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Ricky Ponting waited until Australia’s lead was nearly 500 before declaring but Australia have plenty of time to bowl India out

Peter English at the MCG28-Dec-2007

Setting targets is one of the great games played by a team in command. Australia have done it a lot under Ricky Ponting and he still doesn’t know when a chase is too small. At home he has not lost a Test and he has become less generous in the size of his declarations over the past couple of years.The question floating around the MCG throughout the third day was when would Ponting consider he had enough? He finally called his men off with about 45 minutes remaining and it was a positive step towards the end of a day when Australia traded aggressive flair for grinding. A four-day victory would extend the turnaround between the Melbourne and Sydney Tests by 24 hours and when it comes to back-to-back Tests Australia are wary.Breaks for the bowlers are almost mandatory, which is why Ponting is so reluctant to enforce the follow-on, and the team’s research shows they are more likely to get injured when there is a short gap between matches. By declaring Ponting has challenged India to bat 98 overs to take the game to the final day while giving his fast men the incentive for a rest on Sunday before the serious training resumes in Sydney.One huge benefit of the high speed of Australia’s scoring is they have so much time to dismiss their opponents, which rules out the need for sporting declarations. When Ponting closes the innings the opposition has virtually no chance of success unless a miracle can be conjured. He has rarely needed to rush his decision and only once, against South Africa in 2005-06, did it result in a draw.Australia earned a lead of 506 in Hobart last month before letting Sri Lanka bat for a second time and against England in 2006-07 Ponting set 648 in Brisbane and 557 in Perth. Each time the home team registered a convincing victory that demoralised their opponents, who had to wait and wait for the misery to end. Second-innings torture has become one of Ponting’s most damaging tactics. The pain of a small total can be written off as a bad display, but hours spent toiling in the field when all influence has been lost are hard to erase.The body language of the Indians was sluggish in the morning and as a warm day wore on there was not much they could do except wait for Ponting’s wave. The declaration could easily have come long before tea, when Australia’s advantage was 395, but the hosts remain concerned that one of India’s famous four will stir. Instead Ponting went on until the shadows crept over quarter of the field and the lead was 498.After registering 196 in the first innings, India will consider 350 a triumph. The highest fourth-innings total at Melbourne is 417, which could not prevent England from losing in 1977, and the batsmen’s worries about the pitch continue. The bounce is variable and the fast bowlers from both teams have enjoyed reverse-swing created from the rough square. Although Australia missed a breakthrough in their short bowling stint there was only one team comfortable with the position of the match. It is just how Ponting wants it.

We’ve observed him from afar, sat through cliché-riddled press conferences and become infuriated at his brooding demeanour. Will the real Duncan Fletcher please stand up?

Will Luke18-Nov-2007

We’ve observed him from afar, sat through cliché-riddled press conferences and become infuriated at his brooding demeanour. Would the real Duncan Fletcher please stand up?At last, in his autobiography, , he has – and how. The week preceding the book’s publication caused an understandable media furore, with revelations of Andrew Flintoff’s drinking and of the back-room decisions Fletcher was forced to make. Equally predictably, though less understandably, Fletcher was made a scapegoat for revealing these brilliantly juicy insights.Anyone who has read the anodyne (and often premature) autobiographies of sporting figures which litter the shelves won’t mind one little bit. may be slightly ill timed – no cautious forward press, here – but dull it is not.Fletcher is a man who places great emphasis on trust and loyalty, and it comes as no surprise that Steve James, his former comrade at Glamorgan and friend of many years, helped write it. Broken up into 13 chapters, the book spans his life from childhood right up to the World Cup, when he resigned.He begins with a fascinating background to his happy childhood in Zimbabwe, growing up on a farm with a protective (and revealingly, loyal) family. His five siblings – four boys and Ann – were, we are told, far more talented at sport than the young Duncan. This rivalry instilled his determination and sharpened his mental focus on his one sport, cricket.It’s the later chapters, involving his time with Glamorgan, and then as England coach, that contain the most salacious insights. His difficulties with David Graveney; his surprise when offered the England coaching job; his spat with Henry Blofeld (surprising), and the “mutual dislike” of Geoffrey Boycott (less surprising). And, of course, the Flintoff saga in Chapter 13 which is rather dramatically entitled “The Winter from Hell”.But something jars. The book lives up to its title – we are certainly given an insight into a previously mysterious man – but it has an underlying seam of bitterness and resentment which, for someone who has achieved so much, is a disappointment and a little sad. Chapters are sprinkled with insistences that the reader “must understand”; that the media twisted his words and cheated the truth; that he is right and everyone else is wrong. If he never cared about the media during his tenure, why bother now?But this is Fletcher, after all. Dogged, determined and stubborn as a mule. Forthright views are no less than we expect. He and James should be lauded for producing a book that remains interesting from cover to cover while never dodging sensitive issues from the past.

Sky or ? Technical excellence or enduring appeal? It all comes down to taste: do you want Hussain’s analysis or Boycott’s anecdotes?

