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Twenty numbers from the IPL so far

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan09-May-2011Chris Gayle: 26 sixes in just five innings in IPL 2011•AFP*56 – The number of boundary runs per innings that Gayle has scored in IPL 2011. Shaun Marsh is second (33.6) and Sehwag is third (31.2). (minimum qualification: 150 runs scored in boundaries)66 – The most runs scored in the first three overs of an innings in the IPL, by Bangalore against Kochi. Punjab are second, with 52 runs in their first three overs against Rajasthan.5 – The number of centuries scored in IPL 2011, with 23 matches to go. In comparison, six centuries were scored in IPL 2008 and four in IPL 2010. Only two centuries were scored in IPL 2009.275 – Gayle’s strike-rate in his innings of 44 against Kochi, the highest for an innings of over 40 in IPL 2011 and the fourth-highest overall. Kieron Pollard’s strike-rate of 346.15 in his 45 off 13 balls in IPL 2010 is the highest for a 40-plus score.26 – The most sixes by a batsman in IPL 2011. Gayle holds the record, and is followed by Sehwag (18) and Paul Valthaty (14). Sanath Jayasuriya holds the record for the most sixes in a single IPL season with 31 in 14 innings. Gayle’s 26 sixes in IPL 2011 have come in just five innings.4 – The number of bowlers who have conceded ten runs or fewer in a four-over spell in IPL 2011 so far. Rahul Sharma picked up 2 for 7 in his four overs and is the only spinner – the others are Brett Lee, Sreesanth and Lasith Malinga. Lee is the only bowler to achieve the feat twice across the four seasons.41 – The number of deliveries remaining after Bangalore’s nine-wicket win over Kochi, and Pune’s seven-wicket win over Punjab – it’s the most after a 100-plus target has been chased in IPL 2011. The record in all IPL matches is 48, when Deccan chased Mumbai’s score of 154 in 2008 with eight overs to spare.16.6 – The number of extras per match in IPL 2011, the lowest among all seasons. The highest was in 2008 – 19.4.4.66 – The difference in Bangalore’s run-rate in the first six overs this year after Gayle’s entry (10.20) and before (5.54). Their average has also gone up from 13.30 to 102.00.28 – The most catches taken by a fielder, by Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma. Jacques Kallis is next, with 23 catches. Sehwag has taken the most catches in IPL 2011 (9) followed by S Anirudha and Kallis (8).37 – The most runs scored in an over across all seasons of the IPL, by Bangalore against Kochi on May 8, 2011. Kolkata are second, with 33 runs off one over against Punjab in 2010.29.92 – The runs per wicket in Bangalore, the highest among all venues. Hyderabad and Mohali are next, with an average of 28.43 and 27.48 runs per wicket.1.27 – The win-loss ratio of chasing teams in IPL 2011, the second-highest across all seasons. The ratio is highest for IPL 2008 (1.63) and lowest for IPL 2010 (0.90).32.60 – The average balls per innings faced by Marsh, the highest among all batsmen who have faced at least 750 balls across the four seasons of the IPL. Tendulkar is next, with a corresponding figure of 28.2.54.70 – Michael Hussey’s average in the IPL (all seasons), which is the highest among batsmen with at least 500 runs. Marsh is next, with an average of 52.20.7 – The number of bowlers with 50 or more wickets in the IPL. RP Singh leads the list with 58 wickets in 53 innings. Lasith Malinga is second, with 57 wickets in 36 innings.50 – The number of fifty-plus scores for Chennai, the highest among all teams. Delhi are next with 46 fifty-plus scores.94- The number of runs in fours and sixes scored by Gayle for Bangalore against Punjab. This is the highest runs in boundaries in an innings in IPL 2011 followed by Valthaty and Sehwag (88). The record is 118, by Brendon McCullum, for Kolkata versus Bangalore in IPL 2008.6- The number of players to score over 400 runs and pick up 25 or more wickets in the IPL. Among these players, Kallis has scored the most runs (1473) while Irfan Pathan has the most wickets (54).14- The most fifty-plus stands for a team in IPL 2011. Chennai hold the record, while Mumbai are next with 11. Across all seasons, Chennai are by far on top with 62 fifty-plus stands, followed by Rajasthan with 48.

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the first day of the second Test between India and West Indies in Kolkata

S Aga14-Nov-2011The shout
Sachin Tendulkar had eased to 25 in no time when he looked to sweep Devendra Bishoo. He missed and the bowler went up immediately, convinced that the delivery that hardly turned after pitching on middle and would have gone on to hit the stumps. But Rod Tucker, who gave Tendulkar out for 76 in Delhi, was unmoved. Replays suggested he was wrong.The catch
Each of the first three wickets to fall could be put down to unforced errors. The one that silenced the sparse crowd most dramatically was the fall of Tendulkar, who managed to whack a short ball from Bishoo to the man at midwicket when pretty much the entire leg side was at his mercy.The unkindest cut
Rahul Dravid has played some memorable innings at this venue and he looked set for a big one after batting with fluency through the day. But on came Kraigg Brathwaite with his part-time offspin and an attempted cut cannoned into the stumps off the bottom edge in the penultimate over of the day. The look of disgust on his face as he trudged off said it all.The decision
Dravid departed with the close of play looming, and instead of Yuvraj Singh it was Ishant Sharma who strode out to face Kemar Roach and the second new ball. Steve Waugh, much-loved in these parts, was never a fan of the nightwatchman, and three balls later, you knew why, with Ishant edging one behind. Yuvraj walked out anyway, even if he hadn’t reached the middle before the umpires decided that the light was too poor to continue.The empty theatre
“It’s sad, but that’s the way it is,” Dravid said when asked about the poor turnout. “It’s tougher for people to come and watch Tests these days.” When India won the Test that he and VVS Laxman will forever be remembered for, there were more than 80,000 in the stands. Today, there were just huge swathes of cream and light-green plastic seats. “There was a magic about this place when there were 80,000 or more in,” Dravid said.It’s fading.

