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John Stern reviews Keith Fletcher’s book Ashes to Ashes – The Rise, Fall and Rise of English Cricket

John Stern28-Jul-2005
Buy it now

Keith Fletcher peers out from the cover with a world-weary look of concern as Mike Atherton, behelmeted, looks equally non-plussed. This was the England of Fletcher’s management in the 1990s. The words “insecurity”, “disappointment” and “sacked” appear in the first page and a half of the introduction. It is hard to believe that this man captained an Essex side renowned for their humour and jolly japery.The timing is odd. Although Fletcher is still involved with Essex he is hardly at the heart of the modern game. The book’s USP appears to be that he is the first man to have captained and coached England. Given that only five people have coached/managed England (and one of those was Ray Illingworth who also captained them) that doesn’t seem to be saying a great deal.It turns out that Fletcher was not that enamoured of international cricket either as player or coach. He says he “never relaxed when playing Test cricket” and raises a now common complaint about the insecurity and disharmony of England dressing rooms in the professional era. He didn’t even enjoy the victorious tour of Australia in 1970-71. “We were just a bunch of individuals coming together under the banner of MCC, some of whom looked after themselves and did not bother to assist newcomers.” Sound familiar?The last words of the book are “international cricket will continue to muddle along” which just about sums up its melancholic tone.Two and half stars –

A stats preview ahead of Thursday’s Ashes opener at Brisbane

S Rajesh22-Nov-2006

Virender Sehwag justified the national selection panel’s decision with a scintillating 75 on Saturday against India Green before he erred while looking good for a century

Nagraj Gollapudi in Ahmedabad27-Oct-2007

Dilip Vengsarkar, India’s chairman of selectors, stressed on form and fitness when he announced the team for the first two matches of the forthcoming one-day series against Pakistan at home. Virender Sehwag has had trouble on both fronts for a while so it was surprising to see him among the 15 chosen.On Thursday, after a disappointing performance against India Red, where he managed only 9, Sehwag told a television journalist: “What interview can I give when I haven’t done anything”. But the selectors felt he had done enough and drafted him back in to the squad for the first time since the tour to Bangladesh earlier in May.Sehwag will be aware he can’t take it easy now. Even though he said, “I had expected a recall,” he must know he was rather fortunate to have got ahead of S Badrinath, who will once again have to wait on the sidelines before the selectors formulate a clear approach of giving him a fair trial.The selectors did say that Sehwag’s past form in the Test arena impacted their final decision. Sehwag himself was to later admit, “It gives me the confidence to be back against Pakistan, against whom I have done well.” Sehwag’s Test average against Pakistan is a whopping 91.14 from nine Tests, but his one-day average against them is a modest 32 in 20 ODIs.What matters now is where Sehwag will fit into the playing XI, if he does actually gets there. Sehwag said he would let the captain decide what position he fits into, even though his career figures suggest he is better off batting in the top three.Vengsarkar is of a firm view that form is not quanitfiable; instead it’s a personal judgement. And Sehwag justified the national selection panel’s decision with a scintillating 75 on Saturday against India Green before he erred while looking good for a century.Sehwag got into the groove pretty early and flicked the first ball of the innings from Munaf Patel to the fine-leg boundary. It was the sign of the things to come. Sehwag’s skill lies in his raw, unencumbered approach to batting. His batting is not easy on the eye but the ease with which he dispatches the bowlers is dazzling. Once you see it, you can’t forget it.At Motera, for about an hour, Sehwag freed himself and lay to waste the India Green bowlers. Unlike the hesitation he displayed in the first game on Thursday, the tone was set pretty early. Abhishek Nayar provided ideal fodder and Sehwag cashed in on his harmless medium-pace. He struck two boundaries in Nayar’s first over, followed by one more in the second, but Sehwag’s fusillade came with full force in Nayar’s third over: a cover-driven four, a hoicked six over midwicket, a straight lofted four over the bowler’s head and a chopped four to third man which took him two adrift of 50.He went past the milestone in the next over, when he ripped Pankaj Singh to cover and long-on. Parthiv Patel chose not to take the third Powerplay, bringing on the spinners whose pace Sehwag had to adjust to. It was an effective move, with Sehwag throwing his wicket away while trying to cut one that darted in from Iqbal Abdulla, and brought an abrupt halt to a rampaging innings.He briefly acknowledged the spectators’ cheers with a half-raised bat but changed his mind and walked off with his head down. Sehwag had to be angry at himself for missing out on a deserved century. But he didn’t have to hold his head down for long. While he receieved treatment for his back on the massage table, his team-mates broke the good news.

