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ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the first ODI between South Africa and India in Durban

Sidharth Monga at Kingsmead12-Jan-2011The Batting Powerplay
It was perfectly timed and perfectly used by South Africa, which was a refreshing sign, for the middle overs had become a drone after a frenetic start. South Africa had two set batsmen in the middle, and the India spinners were looking to sort of rush through the overs. Then, in the 28th over, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy asked the umpire to rotate his hand in a circular motion. That brought back the pace bowlers who struggled through the day. Without playing a single wild shot, the duo added 45 in the next five overs.The long hop
When nothing is working for you, in any form of cricket, when all else has failed, do try bringing on a part-time offspinner and see if he can bowl a juicy enough half-tracker. Rohit Sharma tried that for India in his second over, and was handsomely rewarded by de Villiers, who hit it straight down deep midwicket’s throat. One wicket soon became two, two soon became three, and India ended up conceding 30 fewer than they were expected to.The preparation
Fielders often charge in to prepare to field a shot that might come their way, but MS Dhoni, in the last over of South Africa’s innings, showed further foresight. With Lonwabo Tsotsobe on strike, he was so awake to the eventuality of a scrambled bye, he threw down his right glove even before Zaheer Khan let the ball go. That’s some anticipation.The Inzamam memorial
Rohit Sharma does tend to end up on the wrong side of umpiring decisions, but he has also tended to emulate Inzamam-ul-Haq’s slow walks back to the pavilion. He was given out caught behind off Morne Morkel’s bowling, but the sound came from his bat hitting the pad, something the umpire missed. And then he stood there at the wicket, looked at the umpire, looked down, and then began evoking Inzamam. Thankfully, this didn’t go to the extent it did in India’s game against West Indies in the World Twenty20, when Rohit tried to urge Billy Bowden to call for the third umpire after he had been given out caught off the forearm.The reversal in fortune
Two weeks ago, at the same venue, Ishant Sharma got a crucial deflection in his follow-through to get the wicket of a backing-up Jacques Kallis. This time around in Durban, the roles reversed not only in terms of winners and losers, but also in terms of deflecting balls onto the stumps for a run-out. India had staged a mini recovery from 43 for 4 with a 62-run partnership between Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni. A straight drive from Kohli, though, found Wayne Parnell’s hand on its way to the stumps at the non-striker’s end to send Dhoni back. This was actually the third time during the tour that a batsman has been run out in that fashion. VVS Laxman was caught backing up in the first innings in the third Test in Cape Town when Paul Harris dropped a stinging catch from Sachin Tendulkar but ended up running Laxman out anyway.

The most impressive aspect of South Africa’s performances on the way to the quarter-finals has been the way they have tried different tactics in all their matches, and almost all have paid off

Firdose Moonda in Mirpur24-Mar-2011Three matches stand between South African cricket and history. Not just any three matches: three knockout matches. It’s reached that stage of the tournament that South Africa has never summited before. As much as they don’t want to be reminded of it, they have always looked capable of going all the way; now more so than ever, because of the new attitude and sharpness of focus that they’ve come into this tournament with.South Africa were unusually experimental in choosing their XV, including 11 World Cup debutants, three frontline spinners and leaving out experienced finishers like Mark Boucher and Albie Morkel. Their squad was not picked based on reputation, but rather they were the 15 players that the selection committee thought would best suit conditions in the subcontinent: people who could bowl and bat against spin; combinations that would exude subtlety and not brute force; and those who were being rewarded for seasons of good form. It was a clear break away from the norm.Everyone, they said, was on an equal footing; this wouldn’t be an effort by 11 playing members and four water boys, but a collective mission in which everybody would be integral. The players wouldn’t go on this journey alone; the coaching staff and the support staff, which includes the psychologist who was with the Springbok rugby team when they became World Champions in 2007, would be with them every step of the way. All of them arrived wearing green wristbands with, among other things, the abbreviation RAFT – resilience, adaptability, faith, trust – as a way to remind themselves of what they were coming out to achieve.This is the kind of softer thinking that wasn’t there before, although they were able to retain the element that made it seem as though they were preparing to go to war and there was more at stake to this than a trophy. Even when you add pride and take into account the long wait South Africa have had for this, there was something bordering on gimmicky about the build-up.It may have been driven and borrowed from what happened during the football World Cup in South Africa nine months ago. Then, an initiative called Football Friday encouraged people to wear the national team jersey on Fridays, which got switched to a cricket initiative in the World Cup period. Some of the football marketing bordered on jingoistic and the marketers this time threatened to go mad again. Luckily, the team did not.Their actions on the field have reflected a seriousness, dedication and commitment that have created a real reason to believe that this tournament will be different. Every match has had its standout moment or period of brilliance for South Africa; in each contest they’ve had a plan that’s worked.There was the masterstroke of opening the bowling with Johan Botha against West Indies’ left-handed opening pair. He removed Chris Gayle with his third ball. There was the way they built an innings of 351 for 5 against Netherlands after a slow start, with JP Duminy’s 40 off 15 balls propelling them at the end. In the third game, they exploited the weakness of Kevin Pietersen by using left-armer Robin Peterson to open the bowling, and he was able to bag not just one but three early wickets. The rest of that match didn’t go according to plan and the batting collapsed on a difficult pitch, exposing what then looked like a fragile middle order.Come game four, against India, that was rectified. The bowling attack had to do a powerful reining in job when the Indian batsmen got off to a flier, but then it was up to the batting to chase down a big total. AB de Villiers’ half-century was the core and then Faf du Plessis, Botha and Peterson finished it off. By that stage, South Africa looked to have played the perfect game, seeing off pressure and winning when it mattered, but they didn’t take the foot off the brake.Against Ireland, the middle order had to perform again and then Morne Morkel’s exemplary use of extra bounce sealed the match. Bangladesh saw the strength of the reserves come through, with Lonwabo Tsotsobe’s opening spell showing that five weeks on the sidelines had only had an enhancing effect on his bowling.Throughout the group stage, South Africa’s performances have been the result of careful planning and intelligent execution. They’ve shown more flexibility than South African teams have ever displayed in the past. They have not been scared to innovate, to try different strategies and to take risks. More importantly, they have also been able to improvise when it’s been needed most, because the ride to the top of the group has had its moments of stickiness.When they lost early wickets against West Indies, de Villiers and Hashim Amla’s level heads carried the chase; when they were off to a slow start against the Dutch, they left the burst for the right moment; the loss to England, on a tricky surface and in a pressure situation was turned into a positive, one the team say they have learned from and will know how to deal with when the situation comes around again; they treated Ireland and Bangladesh as a strong team should treat a lesser one; and now they find themselves three matches away from greatness.Smith has said they won’t change their attitudes; they’ll keep playing their process-driven form of cricket and they know the results will come. They may need to change something tactically; they may need to think on their feet and adjust their game plans, as in the space of 100 overs the game will change. They may need to change with it, but from what South Africa have shown, they will.