Alan Tyers31-Aug-2008

Five days in front of the telly and radio: smashing. Missing out on going to the Lord’s Test: shame. However, I manage to recreate the HQ experience by getting the curmudgeonly old gentleman who lives downstairs to sneer suspiciously at me on my way into our building. This partly makes up for my failure to persuade a surly 18-year-old to search my shopping on the way
back from Tesco’s and accuse me of attempting to manufacture a dirty bomb from a four-pack of John Smith’s and a tube of Pringles.Sky TV is in full effect from 10am, giving me plenty of time to search in increasing frustration for the audio commentary on the BBC website. Among the podcasts and webchats I finally find it and settle back for that most enjoyable sensory summer overload: the Test Match Special versus Sky sound clash.A rather wooden Shaun Pollock is on the telly, making his debut. He is purveying just the sort of hard-to-pin-down, play-or-leave-alone material that made his bowling so probing. When he pops up on the radio five minutes later there is cause for serious alarm. I bear no ill will to him, but surely there must have been more than one South African available for work this summer? Good grief, both the BBC and Sky are slap bang in West London – home from home for thousands of South Africans. In fairness Pollock improves by the hour throughout the Test, notably when greeting Kevin Pietersen’s ton with a dry “what a find he’s been for England”.Polly is the only addition to the Sky commentary team, with Bob Willis still kept in the attic like an unpredictable great uncle who has not been the same since the second dig at El Alamein. Thankfully they still let Bob out at 8pm sharp to chew on the day’s play and Charles Colville.In the manner of your mum trying to set the video CMJ gamely reads out all the different ways one can enjoy the cricket on the BBC – audio this and digital that and podcasts the other. Any way you like, in fact, other than actually watching it. Alison Mitchell says she will be doing something called micro-blogging on the website. I follow it avidly for five days, feasting on such tidbits as:4.40 pm England Rugby World Cup winner Mike Catt is socialising in the Coronation Gardens
4.44 pm Wonder if Catt supports England or SA at cricket?Could this be the saddest diary since Anne Frank’s? Still, the corporation’s obsession with interactivity and witless webbery is hardly peculiar to the cricket. Why won’t the BBC play to its strengths? One such strength is obviously the news coverage. Sample TMS lunch break from Lord’s: an interview with the ICC chief executive, Haroon Lorgat; a reporter up in Manchester covering the hearing over Yorkshire’s ineligible Twenty20 player; county scores; a phone chat with Peter Chingoka of Zimbabwe Cricket and another with Graeme Labrooy of the Sri Lanka Cricketers’ Association about their players playing in the IPL rather than Tests here in 2009. It is proper news coverage, as you would rightly expect from an organisation of the BBC’s might.

Over on Sky two nice men from Dukes (one of whom is Bob Taylor) are explaining to David Gower how they sew the seam on to the balls. It brings back childhood memories of programmes like Why Don’t You? and school holiday mornings ruined by educational televisual tours around corned beef plants.The technical side of the Sky cricket punditry is, to my mind, absolutely spot on. Compare Michael Holding, for instance, analysing Morne Morkel’s delivery stride in forensic detail with, for instance, football pundit Jamie Redknapp opining: “Well, he’s hit that beautiful, a top, top strike from a top, top player.” The cricket producers have grasped the concept that viewers do not need to be told that an object is in motion when they can use the evidence of their own eyes.With the Test coverage, if not the Twenty20 coverage of Wardy ‘n’ Crofty ‘n’ Knighty, Sky have also broken the stranglehold of football’s “My mate Reidy” school of punditry, whereby the expert summarisers are so in bed with the players and managers under discussion as to make their observations meaningless. Hussain, Atherton et al are firm but fair, and in David Lloyd they have an ace – a genuine personality, a unique voice. Ditto Holding. Sir Ian tends towards “how many Test wickets did you get?” browbeating, but he is, after all, Botham.Aside from the technical stuff the real difference between Sky and TMS is highlighted in the “batsmen: check; umpires: check; fielders: …buh?” incident when the crowd boo Graeme Smith for (and it pains me greatly to say this) something that was not his fault. The TMS team drolly wonder if South Africa are going to refuse to emerge and thus secure a draw, chortling “Where’s Darrell Hair when you need him?” Over on Sky they are ramping up the undeniably juicy but essentially bogus, controversy angle. It is sporting coverage versus entertainment.If Sir Ian hectors, not-quite-Sir Geoffrey positively Achilles-es. Boycott is now, I would suggest, completely off the reservation. The slightest squeak from Mark Pougatch (making his TMS Test debut) seems to rile the Greatest Living Yorkshireman into flights of indignant scorn. A perfectly reasonable suggestion from Pougatch that the return of Andrew Flintoff might increase the pressure on the run-shy Tim Ambrose (in favour of a keeper who can contribute with the bat) prompts hoots of derision from Geoffrey: “What, is Flintoff going to keep wicket now as well?” Five days of this bullying; Christ knows what Pougatch has done to him.The relentless monomania of Boycott has taken him so far beyond the realms of parody that even Rory Bremner – who pops into the TMS box for a chat and some of his cutting-edge impressions of man-of-the-moment Murray Walker – might have to stop doing him soon. It sometimes appears that Boycott is playing a sort of version of Mornington Crescent whereby he finds the shortest route back to “Geoffrey Boycott” from any question.

