaviour. “Us cricketers, we can be funny people. We try and control the uncontrollable. In the game, things can be unpredictable so I tried to make them predictable. I think that’s why I did it.”After going 33 matches without reaching three figures, he was dropped from the national side. McKenzie returned home to the Wanderers and was asked to captain them in the new franchise system. “Obviously I still wanted to play for South Africa but I also had me a different focus because of that,” he said. “We had a lot of young players that had come through our ranks, and we wanted to develop them. So I worked on that.”His personal life also changed when he married South Africa’s original Wonderbra girl, Kerry McGregor, in 2007, and the couple became the Posh and Becks of the cricket scene. With love came sensational form. Two seasons of averaging around 50 in the first-class scene spelt McKenzie’s Test comeback as Graeme Smith’s opening partner.He lasted 14 months in the role, played 17 matches, averaged 47.11 and scored three hundreds, including one at Lord’s during South Africa’s first series win in England since readmission. “That was the best time in my cricketing life in terms of results,” he said. “We won in England and Australia, and the team vibe was amazing.”It was nice to be part of the side when they started making such good progress. If you look at them now, there have been only one or two personnel changes from that time. That is the key to a winning side and to creating a legacy.”But when South Africa could not continue upward after they defeated Australia Down Under in 2008-09, McKenzie was the one to take the fall. In their home series against Australia the same season, South Africa lost 2-1. McKenzie was one of the worst performers; he scored 102 runs in four innings, with a top score of 36, and by then had gone ten matches without a century. He was dropped and, by his own admission, his international career was over.He was disappointed but not angry. “I don’t think too many guys get a second chance but I got a second chance. Everyone wants to do more, so of course, I would like to have got a lot more runs, I would like to have been in the side more than I was, but I am not bitter about anything. That’s the thing about sportsmen. Because we are so highly driven, we get bitter when things don’t go our way. I would like to have played more but I’m happy to have done what I did.”McKenzie’s weirdest superstition

“I always liked to get into bed in the same way every night – same side, everything neat – that’s how my day ended. I used to room with Lance Klusener and he would always play a trick on me during that routine. I’d get in and be ready to switch off and he would flick my ankle. Then I would have to start all over again. He used it quite a few times and it would really irritate me. When I saw him here a few weeks ago, we laughed about that and I told him that now I jump into bed as quickly as I can.”

McKenzie has continued to lead the Lions’ batting line-up and decided to extend his career by spending time in England during the South African winter. Hampshire, where old friend and former team-mate Nic Pothas was stationed, became his second home.McGregor and their two children, Luke and Riley, went with him and the family began living across two countries. “It’s a different challenge. I think it’s easier when you are on your own [where if you have] a one-bedroom apartment with no garden, you’re fine. But when you’ve got the kids that I’ve got, you need wide open spaces,” he said. “But I have loved every minute of the playing side of things on different wickets in England.”They have spent three years travelling back and forth, and McKenzie thinks he has one more left. “When my knee was giving me some problems a couple of years ago, I thought if I get to 37, I’ll stop. I will be 37 next month but I think I’ll do another year overseas and then finish my career here with the Lions. It’s about choosing the right time. As long as I am making runs and contributing, that’s fine. But the main thing is that I am not keeping guys out who should be playing. I still want to do well for Geoffrey Toyana, the Lions and my team-mates.”Toyana, who played with McKenzie and now coaches him, has lauded his senior role. “He is a sounding board for me and for the captain,” Toyana said. Alviro Petersen, Lions captain, has also praised McKenzie’s dedication to the squad.McKenzie remains a team man but bizarre habits don’t dictate his dressing-room ethic anymore. “There are times that I keep my rituals the same but the OCD has toned down since I’ve had kids,” he said. “There is not as much time and I am too exhausted to be checking on things like the toilet seats. Thank goodness.”He also offers advice to some of the younger batsmen like Quinton de Kock. “I don’t mentor, I just offer advice,” McKenzie clarified. It may be an indication of what McKenzie’s life after playing cricket could be like. He said coaching is an option, especially because he has “always liked the nuances of batting”. Finishing the degree he began studying for 15 years ago is another possibility. “I am three half-subjects away but I stopped so long ago I hope the university can still find my records.”