The furores artfully drummed up to hawk this book might obscure that it’s a cracking read. More’s the pity

Saad Shafqat08-Oct-2011The first thing you realise when you read Shoaib Akhtar’s autobiography is that much of the media reaction to it is a distraction from the book’s true merits. Yes, he has admitted to ball-tampering, delivered questionable opinions on Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, and blasted some of the high priests of Pakistan cricket. But he has also said a great deal that is more interesting, more important, and evidently more heartfelt.As a device to enhance your pleasure of the game, this book delivers. Perhaps the most absorbing, at times even riveting, parts of it are the first four chapters, which detail Shoaib’s ordeals before he became a celebrity. He was born into modest circumstances, a sickly child who at one point nearly died of whooping cough. The family struggled with money and would sometimes go hungry.Despite the financial constraints, his parents worked hard to instill upright values in the children and ensure them an education. Shoaib tells us he was an ace student, and also a natural prankster. As a result, he was frequently in trouble. The pattern of conflicts that marked his international career was set early on.Cricket did not become a focus until his teenage years, when Shoaib’s passion for bowling fast was unleashed. Before that, he played informal street games, including , and ran a lot – everywhere, aimlessly – because it made him feel free. Once he discovered cricket, he was drawn to role models, finding instant inspiration in Imran Khan’s dynamic and towering figure. At the Pindi Club he saw his idols Imran, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis practise under lights. That was when he made a personal vow to don the Pakistan colours.All through the book Shoaib confronts his bad-boy image head-on, but his reflections are unlikely to sway anyone. He admits having little patience for rules and regulations, resents being preached to, and hates restrictions of any kind. He complains about never having had a proper mentor, but more likely it would not have been possible for even the most well-meaning mentor to get through to him.His self-indulgent nature comes across loudly, as we are told of his love for money, girls, and even his own company. Speed, above everything, is his true love, and garners a long chapter by itself. All this underscores his ability to polarise. Shoaib’s supporters will find him refreshingly honest; his detractors will deride him for confirming their worst assumptions.When we come to the chapters covering his international career, it is disappointing to see a lack of serious introspection. All his great spells are glossed over, leaving the connoisseur unfulfilled. You keep expecting to be placed inside the fast bowler’s head as he psycho-analyses the batsman, adjusts the field, and contemplates his wicket-taking plans, but it never happens. Shoaib could have entertained his readers with a ringside view of these intricacies; it feels like a golden opportunity lost. Also slightly disappointing are the book’s occasional typos and misspellings. The persistent insertion of a hyphen between “T” and “20” is especially grating.Nevertheless the overall package is a highly enjoyable one. Co-author Anshu Dogra has polished the material into a coherent and flowing narrative, yet still allowed Shoaib’s first-person voice to be heard clearly. Urdu and Punjabi phrases are interspersed here and there, conveying the thought precisely and to the understanding reader’s great amusement.Anecdotes, often the choicest part of a memoir, are peppered throughout. There are accounts of Shoaib in college as he drives a motorbike through the principal’s office, gets suspended for playing cricket in front of the girls’ building, and convinces a to serve him free meals because one day Shoaib will be a famous cricketer.Shoaib tells us about the anxiety of appearing for domestic cricket trials in Lahore, and the joy of catching the eye of Zaheer Abbas. We learn how, just before breaking into Test cricket, he spent an emotionally wrenching period in Karachi rooming with his buddy Saqlain Mushtaq when they were struggling cricketers and the city was in turmoil.The book’s tone is sometimes conversational, sometimes argumentative, with seamless transitions into languid storytelling one minute, breathless rhetoric the next. In this, the narrator sounds every bit the Shoaib Akhtar we know from his public persona.Every now and then there is also some touching human moment – getting tongue-tied when an attractive Irish girl starts a conversation in a bar, buying his first car, looking up an old benefactor after becoming a star, revisiting old haunts in his hometown of Rawalpindi.Naturally there is a good deal of score-settling as well, some of which – including targeted jabs at the likes of Wasim Akram, Javed Miandad, and Tendulkar – has been the subject of recent news cycles. Among all these, I found the description of Shoaib’s administrative duel with former PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf particularly valuable. The drama is vividly sketched over several pages as Shoaib struggles and eventually succeeds in getting his PCB-enforced ban reversed by pulling political strings. His account provides sharp insight into Pakistan cricket’s backroom ploys and validates a great deal of drawing-room chatter.All said and done, you have to commend the man for a job well done. The very appearance of his book is a feat in itself: written output from Pakistan’s cricketers has been sparse. Shoaib may have carried an image of carefree indiscipline for most of his career, but he has certainly demonstrated he has the discipline to produce a book with impact. In this he has outdone several other famous cricketing names from Pakistan.Controversially Yours
Shoaib Akhtar
Harper Collins, 2011
Rs 499, 272pp

Australia inflicted their first whitewash on India since 1999 after the visitors’ batting caved in meekly in all four Tests against high-quality pace bowling

