In the New Zealand city with the longest history of the sport, the non-cricket part is fun too

Paul Ford04-Nov-2014The cricket in Dunedin is all well and good, but the après-cricket is the best in the country. Post-stumps nightlife is focused on The Octagon, an eight-sided pedestrian reserve, encircled by pubs, bars and restaurants. The hardy and the late drink and dine al fresco. It’s notoriously good. After a recent combined Alternative Commentary Collective/Beige Brigade training session we landed at Pequeno, and deemed it the best bar in Otago for a number of reasons. But that’s another story for another article.

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Dunedin claims a special spot in New Zealand cricket history: the country’s inaugural first-class match took place at the South Dunedin Recreation Ground from January 27 to 29 in 1864. The reported: “The first Inter-provincial Match in New Zealand will be commenced today, on the ground of the Dunedin Club, at the Recreation Ground. A capital game is expected; and it will be watched with much interest.”Appropriately, the match was teed up by a local publican and theatre owner, Dr Shadrach Jones. An entrepreneurial bloke, he invited touring troupes to the city to perform opera or sing. He decided cricket should come too, and the Dunedin Cricketing Festival was born.For the record, Otago won by 76 runs, with local knowledge of the boggy surface and cattle-trampled pitch playing into the home team’s hands.

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Most major cricketing activity has played out at Carisbrook, often referenced as the “House of Pain” and revered in rugby union circles. It sat at the entrance to a steep valley, amidst an industrial wasteland of railway industry. One cricket writer acerbically compared its aesthetics to that of a rundown Polish shipyard.Built in the 1870s, it was first used for international cricket in 1883-84, when Otago hosted a team from Tasmania – and what a game it was. Another shocker in heavy conditions apparently – appropriate, given the ground was once a swamp.Tasmania won the toss and soon regretted the decision to bat: they were all out for 40 from 32 overs. Otago responded with 65 all out from 40 overs, including a 41* from Len Harris. Tasmania collapsed again to be all out for 47 in their second dig (from an excruciating 55.1 overs) and Otago ended on 24 for 2 to win by eight wickets.Over the ensuing 128 years, the thwack of leather on willow was a familiar summer sound at The Brook.Locals will tell you it was “full of charm” with a climate similar to Ibiza, but to those without rose-coloured spectacles it remained a primitive place, best suited to southern men and those with thick skins and thick jerseys.Carisbrook, in the good old days•Getty ImagesI never made it to the terraces there but the tales are legendary. Commentators speak of the four Fs: fights, fires and full frontal nudity. Matches were stopped several times when smoke billowed across the field of play as couches burned and joy overflowed.As Whangarei grocer Bryan Young batted for 10 hours in March 1997 on his way to 267 not out, restless students and rural folk procured a billiards table and began playing pool on the terraces. From what I remember, it was hard to keep that field of play even on the gravel steps.Staggeringly, Young was on Carisbrook for every single ball of play in that Test match.

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Primitivism has its limits, and Carisbrook hung up its boots in 2011. Demolition began in 2013 after a couple of noteworthy fundraisers: one was an auction of memorabilia and park equipment via online marketplace Trade Me, and the other was a Tear Up the Turf event where you could fang around and cut the playing surface to shreds in the vehicle of your choice if you paid 50 bucks.In truth, the House of Pain’s days had been numbered for a while. The final cricket international was played in an icy wind in February 2004, 24 hours late. Ah yes, the halcyon days of rain days in the schedule.Hamish Marshall was the rock on that brute of a day, patiently compiling 74 from 94 balls. The deranged wildebeest of the South African attack, Andre Nel, bowled horribly and was described as “distributing presents as if he were Santa Claus on speed” in the ESPNcricinfo report.

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Rugby at the Brook was replaced by rugby at the Forsyth Barr Stadium, a super-flash $224m set-up with a roof, and plastic perches for 30,748 bums. Cricket was relocated up Butts Road next door at the University Oval, a quirkily shaped slice of cricket heaven with room for 6000.Quirkily shaped because the former art gallery on the site – built for the 1925 New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition – had to be chopped up and moved to keep the ICC fish-heads (and Daniel Vettori) onside.Primitivism hasn’t extended its tentacles here. Yet. It boasts of an almost all-encompassing grass embankment, nestled between tall trees and the Logan Point Quarry (“supplier of quality aggregates”).Groundsman Tom Tamati has wrestled with some demons in the pitch, but things have settled down now: the boundaries have been extended and the drainage has been improved.The most memorable contest played here was in 2009, when Shane Bond played his final Test, and claimed a match-winning match aggregate of 48.5-9-153-8. Pakistan lost but contributed a massive amount to an incredible palpitation-inducing Test that had more twists and turns than the coastal roads of Kintyre. Even the much-journeyed Sambit Bal described it as “the perfect Test”: “Dunedin provided almost everything. The drama. The twists. The contest between bat and ball. Swing and seam and pace. Stirring batting. Wickets falling in a heap and then the batsmen fighting back.”The Oval is good off the field too. The last time I made it there, my mate asked: “Aren’t you allowed to bring booze in?” “Not really,” said the pragmatic chap searching bags. “But you do pay a lot for drinks in there, so we’re not going to be stupid about it.” Welcome to Dunedin, cricket utopia.Let’s hope that Dunedin’s little sliver of New Caledonia makes it past the ICC’s soul-destroying food-and-beverage licensing arrangements to the World Cup games. Cricket at the Oval just wouldn’t be the same without the man called Noumea’s world-famous pineapple bread.

