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Saudi Pro League giants A-Hilal are ready to offer a staggering £600,000-a-week, tax-free contract to lure Alexander Isak from Newcastle, despite interest from Premier League champions Liverpool. Isak has been linked with a move away from St. James' Park this summer and the player has not travelled to Asia for the club's pre-season friendly matches.

Isak offered staggering wages by Al-HilalLiverpool remain interested in the strikerIsak did not travel to Asia for pre-seasonFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

According to , Al-Hilal are prepared to make the offer even more attractive by adding bonuses on top of the outrageous salary on offer. The bonus payments would depend on whether Al-Hilal win the Saudi Pro League or the AFC Champions League titles and Isak becomes the highest goal-scorer.

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Liverpool are also in the race to sign the Swedish forward, although the Reds are in no position to match the massive wages offered by their Saudi counterparts. The English champions may also be unable to match Newcastle's valuation of £120 million ($161m) after spending close to £300m ($400m) on transfers this summer, which has seen players like Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez join the club.

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The Reds, however, could still manage the finances if they can offload Luis Diaz amid strong interest from Bayern Munich, who remain keen on signing the Colombian despite seeing their initial bid rejected by Liverpool.

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has reported that Isak has not held any direct talks with Al-Hial as his dream destination remains Liverpool. It now depends on whether Newcastle allows the player to leave this summer.

Andrew McGlashan selects the County Championship team of the season

Andrew McGlashan26-Sep-2005

Owais Shah ended as the leading run scorer in the country © Splod
Mike Hussey (Durham)
A run machine for his county – when he wasn’t away on international duty. It was to Durham’s advantage that Australia’s selectors are a stubborn bunch and refused to alter their Test squad: Hussey would have surely featured. He repeatedly gave Durham solid and occasionally stunning starts to their innings; once in, he often compiled a large score.Phil Jaques (Yorkshire)
Another prolific Australian who has yet to taste international cricket. He is a destructive left-hander who showed no mercy on the second division bowling attacks. His runs were of two-fold importance; they gave a threadbare bowling attack a chance to win matches, and ensured Yorkshire batted their way to high-scoring draws.Owais Shah (Middlesex)
John Emburey, the Middlesex coach, said Shah would have to “bat like Don Bradman” if he was to perform better than he did this summer. After seasons of failing to fulfil his obvious potential, he racked up 1728 runs this summer. He was the complete batsman; comfortable against pace, and quick on his feet to some quality spin bowlers. If he maintains his focus this winter then, despite the disappointment of missing the Pakistan tour, an international recall won’t be far away.David Hussey (Nottinghamshire)
Joined his brother, Mike, in plundering county attacks, and his 1293 runs helped Notts secure their first Championship title since 1987. An immensely powerful and destructive batsman, he also scored his runs at a good pace to give the Notts bowlers time to win matches. His safe hands at slip pouched 30 catches.

Ed Joyce was in prolific form and earned a place at the England Academy © Getty Images
Ed Joyce (Middlesex)
Completes a Middlesex duo in the top order and, like Shah, is off to the Academy this winter. Started the summer with a bang – passing 1000 runs in seven matches – and, although the big scores tailed off towards September, he still passed 1500 runs in the Championship. He has all the makings of an ideal Test No. 4 and has many of Graham Thorpe’s characteristics. He is strong square of the wicket and is comfortable against pace and spin.Dale Benkenstein (Durham)
An astute signing by Martyn Moxon, Benkenstein arrived on a Kolpak deal and, by the end of the summer, had become a favourite around Chester-le-Street. His experience glued the middle order together – a weak point for Durham in past seasons – and was an ideal stand-in captain when Mike Hussey and Paul Collingwood were on international duty. Throw in his useful medium-pace bowling and safe fielding and Durham certainly got value from him.Nic Pothas (Hampshire)
A mature head in a relatively young Hampshire team, Pothas was in excellent form with the bat and gloves throughout the summer. Over 900 runs at 51 helped to compensate for the below-par performance of other top order batsmen – and the missing Kevin Pietersen. His wicketkeeping developed against Shane Warne, and South Africa will be cursing another talented cricketer who got away from them.Mushtaq Ahmed (Sussex)
Still producing magic with the ball, he finished as the leading wicket taker in the country – and not for the first time. His consistency has reignited talk of an international recall this winter against England, andhas meant that Chris Adams always had confidence to throw him the ball in any situation. With Mushtaq bowling well, Sussex could never be written out of the Championship race.