Australia A’s tour of England is destined to attract few headlines, but its potential value to the nation’s Ashes quest is immense

Daniel Brettig27-Jul-2012Striding the practice grounds at Southampton among Australia A’s players is the unmistakeable figure of the national selector John Inverarity, his shock of white hair rising above a school of baseball caps. Alongside him, in the dual roles of team manager and selector on duty, is Rod Marsh. Conversing also is Troy Cooley, no stranger to England and the senior man at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane. Hitting slips catches is another recognisable figure, with a gait similar to his more famous father: the former Tasmania captain Dan Marsh.For what is a low-key tour late in the English summer, this amounts to a notable gathering of Australian cricket’s most influential mentors. Their presence is a pointed reminder of how much store is being placed in the information and confidence to be gleaned from this tour, ahead of the 2013 Ashes. It is the first developmental tour of England by Australia since an Under 19s visit in 1999, and the first ‘A’ tour of sorts since 1995.Back then, the Young Australia team led by Stuart Law included first-time England visitors the calibre of Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Justin Langer and Michael Kasprowicz. Matthew Hayden was there too, having already journeyed to England with the 1993 Ashes tourists. This formidable array of talent would win 11 and lose only three of 16 matches, foreshadowing future Test match success in England in 1997 and 2001.Seventeen years later and the Australia A side led by Ed Cowan is not so flushed with talent, nor confidence on English shores. The last two Ashes visits have resulted in defeat, and Australia’s batting stocks in particular are considered to be at a low. Inverarity’s selection panel is casting far and wide in their search for players capable of taking up the mantle soon to be left by the likes of Ponting and Michael Hussey, and the results on this tour will play a large part in helping them make up their minds.Cowan’s goal is a quartet of victories in matches against Derbyshire, Durham and the England Lions, starting in Derby on Friday. To achieve this would be to generate confidence among young players who were teenagers or younger the last time Australia claimed the Ashes in England, while also adding significantly to their knowledge of the northern summer, the Dukes ball and their prospective opposition in 2013.”On A tours there can be a development aspect and guys looking to put individual performances on the board, but the big focus for the trip is to get back into a winning habit in England,” Cowan told ESPNcricinfo. “That will put us in better stead than guys having a bit more of a focus on themselves, ensuring that the team does well means the individuals will look after themselves.”That confidence comes from winning and there is another aspect to the tour one year before an Ashes series, and that is information collection. That data is tainted significantly if it’s not collected at the right intensity. So it is important that individuals get used to the feel of playing cricket in England, but one way you get used to that feel is playing good cricket, good team cricket.”The scheduling of an A tour to England is a major indicator that Cricket Australia’s focus is back squarely on the Ashes, after a period in which the gaining of experience in the less familiar subcontinent was considered the more pressing challenge. Numerous tours, by A teams, Under-19s sides and Centre of Excellence intakes, helped to demystify India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan, while those seeking UK grounding were welcome to resort to county or league cricket.But the tightening of Visa requirements in recent years, coupled with the decline in Australia’s results against England, has meant that CA can no longer look towards a visit to England with anything like the comfortable smugness that grew across four consecutive away Ashes wins from 1989 to 2001. In 2009 many of Australia’s tourists were unfamiliar with English climes, and this tour will go some way towards ensuring no-one in the 2013 touring team is similarly naïve.”It’s probably been odd that there haven’t been more A-style tours or Under-19 style tours, but that’s on the back of more open immigration and guys coming over here and playing county cricket or league cricket and getting their experience that way,” Cowan said. “I think because the doors have gone up a little bit on that, and considering the last two Ashes series over here, I think it is a really good idea to get guys up to speed playing cricket over here.”When you look at the A setup over the years it has been directed towards places where guys don’t play a lot of cricket generally. There’s been a lot of subcontinental tours, and a lot of winter cricket in Australia to get guys up to speed. That Young Australia tour was in 1995 and the last Under-19s tour was in 1999, so it is a long time between any non-Test team playing in England – it’s a pretty important development aspect, but winning is most important for guys to get up to speed.”Australia’s Twenty20 captain George Bailey is on tour, but the man with the official title of deputy to Cowan is the batsman Peter Forrest, he of a desperately poor ODI series for Australia against England earlier this month. Forrest’s lack of runs against England’s limited-overs team was partly marked down to his lack of batting time in the lead-up, but the selectors are eager to observe how he responds during the A tour, with the benefit of an extra month in the UK.”You can judge guys over a long period of time and Pete’s a high quality cricketer who didn’t score as many runs in the ODI series as he would’ve wished,” Cowan said. “He’s really looking forward to taking a step back from that spotlight of international cricket and getting back to spending some time in the crease, being able to build an innings, all the things that can be hard coming into an ODI series off the back of no cricket.

“I think the culture of Australian cricket is strong, from my experiences in the Test team, but there are probably areas where it could get stronger. Culture is a strong word that is being thrown around a lot at the moment, and the keys to a strong culture are getting the right leaders and good people in the right places.”Ed Cowan on Australian cricket’s culture