Plays of the day from the third ODI between Pakistan and New Zealand in Sharjah

Alagappan Muthu14-Dec-2014One more roll
His skill as a batsman across formats has fast-tracked Kane Williamson’s grooming as captain. But the New Zealand selectors might take note that their young prodigy and tosses just don’t get along. He has won only two of them in 10 tries and flashed a wry grin after losing the latest one in Sharjah. Shahid Afridi, the stand-in Pakistan captain, too wore an embarrassed smile as he shared a couple of words punctuated by Williamson rotating an outstretched right palm. “Oh, come on, Shahid. One more roll,” he might have said. Wonder if his mind went back to the coin as Pakistan went on to make their third-highest ODI total.The hated hat-trick
It was only six overs, but Mitchell McClenaghan had bagged two hat-tricks. Of fours. The first sequence began with a poor, wide full toss that Ahmed Shehzad directed through point. The next two attempted bouncers were pulled either side of square leg. Mohammad Hafeez must have been miffed standing at the other end, and cheered himself up with a sublime whip through midwicket off McClenaghan’s next over, enjoyed some fortune with a top-edge over the keeper and drummed the next ball to the long-on boundary.The present
Umar Akmal was playing his 100th ODI, he was also stepping up for the injured Misbah-ul-Haq, and he was walking in with a situation that was tailor-made for him. Pakistan were 300 for 5 with almost five overs left in the bank. He slid his first ball to point with soft hands and set off, eager to give the ballistic Afridi the strike. Only his captain did not like the look of the fielder swooping down on the ball. A shocked Akmal stopped in his tracks and almost accepted his fate as Martin Guptill loaded up for a throw. A direct hit would have had him, but Guptil did not want to take any risks. He began running to the stumps, which forced a desperate Akmal to scamper as well. An underamed throw hit the mark and the batsman had to walk back for a first-ball duck.The wicketkeeper’s warning
New Zealand’s bowlers were being run ragged. Their over-rate was stuck in the 12 per hour mark. But through it all, Luke Ronchi was alert enough to stop an unnecessary no-ball. Akmal had just been run-out and Williamson had forgotten to pull a fifth man inside the circle for the new batsman Sarfraz Ahmed. Corey Anderson was almost set to deliver when the wicketkeeper abandoned his crouch and stretched out his hands to ask the bowler to stop. The same gaffe happened in the 48th over, but this time no one could prevent it.The old-war horse
Younis Khan is auditioning for a spot for the World Cup at 37. He needed to show briskness with the bat, but his pushes and nudges weren’t hitting the gap and he was caught at long-on when he yielded to a slog. But his stocks rose on the field. Guptill thought he had it easy with a push to mid-off in the fifth over, but Younis sprinted to his right, slid for the ball and threw it while he was off balance. But rather like a snorter that beats a batsman, this too was too good to hit the target. He was not left to rue the effort too long though as he found a miscued swipe from Nathan McCullum heading in his direction during the 34th over. He ran hard, thrust both hands up after a leap to his right at cover and held on to quite an acrobatic catch.

Plays of the day from the game between India and South Africa in Melbourne

Firdose Moonda in Melbourne22-Feb-2015 The wake-up call
If the chants of 86,876 people and the sense of expectation in the humid Melbourne air were not enough to have Shikhar Dhawan wide-eyed, Morne Morkel’s chin music would have done it. After three overs of trying to pitch it up, the bowler decided to go for the short ball. It rose sharply to meet Dhawan while he was deciding whether to duck, dive or pull and had to settle for being wrapped on the knuckles. When Morkel presented the same delivery with his next ball, Dhawan pulled with power to deep square leg to prove the he could handle the pressure and the bouncer.The missed chance
Unlike some of his team-mates, Hashim Amla is not known for superhuman efforts in the field but he had the chance to change that when Dhawan, on 53, cut one his way at backward point. The ball was at catchable height but needed Amla to fling himself forward and to his right in a coordinated effort. Though he got there and grabbed the ball, it bobbed out as he fell to the ground. Not quite AB de Villiers yet.The other missed chance
South Africa had an uncharacteristically lazy day in the field but when they had the opportunity to hit the stumps, they did. Twice. India did not. When Amla drove to Ajinkya Rahane at cover, he was quick to swoop in, pick up and release with Amla still a long way out. But the throw missed its mark. Suresh Raina was backing up and close enough to underarm the ball onto the stumps, which would have still seen Amla dismissed, but he missed as well.Beating him at his own game
If there is a batsman that is considered un-run-out-able, it would be AB de Villiers. In fact, he is more likely to be the one effecting run-outs, like he did, but then also found himself caught short of his own ground. De Villiers was pushing for a second run after driving the ball to the sweeper. Mohit Sharma’s throw came in low and accurate so all MS Dhoni had to do was break the stumps. The Indian fielders were convinced they had beaten de Villiers at his own game and replays confirmed they had.

