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Stats highlights from the final day of the third Investec Test at Ageas Bowl

Bishen Jeswant31-Jul-2014111 Number of times of that England have won a Test either by an innings or by more than 250 runs. In terms of runs alone, England have won 14 games by a margin of 250 or more.15 Number of wickets that Moeen Ali has taken in this series. The last time a spinner took 15 or more wickets against India in a series outside the subcontinent was in 1971, when Jack Noreiga claimed 17 scalps for West Indies. Overall, there have only been seven such instances.6 India’s last six losses in England, extending back to 2002, have all been by a margin of 150-plus runs. Four of those margins read 170, 196, 319 and 266 runs, while the two other games were lost by an innings and 242 runs, and an innings and eight runs.10 Number of Tests since England’s last win, against Australia at Chester-le-Street during the 2013 Ashes. In the subsequent 10 Tests, England drew three and suffered seven losses.38 Number of years since a legspinner has taken a five-wicket haul against India away from the subcontinent. The last legspinner to achieve this feat was West Indies’ David Holford in 1976. Since then, spinners have taken 14 five-wicket hauls against India in away Tests, but apart from Shakib Al Hasan, all them have been offspinners, with Moeen being the latest on that list.6 Number of times in the last 45 years that England spinners have taken a five-wicket haul in the fourth innings of a home Test. Derek Underwood and Ashley Giles are the only bowlers to have achieved this feat twice.4 Number of England players who have won seven or more Man-of-the-Match awards. Following his eight-wicket match haul at Ageas Bowl, James Anderson collected his seventh such award, which is the most by an England bowler. Anderson is closely followed by Stuart Broad, who has six Man-of-the-Match awards. Overall, Ian Botham leads this list, with 12 such awards in Tests.7 Number of times that an Indian No.5 batsman has made a 50-plus score in both innings of an away Test. Ajinkya Rahane scored 54 in the first innings and an unbeaten 52 in the second. Saurav Ganguly has achieved this feat three times and Polly Umrigar twice.2 Jos Buttler and Brad Haddin are the only two wicketkeepers in the last 15 years who have taken at least six catches in their debut Test. The record for the most catches on debut is seven, achieved by four players – Alan Knott, Chris Read, Brian Taber and Chamara Dunusinghe.3 Number of keepers who have taken at least five catches and made a fifty-plus score in their Test debut. The two keepers apart from Buttler in this list are Adam Gilchrist and Dunusinghe.

The long-awaited Freddie Flintoff comeback leads this week’s countdown of the things that mattered in the NatWest T20 Blast

Vithushan Ehantharajah07-Jul-20145. Freddie’s triumphant return
And so it happened. We wondered if it ever would, with squad after squad named without him. Then, when it appeared to be on against Warwickshire, the rains came and washed out any hope. Even Glamorgan tested the waters, registering an interest in taking him on loan but, no, we were assured – it was Lancashire or nothing.Andrew Flintoff managed a respectable 2 for 36 on his Lancashire return•Getty ImagesMuch has been made of Andrew Flintoff’s return already, five years on from his previous competitive game of cricket. The suggestion that he overshadowed what was the perfect T20 game – over 400 runs, blitzing cameos and an exciting chase – is an entirely fair yet also very county cricket, gripe. The press box at New Road barely makes a hum above the intermittent sound of the drinks machine in the corner. With Flintoff in town, it was rocking (relatively speaking) to “thank god, finally” sighs from the media, who have chased him around the North Division. But hey, exposure for the game is exposure for the game.He was not needed at first, as Lancashire posted a brilliant 229 for 4. Down at No. 8, as ever with Flintoff, it is the batting that takes the most work, even in this swing-happy game. When he did take to the field, he was the fifth bowler used and was taken for 15 in his first over. Eight runs in the first three balls of his second suggested car-crash potential and chatter about the wisdom in coming out of retirement. But, the wickets of Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Alexei Kervezee gave his figures a respectable gleam.Of course, there will be some who say he doesn’t need this to be back in the circuit. But the very fact that he doesn’t need cricket in his life shows how much he wants it.4. Chelmsford sticks by its own
It is hard to know how to gauge public support for Alastair Cook, aside from typing his name into Twitter and trawling through the endless criticisms of his captaincy and batting squalor. It is by no means a worthwhile or fruitful pastime. He can only win England fans around in his own, minimalistic way and, even then, there will be a large majority who see his part in the ostracising of Kevin Pietersen as unforgivable.But on Friday, as Surrey took on Cook’s county of Essex, the tables were turned. Pietersen came to the crease to a chorus of boos, followed by an “IN-GER-LUND” chant that reverberated around the ECG. After faffing about for 11 balls, scoring only one run, he charged slow left-armer Tim Phillips and was stumped off a wide, before getting an almighty send-off from the partisan home crowd. It was worse than anything Andrew Strauss could discretely throw at him.

Player focus: Jim Allenby (Glamorgan)

There are a few names that those who spend their time watching grainy video highlights of county cricket talk of in reverential terms. One of those is Glamorgan’s Jim Allenby. In Twenty20 cricket he has become one of the most consistent allrounders in the game. With the ball he uses guile and cunning to get wickets and when he bats he has found a way to score quickly and with little risk. He rarely hits the ball in the air unless he is confident of clearing a shorter boundary. He plays his way and rarely deviates from that plan. Allenby has found a formula that makes the most of the ability he has while offering excellent consistency. At Richmond against Middlesex, he scored 105 in a thrilling run chase – the fifth time he has passed fifty in this season’s competition. Far be it from Glamorgan to rely solely on his consistency, but he deserves great credit for routine success in a frenetic format.

