All posts by h716a5.icu

He was hailed as the next big thing, and persisted with through thick and thin, and now the faith invested has begun to reap results big time. Watch for Watson to be crucial at the World Cup

Brydon Coverdale12-Feb-2011Four years ago on a cruise ship docked in Grenada, Merv Hughes, part-time selector and part-time travel guide, was taking questions from his World Cup tour group when an older gentleman piped up.”Is that hugely overrated Shane Watson playing today?” the man asked in frustration.”I believe,” Merv replied, “and the other selectors believe, and Ricky Ponting believes, that Shane Watson will become Australia’s most important player within the next few years.”The answer was greeted with scepticism. Watson-bashing was a popular pastime among Australian supporters, who had seen the young allrounder spend seven years in and out of the national team – mostly out. Many Australian fans felt the selectors were so blinded by the 2005 Ashes that they wanted an Andrew Flintoff of their own, and that Watson was a poor man’s Freddie at best.Others saw him as a delicate flower, his emotions all too public. Surely anyone who cried, or a man who thought he was having a heart attack when some food disagreed with him in India, would never be hard enough for international cricket? Some liked him and wished he would live up to his promise, but were resigned to his career being cut short by injury.Whatever the fans on that cruise liner thought of Watson, few agreed with Merv’s prediction. Fast-forward to the 2011 World Cup and Hughes, now an ex-selector, has been proven right.Watson enters the tournament as the winner of the past two Allan Border Medals, the one-day team’s leading scorer of the past two years and their second-highest wicket taker in the same period.And, without question, as the team’s most important player. Among the major contenders, perhaps only Jacques Kallis is as critical to his side’s all-round success at this tournament as Watson is for Australia.His most vital role is as an opening batsman, alongside Brad Haddin. In 2007, Australia had Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist to set the tone and they did the job so well that the middle order was rarely under serious pressure. Haddin is a powerful striker but his form is moderate, and Watson is the one who should really impose himself.That’s especially significant in the current Australian outfit, where the No. 3, Ricky Ponting, is returning from injury, the No. 4, Michael Clarke, can build but won’t blast, and the reliable finisher Michael Hussey is at home in Perth nursing a tender hamstring. The situation is clear – for Australia to win their fourth consecutive World Cup, Watson have a big tournament.He’ll enjoy the slower pitches on the subcontinent, where he will have extra time for his front-foot pulls and drives, and as the Player of the Tournament in the first IPL, he is a proven performer in the conditions. He’s also shown himself to be a man for big moments: what better pedigree for a potential World Cup hero than back-to-back hundreds in a Champions Trophy semi-final and final, as Watson achieved in 2009?And his bowling in this tournament shouldn’t be underestimated. In an attack that will rely heavily on the sheer pace of Shaun Tait, Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson, Ponting will look to Watson for variation, reliability and reverse swing, as he is one of the few in the attack who can claim to have it mastered.

He’ll enjoy the slower pitches on the subcontinent, where he will have extra time for his front-foot pulls and drives, and as the Player of the Tournament in the first IPL, he is a proven performer in the conditions

It is to Watson’s great credit that he did not give up bowling a few years ago, when every time he ran in to deliver the ball his team-mates held their breath and hoped a muscle wouldn’t snap. He broke down 12 times in six years, and it turned out that he was brawny. With help from the sports physio Victor Popov, Watson worked out that the gym was not the answer and that other fitness options like pilates were needed to help him become more flexible.He has transformed not only his body but also his role in the game, becoming a reliable Test opener, whose major flaw is forgivable – he makes too many fifties and not enough hundreds. That hasn’t been the case in one-day cricket, and his unbeaten 161 in the series opener against England in January will go down as one of the all-time great Australian limited-overs innings.It makes for a formidable all-round package and it seems remarkable, in hindsight, that Hughes and his fellow selectors didn’t have more supporters when they persisted with Watson, year after year, injury after injury. Watson knows he didn’t help himself with some of his behaviour. Even as recently as late 2009 fans tut-tutted at his obnoxious celebration when he bowled Chris Gayle in the Perth Test, which also brought a fine from the match referee.But finally, at 29, Watson is starting to win the Australian cricket public over. The admiration has come through a maturing approach, and more importantly, piles of runs and wickets.”It was something that I really craved, with the issues that I had with my injuries and also some of the ways I carried on in the field as well really didn’t help me out as much,” Watson said this week. “Probably one of the most satisfying things that has happened over the last couple of years has been to see people really appreciate what I’m able to do.”That respect will keep growing if Watson turns it on at the World Cup. Oh, and that match in Grenada four years ago? Merv’s words were still ringing in the ears of the Australian fans as Watson belted 65 off 32 against New Zealand.

