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Sharing a commentary box with Richie Benaud was an enriching, inspiring, and sometimes overwhelming experience

Mark Nicholas10-Apr-2015He was father, uncle, brother and friend. He was our conscience and our guiding light. In an age of much madness, he made sense. He held firm when others doubted and let go when those around him needed to fly. His wise counsel was without compare, his kindness unconditional. There was something elemental about him, like the wind and the rain. And he was summer’s sunshine. But now he has gone.Yes, Richie Benaud has gone. It has to be repeated to feel true. A flame that burned brightly for 84 years has flickered of late and now died. There is a darkness. If you have grown up watching cricket, you have grown up watching Richie Benaud. He was a constant in all our lives. The memories, the sights and sound of him, will live with us forever.We, that is the Channel Nine commentary team, last saw him in person at the Sydney Cricket Ground in November. When he arrived on the outfield in front of the Members Pavilion where we had gathered, there was a general shuffling. Unseen and virtually unheard of for a year since the car crash that all but ended his life in television, the news that he was to appear at the Nine Network’s launch of the “Sizzling Summer of Cricket” was greeted with immense excitement.

Mark Taylor called the fall wicket of a key Australian wicket “a tragedy”. Benaud let it rest for a couple of hours before whispering “Mark, the was a tragedy”

The crash had damaged a couple of vertebrae and the suggestion of surgery to the spine had lingered around for most of the previous Australian summer. He made no fuss of course but admitted that he was far from ready to bowl 30 overs off the reel on a hot Sydney day. The surgery never happened. Apparently, a natural fusion was already taking place. Instead, the medics found some melanomas. Radiation and chemotherapy are not anyone’s game. The treatment had taken its toll. I suggested that it had been a rough year. “Roughish,” he replied, with the understatement that has hallmarked his life.Anyway, Richie turned up bang on time for the photo shoot and though the joy in greeting him was uninhibited, we were all sad to see him so diminished. He carried himself with fortitude and typical grace but he was clearly weak. It seems absurd that he retired from the commentary box in England ten years ago, but it is a fact. On that early September day at The Oval in 2005, the producer of Channel 4’s cricket coverage, Gary Franses, had sent him across the ground to be alongside me and the others in our commentary team to say goodbye. Channel 4 had lost the rights to cricket in the UK.The crowd rose to him with as much bonhomie as they had to the England team who, moments earlier, had won the Ashes after a summer of cricket that held the nation spellbound. Moved by their enthusiasm and warmth, Benaud shed a tear. At least, so said Tony Greig, who walked with him. Richie never denied it.Benaud with Peter May after beating England 4-0 to regain the Ashes in 1958-59•Getty ImagesHe has been good to us all: always by our side, a constant source of wisdom and encouragement. No one has sold the game of cricket with greater skill, few played it with greater flair. He had some mantras: “Engage brain before mouth” is my favourite. Others include: “Don’t speak unless you can add to the picture”, which is mostly ignored by us commentators today.When Mark Taylor switched from the playing field to the hallowed Nine Network commentary team, he called the fall wicket of a key Australian wicket “a tragedy”. Benaud let it rest for a couple of hours before gently tapping Taylor on the shoulder and whispering “Mark, the was a tragedy”. Taylor said that Benaud had once used “tragedy” while commentating himself. (Later during the summer, we heard it on an archive clip. Gold!)The stories go on and on. Another favourite is Michael Slater’s first stint on air alongside him. Terrified, Slater was almost unable to speak until Brian Lara under-edged a cut shot that whistled past leg stump by no more than a hair. “Ooooo,” said Slats, “that just snuck under Lara’s bat… er Rich, is there the word ‘snuck’ in the English language?” Benaud paused the immortal pause before bring the microphone to his lips. “I can think of one or two ‘ucks’ in the English language, Michael, but ‘snuh’ isn’t amongst them!”

“I can think of one or two ‘ucks’ in the English language, Michael, but ‘snuh’ isn’t amongst them”

His minimalism was a lifestyle. The footprint was everywhere, though best illustrated in his television work both in front of the camera and behind the microphone. Witness: “West indies cruising to victory here, all Carl Hooper has to do is keep his head as Shane Warne switches to bowl round the wicket into the rough outside leg stump.” At which point, Hooper charges down the pitch and has a mighty heave at Warne. The ball spins and catches the leading edge of Hooper’s bat. It is about to drop into Steve Waugh’s hands as Benaud says: “Oh Carl” and nothing more.Or the tightest finish at Edgbaston in 2005. Three needed to win, Australia nine down with Michael Kasprowicz on strike. Steve Harmison bowls a bouncer that catches Kasprowicz’s glove as he fends away. Geraint Jones dives down the leg side and holds on. Billy Bowden raises his finger. Benaud sums up this monumental moment with: “Jones! Bowden! Kasprowicz the man to go” and leaves it at that. Magic indeed.The Benauds have been private people. He and his English wife, Daphne, lived in an apartment at Coogee and watched the surf roll in each morning. After a long layoff they had started their 40-minute sunrise walks again, not a minute more or less. These had given him relative strength and given her breathing space. They were inseparable. Her loss will be beyond pain. When Richie bought the drinks he would always say, “Don’t thank me, thank Mrs Benaud”. She is a terrific woman who began life in and around the game as PA to Jim Swanton years ago but fell in love with the dashing former captain of Australia.Benaud was an Australian icon and the voice of its summer•Getty ImagesThey lived in summer for 50 years, travelling across the world each April and September to cover the game for myriad networks and newspapers. Benaud’s crusades to English shores actually began as a player in 1953 when he came by boat with Lindsay Hassett’s touring Australians. They were at sea for five weeks and made their way around the shires for the five months that followed.By the time Channel 4 nicked the television rights off the BBC, Benaud was a must-get and entitled to first class on British Airways. After Channel 4’s first day on air Giles Smith reviewed the coverage in the . He opened with a sentence that went something like this: “If Channel 4 put a programme to air about sex that revealed naked transvestites debating with one another the merits of their actions and then giving a display of their activities, it might just get away with it as long as Richie Benaud was there to say ‘Morning everyone’. With one of those superb catchphrases, Benaud had repaid the network’s faith and introduced the game to its new, initially uncertain, audience.At the end of the summer of 2002, we took him to lunch at The Ivy in London. The room was full of the great and the good – Frost and Parkinson, Mrs Beckham, Michael Winner, to name a few – but it went silent when he glided in. You should have seen the punters gawp. And the waiters too. In general, Richie kept himself to himself, which is a powerful weapon. Because of it, public appearances became a parade.