3. Big Show or No Show?
What is up with Glenn Maxwell? Eighty runs in seven innings is far from what we and he would have wanted or expected. The very nature of his game is ‘all or nothing’ but against Somerset at the Ageas Bowl there was a disconcerting deference to the bowlers and a furious smashing of his bat when he was sold down the river by Michael Carberry.For followers of Maxwell and domestic T20 cricket across the world, this blip is merely an extension of his IPL form in the second half of the season. Having started with a bang in the UAE, with 300 runs in five matches, he returned just 252 in the next 11 on Indian soil. Better fielding, trickier conditions and the snowballing effect of bad knocks are all contributing factors.Regardless of your allegiances or opinions on Maxwell, his shoddy run of form comes at the detriment of English T20 cricket as much as it does Hampshire.2. Shreck misdemeanour benefits Ireland
Charlie Shreck is regarded as one of the most popular figures around the county circuit. Since coming into the domestic game at the age of 25, the “Cornish Joel Garner” has notched more than 500 wickets across all forms of the game. But when he was handed the ball for the last over of Derbyshire’s innings, a second waist-high full toss of the match resulted in him being taken out of the attack. Anthony Ireland was tasked with bowling the remaining five deliveries. Four wickets followed, including three in four balls for Ireland and a run-out off the last ball. Credit, of course, is due to Ireland for his first five-wicket haul in T20. But were it not for Shreck’s selflessness – inadvertent or otherwise – he would not have had the chance for such a heroic feat. What a bloke.1. Let there be light
Gloucestershire’s impressive win over Sussex was somewhat, well, overshadowed by the drastically fading Bristol light. Despite being an international ground, it is without floodlights and Sussex were well within their rights to complain. To their credit, they got on with the task at hand, however futile it turned out to be.Bristol is one of six county headquarters without floodlights – Yorkshire (who hope to have them installed at Headingley by 2015), Durham, Somerset, Leicestershire and Worcestershire are the others – but the ECB currently has no plans to make them mandatory for hosting T20.”We are supportive of all those counties without floodlights should they choose to install them. However, it has to be right for them and right for their business plan,” the ECB’s Andrew Walpole said. “As well as the financial cost, there is the issue of planning and building permission that needs to be sorted out. While the ECB is more than happy to help these counties out in all of those aspects, there is no pressure on them to do so.”

The weird and wonderful city that has made a hero out of a groundsman

Paul Ford04-Nov-2014Most days the jury is out as to whether Central Otago or the Hawke’s Bay is the fruit bowl of New Zealand. But for the 2015 cricket World Cup it is decided the mantle is claimed by the Bay because neither Molyneux Park (Alexandra), Queenstown Events Centre or Anderson Park (Cromwell) made the cut for the big games.Most cricketing roads in the Hawke’s Bay lead to McLean Park. The exceptions include Gordon Road, home of the magnificent Clifton County Cricket Club (“Keep driving along dusty roads and across paddocks until you reach a piece of lush turf surrounded by undulating hillside… and if you get lost, just follow someone else”).McLean Park has been around for more than 100 years, having been created as a 10-acre memorial to a bloke who used to be a VINZGP: a very important New Zealand government person. His name is Don McLean but he never wrote amazing folk songs with cryptic lyrics. Instead he was a Scottish farmer and was the ominously and imperiously named Minister of Native Affairs and Colonial Defence in the 1870s.Apparently – and weirdly – in the early years, Sir Donald McLean’s Park was mainly used by the Highland Society for eccentric and wonderful games like caber tossing, hammer throwing and maide leisg-ing.Now it is best known as the home of eccentric and wonderful sporting games like rugby and cricket.

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McLean Park is the primary home ground for the Central Districts Cricket Association and base camp for the roving Central Stags. It is unusual in that you can see the sea from the park, so if you are watching on TV then expect to see epic montages of the glittering Pacific Ocean through the line of Norfolk pines along the Napier waterfront.Central Districts is an eclectic region that essentially ring-fences Wellington, and runs the game in Horowhenua Kapiti, Manawatu, Taranaki, Wairarapa and Wanganui in the North Island – and Marlborough and Nelson at the top of the south.Central Districts legends include the one and only Mathew “Skippy” Sinclair (the bloke responsible for the greatest catch I have ever seen live), who was on the dole but is now training to be a real estate agent in the Bay, and is coaching the local Hawke’s Bay provincial team. He has the most appearances for the province, followed by Mike Shrimpton, who went on from first-class cricket to be prominent as the coach of the White Ferns when they won the World Cup back in 2000.Other household cricketing names who have worn the Central Districts greens and whites many times over the years include Scott Briasco, Michael Mason, Mark Douglas, Glen Sulzberger, Gary Robertson and wicketkeeping stalwart Bevan Griggs. Golf nut and Hastings schoolteacher Stu Duff is also a Central Districts legend – his dulcet tones can often be heard when he parks up atop the Harris Stand at McLean Park to jabber on over the radio airwaves.And who can forget Cleckheaton’s only black-belted wicketkeeper-batsman, Tony “Chill” Blain (an irregular correspondent on the BYC podcast)? His sensible hats with the neck flap are an iconic cricketing memory for watchers of Kiwi cricket in the eighties and nineties.

