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Despite being under-rated for most of his career, Robin Peterson has shouldered the criticism, and has now started to enjoy his role in the South Africa team

Firdose Moonda16-Feb-2011There was some surprise when Robin Peterson was initially selected to play for South Africa in 2002. There has been surprise almost every time he has made an international appearance since then. There was surprise from some quarters when he was announced in the World Cup squad but the biggest surprise of all came when he emerged from South Africa’s warm-up games as the highest wicket-taker with the five scalps, proof that maybe his inclusion is not so surprising after all.Peterson’s left-arm spin has been one of the most under-rated elements of South African cricket for some time. He has shouldered criticism from all sides, mostly from people who say that he is ineffective and doesn’t turn the ball enough but Peterson has worn the condemnation bravely. “I don’t play for people, I am playing for my country and for people who have been there for me from the start,” he told ESPNcricinfo.The ease with which Peterson brushes off the cynics is also a result of knowing that inconsistency in his selection may have spurred the naysayers on. He has been playing international cricket for eight years but has taken the field just 40 times in an ODI. Rarely has he made consecutive appearances in a series. “It’s no fault of mine that I have not been in the starting eleven more often.”The constant question mark over his inclusion understandably made him anxious. “I was never settled and when that happens you are always trying to make sure you get picked for the next game.” That sort of pressure would have been difficult to play under and Peterson said he was “always trying to put building blocks in place” in the past.Now, things have changed, not just for Peterson but for South African cricket. Whereas as recently as a year ago, the starting line-up was almost always predictable, now there is a degree of uncertainty about positions in the middle order, which may have helped Peterson’s own “mindset change” from being a bowler who was always trying to impress for the future to one who is willing to make the most of his present opportunities.”I am being more myself now, which is maybe something I haven’t done in the past. I have decided to do things my own way.” Peterson is reverting to his “natural” game which is to “bowl aggressively,” like he does at domestic level where he is a wicket-taker. His strike rate is 38.5 in List A games compared with 62.3 in ODIs, while his List A average is 29.45 compared to 50.33 in the green and gold. “I don’t necessarily go out there and look to take five, but I do try as spin the ball as hard as I can and get it on a good length, and that always provides an opportunity to get a wicket.”Peterson emerged as an international cricketer in a South Africa where a comment like that would probably not have been made. Spinners were there to curb run flow and it was the seamers’ job to think about how they could take wickets. In the past few months, that trend has changed. With the World Cup in mind, South Africa actively sought spinners so that they would have an attack that would suit the conditions. “It took South Africa a long time to wrap their heads around it but I think they have taken a step forward now.”The strategy has paid off so well that now all three of South African’s frontline spinnes are bowling well and there is unlikely to be room for all of them in every match of the tournament. “If we can keep on giving the selectors these headaches then we are doing a good job.” Peterson also said that he is relishing playing with his fellow tweakers. “I enjoy bowling with Imran [Tahir] and Johan [Botha]. We learn a lot from each other. Imran and I are the same age [31] and he is probably bowling his best at this age. Hopefully I will too.”What may give Peterson the edge over the other spinners is that he fulfils an allrounder’s role and in this 15-man squad, is the second all-rounder behind Jacques Kallis. He is one of only four squad members to have played in a World Cup before and that experience will prove valuable. “I am also here to provide advice and keep a calm head under pressure. It’s a nice responsibility.”Having been a member of the 2007 World Cup squad, Peterson had a good idea of how different a side South Africa are now. “We are excited as a squad and quite relaxed. We’re prepared well, have given ourselves the best opportunity and have a quiet confidence. The guys know they can play under these conditions”. It’s a different speak altogether from the brash self-assurance South Africa have had in the past and judging by their new look and their new mindset, they may be ready for another surprise come April 2.

A veteran cricket writer looks back a couple of India’s earliest visits to England, featuring an incompetent prince-captain, a colossal allrounder, and more

John Woodcock19-Jul-2011The first Test match between England and India that I saw was at Lord’s in 1936; the first I wrote about was in 1952. On uncovered English pitches, India’s batsmen, brought up in much blander conditions, had yet to become a force to be regularly reckoned with, and many years were to pass before England considered it incumbent upon them to send a full-strength side to tour India.Of Lord’s itself, pretty well all that remains as it was in 1936 is the pavilion, and even that now incorporates as the secretary’s office what, until 1958, was the press box.As Indian sides always will, those of 1936 and 1952 contained some fine natural cricketers. For no obvious reason their best batsmen in those days seemed more likely to be tall and wristy and elegant, like Mushtaq Ali and Rusi Modi, than small and wristy and insatiable, like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar.It was during the Lord’s Test of 1936 that artificial methods of drying the pitch after rain were first used, sacks and blankets being rolled into the surface to absorb the moisture. All Test matches in England were still of three days’ duration, except for those against Australia, which were of four, unless it was all-square coming to the last, in which case they were timeless. On average, 120 overs were bowled in a full six-hour day, as against today’s paltry 90.This entirely different tempo is because of the way the game has been commandeered, in most countries and at most levels, by bowlers with long runs. The best fast bowlers have always been match-winners, but until recently they hunted in pairs, not in threes, even fours, as happens now and inevitably slows down the game.In 1936, India were captained, as if by statute, by a prince – the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram – who shot more tigers than he scored first-class runs and was given a courtesy knighthood during the tour. Much his best allrounder, Lala Amarnath, he sent home for insubordination just before the Lord’s Test and a few days after he had scored a century in each innings against Essex. “If a tour by Indian cricketers is to be successful, differences of creed will have to be forgotten,” sternly wrote the editor of Wisden. Many years later Vizzy was to be found writing and commentating on an England tour, a benevolent and widely respected figure, while Amarnath was to go on and lead the first Indian side to tour Australia.

