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)

That he’s being blamed for Sri Lanka’s loss?

Sifaan Zavahir08-Oct-2012Choice of game
I bought the tickets in March, when they first came on sale. Sri Lanka’s recent performances had not been reflective of their runners-up achievement in 2011, but I was hoping they would make it to the final and couldn’t bear the thought of not having tickets if they did.One thing I’d not have changed about the match
Before the match, there were many memes about us losing when the president was in the audience – a journalist even asked him whether he was going to be present. When he was shown on the big screen, the crowd started hooting and Facebook was flooded with disparaging remarks, which only got worse after the match. Some of the comments were funny, but it’s also scary – representative of a tendency to blame things not within our control for our failings. It’s the total antithesis of Mahela Jayawardene’s leadership philosophy of taking ownership and responsibility. If Sri Lanka lose, it’s not because of a hoodoo. It’s because, on the day, the other team played better.One thing I’d have changed about the match
Whatever the take on the president’s presence, the match was already lost by then. The one moment that could have made a difference, apart from perhaps the toss, would be Nuwan Kulasekara hanging on to a chance offered by Marlon Samuels. A tough chance to be sure, but that was all he offered.Or maybe pretend it was another semi-final – we’re very good at winning those.Tough calls
It must have been really hard to drop Rangana Herath from the side after his performance in the semi-final. On field, continuing with Lasith Malinga when he was going for runs was a measure of Jayawardene’s faith in him – more often than not, he would deliver. Not this time.Focal point
After seeing Chris Gayle’s against Australia in the semi-final, we obviously wanted to see Gayle get out early (nothing personal, we love you) – a formula that worked for Sri Lanka in the Super Eights. So it was a big relief when Ajantha Mendis got him out early.Wow moment
More than thirty thousand Sri Lankans sang the national anthem before the match started. Of course, the anthem is played at every match – some people listen, some mumble, some sing aloud. But this time it was just bursting with pride and hope – never has the anthem meant more to me than it did today.Close encounter
Marlon Samuels was fielding at deep backward square leg to Lahiru Thirimanne and the crowd started booing him. Game-on: he spread his arms and signaled “louder” and “louder”, and after the delivery, turned around, doffed his cap and took a bow.Shot of the day
Jayawardene’s reverse-pull that got him dismissed. As long as he was there to guide the chase, we felt it was doable, even though he didn’t look as fluent as he did against Pakistan. His wicket stunned us. Maybe he wouldn’t have gone for such a high-risk shot if not for the D/L pressure… who knows?Crowd meter
It’s amazing how a six can get all the hidden flags waving again, especially when it came when all hope seemed lost. After that six Kulasekara followed it with more boundaries, and the flags just seemed to multiply. But all hopes for a last-minute miracle were soon dashed and the flags went back into hiding.Entertainment
Gangnam style may be taking the world by storm but it wasn’t appropriate for the victory lap. It’s a song about posers and wannabes, and the West Indian team is anything but. But Test-Match purists might find it totally appropriate.ODI v Twenty20?
I prefer Test cricket, but I’m not a purist. There’s more time for a complex plot to evolve, and it tests the depth of the teams’ capabilities. And, for the first ten overs of the West Indies innings, this even looked like an experimental Test match played under lights.Response of the day
The best response I got to my multiple Facebook updates was from a Croatian friend who lived in Sri Lanka for a year. “Sif, I don’t even follow cricket, but I was never more informed about a match. Including ones I actually watched. Dunno whether to thank you or block you.”A fan’s sentiment
It was heartbreaking to lose yet another final. Watching the Sri Lankan innings unravel, I wondered, why does this feel so bad? After all, it’s just a game. I think the high disappointment is due to the high expectations – opportunities for us to excel on a global stage are rare, and the cricket team therefore shoulders the burden of the country’s ambitions.The local fans’ expectations were high, so the disappointment was bitter•ICC/GettyOverall
It’s nice to have your team thrash the opposition, but to really get the money’s worth, there should be tension, and ideally the match should be evenly poised for as long as possible. For the first half, it was a good see-saw battle, but our chase never really got into gear. So, from a drama perspective this was a 7 in a tournament that had already produced at least six 10s (SL v NZ, WI v Eng, Pak v SA, WI v NZ, Ind v SA, SL v Pak)But the atmosphere was 10/10 – the buzz, the camaraderie, the memes, the pent-up expectation. Probably the next major event we’ll host will be the Asia Cup. We’ll be there for another dose of adrenaline.Final thoughts
It would be easy to blame Malinga for the loss (if you’re not on a blame-the-president trip). But that would be unfair. We cannot alternately worship them when they perform and vilify them when they don’t. Being armchair critics may help salve our pain, but it is an injustice by the team that we love so much.