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The deck in Napier is notoriously as flat as a pancake, and most batsmen around the globe would be keen to pack it up and roll it out wherever they were plying their trade. In Tests, John Wright averages 201 there, VVS Laxman 200, BJ Watling 180, Imran Farhat 178 and Jesse Ryder 158. And in ODIs, MS Dhoni averages 124 there, ahead of Virat Kholi on 123 and Ricky Ponting on 107.5.The Tasmanian devil’s magnificent unbeaten 141 (off 127 balls) in an ODI in 2005 was a frighteningly good innings to watch as a local fan – “clean-hitting dominance” that ended the series from hell. It didn’t help that the same day Brett Lee unleashed a 99.9 mph thunderbolt and Adam Gilchrist monstered 91 from just 61 balls.

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Napier groundsman Phil Stoyanoff with Kris Srikkanth and Anil Kumble in Bangalore•Associated PressThe Park’s road maker is Phil Stoyanoff, the Napier groundsman who has also carved out his own little niche in Kiwi cricketing folklore. I’ve often said there is a lucrative market waiting to happen if someone wants to start making “I Love Phil” t-shirts. Why? Because he’s as blunt as a trauma injury, with a delicious turn of phrase:

“Any of this mythical talk about slime outbreak on the wicket, or algae or the fungal attack, is a lot of rubbish.”
“My most endearing memory of Phil is when he turned up to a Saturday game, and Collegians were bowling first. Phil had obviously had a late – very late – Friday night, and it would have been optimistic to say he’d had more than a couple hours sleep. Phil slumped in the dressing shed, unshaven, eyes red-rimmed and with the breath of a brewery. When a team mate half-seriously suggested he wasn’t in a fit state to bowl, Phil had the perfect retort: ‘Mate – when I’m hungover it makes me bloody angry and I’ll take if out on the f***ken opening batsmen.’ And he did.”
“Depending on what the samples say I base my plan of attack for the day around that. I have to think about what roller I’m going to use and if I need to mow.”
“Yes, because both sides have such bad batsmen. That’s my honest opinion: they’re useless.”

Stoyanoff has cut an interesting path on the Kiwi cricketing scene. He played one first-class match for NZ Under-23s against Canterbury back in 1980, scoring 4 and taking 0 for 15 from five overs. Fellow first-class debutants in that match included Robbie Hart, Trevor Franklin, Alan Hunt and Rockin’ Roddy Latham.He was also flown to India to prepare the turf at Bangalore’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium for an Australia v India series using soil core samples, weather charts and mathematical equations. As he said at the time: “Preparing a pitch is science… We decide based on the data what type of roller to use. It is real artwork, which they don’t know about here. They don’t regard curators as professions, but we are as important as the cricketers.”I love Phil.

Stats highlights from the second ODI of the Carlton Mid Tri-Series between India and Australia in Melbourne

Bishen Jeswant18-Jan-20156 Wickets taken by Mitchell Starc, the most by an Australia bowler in an ODI at home. He returned figures of 6 for 43. The previous best figures by an Australia bowler at home was also against India, 5 for 15 by Greg Chappell in Sydney in 1981.138 Runs scored by Rohit Sharma during India’s innings, the highest by an India batsman at the MCG, and third-highest by an India batsman anywhere in Australia. This is also the third-highest score by any overseas opener in Australia.51.7 Percentage of India’s runs scored by Rohit. He scored 138 of India’s 267 runs. In the first ODI of the series, England’s Eoin Morgan scored 51.7% of England’s total, when he made 121 runs out of England’s overall score of 234.4 Number of sixes hit by Rohit, the most by an Indian batsman in Melbourne, and the second-most at any Australian venue. The only Indian batsman to hit more sixes is Virender Sehwag, who hit five sixes against Zimbabwe in Hobart in 2004.267-8 The score posted by India in this match, their second-highest in an ODI in Melbourne. The last ODI at Melbourne, between Australia and South Africa in November 2014 saw South Africa make the exact same score, 267-8. Australia successfully chased down the total with exactly six ball to spare.1005 Aggregate runs in ODIs for Steven Smith. He reached the 1000-run mark during his innings of 47. This also happens to be Smith’s 47th ODI. He is the 38th Australia batsman to score 1000 runs in ODIs.35 Number years since India have won an ODI in Melbourne after batting first. The last time this happened was against Australia in 1980. Since then India have batted first in six ODIs in Melbourne and lost all six.

As James Anderson surpasses Ian Botham to become England’s leading Test wicket-taker, ESPNcricinfo picks out six of his best performances

