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ESPNcricinfo staff14-Aug-2015Gordon Greenidge and Desmond HaynesSpan 1978-1991 Innings 148 Runs 6482 Average 47.31 100s/50s 16/26
PA PhotosThe most prolific opening pair in Test history, and also the pair to have batted together the most innings in Tests. The two greats set the tone for West Indies’ all-conquering side of the 80s, browbeating bowlers even before Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd and the rest came out to bat. Greenidge, five years older than Haynes, was the senior partner: “We always had a battle on. He wanted to face the first ball, and I would say, ‘No, you haven’t matured yet.’ I wouldn’t just let him.”Rahul Dravid and Sachin TendulkarSpan 1996-2012 Innings 143 Runs 6920 Average 50.51 100s/50s 20/29
AFPFor years, the presence of Dravid and Tendulkar in the middle was among the most reassuring sights for Indian fans, as two of Test cricket’s most reliable batsmen set about demoralising the opposition. From the time they put on two large partnerships in the Caribbean in 1997, they provided a torrent of runs for India’s third wicket. Even as late as the Boxing Day Test in 2011, they were raising Indian hopes with a century stand, but the innings unravelled after their partnership was broken. The current holders of the record for most partnership runs in Tests, a record they are set to hold for years to come.Matthew Hayden and Justin LangerSpan 1997-2007 Innings 122 Runs 6081 Average 51.53 100s/50s 14/28
Getty ImagesLike Haynes and Greenidge, this was an opening pair that laid the base for a dominant team. Hayden played only seven matches in the six years after his Test debut, and Langer only eight in nearly the same time. After Michael Slater lost form in the 2001 Ashes though, the pair spent six run-filled years at the top of the Australian order bullying attacks around the world. They began with a 158 at The Oval, before reeling off four double-century stands in the next six Tests. They kept churning out big runs till Langer retired in 2007 after England had been whitewashed and the Ashes emphatically regained.Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela JayawardeneSpan 2000-2014 Innings 120 Runs 6554 Average 56.50 100s/50s 19/27
AFPLike Langer and Hayden, Sangakkara and Jayawardene are famously good friends. Our Sri Lankan correspondent Andrew Fernando describes their relationship: “United in battles in Sri Lanka against administrators, as they have been on the field, at each end of the pitch, or at keeper and slip, Jayawardene and Sangakkara have lived out perhaps the greatest cricket bromance of all time.” The pair were the mainstays of the Sri Lankan batting order for over a decade, during which they became cricket’s second highest run-accumulators. Their monumental 624-run stand against South Africa in 2006, remains a record not just in Tests, but in first-class cricket as well.Jack Hobbs and Herbert SutcliffeSpan 1924-1930 Innings 39 Runs 3339 Average 87.86 100s/50s 15/11
The Cricketer InternationalWhen Hobbs and Sutcliffe batted at the top of the order for the first time for England in 1924, only one opening pair had put together more than 1000 runs. By the time Hobbs and Sutcliffe batted together for the last time at the top of the order, against Australia at The Oval in 1930, they had amassed more than three times that. Other pairs came along later and scored more runs, but none have scored them at such a prolific rate. In only 39 innings, they had 15 century stands; Greenidge and Haynes had one more century partnership than that, but they had 109 more Test innings. Their average per innings (87.86) is 40 more than than Haynes-Greenidge. 14-Aug-2015, 4:20am GMT: An incorrect picture had accompanied the Hobbs and Sutcliffe entry. This has been fixed

Wasim Jaffer opens up about his domestic journey and his enduring enjoyment of the game