For no obvious reason India’s best batsmen in those days seemed more likely to be tall and wristy and elegant, like Mushtaq Ali and Rusi Modi, than small and wristy and insatiable, like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar

India had to wait until their 25th Test match before gaining their first Test victory, which came against England in Madras in February 1952. Two months later they left, full of hope, for their third tour of England, only to have a wretched time of it. Of the England side they had beaten in India only two were thought good enough to get a game against them at home, besides which a dismally wet summer put India at a hopeless disadvantage. For the first time they were given five-day Test matches – four of them – and they came to Lord’s for the second after making, in the first, what is still the worst start to an innings in Test history.Although he was doing his national service in the RAF, 21-year-old Fred Trueman was given leave to play in the Test matches in 1952, and his impact was the talk of the season. Beginning their second innings in the first Test at Headingley in reasonable shape – only 41 runs behind England’s 334 – India lost their first four wickets in 14 balls without scoring a run, three of them to Trueman, the other to Alec Bedser.There was a lovely rhythm to Trueman’s bowling, and he swung the ball at a pace equalled at the time only by the two Australians, Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller. On the pitches of that summer, Trueman and Bedser would have been a handful for the strongest of sides. In the event, in their last three innings of the series, India were bowled out for 58, 82 and 98.That they gave England a game at Lord’s was due to an astonishing performance by Vinoo Mankad, who after the Headingley collapse had been released by Haslingden, where he was playing as a professional in the Lancashire League. Having scored 72 on the first day at Lord’s and then bowled 73 overs in England’s first innings, in which he took 5 for 196, Mankad went in again and made what at the time was India’s highest individual score in Test cricket – 184 in just under five hours. By the time England won by eight wickets on the fifth morning his bowling figures for the match were 97-36-231-5. He was India’s first great allrounder, and until Kapil Dev came along 25 years later, the most effective.Mankad was a sturdy and businesslike right-hand batsman and a slow, orthodox left-arm bowler with a low trajectory. Cricket being a symbol of eternity as it was played in India in those days, Mankad personified it. No one else has ever been on the field for anything like as long in a match at Lord’s. Of the 24 hours 35 minutes for which the match lasted he spent 18 hours 45 minutes in the middle. He was 35 at the time and nothing like as physically fit as his counterparts today. It was a prodigious effort.But apart from that, and the emergence of Trueman, and the fact that England were being captained by a professional for the first time in England, the series of 1952 made few headlines. Len Hutton, whose 150 in the Lord’s Test took second place to Mankad’s tour de force, went on to become one of England’s most successful and canniest captains. That neither he nor Don Bradman ever set foot in India was a great pity, albeit a reflection of the times. Had they done so, Brian Lara’s 400 might well not be the highest individual score in Test cricket.

South Africa’s performance at Newlands and the upcoming talent provide plenty of encouragement about the depth of fast-bowling prospects in this country

Firdose Moonda16-Nov-2011Great cricket teams have defining features. Australia built years of victory on the back of Shane Warne and his legspin, West Indies on the legs of Malcolm Marshall and the Babylon boys, Ganguly’s India broke new ground with their formidable batting line-up, Pakistan swung their way to legendary status with Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram at the helm and England’s current record-breakers with the bat have helped them rise to the top of the Test rankings.South Africa have usually relied on quality, fast bowlers and if Allan Donald has his way, their next few years will be characterised by quicks. Not just any kind of quicks; hard-line, uncompromising, forceful quicks. Donald simply labels their main quality, “aggression,” but his explanation reveals that there is much more to it.”There are two types of aggression,” Donald explained. “It could be the person himself, the way he interacts with the battle in front of him. The other is aggression in the length, hitting areas hard. We often talk about aggressive lengths.”For a real-life example of what Donald means, watch Australia being bowled out for 47 in the second innings of the Test against South Africa at Newlands. “We adjusted our lengths very well in Cape Town,” Donald said. Although the pitch was seamer-friendly, South Africa exploited the conditions, managing to extract seam movement and swing and were careful to stay short of a length at times, but not too short.Of particular importance was that South Africa’s pace spearhead, Dale Steyn, was back to his best. Steyn had an ordinary one-day series and complained about a lack of rhythm, something Donald can relate to. “If I didn’t have rhythm a lot of things come factored in. It means you are not quite balanced, it might not come out well and you might lose your shape for a little while,” he said. “Confidence plays a big part. What is so good to see, is that Dale ran in with massive intent. That’s when I know he is on his game.”Donald has never talked up the importance of skill, rather he has impressed that attitude determines everything. “The first thing you judge someone by is the intent and the intent for me is that that he hits the crease hard,” he said, saying he always knew Steyn would be able to mastermind his own comeback. “Great bowlers and great cricketers always find a way to come and make things happen.”A few months ago, Donald could not see another bowler on the South African landscape who he could say the same things about. He travelled with South Africa A side for a short, rather awkwardly timed, tri-series against Australia A in July in Zimbabwe and returned concerned. Instead of the usual fire-power he expected from South Africa’s franchise players, he found many of them flat.Although the pitches were unhelpful, dry, typical of winter conditions, South Africa A did not bowl their opposition out once. The second-tier bowling talent in the country appeared too far behind the top guys. Craig Alexander, the Lions paceman, who was quick and fiery at times was inconsistent, Rusty Theron played one match and could not contain in his usual fashion, Rory Kleinveldt was adequate without being exceptional and even Vernon Philander struggled.Donald was criticised for his expressing his worries. He had only been back in the national set-up for a month and they felt he should have studied the local structures before saying they had not produced players of the right quality. Donald admits his fears but is happy to see he was mistaken. “I’ll put my hand up and say I was a little bit concerned and I am not concerned anymore,” he said. “What I have seen and what’s out there is really exciting. The competition for places can only intensify from here.”Currently, the rivalry between Philander and Lonwabo Tsotsobe for a Test spot is the most interesting. Tsotsobe made his name against the touring Indians last summer with nothing more than 135 kph of sheer accuracy and discipline. Philander wrote his into history last week with eight wickets on debut against Australia, using seam movement as his biggest weapon. Philander’s abilities with the new ball probably put him in front of Tsotsobe in the Test queue, but it’s Tsotsobe who has the upper hand in the shorter versions of the game, where variation is more important.”Vernon has been out for a while, he has learnt his game, he knows what he is about and he understands his role,” Donald said. “And, he slammed the door down.” Philander took 80 wickets in the SuperSport Series in the two seasons before this one, making him impossible to ignore. “That’s what we are looking for from more of our young bowlers: to keep slamming the door down.”Wayne Parnell will listen to those words with interest. The quick, left-armer has fallen out of favour after numerous injuries dragged back his career. Parnell has yet to play a full season of first-class cricket in South Africa and the time he has spent touring, but not playing, with the national side, could end up costing him his place in the queue. Youngsters like Marchant de Lange and Pumelela Matshikwe are making themselves noticed instead.Slamming the door down is Vernon Philander•Getty Imagesde Lange, who took five wickets against Australia A two weeks ago in Potchefstroom, and claimed his maiden List A five-for two days ago, was invited to train with the national side in the lead up to the Wanderers Test. Donald first saw 21-year-old de Lange at the beginning of September and said he thought the young right-armer is a “very, exciting prospect” and wants to absorb him into the system.”It is purely to get him involved and for him to mingle with all of us,” Donald said. “He is in the bigger picture in the long term. It’s quite nice that we fast track his belief. It’s good to have youngsters involved and something we have to look at doing in the future.”Donald does not envisage a Patrick Cummins-style explosion of de Lange, or anyone of a similar age-group but he wants to do is create a national pool of players, who work with and around the squad and management personnel. After being pleasantly surprised by the depth in bowling that exists around the country, Donald wants to take the young charges under his wing, so that successes like Newlands will be regular occurrences. Moreover, he does not want to be seen as the fuel behind South Africa’s fire, only as the man who starts the spark. “I am not here to take the honours, we are here to serve,” Donald said. “It’s not about me and I say that very humbly.”