One especially lengthy soliloquy sees Boycott defending himself against accusations of miserliness (seriously, I am not making this up) by recounting how he once gave a cab driver a hundred quid tip for returning a mislaid bag. As the anecdote enters, or so it seems, its fourth or fifth hour, a kind of furious snuffling can be heard in the box. Bill Frindall, for it is he, will be denied no longer. “I cannot believe you have yet to ask me when was the last time England made 500,” he whines. The overall effect is a bit like being trapped in a school for exceptional children.However, there is an undeniable chemistry between the disparate personalities in the box. With the increasingly erratic Blowers apparently orf at a wedding, the charmingly otherworldly/shambling amateurism quotient is reduced to palatable levels. Phil Tufnell, an amusing and surprisingly incisive acquisition, even dares to giggle about the sacred cakes, iconoclast that he is, if someone who has been on both I’m A Celebrity and A Question Of Sport can be thus described.The sole unwelcome visitor, for me, is Alec Stewart, who happens into the box at 5pm on at least two days, apparently mainly to talk about Matt Prior. Is there not a rule about product placement on the corporation? Should a BBC wonk not be interjecting “other wicketkeepers are available”? It falls to Pougatch, on Monday, to point out that Alec works for the company that represents Matt.For all of Sky’s technical excellence and trenchant, expert analysis it will never quite capture the enduring appeal of TMS, the back beat of the British summer still. I suppose it comes down to taste: do you want to hear Nasser on the umpire referral system or do you want to hear an anecdote from Mike Selvey and Jonathan Agnew about going out for dinner with Roger Lloyd-Pack (the chap who played Trigger in Only Fools and Horses) and being surprised by the tiny size of his suitcase? It was, or so Selvey and Aggers revealed to the nation, “no bigger than that of Paddington Bear”.

India’s plan was extremely defensive, but not negative. By persisting with
the wide line, they were relying on a lapse in concentration from the
batsmen for a wicket

Cricinfo staff08-Nov-2008

The third day of the final Test produced only 166 runs in 86.4 overs and
yet the contest was absorbing. India showed their hand early by deploying
outrageously lop-sided fields which made it clear that if Australia wanted
to score, their batsmen would have to reach out for deliveries wide
outside the off stump. Were India overtly defensive? Or was their tactic a
necessary measure? The arguments for both cases are strong. The bottom
line, however, is that the strategy worked.Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma bowled to the left-handers – Michael Hussey
and Simon Katich – with eight fielders on the off side. The only man on the
leg side was at mid-on. They complemented their field by bowling a line
wide outside off stump. Katich chased and edged one in the second over but the
catch was dropped. Thereafter he chose to be extremely cautious. Both
batsmen were wary of the two slips in place and left numerous deliveries.
Their cut shots were blocked by a fielder at point who had a third man
and a sweeper as back-up. The drives were stopped by short cover and those that got past failed to beat extra cover and mid-off.The suffocating effect was enhanced by the discipline with which Zaheer and Ishant operated. Had they dropped short, the batsmen would have had enough time to cut with power; had they over-pitched, they would have been able to drive straight. But they so rarely wavered in length that you could easily count the number of deliveries that weren’t outside off stump. It was like a stuck record: the bowler delivered outside off, the batsman shouldered arms, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni collected.India’s plan was extremely defensive, but not negative. By persisting with
the wide line, they were relying on a lapse in concentration from the
batsmen for a wicket. Zaheer bowled closer to off stump than Ishant did but the left-armer usually dismisses left-handers with the ball that swings in towards the stumps. The field, however, demanded Zaheer’s aim not to be at middle stump. Unless the batsmen played on, they would not be bowled. Lbws were out of the question.The plan was understandable. India should have shut Australia out of the game by the end of day two but they had not. They should have scored 600 after winning the toss instead of 441. They took Jason Krejza lightly and lost wickets to unnecessarily aggressive strokes
against him. Sachin Tendulkar had said losing five for 311 on the first day was too many. They lost their next five for 19 on the second. Australia were still in the game and even more so after India’s bowlers bowled without direction last evening. Runs flowed at four an over and Australia reached 189 for 2 at stumps.”We tried to attack yesterday but ended up conceding some runs,” Ishant said after the third day. “So our plan for today was to be defensive because this was the only way we could have come back in the game. We just stuck to our plans as our captain told us to do. We were assigned
different roles, and we all bowled according to our roles.”This morning’s ploy was India’s attempt to regain control over the match
by delaying Australia’s rate of progress. It might have even been seen as
an attempt to draw the game and protect a 1-0 lead. The onus was on
Australia to force the pace for they need the victory to draw the
series. But they didn’t.Katich and Hussey didn’t even try to force a field change by improvising to hit on the leg side or by lofting over the infield. They didn’t attempt to alter lengths by stepping out of the crease like Matthew Hayden or Gautam Gambhir might have done. Instead
they left deliveries, blocked, and left some more. Their approach was not one of a team that needed to set the pace.Australia were so shackled by the off-side plan that the first attempt to hit the ball on the leg side was in the 12th over of the day: Hussey tried to pull Ishant but missed. The first time the ball was hit to the leg side was in the 18th over: Hussey pushed towards Ishant at mid-on. The first run on the leg side finally came in the 21st over when Hussey swept Harbhajan Singh to long leg. By the end of the first session India had conceded only 42 runs off 24 overs. They had also dismissed Katich who kept moving across his stumps to play the wide line and was eventually struck in front by an inswinger from Zaheer. Katich scored only 10 runs off 69 balls today compared to 92 of 120 last evening.There were large-scale field changes whenever the right-hander – Michael Clarke – was on strike. Two fielders would cross over and form a 6-3 off-side field. The two extra men on the leg side – midwicket and long leg in addition to the mid-on – allowed Zaheer and Ishant to target the stumps. Clarke scored only 8 off 44 balls (a four came from a mis-field) and he fell by edging a delivery from Ishant that seamed away from him.