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi09-Nov-2015You are part of the exclusive 10,000 club. Not many players have scored that many runs even in international cricket. At what point did you recognise that you could reach this milestone?
It only came to my mind when I broke Amol [Muzumdar]’s record in 2012-13 for the most number of Ranji Trophy runs. Only then it came to my mind that 10,000 was not far away. When you are playing Ranji you are not really aware of the records as the numbers are not that prominently evident.What all goes into peaking such a big mountain?
I feel happy, very lucky to have survived this long in first-class cricket. To play for this long especially for Mumbai is not an easy achievement. When I entered the Mumbai dressing room the team was full of stars, so having survived and played this long I feel very honoured. To score these many runs you need to play for long. It does not happen in five, seven, eight years. When you play for a state like Mumbai you are always challenged to become better. And that helped me because you need to keep improving your game all the time otherwise there are people waiting to take your place. So it helped me to compete and play alongside some great players in Mumbai and domestic cricket and helped me get better and better.The joy of playing domestic cricket is unique and not many possibly know it. But that joy is necessary and important, right?
People from outside sometimes get a feeling (playing domestic cricket) is not that hard and it can be very easy especially if you have played at the top level. But if you play first-class cricket continuously for a long time it is not easy: it is mentally very tiring and even physically, too. You need that motivation as well to go out there and play in an atmoshphere where you are not noticed. In international cricket whatever you do or not you get noticed, but at the first-class level, even if you get 700-800 runs every season people (fans) hardly notice that and know that you had a very good season.That is something which I feel is very important: to progress as a cricketer it is paramount to play first-class cricket. You need to play at least three seasons and prove himself. You are not going to get Sachin Tendulkar every five or 10 years. But every other player needs to play a few seasons of first-class cricket and do well. Nowadays sometimes people get carried away after one or two (good) performances in tournaments like the IPL. They are automatically pushed up very easily to India A or even India without having proved themselves in first-class cricket. Only when they play first-class cricket they realise how hard it is. When you are playing your first season people might know you, but after a while opposition will work you out easily and that is when you need to prove yourself. When you are good you will do well. You need two to three seasons of grind in first-class cricket which would stand you in good stead in international cricket.As you say it is really challenging to play in front of empty grounds, in the absence of any recognition, so how did you keep that joy alive?
I enjoy batting. When I am batting well, when I am scoring runs the joy is immense and you cannot compare it with anything. That joy is still there, to work hard, to go out and bat well, and when you feel you are batting well to make sure I get 100, 150, 200 runs. That is something which I really enjoy still. When the desire goes to grind and work hard I will give it up. But I am still enjoying playing, enjoying competing. There is no such thing as I am dragging my career. I need to help younger players in Vidarbha, to make a difference in their career based on whatever knowledge I have gained over the last many years.You have always maintained this I-am-still-good attitude at all times. Has that belief kept you mentally and physically strong?
You need to have belief in your own ability no matter what others are saying about you. But if you think bad about yourself, then there is no point playing. You need to have belief in your ability. You are bound to have ups and downs. You cannot be Sachin Tendulkar who had 24 great seasons. When you are not doing well at international level, you come back to first-class cricket, but you still need to go out and perform. You play the game because you enjoy doing what you do. You don’t do that because you only want to play international cricket. But if you can’t you still go out there and enjoy what you. That is very important: to keep playing for the love of it and not anything else. When the love goes, your priorities have changed. I feel every cricketer, especially the ones growing up, need to get their priorities right. They should play because they enjoy the sport rather than playing for IPL, the contracts and such. If you are playing well and playing well enough for long you will definitely go where you want to go.Among the various domestic milestones that you have achieved which are you most proud of?
When I got to know I am the highest run-scorer in Ranji, Duleep Trophy, Irani Trophy and Vijay Hazare, that feat gave me the most joy. Nobody else held such a record in the past or present.

Stats highlights from a day when England’s two fast bowlers showed, yet again, why they are among the best in the world

S Rajesh04-Nov-20152 Number of times England have scored 284 or more in the fourth innings of a Test in Asia: they made 285 for 7 in a drawn game in Kandy in 2003, and 312 in Dubai in the previous Test.4 Number of 150-plus scores for Mohammad Hafeez in Tests, out of his nine Test hundreds. His last three centuries have all been 150-plus – 197 against New Zealand in Sharjah last year, 224 against Bangladesh in April 2015, and 151 here. It’s also his highest second-innings score, comfortably beating his previous-best of 104.2 Number of Test hundreds for Hafeez in Sharjah; it’s the only venue where he has more than one Test century.31 Wickets taken by England’s fast bowlers in the series, at an average of 24.58 and economy rate of 2.29 runs per over. England’s spinners took 20 wickets, at an average of 59.85 and an economy rate of 4.06.1.87 James Anderson’s economy rate in the series – he bowled 108.1 overs and conceded just 203 runs. It’s the first time he has gone at under two an over in a series, while Stuart Broad’s economy rate of 2.07 is also his best in a series.10 Wickets for Shoaib Malik in this series so far, at an average of 20.60. His wickets tally twice as many as his previous-highest in a series. His match haul of six wickets so far is also his best in a Test – he had never previously taken more than four in a match.9 Number of times Ian Bell has been dismissed for 0 or 1 in 24 Test innings in 2015. It’s the joint second-highest by any player in a calendar year, next only to Mervyn Dillon’s ten such dismissals in 2002. In Dillon’s case, all ten such dismissals were for ducks, while Bell has six ones and three ducks. In 181 previous innings before 2015, Bell only had 17 such dismissals.325 Runs added by Pakistan’s first, third, fifth, seventh and ninth wickets in their second innings; the even-numbered wickets contributed exactly 30 runs.

ESPNcricinfo’s wrap of the third week of the Women’s Big Bash League

GEOFF LEMON AND ADAM COLLINS24-Dec-2015Everyone is back in town3:49

‘Three teams break losing streak’