His cricket can be summed up easily enough – a fine legspinner, dashing batsman, an excellent fieldsman, but, above all, a brilliant and intuitive captain

His cricket can be summed up easily enough – a fine legspinner, dashing batsman, an excellent fieldsman, but, above all, a brilliant and intuitive captain. Peter May brought a team of stellar names to Australia in 1958-59 and was beaten 4-0 by Benaud’s young adventurers. It was ever thus. Australia has cricket in its soul and Benaud will always remain a part of that soul.I miss him already. I’m sure we all do. To have him back amongst us that day in November brought such pleasure. Bill Lawry was there too, up from Melbourne where he looks after his wife, Joy. Bill was very funny on the stage, telling Richie that the melanomas might be a bane now but, back then, with his hair flowing, shirt unbuttoned almost to the waist and gold chain sparkling in the sunshine, he looked a million dollars. They were quite a pair, Bill with his comedic talents and Richie with his natural dry wit.The last time I saw him at all was on the telly in a quite brilliant Australia Day advertisement for Australian lamb. Captain Cook is at sea, on the , one supposes. A mobile phone rings. He reaches into the pocket of his naval frock coat and answers it. The scene switches to Richie, tongs in hand, back home at the barbeque. “Cookie!” says Richie. “G’day Rich,” says Captain Cook. “Fancy an Australia Day barby round at my place?” asks one great man of another. Cook looks to his second-in-command and then to some of the midshipmen around him and asks if they fancy it. Of course they do! Richie then calls various other iconic figures in Australia’s history, including Ned Kelly no less. They are all in. Have a look on YouTube. It is well worth it. The ad tells us much about Benaud’s sense of humour, timing and perspective. And it tells us the extent of the esteem in which he is held by all Australians.The Benauds in Sydney in 2006•Getty ImagesWhen modern cricket folk talked of “aggression” and “sledging” as “part of the game”, Richie raised his eyebrows and cringed. Such attitudes were not part of his game, nor of the game played by Keith Miller, Garry Sobers, Ted Dexter or the Nawab of Pataudi. If modern cricketers want to do the Benaud legacy justice, they should reward his unwavering faith in their abilities and performance by ceasing such mean-spirited behaviour as of today. The day Richie died.I just googled the word “dignity”. It says: “The state or quality of being worthy of honour or respect.” There you go, that is Richie Benaud in a simple definition. From the first day of a glorious cricket career to his last as a universally admired and loved communicator of the most beautiful game, he was the very best. Our privilege was to have sat at his table.

The Galle pitch has only just started to express itself and the batsmen will be severely tested by spin in the days to come

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Galle19-Jun-20151:04

Arnold: Silva showed great temperament to score his century

It’s the third day of the Test, second if you account for rain. Waves crash nearby and tiled rooves peep above fort walls. With king coconut vendors along the ground’s periphery, and kites flying above the cricket, Galle should be a batting resort – a five-star, gourmet run-smorgasbord. Yet on the best customary day for run-making, 12 wickets have collapsed. The prodigies are prodding. The greats are groping. This pitch is no tropical paradise. It’s a tawny-coloured bed of torture.Of the 15 wickets to fall so far in the Test, nine have belonged to spinners. This is the Galle track’s way. It takes turn on the first afternoon, then hand-grenades on the fourth and fifth day. The WACA ground tests nerve and reflexes; Kingsmead a batsman’s skill against swing. But if you can’t read the fizz out of a bowler’s hand, buddy, don’t bother coming to Galle.Slow bowlers are sometimes patronised in modern cricket. “Hold up one end while the quicks hunt from the other,” captains say. Seamers outnumber them in most attacks. Galle turns the tables, then takes slow-bowler love a step further. Teams would be right to stock their side with spin here, yet, seeing the surface, they reason: “Why would we need more than two on this track?”The pitch cares for spinners of any persuasion. Shane Warne has a five-wicket haul here, but so does Nicky Boje. Muttiah Muralitharan still sends the track a Christmas card. One-hundred and thirty four overs into this match, two left-arm spinners, a pair of offies, and a wrist spinner, had all claimed wickets. None of those scalps had come from pitching into the barely-developed rough, though in the two days to come, that may change.Mohammad Hafeez nailed Lahiru Thirimanne when the batsman came at him. Zulfiqar Babar couldn’t dismiss Dinesh Chandimal with the balls that spat, so despite the work on the ball the track connived for one to slide on, and leg stump was left askew.One of my best innings – Kaushal Silva

Kaushal Silva said he had hundreds on his mind for this series, having been repeatedly frustrated by his conversion rate in 2014. Silva had crossed fifty eight times before in his Test career, but had only gone on to triple figures once, against Bangladesh. He completed his second Test century in the first session on Friday, and went on to make 125.
“This was surely one of my best innings, because I really wanted to prove a point to myself,” he said. “For the last year I’ve been scoring a lot of 90s and 80s and missed three or four centuries. In the past I’ve been getting those big runs. I have 30-odd first-class hundreds. I had only one hundred and seven fifties last year, and I felt that’s not what I’m like, normally. I usually capitalise and get hundreds. That was my target in this series. I just want to make hundreds – that’s the ultimate goal.”
Silva said his father – who has coached him since youth – has contributed substantially to his success. “My father taught me from the beginning, and he’s been behind me every match I play. I get more bad comments than good comments from him, but he’s always behind me and gives me advice. Whenever I go wrong or whenever I’ve been in a bad patch I go back to him.”

