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ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the final Champions Trophy Group match

Andrew Fidel Fernando and Nagraj Gollapudi at The Oval17-Jun-2013The surreptitious bowledWhen a bowler delivers a beauty, the whole team often lets the batsman know, but when James Faulkner seamed one off leg stump, to beat Angelo Mathews outside edge in the 37th over, no one was wise to the fact that the ball had clipped off stump. Faulkner turned around to appeal, perhaps for an lbw, and Matthew Wade dove to collect the ball on the bounce, and it was only when Mathews began his trek to the dressing room did the fielding side spot the dislodged bails and begin to celebrate.The (almost) copycat celebrationLasith Malinga might not quite match Usain Bolt for flair and hype, but he’s not far off in the cricket world, and he took a leaf from the other speedster’s book when he dismissed Glenn Maxwell in his first over. Maxwell had hit him for four the previous ball, but Malinga dug in a yorker and when the death rattle came, sunk to his knees and did a Sri Lankanised version of Usain’s “bow and arrow” pose, only pointing towards the Australia dressing room.The releaseXavier Doherty had tied down Sri Lanka well in the middle overs even bowling a maiden in the 29 overs. Sri Lanka’s run rate was still less than four, never threatening to cross the four-run mark. Mahela Jayawardene, the most versatile Sri Lankan batsman, read the situation well and decided to take few calculated chances. He knew that Maxwell was flighting the ball and it was tempting to take him on. He had seen the fine leg was wide and the third man was inside the circle. In Maxwell’s second over Jaywardene attempted a good reverse sweep but was only denied a certain boundary by Clint McKay’s acrobatic dive. In Maxwell’s following over, Jayawardene swatted powerfully to beat Doherty at fine leg and then went for the reverse sweep, this time successfully beating the fielder to step on the accelerator. It was the turning point of the match as Jayawardene had released the pressure valve held tightly by Australia till then.The ill-fated pirouetteLasith Malinga had bowled several full tosses on leg stump in his first spell, and Australia continued to either pick him off to fine leg or run leg byes, if they could not get bat to it. When he struck George Bailey on the knee-roll in the ninth over, the batsman began his run slowly, revolving at the crease to get into position for his run, but having not spotted Nuwan Kulasekara at short fine leg, his turn cost him his wicket. Adam Voges began sprinting down the track as soon as the ball hit Bailey, but by the time Bailey began to replicate that urgency, the Kulasekara had already wound up the throw. A direct hit found Bailey well short, and had Michael Clarke clutching his hair in the dressing room.The catchAt 192 for 9, Australia seemed not to have a hope, but No.10 Clint McKay and No. 11 Xavier Doherty resisted Sri Lanka, and what’s more, progressed securely toward the target of 254. They had put on 41 and had only 22 more to get when Tillakaratne Dilshan was given his fourth over from the Pavilion End, and as he has done twice already in the last eighteen months, took a super catch to seal a nailbiter. McKay played early at a slower one and struck it firmly to Dilshan’s left, and the bowler changed directions in an instant and stuck his arm out to complete the catch. Having won the match, Dilshan threw the ball in the air and sprinted ecstatically from the bowling crease to deep point, with his team in pursuit.

Trying to catch one of his final innings in the game became a matter of urgency, of getting to say a proper goodbye

Daniel Brettig27-Jul-2013From the moment of his international retirement in Perth last year, I’d always planned to see Ricky Ponting bat in the flesh one final time. I wasn’t sure where or when this would be, but it would certainly happen, either for Tasmania, Hobart Hurricanes or Surrey: plenty of matches remained. A BBL date in Sydney took place with Ponting absent injured, cutting out one chance. A Sheffield Shield final elapsed without the opportunity to visit in person as it clashed with an India Test, dashing another. Slowly, the window was narrowed.Early on in my visit to England for the Ashes, Ponting announced that he would draw his career to a close before the start of the next Australian season, adding further urgency to the commitment. Not to worry, I thought, there were ample games to go. But the demands of the Ashes precluded a visit to see him play for Surrey, including his last first-class innings of an unbeaten 169, and as the Caribbean Premier League ticked near, the chance of being there for that final glimpse diminished.But all the while I had in mind two T20 fixtures at Lord’s and The Oval in the last week of July, as I’m sure many others did. In the circumstances, it seemed like the right way to bid Ponting farewell. He was not taking part in the Ashes, sure, and at that moment most members of the Australian team he had represented for 16 years would not be in London but in Sussex, slogging through a tour match and trying to conjure some inspiration for the next three Tests against England.So at the height of the English summer, in front of packed crowds, Ponting would sign off with a flourish and a last volley of strokes. He would walk to the wicket accompanied by rich applause, and perhaps the odd bit of well-lagered abuse from those wishing to revisit the verbal barbs of 2005 or 2009. A marking of the guard, a glance around the field, and a resumption of that familiar crouch at the batting crease would follow.One last time I would see bowlers strain that little extra amount to find a way past Ponting’s bat. A redoubled effort in the presence of batting greatness, a chance to tell the grandchildren that they had got the man out, even if at the age of 38, in a racy format far removed from the five-day game where he made his name. One last time fielders would tense for opportunities, perhaps at slip from an early nick, perhaps later on at midwicket or mid-on from a slightly miscued pull shot. And the fielders in the ring would think themselves a chance of sneaking a run-out, per Pratt, per Flintoff.Whatever chances Ponting would offer, he would also provide a reminder of what made him so rare a batting talent. Maybe it would be with straight drives off the front foot, of the kind he delighted in scorching past the ankles of a fast bowler. Perhaps it would be with the squarer punches off the back, played with a level of certainty and consistency that few batsmen of any era have managed. Almost certainly it would feature a few rasping pull shots, of the kind that for so long turned the bouncer, a pace bowler’s most common intimidatory resource, into the friendliest ball Ponting could possibly receive.