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 Neeraj Narayanan, India

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013
The 90s were something else•Associated PressI do not know why I don’t like the IPL. Maybe it is the sheer obscene display of money, maybe it is the cheerleaders. Maybe I like to believe that even in 2011, cricket does not come under the purview of entertainment, instead it still should be treated like a gentleman’s game. Just like how I feel sad seeing empty parks and blame it on Facebook. Maybe I am just not ready to accept change.And so, when Set Max’s live telecast of the player auction began, I switched off the box and sat down beside my bookshelf, cross-legged and, might I add, adorable. At the end of my endeavours, a rather disheveled scrap book found its way into my callused palms. A shoddily cut picture of Tendulkar, with a few yellow stains on his cheek formed the cover of the dog eared book titled, ‘Nero – the summer of ‘96’.Nineteen-ninety six was indeed a memorable year. It was the year I evolved into a teenager, and the year I first fell in love. Seated two rows across, I would look at her and wonder if even the Taj Mahal could be so pretty, and if it was necessary that we hug or kiss (blech!) when we got married. It was also the year my voice broke and I croaked like a frog and why we never eventually got married. It was the year when Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid first played for India.The 90s was the decade when cable television tiptoed stealthily into Indian households. The sudden plethora of channels amazed us, and we were shocked to know that news channels were allowed to hire pretty women, a fact that Doordarshan, our national channel, always hid from us. When electricity failed on us, which it did with clockwork regularity, we would run to the neighbourhood shop. You see we did not have Cricinfo then. Once there, we would stand hunched along with fifteen others, with perky ears, submerging as one big family into agony or ecstasy with the lows and the highs of the team’s fortunes.Back then, none of the Indian players had fancy hair styles. All of Azhar’s ‘boys’ as he repeatedly called them at every match conference, were absolute mama’s boys – be it Sachin, Rahul, Kumble or Srinath. It almost seemed like flamboyance was not allowed to be part of that Indian team character. There was no dude at all in the team, no Kohli, no Yuvraj. No one sledged, no one stared, it appeared as if they were standing in a temple, instead of a ground. Even Sourav was a quiet little fellow till he became captain in 2000. Unlike 2010, when we have been tagged No.1 in Test cricket, we were archaic in those days, even medieval, in our play. Our batting rose and fell with Sachin, our fast bowlers ticked and as their favourite daily diet, and our best fielder was a 35-year old man called Robin Singh. It was inexplicable – the team totally refused to dive on the ground, and Anil and Sri became models for a ad every time they had to bend their knees to stop a ball. I would scream at them and call them ‘women’ and my sister would glare at me malevolently.In that entire decade, we never won a Test outside the subcontinent. But isn’t that why we became obsessed with the team. There is a feeling that comes with being part of an underdog, that impassioned aggressive desire to punch and knock out a better opponent, that one can never understand being part of a champion side. It is heady, it is intoxicating. Ask Hayden or Gilchrist if they feel as bad about a loss as a young Bangladesh side would feel about a win. Watch how players react when they beat Roger Federer and you will have an idea. It is only because David beat Goliath, did the story become romantic. And it was the same with India. With our team, we felt crushed a million times, and ecstatic a few other times, but with that grew our loyalty and misplaced patriotism. It was also why we made Sachin into a demi-god.But now, everything has changed. Twenty20, IPL , businessmen, cheerleaders, Mandira Bedis have now become an integral part of modern day cricket lexicon. The Indian team is at its best. Today, Afghanistan have done all but enter the cricket fold, Zimbabwe are all but extinct. England are thrashing Australia in the Ashes, in ways they were themselves slapped around for over a century. There is no Wasim and no Waqar, thank heavens for Steyn. Everything has changed, except maybe Sachin Tendulkar. As always, he remains our hero across all ages, across all time, across all hairstyles. Our one constant.P.S – That scrap book, it had its first page dedicated to a code of conduct. As captain, my first rule did not allow any members of the Sector 55 Noida team to use any expletives while playing. I guess, once upon a time, I was a relatively better person. As I flipped through the pages, an assorted mix of match scores and statistics appeared scribbled in pencil, that most innocent of communication facilitators. My laptop lay across the room, proud and superior.