Reggie Duff was the first No. 10 batsman to score a century on Test debut, but the rest of his career and his life didn’t quite match that glittering start

Steven Lynch02-Dec-2012The unlikely achievement of the Bangladesh fast bowler Abul Hasan, who hit a stunning century on debut from No. 10 in the batting order against West Indies in Khulna last week, set off a landslide of enquiries. How many No. 10s had scored a century in a Test? And surely none of them could have done so on debut?The answer is that three men had previously made Test tons from No. 10. The Surrey allrounder Walter Read was the first, with 117 against Australia at The Oval in 1884, “a superb display of hard and rapid hitting”, according to Wisden. The genial South African offspinner Pat Symcox was the last, scoring 108 against Pakistan in Johannesburg in 1997-98. And in between, the New South Welshman Reggie Duff made 104 for Australia in Melbourne in the second Ashes Test of 1901-02 – on his debut.Duff remains a mysterious figure, little written about despite this fine start. The main reason for this is his early death, in December 1911 (just as another Ashes series was about to get under way). Less than four years later, Duff’s long-time opening partner Victor Trumper also died: he was widely mourned, and the crowd at his funeral stretched halfway across Sydney. Duff, however, was laid to rest rather more quietly, some of his former team-mates and colleagues from the Sydney Harbour Trust among the few in attendance.The main reason was that, while Trumper succumbed to kidney disease, Duff’s illness was self-inflicted – he was too fond of a drink. The Australian newspaper the Referee tiptoed carefully around the unmentionable in a style typical of the period: “Some few years back, he did not take that care of his health necessary for one wishing to live a normal life in years and in vigour.”Duff’s Test debut was indeed sensational, although it should be stressed that he was really a batsman – he usually went in first – but found himself at No. 10 after the Australian batting order was reshuffled in a successful attempt to avoid the worst of a pitch soaked by torrential rain on New Year’s Eve (the match itself started on January 1). Duff had already top-scored with 32 (from No. 7) while Australia made 112, but they had to go in again after England – hitting out wildly – were skittled for 61. In all, 25 wickets tumbled for 221 runs on that madcap first day, but conditions were much more suitable for batting on the second. Duff went in at 167 for 8, but helped add 186 more runs, including a last-wicket stand of 120 with Warwick Armstrong – another debutant, and another proper batsman. The lead stretched to 404, which proved far beyond England.Duff’s start, then, was romantic – but he had been a surprise choice for the match in the first place, after only one century in his 13 first-class matches. Gideon Haigh, in his forensic autobiography of Armstrong, unearthed an evocative account of Duff’s selection, written by the former Australian captain Tom Horan, whose regular newspaper cricket column appeared under the pen name “Felix”:

“Bob McLeod, Syd Gregory and Reg Duff were walking down Collins Street near the Town Hall. ‘I wonder,’ said Syd, ‘am I in the team?’ ‘I’ll go up to the Argus office and see,’ said Bob. Up he went, got the information, and was himself staggered that Duff was in. Turning to Syd, he said: ‘You’re in, Syd.’ Then turning to Duff: ‘And so are you, Duff.’ Duff looked fixedly at Bob and replied with the most forceful contradiction he could frame. But he was in.”

His greatest partnerships had been for NSW and Australia with Trumper. Duff knew his place in their liaisons, once joking that “Victor is taking me out for a run again”… but he often went shot for shot with Trumper