Halfway through the third weekend of the Women’s Big Bash League, three teams remained winless. On Sunday all of them broke through. With 14 games to play for each team, there is still time for a winning streak to carry any side into the final.The Adelaide Strikers did it in the most explosive style. The Sydney Thunder would have thought they were cruising after Naomi Stalenberg’s early onslaught of 39 from 19 balls, as the Strikers tried eight bowlers to no avail.But, facing an imposing 149 to win, the Strikers’ English star Sarah Taylor opened the innings with an unbeaten 71 from 47 balls, running down the highest successful WBBL chase with an over to spare.For the Melbourne Renegades it was all about strangulation, as imported all-rounders Danielle Wyatt and Dane van Niekerk took 4 for 13 and 4 for 20 from their respective spells to hold a strong Brisbane Heat side to 110.Beth Mooney raised her fourth half-century of the tournament to stay top of the runs list, but aside from Lauren Winfield’s 26, the rest of the Heat’s batting card resembled a phone number. There were no problems in the chase, with van Niekerk (26) and Wyatt (28*) doing the business in both disciplines.The Sydney Sixers have looked a shambles so far with marquee player Ellyse Perry down on form and no one backing her up. However, South African international Marizanne Kapp came to the fore against the Perth Scorchers at the SCG with a suffocating opening spell.Marizanne Kapp’s early strikes gave Sydney Sixers momentum against Perth Scorchers•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesHer five dot balls at the start of the match provoked Elyse Villani into skying an ugly slog to the wicketkeeper. Kapp then dried up the runs for Nicole Bolton until the Scorchers skipper missed a big shot and was bowled for 2 from 10 balls. In between, Perry had bowled England captain Charlotte Edwards off her pads, leaving the Scorchers at 3 for 14. Kapp had returns of 2 for 4 in three overs and would finish her day with 3 for 9.The Scorchers recovered thanks to a brilliant 51 from New Zealand international Suzie Bates, an innings that was ended by an equally brilliant run-out from her compatriot Sarah McGlashan.Even a chase of 108 looked steep for the Sixers’ fragile batting, but Perry followed up her 2 for 20 by batting through the innings for 32 not out, providing the cohesion. Kapp, meanwhile, brought momentum with her 17 from 19 balls, falling to a poor lbw decision from umpire Claire Polosack to a ball that was pitching and hitting well outside off stump. Luckily the decision could not prevent the end of a seven-game losing streak for the team in pink.And at the other end of the table, for consistency’s sake, the previously unbeaten Hobart Hurricanes had their first defeat on Saturday, when the Scorchers kept them to 109 for 8, and chased the score down with four wickets to spare.A round for the big names from abroadThe WBBL’s drawcard is that it assembles cricketing talent, not just frothe domestic pool but internationally. In its first season, the tournament has immediately become a carnival of the best players on the planet.Sarah Taylor, who has previously been named both ODI and T20 Player of the Year, falls into that elite category. As do van Niekerk and Wyatt, who play for South Africa and England respectively.The other S Taylor – the West Indies Women’s captain, Stafanie – has been consistent throughout. Her returns of 59*, 30, 35, 11 and 43 are not eye-catching on paper, but have been so on the field, given their stylish manufacture. They leave her sixth on the run-scoring charts after only five innings, and have helped the Thunder make the top four after playing only five games.The Hurricanes captain and principal import, England vice-captain Heather Knight, continues to do no wrong. Before the Scorchers finally ended Knight’s winning streak, her 74 was the defining innings in the side’s previous one-run win against Scorchers. Knight’s self-styled Lilac Ladies have firmed their position as the close-finish specialists.Encouraging, too, for the Hurricanes was Hayley Matthews’ breakout performance. After a run of single digit scores, the huge-hitting, 17-year-old from Barbados was moved up to open with Knight, and plundered 77 in 51 balls to end what had been an unbeaten run for the Melbourne Stars. Winning streaks or not, the Hurricanes remain on top of the ladder.Hurricanes captain Heather Knight’s form has played a big role in the side’s climb to the top•Cricket Australia/Getty Images…and the big names at homeFor the Heat, Jess Jonassen compiled what was described as the perfect T20 game – 3 for 11 opening the bowling with her left-arm spin, then an unbeaten 67 to chase the Strikers’ 125 for 9.Their surge after three opening losses has been underpinned by 21-year-old opening batsman and wicketkeeper Mooney. With incumbent national stumper Alyssa Healy in indifferent batting form, Mooney seems to be making a case for a national call up.Not far behind her on the runs tally, from half the number of innings, is the Australian captain. Meg Lanning did what Meg Lanning does: a half-century to knock off the Sixers in their first leg, and 37 unbeaten to see off a chase in the second.Lanning’s team-mate in the baggy green and the Stars cap, Kristen Beams, collected seven more frugal wickets over the weekend to assert why she is the most potent spinner in the land. Delissa Kimmince, meanwhile, is the unlikely wicket-taking leader at this stage of the competition.Everything else was big, so the audiences were tooWho would have thought: if you screen it, they will watch. Watch they did. Channel Ten and Cricket Australia are to be applauded for televising selected WBBL fixtures this season, and they have been immediately rewarded.A quarter of a million people watched the Heat beat the Sixers on Saturday, and nearly 200,000 more when the Sixers surprised the Scorchers early on Sunday. As one major newspaper noted, that’s three times the number who watched the domestic A-League football.So successful was the debut that Ten have immediately announced they will shift the Melbourne derby on January 2 onto their main channel, having originally planned to screen it on secondary digital channel One. Such an early experiment to further test local appetite is an excellent sign for the game. Five others are due to be televised: December 31, January 1, January 9, January 16, and the final on January 24.Between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve we have a four-game carnival at the WACA in Perth, where the Scorchers will host the Stars and t Thunder. In the context of the season, with all three sides travelling well, these are vital fixtures in determining the final four.