Known for his remarkable composure, the calm centre of South Africa’s middle order insists there are other, more colourful, facets to his personality, and game

Firdose Moonda13-Oct-2011When Hashim Amla walks out to bat, calm follows him to the crease. Composure is writ all over his forceful forward-defensive, elegance on his velvety cover drive. Publicly Amla has been serenity personified, but now a different side of his personality wishes to be seen.Having only played three T20s at international level, he will captain the national team in the limited-overs series against Australia, following an injury to AB de Villiers. “I don’t think I will change much. The intensity will change,” Amla told ESPNcricinfo. “Everything will get compressed down. T20 will be a lovely experience. Like everything, I’ll have to get used to it.”Maybe because I am not so boisterous people think I am very serious. But you can ask my team-mates, they will tell you how I really am.”Since most of his team-mates were away at the Champions League, Amla was forced to explain it himself. “I enjoy a lot of things [including] batting,” he said. “What’s there not to enjoy about batting? It’s fun and it’s something you practise day in and day out.”The colourful side of Amla’s batting had to emerge at some point. It started when he surged to the top of the one-day rankings last year, with shots like the upper cut making their way into his repertoire. Since May 2010, he has scored seven one-day centuries, and generally used the presence of mind he has always shown in Test cricket and applied himself more aggressively to the one-day game.Many want to know what has changed. Amla says nothing has. “The biggest difference has been getting a bit more experience. Sometimes it just takes one knock to click.”He traces the source of the success he has enjoyed over the last two years – in which he has averaged nearly 60 in both Tests and ODIs – to the troubles he dealt with in his first few years as an international player and the growing up he has had to do since then.At 21, Amla was named captain of the Dolphins, in the 2004-05 season, and scored four hundreds in eight innings, which got him selected for South Africa. He made his debut against India in Kolkata, an emotional occasion for him because of his Indian heritage. He scored 24 and 2. In two Tests after that, he scored just 36 and was dropped from the national team. What happened after that that shaped Amla’s character.In seven innings for the Dolphins, he managed a highest score of 25 and averaged 9.57. “There was always talk about my technique not being good enough, and initially I thought I needed to change things,” he said. “When you are going through a bad patch, facing everyone is difficult. There are about 99 different ways you can get out. I wouldn’t wish a bad patch on anybody but a lot of good can come of it.”In the last first-class match of that season, the SuperSport series final against the Eagles (now called the Knights), Amla burst back to life with his first double-hundred.Phil Russell, who was coaching the Dolphins at the time, gave Amla clear instructions that he should not do anything too different. “There were some complaints about his backlift, but I didn’t think it was a problem,” Russell said. “He just needed to work on getting the bat to come down straight, a bit like Gavaskar used to.”Amla relinquished the Dolphins captaincy at the end of the season, saying it adversely affected his batting, and although the stats don’t illustrate that clearly, those seven innings do. When he was recalled to the South African Test side 11 months later, he scored 149 against New Zealand, and he has kept his place since then. “When I came back into the team, I knew how it operated, and I knew I needed to find a way of performing in it,” Amla said.It was a year and seven months before Amla scored his next century, again against New Zealand, but now he was allowed time to settle into the international circuit. He said that allowed him to develop his own style of play and was valuable in determining the kind of player he would eventually become.”Mickey [Arthur] had a role to play,” Amla said. “He was the coach at the time and he showed a lot of faith in me, and I had a good run to try and prove myself. During his tenure I managed to cement a position, so I’m grateful to him and his confidence in me.”After being part of the South Africa side that beat England in the 2008 Test series, Amla accepted an offer to play county cricket for Essex in 2009. The following year, he spent two months with Nottingham.

“I remember going there, especially to Notts, and seeing the wicket. It was so green. I thought, ‘How am I going to make runs here?’ It taught me a lot about batting and tactics, because Notts played very aggressive cricket”