Before and after the match, it would have been possible to glimpse the drive that made Ponting such an exemplar of how to pursue victories. His nets and warm-ups would be precise and demanding, never once mailed in from an absent mind

When it came time for Surrey to take the field, Ponting would then offer one final masterclass in the versatility, agility and unstinting alertness of perhaps the finest all-round fielder Australia has produced. Impassable on both sides, with a knack for hitting the stumps and an even better one for catching almost everything that went near him, it was in the field that Ponting never once lost his best touch, even if the sharpness of his batting began to trail off in later years. Rod Marsh was known to exclaim “just look at him” during a Shield match last summer, when comparing Ponting with those Australian cricketers destined to follow but never better him.Before and after the match, it would have been possible to glimpse the drive that made Ponting such an exemplar of how to pursue victories. His nets and warm-ups would be precise and demanding, never once mailed in from an absent mind. No one has played in more victorious Test matches than Ponting, and as the game drifts further towards a T20-lined future, no one is likely to pass him. His desire to win always outstripped his desire for personal gain. It is one of many qualities so evident in Ponting that Australian cricket is in dire need of rediscovering.As the Surrey allrounder Gareth Batty observed recently in the of Ponting’s last day as a first-class cricketer: “Many players would have been happy to have done what Ricky did in his final innings, regardless of the result of the game. But he still came into the changing room after the game pretty downbeat that we never got an opportunity to win. He genuinely meant it, too. In my opinion, he’s the best Australian batsman of his generation, one of the top two or three in the world at that time, yet still his sole focus was: ‘We need to win a game of cricket. That’s the only thing that matters.’ When you see that will to win from a player, it’s phenomenal.”That downbeat expression would be visible from the Oval balcony on the night I came to see him. A groin strain ruled him out of this match against Kent, as it had the visit to Lord’s and Middlesex the previous night. All those final memories of Ponting had to be remembered from other days, not cherished on this one. As the evening crept on, it dawned on me that Ponting’s final innings in England took place eight days ago, at The Oval. He made 3 for Surrey in a loss to Hampshire. I wasn’t there, and nor were many who had hoped to see him bat one last time. Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

After being tripped up in the first Test against Pakistan, maybe it is time for South Africa to allow Imran Tahir the chance to partner with Robin Peterson