ESPNcricinfo’s poll of county chief executives reveals a hankering for Twenty20 in the summer holidays and a presence on free-to-air TV

George Dobell and Alex Winter15-Jan-20153:47

Surrey’s chief executive Richard Gould insists that an 18-team T20 tournament can work

Derbyshire (Simon Storey, chief executive): “There is no doubt that regular Friday night cricket has helped us. The Derbyshire vs Nottinghamshire local derbies are the highlight of our calendar and we wouldn’t want to lose them. We would support any changes and ideas that help us grow our income whilst still allowing us to build relationships with our local supporters. If that includes developing the T20 franchise model to complement our domestic T20 season, then we should at least consider it.”Durham (David Harker, group chief executive): “I would like to see the English domestic competition moved to later in the season to take advantage of the best of the summer weather, lack of football and school holidays.”Essex (Derek Bowden, chief executive): “Consolidating the T20 schedule to July/August would greatly improve both the quality and commercial performance of the competition. A tighter schedule to attract quality overseas players and prime summer months, during school holidays, to attract a broader audience base including families with children.”Glamorgan (Hugh Morris, chief executive): “It was my first year back in county cricket after my time at the ECB and with the help of the revamped NatWest Blast we doubled profitability and increased crowds so while the new format was not a silver bullet that some had hoped for it nevertheless was a cause for encouragement. If we build a strong brand I see no reason why this can;t grow into a tournament that people want to see on a regular basis.”Gloucestershire (Will Brown, chief executive): “It’s time to accept the fact that Twenty20 is the leading form of county cricket, in terms of finance and spectators, in this country. Let’s put it where people want to see it, which means the school holidays, and make the brand far more exciting. Look at the BBL website: it oozes excitement. We have an equally exciting product to BBL: we just have to present it in a better way.”Hampshire (David Mann, chief executive): “We need a major tournament in a short window in high summer with all the big names playing and held at the big venues. This would be for the benefit of all counties, not just those teams hosting the tournament. It doesn’t mean we can’t have a ‘domestic’ T20 event as well along existing lines, but we should put the franchise event in the calendar first and then work out the rest around it.”Kent (Jamie Clifford, chief executive): “It is no longer acceptable to view Twenty20 as anything other than domestic cricket’s core commercial property ‐ in this context 18 counties should be seen as a strength not a weakness. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, it provides the perfect vehicle for cricket to remain culturally relevant. It is essential that we do absolutely everything we can to ensure the full potential is maximised.”Lancashire (Daniel Gidney, chief executive): “We have seen big increases since moving to Friday nights. Playing in a shortened block would probably see a return to Mondays and Tuesdays that UK cricket fans have already shown that they won’t support in the larger conurbations. Play later in the summer; probably mid-June to early/mid-August. We hardly have any matches in the school holidays currently. This could be achieved via moving the 50-over tournament earlier in the season.”Wasim Khan, formerly with Chance to Shine, has taken over at ailing Leicestershire•PA PhotosLeicestershire (Wasim Khan, chief executive): “A T20 tournament during the school summer holidays in August would open up a huge school, family and potential new market that we currently only scratch the surface of and lend itself to high quality overseas players being available, making it an attractive proposition to watch. The condensed theory has been tested in the past; what we haven’t done is hold it during times when our key market place is on holiday.”Middlesex (Vinny Codrington, chief executive): “I would like the tournament to start later in the summer – May is too early. And personally speaking I think it should be condensed in order to help spectators follow it closely and understand it better.”Northamptonshire (David Smith, former chief executive*): “We need to work towards a County Championship of 12 games. It would help create a window in the structure for a three-week height of summer T20 competition in a franchise format, played at the big Test grounds only, targeting new audiences and attracting families and young people. But also still retain T20 cricket at county level on Friday nights throughout the summer to help continue to finance the county game.”
Nottinghamshire (Lisa Pursehouse, chief executive): “A consistent quality in-venue experience; making sure the match experience ensures that people want to return. T20 cricket is popular with spectators, but in the UK we cannot always guarantee the sunshine so we need to make a little more effort on the extras, like a quality PA system, using relevant graphics and video content and using your players to promote your matches so that people develop an affinity for the club.”Somerset (Guy Lavender, chief executive): “Free to air TV, even if it has to be a highlights package whilst the Sky deal remains in place. Did you watch the darts? The BBC’s coverage attracted a peak of 3.1 million viewers over the first weekend of the competition. I expect it was enormous for the final! We have got to get more people watching T20 cricket.”Yorkshire (Colin Graves, Yorkshire chairman. Candidate as chairman of ECB)

“The first thing I want to do is review everything: T20, the congestion in the schedule, our costs and our efficiency. After we, the executive team, have reviewed how we are operating now – and there will be no more outside reviews of the game while I’m chairman – we will announce our strategy towards the end of the year. We have to make the counties more sustainable. Whether that is 18 teams or 21 teams, let’s see. The fact is, county cricket brings in very little money and costs a great deal.”
*Yorkshire’s chief executive, Mark Arthur, was unavailable