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan29-Jan-2012A gulf in class
After crushing defeats in the first three Tests, India were expected to put up a fight on a flat track in Adelaide. However, there was hardly a semblance of a comeback as India were handed another all-round lesson by the hosts. Only Michael Clarke’s decision to rest his bowlers and bat a second time spared India from their third consecutive innings defeat and their fifth such loss in six matches. Throughout the series, India’s famed batting line-up was undone by Australia’s pace bowlers and the experienced batsmen were all at sea against high-quality swing bowling. Although India’s bowlers failed to leave an impact, the abject failure was mainly due to the batting. On only one occasion (Sydney) did India pass 300 and were bowled out for sub-200 totals in four of their eight innings.Before the England series, India were on a high after drawing their first series in South Africa and winning the World Cup. Fatigue and a spate of injuries put paid to their plans in England and they were humbled 4-0. In the first and second Tests, India were in with a chance but let England back into the contest which ultimately decided the fate of the series. The story in Australia was similar. The lower-order partnerships for Australia contributed vital runs in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and took the target beyond the reach of India. After this defeat, the rest of the series was hardly a contest as the hosts bossed India with bat and ball. India did not cross 300 even once in eight innings in England and did so only once in Australia. For a team that boasted four players with more than 8000 Test runs, this was a damning stat. In England, India were abysmal in both the first and second innings, averaging 27.45 and 23.65 respectively. The story only got worse for them in Australia as they managed averages of only 22.65 and 23.52. The average difference (difference between batting averages of opposition and India) in England was 34.21 and only slightly lower in Australia (28.48). The Indian bowling also proved innocuous, picking up only 47 and 46 wickets in the two series while the opposition teams have picked up 20 Indian wickets in each of the Tests played.

India’s batting performance in their last two away series in England and Australia

TeamSeries1st innings (runs/wickets)1st innings (avg)2nd innings (runs/wickets)2nd innings (avg)Overall (runs/wickets)Overall avgIndiaEngland v India, 20111008/4027.45946/4023.652044/8025.55EnglandEngland v India, 20111996/3164.38813/1650.812809/4759.76IndiaAustralia v India, 2011-12966/4022.65941/4023.521847/8023.08AustraliaAustralia v India, 2011-121965/3163.38407/1527.132372/4651.56Partnerships make the difference
The lack of partnerships in the top and middle order hurt India’s chances in the series. The highly successful opening combination of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir was a major flop. The pair has averaged only 15.16 in their last 12 innings and had a highest partnership of 26 in the four Tests. India’s troubles were compounded by the collective failure of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman. Tendulkar and Dravid were involved in one of only three century stands for India in the series while Laxman, one of the most consistent players against Australia, was in woeful form scoring just 155 runs in eight innings. Virat Kohli, India’s top scorer in the series with 300 runs, was the sole provider of resistance in the last two Tests.Australia led India comfortably on the partnership stats and managed four 200-plus stands. Clarke and Ricky Ponting were superb in Sydney and Adelaide and seized the initiative with massive stands of 288 and 386. Ponting, whose place was under threat before the series, roared back to form with two centuries while Clarke continued his excellent form with his fifth century in 12 matches as captain. Australia averaged more than twice as much as India for wickets 7-10. India’s lower-order batsmen on the other hand, were very ordinary and failed to put up a fight in any of the Tests. Australia’s only major batting worry was the form of Shaun Marsh who scored just 17 runs in the series with three ducks and his poor display is reflected in the stats for the second wicket (average 4.16).

Partnership stats for Australia and India

Partnership wicketAustralia (runs, average)Australia (100/50 stands)India (runs, average)India (100/50 stands)1346/57.661/0125/15.620/0225/4.160/0309/38.620/33215/35.831/1340/42.501/14842/140.332/1149/18.621/05546/109.202/1278/34.750/3647/11.750/0205/25.621/07-10351/27.000/2441/13.780/2Australian pace bowlers stamp authority
Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle, who topped the wicket-taking charts with 27 and 23 wickets respectively, stuck to superb lines throughout and were highly effective against the Indian top-order batsmen. Hilfenhaus had no success against Tendulkar (zero dismissals and 94 runs conceded) but had the better of Sehwag and Laxman, whom he dismissed three and two times respectively while conceding a total of 77 runs. Siddle, the Man of the Match in Adelaide, troubled Tendulkar and Kohli, dismissing them three times each. MS Dhoni’s technique was found wanting and he was dismissed cheaply three times by Hilfenhaus. Ryan Harris, who came back into the squad for the last two Tests, played a vital role and dismissed both Tendulkar and Dravid in Perth while conceding just nine runs off 48 balls to the former.

Indian batsmen v Australian bowlers

BatsmanBowlerDismissalsAverageBalls per dismissalSachin TendulkarPeter Siddle325.3348.33Sachin TendulkarRyan Harris19.0048.00MS DhoniBen Hilfenhaus316.6626.66Gautam GambhirPeter Siddle312.3317.33Virender SehwagBen Hilfenhaus321.3339.00VVS LaxmanBen Hilfenhaus27.5037.50Virat KohliPeter Siddle324.6651.33At the end of a series the Indian bowlers would like to forget in a hurry, Zaheer Khan was the stand-out performer. He was at his best against the left-handers and also troubled the right-handers especially Brad Haddin with the old ball. He got Haddin three times conceding just 16 runs and was also successful against Michael Hussey (44 runs and two dismissals) and David Warner (94 runs and two dismissals). Umesh Yadav showed glimpses of his potential in Melbourne and Perth but was off colour in Sydney and Adelaide. He, however, had the better of Marsh, who had a wretched series. The left-handed Marsh fell to Yadav three times while scoring just 13 runs. However, Australia’s leading scorers Ponting and Clarke, who both amassed 500-plus runs in the series, were never seriously troubled by any particular bowler.