David Hopps17-Apr-2015Test 21: 7 for 130 v New Zealand, Wellington, 2008Anderson had already played 20 Tests by the time England arrived in Wellington, but this was a watershed moment as the dropping of Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison pronounced that England had moved on from their victorious 2005 Ashes attack. Anderson, teaming up with Stuart Broad in only his second Test, took five wickets in the first innings, befuddling Matthew Bell, Jamie How and Mathew Sinclair with natural outswing as New Zealand soon slipped to 31 for 3. Anderson and Broad would be stood together in three straight Ashes triumphs on a journey to the top of the Test rankings.Test 25: 9 for 98 v New Zealand, Trent Bridge, 2008No Test venue has bestowed favours upon Anderson more enthusiastically than Trent Bridge, a haven for swing bowlers. In eight matches in Nottingham, he has taken 53 wickets at 19.24 apiece and the ground has played host to both his 10-wicket hauls and six of his 16 five-fors. The New Zealanders succumbed to him swiftly. He had six wickets by the close of the second day and responded with a bashful acknowledgment of the crowd and a diffident media conference. A seventh wicket followed before a fleeting hoper of all 10 slipped away.Test 49: 11 for 71 v Pakistan, Trent Bridge, 2010Trent Bridge again – and one of his most devastating displays in what was to become a shaming Pakistan tour under the captaincy of Salman Butt. Pakistan were hustled out for 182 and 80, their second innings flirting dangerously with their lowest score in Test history. Anderson completed a 354-run win with 6 for 17 in the second innings, curving the ball both ways with consummate skill as he took his first 10-wicket haul and recorded the best match analysis by an England bowler for six years.Test 57: 7 for 127 v Australia, Sydney, 2010-11Australia has always been a demanding tour for Anderson, who could make the garrulous Duke ball talk at will, but who often found the Kookaburra as taciturn as they come. He has known the pain of two Ashes whitewashes Down Under, but in 2010-11, his 24 wickets made up a resolute contribution to England’s series win. By now he was approaching his peak, his artistry backed up by greater resilience and a shrewd tactical brain. If he was at his most challenging on a cloudy first day in Melbourne, where England retained the Ashes, it was in the final Test at the SCG where the Ashes were won and he finally won the respect of the Australian public.Test 76: 6 for 127 v India, Kolkata, 2012-13Anderson’s Test record in England is markedly superior to that overseas, with as much as 10 runs a wicket difference. There was precious little in his favour at Eden Gardens, apart from supreme skill and will. He had been a bit-part player in Mumbai as Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar paired up for one of the greatest spin-bowling displays in England’s history, but in this third Test, he summoned all his knowledge and persistence, drew comfort from occasional hints of reverse swing, and ensured that Alastair Cook’s side moved closer to a first series win in India for 27 years. Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli were among his first-innings victims.Test 83: 10 for 158 v Australia, Trent Bridge, 2013Surely the defining Test of Anderson’s career and, appropriately, in Nottingham. Who can forget Trent Bridge 2013? This was one of the greatest Tests of modern times: Ashton Agar’s 98 as a 19-year-old debutant; the first of Ian Bell’s third hundreds in the series as he put the back-cut back in vogue again; and Broad’s brazen choice to stand his ground after an edge had bounced off the keeper’s gloves to first slip. Anderson’s gruelling 13-over spell before lunch on the final day brought 3 for 29 and put England on the brink of victory but Brad Haddin added 65 with James Pattinson for the last wicket and, as Australia got within 15, Anderson, almost cruelly, was bowling again. Haddin inside-edged to Matt Prior, what umpire Aleem Dar did not spot, DRS uncovered and Anderson briefly forgot his exhaustion to lead a jubilant charge around the outfield.

Nigel Howard was a surprise choice to lead an under-strength England overseas in 1951-52. His Test career started and ended with that ordinary tour to India

Steven Lynch11-May-2015The roll-call of England captains is an evocative list. Almost an A-Z: Atherton, Brearley, Cowdrey, Dexter, Edrich, Flintoff, Graveney, Hutton, Illingworth … With a Hammond and a May and a Strauss thrown in. Since the Second World War, it’s been an unbroken list of the biggest names in English cricket.Well, almost unbroken. England’s captain in India in 1951-52, was ND Howard. Who was he?In fact, Nigel Howard had taken over at Lancashire in 1949, when he was only 23, still their youngest full-time captain. He led them to a share of the Championship in 1950, and had enjoyed four reasonable seasons with the bat – over 900 runs each year since becoming a regular in 1948, with 1174 in 1950. For the time, it was solid but unspectacular: nothing really to suggest that here was a Test player in the making… except for one important thing. Howard was an amateur, and England’s captains (and most of the county captains too) came from the unpaid ranks back then. England hadn’t been led by a paid professional since the days of privately raised teams in the 19th century.During the home summer of 1951, England had been led by Freddie Brown, who had proved a popular captain in Australia the previous winter, despite losing heavily. But Brown was over 40, and didn’t fancy a winter in India: he stood down from the captaincy. I’d always imagined that Howard must have been MCC’s third or fourth choice to lead that winter tour – but actually the committee minutes reveal he was the first one asked, in June 1951.These were different times. It wasn’t only Brown who wasn’t too keen on playing in India: of the XI that won the final Test at The Oval in 1951, to clinch a 3-1 victory over South Africa, only four went on the tour, none of them established players. Howard’s Lancashire team-mate, the offspinner Roy Tattersall, had nine previous caps, including all five games that summer, but the other three – the young Hampshire allrounder Derek Shackleton and the Yorkshire pair of opener Frank Lowson and wicketkeeper Don Brennan – had only two caps each. There was no Hutton, no Compton, no May, no Evans, no Bailey, no Bedser, no Laker …

“He didn’t like India, and he never really felt well. He was as fit as a flea really, but I’m sure he thought he was going to pick up some awful plague”Tour manager Geoffrey Howard on Nigel Howard