Amla scored a century on debut for both counties. “I remember going there, especially to Notts, and seeing the wicket. It was so green. I thought, ‘How am I going to make runs here?’ It taught me a lot about batting and tactics, because Notts played very aggressive cricket.”It’s that sort of determined cricket that South Africa have been trying to play over the last few years, but while it has succeeded at Test level, it has not paid off in the shorter versions, especially in ICC events, where South Africa haven’t won a tournament since the ICC Knockout in 1998. Amla was part of the squad that succumbed to New Zealand in the 2011 World Cup quarter-final, and he said the experience was both the highlight and lowlight of his year.”The team was in such a good space at the time and we had connected with each other very well,” he said. “We each felt each other’s pain. In some ways it was consoling that everybody was hurting. It was really disappointing at the time. But, on the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed the World Cup. We were having fun and that’s very important, especially in a long tour of about six or seven weeks. If you’re not enjoying it, you’re going to dread every day. We were having a lot of fun. Everybody gave 100% in training. I don’t think anybody came back thinking they should have given more.”With South Africa having secured the services of World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten, there are expectations that their fortunes will change, perhaps as soon as the World Twenty20 next year. Amla said too much shouldn’t be read into the appointment. “From a player’s perspective, you can’t put too much emphasis on the coach doing the work for you. He will give his ideas and plans to work with the players and get the best out of them. Each player knows his game and knows his role; it’s a matter of doing it on the field.”For Amla that role is to continue being a peaceful player, who radiates calm. It’s a role he has mastered, having learnt to conserve his energy for when he is on the field. “We were playing a Test in Bangladesh and Graeme [Smith] and Neil McKenzie batted the whole day. I was next in to bat and I spent the day watching them,” he said. “At the end of the day I was so mentally drained. I thought I was expending too much energy watching the game. So ever since then, I try to not expend too much energy. You watch a bit and then you just switch off, because when you get in the middle, that’s when it really starts.”Many members of the South African team have said they benefit from Amla’s stillness and see it as an essential component of their team dynamic. Amla said players are starting to carve these types of niches for themselves as the team looks to build its ethos.”There’s been a big drive to have an official team culture,” he said. It seems a tricky concept, especially with a team that has players from such diverse backgrounds. “If you get it from everybody it’s not tough. If there are a whole group of guys who want to pull the team in the right direction, the rest will follow. We are still developing, but it will take time. You have to have patience.”Amla will now be the leader of that culture, albeit temporarily. It may mean he will have to sacrifice some of the calm and embrace a more forceful, feisty role. Russell believes it is the ideal position for Amla, who he earmarked for the captaincy four years ago. “He brings stability to a team, he always talks common sense, and he never blames anybody else,” Russell said. “And he has a wicked sense of humour.”

India have chased 200-plus targets quite successfully in the last few years, but those instances have all been in the subcontinent. Overseas, the numbers don’t look so pretty

S Rajesh29-Dec-2011Australia’s fast bowlers had combined figures of 19 for 342, one of their best performances since 2000•Getty Images

• Australia’s 122-run win means they’ve rediscovered their winning ways at the MCG after suffering two defeats in the last three years, to South Africa and England. Since 2000, Australia have won ten and lost two Tests here. The result also continues the trend of decisive results at this ground: the last drawn Test here was in 1997, since when there have been 14 successive decisive matches.
• For India, this continues a terrible run in overseas Tests, with this being their fifth consecutive overseas defeat. In 2011, India’s batting average in overseas Tests has been 27.59 runs per wicket; only Bangladesh and New Zealand fared worse abroad.
• India’s MCG jinx continued too – they’ve lost five in a row here, since 1991-92. This was also India’s sixth defeat in the first Test of an overseas series since their previous tour to Australia in 2007-08. They’ve lost twice in Sri Lanka and Australia, and once each in South Africa and England.
• Australia’s batting may have struggled in 2011, but their bowling was pretty good. They finished the year with a bowling average of 28.25, though admittedly they bowled in pretty bowler-friendly conditions in many of the games. Over the entire year, only Pakistan and South Africa had a better bowling average. In this match, the Australian fast bowlers had combined figures of 19 for 342, which is one of their best bowling efforts since 2000.
• India have won five Tests when chasing a target of more than 200 since 2008, but all those have been in the subcontinent (four in India and one in Sri Lanka). Outside the subcontinent, their record is much poorer: they’ve chased fourth-innings targets of between 200 and 400 eighteen times since 1990, and have lost eight, won one, and drawn the rest. Their only win was the one in Adelaide in 2003. Most of the Indian batsmen have struggled in the third and fourth innings of Tests outside the subcontinent.
• India’s second innings lasted only 47.5 overs. In terms of balls faced, that’s the lowest for them in the second innings in Australia since Adelaide 1999, when they were bundled out in 38.1 overs.
• Australia’s second-innings total was propped up by the last two wickets, which added 74. Throughout the year, their lower order has done pretty well, despite the regular top-order failures: their average runs per partnership for the last two wickets is the third-best among teams in 2011, but their average partnership for the top six is third from the bottom.
• Eleven batsmen were out bowled in this Test, which equals the highest in Australia over the last three decades. The last time more batsmen were bowled in a Test in Australia was way back in 1979, when 12 batsmen were bowled in a Test between Australia and Pakistan, also in Melbourne. The last time more batsmen were out bowled in a Test anywhere was in 2006, when 12 were bowled in Fatullah in a Test between Bangladesh and Australia. It was also only the fourth time in his 161-Test career that Rahul Dravid was bowled in both innings of a Test. The last time it happened was against Pakistan in Delhi in 2007.

Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Muttiah Muralitharan could only do so much. Royal Challengers Bangalore’s campaign suffered because their Indian players struggled

George Binoy21-May-2012

Where they finished

Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers played some special innings. Most of their team-mates did not•AFPAn agonising fifth: Royal Challengers Bangalore ended level with Chennai Super Kings, who finished fourth in the league, on 17 points but missed the playoffs because of a marginally inferior net run-rate after losing their last match to eighth-placed Deccan Chargers. Royal Challengers won eight and lost seven out of 16 games, and had one washout.

Key player

By the end of the league stage, Chris Gayle was IPL 2012’s top scorer, with 733 runs; Shikhar Dhawan was second with 569. Among batsmen with at least 400 runs, Gayle’s strike-rate – 160.74 – was also second best; Virender Sehwag had 484 at 164.62. Gayle also had the most 50-plus scores, eight (one century, seven half-centuries) in 14 innings; Gautam Gambhir had six in 15.Gayle hit 59 sixes; Kevin Pietersen, Cameron White and Sehwag together hit only 59. Thirteen of Gayle’s sixes came during a 128 off 62 balls against Delhi Daredevils, equalling the record for most sixes in an IPL innings. He hit a six every eight balls on average during the season. He hit a boundary (sixes and fours) every four balls.There was method to the madness as well. Gayle would often start slowly and play himself in before feeling settled enough to begin relentless hitting. For someone who scored breathtakingly quickly and primarily through the air, Gayle’s performances were relatively risk-free. He contributed 31% of Royal Challengers’ runs.