Mushtaq Ahmed was the leading wicket taker and helped Sussex to third place in the Championship © Splod
Naved-ul-Hasan (Sussex)
A late arrival for Sussex after completing his international commitments, but a stunning success when he arrived. He sped past fifty Championship wickets in only nine matches – including a stunning display at Lord’s when he helped Sussex rout Middlesex in two days. His pacey away-swing posed constant problems for opposition batsmen, and he also showed the ability to produce reverse-swing with the older ball. However, the surprising aspect was his batting – he averaged 31 including a rapid 139 in that match at Lord’s.Alan Richardson (Middlesex)
A winter move from Warwickshire was just the tonic Richardson needed. Finishing as Middlesex’s leading wicket-taker by a considerable margin, he bowled like a man reborn. He quickly developed from a stock bowler into Ben Hutton’s main wicket-taking option, especially in the first half of the season.Mark Davies (Durham)
A stunning average 16 and strike-rate of 36 for Davies, who provided a constant threat whenever he was given a chance in the Championship. He was not initially selected when Steve Harmison was around but, for the second half of the season, it was he and Liam Plunkett who led the attack. available for selection. And, as the England selectors have shown in the winter tour squads, age is no factor, and the door is never shut.Robert Key, Jason Gallian, Mark Ramprakash, Owais Shah, Ed Joyce, Anthony McGrath, Chris Read, Chris Tremlett, Shaun Udal, Alan Richardson, Mark Davies

The gameplan was to bat once and bat big, and with some sensible, yet often exciting, batting, India took a long stride towards that

Sidharth Monga in Chittagong18-May-2007

Rahul Dravid’s attacking half-century quickly put Bangladesh on the defensive after their first-ball strike © AFP
Effective. Considering the flat wicket, easy. Importantly, counterattacking. And, given that the plan was to bat once and bat big, India’s batting on day one of this series was just what was required. Blending sensible strokes with a willingness to dig deep to overcome whatever few hurdles they were faced with, India’s batsmen gave the team a strong foundation on which to build a winning total.Of course, the plans were rudely pushed aside with the very first ball of the day, with Wasim Jaffer’s dismissal requiring Rahul Dravid to walk out, yet again, in the opening over of a Test. And just when one expected a slow, steady recovery, Dravid provided a twist by going on the attack. The wicket was flat, the bowlers, though spirited, were not persistent or disciplined enough and he dealt with it in an appropriate manner. Also, he had at the other end Dinesh Karthik, opening a Test innings only for the second time, and needed to take the lead.Was it planned? “Things like [losing] a wicket in the first ball do not happen usually,” Karthik said pithily after the day’s play. “We didn’t plan it, we just played instinctively.” Yet it was a bold approach, given that India had gone into the match with only five specialist batsmenIt took Dravid three overs to assess the situation and, when Shahadat Hossain offered one full and outside the off stump in the fourth over, he leant in and drove it through the covers for four. The next over he showed his trust in the bounce of the wicket when he essayed an aerial cut off Mashrafe Mortaza, which just about cleared a leaping backward point. He followed that up with an array of punches, drives, and flicks, but the crucial point was that no shot looked risky.Happily, and not entirely unexpectedly, Dravid’s approach caught up with Karthik too and they scored fluently enough to bring up the 100-run partnership in the 21st over. This is the fourth time [a record] Dravid has featured in a second-wicket 100-run partnership after walking in at 0 for 1.Too often over the last couple of years, India have squandered a quick start by shutting shop once a couple of quick wickets have fallen, forgetting that scoring runs is the main purpose of batting. Such a scenario seemed to be on the cards again when Dravid and Karthik fell within eight runs of each other and the score stood at 132 for 3. Mortaza and Hossain were bowling well and seemed to be benefiting from the overcast conditions. But, after grinding the fast bowlers out of the attack, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly too cut loose.They were helped by the spinners, Bangladesh’s strength, being off their game today. They bowled too many short ones to Tendulkar, who accepted with delight. Ganguly, cautious against the short-pitched bowling of Hossain, didn’t mind the short ones from the spinners. Once set, he twice conjured a sight that has become rare and much missed: stepping out to a spinner and lofting him for a six.It’s easy to dismiss the partnership in light of the quality of the attack but there was a gameplan to follow, the odd ball was keeping low and wickets at that point of time would have forced India to fall back on to a Plan B. Under those conditions, Tendulkar and Ganguly paced their innings almost perfectly.The plan for Bangladesh would have been to get quick wickets and choke the batsmen. They had the opportunity twice but each time failed to test India’s weakness. It was not easy to bowl on this unresponsive wicket and under the hot, humid conditions; that could have played a role in what looked like a tactical error to take Mortaza and Shahadat off when they were looking good in the middle session.India’s plan tomorrow will be to see off the early morning freshness and then go on to bat Bangladesh out of the game. They will have to contend with Mortaza again, and the bowler had no doubts as to where the match stood. Asked whether Bangladesh had lost their chance, his reply was quick: “No. We have time tomorrow morning. If we can take a few quick wickets tomorrow, it could be different.”Indeed it could. Considering only Mahendra Singh Dhoni stands between this partnership and the long Indian tail, Tendulkar and Ganguly’s job is only half done.