An Indian fan watches Tendulkar and Co. down their neighbouring rivals

Rahul Bhasin31-Mar-2011Choice of game
India v Pakistan in a World Cup semi-final. I don’t think I need to give a reason why I went for this match. Just the fact that I was able to get my hands on tickets was a miracle in itself.Team supported
“India! India! India! India!” (Forgive me for the chants, but mentally I’m still in the stadium).World Cup prediction
I’m going to go with India as the winner, partly because I am an Indian, but also because they are a very, very formidable side right now. Sri Lanka are very strong, no doubt, but I just get this feeling that this Cup is destined to go to India.Key performer
Sachin Tendulkar. The minute he went, the match could have gone either way.One thing I’d have changed
Security. It was understandable why it was tight, but it was a problem that could have been taken care of if preparations were better.Accessories
I wore the Indian jersey along with a tri-coloured jester’s hat with bells on it. I also carried a big flag and a whistle.Face-off I relished
Sehwag v Gul was a sight to behold. Those five fours in an over were worth paying the price of entry once again. Absolutely brutal.Wow moment
Tendulkar’s two third-umpire referrals. The first was a leg-before decision overturned on review. And the other was a stumping chance, which we thought was out till we saw the replay. In fact, both had seemed out when seen with the naked eye, and getting the referral in his favour twice was just something else.Shot of the day
Umar Akmal’s six off Yuvraj Singh in the 32nd over. It seemed like a match-turning shot, and it went over the bowler’s head. Fortunately for India, his innings didn’t last long.Crowd meter
The stands were beyond packed. It was more than a full house. I think there were more people inside the stadium than the actual capacity. The Indian team had huge support, but the crowd also applauded the Pakistan players when they deserved it. However there weren’t that many Pakistani supporters in my stand.Besides the usual “Sachin! Sachin!” and “!” (India will win!), there was one particular chant that went on for a while, which I really liked: “Pakistan !” (Rough translation: Pakistan try harder, we support you! You’re our children, we’re your daddy.)Fancy-dress index
I’d say nearly every spectator had his or her face painted and was wearing an India jersey. Besides that, I didn’t see anything fancy. There was a man in a Santa Claus outfit; hats off to him for wearing that for 100 overs in the Mohali heat.Banner of the day
“I wasn’t born in 83. Do it for me!” Maybe because I feel the same way.ODI v Twenty20
No comparison. A well-played ODI is better than a Twenty20 anytime. This is my third World Cup game, after the West Indies v South Africa game and India v South Africa. I remember every detail from these matches. I also went to two IPL matches in 2010. I remember what teams were playing but I just can’t recall the results or any of the individual performances.Marks out of 10
10. Absolutely brilliant. Amazing atmosphere. Great game of cricket. What more can you ask for in a semi-final?

A review of the performance of the Australian players during the home Test series against New Zealand

Brydon Coverdale13-Dec-20119
James Pattinson
In South Africa, Australia discovered Pat Cummins and in this series James Pattinson was their breakout fast bowler. The prospect of the two young men sharing the new ball in the Test team when Cummins regains fitness is an enticing one. Pattinson swung the ball away from the right-hand batsmen and bowled full and straight enough to force the batsmen to play. He picked up Brendon McCullum’s wicket three times, twice with near unplayable deliveries. Pattinson was the leading wicket-taker from either side, with 14 at an average of 14, and was the best thing Australia could take from the series.8
Nathan Lyon
Lyon was second only to Pattinson on the wickets tally with 10 at 12.60 apiece. His efforts were all the more remarkable because both venues favoured the fast men. Lyon continued to toss the ball up and entice mistakes, and in both Tests he ran through the New Zealand tail. His gutsy work with the bat in Hobart also nearly delivered Australia victory as he accompanied David Warner. The lasting image of the Test will be of the New Zealanders huddling to celebrate while a distraught Lyon was crouched on the pitch having just been bowled. But the loss came in spite of, not because of, Nathan Lyon.7.5
David Warner
Selected in Brisbane because of the injury to Shane Watson, Warner had a slightly nervy entry when he gloved behind trying not to play the ball in the first innings. By the end of the series, he had carried his bat for a maiden Test century and nearly saved Australia from defeat in Hobart. It was as much the shots that he neglected as the ones he played that impressed viewers. Rarely did he hit the ball in the air and his patience was impeccable. Warner deserves to hold his spot for Boxing Day.Peter Siddle
The leader of an inexperienced attack, Siddle did not take more than three wickets in an innings but his consistent hard work was a key reason Australia’s attack was so potent. In Hobart, he reached 150kph and appeared to have mastered his outswinger. It was an admirable performance over the two Tests from Siddle, who entered the series needing to show that Australia’s fast-bowling future did not lie entirely with the younger men like Cummins and Pattinson. He achieved that goal with nine wickets at 23.22.7
Michael Clarke
The captain remains Australia’s most in-form batsman, but he needs support in the middle order. A century in the first innings at the Gabba set the tone for Australia’s strong victory, but in Hobart he failed and so did his team. As leader he rotated his bowlers well and his canny, occasional use of the part-timer Michael Hussey helped cover the gap left by the absence of Watson.6.5
Brad Haddin
While Clarke scored a hundred at the Gabba, the vice-captain Haddin also made a valuable contribution with a composed 80 that helped set up Australia’s win. His glove work was generally reliable, and a leg-side stumping off the medium-pace of Hussey was breathtakingly good. But he continued to prove a frustration: in both innings in Hobart he was out to irresponsible strokes when Australia needed to show more fight. He had done the same in Cape Town last month. To some degree, that is just the way Haddin plays, but it is not unreasonable to expect more of such a senior player.5
Ricky Ponting
A half-century in Johannesburg and one in Brisbane eased some of the immediate pressure on Ponting but, by the end of the New Zealand series, questions were again being asked about his future. His 78 at the Gabba was encouraging but both his dismissals at Bellerive Oval looked wretched. He was lbw in the first innings when he appeared to be in two minds about whether to play or leave, and his loopy lob in the air when trying to play a strong drive through the off side in the second innings was awfully ugly. There is only so long Ponting can remain in the team on the promise of a big score to come.Mitchell Starc
An encouraging start to his Test career in the first innings in Brisbane gave way to a less consistent performance throughout the rest of the series. Starc showed an ability to swing the ball but also sprayed it, reminiscent of his fellow left-armer, Mitchell Johnson. He finished the series with four wickets at an average of 50, and when Ryan Harris returns to fitness, Starc should be the man to go from the attack.4.5
Usman Khawaja
Australia’s new No.3 continued to show promising signs but was still searching for that big score to confirm his place in the side. It could have been on the way at the Gabba, when on 38 Khawaja was unlucky to be run out when Ponting called him through for a tight single. He concentrated for 78 minutes in the first innings in Hobart for 7, before edging behind, and fell to an uncharacteristically rash drive in the second innings. Should retain his place for Boxing Day if Shaun Marsh does not return from injury, but could miss out when Marsh does come back.2.5
Michael Hussey
Mr Cricket will hope to quickly forget this series, the lowest-scoring one of his career. He made 15, 8 and a golden duck and, following on from another poor series in South Africa, it has put him under the spotlight heading in to the India series. However, Hussey was Man of the Match in all three Tests in Sri Lanka, so has some credits in the selection bank. He squeezed ahead of Hughes in the rankings because his gentle outswing brought Australia two important wickets.2
Phillip Hughes
Caught Guptill, bowled Martin. What more is there to say? Hughes cannot be picked against India, and it could take years for him to regain the faith of the selectors.