The modus operandi changed when Harbhajan began bowling but the intent was the same. He went over the wicket to the left-hander and bowled a leg-stump line with a 6-3 leg-side field. The absence of a fielder at point ensured that Harbhajan would not be pitching anywhere close to off stump. Hussey tried to counter by sweeping and once by reverse-sweeping but he failed to raise the run-rate.It was staggering that Australia did not make a concerted effort to thwart India after lunch. Their run-rate during the second session was lower than the first – 49 runs in 29 overs – and they had lost three wickets. Australia had begun the day trailing by 252 runs with eight wickets in
hand and a run-rate of 3.85. They added only another 166 in 85.4 overs before being bowled out with an over remaining in the day. India’s tactics were neither attractive nor in the best interests of Test cricket when spectator-numbers are thinning. The bottom line, however, is
the end justified India’s means.

Herschelle Gibbs played an innings of patience and practicality to steer Deccan Chargers to their fourth win on the trot

Karna S27-Apr-2009Watching Herschelle Gibbs in full flow is one of the more delightful viewing experiences in cricket today, his grace and style elevating him above most other contemporary hard-hitting batsmen. He has competition – notably in Suresh Raina – for his typical hits over cover but no one comes close to matching the delicious swat-flick that he plays. He exhibited that today, nonchalantly picking up Manpreet Gony for a six over long leg. But he also exhibited another side – Gibbs Mark II – that eventually took Deccan Chargers to their fourth win on the trot.It was a strange game, with several shifts of pace and balance. Deccan began their chase of a gettable target in a maelstrom of boundaries before the spin of Muttiah Muralitharan and Raina stemmed, then strangled, the flow. Gibbs Mark I would have hit his way out of trouble – or off the ground. The new version didn’t play a shot in anger against spin, instead reserving his energy for the seamers before pulling it off in style in the last over.It’s how he played the middle overs against the slow bowlers, though, that really spoke volumes about his transformation. 106 runs were required from 96 balls when Chennai put Murali and Raina to work in tandem. Gibbs showed Murali due respect but that was no surprise; indeed, it could have been the pre-game plan as well. It’s the way he handled Raina that revealed the new maturity. Raina did his best to tempt him, offering up gently floated full deliveries and a couple of short deliveries, but Gibbs patted them away.It wasn’t really a surprise, though, if you’d seen him in action against Mumbai last week. That time, he tried hard to remain till the end; he was cautious then against Harbhajan Singh but ransacked the others. In the middle overs he allowed Dwayne Smith to go after the bowling while he worked the ball around. But he was run out after a misunderstanding with Venugopal Rao and couldn’t see the innings through.Nothing went wrong today, though. He guided the likes of Rohit Sharma and the inexperienced Azharuddin Bilkahia, a point his captain referred to after the match. “He took the decision not to hit against Raina and it worked,” Adam Gilchrist said. “Rohit too played the slow bowlers quietly. It was crucial not to lose wickets there as it could have got tough later.”That was a key point – Deccan are a touch top-heavy in their batting. With VVS Laxman yet to get going, one of Gilchrist or Gibbs has to guide the middle order along. On recent evidence, Gibbs has decided it will be his role. It’s not what he does for South Africa, where he is expected to provide a fiery start while the likes of Kallis, Boucher and Duminy control the middle order. In this tournament, Gibbs has shown that he can adapt to the new responsibility.Yet who could have predicted Gibbs’ turnaround given his recent past? Gilchrist later said that before the tournament he had spoken to South Africa’s coach Mickey Arthur, who’d assured him that Gibbs was in a great frame of mind. “He has made some big life decisions recently. He has consulted with the people around him who matter and has gone ahead and made them. Arthur told me he’s in a fantastic frame of mind. The enthusiasm he has shown to be involved and contribute to the team has been great. Today, it was great to see how he finished the game without a hint of panic.”Gibbs had the last word, though – he sent Gilchrist to the post-match press conference. “He told me, I got out on him and left him there alone while batting,” Gilchrist said. “So I should go to meet the press.” When you are contributing as heavily to the team’s success as Gibbs is doing, the captain will forgive a few eccentricities.

In the wake of the bans on three former Pakistan captains, Cricinfo looks at some other instances of player bans and boycotts

Cricinfo staff10-Mar-2010

WIPA-WICB

Floyd Reifer led a makeshift West Indies squad to defeat against Bangladesh•AFPThe relationship between the West Indian Players’ Association (WIPA) and the board had been rocky since 2005, mostly over a new contract with sponsor Digicel. The situation flared up sporadically with isolated strikes and considerable ill-will, but it reached a flashpoint in July 2009, when the entire first-choice team pulled out of a home Test series against Bangladesh.The entire first-choice squad – thirteen players in total – including Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo and Fidel Edwards, who were part of the battle with the board over annual retainer contracts, had not signed those contracts since October 2008.While WIPA claimed the players had played four tournaments in a row in 2009 without the contracts, the WICB said the demands of the players are unjust. The ‘second-string’ West Indies team, led by Floyd Reifer, went on to surrender the Test and ODI series, and even as the strikers and made themselves available for international duty following the appointment of an arbitrator to settle their dispute, the board decided to stick with the depleted squad for the 2009 Champions Trophy in South Africa that followed.