And Duff remained in for the next three series, scoring consistently – although the only other century to go with his debut one came in what turned out to be his final Test, at The Oval in 1905, when his 146 set up a draw. “He played a great innings, his driving a marvel of power and cleanness,” enthused Wisden.But that was it. Duff never scored another century, and in fact played only eight more matches after that tour: although he was 12th man for the first Test of the 1907-08 Ashes series Down Under, he did not feature, and faded out after that season as his problems with alcohol hit home. Around this time, the future Test legspinner Arthur Mailey (then in his early twenties) spotted him in the street: “I saw one of my heroes, Reg Duff, meandering down the Chinese quarters in Haymarket, Sydney, shabbily dressed and with his hair poking through his straw hat.” When Duff died, penniless, the Australian team had a whip-round to cover his funeral expenses, while the NSW cricket association paid for his headstone.His greatest partnerships had been for NSW and Australia with Trumper, who is even now remembered (while Duff is all but forgotten) as one of the great classical batsmen. Duff knew his place in their liaisons, once joking that “Victor is taking me out for a run again” as they embarked on another Test innings. But he was being rather modest, as he often went shot for shot with Trumper.Duff was on the short side, but a fine cutter and driver on the up. During the 1902 tour of England, the Australians posed for a series of action photographs for the Middlesex amateur George Beldam. The shots of Trumper, especially the iconic one of him jumping down the pitch to drive, have become legendary: but the Australian writer Jack Pollard suggested that the images of Duff from the same series “show a similar audacity and mastery of technique”.Other photographs reveal Duff as a man of saturnine countenance, with the obligatory moustache of the day (“turned up at the ends, Kaiser-like,” according to Mailey). CB Fry described him characteristically colourfully: “Reggie Duff had a face like a good-looking brown trout, and was full of Australian sunshine.” Sadly, he was also too often full of Australian liquor, which did for him in the end.10:54:34 GMT, December 2, 2012: The subheadline originally said Duff was the first batsman to score a century on debut

From Brendan Layton, Australia I’m taking time out to lament to decline of the Pakistan cricket team, which has fallen from world beaters to chugging along side the West Indies in a struggle to catch up.

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013Brendan Layton, Australia
I’m taking time out to lament to decline of the Pakistan cricket team, which has fallen from world beaters to chugging along side the West Indies in a struggle to catch up.Pakistan once boasted one of the most formidable line ups in the world. In the 90’s, they had players of the calibre of Wasim Akram, arguably the greatest left arm quick of all time; Waqar Younis, his incomparable (And injury ravaged) sidekick; Inzamam-Ul-Haq; the chubby and dominant batsman as well as class acts such as Saeed Anwar, Ijaz Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq and Mohammad Yousuf. Pakistan has not won a series since 2006, and that was against the West Indies. The last series they played was against India, in which they lost 1-0, and they haven’t played since. Nor are they slated to play anyone within the next 9 months.What happened to Pakistan cricket to bring it down the notches it had scaled to reach amongst the top three in world cricket?As much as we would like to say cricket and politics don’t mix, it is unrealistic to believe it. Pakistan’s unstable political climate and unfortunate status as terrorism target is not conducive to attracting cricket teams, sponsors, or fans. To further my point about politics, South Africa was isolated from world sports for decades due to its apartheid policy, a purely political reason for isolating it. A similar issue is going on in Zimbabwe, yet I have already raised my annoyance at the lack of initiative on that problem.Their cricketers have battled controversies which have tagged along like dead weights. The match fixing accusations, ball tampering, Shoaib Ahktar’s histrionics, the drug disgrace surrounding Shoaib and Mohammad Asif, and the forfeited test have all contributed to Pakistan’s state of mind. Their bizarre selection policies have also contributed, with players who have made successful forays overseas such Yasir Arafat all but ignored (Arafat did manage one test, in their previous series against India). Mushtaq Ahmed churned out hundreds of wickets for Sussex and helped the county to its first championships, but was not picked again.Cricket wants a strong Pakistan team. While the board has become something of a little brother to the powerful BCCI, the health of cricket needs more competitiveness and what better time with plenty of money in the game to encourage it? There is going to be another Wasim there, another Imran, another Javed. Pakistan needs to go and find them, not only for its own sake, but for crickets.

With the likes of Michael Hussey, David Hussey and Ponting getting old, Australia team is losing players who scored in bulk. They have inexperienced batsmen who are not yet ready to fill their predecessors’ shoes