Surrey (Richard Gould, chief executive): “Keep the appointment to view schedule with a week between home games but play in the middle of the summer to coincide with school holidays. And get some cricket in front of the pay wall.”Sussex (Zac Toumazi, chief executive): “We are making progress but need to better engage with the next generation of cricketers and fans game wide. We need to work on the image of the game, create heroes for the fans to identify with and follow. This should be centrally driven and supported by the counties.”Warwickshire (Colin Povey, chief executive): “In general T20 has been a huge success story for domestic cricket in England and Wales since its launch. The ‘new’ tournament delivered progress last summer but it is clear there is scope for further significant growth and improvement if we can get the formula ‘spot on’. The IPL benefits from the specifics of the Indian market but Big Bash and other tournaments around the globe have much that we can still learn from.”Worcestershire (David Leatherdale, chief executive): “Progress has been made in 2014 with the customer being the main focus and as the premier one day format it is vital the future structure works to give an experience the customer both wants and expects. Add to this further availability of England players and an option for spectators and supporters to view t20 on free to air TV then I am sure t20 can grow cricket across all age groups”.This article was updated at 1830 on January 16 with Middlesex’s contribution and some published comments also removed

As Pakistan and Zimbabwe meet in Brisbane on Sunday, an important part of their strategies will be crafted by two men who have been on the other side – Grant Flower and Dav Whatmore

Firdose Moonda in Brisbane28-Feb-2015In a modern era where video material can be shared with the simple click of a smartphone’s send button – just ask Tinashe Panyangara about that – the surreptitious spy is going the same way as the sub-300 first-innings total. But Pakistan and Zimbabwe are two teams who’ve always enjoyed a bit of the old school so it’s hardly surprising their ‘secret’ weapons are in their dressing rooms.Grant Flower, a man as Zimbabwean as they get, is Pakistan’s batting coach while Dav Whatmore, the man who led Pakistan through one of their more consistent periods, is Zimbabwe’s head coach. You may not find two men more different involved in such different outfits trying to achieve the same thing.Whatmore is a teddy-bear of a man who offers players support through a wealth of experience across continents, conditions and cultures. Flower is a person you’d rather shake hands with than hug, if only so you can see for yourself what fingers that have been broken 14 times – by his own count – look like. Whatmore is the favourite uncle, Flower the class nerd. Between them, they have infused two limp outfits, who claimed to be frustrated by a string of poor results, with enthusiasm. But now they need results.Flower had a few when Pakistan’s batsmen repaid him with nine centuries and a Test series win against Australia. Afterwards Younis Khan – who scored three centuries in that series – said it would be “unfair not to mention” Flower’s role in their success. “He worked very hard with all the batsmen. Grant was the key to our improved batting performances – he has played a role in changing our attitude towards batting,” Younis said.Ahmed Shehzad echoed the praise a few days later. He said Flower had helped Pakistan’s batsmen “raise the bar” through hard work. Pakistan are more easily linked to unpredictability than industriousness but Flower began to change that notion by bringing to them the only method he knows to be foolproof: if you lose, train; if you win, train harder.When Brendan Taylor, a beneficiary of Flower’s tireless work ethic, saw the compliments, he chimed in with one of his own on Twitter. He posted a message saying Zimbabwe were “lucky” to have had Flower as their batting coach for three years. “Great guy, great coach,” Taylor said.At that point, Zimbabwe were in the midst of sinking to an all-time low. They were on tour in Bangladesh, a series in which they lost every match they played, and their unhappiness under a strict disciplinary regime was obvious. They returned home embarrassed and in need of uplifting. Few in world cricket are capable of the latter as much as Whatmore.Having spent the bulk of his coaching career under the pressures only cricket in the subcontinent can subject someone to, Whatmore knows how to separate the very-serious from the not-so-serious. He knows when it’s time to panic and when there has just been an exaggeration, and he knew that Zimbabwe’s issues were exaggerated by the panic.From the moment his interest in the job was made public, Whatmore was calm. He used words like “sincerity” and “genuineness” to explain the Zimbabwe Cricket administration, words that have long been considered antonyms for an organisation drowning in debt and drama. He injected a sense of belief into players who had no reason to trust even themselves. He allowed them to just be, in every sense, even by letting them play football warm-ups although it gives him the heebie-jeebies for fear someone will break something.”Dav has brought a lot of positives into the team and everyone is comfortable, everyone just wants to express themselves and play the best cricket that they’re capable of,” Chigumbura said.From the distance of the opposition dugout, Flower will know that if Zimbabwe play to potential, they could be too much for Pakistan. He was part of Zimbabwean teams that beat Pakistan, both as a player and as a coach. From that same vantage point, Whatmore will know that even if Pakistan don’t play to potential, they could be too much for Zimbabwe. He saw that himself when he was in charge of them.What both men know about the other’s team is enough to prepare their own sides to win but to actually win, both Zimbabwe and Pakistan will need more than just inside knowledge. They’ll need some old-school grit and guts and the Gabba will bear witness to who has more.