Rebel Tours

It is too easy to forget how the spectre of South Africa haunted international sport through the 1970s and 1980s. Increasingly isolated as the stranglehold of sanctions tightened, the authorities in the republic used money to attract sportsmen who were willing to turn a blind eye to what was going on. The idea was to bring sport to an entertainment-starved (white) public and to give the impression to the world that things weren’t so bad after all. Across eight years, various rebel teams toured South Africa with impunity.The first to land were Graham Gooch’s 1982 team. West Indians, Australians – twice each – and Sri Lankans soon followed, and all were welcomed by the majority of the white South African establishment. The final batch of rebels led by Mike Gatting had assumed they were trading cash for a three-year ban, the punishment meted out to the 1982 squad. But no sooner was the venture revealed in the summer of 1989 than those involved found themselves vilified in the British press and rounded on by the public.At the end of it all, there were big heads which rolled. These suspensions ended the careers of more than half the 1982 squad including Geoff Boycott, the world’s leading Test run-scorer at the time. John Emburey, the English spinner,was twice banned for three years and both times returned to play for his country. Australian captain Kim Hughes, who had accused the ACB of fostering dissatisfaction among the players, thereby easing the recruitment process for the rebel tours easy, never played international cricket again. However, Terry Alderman, Trevor Hohns and Carl Rackemann returned to represent Australia in later series. The West Indians – Lawrence Rowe, Collis King and Sylvester Clarke among them – and Sri Lankans had a far more wretched time. Banned for life and socially ostracised, for some it destroyed their lives.

Packer saga

Kerry Packer signed on many of the world’s leading cricketers for World Series Cricket•Getty ImagesKerry Packer, a 39-year-old media magnate, had been trying to secure TV rights for his Channel Nine network in Australia but was thwarted by a cozy long-standing relationship between the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1976, after his offer was turned down even though it was worth more than the ABC’s, he decided to set up the World Series Cricket for his channel.From late 1976 through to May 1977 Packer set about signing players (at the time of the launch in May he had 35 contracted), from Australia, West Indies, England, Pakistan and South Africa, who were in sporting isolation. The Australians – including leading players such as the Chappell brothers, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh – were banned from all official cricket, including state matches, and while initially England wanted to do the same (to the likes of Tony Greig, Alan Knott, John Snow and Derek Underwood) the hardline approach at the county level was unsustainable in view of the High Court ruling.No Packer players, though, were picked for England after 1977. West Indies opted not to pick some players (Desmond Haynes, Deryck Murray, Richard Austin) leading to the remainder (including Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, Colin Croft) walking away, while Pakistan were perhaps in the biggest mess with a major split in their ranks over how to treat players .

Qayyum report

With the match-fixing lid blown off after the Hansie Cronje scandal in India, the radar turned towards Pakistan. Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum, a Pakistan High Court judge, headed an inquiry that eventually handed fines to Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed and Mushtaq Ahmed, and life bans to batsman Saleem Malik and fast bowler Ata-ur-Rahman from the game.Despite it being the result of a comprehensive and wide-spanning inquiry, the report, made public in May 2000, received some criticism for being too vague in its findings, implying involvement of players in the team by imposing fines but not confirming it beyond reasonable doubt. However, Qayyum regretted the fact that his investigation into games under suspicion at the 1999 World Cup – Pakistan’s loss to Bangladesh foremost among them – was blocked.

Zimbabwe boycott

The sacking of Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak as captain in 2004 sparked a boycott from his team-mates, plunging Zimbabwe cricket into another crisis. Streak had presented the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) with a set of demands, including a condition that all selectors have first-class experience, and said he would consider quitting the game if they were ignored. The ZCU response was to remove Streak from captaincy and announce his retirement.In protest, 15 players (including Grant Flower, Stuart Carlisle, Craig Wishart, Andy Blignaut and Ray Price) refused to represent the national team and signed a petition, calling for the instatement of a minimum wage and the establishment of a players’ association among other demands. The boycott resulted in the formation of a makeshift team, and the board, faced with a declining player-pool, announced a withdrawal from Test cricket in 2006, which stands to this day.

Graham Onions defied Makhaya Ntini’s final over in a heart-stopping passage of play