Firdose Moonda in Abu Dhabi18-Oct-2013Not more than an hour after South Africa crashed to their first Test defeat away from home in three years, the team was back at the drawing board, working on ways to avoid another. While some of the squad were licking their wounds, Imran Tahir was bowling on the practice pitch.Hashim Amla, who faced 26.1 overs of spin in the match from Saeed Ajmal and Zulfiqur Babar, was standing where the umpire would be. Adi Birrel, the South African assistant coach, was keeping while Russell Domingo was at square leg. They were all watching very carefully, perhaps looking for a sign that Tahir was generating enough turn to play in the second Test.But they did not need to be out there to know that. A mere glance at the scorecard should be enough. South Africa’s spin department needs propping up after Robin Peterson – who, along with Pakistan keeper Adnan Akmal, was fined 50% of his match fee after the game for a bit of pushing that occurred when Akmal tried to pick up a bail while Peterson was batting – and JP Duminy conceded at 3.89 runs to the over, more than any of their seamers and more than the overall Pakistan run-rate, and only took two wickets, both of them belonging to Duminy.Peterson, whose 28.5 overs cost 125 runs, was particularly problematic as he struggled to find a consistent line and bowled too many full tosses. Neither posed much of a threat to batsmen who were confident against spin, both in terms of footwork and and in their use of the sweep shot. What South Africa need is someone who can do more – be it hold up an end to allow the seamers to attack or make incisions themselves – and that makes Tahir’s inclusion a no-brainer.His former franchise coach at Titans, Richard Pybus, called his ability to take wickets an asset which makes him a “match-winner”, but warned that he needs to be managed carefully if picked. For a start, Pybus is concerned that Tahir has not played regularly in the lead-up to the series. His last first-class match was in February and he did not play any county cricket – a rarity for Tahir – this year. He has played a handful of limited-overs matches, for South Africa in Twenty20s in Sri Lanka and for Lions at the Champions League T20.”Guys like Imran need to bowl and bowl,” Pybus told ESPNcricinfo. “He needs to bowl all year round. He can’t get by on a minimum of bowling. He needs to be tougher on himself with regards to how much he must bowl competitively to be ready.”And when he does bowl, he needs to be given clear instructions not to get carried away. “He needs solid game plans and he needs to bowl to the team plan, knowing his role and exactly what is needed at each stage of the game. It’s not just about waiting to clean up the tail, he needs to control the game for the skipper when he is needed to. He can do it, but he needs to adhere to it. Martin van Jaarsveld and Pierre Joubert [both former captains] at Titans were very firm with him and it helped him to keep his game plan and focus.”Tahir showed signs of the recklessness that can come from not being under orders when he bowled in the practice match in Sharjah. His first spell was an assortment of unnecessary variation, dotted with half-volleys and bereft of a plan. He returned for a more disciplined second spell, bowling a consistent length and frequently using the googly as well. Although he did not get any wickets, he did beat the bat on several occasions. Should he be able to replicate that, he could provide South Africa with a viable spin option for the second Test.The coaching staff’s actions suggest Tahir will play but Graeme Smith hinted at minimal change, although he admitted there was a concern in the spin department. “If I said no, it would be lie,” Smith said, but then moved quickly to quell thoughts of South Africa making drastic adjustments to an XI that has only lost once in the last 16 Tests.”People have bad games and we need to work on the people and the personnel and give them the best opportunity to do well. My focus as a leader is to work with those guys that have taken a bit of a knock in confidence. Tactically we need to decide what’s the best option. It’s a must-win game. We need to look at how we set up bowlers to take 20 wickets.”Pybus, although he would like to see the “frontliner get it right” mentioned something else which could be a solution Smith will be interested in hearing. “At Titans, Imran used to get 10 wicket hauls to win the game for us,” Pybus said. “He and Paul Harris together were a sight to behold. They loved bowling together and were good for each other.”Harris was South Africa’s holding spinner for four years before Tahir was picked, and when the team reverted to a containing man, Peterson filled the role. It seemed to be the thinking was that if Harris worked well in conjunction with Tahir, there may be reason to think Peterson could do the same.It would allow Peterson to go back to the job of keeping an end tight – which he has proved he can do – and leave the attacking to Tahir. “Robbie needs to master his control,” Pybus said. “There are no margins in Test cricket, six inches either side of a length is a lot of space for good players of spin. He has a great temperament and is aggressive. He just needs his control sorted out.”The only decision South Africa would then have to make is who to leave out. Pakistan play two specialist spinners alongside only two quicks but its unlikely South Africa will want to leave any of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander or Morne Morkel out. The obvious would be shorten the batting line-up slightly by benching Faf du Plessis, who has struggled in recent Tests.Should South Africa take that route, it would be the first time since they became World No. 1 that they are deviating from the Kirsten-inspired seven-batsmen strategy and it may be a way for them to move on. Already, the impact of “guru Gary’s” absence has been cited as a factor for the defeat.Both India and South Africa have lost matches in the immediate aftermath of Kirsten’s departure but this result should not be read as a blight on Russell Domingo, neither should be seen as a parallel to England’s fortunes here in early 2012. This was simply a case of being outplayed, perhaps through some under-preparation and even under-estimation of the opposition.What South Africa may be interested to know is that England also went into the first Test in the UAE with one spinner: Graeme Swann, and three seamers. They dropped Chris Tremlett in favour of Monty Panesar for the next two Tests. Despite losing them both, Panesar ended up as the leading wicket-taker for England with 14 scalps at 21.57 and two five-fors. If signs are anything to go by, that’s one South Africa will look to.

Pakistan’s seamers failed to create opportunities as a unit. Their bowling coach Mohammad Akram reiterated that the bowlers let Sri Lanka off the hook by not maintaining any pressure