Australian batsmen against Indian bowlers

BatsmanBowlerDismissalsAverageBalls per dismissalEd CowanR Ashwin311.0028.66Shaun MarshUmesh Yadav34.339.66Michael ClarkeZaheer Khan261.0095.50Ricky PontingUmesh Yadav268.5078.00David WarnerZaheer Khan247.0063.00Michael HusseyZaheer Khan222.0032.00Australia had given indications of building a quality pace attack even before the series started with strong displays against South Africa and New Zealand. However, in the four Tests against India, they surpassed everybody’s expectations. In a display characterised by accuracy and testing lines, the Australian pace bowlers, tormented India’s best batsmen regularly. They bowled to specific plans and fields and were successful on almost every occasion. It was not quite the same with the Indian bowlers. Zaheer and Yadav were impressive in patches but Ishant Sharma’s five wickets came at an average of 90.20. The scale of difference in performance is clearly reflected in the average and strike rate of the pace bowlers of both teams. Australia have an average of 20.45 and strike rate of 41.2 while the corresponding numbers for India are 45.08 and 70.7.Both R Ashwin and Nathan Lyon were struggling for impact through the series. Lyon, however, had the advantage of coming into bowl after the pace bowlers had made early inroads. Ashwin had his moments but was struggling to maintain consistent lines and lengths. Faced with low totals to defend and denied attacking fields, Ashwin could manage only nine wickets at an average of 62.77.

Pace v Spin for both teams in the series

Type of bowlerTeamWicketsAverageStrike rate5WI/10WMPaceAustralia7120.4541.23/0PaceIndia3545.0870.71/0SpinAustralia844.1284.30/0SpinIndia1072.20129.80/0Indian batting on the slide?
India had stayed on top for years because of their powerful batting line-up. Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman had performed in matches at home and outside the subcontinent. Setting up good totals helped an otherwise modest bowling attack to create pressure and deliver wins. However, in their last three major away series in South Africa, England and Australia, the much-vaunted batting came apart. Tendulkar was brilliant in South Africa scoring two centuries including an stunning knock in Cape Town while withstanding a hostile spell by Dale Steyn. Dravid and Virender Sehwag meanwhile struggled while Laxman managed a solitary fifty in Durban.By the time the England tour came along, Dravid seemed to be the only one in form. He stood tall amidst the ruins and scored all three centuries registered by Indian batsmen in the series. Tendulkar and Laxman were below-par averaging 34.12 and 22.75. Sehwag, who only played the last two Tests, bagged a pair in Edgbaston and mustered just 41 runs. In Australia, even Dravid was woefully out of form and this meant that India’s middle order was under severe pressure often. Not a single batsman averaged over 40 and only Kohli showed the stomach for a fight (average 37.50) scoring India’s solitary century in the series.

India’s top batsmen in South Africa, England and Australia

BatsmanSouth Africa matches, (runs/avg)South Africa (100/50)England matches, (runs/avg)England (100/50)Australia matches, (runs/avg)Australia (100/50)Sachin Tendulkar3, 326/81.502/04, 273/34.120/24, 287/35.870/2Rahul Dravid3, 120/20.000/04, 461/76.833/04, 194/24.250/1VVS Laxman3, 196/39.200/14, 182/22.750/24, 155/19.370/1Virender Sehwag3, 144/24.000/12, 41/10.250/04, 198/24.750/2Gautam Gambhir2, 242/60.500/33, 102/17.000/04, 181/22.620/1MS Dhoni3, 179/35.800/14, 220/31.420/23, 102/20.400/1

West Indies’ top order has failed consistently against England and something will have to change to give them any hope in the final Test

Nagraj Gollapudi at Trent Bridge28-May-2012Marlon Samuels stood there at the non-striker’s end. Head down, motionless. His helpless and sorry figure summed up the terrible state of West Indies batting so far in this series. The previous delivery, Ravi Rampaul, West Indies’ last man, had gone chasing an away swinger from James Anderson, edging into the hands of the third slip. That meant Samuels missed out on scoring consecutive centuries in the same match by 24 runs.This was the second time in the match that Samuels, who had lofted Graeme Swann out of the ground for 16 runs, including two straight sixes in the previous over, was left stranded in such a frustrated position. In the first innings, it was his captain Darren Sammy, who having compiled a resilient maiden century, played an irresponsible pull shot to be caught in the deep at a crucial juncture. Samuels and Sammy had re-built the West Indies house after the early collapse on the first day. West Indies could have crossed the 500-mark but Sammy’s departure only hastened the visitors folding up the first innings at a good, but not good-enough total.West Indies were not in a similar position today, but it takes just that bit of application and determination to turn a corner. Samuels is the best example of that theory working. Unfortunately none of his top order batsmen had learned from him, as well as their own mistakes.Consider this: in the four innings played in the series so far, not one among the West Indies’ top order has managed to score a half century. But the more incredulous fact is that the West Indies top-four comprising Adrian Barath, Kieran Powell, Kirk Edwards and Darren Bravo have scored an aggregate of just 203 runs in the two Tests. Samuels, on his own, has managed 310 runs.At Lord’s, Barath had survived two hours on the first day to return not out at lunch. But as soon as he returned to crease, he went and pushed at the ball which he had left alone all morning. In Nottingham, he was clueless about his position and committed to playing the balls once again he should have let go. In the second innings at Lord’s, Powell had shown his weak mindset when he took on Stuart Broad, who had tempted him to go for the pull. The previous delivery, Powell had been alerted by his batting partner Shivnarine Chanderpaul, about two fielders being placed in the deep, yet Powell consciously fell into the trap.Edwards’ bad luck at Lord’s, when he was run out inadvertently for no mistake of his in the second innings, did not go away as he reported sick yesterday and survived just two deliveries, recording his second duck. His form in the first innings of both Tests has been no better with the England fast bowlers exposing cracks in Edwards’ poor defence easily. Bravo had been done by Chanderpaul’s erroneous call on the first day of the series last Thursday, but on Sunday he repeated the same mistake Powell had made minutes earlier, chasing a wide delivery outside the off stump delivery and edging.