Misbah-ul-Haq brought Wahab Riaz back to bounce out the tail, but the surface had other ideas. Of the seven Sri Lanka wickets to fall on day two, only the first went to a quick. Yasir Shah had had even Kumar Sangakkara poking, but when he couldn’t break through on day two, the pitch arranged two cheap scalps to send him off with more just reward for his skill. Pakistan’s seam bowlers are among the best left-arm pairs in the world, yet when the second new ball was taken, it was Babar who made the leather come alive.Azhar Ali’s wicket came almost gift-wrapped for Rangana Herath, in Pakistan’s innings. The batsman couldn’t decide if he should step forward or slide back. He alternated between the two with middling results for 11 Herath balls, then surrendered on the 12th, moving only across.Younis Khan, who had success in Galle on his last Sri Lanka trip, perhaps suffered the most emphatic dismissal of all. With three needed for his fifty, he ran at Dilruwan Perera. The bowler pulled his length back, and the ball floated out of Younis’ reach like a butterfly escaping a net. The turn off the pitch ensured the ball hit the stumps. Younis shouldn’t feel ashamed. Entire top orders have been undressed here. In 2012, New Zealand and Sri Lanka finished the first-innings neck-and-neck before Rangana Herath dismantled the opposition top order, and the visitors were rolled on the third day.Misbah had made the unusual choice of bowling first on this track. This was largely because batting once represented Pakistan’s only chance of winning the shortened match, but also because after the rains, a little extra moisture might make his seamers more potent. However, as Kaushal Silva attested, some strange perversion of the clay has instead lent menace to spin.”It’s spinning more than usual,” he said. “Normally on the first day it doesn’t spin much, but this time because of the moisture, it spun a bit more. Now it’s turning a lot than the normal Galle pitches.”Good thing too, because in a match where four sessions have been lost to bad weather, a raging turner might still conspire a result. This venue has magicked victories out of thin air before, most recently last year, when Herath delivered a sublime spell against Pakistan, to set up an unforgettable fifth-evening finish.That’s the thing about tracks like this one. A cataclysmic stretch of play could always be around the corner. So keep on spinning, Galle. Keep on spitting and shooting out of the rough. It’s a big-batted batsman’s world out there. Cricket needs its filthy pits of fire

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jul-2015Things would only get worse as Litton Das departed the very next delivery. Rabada was on a hat-trick…•AFP… And he went on to complete it, trapping Mahmudullah in front. Bangladesh were reduced to 17 for 3 by the end of the fourth over•AFPThe hosts lost Soumya Sarkar soon after, leaving them tottering on 40 for 4. It was left to Shakib Al Hasan, who scored 48 off 51 balls, to revive the innings•AFPWith Mushfiqur Rahim for company, Shakib added 53 runs for the fifth wicket, the highest partnership of the innings•AFPHowever, after JP Duminy removed Mushfiqur, things went downhill for the home side, as Sabbir Rahman and Shakib fell in quick succession•AFPRabada came back to dismiss Mashrafe Mortaza and Jubair Hossain to finish with 6 for 16. Nasir Hossain’s blows towards the end of the innings eventually helped Bangladesh reach 160 before they were bowled out in the 36.3 overs•AFPBangladesh would have had their hopes up when Hashim Amla was dismissed for 14 in the sixth over•AFPFaf du Plessis, however, weathered the tough overs at the start and his unbeaten 63 drove South Africa to an eight-wicket win in the 32nd over•AFP

Steve Magoffin had feared his first-class career was over six months before he arrived at Sussex as a stopgap overseas signing. Since then the Australian has become one of county cricket’s most stalwart performers

Will Macpherson23-Sep-2015Steve Magoffin readily admits that when he arrived at Sussex for the second game of the 2012 season, whisked in as a quick fix, he was not a “sexy” overseas signing. He was uncapped, not Sussex’s top choice and set to stay just six weeks. Few could have thought, least of all Magoffin, that the gangly seamer would still be there four seasons on – with a deal for another contract penned, an inch from British citizenship and 258* wickets under his belt.From his first game – a nine-for against Lancashire – Magoffin has been Sussex’s metronome. He is quiet, unfussy and unglamorous, with old-fashioned virtues at the heart of his method and absolutely no longing for the limelight, to the point that, at times, he has seemed something of a faceless destroyer.The only certainty has been that would appear in the wicket column. Unfashionable, perhaps, but having taken 28% of Sussex’s Championship wickets since he arrived, there is a case for him being the club’s finest player since Mushtaq Ahmed and the most important overseas signing in England. This season he has been ever-present, shouldering a huge burden (over 3,200 balls as the season reached its final week) in an injury-ravaged attack at times shorn of seven quicks.Did you know?

Steve Magoffin’s first involvement with the Sheffield Shield came not as a player, but as a writer…. for Cricinfo.

In 2001, aged 22 and still three years away from his first-class debut for Western Australia, Magoffin – then on his native Queensland’s books – reported on the Bulls’ late-season victory over WA at the Gabba, on their way to the second of three consecutive titles (in what was then known as the Pura Cup).

This has set minds racing at ESPNcricinfo – was a great Australian correspondent lost because he kept taking too many wickets? Certainly there cannot be many cricketers who can boast reporting on the Shield, then hitting the winning runs 11 years later.