Plays of the day from the Asia Cup opener between Bangladesh and India in Mirpur

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur24-Feb-2016The costly dropAfter having survived the new ball on a green pitch, Rohit Sharma threw his hands at a wide Taskin Ahmed delivery. The opener timed it well but hit it straight to point where Shakib Al Hasan had the ball in his grasp for a second before it burst out. Rohit, who was on 21 when he was reprieved, struck two fours and a six off the next three balls; all went past Shakib. Rohit would later bring up his fifty off Shakib.The tag-team effortJasprit Bumrah got rid of Soumya Sarkar for 11, but it was Ashish Nehra who deserved the wicket more. Nehra toyed with Soumya in the first over, where he failed to put bat on ball. Bumrah built on Nehra’s work and beat Soumya a couple of times outside off before having him edging behind in the fourth over.The ominous coincidenceJust like Rohit Sharma had hit a six a ball after he was dropped in the 11th over, Sabbir Rahman offered a half-chance in the 11th over of the chase and hit a six a ball later. Sabbir struck it sweetly over midwicket but unlike Rohit he tried too much and looked to force boundaries as Bangladesh fell away.The drop-kicked caressThe Bangladesh bowlers couldn’t get Hardik Pandya with good-length deliveries and shorter deliveries and therefore Mashrafe Mortaza attempted a full ball. It, however, came out as a full toss, which was caressed through the outfield with superb wristwork. The shot was the definition of a drop kick through midwicket.The miscuesVirat Kohli, who had talked up Mustafizur Rahman’s growing prowess on the eve of the Asia Cup opener, kept playing and missing deliveries from the left-arm fast bowler in the fourth over, having failed to blast him through the covers or over his head. Kohli’s more familiar timing deserted him in the next over too as he lobbed a catch to Mahmudllah mid-off.

Plays of the day from the match between Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Raipur

Alagappan Muthu22-May-2016The super sprint
It looked perfect. Big bat, broad straight face, the sponsor’s name catching the floodlights and the ball headed for the sightscreen. Karun Nair had held his pose after lofting legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal in the sixth over and must have been expecting a boundary. But Raipur is a big ground – it’s 78m down the ground – so he was pushed into running. “At worst, I’d have to settle for a two,” Karun may have thought.Virat Kohli saw it all differently. He was on the edge of the 30-yard circle at mid-off and the ball had travelled quite a distance past him when he began running. But he knew the batsman’s timing was not good enough. Looking over his left shoulder, and trusting his legs to mark their own course, Kohli drew level with the ball a couple of metres inside the boundary and completed an incredible running catch. The crowd was going gaga over the effort, but the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain told them to shush with a finger on his lips.The bowler finally benefits
That was Chahal’s first strike of the day. One more in the 10th over had him tied with Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s tally of 18 for the No. 1 spot in this season’s bowling charts. With Delhi Daredevils unable to cope with the bounce in the pitch and the size of the ground, Chahal was given the 17th over to finish his spell. The first ball kicked up on Quinton de Kock and his swat through the covers became a top edge that landed in Chris Jordan’s hands at long-off.However, before the batsman could walk off the field, the umpires wanted to double-check if it had been a legal delivery. Replays seemed to indicate that Chahal’s heel, although raised, was not behind the line. The third umpire Virender Sharma took a lot of time to make his call, and that is often a sign of doubt. Sanjay Manjrekar in the commentary box mentioned the benefit of that doubt, in these cases, went to the bowler. And so it did. By the end of the night, Royal Challengers had the top run-getter and the top-wicket taker and two shots at the trophy.The magic ball
A required rate of 6.95 to the Royal Challengers batting line-up is like playing a game with the difficulty set at its lowest. Take out Chris Gayle early and it becomes moderately more challenging. Daredevils managed that in the second over. Still, they had to take AB de Villiers out to be in with a shout. So Zaheer Khan ran in with a slip in place and a packed off side ring.Raipur was supposed to be Daredevils’ home venue but it had offered very little help to them – the fans were seduced by Kohli and Royal Challengers and the pitch had contributed to their dismal total of 138. But in the third over, Zaheer’s back-of-a-length delivery hit the deck and ballooned up at the batsman. De Villiers, who was caught off guard, popped a catch to Jayant Yadav at cover point and fell for 6.The withdrawn appeal
It isn’t often that Amit Mishra goes wicketless in the IPL. He is, after all, the most successful spinner in the tournament’s history. And on Sunday, he could have got Shane Watson out twice in two balls. Bowling his third over of the match, he got a googly to rip into the right-hander, who had misread the ball and shaped to cut. The turn was sharp and the ball crashed into Watson’s back pad before it made contact with the bat. The impact was low enough and it was certainly in line with the stumps, but Mishra and the wicketkeeper de Kock thought it was bat first and weren’t keen with their appeal. Watson bashed the next ball for six, although only after Yadav on the long-on boundary had attempted to catch it but instead parried it over the ropes.