It all seems rather peculiar now, but the fact was that England had long felt they didn’t need a full-strength team to subdue anyone who wasn’t Australia. It might have been true before the war, when only South Africa had given regular trouble, but the times were a-changing. In 1947-48, West Indies had seen off an experimental side – captained by 45-year-old Gubby Allen – and showed that was no fluke by winning a joyous series in England in 1950. Even New Zealand, who would not lower England’s colours until 1977-78, showed they were no longer pushovers by drawing all four Tests in the summer of 1949. Those were only three-day games – only Australia were deemed worthy of the full five – but that was changed the following year.That left India, who had been playing Tests since 1932, but still hadn’t won one. However, more regular international exposure had begun to harden them into a useful team, featuring batsmen like the two Vijays – stylish opener Merchant and prolific captain Hazare. At home, they would be difficult to beat, and any inferiority complex that might have existed before had been buried, chiefly by the combative allrounders Lala Amarnath and Vinoo Mankad.And so Howard was up against it. A successful series might have secured him the England captaincy at home as well, and there was an Australian visit looming in 1953. But India had the better of the first Test, in Delhi: only a superb rearguard from the Glamorgan left-hander Allan Watkins saved their blushes. He resisted for nine hours for 137 not out, and put on 158 with Donald Carr, the vice-captain.That innings of Carr, another amateur, posed a few problems for the management. Tom Graveney, the side’s best batsman, had missed the first Test, but had to return for the second, in Bombay (where he would score 175). Who would make way for him? Watkins grabbed the nettle, and suggested the captain – who’d made just 13 and 9 in Delhi – should step down. But, as Carr said, “It became clear that he was not going to let himself be left out.” Instead it was Carr, who’d just made 76 on debut, who was dropped. “I suppose it was inevitable really,” he admitted, “and I’ve sometimes wondered what I would have done in similar circumstances.” There’s not much doubt who Graveney himself would have left out: Howard was, he said, “a very ordinary cricketer – and that’s putting it kindly”. Carr was somewhat more generous: “I found Nigel a very nice fellow, and he had a good record as captain of Lancashire.”Denis Compton was at London’s St Pancras Station to see off members of the 1951-52 tour party to India•PA PhotosThe second and third Tests were drawn, but Howard continued to struggle – 20 in Bombay, 23 and 20 not out in Calcutta. He only made a run in the fourth Test in Kanpur, but it didn’t matter much: England’s spinners outbowled India’s, and the match was won. Victory was set up by Howard’s Lancastrian colleagues Tattersall and slow left-armer Malcolm Hilton, who shared 17 wickets.Ironically, Howard did now stand down – he had contracted pleurisy, and had to return home. It fell to Carr to captain England for the only time in the final Test in Madras – and it was a historic game, as India finally broke their duck and squared the series, in a match that had an unscheduled rest day when news came through late on the first afternoon that King George VI had died. Vinoo Mankad did the damage with 8 for 55 in the first innings (and four more in the second), then centuries from Pankaj Roy and Polly Umrigar set up a big lead. It was probably England’s lack of quick bowling that cost them: both Roy and Umrigar would struggle against the fiery young Fred Trueman in England later in 1952. But that’s not to detract from India’s win. The Times admitted: “Over the whole series England seemed rather lucky to have shared the honours.”Carr remembered: “The Indians were very polite to us after the match and said the reason we had lost was because we were so upset by the news of the King’s death.”The tour manager was Geoffrey Howard (no relation). He recalled his captain in Stephen Chalke’s fine 2001 memoir At the Heart of English Cricket: “He was very young, and his upbringing had been so materialistic. In a way, he’d had things too easy in his life. He’d got where he had because of his father.”He didn’t like India, and he never really felt well. He was as fit as a flea really, but I’m sure he thought he was going to pick up some awful plague. He was so apprehensive about his health – and the strange thing was that he died at the age of only 54.” That was in 1979, not long after he’d retired from the family textile business to the Isle of Man.Howard played on for Lancashire until 1954, but never did captain England again. It was Len Hutton, a professional, who would take on (and beat) the Australians in 1953. Still, MCC remained keen on the idea of amateur captains, even after the distinction between Gentlemen and Players was officially abolished in 1962. But they never took India – or anyone else – quite so lightly again.

He has made his comeback to the Bangladesh Test team as a bowler who is by trade a batsman, but hasn’t yet made his mark in either