The metronome, however, has an interesting story to tell. Indeed, the stopgap who became the stalwart nearly left the game altogether eight months before he arrived at Sussex. Magoffin played seven seasons for Western Australia (as well as spells at Surrey and Worcestershire, where he met his wife), the last of which – 2010-11, when he was 31 – was entirely ravaged by injury and he was released.”At that stage it was impossible not to wonder whether my professional career was over,” says Magoffin. “You get the meeting where you’re told they are moving in a different direction, which you react to in the only obvious way: anger and disappointment. I tried to secure something at another State and sides were interested but couldn’t commit.”I decided to move back to Queensland to my old club Western Suburbs to play grade cricket. I’ve no doubt that those few months are the reason I’m still going well now. Rocking up on Tuesday night, under poor lighting with average cricket balls with old mates, I fell back in love with the game.”I did a bit of coaching too. I just decided to give it one season and see. Darren Lehmann and Trevor Hohns were clear that just because I wasn’t contracted then didn’t mean I wasn’t a chance to play. I hit my straps immediately and ended up playing Queensland’s first 50-over game, and by the end of the season I’d hit the winning runs in the Sheffield Shield Final! Looking back, for that to be my last moment in Australian cricket, especially with it being for my home state, was unbelievable.”It was not his plan for that to be his final act in Australian cricket. Since his spell with Worcestershire in 2008, overseas player regulations had changed – with his lack of international experience rendering him ineligible – and then changed again – permitting him to play on a spouse visa.

‘In eight months, I went from no job in cricket at all to winning the Shield and being here. Four years later, the rest was history’

So when, a few weeks after that Shield triumph of 2012, Tim Southee was forced to pull out of a deal with Sussex, in came Magoffin on a six-week deal. It was not long before Mark Robinson, Sussex’s director of cricket, recognised his ability.”I started well and Robbo was keen for me to stay, so I blagged a couple of extra weeks, before Queensland said I had to come back for pre-season. At that stage, we decided that if I could secure cricket in England for the following season, we’d stay for good. It was a good time for us, as my thoughts of higher honours were gone and my wife was pregnant and due in December that year. That was a big motivating factor, with her family being in Worcester. Sussex signed me up, I made the call to Queensland, and that was that.”In eight months, I went from no job in cricket at all to winning the Shield and being here. Four years later, the rest is history. It’s funny to think that if I hadn’t made an impact in grade cricket by Christmas, none of this would ever have happened.”A Sheffield Shield triumph began Magoffin’s recovery•Getty Images’This’ has turned out to be wickets, by the bucketload, by finding movement in the air, and hitting the seam on a fourth stump line and good length. “I wasn’t a high-profile signing, and wasn’t the type of person people expected Sussex to sign. I wasn’t an international, had only played six first-class games in 18 months and there was no press entourage. I had no choice but to prove myself quickly, and make people sit up.”The pitches here work for me. I understand how to get the best from them. There are definite phases of the season: early doors on the green seamers it is tough work for the batters. As a bowler you are looking to set your season up by the end of June. Then you move on and work out ways to stay in the game when things don’t quite suit you. I’ve always been able to hit the seam, and the Dukes ball helps. When I was younger, I wouldn’t have been patient enough when conditions weren’t right but now, I know what I’m good at, what works when, and I don’t need great pace to succeed.”What Australia would have given for such knowledge during the Ashes. Magoffin’s style is something of a throwback, but so is what he represents: a reminder of the days of Law, Love and the like – classy, seldom-capped Australians making hay in the shires.Now, though, there is one final box for Magoffin to tick: officially turning his back on Australia. His British citizenship application is being processed by the Home Office, which opens up exciting possibilities for Sussex. During the latter half of the season, the club have been on tenterhooks waiting for approval, with rumours abound that Yasir Shah was set to join with Magoffin playing as a local.It has not come through quickly enough, but in 2016, who knows: Magoffin will be at Hove, and if Sussex avoid relegation – they need nine points from their final game, away at champions Yorkshire to be in charge of their own destiny – it will be as much down to his 66* wickets as any other individual contribution. What a happy six-week stay it has turned out to be.* Figures correct to the end of Yorkshire’s first innings against Sussex on September 23

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Nov-2015Mark Craig did well to hold on to the catch at second slip•Getty ImagesWarner soaked in the applause from the WACA crowd after making 253, his best in international cricket•Getty ImagesA rather sedate Australia lost quick wickets after Warner’s dismissal, with Steven Smith edging behind for 27•Getty ImagesThe mini-slide didn’t dampen the mood at the ground though, as several fans thronged the stadium on a sunny day in Perth•Getty ImagesMitchell Johnson, who loves having a swing or two, stepped out to Craig and was stumped by BJ Watling•Getty ImagesSmith eventually declared the Australia innings at 559 for 9•Getty ImagesAnd Mitchell Starc pushed the hosts further ahead, trapping Martin Guptill lbw for 1…•Getty Images… but Kane Williams steadied the innings with an unbeaten 70•Getty ImagesWilliamson found good company in Tom Latham before he was out for 36•Getty ImagesRoss Taylor also struck some strong drives as New Zealand closed the day at 140 for 2•Getty Images

Should Zimbabwe Women qualify for the World T20, it will be a sign of how the game has progressed in the country in recent years

Liam Brickhill28-Nov-2015″If Don can do it, I can do it too.” So said Betty Wilson during Australia Women’s tour of England in 1951, when she was told that the ground she was playing at – Headingley – was the one where Don Bradman virtually always made a hundred. She did indeed reach a century that day, in just 75 minutes, hitting the last ball of the day for four to win the match.Wilson, who was never paid for playing, was a consummate professional in an amateur era. Women like her have been knocking on cricket’s glass ceiling for generations. Yet, in an age of million-dollar IPL contracts, World Cups in multiple formats, and a global cricket audience of well over a billion people, Associate and women cricketers enjoy virtually none of the fame and riches of the game’s top echelons, and are largely motivated only by their love of the game.”I just had to do it,” says Zimbabwe allrounder Tasmeen Granger of her choice to pursue a life in cricket. “I fell in love with it.” Like Wilson, Granger is not paid to play and does not have the safety of a professional contract. She is a member of the Zimbabwe women’s squad that has arrived in Thailand looking to qualify for their first ever major event – the World T20 in India in March next year, which will run concurrently with the men’s tournament.Granger is part of a new generation of Zimbabwean women battling to elevate their game to the status of the men’s in the public eye. When Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980, healthy local cricket structures helped to plot the men’s path towards Test cricket, yet, as Isabelle Duncan – another notable cricketer – explained in her book , there was an “urgent need” to revitalise women’s cricket in the country “after its almost complete decline. The women’s game was in a dire state with very few players, no funding and a weak standard.” Thirty-five years later, things have improved, though there is a long way to go yet.Granger described her start in cricket as an act of rebellion after her parents stopped her from playing rugby. “My parents said: ‘No, it’s a guys’ sport, stop that!’ And then I was like, ‘Okay, fine, you say it’s violent, so I’ll play cricket. I came up in the system in high school, playing with the guys, because there was no girls’ team at Petra High School.”Granger had an example to follow in Bulawayo: Sharne Mayers, two years her senior at Petra, had done the same thing and played for the boys’ side at school. Mayers was named Zimbabwe Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2010, aged 18, and immediately made an impact in the national side. Granger was the same age when she joined Mayers in the senior squad.

