Essex continue to produce talented young players but they need to find the right blend from their squad to challenge for promotion and silverware

George Dobell28-Mar-2013Last year 5th, CC Div 2; Quarter-finals, FLt20; 5th in Group A, CB40.2012 in a nutshell Disappointing. Bearing in mind the talent available in the Essex squad, there were realistic hopes that the club would achieve promotion and challenge for a limited-overs trophy in 2012. In the end, they did neither and, to increase their frustration, a seamer they had released – Chris Wright – played a prominent role in helping Warwickshire to the Championship title. They finished below Netherlands in the CB40 and won only three games in Division Two – only Northants did worse. There are some mitigating factors: the club was weakened by IPL absences – Owais Shah and Ryan ten Doeschate both missed several weeks of the season – Ravi Bopara played a peripheral part due to personal issues and England call-ups, and poor weather did little to help gain any momentum. Had they prevailed in a brave run-chase against Hampshire – they fell three short when chasing 360 at Chelmsford in July – their Championship season may have ended differently. Still, there is no escaping the fact that too few of their promising young players have developed as anticipated and too much is required of senior players such as Graham Napier, David Masters, Shah and Bopara. The decision to release Michael Comber and the loss of Adam Wheater to Hampshire underlined the impression that the club continues to struggle to develop their players once they graduate from the academy to the professional game. Chopping and changing the side has not helped.2013 prospects The squad remains as strong as any in the second division and is seemingly well suited to limited-overs cricket, too. The bowling attack has a nice blend of youth and experience and the batting looks strong, long and explosive. Their new acquisitions are intriguing: Australian Rob Quiney looks a modest overseas signing but, keen to force his way into Ashes contention, has all the motivation required to succeed, while Sajid Mahmood, for all his qualities, has been frustrating his coaches for more than a decade. Quite why a club blessed with so much young bowling talent requires such an addition remains open to debate. Shaun Tait should prove an eye-catching signing in the T20 and, along with the likes of ten Doeschate, Bopara and Napier, gives Essex several potential match-winners. Anything less than qualification to the quarter-finals of the T20 should be considered a failure, while they really should be able to mount a serious promotion challenge.Key player If Bopara is available for the entire season, he could play a huge role for Essex. He topped their batting averages in the Championship and the CB40 last year and, requiring outstanding performances in order to revive his international career, should be motivated. Quite what frame of mind he may be in remains to be seen but, if Bopara is fit and firing, he could well lead a promotion challenge.Bright young thing Essex is a club bursting with young talent. Ben Foakes, a wicketkeeper batsman, has already been fast-tracked into the England Lions side and looks set to start the season playing as a specialist batsman. Tymal Mills, a left-arm bowler of unusual pace, is equally exciting. But the real gem may turn out to be another left-arm bowler, Reece Topley. Blessed with great height and an ability to swing the ball, Topley appears to have all the attributes to develop into a high-class performer.Captain/coach Paul Grayson, the head coach, and James Foster, the captain, have been together for a few years but, despite assembling a strong squad, have yet to gain the success that was anticipated. The fact that Essex have just appointed a new chief executive – Derek Bowden succeeding David East – could herald change if 2013 is another year of underachievement.ESPNcricinfo verdict On paper, they have the talent to challenge for limited-overs trophies and promotion but if they are to prosper they will have to work out which is their best team and stick with it.