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur08-May-2015Shuvagata Hom would like to forget the third day’s play of the Dhaka Test. He moved late to a Wahab Riaz delivery outside off-stump, resulting in a golden duck. Two catches went past his diving left hand at gully. He did hold on to a dolly and took a wicket with a long-hop, but you could see that he was feeling the pinch. When he came on to bowl late in Pakistan’s second innings, Shuvagata looked weary, and rather reluctantly accepted a short leg and a slip from captain Mushfiqur. Misbah-ul-Haq reversed him for a boundary soon after.The tame dismissal coupled with his insipid bowling, his international performance so far, and his overall role in the Bangladesh team, particularly in the two Tests against Pakistan, would make the fourth day of the Dhaka Test a make-or-break innings for him. Shakib Al Hasan, who was at the other end when Shuvagata was dismissed within the first 4.2 overs of the third morning, said that he should support the top and middle-order batsmen when he goes to bat at No 8, but added that it wasn’t an easy position to bat in.”It is a difficult situation to bat but this is a big opportunity for him (Shuvagata),” Shakib said. “Things would have been different if Shahadat wasn’t injured. [Jubair Hossain] Likhon too was injured just before the game, so may be that affected the team selection. I think we were unfortunate with the injuries and the catches taken off no-balls.”Of course it is possible to make a contribution. Why wouldn’t it be? If he has a recognized batsman at the other end, he can put together a substantial partnership. Bangladeshi batsmen have scored 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s at No 7 and 8 in the past. Since he is a specialist batsman, he can bat with the tail-ender. There is chance to contribute, but it is not easy.”A bad day can be forgiven and forgotten, so too a bad Test series. A player doing ordinarily in his first six Tests can be largely ignored. He can be a slow starter. But the issue with Shuvagata in this Bangladesh Test team is his specific role. In his second coming as an international cricketer, Shuvagata was picked for the two-match Test series against West Indies last August as an allrounder who was required to bowl a lot of overs since Shakib was serving the BCB ban and Sohag Gazi had his action reported and returned home.In the preceding season, 2013-14, Shuvagata averaged 38 with the bat and picked up 21 wickets. Among allrounders who had taken a minimum of ten wickets and scored at least 300 runs in the domestic first-class competitions, Shuvagata was the third highest wicket-taker and fourth highest scorer. A specialist batsman who can bowl a bit but he effectively replaced Sohag Gazi, the specialist offspinner who could bat a bit. Try working that one out.He featured in the Zimbabwe series for nearly the same reason but wasn’t asked to bowl in the first Test. He scored just one half-century and took just four wickets in the series. When he was picked for the Pakistan Tests, the chief selector Faruque Ahmed explained that they wanted to pick players from the previous Test Bangladesh had played to have some consistency and continuation in the team. So far, that hasn’t worked out well.A lot of questions have been raised with Jubair Hossain not being picked ahead of him in Khulna and Bangladesh not opting for Abul Hasan in his place when they knew the wicket would assist pace bowlers. Whether his role was a negative one is certainly up for debate, but his job description of being a part allrounder evidently fits the plan of the captain Mushfiqur and coach Chandika Hathurusingha.What adds to the confusion is his first stint as an international cricketer. Shuvagata was picked for the ODI series against Zimbabwe in 2011 as a specialist batsman after having averaged 61.26 in ten first-class matches with three hundreds and six fifties since his first-class debut in 2010. He looked like a confident player but couldn’t get past the thirties in the four ODIs. He was sent to the scrapheap.A further look back into Shuvagata’s career perplexes you even more. He spent the first few years of his domestic club cricket career as a medium-pacer. Only when he joined the National Cricket Academy did he suddenly change tact and transform himself into a stump-to-stump offspinner. He is a loyal cricketer too helping his first club, Cricket Coaching School, get promoted to the Dhaka First Division Cricket League (second tier in the Dhaka league system) from the Second Division in 2005-06.He helped them stay afloat in the first division despite the team being in the relegation zone in the 2006-07 season. The following season, 2007-08, his runs helped them earn promotion to the Dhaka Premier League (the top tier of the Dhaka league system) and despite big monetary offers, he stuck with them for two more seasons.No Bangladesh cricketer, especially in the last ten years, has been with a single club for too long and neither has one made it to the senior side as a batsman first, been dropped and then got picked for his bowling skills. There’s something about Shuvagata, that only the Bangladesh team management and selectors have seen so far. Saturday could be the day that everyone else does too.

Besides the two headliners, Shan Masood staked claim for long tenancy at the top, Azhar Ali was a calming influence, but Pakistan might want a bit more from their pacers

Umar Farooq08-Jul-2015

10

Yasir ShahEasily, the best performer of the series. For Yasir, the series was nothing less than a dream as he reeled off 24 wickets in three Tests and went onto complete 50 wickets in only nine Tests, fastest by any Pakistan bowler. Yasir’s 7 for 76 in the second innings in Galle was the best by an overseas bowler in Sri Lanka, surpassing his own idol Shane Warne.

9.5

Younis KhanHe might have been below par in the first two Tests, including his 100th, but he stepped up in the decider, inspiring Pakistan to their first Test series win in Sri Lanka since 2006. Younis smashed several records on his way to an unbeaten 171 off 271 balls, after Pakistan were reduced to 13 for 2 in pursuit of 377. Younis’ epic effort was the best by a Pakistan batsman in a fourth innings and the fifth best overall in a chase.

9

Shan MasoodMasood, who had been carrying drinks since 2013 would have continued doing the same had Mohammad Hafeez been available in Pallekele. Though the replacement opener failed in the first innings, he grabbed the opportunity in the second dig. Masood made 125 off 233 balls, his maiden century, despite his troubles against the short ball, and was at the forefront of a remarkable Pakistan turnaround alongside Younis.

9

Sarfraz AhmedHe was a symbol of consistency this tour. Pakistan endured collapses in Galle and Pallekele but Sarfraz propped them up with his busy batting. Sarfraz ended with 204 runs in four innings at 68 and effected 14 dismissals behind the stumps.

8

Azhar AliThe nucleus of a resurgent team, Azhar asserted his case further and finished as the second-highest run-getter for Pakistan after Younis Khan with 208 runs at 41.60, including a half-century and century. His ability to hold the innings together even under pressure makes him the lynchpin of the batting line-up.

7

Zulfiqar BabarAn accurate left-arm spinner, Babar brings a lot of stability to the bowling attack, more so in sub-continental conditions. He kept things tight at one end, while Yasir chipped away at the other. Babar was left out of the third Test for a seamer and finished with six wickets at 36.50. He also pitched in with a counter-attacking 56 in Galle, his first half-century in Tests.

7

Wahab RiazThe driving force of Pakistan but he suffered a hairline fracture on his bowling hand in the second Test in Colombo and was forced to return home. Pakistan’s primary strike bowler tested Sri Lanka with bouncers but leaked some runs. He accounted for five wickets at 27.80.Sarfraz Ahmed was consistent with both the bat and the big gloves, scoring 204 runs and effecting 14 dismissals•Ishara S.Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images

6

Misbah ul HaqPut the seal on Pakistan’s epic series win with a six over long-on and brought up 4000 Test runs. He struck 59 in the Pallekele and ended with 114 runs overall at 28.50. Misbah was also a calming influence in a series that saw striking highs and lows.