Plays of the Day from the fourth day of the second Test between Australia and New Zealand in Hobart

Brydon Coverdale at the Bellerive Oval12-Dec-2011The anti-climax
New Zealand had not won a Test against Australia since March 1993, and they had not enjoyed victory on Australian soil since November 1985. So when the umpire Nigel Llong raised his finger to give Nathan Lyon lbw to Tim Southee, the New Zealand played were understandably elated. But Lyon asked for a review – rather forlornly – and the main questions appeared to be whether there was an inside edge or if the ball was sliding down leg. However, Eagle-Eye surprisingly showed the ball pitching outside leg – when Southee was coming over the wicket – and Lyon was reprieved. For the record, Eagle-Eye is produced by a New Zealand-based company. But in the end, Doug Bracewell rattled Lyon’s stumps and the review was quickly forgotten.The inevitable
Phillip Hughes, caught Guptill bowled Martin. That was how the scorecard had read for each of the first three innings of the series. A joke was doing the rounds that scoresheets were being handed out at Bellerive Oval with those details pre-printed. And it didn’t seem to matter where Guptill was fielding: in Brisbane it was at gully, in the first innings in Hobart it was at second slip. And so it proved again in the second innings as Hughes edged a wonderful Martin delivery that seamed away and was snapped up at second slip by Guptill. “If P Hughes is shaving tomorrow and gets a nick,” the ABC radio commentator Kerry O’Keeffe said, “M Guptill will appear from the medicine cabinet with a band-aid.”The near steal
Perhaps the catch got Guptill a little over-excited. When Usman Khawaja edged behind soon afterwards, the ball was sailing straight towards Ross Taylor at first slip when his view was nearly obscured by Guptill, who hurled himself to his right from second slip. Guptill leapt like a goalkeeper and almost got his hand to the ball, but luckily for New Zealand Taylor was not put off and clutched the take cleanly.The kick of joy
Taylor collected another catch soon afterwards when he snared the opposing captain Michael Clarke, who edged Doug Bracewell to first slip. Taylor’s celebration suited the momentum that was building behind New Zealand at the time: he launched a rugby style kick of the ball as he sensed he had a chance of becoming the first captain to lead New Zealand to a Test victory in Australia since Jeremy Coney.The ovation
Ricky Ponting’s dismissal wasn’t one of which he’ll be proud: a strangely mistimed drive that lobbed up to cover and was easily caught. Ponting walked off the Bellerive Oval to a standing ovation in what could well be his last international appearance at the ground. Unfortunately, there were only a couple of thousand spectators on hand to give Ponting his reception. The crowds had been disappointing for the whole match, and Monday was no exception.