“Part of cricket and becoming a good cricketer is responding to challenges, and this is probably a point where a little challenge has been thrown up to Pete and I’ve got no doubt that he’ll overcome that. The challenge of batting at the top of the order is overcoming failure and finding a way to score runs in different conditions. He’ll be better for that experience and I’m expecting big runs for him on the tour.”As for Cowan, the tour is almost as critical personally as it will be collectively. Having established himself as a part of the Australia Test team without quite making the runs his position demands, he will have valuable training for the distractions of the international summer by juggling his own batting with the demands of leading a young team.”Test cricket is not just about what goes on in the middle, so to have a few things happening away from solely batting, it is good practice,” Cowan said. “It’s something that I’m looking forward to, the whole leadership aspect is something I haven’t had a whole lot of opportunity to do, but something that I feel as though I can contribute with.”Not just in a team sense but actually helping guys get better and really create a culture within the A team that can mirror the Test team and that guys moving through into either the Test or ODI teams have a really strong sense of team. I think the culture of Australian cricket is strong, from my experiences in the Test team, but there are probably areas where it could get stronger.”Culture is a strong word that is being thrown around a lot at the moment, and the keys to a strong culture are getting the right leaders and good people in the right places. So people like George or Dan have fantastic information but there are other strong leaders in this A team and Australian cricket. A couple of state captains, even guys who’ve played Test cricket like Mitchell Johnson, will be looked upon as leaders with a job to do.”Good cultures aren’t created by a single person, they’re created by lots of people coming together and wanting to move in the right direction.”Those people include Inverarity, Cooley and the Marshes. Theirs is a fervent hope this tour will allow Australian cricket to look towards next year’s Ashes with far more optimism than dread.

In an extremely slow-scoring series, Australia’s all-round strength and fighting ability proved crucial to the series outcome

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan29-Apr-2012Given the extent to which Australia have dominated West Indies in recent years, the three Tests turned out to be more closely fought than expected. West Indies tried hard but were never quite able to sustain their intensity long enough in any of the matches. Both teams struggled to raise the tempo on pitches that provided assistance to spinners and it was only Michael Clarke’s enterprising declaration that provided a chance of a result in the first Test in Barbados. West Indies, who had shown some form in the ODI series, were unable to match up to it in the Tests and ended up losing their sixth consecutive series against Australia. In Barbados, which was once their stronghold (no defeat for 59 years), they have now failed to win a single Test against top-Test teams for almost seven years. Meanwhile, Australia, who were not quite at their dominant best, won their third series since the Ashes defeat in early 2011. In the same period, they have compiled an excellent 9-2 win-loss record including series wins against Sri Lanka and India.Australia were the team who ended West Indies’ extraordinary run of 22 straight years without a home series defeat when they won 2-1 in 1995. Since then, they have completely turned the tables on West Indies and won seven out of eight series. The only series West Indies avoided defeat in was the 1999 home series when Brian Lara’s batting exploits ensured a 2-2 draw. Since 2000, Australia have won 17 Tests against West Indies, the most they have against any opposition team in the same period. While their overall numbers against West Indies (win-loss ratio 1.65) are very good, it is their recent record that tilts the balance in their favour. In the period between 1970-1999, West Indies had a 25-20 record but that has fallen away sharply to 1-17 since 2000 with their solitary win coming in Antigua in 2003 when they chased down a record 418.

Australia’s Test record against West Indies

PeriodWinsLossesDrawsW/L ratioOverall1930-present5432241.67In Australia1970-1999121460.85In Australia2000-present1001-In West Indies1970-199981190.72In West Indies2000-present7127.00The teams have played six series since the start of 2000 and Australia have emerged victorious in all of them. Between 2000 and 2005, Australia boasted a top-class team and West Indies hardly stood a chance. In the drubbing in Australia in 2000 when they lost 5-0, Australia averaged 40.53 with the bat while the corresponding number for West Indies was just 20.05. In the 2003 series in West Indies, not only was Australia’s average high (56.66), their run-rate through the series was almost close to four runs per over. In contrast, West Indies were way behind and the average difference (difference between Australia’s batting average and West Indies’ batting average) was 22.89. The average and run-rate difference (difference in run-rates of Australia and West Indies) were even higher in the 2005 series in Australia. However, since the retirement of their top players, Australia were not quite able to dominate West Indies similarly. Although they won 2-0 in both 2008 and 2009, the average difference and run-rate difference were greatly reduced. In the 2012 series, Australia’s batting was highly inconsistent and they averaged under 40 against West Indies for the first time since 2000. West Indies, however, did even poorer averaging just 27.82. Another stand-out aspect of the series is the run-rates of both teams. For the first time, both teams scored at lower than three runs per over and the series was the slowest-scoring one between the teams since 1990.

Stats for the teams in series since 2000

Series (Host)MatchesSeries resultAustralia (bat avg)West Indies (bat avg)Avg diffAustralia (RR)West Indies (RR)RR diff2000-01 (Australia)55-0 (Australia)40.5320.0520.483.282.700.582003 (West Indies)43-1 (Australia)56.6633.7722.893.943.230.712005-06 (Australia)33-0 (Australia)50.3323.8526.483.702.850.852008 (West Indies)32-0 (Australia)41.8931.3410.553.383.200.182009-10 (Australia)32-0 (Australia)45.0230.3014.723.433.53-0.102012 (West Indies)32-0 (Australia)30.6627.822.452.812.730.08In a series where batsmen struggled to counter the bowling on slow pitches, batsmen from both sides were unable to capitalise on starts. Except for Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who had scores of 103, 94, 68 and 69 in the three Tests, no other batsman was able to display any consistency. The top-three batsmen for Australia averaged under 30 and managed four half-centuries but could not carry on to post a single century. West Indies’ top three were very ordinary with Kraigg Brathwaite in particular having a woeful run (three consecutive ducks). Brathwaite and Adrian Barath were often in trouble at the start, especially against Ben Hilfenhaus who dismissed them three times each.The openers managed just two fifties and had a strike rate below 40. West Indies’ middle-order (4-7) batsmen did much better than their Australia counterparts primarily because of the remarkable efforts of Chanderpaul, who became the tenth batsman to reach the 10000-run mark. West Indies’ middle-order batsmen finished with a better average and a higher number of fifty-plus scores. Australia’s lower-order batsmen averaged higher than those of West Indies, and demonstrated grit and patience in all three matches to frustrate the hosts’ bowlers.