There was no need to speculate during Jaques’ display and he swung the day for Australia. Watching new players succeed is not dull, but the sceptics have a point. The more Australia change the more they stay the same

Peter English in Hobart16-Nov-2007

Michael Hussey repeated his performance at the Gabba here in Hobart today © Getty Images
Complaints over the past week have centred on the predictability of Test cricket and the dominance of Australia. More evidence to support the argument came on the first day in Hobart when Sri Lanka missed crucial chances, Dilhara Fernando performed poorly while a better bowler was 12th man, Phil Jaques’ century propelled the home team to an enviable position and the Michael Hussey phenomenon powered on. Despite the repetition of events from Brisbane, the play was compelling.After his job-interview behaviour at the Gabba, where he won approval for his gritty maiden century, Jaques was free to express himself. As an artist he is an unrefined bush painter like the late Pro Hart, but his lack of natural beauty does not devalue the impression. The bottom-hand style won over Steve Waugh, who described Jaques as the “prototype for young players” before he had played a Test. If Waugh is right the future will be muscular.The present is growing stronger by the Jaques innings and his second hundred in nine days was more brutal than the first. The Sri Lankans restricted his cut shot, placing a man deep behind point, but he was successful thrashing along the ground, over the cordon or past the sweeper. Attacking his strength did not work for Trevor Bayliss, who was Jaques’ New South Wales coach until he left for Sri Lanka.Pulling was another successful shot for Jaques and he was given plenty of opportunities to polish it on a true surface. Unafraid to be hit on the body, which he was a handful of times, he unfurled cross-bat shots that were usually concealed at the Gabba. It was a display as bright as the day and gave Australian supporters more reasons to be cheerful about life without Justin Langer.Like last week, Jaques waited patiently for his first run, taking 24 minutes and 18 balls, but he was quickly operating at the speed he is used to at New South Wales. He forced the fast bowlers down the ground and altered his tempo with quick singles from defensive shots. Those risky but successful runs added further to Sri Lanka’s woes as they failed with direct hits during the couple of occasions Jaques was short of his ground in the first session. Once again the lapses were punished, and he accepted another well-taken single to reach 150.Lasith Malinga started strongly, adding an early fear element that was missing when he was 12th man in the previous game, and Farveez Maharoof was effective at times without getting the wickets needed to secure his future. The faith the Sri Lankan camp places in Fernando appears to have been misplaced with his inability to hold a steady line and length.Fernando, who has been keeping quiet about an ankle injury, did claim the first wicket, benefiting from Matthew Hayden’s lack of feet movement, but his day was summed up when he tumbled to save a ball on the boundary off Jaques and it went through him for four. Releasing five runs an over compounded his problems and he is running out of days to justify his internal rating on this tour.Jaques earned back-to-back centuries with a push to midwicket for two off Fernando and this time he delivered the kiss to his helmet badge that was missing last week. However, Hussey was there to give another strong hug and increase the feelings of déjà vu.Last week Jaques was exhausted by the time he reached the milestone and charged unsuccessfully at Muttiah Muralitharan. Today he stayed in control after his celebration and added another fifty before holing out to deep mid-on. Hussey refused such charity in his unbeaten 101 and if he can reach 160 without being dismissed his average will be an unbelievable 90.There was no need to speculate during Jaques’ display and he swung the day for Australia. Watching new players succeed is not dull, but the sceptics have a point. The more Australia change the more they stay the same.

The lack of urgency from Australia’s batsmen might be an unfamiliar sight, but it is also a sign that they are now willing to subjugate themselves to the circumstances