There was little for the tourists to smile about during three cold, wet and trying Tests

Andrew Fidel Fernando14-Jun-20167Nuwan Pradeep (10 wickets at 31.60)Occasionally expensive, but often the most incisive in the attack, Pradeep moved the ball either way off the seam, prompting shots as bad as his haircut and sparking hope as thin as his limbs. In Sri Lanka’s final bowling innings of the series at Lord’s he left three sets of stumps splayed – this time, it wasn’t because he had fallen into them. Team-mates dropped several catches off him and their was also Rod Tucker’s erroneous no-ball. “If anyone deserved five wickets at Lord’s it was Pradeep,” was coach Graham Ford’s assessment.Rangana Herath (seven wickets at 43.28, 109 runs at 21.80)In the first two Tests, Sri Lanka batted too poorly to bring Herath properly into the match. But though he didn’t pick up as many wickets as he would have liked on his final tour of England, he did make plenty of new fans. Some of his best moments came with bat in hand, when he suggested to team-mates conditions were not quite as difficult as they had made them seem. At Lord’s, when Steven Finn sledged him, Herath gave him the long, irate glare of a father who had come home to find his son drinking with his friends on the verandah.6Dushmantha Chameera (three wickets at 21.33)Was a little low on his usual pace in his only match of the series, but did help clear out the tail at Headingley. How Sri Lanka missed that knack at Chester-le-Street and Lord’s. Went home with a stress-related back injury immediately after the first Test. So much of Sri Lanka’s Test bowling hopes seem to rely on his staying clear of harm in the future that SLC should build him a house full of padded rooms, and have him transported from place to place in bubble wrap.Kusal Perera (42 runs at 42.00)Came back from a ban and immediately suggested the No. 7 position in the Test side should be his, allowing him to provide impetus from lower down the order. He has shown substantial mental strength over the past few months – not least in stepping back into his whites despite only recently returning to training, and having suffered visa delays after being picked.Dinesh Chandimal (172 runs at 34.40)Provided Sri Lanka’s innings of the series in the second dig at Chester-le-Street, from the No.6 position that seems more suited to him than the No. 4 spot he began the tour in. He is less animated behind the stumps than he once was, but also seemed to think someone had put a landmine down just to the right of his keeping position, because he didn’t even attempt to pouch two chances that flew past his right glove.Dinesh Chandimal’s hundred at Chester-le-Street was the innings of the series for Sri Lanka•AFP5Shaminda Eranga (five wickets at 64.80)Moved the ball away from batsmen at a lively pace, but was often also guilty of relieving pressure with loose overs. He didn’t bowl as badly as the figures suggested, partly because so many chances off the edge went through unnecessarily, bafflingly, infuriatingly vacant slips. His career is now at something of a crossroads, with the results from his biomechanical test due in the next few days. Still, even with a suspect action, he managed not to stir the local media into a frenzy when he played at Lord’s, and that, in a way, is an achievement.Kusal Mendis (156 runs at 31.20)Coaches are raving about his technique. Fans are excited by his strokeplay. The man himself seems focused and unaffected by it all. He provided the only batting resistance Sri Lanka could manage at Headingley, and made a few bright starts thereafter. It seems as if almost everyone in the squad can’t resist ruffling his hair.Suranga Lakmal (five wickets at 51.80)The least menacing of the seamers who played in this series but usually a reliable support bowler when someone was testing batsmen at the other end. His best bowling was early in the first innings at Lord’s, when he had Nick Compton edging behind and Joe Root trapped in front of the stumps. Though the gangliest of the attack, he also took some of the most athletic catches on the boundary.Dasun Shanaka (three wickets at 15.33, four runs at 2.00)Sri Lanka haven’t really known what to make of Shanaka, because at times it seems he hasn’t really known what to make of himself. He forced himself into the Headingley XI with a swashbuckling hundred in a warm-up match, invited batsmen to drive on the first day with his drifting flower petal seam-up deliveries, then failed twice with the bat – though he did get some nigh-unplayable balls. He is a walking national stereotype where wide, warm smiles are concerned. Expect to see more of his endearingly exposed teeth in the limited-overs series.Kaushal Silva (193 runs at 32.16)Had one of the toughest jobs in the series – in facing the England attack at their freshest, with a hard Dukes ball in hand – and came out of that challenge with moderate credit. His half-century at Chester-le-Street laid the base for a confidence-building recovery, and his positivity at Lord’s was refreshing from a player who has generally scored slowly. By the end of the tour, even his defensive shots had character; he left the ball like it had been unfaithful to him, although his final act was an ill-advised shouldering of arms.4Milinda Siriwardana (three wickets at 24.00, 35 runs at 17.50)Why he only played one match after such a promising start to his Test career, only the selectors will know. He spun the ball hard at Chester-le-Street, but will admit that his batting has some way to go in swinging conditions. Of all the pretty but inconsequential drives Sri Lanka played this series, Siriwardana might have played the prettiest one, on the third day of the second Test.3Dimuth Karunaratne (129 runs at 25.80)Having made such progress in his batting over the past 18 months, and having also had moderately successful tours of New Zealand, more was expected from Karunaratne. He was perhaps guilty of being too tentative early in the tour, which is the opposite problem from the one he had in 2014. Scores of 50 and 37 not out at Lord’s salvaged his series somewhat.Angelo Mathews was not the batting bulwark his team have come to rely on•PA PhotosAngelo Mathews (125 runs at 25.00, one wicket at 98.00)Delivered some fine supporting spells without breaking through, but for once he was an enthusiastic member in the collapse , instead of Sri Lanka’s batting bulwark. He was excellent at first slip to the spinners again. His captaincy, though, was flabby for most of the series. At Chester-le-Street on day two, anyone else in the team, or members of the public, or even the cardboard cutouts of him at the ground, might have led more proactively than the flesh-and-blood Mathews.2Lahiru Thirimanne (87 runs at 17.40)After 50 Test innings, Thirimanne averages 24.00. At times in this tour, he seemed to have excellent defensive technique. He batted 262 balls. Joe Root, in comparison, faced only 140. He was perhaps trying to make the ball old so the strokemakers around him could prosper but, with a high score of 22, it was Sri Lanka fans he was really successful at aging.