Andrew McGlashan at Centurion20-Dec-2009The excitement was all too much for the Centurion Park scoreboard. As Friedel de Wet, summoned for a Test debut at the 11th hour following Dale Steyn’s injury, began his new-ball demolition of England it seized up, as though unable to keep up with the speed of the collapse. The board was revived with three overs to go but couldn’t display a South African victory as Graham Onions defied Makhaya Ntini’s final over in a heart-stopping passage of play.South Africa really had no right to get so close, but they refused to give up on the chance of taking a series lead. As had been the pattern throughout the Test, batting had become much easier once the shine had gone off the new ball, and the 145-run stand between Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen had left everything thinking of Durban.But Test matches can turn on moments of madness and moments of inspiration. South Africa enjoyed both as Pietersen ran himself out and AB de Villiers held a stunning catch at third slip to remove Trott as the second new ball did the trick. Then South Africa surged through England like a team possessed and it felt as though they had unstoppable momentum behind them in the closing overs.”When we took the new ball there was nothing there for us, then suddenly in 12 overs the game was turned on its head and that’s a terrific effort in itself,” Graeme Smith said. “It’s exciting to be a part of, it was exciting for the crowd and those watching at home. It sets up a terrific series and we got a lot more out of those last 12 to 14 overs than anyone expected.”In that period, de Wet managed more than a passable impression of the man he replaced. Like Steyn, he finds movement from a full length and after being handed the second new ball produced a spell of 3 for 11 as England lost 5 for 13 in 11.1 overs. The force was with him, but Smith opted to give the final over to Ntini, a man imbued with the spirit of his 100th Test. Hard though he tried, he couldn’t force a way through Onions’ impressively straight bat.”I’d pushed Friedel quite hard in that session and I think he’d just run out of puff at the end,” Smith said. “Probably an over or two before he’d run out, and there was always the thought of a romantic ending for Makhaya.”Smith’s comment does raise an interesting question. Had he allowed himself to be swayed too much by this being billed as Ntini’s match? Ntini had looked the least threatening bowler all day and his two wickets for the game came from a shooter to Andrew Strauss and a catch at mid-off to remove Jimmy Anderson. Hardly the returns of a strike bowler. It hasn’t been the done thing to criticise Ntini this week, but his final-day performance only went to reinforce the local view that he is past his peak.De Wet’s success now leaves the hosts with some tricky decisions ahead of Durban. Steyn is likely to be fit, Morne Morkel provides useful variation with his height and Paul Harris is a certainty. That leaves Ntini as the vulnerable option although it would take a brave selector to leave him out. Last in, first out would give the selectors an easy option, but de Wet’s swing in Durban could be a handy weapon.When potential political issues are taken out of the equation the success of a weakened attack has left South Africa in a stronger position than when they began the match. Without their leading strike bowler and the services of Jacques Kallis as an allrounder, serious question marks were raised over the line-up at Smith’s disposal. However, de Wet’s performance, Harris’s five-wicket haul and the sight of Kallis having a three-over spell – albeit off three paces – means the home side can only get stronger.”There wasn’t as much there for us this morning as we hoped for. We hit good areas and asked enough questions, that’s all I asked of the bowlers today,” Smith said. “Friedel bowled a terrific spell and put the ball in the right area, I think he bowled well throughout the day and the new ball offered him more off the surface as was the case through the last two days.”The best thing about today was the way we stuck at it, the guys never took their foot off the gas, even from tea-time when the game looked as though it was cruising to draw, and I’m proud of that.”With that feeling at the forefront of his mind, and the fact that South Africa held the aces for the majority of the game, Smith insisted his team won’t hold any lingering regrets that they couldn’t claim the final wicket.”There’s a touch of frustration maybe at not getting over the line but not disappointment,” he said. “All the emotions in that dressing room are of excitement at getting so close and having bowled so well. It made it worth sticking at it all day and gives us momentum going into the next Test.”Before this Test a lot of guys were asking where we were after eight-and-a-half months out of the Test arena and we finished the five days on top. England probably had a morning and a partnership between [Graeme] Swann and [Jimmy] Anderson throughout the game. Unfortunately we were a little short of getting over the line here but we can take a lot of confidence to Durban.”

Some of Indian cricket’s most remarkable moments are associated with the Chennai stadium

06-Nov-2010For long, cricket in Chennai has been associated with the spectators who turn out at the Chepauk: they have been regarded as the most knowledgeable cricket fans in the country. An overwhelmed Pakistan even took a lap of honour when the crowd gave them a standing ovation after they won a thriller there in 1999.Test cricket in Chennai used to coincide with the Pongal (Harvest) festival in January, though that tradition has been done away with in the recent times.The Indian Cricket Federation staged what is now acknowledged as the first cricket league in India when it conducted a competition for the clubs of Madras in 1932. Club cricket has endured in Chennai since and these days city boasts an enviable club structure, marked by fierce competition and by how rival corporate bodies “support” privately owned clubs.The venue

The MA Chidambaram Stadium, better known as Chepauk Stadium, was established in 1916, and has a capacity of 50,000. The first Test played here was in February 1934, between India and England, and the stadium has also hosted games in the 1987 and 1996 ICC Cricket World Cups. The first-ever Ranji Trophy match was played here, in which AG Ram Singh took 11 wickets on a sticky to bowl Madras to a win over Mysore within a day. India recorded their first Test win here, in 1951-52, when they defeated England by an innings and eight runs; and the second tied Test in cricket’s history was also played here, between India and Australia in 1986.An England-based firm of architects was commissioned by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association to find a way to increase capacity, provide additional corporate boxes and air-conditioned accommodation, and roof shading in time for the 2011 World Cup. More interestingly, they were also asked to try and let the sea breeze in to get the ground’s traditional swing back – all this while adhering to the principles of , and Indian form of feng shui, in design.Ground page | Fixtures | Map | PicturesGreat matches