Plays of the day from the Group A match between England and Sri Lanka in Wellington

George Dobell and Andrew Fidel Fernando01-Mar-2015The beamer
Bowling at the death in limited-overs cricket is a thankless business. With Jos Buttler hitting even the good deliveries to the boundary, Lakmal found himself struggling for answers. The first delivery of the final over – perhaps an attempted yorker – was a high full toss that was called as a no-ball due to its height and pulled to the boundary. Later in the over, after a perfectly respectable full ball had been driven over mid-off for six, Lakmal delivered a head-high beamer – presumably an attempted slower ball – and was removed from the attack by the umpire. With Rangana Herath forced to withdraw midway through the previous over due to a hand injury, it meant Sri Lanka had utilised four bowlers in the final two overs of the England innings.The start
England enjoyed a bright start, reaching 61 without loss by the end of the eighth over mainly because of Ian Bell. He enjoyed some fortune, though, at one stage surviving two chances in successive deliveries. First Dinesh Chandimal, diving full length to his right, was unable to cling on to what would have been a spectacular catch at cover off Suranga Lakmal in the fourth over before, next ball, Tillakaratne Dilshan failed to lay a hand on a more straightforward chance at point as Bell failed to keep his cut shot on the ground.The drop
Joe Root was on just two when he edged a delivery off Angelo Mathews to first slip. But Sri Lanka had gone funky and posted Mahela Jayawardene wider, at a position more like second slip, and though he flung himself to his left and laid a hand on the ball, he was unable to cling on. Root went on to make 121, becoming England’s youngest World Cup centurion, and provide the platform for the England total.The other drop
Root was also involved in the other key drop of the day. Lahiru Thirimanne had scored only three when he was drawn into poking at a delivery angled across him by Stuart Broad and edged towards the slip cordon. Initially it seemed that Jos Butter was going to go for the catch and it may be that his movement either impeded Root’s sight or just distracted him. Either way, Root seemed to react late to the chance and was only able to parry it to the boundary. Thirimanne went on to score 139 and, in the process, became Sri Lanka’s youngest World Cup centurion.The grand-prix impersonation
Root had flicked through the gears seamlessly to help yank England out of mild trouble while batting, but when he drilled one past point on 96, he was in such a hurry to get back to the striker’s end, he ended up celebrating his first World Cup ton in a memorable manner. Root had expected the cover-sweeper to reel his shot in, and perhaps beset by nerves, dropped his bat as he turned for the second run. In the end the ball would cross the boundary, and Root would have nothing to acknowledge the crowd’s applause with. He raised his gloved hands and his helmet above his head – more like a victorious formula one driver than a cricket centurion. review
Most of the DRS referrals in this tournament have vindicated the umpires; this one just made you wonder if the players were watching the same game. The delivery from Lakmal would, in other circumstances, have been called a wide but with Root giving himself room, the full toss hit him on the thigh or knee and he hobbled through for a run. But Sri Lanka surprised everyone by calling for a review. It showed the ball passing down the leg side by such a long way – getting on for a foot – that it raised the question: was this the worst review in history?

Banding together, discussing strategy and knowing their roles have helped India’s quicks to become one of the better attacks of the World Cup