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.

The South Africa allrounder was playing golf when he missed a call from Andrew Hudson asking him to join the squad in England. A big responsibility as opening bowler is likely, given the team’s injury crisis

Firdose Moonda at Edgbaston09-Jun-2013Chris Morris arrived in England for the Champions Trophy “with nothing.” The allrounder left his entire IPL kit in the Chennai Super Kings dressing room, including his bowling spikes because he was set to get a new pair from a different sponsor mid-month. He didn’t expect to need them before then.His only plan for June was to enjoy weekends away and down time after seven gruelling weeks at the IPL. Not a chance. Morris managed ten peaceful days at home before he was summoned to travel to the UK via Frankfurt sans cricket shoes to join up with the South African squad. He spent his first few hours in Birmingham sorting out a new pair.”I don’t wear my shoes very hard so any kind will do. I’ve just got to cut a hole in the front and then I’m good to go,” Morris told ESPNcricinfo when he took a breather from South Africa’s Saturday morning training session at Edgbaston. He had only joined the squad that morning but had already “had a bit of a bowl just to see how I go,” despite feeling, “quite tired.”Being in dreamland suits Morris fine for now especially as an ODI debut is around the next sunrise. “It all still feels quite surreal. I can’t quite believe I’m here but I’m really looking forward to it. I keep saying that to everyone but it’s true. I’m just really looking forward to playing.”

He lost his passport a few days before the IPL and had to get an emergency document to travel to India. His new permanent passport only just arrived in time to get vetted by the British border authorities. In a small moment of panic, Morris wasn’t sure he had the right one as he raced to the airport

Morris has played two Twenty20s for South Africa and has been drafted into their A side for matches against Australia A and India A later in the winter. After an impressive IPL showing for Super Kings he jumped to the front of the queue as far as South Africa’s next cap was concerned. But he did not expect to get it so soon.When Morne Morkel left the field injured against India in South Africa’s Champions Trophy opener, Morris was playing a round of golf. His father, Willie, a former provincial player himself, was watching the game on television and immediately rang his son. “He told me what happened and said maybe I should get myself ready,” Morris said. “But I told him to calm down and that we should just take it easy and see what happens.”At the 19th hole that evening, Morris left his mobile phone on a charger and was chatting to friends when he had a sudden urge to check it. There was a missed call from Andrew Hudson, South Africa’s convenor of selectors. Returning it confirmed what Willie suspected.”There’s been a few injuries for South Africa in the lead-up and I got a lot of messages from people asking if I thought I’d make the squad when Jacques Kallis pulled out and Graeme Smith got injured. But this time it was just manic,” he said. “I had to sort out everything in such a hurry that I didn’t even have time to look at them all and reply.”Morris had to pack his bags and get to Johannesburg from Potchefstroom in a hurry but distance wasn’t the only logistical issue. The process for South African citizens to get a UK visa involves filling out a War-and-Peace-sized-form containing personal details dating back to ones grandparents and a wait of at least five days. Even coach Gary Kirsten was surprised Morris arrived so quickly.Luckily, Morris was among those reserves who had been instructed by CSA to get a visa beforehand but there was a twist in his tale. He lost his passport a few days before the IPL and had to get an emergency document to travel to India. His new permanent passport only just arrived in time to get vetted by the British border authorities. In a small moment of panic, Morris wasn’t sure he had the right one as he raced to the airport.Once there he had some time for reflection and it dawned on him that he was about to become and international one-day player. In an ideal world, Kirsten admitted he would not want Morris to play in what is effectively a must-win game having only arrived in the country two days before the match but injuries have left him with no choice.Morris will probably play and he may even open the bowling if Steyn does not recover in time. Kirsten will take comfort in knowing that Morris has “played competitively in the last two weeks,” but does not want to put undue pressure on him to be South Africa’s saviour. Still, Morris knows many of his countrymen will see him that way and it’s a thought that would make anyone nervous. “I have butterflies the size of Quinny in my tummy,” he said, referring to his diminutive team-mate, wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock.But he is also ready for the big occasion and he puts that confidence down to the responsibility that was thrust on him in at the IPL. “I was putting the other day and I wasn’t far from the hole and one of my mates said ‘No pressure,’ and I just looked at him and replied, ‘No man, this is not pressure, not from where I’ve just come from,” Morris remembered. “So I’m just looking forward to it.”