Umar Farooq in Dubai09-Jan-2014Saeed Ajmal went wicket-less. Junaid Khan was tidy. Bilawal Bhatti was ineffective. Mohamamd Hafeez was under-bowled and Rahat Ali was unlucky. That was the tale of Pakistan’s bowlers on the second day in Dubai. They managed to take only three wickets, conceded 261 as Sri Lanka walked away with a decent lead of 153 runs and six wickets in hand. Pakistan walked away with few positives in terms of the bowling, on a pitch that is expected to get flatter and test them further.Pakistan stumbled to 165 after losing the toss yesterday – an improvement from their 99 after opting to bat first against South Africa on the same pitch in October. The toss was the difference but bowlers toiled hard on both occasions to mend the mistakes made by the batsmen from day one.The chatter in the press box was mainly about Rahat being ‘unlucky’. He toiled for 26 overs with little success, with several edges dropping in front of the slips and a regulation take that was spilled by the wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed. Ajmal was economical but unsuccessful. Bhatti, playing in his second Test, was the quickest – clocking 147 kmph – but lacked discipline. Coach Dav Whatmore said before the Test that his bowlers had the ability to take 20 wickets to win the contest but today, the bowlers struggled to take half that number to try and restrict the Sri Lankan batsmen.”The pitch played better than yesterday and it was very obvious when they (Sri Lanka) won the toss and bowled first,” Mohammad Akram, Pakistan’s bowling coach, said. “There was a bit of juice in the pitch yesterday. We knew that the pitch will get better (for batting) but still, our bowlers held them well. But yes, they needed to be more disciplined.”There was occasional seam movement but the lengths didn’t work and the bowlers rarely troubled the Sri Lankan batsman. Rahat was in fact lucky when Kumar Sangakkara’s bat was stuck under his boot, only to be trapped in front of the stumps. It was Rahat’s only wicket. Akram said the bowlers didn’t put in enough effort.”When you are bundled out for 165, there is a bit of frustration (among bowlers), and you look to pick up wickets,” Akram said. “That’s the time when you really need to be disciplined. At times we bowled too many loose balls as well but the effort was there as the bowlers still ran in with their heads up.”We lacked disciplined in the bowling. You can’t offer a loose ball early in the day and let the batsman get set. The pitch is far different today to what it was on the first day so had we batted sensibly and survived, it could have been a different scenario for us.”Our bowling attack is still the best in the world. But what we are lacking is the experience and if you add the number of matches the seamers have played it is hardly 17 or 18. Unless these bowlers play, they won’t thrive.”Akram wasn’t worried about Ajmal being off-color, acknowledging that the conditions had challenged him. Ajmal had picked up a six-wicket haul in the Test against South Africa.”Ajmal is our main bowler, but there was a lot of grass on the pitch and hence not much purchase for Ajmal,” Akram said. “The seamers had to do the job. We need not panic and there is no reason to be frustrated if he (Ajmal) isn’t picking wickets. It happens and you can’t judge him on these two matches as he has done a lot in the past.”

With India’s bowling coming good in the World Twenty20, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have not been tested but they need to sort their techniques and mindsets to match their ODI successes

Abhishek Purohit27-Mar-20148:20

Manjrekar: Worried about India openers’ form

Few gave India a chance going into the Champions Trophy last year. They had chosen a young squad over a few established names, and had a fresh pair of openers. One of them was making a comeback to the one-day side, albeit after a spectacular Test debut. The other had only recently been converted into an opener following several underwhelming years in the middle order.Few would have expected Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma to start the Champions Trophy with partnerships of 127, 101, 58 and 77. It was even more of a surprise than India’s roaring bowling form has been in the World T20 so far. Dhawan and Rohit went on to establish themselves as the first-choice limited-overs opening pair for India. They average nearly fifty in ODIs and have ten fifty-plus stands in 31 innings.In the World T20, the expectations have ratcheted up significantly from the duo. They have become a hit pair in one limited-overs format, and are expected to carry that success into the shorter one as well. The bowling surprise has meant that they have not really been tested so far, and India will be hoping they will deliver when they come up against one, which will surely happen at some stage in the tournament, if not against Bangladesh on Friday.While they may have spent plenty of time together in the middle in ODIs, Rohit and Dhawan had only one opening stand in T20s coming into this world event, worth 12 runs against Australia in October last year in Rajkot. India do not play much international T20 cricket, and the dynamics of opening in ODIs and T20s are vastly different.Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan must fall back on the familiarity of their ODI partnership to tide over their lack of experience as a pair in T20s•BCCIRohit is not a natural opener, and it is well known now that he likes to take his time in ODIs, occasionally at the cost of the flow of an innings. He has opened in T20s before – in the 2009 World T20 – but most of his innings previously in the format have come in the middle order. He made 24 off 21 before falling against Pakistan but once he got in against West Indies, he ensured he remained there until the end, finishing on an unbeaten 62 off 55. He’s largely done what was required of him in those chases, especially against West Indies. As Rohit will know, his real challenge will come when he will not have the leeway of a benign asking-rate, especially if India’s bowlers have an overdue off-day and he is handed a stiff chase.Dhawan has a bigger challenge. Against Pakistan, he charged at Umar Gul and heaved a top-edge off a short ball once more but that is not his challenge. It can be argued he will have no choice but to attack the short ball in this format, and will have to make do with his tendency to get out in doing so. It is spin he has to combat. Mohammad Hafeez had a leg before appeal against Dhawan off the first ball the batsman faced in an unconvincing effort against Pakistan. Against West Indies, he was given leg-before off the third ball against Samuel Badree, although it was a poor decision with the ball appearing to miss leg. Like he did against Badree, Dhawan often gets cramped on the back foot and becomes vulnerable to the incoming or straighter delivery. It is not even a question of blocking away such balls; he is often too late bringing down his bat on them.With tougher tests lying in wait, what Rohit and Dhawan will have to fall back on is the mutual understanding they have developed since June 2013, according to Rohit.”When you have the right combination going around and you’ve batted for a while, together, you understand each other very well,” Rohit said. “These things really matter when you play the short format. All those little things like running between the wickets and taking singles really matter. We’ve had a good understanding and a good run for the last year or so.”The team expects a lot of us because we’re the ones who set the tone for the games. It’s important for us to take on that challenge. It’s very important what you do in the first six overs in this format – whether you bat or bowl. As openers, it’s important we give the team a good start. We know we’ve got a good middle order to capitalize.”That is the difference between the Champions Trophy and the World T20. The team, as well as the fans, now expect “a lot” from Rohit and Dhawan. Those expectations are about coming good on a night when India will dearly need them to.