Five unforgettable matches from previous editions of the Champions Trophy

Nagraj Gollapudi08-Jun-2013Australia v Pakistan , Centurion, 2009
By the end even Ricky Ponting was chewing his nails as Pakistan fought back and muddled the plot. Australia had to win to make sure of entering the semi-finals. On a sluggish pitch, their fast bowlers restricted Pakistan to a modest 205. Tim Paine and Shane Watson rushed off the blocks before Ponting, in the company of a confident Michael Hussey, the only batsman to record a half-century in the match, put Australia in a winning position.Then Ponting was pouched spectacularly by Shoaib Malik in the deep and Pakistan sniffed an opportunity. When the final ten overs started, Australia needed 36. Rana Naved-ul-Hasan bowled a match-turning late spell, first uprooting Hussey’s stumps with a penetrating yorker, and he followed that with two maidens. Mohammad Asif, playing his first match in almost two years, showed he could still toy with batsmen outside the off stump – James Hopes and Cameron White may still be working out how Asif got the better of them in one over. And Umar Gul, who had not bowled after the 15th over of innings, returned to shoot the yorkers in like an expert marksman.The climax was reserved for the final over: Australia needed five runs. Gul returned to bowl suffocating lengths to Brett Lee and Nathan Hauritz. One run was needed from the final ball. Gul pitched it full and wide. Hauritz missed. Lee charged for the bye. Kamran Akmal picked up the ball for an underam throw. He missed. Lee dived. And Australia gained a berth in the semi-finals, edging out India.New Zealand v Pakistan, Nairobi, 2000
Before Chris Cairns delivered the one-handed six that fetched New Zealand their first world title, New Zealand had to get past Pakistan in the semi-final. Pakistan, winners of the 1992 World Cup and runners-up in the 1999 one, were favourites. Interestingly, it was New Zealand that Pakistan had jumped over in the semi-finals of both those World Cups.Saeed Anwar cracked his second century in three days even as the rest of the specialist batsmen failed. The allrounders, Abdul Razzaq and Wasim Akram, restored parity with a run-a-ball 59-run partnership late in the innings to raise a challenging 252. They were stopped from running riot at the end by left-arm quick Shayne O’ Connor, who recorded the best bowling figures in the tournament with 5 for 46.Shayne O’ Connor’s 5 for 46 wrecked Pakistan in Nairobi•Paul McGregor/ESPNcricinfo LtdNo team had chased more than 250 until then in the tournament. New Zealand’s task looked difficult at 15 for 2, but Roger Twose and Nathan Astle stood solid in a 135-run third-wicket partnership. Three quick wickets in the middle overs left the match in the balance, with New Zealand needing 66 runs from final 12 overs with four wickets in hand. Without Cairns, sitting out injured, it was a stiff challenge. But Craig McMillan, who had played a key role in his team’s first win in the tournament against Zimbabwe, anchored New Zealand to safety in the company of Cairns’ replacement, Scott Styris. The two stitched together an unbeaten 68-run alliance to help New Zealand reach the final.Australia v West Indies, Mumbai, 2006
A match full of drama. West Indies had been rudely pushed aside by Sri Lanka in a nine-wicket defeat in their previous game. Australia were playing their first match of the tournament. Having elected to bat, Brian Lara surprisingly decided to drop himself down the order. Perhaps Lara was not confident about his middle and lower orders, that had crumbled against Sri Lanka. At any rate, his plan worked.Along with the spirited Runako Morton, he wrested control back from Australia as the duo put together a 137-run fifth-wicket partnership, with Lara dominating Australia’s slow and medium-pace bowlers effortlessly.But was 234 going to be enough? After 20 overs, Australia were 81 for 4, though Adam Gilchrist was still around, playing an uncharacteristic grinding knock. Nudges and pushes replaced his trademark flat-batted monstrous hits as Gilchrist, in the company of Michael Clarke, built a winning platform. A target of 64 from the final ten overs meant Australia were favourites.The Australians were distracted by Chris Gayle getting in Clarke’s hair – chatting to him, and at one stage, even throwing the ball in his direction, which resulted in a couple of overthrows. Both teams were playing with high intensity and neither wanted to back off.Then Gilchrist was run out and Dwayne Bravo teased Clarke with a slower delivery, accepting the return catch. With 21 needed from 14, Michael Hussey attempted a wild swing and lost his off stump to Jerome Taylor. The next ball Taylor bowled full into Brett Lee’s pads and appealed animatedly. Jimmy Adams on TV said: “A man fixing a pipe could not be plumber than that.”Taylor was on a hat-trick on his first ball of the final over of the match. Brad Hogg tried to clear the square-leg boundary but was beaten by the fierce pace and was bowled. It was West Indies’ first hat-trick in ODIs, and had secured them a thrilling ten-run victory.South Africa v West Indies, Colombo, 2002
called it the “best finish” of the tournament. And what a cliffhanger it turned out to be, with the match being decided off the very last ball. Not one of the West Indies batsmen reached a fifty, after Shaun Pollock* had put them in to bat. South Africa’s top order then surrendered meekly in turn, allowing West Indies to retain their hopes. However, Jonty Rhodes and Boeta Dippenaar maintained the pressure with clever placements and hard running between the wickets. But once Carl Hooper, the West Indies captain, broke their 117-run partnership by getting rid of both in the space of three deliveries, the pendulum swung in West Indies’ favour.Ian Bradshaw and Courtney Browne pulled off a twilight heist at The Oval in 2004•Getty ImagesSouth Africa, who were penalised for a slow over rate and had to achieve the target in 49 overs, didn’t choke this time. With 13 needed from the final over from Merv Dillon, Pollock walloped a six over long-on. There were a few jitters then as he and Lance Klusener departed in quick succession.With three runs needed off the final ball, Dillon bowled it full outside Nicky Boje’s leg stump. The umpire declared it as both a wide and a bye. Alan Dawson then managed a thick edge off the last delivery to secure a two-wicket victory.England v West Indies, The Oval, 2004
At 147 for 8, chasing 218 for a victory, West Indies were staring down the barrel. The Barbadian pair of Courtney Browne and Ian Bradshaw, England supposed, could not pose much of a danger. But over the next hour, England went from being unconcerned, to being alarmed, before being robbed.Marcus Trescothick was the only England batsman who found his groove on a pitch that was relatively dry and hard as he scored a spectacular century. The rest of the English batsmen failed. Brian Lara took two amazing catches, including a low one-handed take of Andrew Flintoff at short midwicket, which he plucked like a strand of grass.The West Indies top and middle order didn’t make an impact, leaving Browne and Bradshaw to script an miraculous escape. When Bradshaw, the 30-year-old greenhorn, joined his Barbados captain Browne with 15 overs left, West Indies still needed 71. “What is your plan?” he asked Browne, and was told to just stay calm.Bradshaw batted like a No. 3 rather than the No. 10 that he was. Browne, too, was not afraid to swing even if it meant he would miss. England’s captain Michael Vaughan grew restless as the Caribbean pair grew stronger with each over. With 35 required off the last seven, and the light deteriorating, Vaughan checked with the umpires if they wanted to postpone the rest of the match to the next day. The West Indies pair politely declined the offer.With nine needed off the final ten, Browne’s leading edge against a listless Darren Gough, flew over point for a boundary. And Bradshaw sealed the fairytale with a classic square drive on a bent knee, against Alex Wharf. It was a signal for the Caribbean to erupt.June 8, 07.29GMT: The captain of South Africa in the match against West Indies in 2002 in Colombo was Shaun Pollock and not Hansie Cronje as had been mentioned. This has been corrected

Dale Steyn can be an interesting yardstick to measure how good a batsman you are. Not for the first time in recent memory, he managed to suffocate the destructive Kieron Pollard