A crushing victory over Pakistan gave England plenty to be pleased about but familiar concerns remain over the make-up of the side

George Dobell at Old Trafford25-Jul-2016Just as nobody wanted to ask Usain Bolt how much quicker he might have gone had he not slowed down before the line in the 2008 Olympics, so it seems churlish to pick holes in England’s performance at Old Trafford.England have, after all, just completed the fifth-largest victory – in terms of runs – in their Test history. Joe Root showed that he is continuing to develop as a batsman and has the skill and intelligence to adapt his game to the situation. Alastair Cook, whose decision not to enforce the follow-on was vindicated, continues to produce at the top of the order and Chris Woakes’ emergence as an international-quality bowler provides the strength in depth that England have been searching for in the seam department.This is a more than respectable Pakistan team and they were hammered. It is 1-1 with two to play and the Edgbaston pitch may well suit England better than any other in the series.But the fact is that England came into the summer with questions to answer about several areas in their side. Notably, they were unclear over the identity of the most suitable partner for Cook at the top of the order, unclear about at least one of the middle-order positions, unsure about their keeper, their spinner and their first-change bowler.So, five Tests later, how much progress have they made?The answer is a little. But whether they are improving as a side or being dragged along by the improvement in their best young player is open to debate. It remains entirely possible that England will go to India later this year with a new opening batsman, a new first-choice spinner and a new face in the middle order.To some extent, this is positive. If England can win against decent sides despite performing at something around 75% of potential, they clearly have the scope to develop into a fine side.And there have been positives. Woakes seems to have come of age at this level and might, before the year is out, give the selectors some interesting decisions to make if they decided to go into Tests in Asia with fewer seamers. While he does not quite ease the pain of losing Ben Stokes for Edgbaston, he does reduce it. The last time England had two such fine allrounders was arguably in the brief period in the late 1970s in which Ian Botham and Tony Grieg played together.In this match, too, Jonny Bairstow produced an admirable performance with the gloves. There were only two catches, but there were no drops, few fumbles and only two byes in total. He still has questions to answer, but this was a step in the right direction.Most of all, there was the performance of Root. If, in the first innings, he demonstrated the discipline and restraint required to succeed at No. 3, in the second he demonstrated the strokeplay and selflessness to prove he can adapt as his side requires. Afterwards Cook referred to his double-century as “a great innings” and one of the best he had ever seen while Misbah-ul-Haq described it as “amazing”. It was hard to disagree. Root really does look as if he is developing into a special player.So it is probably inevitable that England should rely upon him and Cook. Just as Sri Lanka once relied upon Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, Australia relied upon Allan Border and South Africa now rely on Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers. To some extent, that is the inevitable burden of excellence.In the end, that was the difference between this Test and the first. While at Lord’s, Root top-edged an overly aggressive slog-sweep, here he made sure he took advantage and, as Cook put it, “ground Pakistan down”. England took advantage of winning the toss, they weren’t in a rush with the bat or their tactics and they still won with more than a day to spare. There is a lesson there.The concern – or perhaps it is just a gripe – is that Root and Cook’s success is masking some pretty modest returns from the rest of the top order. Root’s move to No. 3 has opened a hole at No. 4, with Alex Hales, Gary Ballance and James Vince all struggling to supply contributions so far this series.James Vince’s woes deepened with another unconvincing innings•Getty ImagesIt is Vince’s form that is most concerning. He is not just falling for low scores – he is averaging 18.57 after seven Test innings – but failing in predictable ways. His first-innings failure here, edging a drive at a ball angled across him, came in spite of a life earlier in the innings attempting the same stroke. The failure to learn does not bode well.If Vince is dropped – and Stokes’ injury may save him – it does not mean the end for him. Many players have found their first taste of international cricket tough but have returned to county cricket with more knowledge of the standards required to succeed at this level. He has the talent to come again.Ballance has only had three innings in this series – one of them quite impressive – so probably deserves a longer run to prove himself, while Hales surely did enough in the Sri Lanka games to earn a place for the rest of this series. He is not at the stage, though, where he can be said to have secured the opening position and is clearly struggling against the swing of Mohammad Amir. How he overcomes that very specific challenge in the next two Tests may define his career in this format.Moeen Ali’s form is a worry, too. While he has the third-best strike rate of any English spinner (with more than five Test wickets) since the war, he also has the worst average of any England bowler with more than 20 Test wickets this century.He took five wickets at Old Trafford – a reflection of Pakistan’s policy of trying to destroy him as much as any particularly wonderful bowling – but seems to have developed a worrying habit of delivering a head-high full toss an innings, which betrays a man struggling for form and confidence. England deserve credit for sticking with him – Cook has developed as a captain in that regard – but Adil Rashid continues to push hard for inclusion. It could well be that both men play on an Edgbaston track that tends to turn as the game progresses.The truth is, England rather got away with their errors in Manchester. They got away with Cook’s missed slip chance on the fourth day – had Younis Khan been at a different stage of his career, he may have punished them – and they got away with a top order that offered contributions from two players. So dominant were England’s seamers and two of their top three that it made little difference that Hales, Ballance and Vince struggled.”There’s still work to do,” Cook said. “There’s still inexperience in that batting line-up. Three of the top five are pretty inexperienced. We still have a couple of years to go as a side.”But that presupposes that experience will improve players. It might, of course. But it might also show they are not quite up to the standard required. It remains a bit early to draw conclusions about a couple of this top order. As a result, it is a bit early to gauge how much improvement England have made.Selection for the next Test will be intriguing. As well as trying to find a replacement for Stokes – there is surely no way he will be fit for next Wednesday – England must also reflect on Vince’s form and decide if Moeen did enough here. Had Stokes not been injured, there was a chance that England could have picked Rashid in place of Vince for Edgbaston. But now they must decide if they also want a replacement seamer and how much batting is required. For a side who have just achieved a huge win, they have quite a lot of thinking to do.