Batting stats for the two teams in the series

Batting positionAustralia (Runs/avg)Australia (100/50, SR)West Indies (Runs/avg)West Indies (100/50, SR)1-3516/28.660/4, 43.54315/18.520/2, 39.224-7751/32.651/3, 43.56730/38.421/5, 40.788-11293/22.530/1, 45.56294/19.600/1, 55.05The series turned out to be one of the lowest scoring ones in the West Indies in recent years. It was no surprise then, that the teams found it extremely hard to stitch together useful partnerships consistently. Although Australia’s opening pair averaged under 30 (two fifty stands), West Indies did not even manage to aggregate fifty runs in the six innings. Their partnership average of 7.83 is the second-lowest for a West Indies opening pair (minimum six partnerships in a series) since 1990. West Indies did slightly better than Australia for the second wicket, sharing a century and fifty partnership while Australia managed only two fifty stands. Australia did better for the third wicket but were well behind West Indies on the fourth and fifth-wicket partnership stats. Chanderpaul, who gave West Indies some hope in all matches, was crucial to their middle-order success. Matthew Wade, Australia’s only century scorer, featured in a couple of vital stands in the lower order and this was a major reason why their lower-order partnership average was better than the hosts’.

Partnership stats for the two teams in the series (runs/average, 100/50 stands)

Partnership wicketAustralia (Runs/avg)Australia (100/50 stands)West Indies (Runs/avg)West Indies (100/50 stands)1178/29.660/247/7.830/02193/32.160/2227/37.831/13196/32.660/1106/21.200/04267/44.500/2270/54.001/25122/20.330/1254/50.801/16183/30.500/154/10.800/07135/22.500/1133/26.600/18-11382/31.831/2328/23.420/1For years, spinners had found it almost impossible to have an impact in West Indies as most venues were extremely conducive to pace bowling. However, in recent years, that has changed drastically. When Pakistan toured West Indies after the World Cup last year, Saeed Ajmal performed superbly. In this series as well, not only did Nathan Lyon and Shane Shillingford trouble the batsmen, even Clarke was able to extract sufficient turn and bounce in the final Test in Dominica. Clarke picked up only his second five-wicket haul in Tests to give Australia a 75-run win in a match where 26 wickets fell to spinners (average 21.73). In contrast, pace bowlers managed only 12 wickets at an average of 41.00. Barbados, however, continued to favour pace, as fast bowlers picked up 25 wickets at 29.00 while spinners managed only eight wickets while averaging 52.75. In Trinidad, where Kemar Roach picked up a ten-wicket match haul, pace bowlers were slightly more successful than spinners. Overall, in the series, the fast bowlers picked up more wickets (54) than spinners (47) but had a slightly higher average (30.16) than the slow bowlers (28.21).

Pace and spin stats in the series

Pace (wickets/avg)Pace (5WI/10WM)Spin (wickets/avg)Spin (5WI/10WM)Barbados25/29.000/08/52.750/0Trinidad17/24.232/113/26.071/0Dominica12/41.000/026/21.732/1Overall54/30.162/147/28.213/1

ESPNcricinfo assess the performance of the eleven players who took South Africa to the top of the world