5

Asad ShafiqA century on an away tour is decent for any young batsman. Shafiq scored a solid 131, which rallied Pakistan to a ten-wicket win in Galle. Consistency is an area of concern but he is a key investment for the future. Overall, he had returns of 175 at 43.75.

5

Imran KhanDespite being troubled by fitness issues, Imran stepped up with a strong performance in the decider. He picked up his maiden five-wicket haul, which laid the foundation for Pakistan’s turnaround. He struggled with the old ball but prised out five wickets with the second new ball to wrap up Sri Lanka’s tail single handedly.

3

Rahat AliHaving recovered from a hamstring issue, Rahat made an unexpected comeback. Produced some extra bounce and movement with the new ball. He could not control the old ball, though, and finished with returns of five wickets at 31.20

2.5

Mohammad HafeezHafeez’s career graph has always been a lop-sided one. He scored a double-century against Bangladesh in Khulna but struggled to come to terms with the zip and seam movement in Sri Lanka, despite playing 12 years of international cricket. His bowling action was called suspect, prompting another test, forcing him to miss the final Test in Pallekele.

2

Ahmed ShehzadShehzad had some starts but threw them away like he often does. He managed only 143 runs at 28.60 and fell behind in the top-order tussle. Despite playing more than ten Tests and making three centuries, Shehzad has struggled to nail down a permanent spot in the XI. He may have scored one fifty but lacked stability.

2

Junaid KhanCall him unlucky or ineffective after injury, Junaid was the only weak link in an otherwise formidable attack. He showed sparks of brilliance in Galle with the old ball but did not have enough wickets to show for. Junaid was eventually dropped for the deciding Test in Pallekele. Having taken 50 wickets against Sri Lanka, he is ordinarily prolific against them but never looked convincing this series. He could muster only one wicket at 180 in two matches.

1

Ehsan AdilA decent seamer, who could move the ball around a bit, but Adil was not threatening. He managed only a solitary wicket in 31 overs across both innings in Pallekele.

The visitors had been wary of the Mohali pitch well before the match even began and that played as much or a greater part in the unravelling

Firdose Moonda in Mohali07-Nov-2015Test cricket does not have the bloodlust of boxing, the contact of rugby and American football or the speed of soccer but it is the most demanding sport around. Players are expected to be at it for six hours a day for five days in succession. Admittedly not all of them are involved all of the time but even just being present for that period take its toll. And that’s not even the hardest part.At its core, Test cricket is a mental game and South Africa were reminded of just how much of a role the mind plays in Mohali. Take nothing away from India’s spinners – especially R Ashwin – but they were not solely responsible for the South Africa’s downfall. Neither was the surface although it was tricky for both sides to bat on. Perhaps the purists have a point when they lament the demise of proper temperament and technique as a result of the glut of limited-overs cricket.Both sets of batsmen seemed to be scrambling too early and too much and South Africa’s squirming began even before the match did. Three days out, Faf du Plessis was disturbingly negative about the surface and what his team expected from it. “The worst,” he said, implying a raging turner, dry, spider-webbed with cracks, unplayable. That one of their senior batsmen was talking this way should have raised alarm bells about South Africa’s state of mind. In the end, du Plessis was done by straight deliveries in both innings. Expecting “the worst”, it seems, can cloud the vision too.South Africa’s other bankers were also out of touch. Hashim Amla is going through a lean run that he can’t seem to break out of – some of it is caused by footwork issues, some by “brainfreezes,” as he put it when discussing getting out in bizarre ways – and AB de Villiers’ first-innings 63 needed some support.If South Africa are to succeed on this tour, at least one of du Plessis, Amla or de Villiers have to come good every innings and if only one of them does, it has to be very good, especially if JP Duminy is not around. The rest of the line-up feed off them. If Dean Elgar, Stiaan van Zyl and Dane Vilas see their seniors baffled, they are unlikely to believe they won’t be. It may not be as simple as that and there are instances of young batsmen stealing the show (think Duminy in Melbourne) but generally, on away tours, one of the big batsmen has go big and in this case, that applies to their temperament too.Some of South Africa’s other players were less alarmist. Dale Steyn spoke about, “the first three days being pretty chilled and then it just speeds up on day four and five,” Dean Elgar suggested something similar about the difficulties of batting later in the match and Simon Harmer looked forward to finally enjoying a more spinner-friendly surface compared to what he is used to back home.They were all right. The game was played in fast-forward from the get-go: 12 wickets fell on the first day, 10 on the second and 18 on the third, so batting was never easy for either side. Thirty-four of the 40 that fell were to spinners, the fourth-highest number of wickets taken by spinners in any match, but not to spin.This was a pitch that demanded concentration and careful thought. The batsmen had to be patient but they also could not get too pinned down or they were likely to make a mistake. Strike rotation was perhaps the most important basic discipline that needed to be applied and South Africa abandoned it as the match went on. They scored just 37 singles in their second innings, compared to India’s 68.The frustration of seeing out dot balls and hoping for boundaries may have led to the errors Amla spoke about. The reality of the unknown may also have contributed its share but South Africa are likely to be harsh on themselves when they assess how they handled foreign conditions with the bat.When they do, they can consider themselves flattered by India’s insistence on preparing this kind of pitch. It tells them India are wary of engaging in a contest where bat and ball are equals, just as South Africa themselves have been in the past when confronted with a team they feared may be stronger than them.In 2010, when India were ranked No.1 and visited South Africa, the first Test was played on a Centurion green mamba that would not have been out of place a little further north in a Waterberg Reserve. The seamers were snipers though the match went to the fifth day due to rain.India may remember that when South Africa tried it again, in the Test that followed in Durban, the plan backfired. India also had seamers who could speak parseltongue and they were able to find their way back into the series. Virat Kohli’s men might do well to treat that as a cautionary tale but, given the gulf they might see between the quality of their spinners and South Africa’s, the pitches are likely to remain the same.Already, they are promising to push home advantage even more. On Saturday, the reported that the Feroz Shah Kotla is expected to be spinner-friendly for the upcoming Ranji Trophy match and quoted a DDCA official saying, “We will have to prepare it according to what the Indian team and the BCCI wants.”It may serve South Africa best if they did not read that.