Stats highlights from the first day of the Kolkata Test between India and Pakistan

S Rajesh and HR Gopalakrishna30-Nov-2007

Andrew Miller presents the plays of the opening day between England and South Africa at Lord’s

Andrew Miller at Lord's10-Jul-2008

Man of the day
When Ian Botham broke Dennis Lillee’s world wicket-taking record in his comeback Test in 1986, Graham Gooch famously asked: “Who writes your scripts?” After today’s supreme performance, nobody ever needs to pose the same question to Kevin Pietersen. For three years and 39 Tests, KP has been plotting this moment, his glorious return against the country of his birth, and how magnificently he played the lead role. He gave furious notice of his intent back in February 2005, when he lacerated one-day centuries in Bloemfontein, Border and Centurion in a hate-suffused series in South Africa, but this was the innings that really counted. His 13th Test century in his 40th match, but the first that will leave him truly fulfilled.Nervous starter of the day
“I sure he’s going to be hugely motivated to perform well, but I’m sure he’ll feel a touch of pressure as well.” Graeme Smith was prophetic in his pre-match assessment of Pietersen. Rarely has KP looked so ill at ease in a Test situation – he arrived at the crease with England in the midst of their wobble, and he would have run himself out second-ball for a duck if Makhaya Ntini’s shy from mid-on had been gathered cleanly at the stumps by Hashim Amla. Pietersen had progressed no further in his innings when Dale Steyn sconed him with a brute of a bouncer – a helmet-rattler that required a lengthy break for running repairs. But crucially, he endured, and inevitably, he flourished.Déjà vu delivery of the day
Some might say that Steyn has enjoyed a meteoric rise as a Test cricketer, and with 78 wickets in the past 12 months alone, it’s hard to argue with his recent statistics. But for Michael Vaughan, one of only three English survivors from the 2004-05 tour of South Africa, Steyn’s abilities have been as unequivocal as a 90mph leg-cutting yorker. That was what he was served up in the second innings of Steyn’s Test debut at Port Elizabeth, and both men remembered the moment only too well. Steyn needed only two deliveries to repeat the dose today – and though this version was arguably less venomous, Vaughan’s footwork betrayed a man who feared what was coming.Collapse of the day
It had all been going so swimmingly for England. A century opening stand on a misleadingly sluggish surface, against a South African attack for whom only the veteran Jacques Kallis had located the right line and length. But then, as can so often happen, their progress was stymied by a duff lbw decision, and suddenly the pitch was livid with demons. Andrew Strauss fell first, to a Morne Morkel offcutter that pitched outside leg, before Vaughan attracted the wrath of Steyn. Then to complete a meltdown of three for three in 13 balls, Alastair Cook fended a snorter off the splice, for AB de Villiers to pouch a dolly in the slips.Serene starter of the day
Ian Bell, by contrast, arrived in the middle with scarcely a care in the world, which is not what the scriptwriters had envisaged. In the assessment of many, not least the South Africa coach, Bell is a man living on borrowed time, odds-on for the chop as and when Andrew Flintoff is ready to reclaim his place. And yet, while Pietersen prodded and fretted in the early moments of his stay, Bell slipped onto the offensive like the mouse that roared. His first delivery, from Steyn, was eased delightfully through the covers for four, and he added four more in 14 balls to reignite England’s innings. One of them, admittedly, was rather streaky, but the intent was what really counted.Decision of the day
When Smith won the toss, he chose to bowl first – a no-brainer on the face of it. After a week of torrential rain, the pitch showed signs of real juiciness, and Vaughan admitted he’d have made the same choice. But instead of a springboard, the track was a bog, and South Africa’s pacemen sunk deeper and deeper into the mire in a lacklustre first session, as Strauss and Cook helped themselves to a century stand. A brief glance at the honours board might have changed Smith’s mind – he hardly found Lord’s a minefield when he made 259 here on his last visit, while England’s batsmen had mustered 21 centuries in their last nine appearances. But the die of the day had been cast.