Nagraj Gollapudi in Cardiff15-Jun-2013Marlon Samuels kicked his left leg in disgust as he head-banged his way back in denial after an erroneous shot selection. The previous delivery, he had thrashed a Dale Steyn length ball coming into him for a four over midwicket. Next ball, Steyn improvised, changing the length, pitching fuller. Samuels went for the same stroke and was embarrassingly bowled.It was a highly charged atmosphere. Samuels, in the company of the best finisher currently in Twenty20 cricket, Kieron Pollard, had pulled West Indies back in to the match after West Indies found themselves in a desperate situation playing catch-up with the D/L par scores since the departure of Chris Gayle in the 12th over. At the 15-over mark, West Indies were still adrift by a massive margin of 144 runs.A couple of overs later, West Indies opted for the three-over batting Powerplay. Steyn had bowled a tight three-over first spell, allowing just 12 runs including the wicket of Johnson Charles. Surprisingly, AB de Villiers had bolted his best racehorse till the third over of the innings, having started with the offspin of JP Duminy. Realising that Charles’ raw aggression could backfire the experiment badly, Steyn replaced Duminy.It was the first time Steyn was playing in the tournament. He had been declared fit only two days before the match hence he had some free allowance. But the look of disbelief on Steyn’s face after Gayle punched a fuller ball on the middle stump to the straight boundary was stunning. It only helped him up charge up quickly.Against Samuels he understood that as long as he did not bowl short, he would be fine. And the batsman too paid respect to Steyn. Thirty-five runs had come against Ryan McLaren and Robin Peterson, so Samuels knew the only way he could defeat Steyn was by remaining quiet. But Steyn has the ability to force you out of your comfort zone and take him on. Samuels was the victim today.The beauty about Steyn is not his run-up. His beauty lies in his speed. No matter which format of the game, whatever the pitch or the conditions and whoever is the batsman, you can bet on Steyn being unrelenting. Friday was the same. De Villiers brought Steyn on whenever the best batsmen were threatening to steal the match away: Gayle, Samuels, Pollard – each of those batsmen failed to take the attack to Steyn and that proved to be the decisive factor.Two balls after removing Samuels, Steyn, bowling slightly wide of the crease, bowled it short of a length. But it was the speed, 90 mph, which surprised both Pollard and de Villiers keeping wicket and even threatened the spider cam, which retreated safely in time as the ball raced for five wides. Steyn was absolutely livid that de Villiers had failed to pouch that. Like an edgy boxer in a spaceship, Steyn hopped twice before raising his hands in anguish.Steyn is an intense bowler. He does not dabble in too many variations. You rarely see Steyn dumbfounding batsmen with slower balls. You do see him regularly confounding batsmen with extreme speed coupled with subtle movement. It also helps if you can bowl lines and pitch lengths like clockwork.It is just not his unerring accuracy but also the quest to pitch the ball on length, which Allan Donald described as “fuller than normal”, that makes Steyn unplayable. “You can’t get to him. You can’t get a big stride to him. He suffocates you in the crease, and that’s where he gets people nicked off, because he bowls a fuller length and swings it at high pace,” Donald said.Steyn can be an interesting yardstick to measure how good a batsman you are. Take Pollard, who can smash most bowlers to smithereens. However, against Steyn he has rarely succeeded. Check Steyn v Pollard during Sunrisers Hyderabad’s away match against Mumbai Indians. Pollard won the match for Mumbai by smashing the pedestrian pace of Thisara Perera after Steyn had played him like a puppet. Even today, Pollard faced the most deliveries from Steyn, but managed just nine runs off 11 balls faced, including frequent hits-and-misses.With his exhilarating pace and penchant to attack the off stump, Steyn brings the Test match mentality to the limited-overs game. With such an attitude, Steyn makes his captain’s job easier.”It’s great to have Dale back. He’s definitely an X-factor for us. I called on him a few times today, especially the last spell into the wind, and he picked up a vital wicket for us,” de Villiers said. “So, the way he handled the pressure and the way he actually gave his best for the team was very inspiring.”I think everyone learnt a lot from that, and he made the whole bowling unit follow him, and like I said, they stuck together as a team today, right from Robin Peterson, the way he bowled was amazing, right through to a guy like Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Ryan McLaren, to Chris Morris. They all had something to aspire to, and it worked out, so a lot of credit has got to go to him.”

The Zimbabwe series is a test of India’s bench strength. Who among the youngsters will grab the opportunity to shine?

<b>Kartik Kannan, India</b>23-Jul-2013India are currently ranked No. 1 in ODIs and one of the hallmarks of a top-ranking side over time is the quality of bench strength. While India get ready to play Zimbabwe without some of their senior players, it’s a good opportunity for some of the newcomers to perform and prove that the team’s DNA is not dependent on a few individuals, but is a high-performance culture that runs deep. I am reminded of the quadrangular series between England, Zimbabwe, Australia A and Australia in 1994-95, where the finals were contested by the two Australian sides. That showed to the world that Australia’s second XI was better than many international sides. India can learn a thing or two from that series as they aim to build an ODI team for the future. Over to the youngsters.Parvez Rasool
The offspinning allrounder from Jammu and Kashmir has made it to the team on the back of consistent performances in the domestic season. Rasool will be looking to ease himself into the international scene in Zimbabwe, where the pressure on him to deliver would be lesser. He’s had a taste of the highest level, having played against the touring English and Australian sides recently.If Rasool clicks, India would have found someone to share the spinners’ workload with R Ashwin. Rasool’s partnership with Ravindra Jadeja, who turns the ball the other way, will make for interesting viewing in the middle overs.Mohit Sharma
Mohit Sharma’s rise to the top was fast-tracked by his 2013 IPL season for the Chennai Super Kings. Mohit’s key strength is the ball that goes away, and he bowls an impressive attacking line. He was handled well by MS Dhoni in the IPL, and that surely played a part in his success. Having Mohit and Bhuvneshwar Kumar – a swing bowler who bowls at a lesser pace – bowling in tandem will give India an edge with the new ball.Cheteshwar Pujara
India’s new-found performance man in Test cricket finally gets a chance to shine in the shorter format. Despite a tremendous List A average of 56.97, Pujara has unfairly been labelled as a slow run-getter. Given his recent successes, there’s no question over his technique on tricky wickets or against good quality seam bowling. In recent times, India have missed a sheet anchor in ODI cricket, and with two new balls coming into play, Pujara could be just the man for them.Jaydev Unadkat
Unadkat sure knows the demands of international cricket, having endured a forgettable Test debut in South Africa in late 2010. He is a vastly improved bowler now, and has forced his way back into the set-up with consistent IPL performances. He has also had very successful A tours in New Zealand and England in the last couple of years. Zimbabwe’s spongy bounce could be helpful to his style of bowling, which relies on hitting the seam more often than not. His inclusion brings variety to India’s inexperienced seam-bowling group.Ambati Rayudu
Having been one of the lynchpins of Mumbai Indians’ renaissance since IPL 3, Rayudu’s chance to represent the India team comes at just about the right time. He will lend depth to the middle order, and in Dhoni’s absence, could slot in as a finisher. Dinesh Karthik is likely to be India’s first-choice wicketkeeper, which could work against Rayudu. But if he gets a look-in, possibly ahead of Ajinkya Rahane, he should make it count.
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Dale Steyn doesn’t aim to just hit the “right areas” in one-day cricket, he goes out there to attack the batsmen, and the results are there for all to see