Having served a one-year ban for failing to report an approach by a bookie, Siddharth Trivedi is back playing competitive cricket

Amol Karhadkar16-Oct-2014He was part of India’s Under-19 World Cup squad in 2002. He has spent more than a decade on the first-class circuit. He has been part of a victorious IPL campaign. Still, when Siddharth Trivedi ran in to bowl in a Saurashtra Cricket Association’s inter-district tournament last week, he felt as if he was on his first-class debut.It was perfectly understandable. Trivedi was playing his first competitive game after serving a one-year suspension for failing to report an approach by a bookie during the IPL corruption scandal in 2013.”I was feeling exactly the same when I made my first-class debut,” Trivedi tells ESPNcricinfo, speaking from Rajkot, where he is playing for Saurashtra in a pre-season warm-up tournament that also features Baroda and his former team Gujarat. “The same nervousness, the same pangs in the stomach. But once I bowled the first couple of balls, I realized that I had finally discovered what I had been missing the most over the last year.”Trivedi’s played his comeback game on October 9, for Rajkot City against Bhavnagar Rural in the SCA Tajawala Trophy inter-district tournament. It was his first competitive match since Rajasthan Royals’ Qualifier against Mumbai Indians during the 2013 IPL season. Neither the fact that he was bowling in front of the Lord’s-like media centre at the SCA stadium in Khandheri nor the fact that he was up against a mediocre side mattered to him. What mattered was that he was out on the park.”Obviously it was difficult,” Trivedi says. “I was rusty since I hadn’t bowled in a competitive match for over a year. No doubt I was under pressure. But once I took the field, I really enjoyed the match. It was something that I had waited for over a year, so once I bowled a couple of deliveries, I decided to just express myself without thinking about my performance. Then I realized that I was so excited to give my best for a team on cricket field rather than worrying about my performance.”Soon after the IPL qualifier, reports surfaced that Trivedi had had a few meetings with suspected bookies along with Ajit Chandila, the Royals offspinner who had been arrested along with teammates Ankeet Chavan and S Sreesanth. Trivedi then co-operated with the Delhi police. The BCCI found him guilty of not reporting an approach and suspended him for a year.Trivedi is reluctant to talk about the controversy, and says he wants to put it behind him. But he opens up about his life away from cricket, and says he found it difficult to come to terms with the fact that he could not bowl at all. He had confined himself to his home in Ahmedabad, but realised that wouldn’t help him recover from the blow.”The more I stayed at home the more I used to get frustrated. So I realized I had to keep myself busy to remain positive,” Trivedi says. “For almost 20 years now, I have been constantly playing cricket matches, whether league matches or first-class cricket or company matches or [in the minor county leagues] in England. Hardly have I stayed home for a month in succession throughout all these years. So it was difficult to come to terms with it. Then I tried to keep my routine going. I didn’t have access to all the facilities in terms of cricket but I ensured that I made use of whatever I had and remained fit.”Trivedi found solace in the gym, and gradually increased the time he spent there, contending that he had a better chance of coming back strongly if he was fit. He also began studying video footage of his bowling performances and analysed how he could improve as a bowler.Asked if he ever thought about giving up the game after his name popped up in the IPL corruption scandal, Trivedi says the thought never entered his mind. He says his recovery was possible only because of the support he received from his friends, family and well-wishers.”They always backed the fact that I was unfortunately involved in it without ever knowing anything about those people,” he says. “That confidence that they have shown me has made me even more determined to go out onto the field yet again and perform even better to justify the faith they have shown in me.”Once his suspension ended and the BCCI working committee allowed him to return to mainstream cricket, Trivedi approached the SCA chief Niranjan Shah, who had signed him as a professional in 2011-12. Shah welcomed him “with open arms”, raising Trivedi’s hopes of returning to first-class cricket.Trivedi says his task is a lot tougher this year, with Saurashtra having roped in Uttar Pradesh seamer Sudeep Tyagi, but he is undeterred. He knows he has a long way to go if he has to play the big domestic tournaments again.”It’s just like starting from scratch,” he says. “I have played three games so far and have spent more than a week training in Rajkot. Saurashtra captain Jaydev Shah and coach Shitanshu Kotak, with whom I have played a lot, have been really supportive. I just hope I can continue putting in my best and justify the faith of my well-wishers by returning to top-flight cricket soon.”