Bargain buy

Gayle’s performance this season isn’t especially surprising, though, because he was as dazzling for Royal Challengers in IPL 2011, after he was signed by them as a replacement for Dirk Nannes. What is surprising, however, is how Royal Challengers managed to retain Gayle for peanuts, relatively speaking, instead of him going into the auction pool, where he would certainly have been bought for more than the $550,000 Royal Challengers paid him. Maybe Gayle was just being loyal since Royal Challengers picked him after everyone shunned him at the 2011 auction?

Flop buy

Royal Challengers bid $1m for Vinay Kumar, making him the third most expensive purchase at the 2012 auction after Ravindra Jadeja ($2 million + undisclosed secret tiebreaker bid) and Mahela Jayawardene ($1.4 million). Vinay took 19 wickets in the league matches, fourth highest overall and the highest among Indian bowlers. Most of his wickets were of proper batsmen as well. His economy rate, however, was 8.59 over 55.5 overs, the third worst, after Amit Singh and Veer Pratap Singh, among bowlers who bowled a minimum of 30 overs this season. Royal Challengers lacked a quality fifth bowling option and Vinay’s profligacy exacerbated an insurmountable problem.When Vinay bowled in the first 15 overs of the innings his economy was 7.14 per over, and in the first six it was 6.80. When he bowled in the last five overs, though, he conceded 10.85 runs on average. Also, 11 of his 19 wickets were in the last five overs, when batsmen usually swing with abandon. Royal Challengers continued to persist with Vinay at the death, though, because he was a front-line medium-pacer and they didn’t really have alternatives.

Highlight

AB de Villiers v Dale Steyn, round one, Chinnaswamy Stadium. Chasing 182, Royal Challengers needed 76 off 37 deliveries against Deccan Chargers when de Villiers began his innings. By the time Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mayank Agarwal were dismissed, they needed 39 off 18. Steyn, who had two overs remaining, had conceded only seven in his first two. What followed dropped several jaws. De Villiers nimbly used the width and depth of his crease to adapt to the world’s fastest, and possibly best, bowler’s line and lengths. He moved back to short balls and forward to slower ones, pulling between deep midwicket and long-on. He then moved back and towards leg to alter the length of a yorker and smite it over extra cover, before shuffling outside off to scoop over short fine leg. De Villiers took 23 runs off Steyn’s third over and after that Anand Rajan stood no chance. Royal Challengers won with seven balls to spare.

Lowlight

That Royal Challengers stayed in the competition as long as they did was largely due to their overseas batsmen. The Indians, Virat Kohli and Saurabh Tiwary in particular, were below-par. Kohli, who was the only player Royal Challengers retained in 2011, scored 364 runs at a strike rate of 111.65. Combined with an average of 28, those figures are not terrible, but Royal Challengers needed much more from him, especially since Kohli was in terrific limited-overs form coming into the IPL.Saurabh Tiwary was bought for $1.6m in the 2011 auction. He didn’t do much to justify his price tag that year, and he’s done lesser this year. Tiwary scored 191 runs in 11 innings, at an average of 24 and strike-rate of 112, unimpressive figures considering Royal Challengers’ home venue probably had the best batting pitches of the tournament. His fielding was often clumsy for a 22-year old.

Verdict

Royal Challengers rarely found the right combination. Had their Indians been in form, they would have had excellent team balance, but because Kohli and Tiwary were struggling, their batting line-up was overly reliant on Gayle and de Villiers. And because Zaheer Khan and Vinay didn’t pull their weight, and due to the lack of a quality Twenty20 allrounder, their bowling struggled to contain and took far fewer wickets compared to the competition. The upshot was that, at the business end of the league, Royal Challengers’ tail started at No. 7 but the five-man specialist bowling attack wasn’t very good apart from Muttiah Muralitharan.They had tried Daniel Vettori and Murali in tandem before deciding they needed a third overseas player who could bat; so Murali was dropped. They tried using Andrew McDonald as an allrounder, and although he was economical with the ball, McDonald did not strengthen the batting enough. So Dilshan became a permanent fixture at the top of the order, and that worked to an extent. The bowling, however, was at its weakest and eventually Vettori, the captain, began to sit out to allow Murali into the XI. The Royal Challengers think-tank did not think it necessary to strengthen a misfiring pace attack by playing either Dirk Nannes, the highest T20 wicket-taker, or Charl Langeveldt, who was renowned for his death bowling during his South Africa career. The batting was too shallow to sacrifice an overseas batsman. In the end, there were more holes than plugs.

There are other of wicketkeepers in England who are excellent with the gloves, and many also proficient with the bat, but none who combine both disciplines with the ability of England’s current gloveman

George Dobell at Headingley05-Aug-2012It was perhaps fitting that another fine performance from Matt Prior should be overshadowed by events beyond his control. With Kevin Pietersen making a remarkable century, the UK media full of stories of Olympic success and poor weather dousing remaining interest in this Test, it will go largely unrecorded that Prior contributed his second half-century of the series.This was a typically selfless innings, too. His strike-rate – 76.40 runs per 100 balls – was better, even, than Pietersen’s and he only fell when, left with just tail-enders for company, he perished searching for quick runs. Some in that position might have sensed a “not out”.Prior helped England into the lead but it might have been better had he enjoyed more support from the lower-order. Instead Tim Bresnan edged a straight one and Stuart Broad perished to an ugly slog unworthy of one so talented. A supportive 20 might have helped Prior build a lead of 100. Instead they only sneaked in front.It was a far from untypical display from Prior. Batting at No. 7 he is destined to either come to the crease after the gold rush, with his top-order colleagues having already taken the opportunity to fill their boots, or forced to rebuild with his side under pressure. Either way, and his Test batting average – 42.91 – and his strike-rate – 65.22; the highest in the side – underlines the impression that might well merit selection as a specialist batsman. Bearing in mind his vastly improved keeping over the last couple of years and he has become a highly valued all-round player for England. There is no obvious understudy to him in the English game. Plenty of county keepers can bat; several can keep wicket: few if any combine the disciplines as well as Prior.But Prior is, it seems, destined to forever play the part of support act. Only once in his 57-match Test career has he been awarded the man of the match and even when he produces outstanding performances – such as his exceptional century against Pakistan at Trent Bridge in 2010 – someone else produces an even more eye-catching performance to capture the headlines. On that occasion it was James Anderson, with 6 for 17 to bowl out Pakistan for just 80. They say that the best keepers often go unnoticed, though, so perhaps such issues will not bother him.