“This group of players has been criticised because of the decline of West Indies cricket. You come to England, you are playing the No. 1 team in the world, it is difficult to expect that you are going to come and beat them.”West Indies coach Ottis Gibson

Not only does it reveal a poor choice of shot selection from the West Indies batsmen but it also highlights a weak temperament. Ottis Gibson, West Indies coach, said the problem was a “combination of both” technical and mental skills: “It is not entirely a technical thing. It is being able to repeat your skill over and over again. That is what top teams in the world do: they test your technique; they test your character; they test your mental strength. Perhaps that is where we are falling short,” Gibson said. “They are doing the hard work but they are not doing it for long enough.”Gibson said West Indies would utilise the two-day tour match in Leicester to not only give more batting time to some of their ailing batsmen but also probably reshuffle the batting order to encounter the top-order failure. He did not rule out moving one of the pair of Samuels or Bravo to No. 3 in place of the struggling Edwards. “We have got a good week off to go back and sort of reflect on where we are the moment and what we can salvage out of the rest of the series with one Test match to go and look at all the different options that we have available; may be moving Marlon or Darren to three or Darren.”Across the two Tests, West Indies have won many sessions of play while fighting hard in others. A good example came during the first session on the third morning when the pair of Ravi Rampaul and Kemar Roach put West Indies back in the game after the bowlers had been dominated by the pair of Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen on the second afternoon. “We were outstanding yesterday to get eight wickets for 169 runs considering the way we had bowled the day before where we leaked runs from both ends,” Gibson said.He said by blocking one end, West Indies had successfully suffocated England captain Andrew Strauss, who found it hard to accelerate once he had scored his century. “We made it tough for him and then that caused him to get out,” Gibson said. But his batsmen had not learned when they were put under the scanner.”When England make it tough for us, we get out far easier than they do. That is a concern. But we have shown that when we do the right things we can cause problems to the England team but we are not doing it consistently enough at the moment.”Gibson said though he was disappointed that West Indies had lost the Wisden Trophy, he would still not be disheartened by the critics, who were expecting his team to beat a strong side like England. “This group of players has been criticised because of the decline, if you like, of West Indies cricket,” Gibson said. “You come to England, you are playing the No. 1 team in the world, it is difficult to expect that you are going to come and beat them. We challenged them at Lord’s, we challenged them here for periods as well but not for long enough to create any winning opportunities.”

West Indies’ pace attack failed to shine in overcast conditions but they can still learn their coach’s lesson

Nagraj Gollapudi at Lord's18-May-2012As Fidel Edwards limped in during the final over of a long day, Ottis Gibson, the West Indies coach, might have had a furrowed brow in the dressing room. Perhaps not so much out of concern for Edwards, but rather due to the possibility that the hard grind his bowlers had experienced without many gains could be the trend for the rest of this cold English summer.Friday was even more overcast than the first day of the Test and the conditions on the ground had not changed much. England walked into the series after having had a tough time during the winter where they had lost four out of their five Tests, played in the Asian subcontinent. Andrew Strauss, the England captain and opener, was diagnosed as vulnerable.So the four-man fast bowling contingent from the Caribbean had many things in their favour, in addition to bringing different skills to the table. Kemar Roach had pace and form under his belt; Fidel Edwards, the most dangerous, speed allied with swing; debutant Shannon Gabriel had height and the X-factor about him; Darren Sammy, the slowest of the lot, the rigour to keep plugging the ball on the same spot.Yet England, and Strauss, came out relieved while transferring the pressure on to the West Indies bowlers, who had to toil hard to fetch three wickets on a long day. Their effort was in complete contrast to the England bowlers, who maintained control, accuracy, and utilised the conditions to their advantage on day one, even when there were intervals in the final two sessions of play when Shivnarine Chanderpaul imposed himself completely.But more than effort, West Indies bowlers failed on two fronts: swing and seam. That allowed Strauss, Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott to establish themselves and subsequently build partnerships. It says much when their best bowler on the day was Sammy who, despite only bowling medium pace, had the most number of appeals, including a caught behind off Trott, which he decided not to review, despite replays showing the faintest of edges. But Sammy would be the first to admit it was just not luck that went against West Indies.The first signs of trouble were visible when Edwards did not return after a four-over opening spell. He had failed to move the ball once, and allowed the England openers to settle down quickly. At the other end, Roach, who was coming into the series on the back of finishing as the best bowler in the home Test series against Australia, tried hard in his extended spell of 12 overs, bowling from both sides of the wicket, on various lengths, to try and induce a false shot.When Cook did play on, Roach didn’t expect it, at least from his reaction to the wicket. He was bowling from around the stumps, wide of the crease, down the slope, the ball pitched on middle, on length, and Cook perished cutting a delivery that was a little too close to him. But the vital first session had England on top.The West Indies bowlers maintained a much better line and control immediately on resumption as no run came off the bat in the first 21 deliveries. Roach even bowled the first maiden of the innings in the 26th over.But how long could West Indies keep England in check? Pertinently, how long could the bowlers keep their control? Sammy became too predictable for Trott, who understood the West Indies captain was trying to move the ball into his pads. Over time he became comfortable. At the other end Strauss, who had kept quiet for the first half an hour of the second session, galloped from the 30s to his half-century. The first six overs after lunch only cost seven runs but then Sammy gave up 20 in two overs.

“How long could West Indies keep England in check? Pertinently, how long could the bowlers keep their control?”

This was not new for England. They know the conditions better than anyone and in the absence of any hostile or skilled bowling, the Strauss-Trott combination consolidated further. Apart from Sammy, the other West Indies bowlers, at least in the second session, did not try to bowl to a plan. There was no strategy to keep Strauss locked in at one end. As England extended their vigil, the silly run-out of Darren Bravo and the even sillier fashion in which some the West Indies batsman had got out on the first day, became only more significant.Suddenly it seemed Ravi Rampaul’s stiff neck had come at the wrong time. Rampaul might lack express pace, but he has the knack and intelligence to work hard on a batsman. He has grown to be more disciplined than the rest of the West Indies fast bowlers. Simultaneously, it also raised another doubt: did the visitors read the pitch, which is slightly slow and dry, wrong? With the forecast for Saturday good, spin is likely to become a vital factor on the final two days.Despite bowling long spells, all four of West Indies’ fast men returned to bowl more effectively in final session of play, in which two wickets fell and the batsmen were forced to play and not just leave the ball.The task at hand is not easy for West Indies. But Gibson can remind his bowlers about the one suggestion he had on the eve of the Test for them to succeed in English conditions. “The one message I have given them early season in England is the only skill you need to have is the skill of patience,” he said. “If you put the ball in the right areas often enough in England this time of the year you will get some reward. It is letting the ball do the work for you rather than thinking you have to bowl the magic balls – just put the ball in the right place and the conditions will aid whether they are swinging or seaming. You do not try to force the conditions.”