India v Australia, 1987 World Cup
Navjot Singh Sidhu, with 73 on debut built on the start Sunil Gavaskar and Krish Srikkanth had provided, to push India past 200 for 2, chasing 271. It came down to them needing just 15 from the last four overs and finally six from the final over. Maninder Singh managed a couple of twos but then lost his off stump. Some might say it was Kapil Dev’s sportsmanship that proved the difference. One of Dean Jones’ two sixes had been signalled a four, but between innings Kapil said it was a six and had the scorers change it. India’s target was increased by two; they fell short of Australia’s target by one run.India v West Indies, 1994
West Indies were in complete control while Brian Lara and Carl Hooper were adding 112 for the third wicket, but Lara was given out leg-before to Sachin Tendulkar, aiming an extravagant pull at a ball outside off stump, and Jimmy Adams and Hooper followed two runs later. West Indies’ 221 didn’t prove enough as Mohammad Azharuddin took charge with a fine 81 to push India to a win.Australia v New Zealand, 1996 World Cup quarter-final
Chris Harris and Lee Germon put on 168 together to push New Zealand to 286, which meant Australia had to make the second-highest score to win a World Cup game at the time. It was also the first game to be played under lights in Chennai. Come the second innings, Mark Waugh hit one of the coolest hundreds in a chase, in just about two-and-a-half hours of nimble-footed driving and flicking, with two big sixes as garnish. Steve Waugh and Stuart Law made light work of the last third and Australia were through in style.Top ODI performers
Most runs MS Dhoni, 307 runs at 153.5 | Top score Saeed Anwar, 194 v India
Most wickets Mohammad Rafique, 8 wickets at 21.50 | Best bowling Ravi Rampaul, 5 for 51 v India
Major players
Srinivas Venkataraghavan | Krishnamachari Srikkanth | L Sivaramakrishnan | Robin SinghHome team
The Tamil Nadu side have won the Ranji Trophy twice, in 1954-55 and 1987-88, and finished as the runners-up eight times. For a team with a rich history and strong club culture, it’s a disappointing record. The local IPL franchise, Chennai Super Kings have twice won the tournament and twice been runners-up.

ESPNcricinfo picks the highlights of the fourth round of the Ranji Trophy 2010-11

Abhishek Purohit29-Nov-2010The fatal driveAfter Orissa conceded a 312-run first-innings lead against Karnataka at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, the Beheras – Natraj and Niranjan – battled hard as their side ended the third day with only one wicket down. On the fourth morning, Karnataka removed Natraj, but the other Behera continued to block. Karnataka’s hopes of an outright win were fast dwindling as tea approached. Suddenly, Niranjan decided to drive his 251st delivery, and to Karnataka’s delight, was bowled off an inside edge. The gates had opened, and Karnataka barged in gleefully. With the broad blades of the Beheras out of the way, the three Mohantys, Rakesh, Debasis and Basanth, melted away. When Abhimanyu Mithun bowled last man Dhiraj Singh for his fourth wicket, Orissa had lost their last seven batsmen for 76 runs to hurtle to an innings defeat, and Karnataka were richer by six points.Lone man standingPunjab opener Sarul Kanwar, playing his third first-class game, defied Baroda with a belligerent 130, his maiden century. However, the rest of the side collectively managed 108, and Baroda enforced the follow-on with a 173-run lead. Mukesh Narula, the Baroda coach, felt the game was being played on two different pitches, one on which Kanwar was hammering the bowling all around, and the other one on which the rest of the Punjab batsmen were struggling. Kanwar had to retire hurt in the second innings with the score on 12, and by the time he came back, his side had slipped to 27 for 3. He tried to fight his lonely battle again, but when he was dismissed for an aggressive 45, Punjab were in tatters at 87 for 8. They eventually lost by an innings and plenty to spare, with ten Punjab batsmen together scoring as many runs as Kanwar had.The friendly dropAmol Muzumdar, who belongs to Mumbai as much as the Wankhede Stadium and the Cricket Club of India do, was “glad to be back” to the city for Assam’s game against the defending champions. During the game, he also indulged in some friendly banter with former team-mates Ajit Agarkar and Ramesh Powar. But there was no friendliness on the field, as Assam had Mumbai in trouble at 291 for 9 chasing 298 for the first-innings lead. That is, until an opportunity arrived to Muzumdar at first slip, as his old mate Agarkar slashed hard. And Muzumdar clanged it. “I was standing a few feet ahead than usual because the ball wasn’t carrying enough. It came at great speed, making it difficult for me to take the catch,” Muzumdar told the . The reprieve proved costly as Agarkar’s 29 took Mumbai past Assam’s score.The case of the missing allrounderIrfan Pathan has been conspicuous by his absence this season. The allrounder was supposed to miss the first two games as he was undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy for a persistent back injury. Four games into the season, the injury still persists, and the rehabilitation continues. Narula wants his key player back, and quickly. “I thought he would be resuming practice this week, but he has still not started bowling. He is under the NCA physio at the moment. I am hoping he comes back before the knockouts. We are a very young side, and would need him if we go through to the knockout stage.” Baroda have managed quite well without Irfan so far, winning two out of four games with bonus points and drawing another.After Parida, it’s ParabBaroda batsman Satyajit Parab has announced his retirement, after Railways offspinner Kulamani Parida did so earlier this month. Parab had not played a single game this season and Narula had earlier said that he was not reporting for practice sessions. Parab has made more than 4700 first-class runs with 16 hundreds at an average of 34.90. Part of the India A squad that toured England in 2003, he scored 809 runs at 58 when Baroda won the Ranji Trophy in 2000-01. “Like any other cricketer, I had hoped to get into the national team but failed to find a place in it,” Parab told the . Narula said Parab had been a good performer over the years, and it was a bit early for him to retire at 35, given that his team-mate Connor Williams was going strong at 37. “He had an injury that was not healing. He wanted a final game before he went, but unfortunately could not clear the fitness tests.”