Firdose Moonda21-Aug-20129Hashim Amla
The leading run-scorer of the series, with 207 runs more than his nearest rival, and the only one with two centuries from the three matches, Amla’s form has hit its peak. At The Oval, he broke the South African record for the highest individual Test score with a sublime, undefeated 311 in an innings of class, finesse and style. He wrote his name onto the Lord’s honours board for a second time with a score, with a more contrasting knock of grit and grind. Like all the other batsmen in the match, Amla struggled to time and place his shots but unlike them, he survived and gave South Africa the base from which they could win the match, the series and rise to the top of the Test rankings.8Graeme Smith
He did not account for an England captain this time – at least, not yet – but he did take something of equal importance from the opposition: the No.1 Test ranking. His development as a leader was evident as he made two positive declarations at The Oval, a decision which saw South Africa take the series lead, and Headingley, where if weather had been better, a result could have been achieved. A hundred in his hundredth Test match was his best contribution with the bat and it was an innings that set up a massive victory but he also weighed in with two half-centuries. More telling than his individual efforts was his tactical management of the bowlers and it was evident that he had a plan for every England batsman. Smith is world cricket’s longest serving Test captain, having broken Allan Border’s record at Lord’s, and after this triumph, few would argue that he is not also world’s cricket best captain.Dale Steyn
The world’s best fast bowler showed why he is the world’s best fast bowler. Steyn steamed in every time he had the ball – bar the first day of the series at The Oval. He swung it prodigiously and attacked from all angles. His five-for at the Oval won the match for South Africa and he finished the series as the overall leading wicket-taker. Steyn did not bowl with the new ball – a mystery to many – as part of a strategy to avoid having him bowl to left-handers and to save him for targeting Jonathan Trott, who he has dismissed seven times over the course of his career. Steyn also batted in nightwatchman capacity twice, one failing but the second time doing his job and more when, at Lord’s, he shared in a stand with Amla that lasted 12.4 overs.7.5Vernon Philander
Five wickets in the second innings at Lord’s will be what Philander is remembered for but that was not his only contribution to the series. Philander bowled well throughout, using the same skills that brought him to the fore in the seven Tests he had played before this tour. He maintained a line around off-stump, more than half his deliveries were on a good length and he got seam movement and occasional swing. The result was that he ended as the second highest wicket-taker, the lowest average and the lowest economy rate. Although his claim to being an allrounder was laughed at, Philander scored vital runs at Lord’s, with an accomplished 61 in the first innings and a handy 35 in the second. As a measure of the significance of his batting, he scored more runs than England captain Andrew Strauss in the series.Morne Morkel brought hostility to South Africa’s attack and continued his hold over Andrew Strauss•Getty ImagesJacques Kallis
World cricket’s premier allrounder ended what could well be his last tour of England on a high, having previously had a poor record in the country. Kallis averaged less than 30 before this tour but righted that with an undefeated 182 at the Oval which pushed it up to 35.33. His name will not appear on the Lord’s honours board after a two umpiring decisions with which he was unhappy about ended his innings on both occasions. Kallis was used in his new impact role with the ball and took four wickets, including two in the Oval Test, of Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen, which helped South Africa open England up. What the numbers could not tell was that Kallis, the senior most member of the squad also played an important part in the leadership of the side and the advice he provided to Smith is unquantifiable in its value. His catching was also outstanding.7Morne Morkel
He accounted for Strauss twice to bring his head-to-head record against him to nine times in 11 innings and found what Allan Donald called his “mongrel.” Morkel was more aggressive than before, attacking the stumps, the batsmen and their heads. His bouncer will be remembered as one of the best weapons of the series. If not for his splatterings of inconsistency, which were at their worst at Lord’s, he may have had better figures. He ended as South Africa’s third-highest wicket-taker, behind Steyn and Philander, but encouragingly, did well with the new ball again since it was taken away from him after Philander’s meteoric rise. No bunny with the bat, Morkel also ensured South Africa’s tail was not hollow and provided resistance as far as he could.6.5 Alviro Petersen
A hard-fought 182 made Petersen’s series, after a lean run with the bat in the warm-up matches and the county season. Petersen’s century in Wellington was forgotten when he made a duck at the Oval, sandwiched between the hundreds but he returned to see off a more determined England attack at Headingley. He held the South African line-up together there and was impressive in the way he continued his innings on the second morning, where others, like Kevin Pietersen, were out early. Injuries also played a part in Petersen’s tour. A food niggle kept him out of the first warm-up and a hamstring strain out of the last one and problems in playing across the line returned at Lord’s, where he was out cheaply in both innings.JP Duminy
He made a case for himself to leapfrog Jacques Rudolph in the queue should South Africa want to field a batsmen less in future. Duminy’s maturity was obvious as he batted with the lower order at Headingley and Lord’s, showing patience and aptitude that many thought he had lost after he broke onto the scene against Australia in 2008. His 72-run partnership with Philander in the first innings at Lord’s proved to be more significant than initially thought, given the margin of victory at the end. Duminy is an energetic outfielder and offers a few overs, which make an attractive option for future South African sides.AB de Villiers did not quite sparkle in his new role•Getty Images6AB de Villiers
Thrown into a double role – of batting in the middle order and keeping wicket – at the start of the tour meant it was always going to be an experimental tour for de Villiers. In four innings his top score was 47 and his usually fast-paced belligerent batting style was shelved away. As a wicketkeeper, he averages significantly less with the bat, 30.33, than he does when not burdened with the task – 48.85. His glovework was solid, although he initially struggled with keeping to the legspinner at the Oval but he made few errors.Imran Tahir
Another series has ended without Tahir having officially “arrived,” on the international stage. This time he had more suitable surfaces to work with, particularly at Lord’s, but there was still not a lot of turn on offer. Tahir made a crucial breakthrough in the second innings at The Oval, where he removed Matt Prior, wrapped the tail in the first innings at Headingley and created the opening at Lord’s when he bowled Jonny Bairstow. He may be remembered most for his run out of Graeme Swann, an effort which involved throwing the ball at the stumps, rather than simply breaking them. Still guilty of using too many variations and giving away too many runs, Tahir has plenty to work on before South Africa’s next tour.5Jacques Rudolph
The one forgettable member of the South African squad, Rudolph did not have the same impact as the rest of the team. His only innings of substance was the 68 he scored at Headingley, when he opened the batting in place of the injured Petersen. Rudolph looked uncomfortable against the short ball and offspin – he was Pietersen’s victim twice at Headingley and he only faced two balls from him. If South Africa have one concern after this series, it will be the No.6 position, which Rudolph has so far failed to make his own.

Pakistan’s new first-class competition has got off to a good start – but there could be more changes to come for the domestic structure

Umar Farooq30-Nov-2012Pakistan domestic cricket has been stumbling over shaky ground for the last decade, with a lot of experimentation. The current season, with another revamped structure, got off to an ideal start, however, with well-contested games and competitive results.The season began with the President’s Trophy, as ten departmental teams played a round-robin league phase, with nine matches each. Habib Bank Limited and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited qualified for the final, which has been pushed back for an indefinite period to make way for the domestic Twenty20 Cup starting on Saturday.Previously, first-class competition centred on the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, which for the last two seasons comprised 22 teams (13 regional and nine department teams) in two divisions, formatted on a promotion and relegation system. It was revamped this year by separating regional and departmental cricket, creating two first-class events with equal quality. The new structure has created a sense of stability and promoted a competitive spirit, with the top teams in the President’s Trophy playing against a mixture of tough opponents rather than the rookie cricketers of the region.Several batsmen enjoyed the best seasons of their careers. Umar Amin was the leading run-scorer, with 767 in nine matches at 45.11, but Haris Sohail of ZTBL had a big impact, making 673 runs at 134.60, with four hundreds. In the bowlers chart, left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar has changed the precedent of fast-bowler dominance, leading the table with 62 wickets, followed by Ehsan Adil (53) – a promising prospect from the Under-19 side.Apart from the structural changes, the PCB ensured star presence in the inaugural edition of the President’s Trophy. Leading Test cricketers, Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Umar Gul, and Saeed Ajmal all featured for their respective teams. This perhaps was largely to do with the upcoming India series, wanting them to get some competitive match practice before the tour.Domestic cricket in the country has been accused of encouraging too many dead-rubber matches, undermining efforts to produce ‘world class’ Test players, ready for the bigger stage. The structure has suffered for many years due to the unique peculiarities of Pakistan cricket but PCB director general, Javed Miandad, has defended the inconsistency in the system and hinted that more changes could be offing.”We can’t compare our system to any other country not even with the neighbouring India,” Miandad told ESPNcricinfo. “Every country has a unique system in place, with its own resources. Look at India – a country with a huge population, even they are suffering to produce a world-class cricketer at the moment from the domestic system. So [the new format] is mainly a trial and taking chances in cricket is very important. Nothing is permanent and it can’t be until you start feeling it is close enough to perfection.”In the past few years, a majority of players who have represented the national team have come from the departments and corporate teams and these teams dominate the competitions. The regional teams tend to serve as major nurseries for emerging talents, with the players that perform well over time being recruited by the corporates, who provide higher levels of remuneration and/or other employment opportunities. The previous first-class tournament, with a mixture of regional and departmental teams, did not allow selectors to get a clear picture of players’ relative merits.”The major reason to separating regions and department is to see the difference by putting the teams at a level where the strengths of the teams competing against each other are same,” Miandad said. “We got good, positive feedback from the players and officials who are at the games and playing the games. With their feedback, there might be a possibility that next year’s structure will be different again, but again it’s for the betterment [of Pakistan cricket] that such experimentation could continue.”In our country, some non-technical people have made our cricket sensitive. Rules are meant to change with the passage of time and problems we face. We have unique problems in our country with limited resources. There are opinions that may be good but practically are not applicable within our system.”