Sambit Bal at the Adelaide Oval26-Jan-2008
“Australia embraced abstinence today. It could be taken as a sign of vulnerability; but surely it is also an acceptance of changing times.” © Getty Images
Tests at Adelaide have a habit of sneaking in a twist, so the epitaph for this match must wait. Meanwhile, Saturday was a day of stalemate. Runs were hard to come by, wickets even harder; but it was old-fashioned Test cricket – slow, grinding and contemplative, and no less absorbing for it.Australia do not need to win this Test and, with the burden of the winning streak lifted, they can even afford a draw. The lack of urgency from their batsmen might be an unfamiliar sight, but it is also a sign that they are now willing to subjugate themselves to the circumstances.A number of factors are responsible for the pace of the day today. To start with, India were resourceful and thoughtful. After a listless first hour, they huddled together at the drinks break and found purpose. On the other hand, a few of Australia’s batsmen were coming out of a slump and a number of them had been dismissed driving against the swinging ball. It is also possible that, after their stunning loss at Perth, they have found a new respect for their opponents. Nor would it have been lost on them that, at this very venue, they had the paid the price for a series of injudicious strokes against the same opponents four years ago.The pitch was sluggish, some balls kept low, and India bowled a run-denying line — a couple of feet outside the off stump — for substantial periods. In an earlier day, Australians might have made a dash for it, perhaps even succeeded. But they didn’t need to take the risk, and ended up scoring under three runs an over, an unthinkable rate on a home pitch. But it was pragmatic. The Gavaskar-Border trophy is already won, but who can blame them for wanting to secure the series?Matthew Hayden was the most dominant batsman of the day but he didn’t dominate in the Matthew Hayden way. There was a charge and miss against Irfan Pathan early on, a lofted one over the head of mid-off and a stand and deliver blast through the off-side late in his innings but otherwise he was measured, even circumspect.Though Hayden’s stroke-making is often savage, there is a monk-like calmness about him as he stands at the crease, eyes wide open and head held still, his attention riveted to the immediate task. Today he even added abstinence to the package. India bowled a touch wide to him to deny him his favourite scoring stroke, the booming drive down the ground, and Hayden was prepared to wait till a ball was close enough to him to force it through the offside.The power wasn’t missing – in fact one sweep off Harbhajan Singh was hit so hard that the fielder at the square-leg boundary had to dive even though the ball was only a couple of metres away from him – but it was a day when the big shots were employed with utmost deliberation.The Australians had obviously given thought to neutralising the swing and Phil Jaques, who had been caught thrice behind the wicket, came up with his own method, by taking guard on off and middle. This allowed him to leave everything outside his pads and the cut shot, his favourite, didn’t come out till the ball was sufficiently short and wide. At Perth, the middle order had been exposed early twice; at Adelaide, Ricky Ponting didn’t need to come to bat till the 53rd over.Ponting’s approach was keenly awaited. Not only were Australia chasing a huge total, he was soon facing both his tormentors, Ishant Sharma and Harbhajan Singh. He got off the mark with a nervy, hurried and awkward pull against Anil Kumble that could very well have landed in a fielder’s lap but proceeded to play with rare caution. Harbhajan was treated with respect and Sharma was kept out. Irfan Pathan induced a couple of edges but Ponting continued to graft, building his innings in singles and twos. So far, it has been an innings of humility, as has been the Australian performance on a whole in this Test. It shouldn’t be taken as a sign of vulnerability; but surely it is an acceptance of changing times.

New Zealand’s No. 4 looks ahead to his first Test at the home of cricket

Ross Taylor14-May-2008
‘I’m the only one in the top four with a Test hundred and it’s a brilliant opportunity for me to kickstart a new era for New Zealand cricket’ © Getty Images
Talk about pressure. At the MCC welcome lunch for the New Zealand team on Tuesday, Geoffrey Boycott cast an eye my way and announced, “Lad, don’t be playing those Twenty20 shots, you’re in my fantasy team”. Suddenly, it was not just a Test match at Lord’s that was playing on my mind.Being in England does that to you. I may have been one of the first players to experience the Indian Premier League, but here I’m just one of the Test cricketers who has arrived at Lord’s wanting to achieve the ultimate honours-board recognition.We have an inexperienced team and many of our guys are playing at Lord’s for the first time tomorrow. For Aaron Redmond and Daniel Flynn, their Tests debuts are on the most intimidating stage of all. It’s not the pitch, the atmosphere or the opposition players. Rather, there is a mystique that only a cricketer could understand. I imagine it’s like how it is for a budding actor making it to Holly (or Bolly) wood, or a wannabe model making it to the catwalks of Milan.Every serious cricketer’s dream is to play at Lord’s, despite the nerves that might accompany it. Thankfully for me, the famous walk from the dressing room, down the stairs, through the long room and the gate, onto the hallowed turf is something I have experienced already, when I was the New Zealand Young Cricketer to Lord’s in 2002. Now I only have to deal with the MCC members in their red-and-yellow ties.I felt the Lord’s buzz back then that Daniel, Aaron and the other guys playing their first game here tomorrow will feel. For my part, I’m relishing the challenge of playing my first Test at Lord’s.Every player thinks about making it onto the honours board in the away-team dressing room. Brendon McCullum almost made it on the 2004 tour (he made 96). Mark Richardson (2004) and Matt Horne (1999) both made it with a ton, and I’d love to emulate them. The achievement that stands out for me is that of Dion Nash, one of our current selectors, who features twice from the same game, when he got a five-for in both innings in 1994.I’ve been elevated to the No.4 position after just five Test matches. With our team having changed a lot recently, especially with the retirements from Test cricket of Stephen Fleming and Scott Styris, I’m now in the spot traditionally reserved for the team’s premier batsman. As I see it, I’m the only one in the top four with a Test hundred and it’s a brilliant opportunity for me to help kickstart a new era for New Zealand cricket.It’s not the pitch, the atmosphere or the opposition; rather, there is a mystic that only a cricketer could understand. I imagine it’s like a budding actor making it to Holly (or Bolly) wood or a wannabe model making it to the catwalks of MilanRoss Taylor on the lure of playing at Lord’sAs I write this I’m thinking about what it will be like, warming up on the Nursery Ground with loads of fans watching. One thing I know for sure is that the Beige Brigade will be there. As players, we have the utmost respect for what they have created. I’d encourage any Kiwi fan in England reading this to come in beige. That stuff spurs us on.This will be the biggest crowd I’ve played in front of so far on tour, yet a full house at Lord’s will be dwarfed by the 45,000-plus who watched my team, the Bangalore Royal Challengers, in the IPL. That was something else. I thought I’d be lucky to get one game and I ended up playing four of the five games I was available for. I’ll never have Rahul Dravid’s iconic status in India but I’m really excited about hopefully becoming part of the cricketing revolution that the IPL is driving.It will take time, though. One thing I did notice is that the fans in India enjoyed the IPL primarily for the quality of the cricket. I think it is probably too early to start comparing the IPL to the Premier League football in England. As a player for the Royal Challengers in a tournament in its infancy, I still need to prove myself to the fans in Bangalore. Just as in Manchester, as players we have to realise that we don’t have a right to fans’ support; we have to earn it. I’d love to be back in the IPL next year. Guess I’d better make some runs at Lord’s this week.