Miracles have occurred before on this ground and perhaps, with South Africa carrying a few injury worries, they may be more vulnerable than normal.

Certainly it was typical that, when asked about Kevin Pietersen’s influence on this match and his future in the England side, Prior chose to answer from a collective rather than individual perspective. There was a passive acceptance, however, that Pietersen’s future in all forms of the international game remains unclear.”What makes this team brilliant is 11 players pulling in the same direction,” Prior said. “It is a team. No one person has done more than anyone else. To have 11 blokes pulling in the same direction is a very powerful thing. Kevin Pietersen has been a big part of that. Of course you want him in your team. You watch a bloke bat like he has in this game and of course you want him in your team. Who wouldn’t? It would be a huge loss and a sad loss, but the important thing is that whoever comes in pulls in the same direction with all 11 of us.”Prior also defended the performance of England’s bowlers in the series, insisting that their difficulty in bowling out South Africa was more testament to excellent batting than any fault in the bowling. He also suggested that, on a pitch showing some signs of uneven bounce, that South Africa could yet face a tricky final day.”At the Oval there were times when our bowlers may have been a bit down on their pace, but in general they have worked really hard and bowled really well,” Prior said. “I think we have to take off our hat to the South African batters. They have played really well and they have left the ball really well. They have a class side and they are allowed to play well. But the way Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad bowled today was fantastic. That’s what makes tomorrow quite an exciting day: if we can get a couple of early wickets, you never know.Matt Prior’s skills with bat and gloves often go under the radar•PA Photos”It’s frustrating that it rained. It would have been nice to bowl at them all day, pick up a few wickets and put them under a bit of pressure going into the last day,” Prior said. “But one thing I would say is that there are probably only two results possible now: a draw and an England win. For them to know that they have to bat out a day can be quite tough from a mental point of view. We’re going to have to come at them very hard in the morning. We’re going to need some luck and a lot of skill, but who knows. The ball is still swinging and hopefully, if it is an overcast day, the ball will hoop around.”Bearing in mind the evidence of the series to date it seems unlikely to think that England can rip through South Africa in a session-and-a-half. After all, three of the South African top four are averaging 100 or more and the other is averaging 91. But miracles have occurred before on this ground and perhaps, with South Africa carrying a few injury worries, they may be more vulnerable than normal. In truth, though, you suspect that a less than vintage Test momentarily lit up by one outstanding display of skill will slip into a watery grave on the final day.

Besides never agreeing to play in Sri Lanka in November again, three things each that Sri Lanka and New Zealand can learn from a rain-marred series

Andrew Fernando13-Nov-2012

New Zealand

Jeevan Mendis bowled aggressively to be the joint-highest wicket-taker in the series, taking five wickets at 16.60•Associated PressThe conservative batting strategy should get a longer trialNew Zealand made two competitive scores in three attempts, against a good attack in tough conditions. Considering their recent results, that is not a poor return, and that mindset needs to stay for now. With the two new balls that keep swinging around for longer, yet stay hard and hittable through to the end of the innings, and the new rule that rewards aggression through the middle overs, New Zealand may have struck upon a batting strategy that others may seek to emulate, particularly on pitches that offer something for the new-ball bowlers. BJ Watling has illustrated the benefits of this approach this series, and he should retain his place in the top three when Martin Guptill returns. This may mean that Rob Nicol loses his place, or that Brendon McCullum moves to the lower middle order, displacing either Andrew Ellis or James Franklin, but either way, New Zealand should not jettison a possible fix to their batting woes.Adam Milne should be selected more regularly – but perhaps without becoming a regularAny team with a 20-year-old capable of bowling at 150 kph needs to invest in him, but Adam Milne may not yet be ready to become part of New Zealand’s regular XI. He has a tendency to be wayward and often bowls too short, and time in domestic cricket may help him hone his game away from the pressures of international cricket. However, Milne would also benefit from testing himself against international opposition from time to time, and will learn lessons there that the New Zealand domestic scene cannot teach him. Bowling coach Shane Bond, who operated at a similar speed, had a similar build and a near identical action, and will also have plenty to add when Milne is with the team. New Zealand’s selectors may need to pick and choose which tours Milne plays in for now.Kane Williamson’s role in the batting order should be clearly defined in limited-overs cricketThroughout the World Twenty20 and at times in this series, Kane Williamson has been pushed down the order when the team has been after quick runs. There is a strong argument for Williamson being left out of the limited-overs sides altogether, not because he is unfit for them, but because at this stage of his career, he should focus solely on his Test game where his success is critical to the team’s future. If the selectors insist on playing him in ODIs, however, he must be given a concrete role in the batting order. It is not fair to ask him to bat at No. 4 in one match and No. 8 not long after, and they are unlikely to get consistent contributions from him if they continue to treat him that way.

Sri Lanka

The new ball pair remains effectiveSri Lanka’s pacemen, and Lasith Malinga in particular, have not had the most consistent year in ODIs, but against New Zealand, both he and Nuwan Kulasekara were menacing with the new ball. Malinga regularly beat batsmen outside off stump with movement, while Kulasekara’s away-seamer – a delivery he has only recently developed, matured fully this series. There were few loose deliveries from either bowler, and they created chances at every stage of the innings.Sri Lanka is still reliant on its experienced batsmenAngelo Mathews made a sparkling 50 in the third ODI, albeit against bowling hampered by a wet ball, but Sri Lanka’s youngsters have not yet blossomed in the top order. Lahiru Thirimanne was given two chances to impress at No. 3, but seemed unsure of how to balance aggression and defence. And although Dinesh Chandimal made 43 in the fourth ODI, he did so only after a nervy start in which he played and missed numerous times. They were given difficult conditions in which to impress, but their technical shortcomings appeared starker when their seniors handled the swinging ball with much more poise.Jeevan Mendis is a capable second spinnerMahela Jayawardene has been outspoken in his criticism of the new rule allowing only four men outside the circle. He had also outlined his case for why the new conditions will force teams to pick no more than one specialist slow bowler in their XI. Sri Lanka, however, have been served well by their spinning allrounder in this series, who finished joint highest wicket-taker. Jeevan Mendis’ short spell in the fourth ODI secured the series for Sri Lanka. He bowled aggressively throughout the series, despite the new rules that encourage bowling quicker through the air. He is yet to find consistency in his batting, but he is doing enough with the ball and in the field to embed himself in Sri Lanka’s XI.