From S

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013S. Giridhar, India
There is something extremely seedy about the way the inexorable finish to the glittering careers of India’s finest ever quartet of middle order batsmen is being dissected with complete insensitivity. Compare this to the times when we peacefully bid adieu to the other ‘Fab four’ nearly 30 years ago, the incomparable and finest ever quartet of spinners.Ah but those were different times! The mind goes back to the 60s and 70s – the era of this unmatchable spin quartet. No live TV coverage for almost the entire part of their career, those were the days when the fruity voice of Pearson Surita and the nasal drone of Ananda Rao in India, and the vivid description of John Arlott in England and Alan McGilvray in Australia brought them into our lives. Remember Arlott in the summer of 1971 describe Venkat and Chandra….”Here comes Venkat, tall, slightly flat-footed, 5 languid steps, left hand reaching for the sky…” and “Chandra, shirt tail flapping in the breeze, sleeves buttoned down, turns, begins his run, 1,2, 3….11, 12 past Umpire Eliot…”Yes, very romantic times those…..we won a match or two now and then and were happy to hug those memories. And then we won some more and we realized that these four magicians were in fact setting up opportunities for victories more frequently than ever before. And so this quartet was forged over 15 long years. Prasanna the eldest came into the Indian side in 1960, Chandra in 1964, Venkat in 1965 and Bedi in 1966. Each of them made their debut at age 20 or earlier, for their entire careers four spinners, brothers in arms, but fighting forever for three places in the team.Each was poetry in motion…..fluid, smooth, economical of action and with unending guile. Bedi the supreme artist, warm-hearted, always the first to applaud the sixer from the batsman but owner of the best arm ball in cricket history; Chandra the least demonstrative, quiet, magical, unplayable destroyer; Prasanna, cunning, cocky, plotting all the time to make a fool of the batsman; Venkat, of fierce tigerish resolve, almost a fast bowler’s temperament to complement his spinner’s brain, bowling for the team than for his own ego.By the time the Indian team went to Pakistan in 1978 – to resume cricket ties after 18 long years – it seemed that these four icons had been playing forever. Prasanna was 38, Venkat and Chandra 33 and Bedi just a year younger. And between them they seemed to have bowled a million overs! They had bamboozled Sobers and Lloyd, lulled Chappell and Walters to doom; toyed with Fletcher and Edrich….they seemed to have taken every wicket for India in the last 15 years! But 15 years is a long time and these intelligent men knew that they were approaching the end of wonderfully illustrious careers.What they did not know was that in a matter of weeks, just three Test matches to be precise, the quartet would hurtle from the twilight of their careers to oblivion. What these maestros received in Pakistan was a hiding of soul-searing proportions from Miandad and Zaheer, Asif Iqbal and Majid Khan. No newspaper devoted columns to discuss the imminent demise of the quartet. The end was almost instantaneous for three of the four spinners. Prasanna never played again after returning from Pakistan. Bedi and Chandra made a token appearance in a couple of Tests and were dropped. Venkat, the warrior kept plugging away for a few more years but must have been a lonely man missing his three comrades till he too faded away.There is perhaps a lesson for us here from the way the spin quartet went out of our lives. None of the ‘Fab four’ spinners ever announced their retirement from Test cricket. They were fearless samurai, when the time came for them to be dropped they accepted this with dignity and the press gave them the space and the respect that they deserved. When 4 great spinners with 900 wickets between them could go with grace and dignity, is it too much to ask that 4 great batsmen with 35000 runs between them also go the same way? I agree we live in noisy strident TRP times but surely we can lower our tones, stand aside, and salute them as they go back to the pavilion one last time. Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman, rare gems all and for all four to be playing at the same time for India. We will never know how blessed our country was till they are all gone.