If he had to sit in the Gabba stands for next week’s first Test against New Zealand for doing everything in his power to win here, he would have been celebrated

Ali Cook10-Nov-2008

Winning at all costs no longer seems to be the Australian way, but it doesn’t feel like supporters have gained a team to love instead of an uncompromising steamroller. The tourists still walk on the confident-arrogant border, sledge in times of strength and weakness, insist there is only one way to play the game, and mention “the spirit of cricket” as a defence when their behaviour or tactics are challenged.It was one of the reasons Ponting gave for calling on his part-time bowlers instead of looking to his fast men when the over-rate became more of a concern than winning the fourth Test and retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Bowling 90 overs in a day, something the Australians hardly managed over the past five weeks, suddenly came under the banner of a “spirit of cricket” issue. It’s not the sort of response that makes you feel all warm and cuddly for the players’ commitment.There were many stages that cost Australia this game, from India’s strong opening partnerships to the visitors’ failure to attempt to disrupt India’s negative line, to the inability of the fast men to strike regular blows and the illnesses experienced by Brett Lee and Michael Clarke. But no point was harder to understand than Ponting using his spinners on Sunday – and then watching them ease the pressure on India – instead of looking for a quick kill and thinking “stuff the consequences”.If he had to sit in the Gabba stands for next week’s first Test against New Zealand for doing everything in his power to win here, he would have been celebrated. That’s the sort of attacking outlook that would charm people. Ponting chose the defensive option instead and his side suffered and he has been heavily criticised.Ponting has now lost two of the major Test trophies for similar reasons. In England in 2005 Australia was slow to catch on and unable to innovate. That happened again in India, unless picking Cameron White as a specialist spinner for three matches is creative. Old tactics were used with defensive field settings and bowling plans, but new trends were missed, especially with reverse-swing.

When Mahendra Singh Dhoni was in charge of India the side looked vibrant and in control compared to the outfits of Ponting and Anil Kumble. It can’t be a fluke that the two games Dhoni led, India won in dominating fashion. Dhoni was helped by a firing unit, but he provided the energy.Ponting can manage that only when a team is in front, which is probably a product of him not being behind too often. That is changing. Ponting has now slipped below Steve Waugh as the game’s most successful captain – his winning percentage is 68.75 next to Waugh’s 71.92 – and it looks like it will drop further.This is not a side that will dominate all-comers any more and the home-and-away battle against South Africa over the next six months will determine whether Australia head to England for the 2009 Ashes as a world leader or a challenger. Despite a 13-point lead over second-placed India, Australia’s No. 1 spot is no longer undisputed.For the past three Tests, Australia have been behind as soon as they have lost the toss. The fast bowlers have not had regular impact and Jason Krejza showed how much a specialist spinner could achieve with his 12 wickets on debut.Krejza’s performance was the only significant bright spot in another difficult game for the tourists, but he must now wait until the series against New Zealand to discover whether he can make it at home. Without Krejza’s performance here, Australia would have been humiliated. Instead they were beaten badly.”This tour we’ve just been totally outplayed,” Ponting said. “With the exception of the first Test, where we pretty much dominated that game, in any other game we’ve got back to level, but never really got in front. Losing three tosses in a row, if you don’t actually get yourself back in front after the first innings, it’s very hard to win here.”

On the third day in Nagpur, with Australia resuming at 189 for 2, Ponting hoped his side could draw alongside India’s first-innings 441, but they were unable to innovate against the negative bowling of the morning session and the hope of parity was soon extinguished. “Coming here on the third morning I was really positive about how the game was going,” he said.”India adopted a certain style of play that made it very difficult for us, they chipped in with a few wickets and the scoreboard was going nowhere. Being behind on first innings again wasn’t ideal and chasing 380 today was exceptionally difficult.”Australia needed a miracle and it was not possible for this team. Waugh’s side only collected a chase around that size once. How Ponting and his men recover will determine how far they fall. Spirit will have to be shown in stomachs and hearts rather than being something that is talked about in times of trouble.