New Zealand’s slow-medium men ruled ODI bowling in the nineties, but their time seems to have passed

Sidharth Monga10-Mar-2009
Larsen: That’s Mr Dobbly to you © Getty Images
On a manic evening two days ago in Christchurch, the heart went out to the bowlers. Thirty-one sixes were hit in Lilliput and 726 runs scored in 95.1 overs. All through, as the captains struggled to defend the boundaries, the mind kept thinking of a species that is going extinct. It’s very likely they wouldn’t have worked, but the slow-medium fellows, bowling at 120-130kph, just short of a length, mixing up their little cutters, swingers and slower ones, were missed.They were the fad of the nineties; every team had at least one. At their best they choked the life out of the middle overs in ODIs. They were named dibbly-dobblies; the less charitable variations were wibblies, wobblies, winklers, weaslers, and some unprintable ones. Gavin Larsen sees the name as a mark of respect and acknowledgment that the breed were successful at what they did, while Chris Harris would rather he wasn’t called dibbly-dobbly.Such bowlers are rarely seen nowadays. In the Christchurch game Jesse Ryder did try his slow-mediums, but he bowls too many yorkers for a self-respecting dibbly-dobbly.New Zealand was where the dibbly-dobblies enjoyed their most glorious prime. Though the term has been in existence for long to refer to slow-medium bowlers, it became a cult in New Zealand around the 1992 World Cup. Larsen, Harris, and to an extent Rod Latham and Willie Watson, were weapons of mass containment. They were the antithesis of the fearsome foursomes of West Indies. They looked half as quick, and were not scary at all, but you just couldn’t hit them. All the power for the shots had to come from the bat, and given their accuracy and clever variations, taking them on was just too risky to do.The dibbly-dobblies were as much a product of circumstances as they were a masterstroke in that World Cup. Richard Hadlee and Ewen Chatfield had left without successors in place, New Zealand were going to co-host the tournament, and the pitches were slow and low. It’s not sure whether the pitches were a coincidence or not, but they played a key role.Watson – far short of express – and Dipak Patel would open the bowling before Larsen and Harris would do their business. Latham would bowl a few overs, and then Watson would come back. It was a ploy that had worked, especially in home conditions. Before the batting side knew it, 40 overs would pass without much activity. Between them the four bowled 250.1 overs for 1041 runs in the World Cup. What that resulted in was for all to see.The phrase “dibbly-dobbly-wibbly-wobbly” is said to have been coined by a commentator during New Zealand’s win against Australia. Which is which, and who is who is not entirely clear. The popular theory is that Harris and Larsen could each take either of dibbly or dobbly, Latham – because of his girth – was wobbly, and Watson wibbly because he was known thus by his fans.Watson and Latham were getting on towards the end of their careers then, but Larsen and Harris kept the flag flying for slow-medium bowling for a few years. Their bowling averages took a hit outside New Zealand, but they were just as miserly abroad as they were at home: Larsen gave away runs at 3.90 an over outside New Zealand (3.78 overall), and Harris 4.41 an over (4.28 overall).”Lots of people told me that I wouldn’t be effective, but that was not the case,” Larsen says. “My style suited the seaming conditions, but I did well in places like India.” The simple principle of accuracy worked for him: he was the postman who always delivered. Harris was an expert at the slower legcutters and the ones that came out of the back of the hand. They were medium-pacers with the brains of spinners.Harris and Larsen stayed part of the success formula till about the end of the century. Part-timers like Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan on occasions filled in after Larsen’s retirement.By then success had started breeding imitation. New Zealand had started looking for bouncier pitches, and in the process began creating tracks that helped seam bowlers. A new kind of dibbly-dobbly bowler was emerging – one who would just put the ball there and wait for the conditions to do the rest. The originals had bowled on slow tracks and learned to seam and swing the ball. The pitches did the work for the new breed, who would come up short on unhelpful surfaces. Injuries to the proper pace bowlers – Geoff Allott, Dion Nash and Chris Cairns – didn’t help either.
Legbreak specialist Harris is still plying his trade in the ICL and New Zealand’s State Shield © Getty Images
It didn’t stay that way for long, though. Ross Taylor, a member of the current New Zealand team, makes an interesting observation. “The wickets have improved a lot since then [India’s last tour]. It shows in our domestic form. It’s probably been a fault that bowlers who bowl 125-130ks and come in would just put the ball there and the wickets did the rest for them. In domestic cricket at the moment, the little dibbly-dobbly bowlers aren’t having as much success as 10 years ago. That’s good for New Zealand cricket that the bowlers are having to work harder for their wickets.”Allott agrees with Taylor. “The major focus of New Zealand cricket has been to improve the wickets. Earlier medium-pacers could come here and bowl a real tight length on a green wicket and the ball would do everything. And more often than not they would be successful. But now the bowlers have to learn to seam the ball, try the slower ball and the bowlers are far more equipped to play international cricket than when I was playing.”Also, bowlers like Harris and Larsen concede that when they played, the game was played to a type. Batsmen would look to hit in the first 15 overs, then consolidate till about 40, and then go all out in the death overs. That gave the bowlers a rhythm to aim for. Three hundred would be a safe target then, but now teams go for 350 more often, targetting the weaker links in the middle overs. Batsmen didn’t switch-hit, paddle-sweep and slog in the middle overs then.”I think the game has just moved on,” Larsen says. “I think that the days where a guy is bowling at 130 kph and bowling just back of a length, using slower balls, are gone now.””In present-day cricket it has become tougher,” Harris says. “The batsmen are becoming more effective and hitting bowlers to all parts of the park. We used to come to the field, get the rhythm right, bowl tight, and unless one bowled a bad ball they wouldn’t be hit for runs. These days batsmen are hitting the good balls too.”Harris was the last specialist dibbly-dobbly bowler. Now it’s either the pace bowlers or spinners. Most part-timers are spinners. The likes of Paul Collingwood, Ryder, Grant Elliot and Dwayne Smith are used sparingly, and can’t quite be accused of possessing the art of the dibbly dobblies. It was, perhaps, an art form limited to ODIs, which became too common for its own good. We may never again see a slow-medium bowler as successful as a Larsen or a Harris. But when the batsmen were going berserk on Sunday, the mind did ask the question: What if they were there?