From Josh Barnes, Australia

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013
Don’t give up the reins to ‘Pup’ just yet•Getty ImagesWhile many people voice their determined opinion about how Ricky Ponting should step down from captaincy, from cricket altogether and Swisse Vitamins commercials, I thought it would be fair for somebody to stick up for the great battler, and against better advice I decided to take on the task. Ponting can remain the Australian Test captain and an integral accumulator of runs. Just by giving up a couple of the things that makes him so great.ODI cricket: Firstly, Ponting might need to step away from one of his favourite past times: pulling medium-pacers for six in coloured clothing. Following the World Cup (where Super Rick will attempt to win his fourth consecutive World Cup, third as captain) he should be told that reducing his workload may be overly beneficial. Stepping down from ODIs will keep him to Test matches only and allow him to focus on returning to powerful form. Although he remains one of the greatest batsmen to ever don the colours, ODIs must go.Move down the order : While his pride will already be dented by being told ODIs were finished, Ricky Thomas will have to move down to No. 4 or 5. Facing the new ball is no longer his game, being successful in the middle order is. Ponting has averaged beyond 58 at No. 3 for almost ten years, yet he is obviously moving along in age and reflexes, so holding down the middle order while a younger member of the team takes over No. 3 (or even Shane Watson) is the right move to make.Stay as captain: Australian cricket has finally made its way to the great, inevitable fork in the road. It can take that beautiful glorious road of return towards the rainbow or glory, or the deadly, dark and dangerous road towards disaster and mediocrity. Australia needs the experience and smarts of Ponting, at least until Michael Clarke grows up and proves himself, or a better replacement is found. Now is not the time to make drastic action to remove the captain, it is time for security and solidity. Panic doesn’t help anybody. Ponting is Australia’s second greatest batsman and deserves to be treated with respect. But if he wants to retain his position in international cricket, he needs to make a couple of changes. Following these changes we will return to the glorious days of the giant pull shot, the brilliant straight drive and the celebratory bat raise. Or, at least, less sleepless nights.

An exhaustive stat-studded analysis of Bangladesh’s failings

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013Basil Butcher: cleverly ensured there aren’t any pictures of him bowling© The Cricketer International
Over the last few days, the roads of England have been inundated with joyous cars sporting flags of St George, the red cross fluttering proudly in the English air in honour of its sporting heroes, as the nation, coming together as one, celebrates its cricketers’ 2-0 series victory over Bangladesh.The football-obsessed media would have us believe these flags symbolise support for the impending World Cup. They would, of course, be wrong. Football World Cups come around every four years – but there will not be another home Test series against Bangladesh for a decade. The public, understandably, wishes to mark this once-in-a-relatively-short-lived-dog’s-lifetime event. And there is no more potent display of patriotism available to the 21st-century consumer than attaching a small flag to your car window.In the three previous Tests against England, Bangladesh had, in accordance with their team moniker, fought like Tigers, albeit inexperienced tigers, and when bowling, tigers who had yet to grow teeth. But tigers nonetheless. They had lasted at least 90 overs in each of their six innings, averaged a wicket lost every 11 overs, and when 126 for 0 at Old Trafford, with Tamim Iqbal again tearing into England’s bowlers like a lovestruck teenager into a promising-looking Valentine’s Day envelope, they were well on course to extend their team record of nine consecutive innings of 280 or more.Bearing in mind (a) that their previous best sequence of 280-plus innings scores was a less-than-world-beating one in a row, and (b) that as recently as 18 months ago they completed a run of 18 successive sub-280 efforts, progress was undoubtedly being made.It was, therefore, a serious disappointment for all fans of vaguely competitive Test cricket that they then seemingly transported themselves five years back in time and hurled away all 20 wickets in 64 overs (including at one point 11 in 123 balls), fighting like cornered tigerskin rugs as they subsided to a first-innings defeat in a year and a half.There is an old saying in showbiz, “Always leave them wanting more.” Bangladesh certainly did that, in a frenetic cascade of understandable technical shortcomings and avoidable lapses of attention that was eerily reminiscent of too many of their earlier Tests. It was also spookily similar to England’s rancid capitulations in Leeds, Johannesburg and Kingston within the past 18 months. One of the supposed purposes of Bangladesh’s Test status is for them to learn from better, more established teams. At Old Trafford they demonstrated that they had perhaps been watching videos of the wrong England matches.Looking ahead to the rest of England’s Test year, they will need more consistent penetration from their bowling attack. They again prospered in favourable conditions, continuing a trend of intermittent threat dating back some years. Since the demise of the 2005 Ashes-winning four-prong-pace-plus-one-prong-containing-left-arm-spin attack, England have struggled to dismiss opponents twice when unaided by conditions or limited opponents (whether they have picked four or five bowlers).Excluding Tests against Bangladesh and the early-season series in England, they have done so just 10 times in 43 attempts, including just five in 27 overseas Tests (two of which were in New Zealand). This suggests that if they are going to retain the Ashes, they will have to win 1-0, or draw 1-1, and cling on for three or four draws. Bearing in mind that in the past six Australian seasons there have been only three drawn Tests out of 34, this may require Jonathan Trott to extend his pre-delivery routine to heroic levels of time-frittering complexity. Perhaps he could indulge in a full glove-twiddling interpretation of before settling down to face each Nathan Hauritz bombshell, reducing each day to four or five overs. (I am sure that during his Lord’s double-hundred I saw Trott make the bowler wait whilst he checked his emails on his laptop and phoned his gas supplier to see if someone could take a look at his faulty boiler.)With the Ashes looming, Pakistan’s two forthcoming series against Australia, then England, will be fascinating. All Pakistan series are fascinating. Even if all 30 scheduled days of play were to be washed out, I am sure that some intriguing behind-the-scenes subplots would emerge from nowhere to keep us entertained. And Shahid Afridi is captain. It is not often that one watches cricket primarily to see what the captain does. But this will be one of those rare occasions.The bans on some key players have already been lifted, and the concern for Pakistan supporters must be that, with the first Test against Australia still almost five weeks away, there is ample time for a new set of bans to be randomly imposed before the Test matches begin (plus at least two changes of captaincy, three major feuds, five retirements and six retirement reversals).Time for one question and answer from your submissions (more to follow in a few days’ time).Question (submitted by Themistocles): Inspired by your last piece about Mudassar Nazar, what do you consider to be the most underwhelming feat of greatness?Zaltzmanswer: Interesting question, Themistocles (and how good to discover that you are alive, well and on the internet, despite having died in 459 BC).Figures of 6 for 32 suggest a devastating pace blitz or a wily spell of mystery spin on a crumbling fifth-day pitch, not some slow-medium wobblers wreaking havoc amidst the cream of English batsmanship. That Mudassar should have carved those numbers into cricketing history, rather than Imran Khan or Abdul Qadir, who between them took 4 for 178 in 79.5 overs in that innings, is one of those strange quirks that illuminate the annals of the sport.Mudassar followed up his Lord’s triumph with 4 for 55 a fortnight later at Leeds, his second-best Test analysis – he did not take more than five wickets in any other series in his 13-year Test career. I prefer to think of such unexpected and isolated outbreaks of quality in otherwise mundane careers as flabbergastative rather than underwhelming.Perhaps the finest example is Basil Butcher’s 5 for 34 against England in Port-of-Spain in 1968. Butcher had been a stalwart of the West Indies batting line-up for most of the previous decade when Garry Sobers tossed him the ball with England coasting along serenely at 370-odd for 5. In that time Butcher had bowled once, nine years previously, a tidy six-over spell of 0 for 17 in Delhi. He was not so much an occasional legspinner as an entirely hypothetical one.As he stood at the end of his run-up, Butcher must have thought to himself: “I’ve got a round red thing in my hand. What on earth do I do with it now?”The answer he gave himself was, evidently: “I suppose I’d better take four wickets in three overs.” After dismissing Colin Cowdrey for 148, he skittled the English tail, before bowling Jeff Jones to take his fifth wicket.One can only imagine the stunned silence in the West Indies dressing room after Butcher completed his spell, as his 10 team-mates stared at him, as if to say: “You should have mentioned you could bowl at some point in the previous 10 years, Basil. You really should have mentioned it.”Butcher preferred to retain his cloak of bowling anonymity, however. He never took another Test wicket. As individual, unexpected peaks of performance go, this was the cricketing equivalent of Inzamam-ul-Haq hauling himself out of his special chair, slightly stretching what is left of his hamstrings, lolloping towards a sandpit, and breaking the world triple-jump record. Or of George W Bush standing up in front of the UN, clearing his throat, and giving a faultless rendition of the Queen of the Night’s aria from Mozart’s .The fact that Butcher waited so long before revealing his hand makes his feat particularly special. Michael Clarke famously took six Indian wickets for nine runs in 38 balls in his fourth Test, in Mumbai in 2004-05. This, however, merely raised expectations that have never been met (other than when he took out three more Indians in 11 balls in Sydney three years later – excluding these combined schoolboy analyses of 9 for 14 in 8.1 overs, Clarke has tweaked out just 11 batsmen at 70 runs per wicket in 58 Tests).Butcher, by contrast, skilfully created his extravagant element of surprise by not bowling at all for the previous nine years. And retrospectively heightened it by barely bowling ever again. A work of pure genius.