Jack Mendel25-Feb-2013Before the first ODI at Lords between England and Australia, Shane Watson, Australia’s opening batsmen and allrounder, had said England didn’t have enough batting depth and that their line-up with five specialist bowlers (including Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann who can all bat) was too bowler heavy. The comment seemed a little out of place because it is clearly the Australian batting line-up that has some serious issues relating to depth.Watson and Warner get them off to a solid start, but besides them, only Michael Clarke offers any substantial resistance. In the absence of Michael Hussey, who skipped the tour due to personal reasons, Australia sent Steven Smith, a leg-spinning allrounder who led Sydney Sixers to the Big Bash League title last season, at No. 6. He can bat in an unorthodox fashion at that position, but having not bowled, he is essentially reduced to a batsman, who has performed poorly with the bat.Australia need some more batsmen. With the likes of Michael Hussey, now 37, David Hussey (not picked for Test matches anyway) and Ponting getting old, Australia team is losing players who scored in bulk. They have inexperienced batsmen who are not yet ready to fill their predecessors’ shoes. Even Watson and Warner, the supposedly more solid players, are not doing well. Watson has a large number of half-centuries (28) in 154 ODIs, but only six hundreds. In Tests, he has scored only two centuries. Warner, likewise, has only got two tons each in Test and ODI cricket. I think it would be more valuable to score a fifty at No. 5 or No. 6 instead of one at the top of the batting order. Watson bragging about depth should drop down the order to give his side some depth. Phil Hughes should come in. Clarke has 52 fifties and just seven tons in 217 games. Despite this he is now ranked eighth in the ODIs and as the leading batsman he is the only genuine solid option. I feel he should be at No. 3, but he is not converting enough starts to hundreds.Let’s look at some other domestic cricketers. Phil Hughes has been dominant in England. On the other hand he failed to make a century during the last Australian domestic season and seemed to have been worked out. Although, he wasn’t incredible in the Ashes but his domestic first-class record is too good to ignore. The amount of runs he has scored is simply staggering. At just 23, he has 17 hundreds and 5810 runs. How can Australia possibly ignore this run machine? Get him in the side, straighten out his flaws and make him a master of his art.Chris Rogers, who has been in the form of his life playing for Middlesex in all forms of cricket, is a little older and is still waiting, like David Hussey, for a proper chance to play Tests. He has been churning out runs for a long time. In Sheffield Shield trophy this season, he hit 781 runs including three centuries to be among the top run-getters.Likewise, there is Marcus North who despite already having had a shot at Test cricket was chucked for not being good enough. He is a stylish attacking batsman who can bowl.Also, seasoned professionals like 32-year old Adam Voges, Michael Klinger and Phil Jacques have all been on the fringes for a long time. Klinger, who was the fourth-highest run scorer in the 2011-12 season, has not been able to break into the side. He scored one century in 19 innings, which isn’t breathtaking for one of the top scorers in the domestic league.Phil Jacques has become so fed up with Australia selection that he has now said he wants to play for English counties. Rob Quiney and Liam Davis have both scored profusely and but have gone unnoticed. Perhaps Davis’s long-term record is not outstanding, but having scored three of his four centuries in the 2011-12 season including a triple-century, credit should be given where it is due. If a player is successful then he should get some acknowledgement, bearing in mind the alternatives – Smith, Forrest and George Bailey, and no one else really.The top century makers in Australia’s domestic league were Ed Cowan, Quiney, David Hussey, Forrest, Bailey, Davis and Rogers with three centuries apiece.The likes of Usman Khawaja, Bailey and Forrest are all decent players or they wouldn’t get in the Test side, but they haven’t set the world alight and are clearly not ready for international cricket. Who are the fringe players pushing for a spot in the side?I can’t see anyone, which is really worrying, as those in the Test, ODI and T20 side are simply not performing to a high standard. I hope Australia soon find a new Ponting or Michael Hussey because at the moment they are an inexperienced side. I am sure in three to four years there will be good players worthy of international cricket, but until then, Australia need some serious runs from some experienced batsmen.