As Australia look to defend their title, their former captain Ricky Ponting remembers highlights from the previous editions

19-Oct-2012How important is the ICC Champions Trophy for players?
It’s a very important tournament for the player when you consider that the 50-over game has been a bit maligned over the last few years, with how big T20 cricket has become so quickly. The big tournaments you play in are the ICC World Cup and the Champions Trophy, so it’s a very big and important event for the players.And the fans?
I think the fans place it in the same regard as the players, especially the way the Champions Trophy is formatted now, with fewer teams than originally. I remember when I started playing Champions Trophy, almost all of the Associate nations were playing. In the UK in 2004, we played USA in the group stage – the game was over six overs, [us] chasing just 65. It was a pretty ordinary advertisement for the game, but the last tournament in South Africa in 2009 was the best run, and the most well-organised ODI tournament that I’ve been a part of.Fans appreciate the shorter and compressed format as there are no real wasted games – the best eight teams are playing each other, the tournament’s done in two weeks or so, and they get to see high-quality cricket in every game.How important is the one-day game to the future of cricket?
ODI cricket is in a really interesting phase right now. I love 50-over cricket and I love Test cricket – they are my two favourite forms of the game. But you can see how just how big and how important the T20 game has become for world cricket in only a short period of time.One-day cricket is certainly important in Australia’s eyes, with us hosting the next World Cup. The one-day game is vitally important to this country. But I think it’ll be really interesting to see what does happen to the 50-over game. I think the roles between T20 and 50-over cricket will probably be reversed – eventually we’ll be playing more T20 and less 50-over cricket.You captained Australia to victory in the previous two ICC Champions Trophy tournaments. How do the titles rank in terms of your career achievements?
They rank very highly, probably just behind World Cups and Ashes Test wins. The Champions Trophy eluded us for quite a while – the first few I played in were knockout tournaments and we got knocked out early on. When we were in India, beating West Indies in the final in 2006 was very special to us. Then we beat New Zealand in South Africa in 2009, which was a very good tournament for the team – we snuck through the whole tournament undefeated, despite a bit of a scare versus Pakistan in the last group game.What is your best memory of playing in the tournament?
I have lots of fond memories of the Champions Trophy. My favourite was probably the 2009 final – it was a bit of a nail-biting final, although we got across the line four wickets down. Callum Ferguson injured his knee in the final, so we were a batsman down, chasing runs, and we lost a couple of early wickets. Shane Watson scored another hundred [after his hundred in the semis] and saw us home.We went through that tournament undefeated, so that’s very memorable. Thankfully, for me, we did that on a few occasions in World Cups and the Champions Trophy – and that’s a pretty hard thing to do in one-day cricket.You are the fifth leading run scorer in the history of the tournament, with 593 in 18 innings. What was your favourite innings in the ICC Champions Trophy?
My hundred in 2009 against England in the semis. We had to chase a reasonable total [257] at Centurion. Watto and I put on 252, and we chased it one wicket down. Watto ended up with 136 not out and I made 111 not out. The enormity of the situation – chasing a big total, being the captain, making a hundred and winning one down – that was one of my biggest highlights.You’ve played, and won, the most matches as captain and have a win ratio of 80%. Are you proud of that achievement?
Yes, I’m very proud of that record. The last couple of tournaments we played some very good one-day cricket. Captain’s records are only a reflection of how good their team and how good their players are – so I’ve got to be thankful for that.Who were the toughest five bowlers you have ever faced in one-day international cricket?
Wasim Akram, Curtly Ambrose, Shaun Pollock, Murali and Malinga. The generation I’ve played in has some of the all-time great bowlers.That list obviously doesn’t include your formidable Australian bowling attack, which was crucial to your success, wasn’t it?
I was pretty lucky in my captaincy to have [Jason] Gillespie, [Glenn] McGrath and [Shane] Warne – and, of course, Brett Lee, who will go down as one of the great one-day bowlers. We always had decent part-timers as well – [Andrew] Symonds, [Darren] Lehmann – those sorts of guys, who could do a job for you and were very handy. That was the one thing about our team – we always had great balance because we had guys batting in our top six who were always able to bowl a few overs, which is very important for any one-day team.See the best eight teams in one-day international cricket take part in the ICC Champions Trophy in June 2013 – tickets for The Oval, Cardiff and Edgbaston are on sale on 5 November at icc-cricket.com (pre-registration open now)

James Tredwell faces a tougher financial climate at Canterbury than his predecessor but shares Rob Key’s ambition on the international stage