And if it’s George Beldam’s iconic image of Victor Trumper, it speaks volumes

Paul Edwards30-Oct-2016″He had one of those natures which called to you and in whose presence you felt it was good to live.” Thus wrote Frank Iredale of Victor Trumper, his colleague on the 1899 Australian tour of England. Many contemporaries echoed Iredale’s sentiments and in the 101 years since Trumper’s death from Bright’s disease, his reputation has grown to legend. Cricket writers have strived and sometimes strained to express their admiration of his batsmanship yet none of them come close to picture in capturing the elusive magic.George Beldam’s 1905 image “Jumping out for a straight drive” is surely the most famous photograph in the history of cricket. Certainly it is the most reproduced, for it has appeared on the covers of countless books and on letterheads and posters; it has been sculpted, etched, reprinted and woven; it has even been the symbol for an internet chat room.And in 1975 it appeared on page 89 of Great Australian Cricket Pictures, where it first came to the notice of a young Gideon Haigh. Thus began a 40-year fascination with Trumper that has culminated in , which in the author’s words is “an iconography, a study of Trumper’s valence in cricket’s mythology and imagery”.It could be argued that Haigh has sold himself a little short there. For his latest book is more than a study in polysemy and its related fields, invaluable though that is. includes passages on the early history of photography, the development of cricket in Australia and the changing ways in which Australian writers like Jack Fingleton viewed the game. And it is perhaps appropriate that a cricketer whose method was exclusively his own is the chief subject of a book that defies easy classification.But if the librarians at Lord’s or the MCG are uncertain as to which section properly belongs, there need be no doubt about its quality. This may be the book Haigh was destined to write, and he has not been overawed by the occasion. While one might quibble at the absence of an index, one enjoys everything else.It is not only Haigh’s familiarity with his material that makes this book a triumph. He has three qualities rarely found in conjunction: he is a very good scholar, a very fine writer, and he also understands that what he describes is often best understood in its wider non-cricketing context.The sections in the book where these skills were most interestingly in evidence, at least to this reviewer, were those on photography. Again this is only fitting given that the centrepiece of the book is that wonderful moment of incipience captured by Beldam 111 years ago. Haigh begins the relevant chapter with a quotate from Emile Zola that could serve as an epigraph to the whole book.

“I don’t think you can really say you have seen something until you have taken a photograph of it, which reveals all the details you would not otherwise have noticed – and which in most case cannot even be seen.”