From Adam Wakefield, Australia

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013

Jacques Kallis has matched Graeme Pollock’s achievements© AFP
Cricket, as a sport, has a habit of indulging itself in its own legend. Players are elevated above mere mortal status to something divine, something Bradmanesque as it were, where their influence on the game goes way beyond the boundary ropes of their personal selves.South Africa is no stranger to such musings. One name especially stands out as the man who inspired those in South Africa as Tendulkar does today in India. Graeme Pollock is his name, a player recognised internationally as one of the best batsmen to ever play the game. He had the second highest Test average (of those who had scored more than 2000 Test runs). He used to hold the record for the highest score by a South African and is part of the Pollock dynasty that has given so much to the South African cause over the years.Today, South Africa has yet another cricketer who should be classed in Pollock’s elite company. Jacques Kallis has never felt the full affection of the South African public, for reasons ranging from being perceived as aloof at the crease to batting to slowly. For one reason or another, Kallis never received the praise that he deserved, and only now, as the twilight of his career approaches, are South Africans waking up to how good he really is, and how much a hole he is going to leave in their national side when he eventually hangs up his well worn boots.Kallis made his debut when Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock were still figuring out how best to work together, Hansie Cronje was captain and Dave Richardson wicketkeeper. He is a physical embodiment of South Africa’s cricket history after re-admission, just by being there most of the time in person. He, along with Mark Boucher, are the last of that generation of cricketers in the 1990s who were tasked with forging South Africa’s image in the world game.Greatness is always difficult if not near impossible to see at the passing moment. In the present, we lack the foresight which allows us to put an individual’s achievements in context. Once put in context however, and weighed against the deeds of his or her peers, only then is it plausible to label a player ‘a great’. Kallis’ achievements are so immense, and his way of playing the game so pure (technically speaking), that along with Tendulkar and Ponting, will be canonized as a saint of the modern game, a man who batted in a way which survived the Test of time.The reasons Kallis and Tendulkar have been able to continue excelling to a level even past most of their younger contemporaries is because their techniques allow them to do so. Even when they have struggled, as both have done at times in their distinguished careers, their technique has gotten them through. The fact Tendulkar and Kallis were the leading run getters in the recently concluded series between their two sides, in conditions toda in the most part, underlines this fact.Kallis has also disproved the old adage that he bats at too slow a pace. He recently scored his quickest Test century, and has upped his strike rate in the five-day format significantly. And being selfish? If it weren’t for his efforts in Cape Town, South Africa would have lost the series. Harbhajan Singh, known as a fiery character but not one to shy away from expressing himself, told media before the final day in Cape Town that he hadn’t seen many bat like Kallis did that day. King Kallis, as he is known at Newlands, put on a batting masterclass which will be seen as one of his better Test innings.He further sealed his reputation by scoring his maiden double-hundred at Centurion, an achievement which in some weird way finally ensures his transition from very good to great. When Jacques Kallis comes to the crease, South Africa breathes a sigh of relief. He has been the ultimate fire-fighter, assassin and strangler for them for 15 years, and he still has a couple more seasons in his body. But when he does eventually decide to go, at the moment he walks off Newlands (it will be there) for that final time, that is when we will feel his absence, a feeling as powerful as sadness, happiness and fear. By George we are going to miss him. He has earned our affections hundreds of times over, and is finally getting the admiration he deserves.Graeme Pollock and Jacques Kallis are the greatest cricketers South Africa has ever produced. It’s simple as that.

Sohag Gazi has been thrown in at the deep end but has emerged shining after six months in international cricket

Mohammad Isam01-May-2013In only his first season of international cricket, Sohag Gazi has leapt ahead of any other specialist offspinner in Bangladesh history. His 26 Test wickets put him in a fair position to possibly kickstart an offspin revival in the country.He is two wickets short of Mahmudullah, primarily a batsman, who was used a fair bit before Gazi came along. Naimur Rahman and Fahim Muntasir are the only other frontline offspinners who have played for Bangladesh. They appeared in 11 Tests between them, the last of them in 2002. The near-complete dependence on left-arm spin since has descended all the way down to age-group cricket and to the lowest tiers of Dhaka’s league structure.It meant that Gazi was an anomaly as he rose through the ranks. First picked after a good showing for Bangladesh A and in domestic cricket, he was called upon to do duty against West Indies’ many top-order left-handers last November. As the wicket columns show, he was up to the task.Gazi has faced many challenges during these six months. The successes, big and small, and failures haven’t changed him too much, as those who have known him since his days as a first-class cricketer will attest. His knowledge of international batsmen, however, has come on in leaps and bounds, and he has developed a keen sense of what his captain wants from him in different situations.”I will say that the last six months have been a huge surprise for me,” Gazi said. “Nobody [in the media or BCB] talked about me. I was not groomed to play for Bangladesh, but here I am.Gazi is probably the least-coached cricketer in the team, given that he came out of Barisal Division and never actually come across specialised coaching until he met Saqlain Mushtaq, who is now Bangladesh’s bowling consultant on a tour-by-tour basis.In keeping with that, Gazi has also been something of a refreshing change of pace in the Bangladesh dressing room, temperament-wise. A few players have remarked on his phlegmatic attitude in tough situations and his tendency to be quietly confident at most times.”I have really enjoyed this surprising turn of events,” he said. “I can tell you that those who are built up as Bangladesh prospects have some more pressure on them. They have to do well. I didn’t have that baggage.”His temperament has been on trial from his first ball in Test cricket, which Chris Gayle smacked for six. Gazi went on to dismiss Gayle soon after that first over, and immersed himself in bowling long spells, eking out wickets, and enjoying the odd stint with the bat. In that series against West Indies, Gazi was asked to bowl at every juncture, and it continued against Sri Lanka, where he bowled from one end almost constantly., leading the attack in Shakib Al Hasan’s absence.A few weeks later in Zimbabwe, he was used differently, as captain Mushfiqur Rahim’s shock option. There were times he felt frustrated, often sending down the odd full toss when he was called on to bowl a few overs towards the end of a session.”I am trying to make the best of the opportunities in different conditions,” Gazi said. “The pace bowlers have been in the thick of things on these wickets, and as a spinner, you have to bide your time.”I just wanted to give my best shot in whatever capacity I was asked to bowl in.”He thinks there has been a genuine improvement in his bowling, having measured up to some good batsmen in his six Tests.”I can turn the ball a lot,” he said. “I think that shock of facing the biggest hitter in the game [Gayle] has helped me. I have bowled to Sangakkara and now [Brendan] Taylor, so it has helped me understand where my bowling stands.”He has the Bangladesh records for best bowling on debut in Tests and ODIs under his belt. Given how he has progressed, he will be keen to work on developing greater accuracy and the ability to cope with tough situations. It will be up to him to master these challenges, ones that have brought down many a talented cricketer in Bangladesh.