The young Sri Lankan batsman isn’t intimidated by the toughest opposition, or shy about pursuing personal goals

Andrew Fernando17-Nov-2012Seven years to the day before Dinesh Chandimal’s Test debut, he was watching Sri Lanka’s first ODI of their tour of New Zealand when his mother came into the room and told him there was a boat coming quickly towards their house near the beach. Chandimal took one look at the colossal wave, called out to his family, and they ran.”My family and I lost everything that day,” he says, “including my cricket bag.” But it is not an experience that weighs heavy on him. His description of the trauma is cursory. He reflects, instead, on his good fortune. “We were lucky that no one in my family lost their lives. Others had it much worse. It was very difficult, but we were able to rebuild our lives without that kind of grief, and I am grateful for that.”He seems taller in person and smiles quickly and often, even through a tale as harrowing as the one he has just told. A slightly misplaced incisor melds mischief to his grin. He trains in two hours but his curls are immaculately ordered to seem disordered. He has not been long in the side but the stories about him are already among the most colourful.Chandimal is taking English lessons, and he put his learning to use while appearing at a recent charity tournament, when he called out to his friend, a tournament organiser, yelling, “Hey you, f*****”, over a throng of fawning fans. Once, during the World Twenty20, he boarded the team bus and began hollering roughly at another friend in the support staff only to realise a national selector had taken his friend’s place on the bus. A stream of sheepish “Sorry, sir’s” followed, according to his team-mates, who retell the tale with relish.He is also sheepish when he describes his first foray into competitive cricket. Chandimal started as an offspinner at Under-13 level but his bowling career was short-lived. “They stopped me because I chucked,” he admits. “I only played two matches before I was told not to bowl.”Not wanting to see Chandimal quit the sport altogether, his coach handed him keeping gloves and pads. “I think that was one of the best things that happened to my cricket,” he says. “For a long time, I wasn’t a very good batsman. Until I was about 17, my highest score would have been around 30. But because I could keep well, I was able to play in the Dharmasoka College first XI at 14, and I won awards for being the best keeper in the country for my age.”Before long, he was spotted by one of the biggest Colombo schools and offered a place, which he accepted after some initial reluctance to leave home. Ananda College counts Arjuna Ranatunga and Marvan Atapattu among its old boys, but neither achieved what Chandimal did for the school: his batting burgeoned suddenly and he became one of the top run scorers in school cricket on the island. He was elevated to captain in his final year – an honour no scholarship student had ever received – and he led Ananda College to an unprecedented 12 outright wins in one season, breaking a record that had stood for over 40 years. He was soon asked to join the Nondescripts Cricket Club (NCC), where he played alongside one of his heroes.”When I first came to the side, I was very nervous. I didn’t think I would make it to the XI of a team like the NCC, but Kumar Sangakkara took me aside and said, ‘Chandi, don’t be afraid. I can’t play a lot of matches for NCC, so you will get a chance to keep’. Batting with him in a match was like a dream. He gave advice and always kept talking to me, and when you bat with someone like that, everything becomes very easy.”

“The team should come first, but depending on the match situation, if there is time, you can go for personal achievements as well”Chandimal on delaying Sri Lanka’s victory to get a hundred at Lord’s

Chandimal has had several senior players take him under their wing as he progressed to the national side, and in gratitude, he reels off a list of names comprising nearly everyone who has played cricket for Sri Lanka in the recent past, from Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas to Angelo Mathews. On Test debut, Chandimal arrived at the crease in Durban with Sri Lanka stumbling towards another poor first-innings score, at 162 for 5, but Thilan Samaraweera eased him in against the best pace attack in the world before the pair put on the biggest partnership of the match.”It was really good that Thilan ! Just like Aravinda.’ We laughed and that helped me to relax, and I focused on my game. I didn’t worry about who was bowling, whether it was Steyn or Morkel or Philander. I just played the ball that came, and I think that worked for me.”In the second innings, Chandimal made his second fifty of the match, and put on another century stand, this time with Sangakkara – the second-highest partnership of the game. The Durban Test was Sri Lanka’s biggest triumph in years, being their first victory in South Africa, and Chandimal played the crucial role of partnering a senior batsman to haul the side out of distress in each innings.”I wasn’t thinking about the tsunami when we started that match on December 26, but looking back now, I think it was quite apt. Experiencing what I did in 2004 gave me a lot of strength as a cricketer, and I think that helped me.”Though it held that special significance, Chandimal says the Durban Test wasn’t his proudest moment on a cricket field. That had come six months earlier, at Lord’s, in an ODI against England. At the time, he and Angelo Mathews had caused controversy when Mathews refrained from scoring until Chandimal completed a ton – a century he would almost certainly have been denied had Mathews simply knocked off the runs required. In the end, Chandimal sealed the hundred with a six over long-on, but not before Mathews batted out a maiden in the 47th over as team-mates wore expressions ranging from anxious to furious on the balcony.Perhaps the senior players held back their thoughts on Chandimal’s pursuit of a personal milestone, because all his memories of the aftermath are positive, and he says he wouldn’t necessarily have changed his approach if he was given the chance again. “When I was on the bus going back, I was crying on the phone to my family. I was so overjoyed. To make a century at a historic venue like Lord’s – that is a special achievement for a Sri Lankan. I hadn’t even thought of going for a century until Angelo said we should go for it, because he was confident of finishing the match by himself. The team should come first, but depending on the match situation, if there is time, you can go for personal achievements as well.”In addition to impressing in South Africa and England, Chandimal has also made difficult runs in Australia, where Sri Lanka will tour after the home Tests against New Zealand. His technique is not the cleanest or the most attractive, but in his short career, he has been undaunted by even the most intimidating opposition – a quality many Sri Lankan batsmen take years to develop. He has been poor in the subcontinent – another oddity for a Sri Lankan – but has grasped almost every other opportunity afforded him on his way to international cricket. If, as it is hoped, he becomes the bedrock of Sri Lanka’s future top order, that is a trait that will have served him well.