“My parents said: ‘No, rugby is a guys’ sport, stop that!’ And then I was like, ‘Okay, fine, you say it’s violent, so I’ll play cricket'”Tasmeen Granger

Virtually every member of Zimbabwe’s squad started out in international cricket as a teenager. Mary-Anne Musonda, who, like Granger, is an offspinner and handy batsman, is already a nine-year veteran of international competition, at 24. Musonda was a 13-year-old hockey prodigy at Kwekwe High when a cricket coach spotted something special in her.”My hockey coach and my cricket coach were friends,” said Musonda. “My cricket coach was passing by and I think he saw me swing the hockey stick or something, and he spoke to my hockey coach. He said, ‘You should try to play cricket’, and I thought, sure why not. When I tried cricket I actually started enjoying it more than all the other sports. I just got into it, and that was it.” Two years later she was part of the national squad at the Africa Region World Cup Qualifying series in Nairobi in 2006 – a groundbreaking tournament for the Zimbabwe women, as it marked their first ever full international competition.Musonda carried drinks for all but one of the games, but she thought, “I’m here, it’s enough. Because with the calibre of players that were there, I knew it was not possible for me to play. Just being there with them was the best. That was pretty brilliant for me. Good exposure, good experience and I really enjoyed it.”Cricket structures available to girls have improved greatly since the likes of Mayers, Granger and Musonda started to play the game, and particularly since the franchise system was adopted nationally in 2009. Many high schools across the country offer girls the chance to play cricket, while every provincial franchise now includes a full women’s team in their programme, and the Under-19 side, which has won the Four Nations tournament in Botswana three years running, regularly joins the national team in camp for exposure and experience.”Before, it was a case of if coaches spotted girls in certain schools, they’d just tell you, ‘We want you here on trial,'” says Granger. “It’s gotten better over the years, but when I started you’d find that if we wanted game time, we’d play with the boys’ development side. That’s how I got into playing club cricket. There’s a club called Emakhandeni, where the likes of John Nyumbu and Brian Chari play. That’s the club I started playing for, and that’s how I got game time. And it helped a lot.”Like the men’s side, Zimbabwe women have also suffered from a paucity of bilateral cricket in the past, being focused almost entirely on tournaments. Yet that is beginning to change, and with increased exposure Zimbabwe are progressing. “Our women’s team has definitely come a long way and since I debuted there’s been big progress,” says Granger. “In 2013 we found ourselves at the global qualifiers in Ireland. We fell three runs short of qualifying for the World Cup in New Zealand. We went to the qualifiers in December last year in Benoni and we won the tournament. Besides South Africa, Zimbabwe is one of the outstanding teams in Africa. We played South Africa at home about a year and a half ago and we got thrashed badly. And now the team went up to South Africa about a month or two ago, and now we’re losing by three runs, two wickets, three wickets, like that. It’s a huge change.”England’s Sarah Taylor is a role model for Mary-Anne Musonda•Getty ImagesThere is greater stability and continuity in the national squad. “There are rookies and kids coming into the system, but the national team is quite stable,” Granger says, “and it’s more or less the same team that’s been playing together for the last two or three years. Now we have camps almost every month, whether it’s a fitness camp or a technical camp, we’re practising a lot more. Management, the likes of Caroline Nyamande, have done so much. You can tell it’s growing.”More games also means that it is more likely that the women’s game could be fully professionalised, though that is still some way off. “We haven’t had an opportunity to be contracted yet, so to decide that you will focus only on cricket without a contract is unrealistic,” says Musonda. “We haven’t developed to that level yet but it is heading in that direction. The more exposure we get, the more game time, then the more realistic it gets for us to be contracted. If you don’t have games then a contract won’t happen.”Without a doubt we need investment. We really need some kind of sponsorship. Most of the time we might be able to go and play games, but then we don’t have funding or equipment. The structures are there, we just need input into those structures. With that, anything is possible. Get all the girls involved at school, get as many games as possible. That would kick-start something positive.”Granger’s career is also beginning to provide examples of the opportunities available to Zimbabwean women in cricket. She became the first Zimbabwean female cricketer to play for an overseas side when she was selected to play in a combined Canadian-American side in the Atlanta Women’s Cricket Tournament – which also includes national teams from the Bahamas and Cayman Islands – for two years in a row in 2014 and 2015, and has also just landed herself a player-coach job with the East Christchurch-Shirley Club in New Zealand. That post will allow Granger, who holds a Level 1 certificate, to further her coaching qualifications, bringing vital experience back to the game in Zimbabwe. Her contract runs from October to March, but she says she will be available for Zimbabwe whenever needed: “I can’t abandon my country, ever. I’m always available for selection, though it will be weird not to train with them.”Granger and Musonda are conscious of the fact that they may be role models to the next generation of women in Zimbabwean cricket, just as players such as former national captain Julia Chibhabha (sister of Zimbabwe batsman Chamu) were to them. “People like Sinikiwe Mpofu and Julia Chibhabha, they stuck it out when things weren’t really working, and it’s because of people like that who decided: ‘Okay, look, we’re not getting the best deal here, but let’s not only think of ourselves. We’re going to retire, sure, but what about the girls coming up behind us?’ They were pioneers, and they did it really well,” says Granger.”Julia Chibhabha has to be the one who sticks out, not only for the way she played cricket but the way she carried herself as a captain and as a senior,” says Musonda. “I really liked playing with her. Internationally, I really look up to [England batsman] Sarah Taylor. She’s a legend.”