Monty Panesar must rediscover his core values if he is to resurrect his Test career after his embarrassing early-morning escapade in Brighton

David Hopps21-Aug-2013How down in the mouth does Monty Panesar feel now? While he begins his rehabilitation at the Colchester Festival, England are playing two spinners in a home Test for the first time since Cardiff four years ago, the scene of his defiant last-wicket stand against Australia. This should have been Panesar’s Test. Instead, Simon Kerrigan begins an England career he might not easily relinquish.Alastair Cook, England’s captain, has revealed that Panesar rang him full of regrets after 50 stones of bouncer fell upon him in a Brighton pizza restaurant. It is to be hoped that these apologies were based on reality because Panesar has never been too far away from a fantasy world and the qualities that have made him so endearing now threaten, at 31, to end his England career.When the Yorkshire left-arm spinner Bobby Peel famously urinated on the sightscreen at Bramall Lane, such was the wrath of Lord Hawke, one of cricket’s greatest autocrats, that he never played county cricket again. More than a century later, Panesar has been more fortunate. Released by Sussex after treating nightclub bouncers to his own version of the Sprinkler dance in the early hours of the morning, Essex have given him an immediate chance to recover.To see Panesar back in action so quickly, in the delightful setting of Castle Park, was heartwarming, even if he found no immediate rewards. For Essex, who need something special in the last month of the season to win promotion from the Second Division of the LV= Championship, it is a worthwhile gamble, but that does not disguise the fact that he has many challenges ahead.The mobile phone video doing the rounds could hardly be sadder. Panesar’s pleas for help as the bouncers catch up with him are pitiful and it should not pass unnoticed that the calls for help are aimed at Rory Hamilton-Brown, erstwhile Surrey captain, who departed for Sussex to get his life in order. Presumably he just fell upon Panesar while out for an early-morning jog to the Health Food store.Panesar has suggested that the breakup of his marriage has been a contributory factor in his drink-fuelled excesses. To admit, as he now has, to personal pressures, offers potential for recovery, although that break-up actually began two years ago. At least once, he has been heard to deny that his marriage ever existed and, while everybody must deal with such emotional upheaval in their own way, it does reveal his almost childlike reluctance at times to enter the real world.Nearly eight years ago now, Panesar chatted contentedly to this reporter about an India guru who he used to visit at Nanaksar farm near Edmonton in Canada, helping with the harvest and finding inspiration in a sense of community. He called it the defining moment of his life, saying: “I have always believed in my master. He is my guru. He is my maharaji. We did voluntary work on the land, harvesting the wheat and the canola and all united together. There was a feeling of togetherness and passion. There were strong binds and a sense of love.”A few years later, when he had made his England debut and was prematurely involved in a ghosted autobiography, his reluctance to talk about his guru could not have been more apparent. He was an England cricketer now. There was to be no talk of gurus. In fact, the guru did not really exist. His life had moved on.