Sharda Ugra in Hamilton09-Mar-2015The last time India and MS Dhoni were in Hamilton, there came a declaration from Mount Doom. After failing to defend 278 in the fourth ODI, and handing the ODI series to New Zealand, Dhoni said India were not sure about their fast-bowling combination, with less than a year to go for the World Cup. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron and Stuart Binny were the seamers at the time. Woe was India then, but now they find themselves in a place, to quote U2, that has to be believed to be seen.One mystery from this World Cup – other than what the words of its tune really mean – is the manner in which India’s strike bowlers have found their groove, after many miserable weeks traipsing around Australia in Tests and the tri-series merely absorbing punches rather than dishing them out.The quick bowlers have gone from a beat-up, second-hand hatchback to a smoothly purring first-rate sedan. The time to go all Rolls Royce has not yet arrived just yet, but the their accuracy and control have given India the sharpness it needed in this competition and confidence going into the white-knuckled knockout end.With two group matches left and a top spot likely, Mohit Sharma tried to keep the down, saying the bowlers were aware they have not really been under pressure. Particularly the kind of end-overs, madcap-runrates, death-bowling brain-scrambler that the Indians were known to melt under going into the tournament. India have had to defend totals of 300 and 307 in the first two matches and have restricted the far-from-formidable batting line-ups of the UAE and West Indies to 102 and 182. And they have bowled out every team.”There’s a lot more good work to be done, we must concentrate on what are our strengths, and try to do as well as we can.” Mohit said. That is professional realism more than anodyne sound bite.It is said Dhoni does not usually turn up at bowlers’ meetings, but asks for them come to him with a plan A and its back-up for every game day. Should neither work out during a game, it is up to him as captain to offer solutions and handle crises. In the World Cup, plans A & B have usually produced the promised results.Mohit, who had joined the squad for the tri-series and then was a replacement for Ishant Sharma, talked of the bowlers banding together during their bruising – it is what bowlers tend to do – and the two weeks of the tri-series became a template for the bowling plans that were being lined up for the World Cup.”We used to live together, four-five of us, we bowlers spent a lot of time with each other,” Mohit said. “We could share experiences and talk through a lot of issues. This has helped our game a lot.”Mohit Sharma has kept things tight coming in as first-change bowler in unfamiliar conditions•Associated PressAs Ishant waited for the injury to heal, which it never did, Mohit used the chance to learn about Australian conditions from his senior colleague. “When I came here, Ishant helped me a lot during practice – what would be the length at any particular venue for the new ball and the old ball. He’s been here several times and it helped hugely.”As the first or second-change, picking up from early work by Shami and Umesh Yadav, Mohit’s job was bowling tight, attacking the stumps and drying up the runs. “So that Ashwin and Jadeja can take advantage. It helps me hugely when Shami and Umesh are bowling well with the new ball because the batsmen are already under pressure and I have to bowl to my strength,” Mohit said. “Which is what I have done for the last ten 12 years I have to keep doing that – line and length and bowl according to the wicket.”Yet what is this gradual but almost instant magic that gets a bowling unit whose reputation had been driven into the dirt to step up and hit their rhythm and direction all at the same time?A similar spell had taken hold of India’s bowling unit in 2003 World Cup as Javagal Srinath, then the senior of the three bowlers, said. There was an acceptance of specific roles and a mutual trust that brought an honesty about individual strengths and weaknesses. “We had an overall plan, it was our collective plan, it was something we had arrived at together, that’s the most crucial part of this,” Srinath said.Early in his international career, as a non-striker Srinath had often heard Imran Khan giving his tyros Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis ball-by-ball coaching from mid-on, wise advice with free fruity epithets. In 2003, almost a decade more experienced than Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, it was Srinath who was often coached by Nehra from mid-on or mid-off. “He usually had 25 options for every ball. I listened. We had a great tournament.”The 2015 tournament has gone well too and Dhoni’s ODI captaincy has played its part. “He is absolutely practical when it comes to an individual’s own situation and his own situtation,” Srinath said. “He won’t go after a bowler for having a bad over, but get the man off and make the bowling changes when it is required, instead of wasting his energy beating the guy down. You don’t have to do that.”During their long tour of Australia, the Indians had reached, “a time of distress when the team is under pressure,” according to Srinath. It can lead to the formation of a core group of about four or five players who then take the lead. The pressure, in this case, came from the impending onset of the World Cup. It is a time when a player must “really dig deeper to know what you have and what could be realised. That’s what World Cup does to you. To my mind, as an Indian player, you are under maximum stress during the World Cup,” Srinath said.Srinath called the spell from Shami and Umesh in Perth as “one of the finest bowling I have seen by an Indian pair. The way was ball was carrying was fantastic, speed, accuracy, with no time for anyone to play, the West Indians didn’t look like they could handle it.”When their former bowling coach Joe Dawes had described India’s bowlers as a “wolf pack” during a dire Test series in England, many jokes were made about sheep and lambs. At the World Cup, India’s bowlers have bared their teeth.

Plus, six centuries in a first-class innings, and using nine bowlers in an ODI innings

Steven Lynch03-Mar-2015Both Sri Lanka’s openers were out for golden ducks in their World Cup match against Afghanistan. Has this ever happened before? asked Zaheer Ahmed from the UAE

Lahiru Thirimanne fell to the opening delivery of Sri Lanka’s innings against Afghanistan last week, then Tillakaratne Dilshan was out to his first ball, during the second over. It turns out that this has happened only once before in more than 3600 one-day internationals: in Georgetown in May 2006, Zimbabwe’s Piet Rinke was out to the first ball of the innings, and Terry Duffin followed to the first ball he faced, later in the same Fidel Edwards over. In all there have been 37 instances now of both openers falling for ducks in the same ODI innings.Wahab Riaz scored a fifty then took four wickets against Zimbabwe. Has anyone done this in the World Cup before? asked Maneck Patel from India

Wahab Riaz’s all-round achievement – he scored 54 and then took 4 for 45 against Zimbabwe in Brisbane – was the 54th occasion that someone had done this particular double in a one-day international. Only seven of those had come in the World Cup, though – including the first such instance overall, Duncan Fletcher’s 69 not out and 4 for 42 for Zimbabwe v Australia at Trent Bridge in 1983. It has since been done in the World Cup by Ian Botham (1992), Neil Johnson (1999), Maurice Odumbe and Feiko Kloppenburg (both 2003), and Yuvraj Singh and Tillakaratne Dilshan in 2011. Shahid Afridi (three times), Abdul Razzaq (twice), Aamer Sohail and Shoaib Malik had previously achieved this particular double for Pakistan in all ODIs.AB de Villiers reached 150 in 64 balls the other day. Who are the four below him in the race for the fastest 150 in ODIs? asked Amit Kumar from India

After reaching three figures in 52 balls – the second-fastest World Cup hundred, after Kevin O’Brien’s in 50 for Ireland against England in Bangalore in 2011 – AB de Villiers needed only 12 more deliveries to reach 150. His 64-ball effort smashed the record for the fastest 150 in one-day internationals, in 83 deliveries by Shane Watson for Australia against Bangladesh in Mirpur in April 2011. Earlier this year Luke Ronchi reached 150 in 92 balls for New Zealand against Sri Lanka in Dunedin, while Sanath Jayasuriya took 95 to get there for Sri Lanka against England at Headingley in July 2006. Fifth on the list at the moment is Ricky Ponting, who reached 150 in 99 deliveries for Australia v South Africa in Johannesburg in March 2006.What’s the record number of runs in a single World Cup? Strikes me that record could be smashed this time! asked Tim McAllister from New Zealand