A selection of Shane Bond’s best performances in all formats of the game

Cricinfo staff14-May-20103 for 53 v Australia, Melbourne, 2001-02
After an inauspicious Test debut in Hobart, few could have predicted Bond would soon become arguably the bowler most feared by Australian batsmen. The first indications come in his ODI debut that same summer. Defending a modest 199 in the opening match of the VB Series, New Zealand have their work cut out. But Bond has Mark Waugh caught behind in the first over, and then removes Ricky Ponting and Michael Bevan to set up an unlikely win and begin his happy rivalry with the world champions.6 for 23 v Australia, Port Elizabeth, 2003
Australia have a formidable record entering this World Cup Super Sixes game – seven matches at the tournament for seven wins. But Bond knows a thing or two about his opponents, with 16 wickets at 12.93 from his five previous outings against them. New Zealand decide to bowl and Bond sends the top order packing, before claiming three more victims in his second spell. He finishes with the best figures by a New Zealander in an ODI, but his team-mates crumble and they lose by 96 runs.6 for 51 and 4 for 48 v Zimbabwe, Bulawayo, 2005-06
Nobody is quite sure what to expect from Bond in his first series for more than two years. Would he ever be the same after a major back surgery? He is hardly required in the first Test against Zimbabwe as the hosts capitulate twice, but in the second match he reignites his awesome firepower. Zimbabwe’s top order have no idea and the middle order even less, and at one stage in the first innings Bond has 5 for 11. Match figures of 10 for 99 – he has never before taken 10 wickets in a first-class game – secure an innings victory.6 for 19 v India, Bulawayo, 2005-06
Less than a fortnight after his Test 10-for and at the same venue, Bond confirms he really is back. He betters his ODI best with 6 for 19 against India and his victims included the handy trio of Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag. His searching opening spell leaves India at 44 for 8, chasing 216. A superb rearguard action follows, and just when it looks like JP Yadav and Irfan Pathan might steal the game, Bond returns to break the partnership and ensure his blistering start is not wasted.2 for 57 and 5 for 69 v West Indies, Auckland, 2005-06
With Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga’s opening partnership still intact and 148 on the board, West Indies appear to be cruising towards a win in in the Auckland Test. It is the fourth day and they need 291 to win, but when Nathan Astle breaks the partnership Bond steps in. First he forces Ramnaresh Sarwan to retire-hurt with a brutal bouncer that crashes into his helmet. With the next ball Bond rattles Brian Lara’s off stump. After a rest, Bond returns with three wickets in three overs, sealing the 27-run win with an off-cutter that bowls the No. 11 Jerome Taylor.5 for 107 and 3 for 43 v Pakistan, Dunedin, 2009-10
Coming back from a two-year exile thanks to his involvement in the ICL, Bond hardly holds back, bowling bouncers, yorkers, legcutters consistently at 150kph and thereabouts, setting up New Zealand’s first Test win in more than a year. Finally back in New Zealand whites, hurling that red thing in anger on a flat pitch, Bond – with pure pace – rattles the Pakistan middle order during a seven-over spell of 3 for 25 in the first innings, a spell instrumental to their 97-run first-innings lead, despite debutant Umar Akmal’s counterattacking century. New Zealand collapse in the second innings, and Pakistan need 56 with five wickets in hand when Bond gets Akmal out with his second return catch of the match, a wicket that starts a decisive collapse.