With Ryan Harris and Mitchell Johnson retired and Mitchell Starc out injured, Australia’s fast-bowling depth is set to be seriously tested over the next few months

Brydon Coverdale01-Dec-20151:50

Coverdale: Selectors like Coulter-Nile’s pace

A year ago, you might have worried about the depth of Australia’s batting talent. Or of their spin-bowling options. But pace? That has been the least of their concerns. Still is, according to the national selector Rod Marsh, who announced Australia’s latest Test squad on Tuesday. Marsh said that Australia’s “depth chart” – those were his words – showed “20 fast bowlers that we rate a chance of playing” internationals in one of the three formats.We might soon find out whether Australia’s pace-bowling depth is really as impressive as those numbers suggest, or whether it more resembles Paul Keating’s withering description of Peter Costello: all tip and no iceberg. Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris have retired. Mitchell Starc is injured, as are a number of replacement candidates. Josh Hazlewood’s workload worries the team management, and Peter Siddle’s back is troubling him.So, how far down into Australia’s domestic scene does the quality of fast bowling really penetrate? It is a question worth considering, given that the selectors have chosen in the squad for the first Test against West Indies a man who has not played a single Sheffield Shield game this summer due to injury and suspension. Nathan Coulter-Nile has no recent red-ball form, yet he was the man all the selectors thought of when Starc was ruled out.As well as James Pattinson retaining his place in the squad, the other man to receive a call was Victoria fast bowler Scott Boland, who has been placed on standby in case either Siddle or Hazlewood struggles to recover after Adelaide. Marsh noted that it was unlikely Hazlewood would be able to sustain himself through six Tests this summer, with a New Zealand tour to follow, so Coulter-Nile and Boland both have realistic chances of playing Test cricket soon.”We don’t think anyone is unlucky with this selection,” Marsh said. Translation: despite the “depth chart”, no other fast bowlers were close. These selectors want speed; Marsh said that a properly quick bowler was needed in the absence of Johnson and Starc. Jackson Bird and Chadd Sayers suffer from the perception that they are not quick enough, even though Bird was Man of the Match in his second Test, three years ago.Jackson Bird is the highest wicket-taker in the Sheffield Shield this season and has an enviable first-class record in Hobart, but his lack of pace has counted against him under the current selection regime•Getty ImagesBird is also the leading wicket taker this Shield season with 18 at 24.77, and he knows the Bellerive Oval surface intimately: he has taken 71 first-class wickets there at 19.81. That he was not picked for Hobart against West Indies suggests he is unlikely to add to his three Test caps, at least in the near future. Then again, Bird hasn’t bashed the door down; his five-wicket haul in the most recent Shield round was his first in 18 months.So, who else is there? The Western Australia left-armer Jason Behrendorff would have come under serious consideration had he been fit, but he is struggling with a back injury. Pat Cummins also faces a long lay-off due to stress fractures of the back. James Faulkner has a toe injury that is also causing him knee problems.Andrew Fekete was part of Australia’s squad for the cancelled Test tour of Bangladesh, but has since been dropped by Tasmania and has 12 wickets at 40.83 this Shield season. Ben Hilfenhaus’ pace is down and Tasmania have sent him back to Futures League and grade cricket. Gurinder Sandhu, who made his ODI debut earlier this year, has little recent red-ball form to recommend him.In fact, let’s run through the list of highest Sheffield Shield wicket takers over the past two years, excluding spinners. Top of the heap is James Hopes, the 37-year-old Queensland medium-pacer whose canniness has earned him 72 wickets at 19.51 in that time. Next is Fekete. Then Michael Hogan, who plays for Western Australia as an overseas player because he has used his British passport to play county cricket as a local.Next is Doug Bollinger, with 50 wickets at 22.52. He is 34 and his last Test was five years ago. Would he be up to a recall? Then comes Behrendorff and the South Australian Joe Mennie, who has 47 wickets at 34.17, and is second to Bird this season. Then it’s Boland, Sean Abbott, Bird, Sayers and Tasmania’s Sam Rainbird, who has 40 wickets at 29.15. Two other names of note are Joel Paris, another WA left-armer who swings the ball, and Billy Stanlake, the tall Queenslander. Marsh made mention of both as men for the future, if not the present.”Joel Paris is an interesting one, he’s played his first ever four-day game against Victoria this week and from all reports bowled quite nicely,” he said. “He’s one that we’ll be keeping our eye on for sure, because he’s very tall and he swings the ball and he had a brilliant junior career. Billy Stanlake is another one, from Brisbane. We’ve got two youngsters who I think, going forward, will be very good fast bowlers for Australia.”In the end, the selectors went for Coulter-Nile due to a “gut feeling” among the panel. “We like him as a bowler,” Marsh said. Some fans have had a gutful of such selection hunches, but do any of those other names jump out as demanding selection? In whatever direction the selectors went, a leap of faith was required. What is certain is that Australia’s fast-bowling depth is about to be seriously tested.