The great Australian batsman always did justice to his precociousness and reputation for being adept in all conditions

Ashley Mallett18-Oct-2014With a gleam in his eye and a skip in his step, Neil Harvey pounced on the ball like a cat nailing a mouse.Harvey danced yards down the wicket to get to the pitch of the ball from the slow bowlers, yet he was never out stumped in Test cricket despite having batted against some of the finest spinners of any era. Arguably the best Australian batsman since Don Bradman, Harvey played 79 Tests, hitting 6149 runs at 48.41, with 21 hundreds and a highest score of 205.He scored his first Test century (153) against India in the Melbourne Test of 1947-48. From the outset of the 1948 tour, 19-year-old Harvey absorbed as much information as he could from old campaigners like Arthur Morris, Lindsay Hassett, Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall and Bill Johnston.However, he struggled to come to terms with the slow, seaming English tracks. After four matches he was averaging seven and he felt he needed some wise counsel. Hesitant to approach Bradman, he asked his room-mate, fellow Victorian Sam Loxton if he would talk to the Don.Sam sidled up to his captain and asked, “George [curiously he always called Bradman “George”], what’s young Harvey doing wrong?” Bradman looked Loxton straight in the eye and said matter-of-factly, “Sam, you go and tell your little mate that if he doesn’t hit the ball in the air he can’t get out.”Soon runs started to flow for Harvey; an unbeaten 76 against Lancashire and he was on his way. Then Sid Barnes got injured and Harvey was picked to bat at No. 5 in the Leeds Test. Three quick wickets fell – Morris (6), Hassett (13) and Bradman (33) – before Harvey strode to the crease.”Keith Miller was in at the time and he told me he would take to the bowling,” Harvey said. “First ball from [Jim] Laker, he clubbed straight over my head for six and I thought, ‘How good is this, might not be as tough as I thought.'”In 90 minutes, Harvey and Miller hit 121, the youngster getting more confident, especially against Laker, whose turn worried him early on, and when Miller fell for 58, Harvey was joined by Loxton, who took over the assault. Their partnership of 105 came in a hurricane 95 minutes, with Loxton, who smashed five sixes, falling seven runs short of a century, and Harvey going on to score his first hundred against England.In South Africa in 1949-50 he hit 660 runs in the five Tests at a Bradman-like average of 132, which included an extraordinary unbeaten 151 in Durban. Bowled out for just 75 on a treacherous Kingsmead wicket, Australia were set a target of 336. Harvey was the key. He used his twinkling footwork to hammer Hugh Tayfield and Tufty Mann, ensuring a wonderful comeback victory.

“My first ball was quick and moved late from leg stump to a little outside off and I thought, ‘Hey that’s a beauty!’ Harv moved back and across and hit the ball like a rocket in front of point for four”Alan Davidson

Harvey starred in the first Test match I ever witnessed. My granddad took me along to the second Test of the 1954-55 Ashes hoping I’d see an Australian win. After all, England were defending a shade over 200 runs.And victory might have been achieved but for a man named Frank Tyson. This, after getting battered to the tune of 1 for 160 off 29 overs in Brisbane a few weeks before. “Typhoon” Tyson bowled on this last day with the wind behind him to take 6 for 85 in 18.4 overs of unrelenting hostility. All the while the “pocket dynamo” that was Harvey hooked, pulled, cut and drove in a magnificent display of aggression. One hook for six went away to where we sat in front of the Noble Stand and bounced over the fence and into the visitors’ dressing room. Les Favell’s 16 was the next-best score, and when the ninth wicket fell, Australia needed 78, and in strolled the perennial No. 11, Bill Johnston, carrying his trusty heavily bandaged bat. Harvey met big Bill with a cheery, “Let’s go for them, mate”.Big Bill hung in there while Harvey cut loose and they put on 39 before Johnston tickled one down the leg side and Godfrey Evans did the rest. Australia all out 184, Harvey not out 92, England won by 38 runs.At least there was some light relief during the match. As Jim Burke’s laborious 44 neared its end in the first dig, Yabba, the SCG’s most famous barracker, yelled from the outer: “Hey Burkey, you are so like a statue, I wish I was a pigeon.”Harvey’s batting delighted the likes of Yabba and thousands of fans worldwide. Not only did he conquer all manner of spinners, including Laker, Tony Lock, Sonny Ramadhin and Subhash Gupte, he succeeded against some of the greatest fast bowlers to walk the Test stage; bowlers like England’s Tyson, Statham, Alec Bedser and Fred Trueman, South Africa’s Peter Heine and Neil Adcock; West Indians Wes Hall and Garry Sobers.In the wake of the retirements of Ian Johnson and Miller, the Australian selectors surprisingly chose 22-year-old New South Wales captain Ian Craig to lead the national team ahead of Harvey and Richie Benaud. In 1956-57, ahead of the South African tour later in the year, two Sheffield Shield captains, Harvey (Victoria) and Craig (NSW) met on the field for the toss, which Craig won and asked Victoria to bat.Minutes before the toss, Victorian opening batsman Colin McDonald deflected a ball into his face in the nets and as Craig and Harvey were about to toss, Harvey asked Craig for a gentleman’s agreement to allow a substitute for McDonald. Craig refused, citing the importance of the match.Alan Davidson, the Australia and NSW allrounder, noted a rare angry reaction from Harvey, who came out to bat wearing the look of a man going to war.”Harv smashed us all over the place,” Davidson said. “We started the match at 11am and at 2pm Victoria had already scored 200 and I took the second new ball. My first ball was quick and moved late from leg stump to a little outside off and I thought, ‘Hey that’s a beauty!’ Harv moved back and across and hit the ball like a rocket in front of point for four. In fact, it was hit with such power the ball struck the pickets and rebounded 10 metres back into the playing area. Neil’s 209 was a brilliant knock. I rate Neil the best batsman in any of the Australian teams in which I played.”