The man at the top of the list at the moment is Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 673 runs in the 2003 World Cup. Tendulkar also scored 523 in the 1996 tournament. Four other batsmen have scored 500 runs or more in a single World Cup: Matthew Hayden hit 659, Mahela Jayawardene 548 and Ricky Ponting 539 in the 2007 competition, while Tillakaratne Dilshan made exactly 500 in 2011. Just to keep the hard-pressed bowlers happy, the record haul for one World Cup is Glenn McGrath’s 26 in 2007. Muttiah Muralitharan and Shaun Tait took 23 in 2007, as did Chaminda Vaas in 2003, when Brett Lee claimed 22.Zimbabwe used eight bowlers in their win over the UAE. Is this the most bowlers in a World Cup innings? asked Stuart from South Africa

Zimbabwe’s eight bowlers in their World Cup victory over the United Arab Emirates in Nelson turns out to be one short of the record. There have been 13 instances overall of nine bowlers in an ODI innings, and two of those were in the World Cup: by England in a convincing win over Sri Lanka in Peshawar in 1987, and by New Zealand as they sought a breakthrough in vain against Pakistan at Lancaster Park in Christchurch in 1992. For the full list, click here.Six batsmen from the Holkar team each scored a century in the same innings in the 1946 Ranji Trophy semi-final. Is that still a national/world record? asked Dinar Gupte in India

Holkar’s first effort in that Ranji Trophy semi-final in Indore in March 1946 remains the only first-class innings to contain six individual centuries. Kamal Bhandarkar made 172, Chandra Sarwate 101, Madhavsinh Jagdale 164, CK Nayudu 101, Bhausaheb Nimbalkar 172 and Pratap Singh 100 as Holkar piled up 912 for 8 before declaring. Mysore were then bowled out for 190, and then made 509 for 6. There have been only three other first-class innings which included five hundreds, two of them in Tests: by Australia against West Indies in Kingston in 1954-55, and Pakistan against Bangladesh in Multan in 2001-02. The other instance was in the Sheffield Shield in 1900-01, when New South Wales’ 918 against South Australia in Sydney included centuries from Frank Iredale, Monty Noble, Syd Gregory, Reggie Duff and Les Poidevin.

Stats highlights from the second day of the second Test between West Indies and Australia at Sabina Park

Bishen Jeswant13-Jun-20152 Previous instances – in the last five years – when West Indies’ pacers have taken nine (or more) wickets in a home Test. Five of the last 10 instances of West Indies’ pacers doing this in a home Test have come at Sabina Park.3 Australian batsmen who have been dismissed on 199 – Matthew Elliott, Steve Waugh and now Steven Smith. Overall, eight batsmen have been dismissed on 199 in Tests.20 Number of times West Indies have been bowled out for 150 or less against Australia, the joint-most for them against any team along with England. West Indies are currently 143 for 8, giving Australia the chance to hold the record on Saturday.3 Five-wicket hauls for Jerome Taylor at Sabina Park, the joint-most for any bowler at this venue. Corey Collymore and Wes Hall have also taken three five-wicket hauls each in Kingston.6/47 Taylor’s career-best figures. Each of Taylor’s three best figures in Tests have come in Jamaica – against Australia, England (5 for 11 in 2009) and India (5 for 50 in 2006).0 Times in the last 15 years when Australia have lost a Test match against West Indies after making a 300-plus score in the first innings. This last happened in Barbados in 1999.49.9 Percentage of Australia’s runs (399) scored by Smith (199). The highest percentage of runs scored by any batsman in a completed innings is 67.3%, by Australia’s Charles Bannerman (165* out of 245) in the first ever Test match in 1877.

Nigel Howard was a surprise choice to lead an under-strength England overseas in 1951-52. His Test career started and ended with that ordinary tour to India

Steven Lynch11-May-2015The roll-call of England captains is an evocative list. Almost an A-Z: Atherton, Brearley, Cowdrey, Dexter, Edrich, Flintoff, Graveney, Hutton, Illingworth … With a Hammond and a May and a Strauss thrown in. Since the Second World War, it’s been an unbroken list of the biggest names in English cricket.Well, almost unbroken. England’s captain in India in 1951-52, was ND Howard. Who was he?In fact, Nigel Howard had taken over at Lancashire in 1949, when he was only 23, still their youngest full-time captain. He led them to a share of the Championship in 1950, and had enjoyed four reasonable seasons with the bat – over 900 runs each year since becoming a regular in 1948, with 1174 in 1950. For the time, it was solid but unspectacular: nothing really to suggest that here was a Test player in the making… except for one important thing. Howard was an amateur, and England’s captains (and most of the county captains too) came from the unpaid ranks back then. England hadn’t been led by a paid professional since the days of privately raised teams in the 19th century.During the home summer of 1951, England had been led by Freddie Brown, who had proved a popular captain in Australia the previous winter, despite losing heavily. But Brown was over 40, and didn’t fancy a winter in India: he stood down from the captaincy. I’d always imagined that Howard must have been MCC’s third or fourth choice to lead that winter tour – but actually the committee minutes reveal he was the first one asked, in June 1951.These were different times. It wasn’t only Brown who wasn’t too keen on playing in India: of the XI that won the final Test at The Oval in 1951, to clinch a 3-1 victory over South Africa, only four went on the tour, none of them established players. Howard’s Lancashire team-mate, the offspinner Roy Tattersall, had nine previous caps, including all five games that summer, but the other three – the young Hampshire allrounder Derek Shackleton and the Yorkshire pair of opener Frank Lowson and wicketkeeper Don Brennan – had only two caps each. There was no Hutton, no Compton, no May, no Evans, no Bailey, no Bedser, no Laker …