Sidharth Monga in Johannesburg09-Dec-2013A day before the start of this ODI series, South Africa had a long training session. Towards the end of it, Dale Steyn went in to bat, and struggled. The metal stumps were rattled at least once, the attempted big hits didn’t go far, and the timing just wasn’t there. Steyn’s cursing of himself reverberated through the empty practice facility at the Wanderers. As he was leaving, clearly frustrated with his batting, he absolutely demolished a set of stumps in one of the nets with his bat. His coach and other support staff were there, and his captain was there. Nobody spoke a word. They all just quickly stepped aside.Steyn was angry, no one wanted to bother him, but they must have known it was a good space for Steyn to be in before a big series. It works with Steyn. He once said, jokingly, if somebody ever manages to make his friend and team-mate Morne Morkel angry, he will become the best bowler in the world.Steyn has let out all that anger on the white Kookaburra in this series, which has conveyed the message to the India batsman. In 15 high-quality overs, he has conceded just 42 runs, and taken six wickets. More importantly, by the time he finished his first spells, the matches were over as a contest. For a young batting unit with little experience of these conditions – an A tour on flat pitches cannot count – it is quite possible Steyn has left a few intimidated. And Steyn says that he has seen that in the batsmen’s eyes.Alternatively, in Steyn’s eyes you can see that he knows he has the batsmen at his mercy. That he can continue to play with them. Wickets are important, but he is not desperate to get them immediately. Going past the bat, or bowling bouncers that the batsman can do nothing to, is giving him as much joy. “I’ve got you now. You’re mine,” Steyn once said of the helplessness he sometimes spots in the batsmen’s eyes. Sometimes torturing the batsman for a period in the public eye can leave a deeper scar than actually getting him out first ball.Steyn did that to Rohit Sharma in the first match with his searing quick outswingers. For 15 deliveries Rohit couldn’t touch the ball. He knew he couldn’t chase them. When he tried, he was beaten. The pace had been set. India were now chasing the game. For a shorter period in the second game, Steyn did the same to Ajinkya Rahane. This time with bouncers. They were quick, they were high, but not higher than the shoulder. Steyn was telling him, “Go ahead, try to hook them. If you don’t, I will keep bouncing you, and you won’t even get a no-ball.” What do you do to such bowling if you haven’t been facing such pace and skill all your life?Hard as it is to believe, this is a new start for Steyn. He has played just 79 ODIs. In the past, Steyn has been used sparingly in ODI cricket by South Africa. They usually keep him for big events such as the World Cup. Which is why this year, with 27 wickets at 15.85 and an economy rate of 3.65, has been his most successful in 50-overs cricket. There is a clear shift in the philosophy. South Africa want Steyn in ODIs, even bilateral series. They might rest him in dead rubbers, but they want him to be part of the core group as they approach the World Cup.It is going to be a refreshing change in the world of right areas that ODI cricket is. Steyn doesn’t just run up and put the ball in the “right areas”, he goes out there to attack the batsmen. There can be days when he gets too full or too straight. There can be days when the pitch might be a little flat and slow, which makes his natural, aggressive length hittable. Like it happened in Gwalior when Sachin Tendulkar hit the first ODI double-hundred. Steyn went for 89 in his 10 overs that day. The theory that Steyn might not make that good a limited-overs bowler was perpetuated by his first two or three years in the IPL.However, when South Africa’s ODI ranking began to fall – even as they became the best Test side in the world – they began to preserve their best bowler a little less. Not that they might need to: Steyn is one of the fittest athletes in cricket today, and his action is so pure and smooth he is the least likeliest of the fast bowlers around to get injured. His inclusion back into the ODI side has given South Africa something other teams lack: a genuine strike bowler you absolutely need to play out for little returns if you want to keep wickets in hand.The results are there for all to see. South Africa can now afford to rest him for the inconsequential third ODI, but Steyn’s importance to the ODI side, and ODI cricket in general, has been established. It might help South Africa further if every now and then their bowlers in the nets keep pinging Steyn’s stumps.

South Africa’s captain supports Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn’s decision to play it safe, in the face of criticism from the crowd and former players