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Harvey was one of six brothers. His father Horace taught them all to play the game and they trained on the cobbled laneway next to the family home in Fitzroy. Neil’s elder brother Merv played one Test for Australia, while Mick and Ray both played for Victoria. And all six Harvey brothers (including Brian and Harold) played for Fitzroy in Victorian district cricket.Neil Harvey was hard to dislodge even on turning tracks in India and was never stumped in his Test career•Getty ImagesMost of the brothers played baseball and Neil was twice named in the All-Australian baseball team. He had a brilliant fast arm and he could field anywhere, from the covers to the slips.Many believe Harvey would have made a fabulous Test captain. He led the side once at Lord’s in 1961 when Benaud withdrew through injury, Harvey’s men won the Test.Harvey was a Test selector for 12 years, and in 1980, while playing in a golf four at Pennant Hills with Ian Chappell, Brian Taber and Graeme Watson, Harvey told Chappelli that it was he who convinced his fellow selectors that the time had come for Bill Lawry to go and Ian Chappell to take over.”Don [Bradman] wasn’t too keen on the idea and he believed that Ian wasn’t the right bloke for the job, but Chappelli became the captain and Don was wrong,” Harvey said.As a youngster, South Africa’s champion batsman Graeme Pollock was inspired by Harvey’s cricket and he remained his hero, proving that even heroes have heroes.The year 2014 has been a sad one for the Harvey family when Harvey lost his beloved wife, Barbara, recently.The “baby” of Don Bradman’s Invincibles turned 86 the other day. Among the well-wishers were fellow 1948 player Arthur Morris, Davidson and Ken Archer. Neil Harvey is greatly admired as a cricketer and a bloke throughout the cricketing firmament.

A preview of the prospects of Mumbai, Odisha and Bengal ahead of the 2014-15 Ranji season

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Dec-2014MumbaiBy Abhishek PurohitMumbai are likely to have spearhead Dhawal Kulkarni available for more than one game, unlike last season•ESPNcricinfo LtdWhere they finished last season
Third in Group A with four wins, one defeat and three draws. Lost outright to Maharashtra in the quarter-final.The Big Picture
Mumbai had taken a 122-run first-innings lead over Maharashtra at Wankhede Stadium before they were shot out for 129 to lose by eight wickets. Mumbai teams are not expected to go down in knockout matches, that too at home against their neighbours. Sulakshan Kulkarni was removed as coach, and Pravin Amre has been brought back.Abhishek Nayar, who led when Zaheer Khan was absent last season, has been demoted to vice-captain. Suryakumar Yadav is Mumbai’s latest captain after Wasim Jaffer declined to lead. With the unavailability of Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma, Mumbai will continue to look to Jaffer for the big scores, along with Aditya Tare and Yadav. Nayar will need to rebound from atrocious performances in 2013-14. There are some new faces such as India Under-19 batsman Shreyas Iyer but the experienced Hiken Shah has been overlooked for the opening game.Zaheer’s return from another injury is still uncertain, but Dhawal Kulkarni, who managed just one game last season, is available. He will be supported by Shardul Thakur and Javed Khan. Vishal Dabholkar, with 39 wickets last season, will handle spinning duties along with Iqbal Abdulla while Nayar can always be relied upon to bowl tireless spells of medium-pace.Player to watch
Four hundreds in 25 first-class games do not do justice to Suryakumar Yadav’s immense talent. Often, he threatens to shred attacks with his range of strokes before throwing it away. He knows the added responsibility of captaincy will require him to control his instincts but has also said he will not alter his game much.Teamspeak
“We have had some of the greatest captains like Ajit Wadekar, Madhav Mantri, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Ravi Shastri, Sanjay Manjrekar. The list just goes on. I know our history; stepping into their shoes is a huge ask.” – Mumbai captain Suryakumar YadavOdishaBy Amol Karhadkar
Where they finished last season
Odisha finished sixth in Group A, on the back of a victory and four draws. The outright victory helped them finish above Vidarbha, Haryana and Jharkhand.Big Picture
Ever since the change in title from Orissa to Odisha, the eastern minnows have started to improve their performance. After finishing in the middle of their group in Ranji Trophy last year, Odisha qualified for the Vijay Hazare Trophy knockouts last month.More than rechristening themselves, what has worked for the team is the involvement of two of the biggest cricket icons from the state. Debasis Mohanty and SS Das brought the state on cricketing map with their contributions in international cricket. And the duo has been roped in as head coach and batting coach respectively. The two have started to get the best out of an under-rated lot of players.After proving their mettle as a one-day side, Odisha are keen on improving their stature as a first-class side. The fortunes of the side will largely depend on how Natraj Behera, Govind Podder, Biplab Samantray and Basant Mohanty perform as a group. If the rest of the squad members chip in to aid these four key players, then Odisha will hope to compete in the toughest group of this season.Player to Watch
Biplab Samantray may have been replaced as the captain this season but the allrounder is still the main player for his side. As was evident during the just-concluded Deodhar Trophy, Samantray has established himself as a genuine allrounder in the shorter formats. But he would be keen to improve on his showing with the ball in the Ranji Trophy. His 433 runs with the bat were acceptable but a tally of six wickets from seven games was far from being satisfactory.Teamspeak
“Doing well in the one-dayers has been a morale-booster for the team. It’s important to translate that form into Ranji Trophy,” SS Das, the batting coach, said. “For that to happen, we will have to start well and our first game is against a tough opponent like Maharashtra. If we can do well in the first match, we can hope for turning this season into a memorable one.”Bengal
By Devashish FuloriaWhen he is not injured, Manoj Tiwary is still one of the top batsmen in the country•AFPWhere they finished last season
Semi-finalists. Lost to Maharashtra.Big Picture
One has to strive hard to come up with big names from the Bengal team after Sourav Ganguly’s retirement, but there are enough performers in the squad. Five of them were in the East Zone squad that lifted the Deodhar Trophy this year; two of them have played for India in the recent times, and looked in great nick during the tournament. But the big question will be how much Bengal can extract from them in an extremely tough group.Manoj Tiwary brought his rich form from Vijay Hazare into the Deodhar Trophy, smashing his way to 151 and 75 in two outings, and reminded the selectors that when he is not injured, he is still one of the top batsmen in the country. But it’s not just Tiwary who has been among runs. Shreevats Goswami has been scoring heavily in the one-dayers this season and there will always be the dangerous Laxmi Shukla to spring a surprise or two from the lower order.The bowling will again revolve around Ashok Dinda who, admirably, has only one intensity level and it is pretty high. Along with Veer Pratap Singh, Dinda forms a potent opening combination backed up by Shukla and spinners Iresh Saxena and the experienced Saurasish Lahiri.Player to watch