Plays of the day from the IPL match between Pune Warriors and Kolkata Knight Riders

Devashish Fuloria09-May-2013The short fuse
“You’re calling me a cheat,” grumbled Jacques Kallis to umpire Sudhir Asnani in a rare moment of rage after his appeal for a run out at the non-striker’s end was turned down by the third umpire, Simon Taufel, because of lack of evidence. The ball, according to the bowler, had flicked his boot on its way to the stumps and had caught the non-striker Aaron Finch backing up too far. Two balls later, Kallis hit Finch’s offstump with a cutter and immediately turned back to give Asnani another long stare. He did talk to the umpire at the end of the over to clear the air.A first for the bowler
Bhuvneshwar Kumar had picked up 235 wickets in all forms of cricket before this match, but his 236th was the first of its kind for him. Knight Riders’ openers were cruising along, often charging out, which prompted Finch to ask the wicketkeeper to stand up to the bowler. Bhuvneshwar got one to swing back into Manvinder Bisla, it sneaked through the gap between bat and pad and Mahesh Rawat flicked the bails off as the batsman dragged the foot out, giving the bowler his first wicket through a stumping.The slap
Ryan ten Doeschate played only three matches last season and it didn’t look like this season was going to bring any more luck as the allrounder didn’t find a place in the XI till today. With Knight Riders’ campaign all but over, he finally did get a look in. When he arrived in the middle to bat, the team had squandered a frenetic start to get bogged down, but ten Doeschate provided the release with a ferocious slap shot off an Angelo Mathews delivery in the 17th over that went a long over midwicket and set the tone for the late acceleration.The slap that didn’t go too farParvez Rasool bowled an impressive spell in his debut IPL match but when the allrounder came in to bat, the match was all but over. In the last over bowled by L Balaji, he charged down the pitch, made some room and flat-batted a slower delivery back to the bowler, but Balaji, in his follow through, stuck his right hand out and grabbed the speeding ball out of thin air, leaving Rasool smiling at the absolute absurdity of that catch.

The dearth of international matches means Zimbabwe spend a considerable amount of time practising. But their inexperience shows during matches, when their skills seem to desert them