Firdose Moonda in Johannesburg22-Dec-20130:00

‘India didn’t show enough desire to win’ – Smith

The Wanderers crowd are an unforgiving lot. Even though they did not fill the stadium once – with work commitments, holiday season and threatening weather keeping them away – they made their voices heard when Dale Steyn sent Vernon Philander back in the third-last over of the day and when Philander returned the favour in the next one.Loud boos echoed around the ground for every refused run. South Africa had 16 to get off the last three overs and had shut shop. The fans were asking why.South Africa kept going for the target till Faf du Plessis’ dismissal with three overs remaining•AFPGraeme Smith explained the decision was made by the two batsmen at the crease and was not a team order. They considered who South Africa had left to bat and made their decision based on that.”Ultimately the guys out in the middle, what they thought was in the best interest of the team,” Smith explained. “Morne [Morkel] struggling to stand really. And Immy [Imran Tahir] – he would probably say himself that you are not too sure what you are going to get from Immy. I think we as a team have to support the decision Dale and Vernon made in the middle.”Smith said, at that stage, no messages went out to Philander or Steyn. “You can’t send out messages between overs. That is not allowed,” he said, but confirmed Steyn had gone out with some instructions. “The message was to set it up for the last over. Then there were a couple of maidens bowled, which made it difficult. I think ultimately we needed to give Vernon an opportunity to win us the game. I think he was the guy that probably would have done that. It never happened,” Smith said.”Ultimately the strength of this team is that there are good decision makers. Each guy is mature. They’ve made great decisions over a period of time which have won cricket games for South Africa. I think that’s how we have got to No. 1 – by trusting each other and trusting each others’ decision making. Dale and Vernon have 100% support from me.”When asked if being eight runs away from history left Smith gutted, he held his line. “Guys, if you want me to say that I disagree with what Dale and Vernon did, I am not going to say that,” he said. “I think I have answered that question enough today. I think I have covered that.”South Africa’s decision not to chase victory came under scrutiny from more than just the few thousand people in the stadium. Herschelle Gibbs, who tweeted that it would be a “bigger victory than the 438 game” during the last hour thinking South Africa had won, corrected himself when he realised they were still batting. “I’d rather go down going for a win than a draw,” he posed, following it up with “As in life, no point going down wondering.”Johan Botha also thought South Africa were in with a chance, although his approach was more measured. He tweeted. “Game on!! Watching from Hobart. Get it down to around 50 only four or five down, then a big chance.” South Africa needed 56 to win when AB de Villiers chopped Ishant Sharma on to leave them five down.By that stage, du Plessis confirmed he was looking at survival first and if he was there in the last five overs, he would have gone for it. He was there until there were three overs left and that was when South Africa shut shop. Smith explained it as being partly due to so much being at stake in the first Test, because the series was so short. “In a two-Test series, with one match to go, there is an opportunity to go and win the series in Durban. We have to believe in the decision that Dale and Vernon made,” he said.It was also, he said, a fitting response to a game in which South Africa had been playing catch-up for most part and didn’t think they would win. “Even at lunch today I don’t think we believed we will get as close as we did. We were just playing. That was our chat this morning. To make sure we build a partnership. We knew, to save the game we would have to have a session without losing wickets. We got that after lunch. We played it beautifully,” he said.”From day two we have been behind the game. I don’t think many people gave us a chance to be in this position. As a team, we showed the mental strength and the ability to handle pressure and the ability to understand what needs to be done.”We saw two of the greatest innings played in recent history. I think we need to appreciate the effort. I hope people through the emotion of wanting more always can see and respect the efforts that the team has certainly put in. We fought hard, and were able to show enough skill to get something out of this game. The fact that everyone is talking about Test cricket, the fact that everyone is talking about this game, is wonderful for the game of cricket. It will certainly go down as one of the great games.”With that in mind and the knowledge that South Africa’s fighting draw in Adelaide eventually led to them winning the next Test in Perth and Smith alluded to them doing the same here. Durban is somewhat of a hoodoo venue of them – they have lost their last four Tests at Kingsmead – so to go there with a chance of still winning, rather than drawing the series, was important.One person who recognised that was Iain O’Brien, the former New Zealand fast bowler, who believed South Africa took the right approach. “For me, SA did the right thing,” he tweeted. “They were amazing to NOT lose that Test. Special draw for SA. Demoralising one for India. Epic cricket.”

A refreshing dip in the numerical magma chamber of the second New Zealand-India Test, and more

Andy Zaltzman18-Feb-2014English cricket is back. After a Winter Of Wretchedness, in which Cook and his men were thrashed on the field in all three formats by their greatest cricketing rivals, dismantled on the field by their erstwhile anti-nemesis Mitchell Johnson, and dismantled off the field by themselves, things have finally taken a positive turn.In fact, this week has been comfortably England’s best of the 2013-14 season so far, and a stirring comeback from the depths they have inhabited for most of the last few months. And it has all been achieved without the drab hassle of having to take the field.They have watched Australia dole out an identikit clobbering to the world-No. 1-ranked South Africans, and they have seen India’s bowlers, against whom England will play five Tests this coming summer, ground and macerated into a record-breaking pulp by New Zealand’s middle order. The glory days are back. Relatively.It may be, arguably, too early to attribute England’s Lazarusian renaissance of the past week to the ECB catapulting Kevin Pietersen into the international afterlife, but at least it has become clear that England’s failures in Australia were not (a) something that would never happen to a genuinely good team like South Africa, (b) a Baggy Green flash in the pan, or (c) all Pietersen’s fault.Johnson’s obliteration of South Africa in Centurion was even more complete than his demolitions of England had been, a rampaging eruption of targeted venom, and one of the great match performances by a quick bowler. Ten of his wickets were top-seven batsmen, five in each innings.A seam/pace bowler has taken 12 or more wickets in a Test on 43 occasions. Johnson’s match strike rate of a wicket every 16.5 balls was the third-best of those 43. The only two men to beat him were Surrey’s medium-pace genius George Lohmann against South Africa in February 1896, and George Lohmann, the medium-pace genius from Surrey, against South Africa in March 1896. (The South London Sorcerer took 15 for 45 and 12 for 71 in the first two Tests of the series, and, after three innings of the series had the tidy figures of 24 for 73 off the equivalent of 33.1 six-ball overs. Thereafter, he tailed off disastrously, taking a paltry 11 more wickets at the frankly profligate average of 11.8 in the final three innings of the rubber.)Even the most rabid 19th-century fan would concede that the 2013-14 Proteas are a rather more testing challenge for a bowler than EA Halliwell’s rather underwhelming team of 118 years ago. The only thing those two sides have in common is that Jacques Kallis is not playing for them. He understandably ruled himself out of the 1895-96 series due to being 79 years away from birth, and his somewhat inopportunely timed retirement this year left a vulnerable and unbalanced batting line-up. Johnson duly and thrillingly brutalised it, defied only by the sublime talents of AB de Villiers.If Johnson can continue his landscape-shifting barrage of speed, and bowl Australia to another series victory, his performance in the 2013-14 season will stand high in the pantheon of individual cricketing greatness.Meanwhile, in Wellington, a Vesuvius of statistics buried India’s hopes of drawing their series with the increasingly impressive New Zealanders. Matt Prior’s magically adhesive bail denied the Kiwis an almost-certain series victory a year ago, and a limp first innings in Wellington, subsiding to the at least temporarily resurgent Ishant Sharma, appeared to have cost them again this time. Brendon McCullum and BJ Watling, however, set about rewriting, defacing and shredding the record books. The highest sixth-wicket partnership in Test history turned the match on its head, the captain and Jimmy Neesham then plonked a sombrero on the match’s now-upturned feet, and India, despite having a richly promising and almost unfeasibly stylish top order, lost yet another away series. On the plus side, they at least bowled well in half of each match. On the minus side, they were series-losingly ineffective in the other halves.Among the stats emerging from the numerical magma chamber:* Since their tour of the West Indies in 2011, India have played 12 Tests away from home. In only two of those Tests have they not conceded at least 450 an innings – at the MCG and Perth on the disastrous tour of Australia two years ago. They have shipped 700 once, 600 three times, and 500 four times.* In those 12 away Tests, India have now conceded eight double-hundreds, including triples by Clarke and McCullum, and Cook’s 294 at Edgbaston in 2011.* McCullum’s 302, rightly lauded for being New Zealand’s first Test triple-century, was insufficiently slammed for being the joint-smallest triple-hundred in the history of international cricket. Only Lawrence Rowe’s 302 against England in 1974 has ended as soon after passing the 300 mark. McCullum has, in the past, failed to capitalise on good starts. On this occasion, he did capitalise on his good start. And then he capitalised on having capitalised on that good start. And kept on capitalising on that capitalisation for two days, whilst memories of India taking the previous 28 New Zealand wickets for 404 disappeared like an absinthe-addled mirage. But then, having passed a historic milestone for his nation’s cricket, McCullum failed to knuckle down and capitalise any more. Deeply irresponsible batting.