“He didn’t like India, and he never really felt well. He was as fit as a flea really, but I’m sure he thought he was going to pick up some awful plague”Tour manager Geoffrey Howard on Nigel Howard

It all seems rather peculiar now, but the fact was that England had long felt they didn’t need a full-strength team to subdue anyone who wasn’t Australia. It might have been true before the war, when only South Africa had given regular trouble, but the times were a-changing. In 1947-48, West Indies had seen off an experimental side – captained by 45-year-old Gubby Allen – and showed that was no fluke by winning a joyous series in England in 1950. Even New Zealand, who would not lower England’s colours until 1977-78, showed they were no longer pushovers by drawing all four Tests in the summer of 1949. Those were only three-day games – only Australia were deemed worthy of the full five – but that was changed the following year.That left India, who had been playing Tests since 1932, but still hadn’t won one. However, more regular international exposure had begun to harden them into a useful team, featuring batsmen like the two Vijays – stylish opener Merchant and prolific captain Hazare. At home, they would be difficult to beat, and any inferiority complex that might have existed before had been buried, chiefly by the combative allrounders Lala Amarnath and Vinoo Mankad.And so Howard was up against it. A successful series might have secured him the England captaincy at home as well, and there was an Australian visit looming in 1953. But India had the better of the first Test, in Delhi: only a superb rearguard from the Glamorgan left-hander Allan Watkins saved their blushes. He resisted for nine hours for 137 not out, and put on 158 with Donald Carr, the vice-captain.That innings of Carr, another amateur, posed a few problems for the management. Tom Graveney, the side’s best batsman, had missed the first Test, but had to return for the second, in Bombay (where he would score 175). Who would make way for him? Watkins grabbed the nettle, and suggested the captain – who’d made just 13 and 9 in Delhi – should step down. But, as Carr said, “It became clear that he was not going to let himself be left out.” Instead it was Carr, who’d just made 76 on debut, who was dropped. “I suppose it was inevitable really,” he admitted, “and I’ve sometimes wondered what I would have done in similar circumstances.” There’s not much doubt who Graveney himself would have left out: Howard was, he said, “a very ordinary cricketer – and that’s putting it kindly”. Carr was somewhat more generous: “I found Nigel a very nice fellow, and he had a good record as captain of Lancashire.”Denis Compton was at London’s St Pancras Station to see off members of the 1951-52 tour party to India•PA PhotosThe second and third Tests were drawn, but Howard continued to struggle – 20 in Bombay, 23 and 20 not out in Calcutta. He only made a run in the fourth Test in Kanpur, but it didn’t matter much: England’s spinners outbowled India’s, and the match was won. Victory was set up by Howard’s Lancastrian colleagues Tattersall and slow left-armer Malcolm Hilton, who shared 17 wickets.Ironically, Howard did now stand down – he had contracted pleurisy, and had to return home. It fell to Carr to captain England for the only time in the final Test in Madras – and it was a historic game, as India finally broke their duck and squared the series, in a match that had an unscheduled rest day when news came through late on the first afternoon that King George VI had died. Vinoo Mankad did the damage with 8 for 55 in the first innings (and four more in the second), then centuries from Pankaj Roy and Polly Umrigar set up a big lead. It was probably England’s lack of quick bowling that cost them: both Roy and Umrigar would struggle against the fiery young Fred Trueman in England later in 1952. But that’s not to detract from India’s win. The Times admitted: “Over the whole series England seemed rather lucky to have shared the honours.”Carr remembered: “The Indians were very polite to us after the match and said the reason we had lost was because we were so upset by the news of the King’s death.”The tour manager was Geoffrey Howard (no relation). He recalled his captain in Stephen Chalke’s fine 2001 memoir At the Heart of English Cricket: “He was very young, and his upbringing had been so materialistic. In a way, he’d had things too easy in his life. He’d got where he had because of his father.”He didn’t like India, and he never really felt well. He was as fit as a flea really, but I’m sure he thought he was going to pick up some awful plague. He was so apprehensive about his health – and the strange thing was that he died at the age of only 54.” That was in 1979, not long after he’d retired from the family textile business to the Isle of Man.Howard played on for Lancashire until 1954, but never did captain England again. It was Len Hutton, a professional, who would take on (and beat) the Australians in 1953. Still, MCC remained keen on the idea of amateur captains, even after the distinction between Gentlemen and Players was officially abolished in 1962. But they never took India – or anyone else – quite so lightly again.