Mitchell Johnson, it seems, has retained the faith of Ricky Ponting, all but ensuring that the tourists must look elsewhere within their line-up if they are to accommodate the ever-reliable Stuart Clark for the third Test

Alex Brown at Edgbaston28-Jul-2009Ten days of speculation, debate and general gum-flapping over Mitchell Johnson’s selection prospects could amount to nothing. The embattled paceman is favoured to retain his place in the side for the third Test at Edgbaston, increasing the likelihood that the tourists will field a line-up similar, if not identical, to that which slumped to a 115-run defeat at Lord’s last week.With Australia set to gamble on Johnson’s wicket-taking potential, Stuart Clark looms as the most contentious selection issue ahead of the coin toss on Thursday. Australia have desperately missed Clark’s unerring accuracy and steady temperament in the first two Ashes Tests, and the veteran paceman advanced his case for selection at Edgbaston with a solid return of 4 for 74 from 23 overs in the three-day tour match against Northamptonshire.Given the contrasting nature of Johnson’s performance at Wantage Road (1 for 107 from 18.1 overs), many assumed Clark would enter the starting XI for the third Test in a straight-swap for the errant left-hander. But Johnson, it seems, has retained the faith of Ricky Ponting and Jamie Cox, Australia’s on-duty selector, all but ensuring that the tourists must look elsewhere within their line-up if they are to accommodate Clark.Of all the Australia bowlers in this series, Peter Siddle has performed the most modestly, and, like Johnson, has been unable to settle upon a consistent line. Siddle, though, has many influential supporters in the Australian hierarchy – not least Ponting and Tim Nielsen – who covet the raw aggression and intimidation he brings to the attack. He will be difficult to dislodge, even if raw figures (seven wickets at 44.57) suggest he is the most likely to make way.”I thought Stuart bowled particularly well last week at Northants,” Ponting said. ” Siddle showed some good improvement and good signs down in Northampton as well. As far as a pecking order is concerned, you’ll work that out tomorrow when we pick our XI.”Ben Hilfenhaus is presumably secure, given his nine wickets and general mastery of outswing, but the fate of the man who sits atop the series wicket-taking list alongside him, Nathan Hauritz, is less certain. If current weather forecasts prove accurate, and rain severely disrupts proceedings from Thursday, an attritional spinner armed with a greasy ball would be an unlikely candidate to provide Australia with the wicket-taking impetus needed to force their way back into this series.”We’ve checked the stats for county games this season and spinners are averaging about 60 or 70 per wicket,” Ponting told the on Monday. “The numbers aren’t compelling.”Ponting revised his position on spin bowlers on Wednesday, noting with surprise the dryness of the Edgbaston pitch and predicting that both sides would play at least one slow bowler each. Whether Ponting feels Marcus North fits the job description, as he did for the first two Tests in South Africa, will remain a mystery until the coin toss.Should Hauritz be omitted, the murmurs surrounding North’s place in the XI would almost certainly cease. The strong form of Shane Watson and Andrew McDonald at Wantage Road prompted discussion as to whether North’s position at No. 6 could be under threat, but his part-time spin – not to mention his unbeaten 125 in Cardiff – would provide Ponting with variation and over-rate protection at Edgbaston.Of course, there remains the very real possibility that Australia ignore the aforementioned selection permutations and plough on with the same attack from Lord’s and Cardiff. That would represent either a tremendous gamble or complete obstinacy, depending on your viewpoint, after Australia’s lacklustre performance in the second Test, and another backhander to the dependable Clark.