Liam Brickhill27-Jul-2013The Zimbabwe squad have spent the last ten weeks doing very little else besides getting fit, bowling, batting and catching cricket balls. How many catches must each fielder have held in that time? How many balls must each batsman have hit, or a bowler bowled? Plenty, no doubt. Yet, when it matters, catches are dropped. Batsmen’s shots evaporate. Bowlers over-step at crucial times. Why?There was a point during Friday’s match when it seemed that, despite the costly errors of the morning, Zimbabwe’s batsmen had put the Indian bowlers under pressure and put their in a position from which they should win. At the end of the 20th over, Zimbabwe were 109 for 1. Vusi Sibanda raced to fifty, Dinesh Karthik had just missed a stumping, and, to end the over, Hamilton Masakadza had spanked a rank full toss from Amit Mishra almost clear out of the ground. Game on.In the next over, Zimbabwe lost Sibanda and Brendan Taylor – who they believe is their best batsman – in quick succession. Suddenly, their confidence dissipated. In minutes, they slipped to 133 for 6, and the match was gone.The focal point of pressure in a batting side is the middle order. If numbers 4, 5 and 6 need to do anything well, it’s absorb pressure. With everything at stake, the hosts’ middle order capitulated. When the game was gone, and it didn’t really matter what the rest of the batsmen did, Elton Chigumbura and Prosper Utseya put together a tidy 88-run stand for the seventh wicket – incidentally, the second highest partnership of the entire match.Andy Waller, the Zimbabwe coach, admitted that this defeat was more disappointing than Wednesday’s, given that they had won a crucial toss and found themselves in strong positions more than once in the game. “We were in a good position to beat them and some rash shots cost us,” he said. “It actually showed with the partnership of Prosper and Elton – without any pressure, they got us to the 180, 190 after 40 [overs]. Had we only been two or three down, we probably would’ve been 210, 220 looking at 70 in the last ten. I’d say, after twenty overs, I thought we were going to win the game. Even though we let them get away with a lot more runs, I thought we had a chance but then we made some silly errors.”To put it another way, Zimbabwe choked. Much has been made of the susceptibility of Zimbabwe’s southern neighbours’ to the ‘C’ word, but choking or panicking in pressure situations certainly isn’t the preserve of the South Africans. In his famous essay , author and journalist Malcolm Gladwell dissects the reasons why skilled people might fail in times of stress. Gladwell draws a clear distinction between choking and panicking, writing that the former is a result of thinking too much, while panic is an outcome of thinking too little. The differentiator, it seems is experience. People without experience panic because they don’t know what to do, while people with experience choke because they forget how to do it.Yet what if one is highly trained, as the Zimbabweans are, but lacks the experience of putting that training into effect? Did Zimbabwe choke on Friday, or did they panic?

The catch is that Zimbabwe don’t really have any other options. In the absence of regular international competition, they practice. Because they practice too much and play too little, when they do find some quality opponents they flounder, making further competition more unlikely and leaving them with no option but to train some more.

“One thing we can’t do is put it down to not practising hard,” added Waller. “For ten weeks now, we field every day, we take catches every day, we throw at stumps every day. We do a lot of batting, we do a lot of bowling, and we practice those things. We’re looking for no-balls and that sort of stuff.”But it’s different when you get out to the middle. Those pressure situations: the more we play, the more we’re going to be able to handle those pressures and become mentally stronger. I was saying to the guys, we have to learn from our mistakes. Other teams who are playing all the time, they’re playing games and they can learn from that. We’re not going to get all those games so we’ve got to learn a damn lot quicker than the opposition do.”While Zimbabwe have practised, hard, on every off day during this series, India haven’t really turned up much, apart from at the matches themselves. Their first ‘practice’ involved some light fielding, with plenty of laughs, and a spot of football. The Indians see no value in intensive training of that sort – not on a minor tour such as this one, not at this level, and especially not unless it’s accompanied by actual experience of game situations. They’ll net, sure, but when was the last time you heard about India – or any top side for that matter – focus purely on training for more than two months?The catch is that Zimbabwe don’t really have any other options. In the absence of regular international competition, they practice. Because they practice too much and play too little, when they do find some quality opponents they flounder, making further competition more unlikely and leaving them with no option but to train some more. In the last year, Zimbabwe have played eight ODIs. Since June, India have played 12. It’s not that these teams aren’t on a level playing field. They’re barely playing the same sport.The situation is clearly unfair, but what is left for Zimbabwe? Should they just pack up and forget this whole international cricket lark? What could possibly break them out of this funk? Waller, only two matches old in his national coaching career, is firm in his support for his charges. “I still believe we’ve got the players. I have no doubt we’ve got the players who can get the runs but we’ve got to learn from our mistakes.”That’s undoubtedly true, but in the remainder of this series, and the ones which follow later this year against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the pressure to win and turn things around, will only increase the longer Zimbabwe go without a victory.”The importance of the next two or three months is huge and that’s what we keep discussing,” captain Brendan Taylor said earlier this week. “It’s up to us players to try to contribute to getting the public back in and getting sponsors back in. So it’s a big time for us and a couple of good results against the best side in the world can only do us some good.”It’s not a fair game, and there are no easy answers or solutions for Zimbabwe. All they can do is pick themselves up, dust themselves off and come back for more. They cannot run from pressure situations. They’ve got to learn to embrace them. Somewhere along the way, they’ve got to find some self-belief.