An unending skirmish for the orange cap, a left-field rehab programme, a déjà vu opening over and more in a review of the action for the second week of the IPL

Nitin Sundar22-Apr-2011The rehabilitation programme of the week

It doesn’t matter if your pains are physical or mental – the IPL has a cure. Lasith Malinga can barely hold his bones together after all the injuries, and has opted out of Tests. Chris Gayle can barely hold himself together after being ‘disrespected’ by the WICB. What do these men do? They turn up at the IPL. Malinga trots in for four overs of therapeutic yorkers every other day, while Gayle seeks inner calm by flogging sixes in every direction in his first game for Bangalore. Even the Sri Lankan board now seems convinced of the IPL’s special powers – they believe it offers their players better preparation for the upcoming England tour, than a three-day tour game against Middlesex.The unending tussle of the week
Can Sachin Tendulkar and Paul Valthaty settle their differences like gentlemen, please? Clearly neither man can bear to see the orange cap adorning the other’s head. The one-upmanship began last week, after Valthaty played innings against Chennai Super Kings. Tendulkar responded by producing a century of his own. Valthaty was not pleased, and unleashed his rage on Deccan Chargers to wrench the cap back. Tendulkar simply sighed, adjusted his crotch guard, squinted into the distance and calmly reclaimed the lead with an assured innings against Pune. Valthaty would have none of it, and smashed Rajasthan to all corners of Mohali to regain pole position. Can Mr Chirayu Amin just give both of them a lifetime’s supply each of orange caps, and ask them to stop being so competitive?The maiden of the week
When Shaun Tait chugged in for the sixth over against Punjab, the score had a distinct stick-cricket like feel to it. 73 for 1, at the other-worldly run-rate of 14.6. The batsman on strike was Valthaty, who was mauling everything hurled at him. Tait produced one yorker, three short balls, one bouncer and a late swerving inducker, each one at close to 150 kph. Valthaty defended the yorker, and swung at every other ball without making contact. A maiden would not have been more out of place in the men’s room.The contrived finish of the week
A chase of 119 should always be a walk in the park. Especially if you have Sachin Tendulkar at the top, and the likes of Andrew Symonds, Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard in your middle order. Yet, Mumbai somehow contrived to take it to the last ball. Tendulkar and Ambati Rayudu added 74 to put their side on course, but consumed 12 overs for those runs. Sharma and Symonds, who had spent too long padded up and waiting for a chance to bat in previous games, must have been very pleased when they eventually got a hit. They were probably worried if they would ever get another bat, and chose to stay out there as long as possible. With 11 required off 15 balls, they focused on pushing singles before Rohit hit a last-ball six to end the crawl-fest.Mahela Jayawardene’s predictions are as precise as his placement•AFPThe WAG of the week
Elizabeth Hurley added to the IPL glamour, but it wasn’t a good week for a Rajasthan supporter. Her first outing was a washout, but she was there to cheer Shane Warne’s side in their match against Punjab. When Siddharth Trivedi castled Adam Gilchrist in the first over, she was jumping for joy with the rest of the Rajasthan contingent. When the umpire called it a no-ball, she was visibly shocked. When Dishant Yagnik then tried to slyly run Gilchrist out as he walked, she looked on hopefully, but was left disappointed. To make matters worse, her presence coincided with Warne’s worst performance of the season, as he leaked 50 runs in his four-over spell.The slump of the week
Warne could do no wrong in the first week, getting vicious drift and turn out of his chubby wrists, but his fortunes – and his team’s – plummeted in the second. First, Rajasthan ran into an inspired Gautam Gambhir and Jacques Kallis, who strolled through a chase of 160. In the return game, Rajasthan collapsed to 81, leaving Warne fuming at the press conference. That verbal lashing, however, did the opposite of lifting the team for their game against Punjab. There were no-balls that fetched wickets, free-hits that leaked boundaries, dropped catches, and atrocious bowling. Warne was at the forefront of the meltdown, living up to his prediction that the pitch was a “batsman’s payday” by sending down a rash of long-hops that were feasted upon. He then lost his composure, sledging Dinesh Karthik even before he had faced a ball.The precise prediction of the week
Mahela Jayawardene must be a stickler for high precision. During the toss in Kochi’s game against Kolkata, he was asked that oft-repeated question that captains barely think about before answering. “What do you think will be a defendable score?” Jayawardene’s refused to be vague, and boldly backed his team to defend anything between 130 and 140. Against a line-up that included Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan, Gautam Gambhir and Eoin Morgan. As it transpired, Kochi scored 132 and won by six runs. Jayawardene was awarded the Man-of-the-Match award, despite not scoring too many. The venerable Nostradamus would have approved.The déjà vu over of the week
Zaheer Khan may be the canniest fast bowler doing the rounds in international cricket, but IPL 2011, so far, has not been kind to him. His worst moment was the opening over in the game against Kolkata. He started with a delivery on the pads that Kallis glanced for four, but the next ball was even wider and ran away for five wides. Zaheer shifted to round the wicket and sent down another leg-side wide. He then over-compensated and pushed a ball yards outside off stump. As if the wides weren’t enough, he then gave Kallis gifts outside off and on the pads, both of which were dispatched to the boundary. Memories of the opening over of the 2003 World Cup final wafted around Eden Gardens.