Tim Wigmore19-Nov-2012James Tredwell inherits the Kent captaincy in a very different situation to Rob Key seven years ago. That is not a reflection of Key’s success in the job but rather of the changing financial climate.Kent embody the truth that county cricket has shown itself not to be immune from recession-era problems. Last season’s dire weather hit all counties but Kent were particularly unfortunate, losing nearly the entire Tunbridge Wells festival to rain. Losses at the festival could have cost the county £50,000, although financial results have yet to be announced.But Jamie Clifford, Kent chief executive, is adamant that, contrary to some reports, the financial statement for 2012 is “certainly not going to be the worst in the club’s history”. He says financial restructuring means that, “Other than the weather issues we’re very much on course.”Clifford also credits the response to an appeal to members and supporters to “come and help make a difference” in the second half of the season which Kent issued after the Tunbridge Wells washout.Nevertheless, there is no getting away from reality. “In a wet summer our gate receipts are way down on what we would expect,” Clifford said. “It’s been a bit of a setback really but I imagine most counties will be saying the same.”As well as the weather, last season’s reduction in T20 matches is another common factor that will help to explain if, as widely expected, county financial reports show a marked deterioration from 2011.Clifford says five home T20 games per county, as opposed to eight, caused “a big hole in gate receipts” but he declares himself “very pleased with the whole set-up” for 2014, when each county will play 14 T20 matches, something that will help make up the shortfall after what Clifford euphemistically describes as a “knocked-off-course type year” in 2012.As with many other counties, Kent are undergoing an age of limitations. At the start of Key’s reign in 2006 he says he “had the resources” to focus on making Kent a formidable limited-overs side, notably through signing belligerent hitters Justin Kemp and Azhar Mahmood, the county’s recruitment policy is now governed much more by value for money.Canny recruitment policy underpinned the encouraging performance of last season, when Kent narrowly missed out on Championship promotion and the CB40 semi-finals. Experienced players with points to prove, like Mark Davies and West Indian Brendan Nash, combined well with academy players including Matt Coles and Sam Northeast. Perhaps indicative of the era of county restraint, Mahmood left midseason – he could earn more playing in the Sri Lankan Premier League. He will not return to Kent in 2013.The financial resources may differ but Tredwell shares the same anticipation of national selection that Key enjoyed when he became captain. As Key was in 2006, Tredwell is on the periphery of the England set-up. He took six wickets in his solitary Test, against Bangladesh at Dhaka in March 2010, and bowled with impressive control and nous in ODIs against Australia and South Africa last season.But Tredwell was left out of England’s squad for the current tour of India. As well as the records of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, Tredwell’s omission reflected England’s belief that, in his words, “If you’re going to play two spinners, perhaps you do want people that turn it in opposite directions.” With fellow offspinner Swann the first choice slow bowler in all three formats of the game, Tredwell needs to convince the England selectors that he can be a useful addition – rather than merely a stand-in – to Swann.Tredwell is adamant he is not too similar to play alongside Swann. “I tend to bowl fractionally slower and change my pace a little bit more than him. I think I get the ball up in the air a bit more in terms of flight, whereas he’s a much bigger spinner of the ball. We’ve got our own ways of getting people out. I tend to entice batsmen to hit me a bit more than him, and that in itself is a very different style.”But if he is to have the opportunity, Tredwell will have to prevent the captaincy from affecting his game. While Key was a consistent scorer in all three forms of the game as captain, he never matched his feats in the two seasons before he was appointed, during which he averaged 70.00 and 59.84 in first-class cricket. For all Key’s talent, 10 runs in England’s World T20 defeat to the Netherlands have been the sum of his England contributions since he became Kent captain in 2006. Tredwell will hope the challenges of captaincy, made greater by Kent’s financial difficulties, do not have a similar affect upon his own England prospects.

ESPNcricinfo assesses a dominant South Africa side after they swept the Pakistan series 3-0