The highest sixth-wicket partnership in Test history turned the match on its head and the captain and Jimmy Neesham then plonked a sombrero on the match’s now-upturned feet

* New Zealand’s 680 for 8 was the highest second-innings score in Test history.* The undefeated 137 scored by New Zealand No. 8 Jimmy Neesham was the highest score ever on Test debut by anyone batting lower than 6, beating Romesh Kaluwitharana’s 132 not out, at 7, for Sri Lanka against Australia in 1992.* The highest debut scores by numbers 6, 8, 10 and 11 have all been scored in the past 18 months (No. 6: Rohit Sharma, 177, for India v West Indies, November 2013; No. 8: Neesham; No. 10: Abul Hasan, 113, for Bangladesh v West Indies, November 2012; No. 11: Ashton Agar, 98, for Australia v England, July 2013). The second- and third-highest scores by a No. 2 on debut have also been made in that time, by Shikhar Dhawan and Hamish Rutherford.* Zaheer Khan took 5 for 170 in 51 overs in New Zealand’s second innings (his first Test five-for since October 2010), thus becoming the first pace bowler to take a five-wicket haul and bowl more than 50 overs in the same innings since Kapil Dev took 5 for 130 in 51 overs Adelaide in 1991-92. Since then, spinners have performed the partially successful feat of endurance wicketry on 48 occasions.* McCullum finally ended India’s suffering by declaring after 210 overs – 172.4 overs after the fifth wicket had fallen. The 586 runs added in that time did not just break the existing record for Most Runs Added After the Fall of the Fifth Wicket in a Test innings, they smithereened it like a killer whale in a shop specialising in full-scale porcelain replicas of baby seals.Previously, the most runs added by the sixth- to tenth-wicket partnerships was 474, by Pakistan, against the Kiwis, in 1955-56, one of only previous five occasions on which more than 400 had been scored after the fifth wicket fell.* The almost-all-knowing Statsguru only has full information on balls faced by partnerships dating back to 1998, but in that time, the longest the final five wickets had batted in a Test innings before McCullum and Watling began the Kiwis’ 172.4-over epic was the 123.1 overs it took England to recover from 47 for 5 to 446 all out against Pakistan in the naughty-off-the-field-activities-overshadowed Lord’s Test of 2010. The longest in a second innings was when Zimbabwe’s lower order batted for a barely noticeable 97.3 overs, against New Zealand, in September 2000.* It was the first time a team has batted for more than 200 overs in the second innings of a Test since South Africa’s 209-over Gary Kirsten-inspired rearguard against England in the 1999 Boxing Day Test in Durban, and only the third such occasion since 1975. The other instance was in the innings in which Martin Crowe missed out on becoming New Zealand’s first ever triple-centurion, scoring 299 out of 671 for 4 in 220 overs against Sri Lanka, also in Wellington, in February 1991, in a similarly shaped match to the one just completed.* And a couple of Mitchell Mayhem Stats: Johnson’s match analysis of 12 for 127 was the best by a pace bowler against South Africa since Alec Bedser took 12 for 112 in 1951; and he has become the fourth seamer in the last 25 years to take seven wickets in an innings on three separate occasions, after Waqar Younis, Glenn McGrath and Matthew Hoggard.