The tour match at Hove wasn’t enough to identify a definitive Australia XI for Old Trafford. A few individual performances stood out, as did the catching, which was dreadful

Brydon Coverdale in Hove29-Jul-2013As pleasant as Australia’s seaside diversion was after the gloom of the Lord’s Test, the three-day match in Hove provided few clear answers to their many selection questions. Guessing at the XI who will take the field at Old Trafford later this week requires a Kiplingesque amount of “ifs” and just as many “buts”. Definitive? The only definitive observation to come out of the past few days has been that the team’s catching has been dreadful.It is not that nobody performed with bat or ball – Steven Smith scored an unbeaten hundred, Ed Cowan and Phillip Hughes both made fifties, Jackson Bird challenged the Sussex batsmen – but that none of it means very much. How much stock could the Australians really take from a three-day friendly against a weakened county side on a bouncy surface that won’t resemble that at Old Trafford, with a laughably short boundary on one side?That the squad has been split across cities – and even continents, for David Warner has been in Africa – has not helped clarify matters. The team management decided that the openers, Shane Watson and Chris Rogers, would gain more from working in the nets at Lord’s under the guidance of batting coach Michael di Venuto and fielding coach Steve Rixon than they would from playing Sussex. Peter Siddle was with them.Warner will rejoin the squad in Manchester on Monday, having just mauled South Africa A for 193 in Pretoria. How do the selectors gauge his performance? It was on a small ground in a game where Glenn Maxwell also thumped a quick 155 not out and South Africa’s Dean Elgar made a career-best 268. On the other hand, Warner was facing Kyle Abbott and Marchant de Lange, two wonderful young fast bowlers who have already thrived in Test cricket.If Warner plays, where does he bat? And who misses out? Rogers and Watson seem certain to remain at the top of the order, which would mean one of Usman Khawaja, Hughes or Smith would have to make way for Warner. Smith scored an unbeaten 102 against Sussex, but is that enough to make him safe? Khawaja showed encouraging signs at No.3 at Lord’s, but did little in the tour match.Hughes tallied 122 across both innings in Hove and is Australia’s leading run scorer on the tour, with 436 at 62.28. He made an invaluable 81 not out in the first innings at Trent Bridge, but since then has had three Test failures. Perhaps most importantly, he struggled against Graeme Swann’s spin, and if the conditions at Old Trafford are as dry as expected and England include two spinners, he might be the man to miss out.But what would such conditions mean for the attack? One spot is vacant due to James Pattinson’s series-ending injury, but will it naturally go to a fast bowler? Or would the selectors consider using Nathan Lyon and Ashton Agar as a dual spin attack? Neither man had much impact against Sussex and while it is true that the conditions were better for the fast men, Monty Panesar managed to claim three wickets.Lyon struggled in his first spell and seemed low on confidence, but he did improve as the match wore on. He found some dip and drop, and tempted the batsmen at times. His one wicket could have been two, had Agar held on to a skied chance from Taylor. Agar, meanwhile bowled better early and picked up a few edges, but was outbowled by Lyon as the match progressed. His lack of wickets in the first two Tests cannot be ignored.Including two spinners might be risky, but can Australia really afford to keep overlooking Lyon, who has claimed 76 wickets in his 22 Tests? There must be a temptation to push for Bird, given the way he swung the ball against Sussex and hit naggingly accurate lines. But how relevant will his form be if they arrive in Manchester to see a dusty surface and a fine weather forecast?They cannot forget The Oval Test of 2009, when Nathan Hauritz was overlooked on a dry pitch and Stuart Clark struggled in conditions that did not suit him. There is more than a little bit of Clark in Bird, and likely more than a little bit of The Oval surface in the Old Trafford wicket the teams will encounter. Bird might have edged Starc out of contention, but who could really say for certain?The only thing that is certain is that some remedial fielding drills are in order after the Australians put down roughly half a dozen chances against Sussex. And if they do that against England in Manchester, it won’t much matter who the selectors have picked.