Here are the Official Confectionery Stall Conclusions From Days 1 to 5 Of the World Twenty20

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013Here are the Official Confectionery Stall Conclusions From Days 1 to 5 Of the World Twenty20.England will definitely win the Ashes

Australia were humiliatingly dumped out of the tournament from a group containing only Sri Lanka (a nation that failed to win a Test match between 1877 and 1985) and West Indies (who had played no discernible cricket in the previous two months).England, by the starkest of contrasts, heroically stormed into the last eight despite being lumbered in The Group Of Death with the Netherlands (a team good enough to beat England, the founders of cricket, in their own head-quarters) and Pakistan (undisputed 1992 World Cup winners, and a team good enough to beat the team good enough to beat England).The only possible conclusion from this is that the Ashes are all but in Andrew Strauss’s back pocket already.Arguably, I might be reading too much into it. But for those looking for omens of an England victory (in the absence of overwhelming scientific evidence pointing that way), in 2005 the Australians suffered a Twenty20 humiliation, losing to England by 100 runs, and went on to lose the Ashes.Therefore, an England win is surely written in the stars. Admittedly, there are innumerable stars in the sky, and, if you squint hard enough, you can convince yourself almost anything is written in them. Last week, a friend of mine told me that the words “if you ride your bicycle fast enough into a disused quarry you won’t get hurt” were written in the stars. His heavily bandaged head and knees bear painful testament to his need to invest in a higher-quality telescope.Stuart Broad is a natural-born history-maker
Not content with being ceremoniously plonked for six sixes by Yuvraj in the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, Broad became (it must be safe to assume) the first cricketer at any level of the game to miss four chances in a single over.Three potential run-outs and a caught-and-bowled opportunity literally slipped through his fingers in a quite heroic display of near-missing in the last over of England’s defeat to the Dutch. That he managed to remain focused on his world record attempt whilst simultaneously bowling an almost perfect final over was still more impressive.The momentousness of Broad’s achievement was somewhat lost in the frenzy of the match’s staggering climax and the hair-rending anguish / joyous celebrations / barely-suppressed sniggering that followed (delete one or more of the above according to whether you are from (a) England, (b) Netherlands, or (c) anywhere else in the cricketing world). Boys were expelled from my school for missing four chances in an entire season. To miss four in an over is the stuff of well-earned immortality.On reflection, it was the quality of his bowling that gave him the four opportunities not to dismiss the batsmen. This was a two-tone jelly of top-level professionalism and village-green clangery, displaying international sport at its most compelling.A lesser player would have been satisfied with his slice of history, wrapped it up in a hanky, and quietly faded into the background. Broad, however, responded with 3 for 17 against Pakistan. The lad clearly had tungsten-coated balls.Momentum schmomentum
There is much talk of the importance of momentum in this competition (particularly in an effort to give meaning to the final three group matches, which have been rendered practically pointless due to the peculiar means of deciding who plays in which Super Eights group – if West Indies beat Sri Lanka and India beat Ireland in the final matches today, all four group winners will be in the same Super Eights section, thus rewarding teams for not showing off by winning their two group games).However, it is the Confectionery Stall’s firm belief that the sultry temptress Momentum is one of cricket’s more deceitful goddesses.Group B has proved this theory. England went in to their match against Netherlands surfing a wave of momentum after six consecutive wins in all forms of cricket. They fell off their surfboard. They not only lost, but also ticked more ineptitude boxes than Mike Gatting has had hot dinners, and took the kind of public battering usually reserved for an especially naughty politician or a particularly tasty-looking piece of haddock. They thus entered the game against Pakistan with no momentum. And won. Easily.Pakistan, their already non-existent momentum shunted into reverse gear by this heavy defeat, then faced the Dutch, oozing momentum out of every pore after their landmark win against England. Pakistan duly clobbered the Dutch. On this evidence, teams should be looking to enter the Super Eights with the minimum possible momentum achievable without stalling completely. (Australia unluckily took this approach one step too far.)Perhaps Netherlands had too much momentum, and overbalanced like an overfed rhino in a slalom skiing race. Or perhaps they had the wrong kind of momentum. Or pointed their momentum in the wrong direction.Or perhaps it doesn’t necessarily matter that much in sport − and especially in an unpredictable sport like Twenty20, in which surprises are more likely and results more changeable than in longer forms of cricket, as they would be, for example, in one-set as opposed to five-set tennis matches, or one-egg egg-cooking competitions rather than a week-long best breakfast tournament.This is, in my opinion, both a strength and a weakness of Twenty20, just as the shortness of the tournament is both an advantage and a drawback. Anyone could win it. But, by the same token, anyone could win it.(As a footnote to this, it has been brought to my attention that in my previous blog I may not have analysed England’s alleged defeat to Netherlands with quite the rigour some would have expected. However, so excellent was the hosts’ performance in their second game that I have concluded that the opening match was a hoax. England, a well-funded professional side, did so many things wrong – silly selection, complacent underestimation of their opposition, batting like a bowl of porridge in the latter part of their innings, the list goes on and on and on and on – that the entire match must have been a media fabrication.)I still quite like Twenty20
Before this tournament began, I quite liked Twenty20. I have watched much of this tournament. I still quite like Twenty20.I’ve enjoyed some of the cricket, but have found some of it repetitive and formulaic. Watching Yuvraj and Gayle majestically demolish roofs of buildings is magnificent in any form of the game. Watching player after player haul his front leg out of the way and mow the ball over midwicket becomes decreasingly interesting. It has been good to see the stumping reclaim prominence in the scorebook, but I have started to hanker after slip fielders, textbook forward defensives, and lulls in the game.If Twenty20 fever is sweeping the world, I think I might have developed immunity to it. I would love to contract a dose, as it seems inevitable that T20 will increasingly dominate global cricket. However, for all its several unarguable virtues, and the fervour and crowds it brings, it lacks too much of what I love most about cricket.I am, however, more convinced than ever that, if the powers-that-claim-to-be in world cricket are genuinely serious about the primacy and importance of Test cricket, they must take action to preserve and nurture it, alongside its shorter, brasher, more accessible grandchild. Cricket is now competing against itself, and too much recent Test cricket has been featureless and predictable. If this is allowed to continue, the Twenty20 grandchild will pack its five-day granddad off to a nursing home, and probably forget to send him a birthday card.