“Without a doubt we need investment. We really need some kind of sponsorship. Most of the time we might be able to go and play games, but then we don’t have funding or equipment”Mary-Anne Musonda

There is a slim chance that Musonda could get to play against Taylor, as it is rumoured that Zimbabwe are attempting to engage the England women’s team for a one-off match at home. “It’s a possibility,” says Musonda. “I was talking to my manager Caroline Nyamande and she said there is a chance that we might play England.”Nyamande, who is the national coordinator for women’s cricket, and manager of the national side, is one of the main driving forces of women’s cricket in Zimbabwe, and the team’s trip to Thailand for the qualifiers has been her focus for several months. “Although we have played China and beat them before, we will not take them for granted,” said Nyamande before Zimbabwe’s opening match against China at the Asian Institute of Technology Ground in Bangkok. “We have had good preparations, including touring South Africa, while the icing on the cake was the Bangladesh warm-up games. All players are raring to go and they are quite geared up. We want it so bad.””We’re out to prove a point,” says Granger. “We’re not just a development side. We’re a serious cricket team. Ten teams go to the qualifiers, and only two qualify, so it’s going to be tough. So we’re gunning hard for it. As a team, we want to go to the World T20. Our group has got fire in it. If we can get to the final, we’re going to a World Cup. And the girls do really deserve it because we’ve worked hard for it. We’ve come a long way.”The top two sides from each group will make it to the semi-finals, and the final is on December 5. The two trophy finalists will join defending champions Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies in the main tournament next year.”It would be a start to my biggest dream, just getting to the World T20 and performing there,” says Musonda. “For Zimbabwe. That’s my goal, that’s my dream. Just putting Zimbabwe ladies on the map.”

Stats highlights from the fourth day in Christchurch, where Williamson completed 4000 Test runs but got out in the 90s yet again

Bharath Seervi23-Feb-20162 Batsmen who have completed 4000 Test runs at a younger age than Kane Williamson’s 25 years and 199 days. Sachin Tendulkar was 24 years, 224 days when he got to that mark in December 1997 and Alastair Cook was 25 years, 79 days in March 2010. The previous youngest batsman for New Zealand was Stephen Fleming at 29 years, 32 days in May 2002.89 Innings required by Williamson to complete 4000 runs in Tests – the least by any New Zealand batsman. Martin Crowe had done it in 93 innings and Ross Taylor in 94. Williamson is the eighth New Zealand player to aggregate 4000 or more Test runs and his average of 49.23 is the best among them.1 Number of times Australia have lost a Test, out of 17 previous instances, when they have chased a fourth-innings target against New Zealand. They have won 13 times and drawn three times. The only defeat was in Hobart in 2011, when they were bowled out for 233 chasing 241. The target of 201 in this Test is the second-highest for Australia in New Zealand. The highest was 210 in Hamilton in 2000 which Australia chased down quite easily scoring at 5.10 runs per over for the loss of four wickets.97 Williamson’s score in this innings – his eighth score in the nineties in international cricket. He has been out six times in 90s in ODIs and twice in Tests. For New Zealand, only Nathan Astle and Fleming have more such dismissals – nine each. This is the fourth time Williamson was dismissed for 97 in international matches. Before this match he was also the last New Zealand batsman to be dismissed in the nineties in Tests – 91 against England in Auckland in 2012-13. This is his sixth such score in international matches since 2015; no other batsman has been dismissed in the nineties more than twice in these 14 months.5/59 Jackson Bird’s figures in New Zealand’s second innings – his best in Tests. Only once had he taken four wickets in an innings in the past – 4 for 41 against Sri Lanka at the SCG in 2013. He picked up only five wickets in his first five innings outside Australia before this five-for. Bird is the 12th Australian bowler to take a five-for in New Zealand.1 Previous instance of New Zealand batsmen sharing a century partnership for the fifth wicket in both innings of a Test. In the 1991 Test against Sri Lanka in Hamilton, Andrew Jones and Shane Thomson had shared partnerships of 113 and 105 for the fifth wicket in the two innings. In this Test, Brendon McCullum and Corey Anderson added 179 runs in the first innings, and Anderson and Williamson had a 102-run stand in the second. The only other such instance against Australia was by England at Lord’s in the 2013 Ashes.66 Matt Henry’s score in the second innings – the second-highest by a New Zealand No. 9 against Australia. Only Adam Parore’s 110 at the WACA in 2001 is higher. Henry shared a 118-run partnership with BJ Watling, which is only the second century stand for the eighth wicket for New Zealand against Australia.22 Catches by fielders in the first three innings of this match – the most in the first three innings of any Test. Out of 30 batsmen dismissed in the first three innings, 26 were caught, but only four by wicketkeepers. The 17 catches by fielders in the first two innings is also a record. The overall record for most catches by fielders in a Test is 27.6 Consecutive innings in which Nathan Lyon picked up at least three wickets before going wicket-less in New Zealand’s second innings. The six innings were over the last three Tests: two against West Indies and one against New Zealand.