Firdose Moonda25-Feb-2013AB de Villiers showed he could handle the double demand of keeping and batting in the top five•Getty Images9AB de Villiers 3 Tests, 352 runs @ 88.00, 2 hundreds, 1 fifty, 17 catchesAfter a battle to prove he is capable and his body able enough to handle the dual role of batting in the top five and wicketkeeping, AB de Villiers finally seems to have won. He was the leading run-scorer in the series and the only South African to reach a hundred as he hit the final nail in Pakistan’s coffin in both Johannesburg and Centurion. De Villiers has the luxury of coming in when a platform is already laid and his job is to take off from it. With a classy and innovative range of strokes he managed exactly that. He was kept in the field for minimal amounts of time, thanks to the potency of the pace attack and pounced on the 17 chances they created for him. To add to the feathers in his cap, he let through just nine byes.Dale Steyn 3 Tests, 20 wickets @ 12.90In his own backyard, Dale Steyn had a summer to remember. He led the attack with a poisoned tip as he so often does and caused trouble for Pakistan’s batsmen every time the stepped onto the field, with pace and movement that they were not able to content with. At the Wanderers, he was merciless, taking a career-best 6 for 8 as South Africa bowled a team out for under 50 for the third time in 14 months. Another five-for saw Steyn end the Johannesburg match with 11 scalps. He kept the pressure on at both Newlands and Centurion and allowed the rest of the attack to blossom too.8.5Vernon Philander 3 Tests, 15 wickets @ 15.80, 97 runs @ 32.33, 1 fiftyThere are few genuine allrounders in Test cricket currently and Vernon Philander is staking a claim to join their ranks. In the bowling department, he was his usual self and took his wickets through seam movement and discipline. Philander enjoyed a ninth career five-wicket haul at his home ground, Newlands, and was successful upcountry as well. The element of his success that may have surprised was his contribution with the bat. Philander muscled his way to 74 at Centurion, as de Villiers got to his hundred, to take South Africa to a massive first-innings total. He showed confidence all around the wicket and lengthens South Africa’s line-up even more.8Hashim Amla 3 Tests, 286 runs @ 71.50, 3 fiftiesThis was the series in which Hashim Amla could have gone past Michael Clarke as the No.1 ranked Test batsman and he did. His unbeaten 74 at the Wanderers played an important role in batting Pakistan out of the match. This will remain one of the few series in which Amla has not reached three-figures. He got as far as 92 at Centurion but playing a careless drive and edging behind.7Kyle Abbott 1 Test, 9 for 68 @ 7.55 He only played one Test but it was enough to earn him a high mark because of the impact that it had. Abbott made his debut after Kallis picked up a calf niggle before the third Test and he looked a seasoned professional. If there were nerves, Abbott showed none. He was disciplined in line and got the ball to rear up from just back of a good length to become South Africa’s second most successful debutant in history, bettered only by his mentor Lance Klusener. Abbott fit into the team culture so well he was described by de Villiers as being “a captain’s dream,” and his future appears bright.6.5Robin Peterson 3 Tests, 6 for 229 @ 38.16, 113 runs @ 37.66 Once again, the solitary slower bowler had little to do in a pack dominated by pace. He did not bowl at all in the first innings at the Wanderers and only bowled 10 overs in the second. He got his chance in Cape Town with bat in hand. South Africa were 210 for 7, 128 runs behind Pakistan and staring at a big deficit. Peterson scored 84 runs and batted with the tail. He was scored all around the wicket and took on his opposite number Saeed Ajmal with confidence. He took five wickets in the match, three in the second innings, including the big one of Misbah-ul-Haq, to earn the Man-of-the-Match award and cement his spot in the XI.6 Graeme Smith 3 Tests, 129 runs @ 25.80, 1 fiftyGraeme Smith did not score as many runs as he usually does and his only success with the bat came in his 100th Test as captain at the Wanderers where he passed 50. Smith struggled against Umar Gul and Junaid Khan and it was a case of mind over matter that saw him through. He also did not have a plan for playing Ajmal and was out lbw to him twice, both times trying to sweep. His leadership, though, was exemplary as he inspired his troops and reached milestone after milestone in the process. He is Test cricket’s most successful skipper with 50 victories under his belt and is so renewed by the success he has hinted at continuing for longer than he first thought he would.Kyle Abbott showed there was plenty of depth in South Africa’s pace stocks•Getty Images5Faf du Plessis 3 Tests, 113 runs @ 28.25 After the success of his first few Tests, du Plessis was always going to come down to earth. A freak dismissal at the Wanderers, where the ball rolled back onto his stumps, was followed by difficulty reading Ajmal and a move to No. 4 in the line-up, where he did a reasonable job at rebuilding after South Africa were 38 for 2. In the slip and at gully, du Plessis was agile as usual and provided the engine room for South Africa’s fielding.Jacques Kallis 2 Tests, 80 runs @ 20.00, 3 for 106 @ 35.33 If not for an umpire’s error, Kallis may have compiled more runs in the series but he had to settle for an unusually low-scoring series. He was out three times to Saeed Ajmal, twice lbw, as he also battled to pick the spinner. Kallis played an important part in the 49 all out at the Wanderers but had to bowl more than his quota of overs at Newlands and did so without complaint. A calf injury kept him out of the third Test.Morne Morkel 2 Tests, 4 for 167 @ 41.75 Morkel played only one and half Tests before being struck by a hamstring strain. His figures suggest he is the weakest link in the bowling but they do not reveal the whole picture. Morkel continued to bowl in the upper 140s, quicker than Steyn most of the time, and usually kept his end tight.4Rory Kleinveldt 1 Test, 2 for 82 @ 41.00As he still searches for a way to carve a niche for himself, Rory Kleinveldt put in a performance that may seem forgettable although it had some highlights. Kleinveldt bowled well in his first spell at Centurion, caused problems and was unlucky but settled into a length that too full later on. He returned in the second innings with more commitment to the cause and was rewarded. He bowled with good pace throughout, often crossing the 140kph mark. He has probably done enough to remain part of future squad and as a reserve for the XI.3.5 Alviro Petersen 3 Tests, 75 runs @ 15.00, 4 catchesA lean series for the opening batsman, which got worse as it went on. Petersen dug in for more than an hour and a half in both innings at the Wanderers but it was more to see off the new ball than collect many runs. At Newlands, he did the same in the first knock but it was after that his resistance crumbled. His next two innings yielded only 16 runs as he continued to pick the wrong line and refused to move his feet. Petersen provided a safe pair of hands in the slips and took some good catches to contribute in some way to the success.3 Dean Elgar 3 Tests, 68 runs @ 22.66 After a promising 27 at the Wanderers, which ended during Mohammad Hafeez’s assault, Dean Elgar failed to make a big enough impact on the series to regard his place as secure. He was out to Ajmal in Cape Town and Rahat Ali at Centurion and he continues to appear uncomfortable lower down the order. Elgar is an opening batsman by trade and appears to find it difficult to make the transition lower down. With JP Duminy expected to be fit by the time South Africa play their next Test, Elgar may spend the winter feeling somewhat uneasy.

From Thomas Alcock, UK

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013Andre Adams has 135 wickets in county cricket over the past two seasons•PA PhotosAndre (not Andrew as my spell checker prefers to call him) Ryan Adams. Now aged 36, Adams joined Nottinghamshire in 2007, you would imagine after a highly successful international career with New Zealand. Since joining he has been the mainstay of the Notts attack.Twenty-five wickets in three-and-a-bit games this season, 67 from 16 last season (average of 22.61) and 68 the year before – including the wicket of Chanderpaul to seal the title County Championship . He was successful in 2008 and 2007, did well at Essex for three seasons before that, and has been winning trophies for Auckland during the English winter since 1997.Combine that with some mighty biffing down the order (good enough to score three first-class tons and eighteen fifties) and sprightly fielding and you have a very fine player. So a highly successful international career? No – I don’t understand why though.He made his one and only Test match appearance against England at Eden Park in 2002, a match that New Zealand won and in doing so squared a three-match series 1-1. So you would assume Adams didn’t have the best of games? Wrong again. He took 6 for 105, the six being Vaughan, Flintoff, Giles, Hussain, Foster and Hoggard, but was never picked again.In era where New Zealand have remained just about competitive, and only just, it really does seem like they missed a trick with Adams. A highly effective bowler in all conditions, but especially those that offer a little for the seamer, like Trent Bridge and the majority of New Zealand’s home Test match grounds.My assumption is that Adams for too long was labelled a one-day player. Not because of amazing success in one-day cricket, his bowling and batting averages are far stronger in first-class cricket (the opposite is the case for many bowlers), simply because he could whack a ball at No. 8 or 9. That is why his international career reads 1 Test match and 42 ODIs.His ODI performances were solid but he did not set the world alight – one-day cricket is not his strongest suit. Perhaps if he was a rabbit with the bat like Chris Martin, his record might have read 42 Tests and a solitary ODI.I hope England learn a lesson from Adams’ career, and apply that knowledge to the career of Chris Woakes, the Warwickshire bowling-allrounder. Woakes currently averages 33 with the bat and 25 with the ball in first-class cricket, and 18 and 35 in List A. He has played 4 ODIs and 0 Tests. Like Adams, he will always be a stronger four/five day performer because of the type of seamer he is. Unless the selectors realise this, Woakes might have to bat like Hoggard and Fraser to get a chance of playing a Test.