At a time when batsmen the world over broke into a sweat at the thought of the West Indies’ quicks, Graeme Wood relished the challenge

Sidharth Monga23-Jan-2012In the ’80s you brought in Woody to face West Indies. Graeme Wood was a bit of a West Indies specialist in an era when Australian cricket was going through hell, and the Horsemen of the Apocalypse were at their dominant peak. There weren’t many batsmen in that decade who averaged better against West Indies than they did overall. Wood did – 33.65, against 31.83 overall.Clearly Wood didn’t master them; not many could. But he fought valiantly. He relished the challenge. So much so that he can now matter-of-factly say that he didn’t mind Malcolm Marshall. You won’t find many batsmen saying that.Wood didn’t mind Marshall because he was an outswing bowler, and thus brought the ball back into him. And also, being a swing bowler, Marshall didn’t bowl as many bouncers.Only halfway into his career did Wood get himself a helmet, but one without a grille to cover the face. He says he never felt scared of the ball. “If you did, you just wouldn’t survive.”More than a few of Wood’s many comebacks occurred when a West Indies series was around, and because West Indies were a popular team, there series against them were frequent back then. If it wasn’t Tests, it was ODIs, and the idea that an ODI must be a runfest hadn’t quite struck the curators, or the West Indies fast bowlers, then. If it wasn’t an ODI, a fast bowler would pop up in Shield cricket or for one of the counties helping the Australians warm up for the Ashes.To hear from Wood is to believe how difficult it was to face the champion fast bowlers of that age. Especially if all you have seen of them is brief footage in cricket documentaries. Facing four out of Marshall, Joel Garner, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Colin Croft in one match, on spicy pitches with variable bounce, was a nightmare.One such pitch in 1988-89, when Marshall was joined by the younger crop of Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and Patrick Patterson, ended Wood’s career. Dean Jones and Ian Healy took blows on that dodgy MCG track, and Allan Border – tough as they come – said there was absolutely no pleasure in facing that barrage. Wood fought for 130 minutes for 12 runs. “Twelve singles,” he reminds you.That was the thing about West Indies back then. You didn’t know when a run, or respite, would come – if it ever did. “The great thing about West Indies was that they always had four in the team,” Wood says. “And they tended to bowl 12 overs an hour at that stage. So someone like Malcolm Marshall, who opened the bowling, would bowl 36 deliveries in an hour, have an hour off, have lunch, and then come back after a 100-minute rest and bowl another six overs flat out.”And if you speak to someone like [Sunil] Gavaskar, that was the thing – it was hard to get momentum. Because you just weren’t facing the number of balls. Whereas now, when you are facing 90 overs a day the bowlers get tired. They know they have to bowl those 90 overs.”Once in a while West Indies made it even more interesting. “I remember playing a one-day game in Sydney, and Greg Chappell was captain,” Wood says. “Those days you had to try to get 50 off the fifth bowler. That sometimes was Viv [Richards] or [Larry] Gomes. On that day the team was Roberts, Garner, Croft, Holding, Marshall. I said to Greg, ‘Who is the fifth? Who are we going after?'”Adding to it was the competition within the West Indies unit. “When he [Garner] was given the new ball, he would grow an arm,” Wood says. “When he was bowling first- or second change, I noticed an enormous change between that and when he opened the bowling. He was a lot quicker, and from a left-hander’s perspective, he used to go across you towards slip, and it was hard work. Especially with his height.”Marshall wasn’t far behind. Once, at the WACA, West Indies batted 11 hours, leaving the Australia openers an hour to survive on the second day. Imagine their plight. “Malcolm bowled very, very fast,” Wood says. “I sort of looked back at the keeper and Clive Lloyd, and thought, ‘You have got to be kidding me.’ About 50 metres back.”Wood once hooked Roberts. He then found the legend of Roberts’ two bouncers wasn’t a myth at all. It wasn’t even a serious competitive game. Western Australia had beaten West Indies inside three days and arranged a one-day game on the fourth. “I hooked Andy Roberts here at the WACA. It went for four. Didn’t have the helmet on,” he says. “And the next one he bounced me and just got the back, and it brushed past there. That was his second, quicker, bouncer. I didn’t hook anymore in that game.

“I remember playing a one-day game in Sydney, and Greg Chappell was captain. Those days you had to try to get 50 off the fifth bowler. That sometimes was Viv or Gomes. On that day the team was Roberts, Garner, Croft, Holding, Marshall. I said to Greg, ‘Who is the fifth? Who are we going after?'”