From the lack of clarity on AB de Villiers’ batting position, to questionable team selection, their early World T20 exit was a familiar story

Firdose Moonda28-Mar-20163:53

Match Day – SA stars will feel this missed opportunity

If you feel like you’ve read this story before, you probably have. Apologies in advance that, yet again, you have to endure an analysis of a South African failure in their quest for major-tournament glory.This time, they’ve stumbled before the real hurdles and are out of contention with a game to play. For a side that, according to the captain, had “all the bases covered” before the tournament, to have plundered those depths indicates that something went very, very wrong.Although South Africa will endure their fair share of jibes, they actually seemed to do everything right in preparation. They won series in Bangladesh and India, to demonstrate their ability in subcontinental conditions. They beat England convincingly at home to take a psychological advantage into their tournament opener. They played more matches than everyone else, except Pakistan – who also exited in the group phase, which perhaps hints at the dangers of over-preparing. And Faf du Plessis believed this was their strongest squad. It probably was, but there were problems in a few areas.Changing the plan
The debate dominating the build-up was who South Africa would choose to partner AB de Villiers at the top, not whether de Villiers would remain in the opening berth or not, which led many to believe de Villiers would stay there. He was promoted when Quinton de Kock lost form and was dropped for the India series, and then played in that role in the Australia series. Even when de Kock regained his touch and Hashim Amla made a case for his own inclusion with a string of strong scores, du Plessis was adamant that de Villiers’ position was fixed.”I think our strongest team is with AB at the top in India. If the World Cup was in South Africa, the thinking would be different,” du Plessis said at the time. “We decided on AB at the top a while ago, and to change that would be a sign of panic.”De Villiers did not open in any of the three matches and came in as low as No. 5 in the West Indies game, after Rilee Rossouw, who was playing his first game in the tournament.Either South Africa were bluffing all along – although that seems unlikely, because du Plessis also declared himself “not the kind of guy to change plans” – or they realised the richness of their resources with all three of de Kock, Amla and de Villiers in the team and had to find a way to accommodate all of them. They decided to deploy de Kock and Amla in their most natural position as openers and left de Villiers to float, which resulted in them not getting the best out of the most dangerous player they have.David Wiese: too many allrounders spoil the broth?•Getty ImagesNot changing the plan
In India, spin is a primary weapon and should be brought out early. Other teams use their spinners to open the bowling; South Africa insist on keeping Imran Tahir for after the Powerplay. The reasoning has been that Tahir becomes too much of a target when the fielding restrictions are in place, and that he has a tendency to leak runs. But that may be too simplistic an assessment of a player who has come to be among the shrewdest short-format cricketers around. Tahir has contained and attacked in the middle periods of matches for long enough for South Africa to trust him to do it earlier.When he was used in that period, against West Indies, Tahir was effective, leaving South Africa to wonder what could have been had they unleashed him earlier in other matches.Lack of discipline
The signs that the bowlers needed to tighten up were there during the Australia series, when South Africa lost the second match after failing to defend 204. They sent down eight wides and two no-balls then, and du Plessis asked for their basics to be better. In their tournament opener in India, South Africa gave away 26 extras against England – the most by any team in a T20 innings this year – and 20 of those were wides. They were better against Afghanistan and West Indies and conceded seven and ten in each of those games, but in a format where the margins are so small, it was still too many.Too many two-in-ones
After searching for a two-in-one player for almost two years since Jacques Kallis’ limited-overs retirement in 2014, South Africa were so delighted they found two that they insisted on playing Chris Morris and David Wiese together. To better balance a South African XI, there is actually only space for one of them, which would have created room for another batsman, something that was needed in Nagpur, or a front-line seamer. Kyle Abbott would have come in handy throughout the tournament, but he played only two of the first three games.Injuries and other oddities
It seems unfair to pin this on South Africa because it is out of their control, but this factor could have been dealt with better. While there was nothing they could do about the hamstring niggle that kept JP Duminy out of the West Indies game, which was a setback but should not have been a tournament-ending one, they could have handled Dale Steyn’s selection differently.South Africa mysteriously shelved the idea of opening with AB de Villiers, thereby giving their most dangerous player less time at the crease•Getty ImagesSteyn spent two months on the sidelines in a summer in which his only appearances were in two Tests in which he was injured. Steyn made his comeback from what he termed a broken shoulder against Australia and was adequate, without being overly impressive, but given that he was fit, South Africa wanted to take him to the tournament. But then, they only used him in the first match (in which he went wicketless and only bowled half his quota of overs), and then benched him, claiming they had to choose between him and an allrounder.”It was between Dale and David Wiese. Chris Morris is an allrounder. We don’t really compete him with someone else, so it was close today between Dale and David Wiese,” du Plessis explained after the Nagpur match.Wiese is also an allrounder, so the choice should rather have been between him and Morris, and then between Steyn and Kagiso Rabada for the spearhead role. Steyn should have won out on experience. Rabada, for all his excellence, is starting to show signs of overwork and could have sat out.Even if South Africa needed Rabada to fulfil the transformation target, Aaron Phangiso’s selection against West Indies would have taken care of the black-African requirement, and they could have included Farhaan Behardien in Rossouw’s place, which would also have given them another bowling option.Arguing that the transformation agenda has hindered South Africa is a naive assertion, especially this time. In South Africa’s 15-man squad, they have six players of colour, including two black Africans and enough possible combinations to ensure they pick a balanced XI while also meeting their commitment to change.In the end, South Africa tripped over themselves. And yes, you’ve read that before too. Until next time then…

Australia grabbed a vantage point on the opening day of the Pallekele Test through the performances of their bowlers, and the only blips on their day were the dismissals of their openers