Plays of the day from the match between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings, in Mohali

Siddarth Ravindran10-Apr-2013The mystery call
In the seventh over of the chase, with Super Kings coasting, Kings XI Punjab seemed to have found an opening when Ryan Harris arrowed in a throw from mid-off that seemingly had Michael Hussey run-out. Hussey had put in the perfect dive, stretching flat out but looked fractionally short. The third umpire watched endless replays and though there was no conclusive evidence that Hussey was in, the giant screen flashed ‘Not out’. Even Hussey and Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming were surprised by the decision. Rarely has a batsman got such a generous benefit of doubt. As Adam Gilchrist said at the post-match ceremony, “They’re not playing run outs any more”.The triple threat
On the fifth ball of the 11th over, Super Kings had three chances of getting a wicket. First up, the bowler R Ashwin belted out a loud lbw appeal against Gurkeerat Singh, only for it to be turned down. The ball rolled off the pads in the direction of square leg, and there was major confusion over whether to take a leg-bye. The non-striker David Hussey hesitated, and would have been run-out by yards if MS Dhoni had hit direct. Dhoni missed, and there was an overthrow. Hussey motored back for the second, and though there was a direct hit this time, he made it in time. Rarely has there been a more action-packed delivery.The drop
Super Kings pride themselves on being one of the better fielding sides in the tournament. With the likes of Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo, Michael Hussey and Ravindra Jadeja in the line-up, it is a well-earned reputation. M Vijay is also usually a safe fielder, but he put down a regulation chance at mid-off to reprieve Kings XI’s most important batsman, David Hussey. In the sixth over, Hussey moved away from the stumps and mistimed the ball towards Vijay. It went flat towards the fielder, but Vijay didn’t move forward quickly enough, and by the time he reacted it was too low for him to clasp the ball properly. Chris Morris, on IPL debut, was the unlucky bowler, and covered his face in disappointment at missing out on his first wicket in the tournament.The attempt
There have already been some spectacular catches this season, and Bravo nearly added to the list with a stunning effort. Ashwin bowled a legspinner which Gurkeerat hammered towards long-off, and the ball seemed destined for a six; Bravo, who was a few metres in from the rope, hared across to his left and towards the boundary before leaping with his right arm outstretched. While in mid-air, he nearly latched on to the ball, but his extraordinary effort only ended up saving his team two runs, as the ball dribbled to the boundary for four.The innovation
Towards the end of the innings, batsmen will run for everything, even for byes when the ball goes straight through to the keeper. To counter that, Dhoni decided to keep wickets with only his left glove on, allowing him to collect the ball and throw immediately. The strategy, previously used by Dinesh Karthik in the IPL, paid off for Super Kings in the final over. When Parvinder Awana failed to connect on his fourth ball in a row, Praveen Kumar decided to try steal a bye, but Dhoni’s dead-eye throw caught him well short.