Gautam Gambhir and Mithun Manhas, with their mature, tempered approach to Delhi’s chase, added a refreshing touch to a game designed for big hits

Jamie Alter at the PCA Stadium in Mohali13-Mar-2010This is delicate business, the kind of old-school art that usually gets crushed under the boots of the trendy. While the IPL thrives on swaggering studs with jackhammer forehands that can pull and whack a cricket ball, it is easy to overlook the more subtle but no-less-significant batsmen who have the ability to score briskly while stabilising an innings. Such were the valuable contributions of Gautam Gambhir and Mithun Manhas under pressure that allowed the Delhi Daredevils to pull off what turned out to be a challenging chase of a not-too-stiff target.On a surface not suited to the feverish approach of the Yuvrajs, Sehwags and Dilshans, Gambhir was forced to take the initiative once Delhi had lost early wickets. With the ball occasionally stopping, and the odd one staying low, it was evident that steady accumulation rather than hell-for-leather was the right way to go. Ravi Bopara had succeeded in much the same manner in the first innings, when some of his team-mates perished to frenetic shots.By the time Gambhir took guard to face his third delivery, Delhi were 10 for 2 with Sehwag and Dilshan gone. Gambhir did very well to rein in his game, keeping the ball along the ground until the 19th over, and took control as Delhi began to get out of a hole. Crucially, there were plenty of scurried singles and hurried twos. There was the odd clip off the toes and the inside-out drive, but by and large Gambhir gathered his runs with straight-bat strokes that the pitch and situation demanded.There were no slogs, the running was calculated, and the majority of runs came through the arc behind point with delicate placement; the late cut, nay dab, was Gambhir’s preferred weapon of attack. In a format which fans throng to for audacious hits, and on a day in which Yusuf Pathan’s amazing 37-ball 100 sent temperatures soaring in Mumbai, Gambhir’s toned-down innings stood out like a beacon.When Gambhir and Manhas – they go back a ways playing for their state in the various domestic competitions – punched gloves upon linking up in the middle, Delhi’s chase was in some trouble at 79 for 4 in the 13th over. Delhi’s middle order had been known for its fallibility over the past two seasons of the IPL and Gambhir and Manhas were left needing to get 64 runs in 46 balls.The last time these two teams played each other at the PCA Stadium in Mohali, it was Punjab who won chasing with four wickets and three deliveries remaining. On that occasion Gambhir, with Delhi batting first, had become the visitors’ third early casualty with a needless rush of blood to the head that resulted in a tame chip to Yuvraj Singh at mid-off. Then, Gambhir walked away shaking his bowed head. Tonight he ensured no such mistake.Gambhir added 34 in 29 balls with Dinesh Karthik to keep the crowd anxious, and, combining with Manhas, then hit 61 from just 42 – including 15 runs off five balls from Ramesh Powar – to help Delhi home with one ball to spare. Karthik’s 20 contained three boundaries, two gracefully executed and one brutally slogged, but an ambitious hoick left the game teasingly poised.However, instead of letting the situation get to him, Manhas buckled down and played the sort of cool innings that low-key Indian domestic players the league over need to sit up and take notice of. His strokeplay was controlled, displaying risk-free batting until one miscue was dropped at long-on by Irfan Pathan. He replied by whacking two crucial boundaries, the second of which sealed the match off the penultimate delivery.Manhas today played the kind of innings Delhi needed from their middle order in the past. In 2008, they lost four games on the trot as the middle order fumbled, and in 2009, when the tournament moved to South Africa and Gambhir and Sehwag failed to repeat their 2008 feats, Delhi were again let down by those who followed.Delhi, after choking twice at the semi-final stage in the last two IPLs, are nearing the point where precedes their aspirations, or a is attached to the suggestion that they can win the league. With more such contributions under pressure, and in the same cool and uncomplicated manner they scored their runs tonight, the likes of Gambhir and Manhas could prove guiding forces for a side more accustomed to velocity than Velcro.