Trying to live a life to which you are not naturally suited is often a quick route to unhappiness. We can assume that the message from his friends and family in Luton will be that his clubbing days are over.

As abstention from alcohol was one of his guru’s tenets, perhaps Panesar might have been wise to maintain the link. Many of us have succumbed to excessive drinking on long tours, away from family and friends, so if Panesar really did develop such an affinity for whisky on England’s tour of India last year he would not be the first.But it is no surprise to find that alcohol and Panesar do not mix, or that prowling around nightclubs is not a natural place for such an ingénue. He is a private individual, whose occasional bursts of eccentricity and exuberance disguise the fact that he is can be an uneasy socialiser. Trying to live a life to which you are not naturally suited is often a quick route to unhappiness. We can assume that the message from his friends and family in Luton will be that his clubbing days are over.At Essex, too, he will have the invaluable friendship of Ravi Bopara, another England cricketer whose career took a downturn after the break up of a relationship and the second Sikh, after Panesar himself, to play for England. The resumption of his relationship with Neil Burns, a long-standing cricketing mentor whose influence had receded, is another indication of his return to core values.There was something typically tragic-comic about Panesar’s downfall at Sussex. On the field, his bowling talent has often been accompanied by moments of batting or fielding incompetence and this natural clownishness has largely contributed to his popularity. Off the field, though, the disconnect has no sense of comedy but indicates issues that need to be addressed. The image of the sad clown could hardly be more appropriate.Sussex rightly have gained a reputation as a caring county and their release of Panesar should be seen positively, not a punishment as much as a mutual understanding that Panesar now needs his support network of old.They had fretted about his moody behaviour for much of the season. At times, he stopped the ball in the outfield with his foot and threw in underam. He responded aggressively at least once to senior players who questioned his attitude. But Sussex were not entirely sure if his disenchantment arose from something as simple as a shoulder niggle which had affected his form or from some deeper malaise. Eventually they dropped him, a fate also suffered, incidentally, by Hamilton-Brown.As one Sussex insider said about his release: “It was the right and proper thing to do.” He can commute to and from Chelmsford in little more than an hour and, if his Essex loan does not work out, then a substantial salary cut and a return to his first county, Northamptonshire, cannot be discounted.If he needs more support then the PCA, who have been aware of his struggles for some time, are also as willing as ever to play a role. “Our dealings with any cricketer must necessarily remain confidential, but we offer a wide range of support and counselling services to any cricketer who feels they need them,” said Angus Porter, the chief executive. Life is certainly different than in Bobby Peel’s day. After Lord Hawke had sent him on his way, Peel became a pub landlord in Leeds.Panesar might have developed a destructive fondness for whisky, but unlike Peel it is not easily available on his own optics.It would be misleading to depict this as the latest example of a cricketer of Asian extraction failing to reach full potential in the England side. This is a story of individual vulnerability not structural failures, even if the complexities of integration has never been entirely addressed.There is an uneasy sense, all the same, that English cricket has not intercepted Panesar’s problems as quickly as they might or been pro-active enough in explaining how they are seeking to address them. Successive England coaches, Duncan Fletcher, Peter Moores and Andy Flower, have been more comfortable working with conventional, disciplined players far removed from Panesar’s unpredictability.Merely to suggest that Panesar is Sussex’s responsibility is not good enough. England’s tour of India became his greatest triumph as he combined with Graeme Swann last November to take 19 wickets and win the Mumbai Test in one of the finest spin-bowling double acts in England’s history.But without Swann, in New Zealand, as the sole spinner, he had a difficult tour. He sets his own fields these days – he is past 30, he should do – but observing some of Cook’s bewildered responses was like observing a father fearing the worst reluctantly handing over the steering wheel to a son for the first time.And then back to England. Only one spinner needed. Back to the county circuit. Not quite forgotten, but certainly unwanted. Omitted at Old Trafford, where he had hoped to play, he went back to Brighton and hit the town. His dejection is easy to understand. How long his punishment for that lasts now lies in the hands of Simon Kerrigan.