“He didn’t say much at all. It was like he was there to do business. He was a champion bowler. Because he had that variation. He definitely had one, two, three bouncers. The third one was very, very quick. He could hit you at will. Crofty didn’t mind hitting blokes either.”Wood, though, didn’t shelve the hook. It was the only way out. In the century he scored at the WACA, against Marshall, Ambrose, Walsh and Patterson, he hooked and pulled well. He says, though, that it didn’t always work.”I thought I was a good hooker,” Wood says. “I got criticised for getting out at times. But also got a lot of runs with it. Just picking your mark. Unfortunately, the Windies developed a strategy that if I hooked them and got a four, they’d put two back. That then made it very, very difficult because you had such quality bowlers bowling. You can’t really hook them. You had to put it in the closet.”If you couldn’t hook well, you got hit. Wood remembers two big blows he took during his career. “I got hit once by Jeff Thomson at Lord’s. He was playing for Middlesex. Just a tour game. I was hit another time by Winston Davis at Headingley, in a World Cup match on a pretty green wicket. I can honestly say I was never intimidated.”You couldn’t plan how to face those bowlers. “It was just about survival for the first few overs,” he says. “Get in and blunt the new ball, and try to make it as easy as you could for the middle order. We didn’t intentionally get out thinking we will take somebody on today. You just say you have got to survive, got to hang in there. If they did bowl a bad ball, you have got to try to dispatch it. Otherwise you weren’t going to score at all.” Try telling that to today’s batsmen.There also was the pressure of knowing that the last four wickets would amount to nothing. “They could really intimidate the lower-order batsmen,” Wood says. “It’s hard enough for the guys at the top of the order. It was real intimidation. That put extra pressure on the guys on top. You knew if you were five or six down, there weren’t too many more runs coming. I think the guys were just shell-shocked in the end. And they were very, very concerned not only for their wicket but for their lives.”Wood never had to conquer that fear, he says. “I think it never arose,” he says. “You have fear of failure, fear of getting out, but never of the ball. Never feared the ball. Just get in behind it. It’s like fielding at short leg without a helmet.”He did get two centuries against West Indies. Both are among his three favourite innings, the third being his hundred in the Centenary Test, at Lord’s in 1980. One of his two against West Indies came in Guyana against a World Series-weakened attack, but it was a chase of 359 after Australia had been 22 for 3. The third was in Perth, after which he flipped the bird to the Channel 9 commentators. That was his penultimate Test. In his next Test he scored 12 singles over 130 minutes.What was it about Wood and West Indies? “Used to get the call-up all the time,” he says. “Probably being brought up in WA. We had got very good district wickets at that time that were quite quick and bouncy. We had a strong district competition. Each grade side tended to have one or two grade players who played first-class cricket. You are playing at the WACA consistently, so you learn to play off the back foot. That held you in good stead. And I enjoyed playing against fast bowling.”Another one was Bruce Laird. He was always called up to play against the Windies because he played well off the back foot. Had a good technique. Those were very tough days, tough cricket, but I enjoyed playing against them because they used to just play their cricket. There was no talk, they let the ball do it. Tough times.”Australia could give it back through Lillee and Thomson. “We had a very good side,” Wood says. “[Len] Pascoe was mad as any fast bowler. We had Greg Chappell, Hughes, Thommo, Lillee. Overall it was tremendous cricket. They were great times.”

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the 4th ODI at Chester-le-Street

Daniel Brettig at Chester-le-Street07-Jul-2012Departure of the day
Australia had already lost Shane Watson to injury when Brett Lee pulled up after the second ball of his third over to grab and stretch his right calf. Seemingly unsure whether or not it was cramp, Lee tried to straighten out the kink before attempting to run in and bowl. He did not make it halfway through his run-up before pulling up again, and a concerned Michael Clarke then ran from slip to encourage Lee to take his leave. The Chester-le-Street crowd offered warm applause, and it is just possible that Lee was leaving an English cricket ground for the last time.Change-up of the day
Sometimes a fuller ball can be used as a surprise tactic, even on a pitch that is crying out for them. Steven Finn succeeded in pushing David Warner back by bowling short of a length in the early overs, often with extravagant movement. There was the odd slightly fuller delivery that Warner played from the crease, before the first ball of Finn’s third over arrived faster and further up than the batsman had computed for. Completely on his heels, Warner was plainly lbw, though it took a review of the umpire’s original decision to confirm it.Surprise of the day
Given the firepower at Alastair Cook’s disposal, it was hardly expected that the day’s most perfect ball was to be delivered by Ravi Bopara. Yet a tacky, seaming surface and slightly damp air afforded Bopara’s mediums the ideal setting, and he would use them to confound George Bailey. Angling the ball in towards middle and off to have Bailey shaping to play to the leg side, Bopara zipped it away off the seam to clip the off bail. Bailey has now been bowled five times in as many innings on tour, though never was he as blameless as here.Introduction of the day
James Pattinson had been straining all tour for a chance to charge in at England’s batsmen, but his first delivery was not one to remember. Full at leg stump and neither swinging nor particularly fast, it was summarily dispatched to the backward square leg boundary by Ian Bell. What’s more it was a no-ball, offering Bell a free-hit. Pattinson evaded punishment for his transgression with a slower ball that the batsman miscued, but the final ball of the over was not dissimilar to the first, and Bell flicked it wide of mid-on for another boundary.

While fans anticipated some response to 0-8, the selectors gave it all a farcical turn with strange picks for reserves