When you’ve been in the slump England have endured any win is gratefully received. Some their batting raised more concerns, but the bowler, fielding and Ravi Bopara’s calmness impressed

George Dobell in Antigua02-Mar-20140:00

Croft: A dismal West Indies batting performance

It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t without fortune and it wasn’t convincing but, like a starving man presented with week-old bread, England are in no position to quibble over the style of any victory.Going into this game, England had lost 16 of their last 19 games in all formats against Test-playing opposition. They had lost seven of their last nine ODIs and five in a row across the limited-overs formats. They were desperate for a win to inject some confidence into a squad that has, so far, crept tentatively into a new era.Defeat would have had damaging consequences. Not only would it have sealed the result of the series, but it would have increased the pressure on Ashley Giles, in particular, and risked the morale of the squad just ahead of the World T20.Stephen Parry’s debut was encouraging and suggested he could play a useful role in the World Twenty20•Getty ImagesAs Stuart Broad, the captain, admitted afterwards: “We’ve probably fallen short in the real pressure scenarios in the past year. It would have been a huge setback to lose today, having done some great things. It would have been like slamming your head against a brick wall really.”We just needed the top order to play us through and take responsibility. We didn’t manage to do that, and we had a Champions Trophy final-type wobble in the middle. But we got over the line, and that’s the most important thing.”I would have been hugely disappointed sat here 2-0 down after some of the cricket we’ve played. On Friday, we played 75% of the cricket, and lost the game.”To get over the line should give the changing-room a huge amount of confidence and belief – because we’ve not won two games in a row since July.”Even if the result had gone the other way – and but for an umpiring decision that went against Dwayne Bravo it might have done – there would have been some encouraging aspects to the performance. England’s bowling, with their four spinners accounting for eight of West Indies’ wickets, was much improved from the first game, while their fielding, already showing the influence of Paul Collingwood, was a key difference between the sides.The close proximity of the fielders to the bat in the circle – England usually have them on the edge, thereby regularly surrendering quick singles – was classic Collingwood and noticeably increased the pressure on the West Indies batsmen.Stephen Parry, a veteran of just six first-class games at the age of 28, went some way to justifying his surprise selection with three wickets on a debut that earned him the Man-of-the-Match award. He is not a spinner that is particularly pleasing on the eye and offers little of the traditional skills of flight or dip but, much in the manner that Michael Yardy fulfilled a valuable role for England in the World T20 of 2010, he has something to offer in the shorter formats.He was admirably composed and, in taking the important wicket of Lendl Simmons the ball after having been hit for six, holding the following delivery back just a fraction and inviting a repeat of the stroke, he demonstrated pleasing confidence and nerve. He will not always find the conditions so helpful or the batsmen so obliging, but the unfazed character bodes well.But perhaps it was the composure shown by Ravi Bopara that was most heartening. Bopara’s talent has never been in question and, in his 101 ODIs, he has shown glimpses of quality that have made his inability to deliver more consistently all the more maddening. All too often, notably in the Champions Trophy final and in the ODI in Adelaide in January, he has appeared to freeze under pressure.Here, however, he was calmness personified. While Broad was more than a little fortunate – he could have been caught three times before he made 6 and was reprieved on review before he had scored – Bopara knew there was no hurry and did not play a false stroke in the eighth-wicket partnership that took his side to victory. Again, there will be bigger moments in bigger games, but this was an unbeaten 38 worth far more than some of his half-centuries thrashed with the pressure off.Broad’s captaincy is intriguing, too. He appeared noticeably more aggressive than Alastair Cook might have been, utilising two legs slips at one stage and again opening the bowling with a spinner. Indeed, England utilised two part-time spinners in the Powerplay.Still, victory should not mask the fragility of England’s batting for the second game in succession. Bearing in mind the trial against spin anticipated in Bangladesh, their struggles against Sunil Narine, in particular, are a worry. Luke Wright has been horribly exposed in this series and the manner of Jos Buttler’s dismissal, desperately uncomfortable trying to evade a bouncer, will have fast bowlers the world over taking notice. He will face many quicker bowlers on many quicker wickets.It is a situation that does nothing to vindicate the management’s decision to dispense with the services of Kevin Pietersen, but it would be disingenuous to suggest that is the only problem. Eoin Morgan has also been sorely missed, while Ian Bell and Cook will return to the first choice ODI side.It is worth noting, too, that since the ODI series in January, England’s No. 3 batsman – a combination of Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Wright – have scored just 91 runs between them in 13 innings; a run of scores that reads: 3, 2, 15, 70, 0, 1 and 0. Suffice it to say, Jonathan Trott has not been effectively replaced.While the tired pitch – slow, low and, in many ways, utterly unsuited to promoting limited-overs cricket as a form of entertainment – resulted in some desultory cricket – there were only nine fours in the entire West Indies innings – it did provide a good example of what to expect in Bangladesh.It will be encouraging for them, then, that both Morgan and Alex Hales were able to return to the nets during the game and might play in the deciding game on Wednesday.

A fitting finale to what’s been a fine exhibition of T20 cricket. Well played Sri Lanka

Mayisha Kabir07-Apr-2014Choice of Game
A well deserved finale to a short but wonderful tournament and an equally fitting finale to two of the most prolific cricketers of their nation. It wasn’t really a question about choice. Why would anyone in their right minds, with access to tickets, miss the final of the World T20 in their home country?Team Supported
A substantial portion of the stadium at the beginning of the match was supporting India, though a small and significant number was also supporting Sri Lanka. However, as the match moved forward the balance in the crowd considerably shifted in Sri Lanka’s favor. I like the Indian team – they are well rounded and they have an incredibly talented player in Virat Kohli. But as I have already mentioned in my previous fan report I genuinely believe Sri Lanka deserved to win this one.Key performer
As Darren Sammy had said so correctly during his press conference, ‘the Almighty wanted Sangakara and Jayawardane to end on a high’. The key man was undoubtedly Kumar Sangakkara, who won the game for Sri Lanka and was adjudged Man of the Match. It must also be said that the Sri Lankan win was a team effort, with everyone putting up their best performance on the field. A honorable mention to Virat Kohli too – he is definitely the future of Indian cricket and was thoroughly deserving of the Man of the Tournament award.Shot of the day
The winning shot by Thisara Perera was the shot of the day for me. Luck today was in favor of the Lankans rather than the Indians, and it was evident from the toss to the edges that went in Sri Lanka’s favour.One thing I would change about the match
My first thought was nothing, I wouldn’t want to change anything about the match, but as an afterthought I realized, I would have loved Bangladesh in the final. As far as T20 matches go this was a cracker, the rain before the match actually made it better, the atmosphere was cooler and the breeze was lovely. This time I was sitting far away from the speakers which meant I couldn’t understand or properly hear the emcee and I was absolutely fine with it.Fancy dress index
Two individuals in the adjoining stands caught my eyes. They were wearing lungis and England’s jersey (not the solar red version). To top it off they had the colourful Malinga wig on. They were looking absolutely dapper. It topped off the wonderfully colourful month of fun that we have had in Bangladesh, and today was its climax.Entertainment
The music wasn’t very audible in the stand I was sitting in. We kept ourselves entertained quite well. There were multiple rounds of Mexican Waves and lots of spontaneous chanting – in support of India, Sri Lanka and even Bangladesh. The Bangladesh cricket team’s performance was questionable but I believe Bangladesh as a host performed its part well.Marks out of ten
I would give it a grand total of 9.5 out of 10. Some would say it was a one-sided contest but I was in the stadium and I can vouch for the effort India made to defend the total that was given to them. I feel privileged to have been part of the hosting nation which has successfully entertained so many international teams and a memorable tournament. Hopefully everyone appreciated the hard work that goes into making a tourney of this magnitude possible, and enjoyed the proceedings live or on TV.