Soon afterwards the reader is learning about gelatine emulsions, focal-plane shutters and the other innovations by which Beldam sought to refine photographic technique, and that would lead to the production of , which was published with text by CB Fry in 1905 and which included the famous image of the best batsman in the world at that time. Thus an English photographer, who like Trumper followed his own method, helped preserve the powerful image that was used as Australia sought to free itself from colonial associations and establish its independence.”Trumper lifted [cricket] to a level of art beyond the reach of all but himself,” wrote Bede Nairn in the . “And, in achieving this, he reworked the charter of cricket from a Victorian artefact into an Edwardian palimpsest, with spacious Australian flourishes all but replacing the English script.”Getty ImagesThe nature and variety of further Australian “flourishes” inspired by Trumper, a few of them rather eccentric, are carefully chronicled by Haigh in this rich and rewarding book. So rewarding, indeed, that one wonders whether another edition might be published, rather following the example of Edmund de Waal’s wonderful , in which all the photographs, some of which seem a trifle cramped in the current version, could be reproduced in full clarity.That, though, is another cavil at excellence. For the moment, anyone remotely interested in why players like Steve Waugh were so interested in the style of cap worn by Trumper can do no better than buy Haigh’s book. It will take them back to that glorious image of an Australian cricketer who took the art of batting and reinvented it after his own fashion.”You that photograph. It just sits in your mind and your memory”, said former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd on dedicating the SCG’s Trumper Stand in December, 2008. Yes, that’s right, it really does. Get the modest acceptance speeches ready, Gideon. This is the cricket book of the year.Stroke of Genius
by Gideon Haigh
Penguin Australia, 2016
A$39.99

Virat Kohli and Jayant Yadav broke plenty of records on the fourth day in Mumbai

S Rajesh11-Dec-20165 Batsmen who have scored three or more double-hundreds in Tests in a calendar year. Virat Kohli joins Michael Clarke, Brendon McCullum, Ricky Ponting and Don Bradman in this elite list. Kohli is the third captain to score three doubles in a year, after Clarke (2012) and McCullum (2014).50.53 Kohli’s Test average after his 235, the first time his Test average has gone past 50. He also averages 52.93 in ODIs, and 57.13 in Twenty20 internationals, making him the first batsman to simultaneously average more than 50 in all three formats in international cricket.640 Kohli’s aggregate in the series, the highest for any Indian batsman in a Test series against England. He went past Rahul Dravid’s aggregate of 602 in the four-Test series in England in 2002. This is only the seventh instance of an Indian batsman scoring 600-plus runs in a series; Kohli joins Sunil Gavaskar and Dravid among Indian batsmen who have done this twice.

Player Series Tests Innings Runs Average 100sSunil Gavaskar Ind in WI, 1970-71 4 8 774 154.80 4Sunil Gavaskar WI in Ind, 1978-79 6 9 732 91.50 4Virat Kohli Ind in Aus, 2014-15 4 8 692 86.50 4Dilip Sardesai Ind in WI, 1970-71 5 8 642 80.25 3Virat Kohli Eng in Ind, 2016-17 4 7 640 128.00 2Rahul Dravid Ind in Aus, 2003-04 4 8 619 123.80 1Rahul Dravid Ind in Eng, 2002 4 6 602 100.33 3241 The partnership between Kohli and Jayant Yadav, India’s highest for the eighth wicket. The previous best was 161, by Mohammad Azharuddin and Anil Kumble against South Africa 20 years ago. It is the second double-century stand for the eighth wicket in Tests against England: the previous one came almost 109 years ago, when Roger Hartigan and Clem Hill added 243 in Adelaide in January 1908. This is only the eighth 200-plus stand for the eighth wicket in Test history.0 Indian No. 9 batsmen who had scored Test hundreds before Jayant Yadav’s 104 today. India have now become the seventh team to have a centurion at No. 9 or lower. This is only the 20th hundred by a batsman at No. 9 or lower in Test history.65.50 Kohli’s Test average as captain, second only to Bradman’s 101.51 among captains with 2000-plus Test runs.Among captains with 2000-plus Test runs, only Don Bradman has a higher average than Virat Kohli•ESPNcricinfo Ltd165 Kohli’s average century, in terms of runs per innings, as captain; when not captain, his average century score was 117.1 Where Kohli’s innings ranks, in terms of most runs in an innings by an India captain in Tests, and by any India batsman against England. Kohli’s 235 is the second-highest score by any batsman in Tests at the Wankhede Stadium: the best is Clive Lloyd’s 242 not out in 1975.4 Instances of India scoring 600-plus against England; the previous three were all in England, at The Oval in 1990 and 2007, and at Headingley in 2002.118.3 Overs bowled by England’s spinners, the fifth-most for England in a Test innings in India. The last time they bowled more was also at the Wankhede Stadium, in 1993, when John Emburey, Phil Tufnell and Graeme Hick wheeled down 127.3 overs. That was also the Test in which Vinod Kambli scored 224, which was the previous highest for India against England.192 Runs conceded by Adil Rashid, the third highest by an England bowler in a Test innings, and the highest overseas. The two higher ones were both at The Oval, by Ian Botham against Pakistan in 1987, and by Ian Peebles against Australia in 1930.4 Batsmen who have scored a century and a duck on Test debut. The previous such instance before Keaton Jennings in this Test was by Mohammad Wasim, 20 years ago against New Zealand.10 Fifty-plus scores for Joe Root in ten Tests against India; in each of these Tests he has passed 50 once.362 Runs scored today, the second highest ever on the fourth day of a Test match in India. The only instance when more runs were scored was against Pakistan in Kolkata in 2005, when the fourth day fetched 369 runs, 274 by India and 95 by Pakistan.