Sidharth Monga10-Aug-2012The sight of Kris Srikkanth, the outgoing chairman of selectors, rattling off incoherent sentences and either not respecting or not taking questions around the logic of selections is all too common. On Friday afternoon, he said he was doing so for the last time as his term comes to an end, and for one last time he left a bizarre selection unexplained. Before the meeting, the fans were all interested in seeing how the selectors respond to the eight straight overseas Test defeats and whether they look to late 2013 and 2014 when India tour South Africa, New Zealand, England and Australia, but the Indian selectors gave it all a farcical turn with strange picks for the reserves.There were legitimate questions and anticipation in the fan’s mind. Will the selectors deem Virender Sehwag good enough to open on the four away tours come late 2013 (his average on his last four tours to those countries is 24, 28, 10 and 26 respectively) and risk a new opener in those conditions should he fail? Or will they try him in the middle order now that there are going to be vacancies? Is VVS Laxman going to make it to 2014? If not, how long will he be picked? Laxman has had only one really miserable series and merits a place in the side, especially with Rahul Dravid just retired, but will the selectors give out any pointers to the future? Does Zaheer Khan look good to go on till those away tours?And yet, the team sheets rolled out were such that you forgot all those big questions and started to try and get your head around other selections. And no, Yuvraj Singh’s comeback is not the inexplicable one. On surface it might seem like an emotional move, considering he has not proved match fitness yet, but this is also a calculated risk. Before the World Twenty20, there are two T20s against New Zealand, and before that there is the Buchi Babu tournament. So if things don’t go to plan, Yuvraj can be replaced for the big one, but if he is fit there is no need to restate the kind of matchwinner he can be on the big day.It’s the other picks that leave you flummoxed. What, for example, has Piyush Chawla done to earn both a Test and T20 recall? Is there any phantom tournament you have missed and only the selectors have watched? An average of 40 in the last Ranji Trophy, and an average of 26 and economy-rate of 7.35 in the last IPL, didn’t exactly dare the selectors to not pick him. He wasn’t even considered good enough for India A’s last tour.It’s interesting to look at the two spinners who have been pushed out because of Chawla’s return. It seems there is more than cricket to the sudden exclusion of Rahul Sharma from both the Test and T20 side. Last checked his bounce and accuracy had everybody impressed. Now he is nowhere to be seen. If this is disciplinary action for the alleged positive dope test at a party, the BCCI will be better off to say so.And what of Pragyan Ojha then? He can take the ball away from the right-hand batsmen too, he has been more impressive in IPL, he has done well in home Tests, his stats after limited opportunities in limited-overs internationals are not bad (economy rates of 4.46 and 6.28 in ODIs and T20Is), but for some reason in the game of musical chairs being played among the Indian spinners, Ojha is often the man standing up when the music stops.It is true that selection is not based on stats alone, but India have already burnt their fingers with a similar punt on Chawla in the last year’s 50-over World Cup. A much more understandable yet surprising punt is Harbhajan Singh, who brings with him experience, proven combative qualities and decent containment role during the Twenty20 leagues. And while we are at it, if Rahul is indeed being disciplined and if you were told there were only two Test spinners left in India – Chawla and Harbhajan – who’d you rather go with? A similarly understandable gamble is L Balaji, who went for 5.4 an over in the IPL, but Praveen Kumar’s absence continues to confound.The last time Chawla was picked for India, Rohit Sharma was primed for a place in the World Cup squad and had to make way. Rohit doesn’t lose out on his World Cup place this time, but he has been denied the Test bench he warmed with such frustration in Australia, coming desperately close to a debut. Granted he has failed in ODIs in Sri Lanka, but how does it earn him a T20 reward and cost him a Test place? Suresh Raina, on the other hand, has played his role in late middle order in ODIs commendably, but has he done enough since he was dropped from Tests last year to allay the concerns against Raina the Test batsman?Ishant Sharma, who bucked the trend of picking IPL over internationals and underwent ankle surgery, has yet to prove his match fitness but is back in the Test squad. Unlike Yuvraj, Ishant will hardly get any opportunity to do so before the first Test begins on August 23. This is a selection coming from a committee that had vowed to make proven fitness a non-negotiable after the debacle in England last year.And guess who is back as vice-captain of the T20 side? Gautam Gambhir, who lost that slot for unexplained reasons after Australia, has now somehow usurped Virat Kohli, who was the vice-captain until the recently concluded tour of Sri Lanka. The Test side continues to be without one.Srikkanth, though, as the chairman and the public face of the selection committee, doesn’t have the time to throw more light on these selections. “I’m in a rush,” he says. The BCCI could just as well not announce the team, and let people find out on the day of the match.