After a forgettable start, Kolkata Knight Riders built strong with foundations brick by brick and withstood the Kings XI Punjab storm to emerge winners again

Devashish Fuloria02-Jun-2014Where they finishedWinners, for the second time in three yearsWhat went right After what seemed a customary start, everything. Match by match, brick by brick, Kolkata Knight Riders built themselves into a formidable team with rock-solid foundations, something they needed to withstand the rampaging Kings XI Punjab team in the final. To win nine games on the trot was no mean feat; to do so after losing five games out of seven was truly special.Knight Riders’ bowling prowess was never in dispute. With Sunil Narine continuing to be the mystery he has been in the two previous seasons, the team only gives their opposition a maximum of 16 hittable overs. That is 10% of the game in your hand even before the start of the match. Add to that the potency that Shakib Al Hasan’s left-arm spin has brought to the team this season and it’s easier to see why even a team like Kings XI Punjab have struggled against them. With an economy of 7.51, Knight Riders were the most difficult attack to score runs against.It was Knight Riders’ batting ability that was under some doubt and the results in the first seven matches only accentuated it. Unlike most other teams, they didn’t have any explosive players. But unlike other teams, they didn’t need that too much because of their strong bowling. What they needed was consistency, some clarity on their batting orders. And it came when the team landed back in India. Gautam Gambhir had shaken off his misery at the start of the tournament and was scoring runs and Robin Uthappa’s promotion to the top totally swung things around.After two losses in their first two games on the India leg, Knight Riders rode along with Uthappa to chase down five targets in five matches – all of them with ease. Among those five, the six-wicket win against Mumbai Indians was the tightest one, showing the high note their batsmen had hit. Uthappa piled on runs with unheard of consistency; the rest rallied around him to soon make it eight wins in a row as Knight Riders marched to their second final in three years.In the final though, Uthappa failed, so did Gambhir after their bowling had already cracked under Kings XI Punjab’s onslaught. Faced with the gargantuan task of chasing down 200, Knight Riders eventually quelled the doubts about their big-hitting capability. Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan powered 10 sixes between them during a 71-run stand between them. Then just at the right time, Piyush Chawla hooked Mitchell Johnson for a six too, rounding off a perfect campaign.Key statSeven of Knight Riders’ nine wins came batting second. It was no wonder they chose to bat second in the final and even though it looked like the plan had backfired, they managed to pull it off.Best playerWhen the league had moved back to India, Robin Uthappa, with 97 runs from five matches, was 23rd in the list of leading run-getters in the season, 203 behind Glenn Maxwell. In the next 10 matches though, Uthappa added 558 from 10 matches, driving past everyone else in the race and assuming the lead position. It has been some acceleration from Uthappa, who was thought to be a spent force in the IPL circuit. His remarkable run though not only brought rewards on a personal level – he is back in the national team for the tour to Bangladesh – but it also lent Knight Riders concrete-like solidity. With a lowest score of 40 in 10 innings (before the final), Uthappa became to batting what Narine was to Knight Riders’ bowling.Poor performerFor someone who smashed the ball around to register the fastest IPL fifty, it would probably be a bit harsh to say he was the weak link in the team. But it is not actually. Take out that 72 and all Yusuf Pathan has to show are 196 runs from 11 innings. He threatened to play an important role in the final, but left the team in lurch after giving them hope. In four season with Knight Riders, Yusuf has received so much support from his team management but has only had a spike or two to show for it. When Knight Riders were struggling to start well in the early stages, a lot depended on Yusuf to take the team to safety. However, he continued to falter game after game. Gambhir turned around his poor run, but not Yusuf. In India, he had the advantage of strong starts, but still couldn’t fire, continuing to live up to the billing of the promise that never was.Surprise packageFor someone rated as one of the best allrounders in international game, Shakib Al Hasan had played smaller, defined roles in the Knight Riders set-up in the past. Bowling has been his stronger suit, but this year Shakib raised the stakes as a batsman. His 227 runs gave the fragile middle-order some girth and his ability to ramp up the pace of scoring lent much-needed intent. It all came together in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore when he partnered Uthappa in a 119-run stand for the fourth wicket that took less than 12 overs and scored 60 off just 38 balls. Shakib’s all-round form kept Jacques Kallis, a proven stalwart, out of the Knight Riders’ XI.Memorable momentChris Lynn’s acrobatic effort at the boundary in the match against Royal Challengers helped Knight Riders sneak out a two-run win has to be the wow moment. It was a catch that one cannot rehearse during practice and is likely to remain part of cricket’s freak moments show reel. As he moved to his left, Lynn slipped, then steadied himself on his one knee, kept eyes on the ball, dived backwards and managed to keep the composure to stay inside the boundary. The catch won Knight Riders an important match during the early stages when their batting was suffering collapses in almost every game.Unused playersVeer Pratap Singh, Sayan Mondal, Kuldeep Yadav and Debabrata Das