The overwhelming reception for the final in Mysore has lessons for the tournament’s organisers

Siddarth Ravindran in Mysore14-Jan-2010The cliché about attendances in domestic matches is that they are watched
by three men and a dog. When I walked into the swank Rajiv Gandhi
International Stadium on the first morning of a Ranji game
between Hyderabad and Mumbai last month, I was greeted by three scorers
and a black stray, Bunty, which spends its days around the pavilion. A
handful of journalists joined later, and a few dozen spectators turned up
to watch a boring draw on a track meant to kill bowlers.Every shot reverberated around the empty ground, every batsman reaching a
milestone was greeted only by a few shouts from his team-mates in the
dressing-room. A young cricketer looking to entertain, had no one to
entertain.That was perhaps an insignificant league match, but even at the
Chinnaswamy Stadium for the semi-finals only about a thousand, at best,
turned up on a Sunday to support an exciting young Karnataka team that had
swept all before them. Even the presence of Rahul Dravid couldn’t entice
more people to the ground. And with the home side not looking for the win
after taking a massive first-innings lead, there was nothing to interest even die-hard followers on a desultory final day.The only purpose served by such a day is to skew a player’s statistics,
making it harder for lay fans to judge his worth. For example, Anirudh
Singh tops Hyderabad’s batting averages this season with 52.33, but 103 of
his runs came against the bowling might of S Badrinath, Dinesh Karthik,
Abhinav Mukund and other Tamil Nadu batsmen on the final day of an already
dead match. Take out that innings, and his average drops to a more prosaic
35.67.There are already murmurs that, with the advent of the IPL, some players
are reluctant to go through the Ranji grind. Contrast the easy cash and
maniacal support from the stands in those games against the empty seats
and the occasional purposelessness of a Ranji match, you can start to see why the
four-day game may pall for a few cricketers.More matches like the final at the Gangothri Glades in Mysore will
certainly check that trend. The buzzing atmosphere was one familiar to
anyone who has attended an India limited-overs game, and the stadium was
filled to capacity on each day. A fast bowler runs in to bowl to the
crescendo of the fans’ cry and Karnataka’s appeals for caught-behind or
lbw are echoed by a baying throng. Not something the average first-class
cricketer experiences regularly.On Thursday, the combination of a riveting finish and
ensured a packed stadium at the start of play itself. The unlucky ones
found themselves trees to perch on, and others watched from embankments
rising behind the stands. Only one half of the Gangothri Glades has
stands, the other half has a perimeter fence, which also had people clinging
on. When Manish Pandey was blazing away, a Mexican wave got going and even
those by the fence joined in, somehow managing a hands-free balance.Soon after, there was shocked silence for a few moments at Pandey’s
dismissal before the crowd rose for a standing ovation for the youngster –
a fitting postscript to a memorable innings.Post-lunch, with the game on edge, Sunil Joshi and Stuart Binny were
applauded for every ball they left alone; every delivery they
got bat on ball was met with roars of approval, and for boundaries even
the man precariously hanging on midway up a lamp-post screamed and waved a
tiny red-and-yellow Karnataka flag.There were some disagreeable bits of behaviour from the crowd as well.
When they found out the umpire had wrongly ruled Amit Verma’s
caught-behind, the officials were greeted with the unimaginative chants of
“down, down umpires” as they walked to the pavilion for lunch. Once
Karnataka lost the thriller, similar shouts were directed at Robin
Uthappa, who had failed in both innings, by a section of fans searching
for a scapegoat.Overall, though, the absorbing match provided two key lessons for the
organisers of the Ranji Trophy – make pitches result-oriented, and the
future of the tournament is in the smaller cities, where crowds aren’t sated
by regular international cricket.

A Delhi-born college student is enraptured by Hayden’s new bat, and expects a sore throat over the next few days