A look at why Panesar and Swann have outbowled Ojha and Ashwin in India

Aakash Chopra13-Dec-2012There were times in India when the sight of a spinner running in to the crease was intimidating for the batsman. The close-in fielders hovered, standing by to take the catches that would inevitably be produced. Back then Indian spinners sent out strong signals – that they were as lethal as the Caribbean quick bowlers, and no second fiddles. Invariably India’s spinners were superior to those from other countries, and the land of Bedi, Chandrashekhar and Prasanna kept producing quality spinners, so much so that some of them didn’t even play for India – for these three kept going for years.Today, though, even on wilting, dusty turners, Indian spinners don’t hold the same threat. For the longest time, dishing out a dustbowl guaranteed success, for India’s batsmen would score a mountain of runs and the spinners would bowl the opposition out twice, double quick. But since the retirement of Anil Kumble, things have changed.The signs of the downward spiral have been there for everyone to see. The lowest ebb has been reached in the ongoing series against England – probably the first time in Indian cricket’s history that a visiting team from outside the subcontinent has had the services of better spinners, and the decision to dish out a rank turner has been more likely to backfire on India than guarantee success – as happened in Mumbai.Why is it that Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann are extracting a lot more out of the tracks than their Indian counterparts? (Remember also that they’re bowling against a batting line-up that is known for its proficiency against the turning ball.)Panesar has been the most impressive bowler in the series, operating at a pace ideally suited to the tracks provided thus far. He bowls at least 10kph quicker than is usually recommended for spinners. While that extra pace goes against him on good batting surfaces – because he doesn’t keep the ball in the air long enough to create deception – it’s working absolutely fine on slow Indian pitches. The extra pace in the air doesn’t allow the batsman the luxury of stepping out or of waiting on the back foot. It is this extra pace that made Panesar unplayable at times in Mumbai, because handling a viciously turning ball at high speeds is extremely difficult.If it was only about the pace, then why didn’t India’s spinners crack the code and bowl quicker too? After all, how difficult could it be to increase your pace as a spinner?That’s where the basics are important, for speed can work in your favour only if the ball comes out of the hand properly, with enough revolutions on it. That’s precisely where Panesar has scored over Pragyan Ojha.Panesar’s action is that of a classical left-arm spinner, with the bowling arm very close to the ear, which enables him to not only get the wrist position slightly tilted (about 45 degrees) at the point of release but also to extract more bounce off the surface with the higher point of release.He delivers from the middle of the box, which allows him to bowl a lot straighter. Bowling closer to the stumps makes his arm ball a lot more effective, for it is always pitching and finishing in line with the stumps. Also, his follow-through takes him towards the batsman, which means the body momentum is heading in the direction of the ball; that translates into him getting a fair bit of zip off the surface.In contrast, Ojha releases the ball from the corner of the box, and his bowling arm is further away from the ear than in Panesar’s case. Ojha’s position on the crease creates an acute angle, which might give a false impression of the ball drifting in. It also means he needs a lot of assistance from the pitch to generate spin off the surface to compensate for that angle. His wrist position is slightly more tilted than Panesar’s at the point of release, which negatively affects not just bounce off the surface but also his chances of turning the ball. Finally, there’s no follow-through whatsoever: Ojha stops as soon as he delivers the ball, which indicates that his bowling is a lot about wrist and shoulder instead of being about hips and torso as well.Swann is technically superior to R Ashwin too. His bowling is all about using every limb to impart more revolutions on the ball. Since he plays most of his cricket on unresponsive English pitches, he has learnt the importance of putting revs on the ball every single time, which creates deception in the air by making the ball dip on the batsman, and also produces bite off the surface.

In Test cricket there needs to be a stock ball that one should bowl, ball after ball. You need to create deception in the air by varying the lines and speeds ever so slightly

Swann doesn’t have too many variations; in fact he has got only two deliveries – the one that spins in to the right-hander and the arm ball that goes straight on. Having fewer variations has led him to become more patient, and made him rely on changing the point of release, speed and flight without compromising on length. He has struck a fine balance between being aggressive and being patient.His lines of operation to right-handed batsmen are slightly outside off, challenging the batsman to play against the spin. Against the left-handers, he bowls a lot closer, cramping them for room. Like with Panesar, Swann’s body momentum too takes him towards the batsman.Ashwin, on the other hand, has a lot of tricks in his bag. He can bowl the traditional offspinner, a doosra and a carrom ball at will, and with a reasonable amount of control. His high-arm action gets him bounce off the surface too. But while having so many options works wonders in the shorter formats, where the batsmen can’t line him up, it works against him in Test cricket.Wickets in Test matches are a result of setting up a dismissal, and for that you need to be patient, almost bordering on being boring and predictable. There needs to be a stock ball that one should bowl, ball after ball. You need to create deception in the air by varying the lines and speeds ever so slightly. The longer you keep the batsman occupied with one kind of delivery, the better your chances of the variation catching him off guard. Ashwin, with all the weapons in his armoury, feels obliged to bring them out at regular intervals. This hampers his consistency with line and length, and results in him offering up boundary balls often.Technically, while his wrist and arm position are good, like Ojha he too doesn’t put his body behind the ball as much as he should; he falls towards the left after delivering the ball, instead of taking the momentum towards the batsman.The quality of India’s spinners was one of the reasons the team became a force to reckon with in Test cricket. The remarkable records at home were all courtesy spin. India may have had a pantheon of quality spinners but the current crop does not seem to have been able to master the craft. There are plenty of former players around who were masters of the skill. Time India got these veterans to guide the youngsters on how to spin a web around teams again.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the second day in Port Elizabeth