Daniel Brettig26-Jul-2016A dominant opening day for Australia at Pallekele ran more or less to the script the tourists were hoping to stick with. Features included an even bowling performance, alert fielding and the foundations of a batting platform set, before rain ended the day ahead of schedule.In rounding Sri Lanka up for a mere 117, they also avoided falling behind in the match as they did against Pakistan in the UAE in 2014. This means Steven Smith’s side are in the position they are most comfortable with – driving the game forward from a position of strength, rather than scrapping and fighting to stay in it. From that vantage point, Australia’s aggression looks dashing and purposeful rather than reckless, and opponents under the cosh tend to stay there.Nevertheless, no day is ever quite perfect, and there was one area in which the Australians will be wanting to tighten up at later stages. This is in the tightness of their opening batsmen, David Warner and Joe Burns, both of whom lost their wickets early on to moments of looseness and/or imprecision. The subsequent partnership between captain Steven Smith and Usman Khawaja represented the most measured batting of the day, and showed what players on both sides should be looking to do on a pitch that has offered just enough help to the bowlers, both pace and spin. The surface made the toss more intriguing than most in this part of the world, and it was here that Australia pulled the first of numerous correct reins.Team selection: It had always seemed likely that Australia would plump for twin spin in this series, but given how rarely such a team has been selected in the recent past – just three times have they used a full-time spin tandem since the last visit to Sri Lanka in 2011 – there may have been temptation to divert from that path. Certainly, Pallekele was always going to be the strip offering most assistance to the faster men, as it momentarily did five years ago for Ryan Harris and Trent Copeland.Sri Lanka’s players were known to be unhappy about starting here rather than Galle’s more obviously spinning track, and the ground staff here had clearly tried to dry out their pitch. But the balance provided by Steve O’Keefe was useful to Smith, while Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc operated in shorter spells. All the while, Mitchell Marsh’s lively fast-medium remained in reserve, the day’s lopsided measure best illustrated by the fact that he was not even required to bowl.Intimidation: Before this match, Smith had spoken of the fact that while Australia were playing in conditions they had often found difficult, they were also playing an opponent short of experience and confidence. This meant it was important to get on the front foot early, demonstrating through performance and body language who was in charge. Sri Lanka’s players had been spared the supposedly “demoralising” sight of the Test Championship mace being presented to Smith in public on match eve, but they could not so readily avoid the Australians in the middle.By way of verbals, Kusal Mendis was nearly goaded into reviewing his lbw, which replays showed to be smashing into middle stump. By way of tactics, the focus upon Angelo Mathews was backed up by a none-too-subtle field setting, leg gully and short leg posted when Mitchell Starc ran in at him. It works too: Mathews very nearly offered an edge first ball, then was tentative enough to prod O’Keefe to slip soon after. At no stage were Sri Lanka made to feel like they belonged in this company.Hazlewood: Perhaps it is his SCG upbringing, perhaps his commendable straightness when in good rhythm, or perhaps his height, but Hazlewood was, by a distance, the most impressive Australian bowler on the day. Where Starc was fast but slightly off-peak, Hazlewood worked away steadily, finding his range and then a probing line and length to challenge all batsmen.Initially, it was seam movement on a slightly tacky surface that worked in his favour, seaming one back to pin Mendis, then shading one away from Kaushal Silva. There was a little more swing for Hazlewood in his second spell, and he saved his best delivery for Dinesh Chandimal, a gateway server that had Sri Lanka’s most accomplished batsman playing with a slightly closed bat face to snick behind to Peter Nevill. A couple of tail-end wickets to complete a five-for would have been well-deserved, but competition among an eager bowling attack meant Hazlewood had to be content with three.Use of the spinners: Nathan Lyon and O’Keefe had both trained with near-new balls in the lead-up to the Test, and Smith elected to hand the ball to the latter as early as the ninth over. Immediately, he found the sort of beguiling variation that has helped him build, by a distance, the most handsome Sheffield Shield record of any contemporary Australian spinner.Some balls skidded on, while others gripped. O’Keefe’s slight build and somewhat round-arm action gives him a similar trajectory to Rangana Herath, and he used this well to defeat a tentative Mathews with a hint of extra turn and bounce. Lyon was held back until the last over before lunch, but he too would use the conditions nicely. Three wickets in seven balls spanning the first and third overs after the interval effectively ended Sri Lanka’s innings, with bounce, turn and natural variation all coming into play. Lyon made his debut in this country five years ago; it is fitting he now sits two wickets away from 200 on visit No. 2.Out-of-kilter openers: For a brief moment, Australia’s march towards control of the Test was held up by the rapid exits of Warner and Burns, in circumstances that both batsmen will not be best pleased about. Bowled by full deliveries, neither paid due care and attention, and the opportunity to bat under relatively little scoreboard pressure was wasted.Warner, of course, is very much short of match practice. Having suffered a broken finger to the same hand that already nurses a problematic, previously injured thumb, he delayed his return to the batting crease as long as possible, eschewing the earlier tour match. He is also reluctant to bat in the fast bowlers’ No. 1 net these days, and it is just possible that Nuwan Pradeep hurried onto him with a near yorker touching 141kph. Warner’s feet were slow to move, and the drag onto the stumps maintained a drought of overseas centuries, dating back to March, 2014.Burns has made no secret that these conditions will stretch him, but he remonstrated visibly with himself after miscalculating Herath’s skid with the new ball. Stretching forward to defend, he played for fractional turn, duly leaving a gap through which the ball hurried through. That dismissal mirrored many suffered by the Australians in the UAE against Pakistan, when Yasir Shah and Zulfiqur Babar created similar doubts, to which the only remedy is supremely close attention to the ball through the air and off the pitch. Khawaja and Smith both had similar moments of inexact judgement, but escaped to bat on tomorrow. Many more runs beckon.

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Oct-2016Yasir Shah, who walked in as nightwatchman on the first evening, contributed 23 before becoming Jason Holder’s first victim. Pakistan were 342 for 6 in 93 overs•Getty ImagesSarfraz Ahmed, however, pulled his side ahead with attacking strokes and quick running•Getty ImagesHe added 70 for the seventh wicket with Mohammad Nawaz …•Getty Images… before falling to a 152 kph reverse-swinging full toss from Gabriel for 56•AFPPakistan lost their last four wickets in a space of 52 balls and were dismissed for 452.•AFPGabriel claimed his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket. He ended with figures of 5 for 96•AFPDarren Bravo opened the batting along with Leon Johnson since Kraigg Brathwaite had spent too long off the field during Pakistan’s innings•AFPRahat Ali struck early when he pinned Johnson lbw for 12•Getty ImagesBravo progressed to 43 before Yasir Shah dismissed him•AFPBrathwaite and Marlon Samuels then fell in the last two overs of the day as West Indies headed to stumps at 106 for 4•Getty Images