Apoorv Singhal20-Mar-2010The game
I realised two weeks before this match that I could not be in the same city and not witness Nannes v Hayden live.Team supported
I was born and brought up in Delhi, so it would have been pretty strange for me to support any other team.Key performers
Though Dirk Nannes produced a magnificent spell of fast bowling and Virender Sehwag started off with a flier, it was Matthew Hayden who made the difference with a brutal innings. He scored nearly half the target in 43 deliveries and left the Delhi bowlers thoroughly dispirited.One thing I’d have changed
The pitch. Except Hayden, all the foreign recruits – David Warner, AB de Villiers, Albie Morkel and Justin Kemp – struggled to time the ball on the low and slow wicket. Really, if you can’t put grass on the wicket, the least you can do is ensure a reasonable degree of pace and bounce.Face-off I relished
Sehwag v Murali. You could see Sehwag itching to come down the wicket, but he was wary of Murali’s doosra and settled for knocking the ball around for most of Murali’s spell. In the end though, the doosra won the battle as Sehwag’s patience gave way and he charged down the track, only to mistime his slog and hole out to long-off.Accessories
As I was going to the stadium straight after college, the only accesories I took along were a couple of hooligan friends.Wow moment
I was going to choose between Kemp’s catch and de Villiers’s run-out – until the Mongoose came out. Seven swats later, I was left saying “Wow” for the rest of the innings. The Mongoose’s IPL debut wins this one.Player watch
Nannes was fielding in front of us at third man and was treated with loud cheers every time he looked around at the crowd. He returned the favour by waving and grinning from ear to ear.Shot of the day
For all the mighty blows by Hayden and Sehwag, in the end it was a crafty slice for four by Sehwag, which went a touch wide of short third man, off a short-of-length delivery from Murali, that wins this prize for me. Crowd meter
The stadium was full to brim and had come to life well before the match started. I bet everyone will wake up with a sore throat.Entertainment
Popular songs were played every now and then by the DJ, which kept a lot of spectators busy dancing. I think most of them had come prepared to have a good time, no matter how well Delhi did. A few guys playing and wearing traditional Punjabi attire, circling the boundary, kept the crowd going.Hardship factor
The parking facilities were reserved for the VIPs. There were temporary parking spots for the locals, but at a fair distance from the stadium. That and a thoroughly unsettling body search by the security guards at the gates aside, there wasn’t much to complain about.Twenty20 v ODIs
It’s not so much the format of the game as the quality of cricket that makes a match enthralling. I would kill to watch Flintoff steaming in to bowl to Ponting, no matter what the format. But at the moment, with half of all international one-day matches being one-sided, the Twenty20 format, with many more games ending tightly, is towering over it.Banner of the day
“Viru. Go ahead. Make my day.”TV or stadium?
No contest. In India, you watch a match in the stadium if you can. You get to shout like you can’t at your boss and dance like you can’t in front of your in-laws.Marks out of 10
8. A thoroughly entertaining, high-scoring match. Sehwag and Hayden treated the fans to some good, clean hits and Nannes bowled flat-out fast. No regrets about missing a couple of classes for this match.

A close game against Australia and a surprise loss against West Indies later, England are returning home

Nicky Shaw13-May-2010Now that we are out of the World Twenty20, our next focus will be the summer series against New Zealand at home. It will be good to play them in the three Twenty20 matches and the one day International series.It’s hard to predict who will go on to win the World Twenty20 trophy. The gap seems to be closing in terms of the standard of cricket played by the different teams. I think the strong contenders will be Australia, New Zealand and West Indies who have done well on their home soil. With the crowd behind them who knows. Twenty20 cricket is also so unpredictable, as it just takes one or two outstanding performances and any team could be up there.Our match against Australia was very exciting though disappointing in the end for us. It was a fantastic batting pitch, both team bowled and fielded extremely well. After we were bowled out for 104, the bowlers had a tough task ahead of them, but we knew we could do it. We all stayed tight and the bowlers delivered.I bowled the 19th over with us needing two wickets to win. I was concentrating on bowling the ball straight and full and that’s it. Claire Taylor took a great catch to get Lisa Sthalekar’s wicket and we had Australia at 97 for 9. Then Beth Morgan got the run-out of Rene Farrell with a direct hit to tie the game. It was one of the best bowling and fielding performances we have produced.In the Super Over, we fielded first and Laura Marsh bowled for England as she had bowled well during the game. She managed to restrict them to just six runs and took a wicket. We then put Claire Taylor and Sarah Taylor in to bat against Shelley Nitschke. We lost Sarah Taylor so Morgan and Claire faced the last two balls. Since we got six as well, the match was decided on the number of sixes hit. Jess Cameron from Australia had hit the only one, so they were awarded the points.As for West Indies, we had a game plan that we executed accurately. But they too seemed to have done their homework, they used their bowlers well.So now it will be back to my day job, coaching at Loughborough and in schools with Chance to Shine as well as training and playing cricket for England and Surrey. Let’s hope we give New Zealand a good challenge next month.