Firdose Moonda at St George's Park12-Jan-2013Pain of the day
Again, New Zealand’s bowlers began the day with a bit of oomph, this timethe painful kind. Doug Bracewell was the protagonist again but he wasaiming lower down than yesterday, when he pinged Graeme Smith on the head.His fifth ball of the morning had some extra bounce and nipped back intoFaf du Plessis to hit him on what the ball-by-ball commentary on thesepages described as his “special place.”The agony was immediately evident. Du Plessis crouched down in pain whileBracewell reacted with more toughness than he did with Smith and did noteven offer an apology. A smile crept over Brendon McCullum’s face and onlyafter du Plessis did not return to his feet for a few moments longer thanexpected did Martin Guptill decide to enquire about his health. In thedressing room, Dean Elgar and Jacques Rudolph winced at the replay whileHashim Amla, who was hit by Chris Martin in the same place last March couldonly sympathise from the other side.Contrast of the day
In completely the opposite fashion to the first over of the day, the firstover after lunch was owned by du Plessis. He played five patient oversbefore the break but came out with no more time to wait. He gave JeetanPatel the charge as soon as he was given the strike and launched the ballover long-on to bring up his second Test century and first at home with aflourish. Always one to enjoy the attention, du Plessis saluted the crowdas the band burst into song.Message of the day
When du Plessis was dismissed and the south-easter began blowing a little bit more energetically, South Africa’s declaration seemed imminent. Robin Peterson came out and went down swinging, leaving Elgar on 73. Dale Steyn joined him and after two overs of scratching around, the 12th man came out with a bat that was never handed over and a message. It seemed to say that Elgar would have until tea to get to his century even though he was only on 83 at the time. Elgar responded with a six off the first ball of the over that followed but only managed to add two more singles before the break and was allowed to resume batting after that in the quest for his maiden hundred.Drop of the day
Jacques Kallis very rarely puts down catches and it’s even more scarce thathe puts down such simple ones. Martin Guptill’s horrible series continuedwhen he pushed at Dale Steyn’s fourth ball, with feet rooted to the ground,and got an edge. Kallis only had to collect the ball at knee height and gothands to it but then let it slip out. Steyn only turned and walked away with nothing to say to the most experienced player on the field, Kallispursed his lips in irritation and stood unmoved for a few seconds tocontemplate his mistake. It cost nothing though as Guptill nicked off twoovers later without adding a run.Ball of the day
South Africa’s attack showed no mercy and Rory Kleinveldt took his role asVernon Philander’s replacement seriously. He got swing and seam movementand coaxed the ball into spitting its way through. His nastiest was thedelivery that claimed Dean Brownlie, an unplayable one that straightenedafter pitching off a shortish length. Brownlie tried to jump out of the waybut gloved it to AB de Villiers who took a good catch to deepen NewZealand’s woes.

Evenly-matched teams, a condensed format and interesting weather in England – we are in for an intriguing Champions Trophy. Will it be able to rebuild the fan’s faith in the sport?

Krish Sripada, India01-Jun-2013The voracious appetite of cricket fans has been tested quite a bit in the last couple of years. The pinnacle of Test performances, the mace, has changed quite a few hands. A World Cup was won for the first time by a team playing the final in its home ground. A few seasons of IPL have flown dazzlingly past us, much like fire crackers that create the illusion of stars, only to fade away much too early to be noticed. The cricket lover is befuddled by the palette of cricketing news that is presented to him every morning. While he expects scores, stats and records being broken and legends being made, all he finds is suspended umpires, jailed players and suspect officials. The grandstands have taken a back seat, pun intended.Even as Bayern Munich vanquishes its ghosts, and Rafael Nadal prepares to do something never done before in the world of tennis, cricket lovers are wistfully looking at the Champions Trophy. The tournament has always been the under-performing brother to the 50-over World Cup. It is a tournament that pretends to be something big, only to fizzle away as the show goes on. It is a tournament whose very existence is questionable. It doesn’t serve much purpose, apart from irking the Associates which don’t get to participate, and consuming a few days in a busy cricketer’s life. So many stars have got on a plane again barely days after the IPL – colours altered, motivations rediscovered, enmities rekindled. Can this tournament do enough to drown the chaos that surrounds us in the form of news, bits and pieces, scraps of wheels coming off, mud slung and surprises thrown, almost at will, every day?It could, if only because this promises to be of the more open limited-overs events in recent years. A few teams, including the world champions of the ODI format, are in transition. The host nation, perpetually gives the impression that cricket in coloured clothing isn’t their thing. The men from Australia will have a small urn at the back of the mind, not the big trophy. The Caribbean bunch, led by a new captain, and the dust storm called Pakistan, that nearly lost a series to Ireland recently, will be unpredictable and dangerous as ever. The weather in England will add to the intrigue. The chill is in the air, the ball will swing, and a few hands are already weary after long seasons.South Africa looks like the team to beat, with Dale Steyn in red-hot form and their captain AB de Villiers beginning to treat short-format cricket like a picnic in the backyard. For once, they will have an emotion stronger than the normal dread they carry into big tournaments. That emotion is the attachment to their coach, Gary Kirsten, in his last assignment. India gave him quite a memorable goodbye with arguably the biggest prize in international cricket. Can the Saffers do something similar? Two groups of four countries each, in a league shootout for semifinal berths: this is the no-nonsense format the full-fledged ODI World Cup will never give us. With the chances of one-sided contests greatly reduced, it might well be two weeks of spirited cricket.What cricket needs is a good tournament. A few good days of hard fought cricket, hopefully clean and cheerfully tight. What the fans need is a few days of distraction, sadly speaking, from what cricket has offered in the last two weeks. Let the redemption begin.If you have a submission for Inbox, send it to us here, with “Inbox” in the subject line