Months after successfully hosting the football World Cup, South Africa is set to become the first country to hold each of cricket’s major multi-team tournaments

Firdose Moonda09-Sep-2010When the first ball of the match between the Highveld Lions and the Mumbai Indians is bowled on Friday, Cricket South Africa (CSA) will become the only international cricketing body to have hosted every major, multi-team tournament the sport has to offer. They’ve achieved that feat in just eight years, starting with the World Cup in 2003, the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, the IPL and ICC Champions Trophy last year and now, the Champions League Twenty20.Gerald Majola, chief executive officer of CSA, has led the organisation since 2001 (when it was still called the United Cricket Board) and has been at the helm for all the major events. Despite recently courting controversy surrounding bonus payments, Majola is in good spirits ahead of the big event. “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be the only CEO in world cricket to have hosted all major events,” he said. “In fact, in my cricket playing days I never even thought I would be a CEO. I am very proud.”He certainly can be, as in the last 18 months, South Africa have been the darlings of two major sports, cricket and football. The buzz has been centered around the latter, with many locals harbouring fond memories of how their country became the world’s capital two months ago during the football World Cup. The Champions League can hardly measure up that scale but there is still plenty of interest around it.Three weeks ago, the Champions League was launched with a glitzy event at a Johannesburg nightclub called Taboo. Enrique Iglesias, the headline act and the man who song is the theme of the event, is hosting a sold-out concert on Thursday night at the Botanical Gardens. For the moment, the cricket itself is taking a backseat and there are still tickets available for the opening match and final but South Africans are known for picking up the hype after kick off.Perhaps some are still recovering from the footballing showpiece and haven’t had time to take in the fact that the country is, once again, the stage for an international show. “There are three main reasons that South Africa is awarded big events,” explained Majola. “The spirit in which our people embrace sport is unmatched, we have good facilities and we receive a lot of government support to host sporting events.”The last of those three reasons may surprise locals, particularly because the government is often criticised for slow service delivery, corruption and has just come out of a crippling three-week public servants’ strike. However, Majola insists on “giving accolades where they are due” and cited an example to back up his claims. “The government provides us with police services for free during tournaments like these, which a lot of people don’t know.”Besides the resident police, local firm Nicholls, Steyn and Associates, who provide security for many sporting and other events and the ICC’s anti-corruption unit will all be in operation through the tournament. Preparations at the four venues are complete and with all of them being well versed in hosting major competitions, there’s no need to question if any of the facilities are ready, they always are.For one of them, the Gauteng Cricket Board at the Wanderers, there is something different about their status in this tournament. On Monday, they ushered in a new CEO, Cassim Docrat, to end months of infighting and a CSA commission led by a former Chief Justice, Pius Langa, to look into the affairs of their board.While the union has battled through a management crisis, the team has fared little better and has been in decline since winning the 2006-07 Standard Bank Pro20. They surprised most by reaching the final of the competition last season and are considered the competition’s biggest underdogs. Docrat said that tag will be their advantage. “The Lions may not have many big stars but we are a balanced team where everybody contributes,” said Docrat. “We have two top coaches in Dave Nosworthy and Kepler Wessels and on home ground, we hope to do well.”Majola also hopes the Lions will be the “surprise package” of the event but is putting far more pressure on the Warriors, who hail from the same province he does, the Eastern Cape. “I’ll be surprised if the Warriors don’t at least make the semi-finals especially after they won both the twenty- and forty-over competitions in the last domestic season,” he told ESPNcricinfo.Johan Botha agrees, admitting that the final four is his team’s goal. “We had initially targeted 2011 as the year that we wanted to compete against the world’s best and it’s come a bit earlier than that, but we’ve worked very hard for this,” said Botha. “We know that the other teams, who are away from home may be more up for it because they are away, but for us, it will also help to have a home crowd behind us.”They won’t have all the advantages though as the Warriors, like the other southern hemisphere teams, are coming out of the off season and have not played together for almost four months. Despite that, Botha is confident the Warriors have prepared sufficiently. “We’ve done the hard work. It’s a short tournament, so we have to start well and we know we have to win at least two group stage matches to progress so that’s our first focus.”Botha also said the incentives on offer will provide some inspiration. “The exposure the guys will get from this is invaluable and a lot of players will be hoping to get a look-in for next year’s IPL auction.” Earning a lucrative contract in the sport’s richest league may be on the mind of some but the new South African Twenty20 captain may also be interested to hear what Majola’s post-tournament goal is as motivation. Majola was asked what CSA will target next. “Now we need not just to host major events successfully, but to win a major trophy.”