Sudip Chatterjee, the left-hand batsman, has played just eight first-class matches over three seasons and is yet to make a century in any form. In the Duleep Trophy quarter-final this year, he was run out one short of hundred in the second innings but that innings – his best in first-class cricket – did enough for the Bengal coach to name him as the one to watch out for this season.Teamspeak
“The first challenge will be to qualify for the knockouts as the group is really difficult. There is Karnataka, who are the best side at the moment, but there is Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Baroda, MP etc.”

Stats highlights from the third day of the fourth Test between India and Australia in Sydney

Bishen Jeswant08-Jan-2015Highest Indian run-getters in a series against Australia639 Runs scored by Virat Kohli in this series, the most by an Indian against Australia, at home or away. He went past Rahul Dravid, who had scored 619 runs during the 2003-04 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.4 Hundreds scored by Kohli during this series, making him only the second Indian to score as many in a Test series. Sunil Gavaskar had achieved this feat on two occasions against West Indies in 1971 and 1978-79.7 Centuries scored by captains across the four Tests, the most ever in a single Test series. Michael Clarke had one, Kohli and Steven Smith have three each.1 Time that two batsmen – Kohli and Smith – have made four or more hundreds each in the same Test series. Individually, they are the 19th and 20th batsmen to make four hundreds in a Test series.23 Years since an Indian opener played 250 or more balls in an innings in Australia. KL Rahul, with 262 balls for his 110 in Sydney, emulated Ravi Shastri, who had faced 477 balls for his 206 in Sydney in 1992.3 Hundreds for Kohli in his first three innings as captain, the only player to do so. His counterpart Smith has scored at least one hundred in each of his first three Tests as captain.2.97 India’s run rate during their first innings, the second-slowest of this series by either team. India have scored 342 runs so far from 115 overs. Teams have scored at a run rate in excess of three in 12 of the 13 other innings this series.5 Test hundreds for Kohli in Australia, only Sachin Tendulkar (6) has more. Gavaskar has scored five hundreds as well. Kohli is fifth on the list of overseas batsmen to score the most hundreds in Australia.39 Number of innings since Shane Watson has taken more than one wicket in an innings. He has figures of 2 for 42 in the first innings. The last time he took more than one wicket was in November 2011, when he returned figures of 5 for 17 against South Africa in Cape Town.

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Apr-2015Kraigg Brathwaite received a wonderful delivery from James Anderson, an inswinger, which burst between bat and pad…•Getty Images…and Chris Jordan provided England their second pre-lunch wicket although the feeling was they had not bowled at their best•Getty ImagesThere was concern when Ben Stokes needed treatment after a dive in the outfield…•Getty Images…but he was soon up and about, then later claimed the key wicket of Shivnarine Chanderpaul in his first over•AFPBefore then, Darren Bravo had given his wicket away when he flashed a delivery to slip•AFPAlastair Cook, a captain under pressure, dropped a catch at slip to given Marlon Samuels a life•Getty ImagesJermaine Blackwood was given a working over by the short ball•AFPIn the final session, Samuels came out of his shell as West Indies ended the day with honours closer to even•AFP