All posts by n8rngtd.top

Some key numbers and statistics from Martin Crowe’s illustrious career

Bharath Seervi03-Mar-201617 Test tons for Martin Crowe – the most by any batsman for New Zealand. The next batsmen in this list have four centuries less – Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson with 13 each. Crowe made centuries against seven of the eight opponents he played against, missing a hundred only against South Africa. His average of 45.36 is only bettered by Taylor and Williamson, at present, among those with 2000 or more runs for New Zealand.5444 Runs scored in Crowe’s Test career – the highest for New Zealand at his retirement in 1995. Crowe had gone past John Wright’s tally of 5334 runs to become New Zealand’s highest run-getter in Tests in January 1995, against South Africa in Cape Town. Even more than two decades since his exit from Test cricket, only two New Zealand batsmen have eclipsed Crowe’s run-tally: Stephen Fleming (7172) and Brendon McCullum (6453).58.46 Crowe’s average in Tests between 1985 and 1991 – the best for any batsman with at least 2500 runs in the period. Crowe made 3391 runs in 66 innings in those six years. His 12 centuries in that period also were the most by any batsman, bettering Allan Border, Graham Gooch and Richie Richardson who made 11 centuries each. Crowe’s average never reached 30 till his 21st Test match and the average in his last seven Tests was less than 20 as well. He averaged 56.20 in those 50 Tests between his 20th and 71st Test, and made 16 centuries.Martin Crowe had the best batting average in Tests between 1985 and 1991 (Min. 2500 runs)•ESPNcricinfo Ltd456 Runs scored by Crowe in the 1992 World Cup – most by any batsman. He was adjudged Player of the Tournament for his performance, thus becoming the first player to get that award in World Cup history. In the first four editions, there was no such award. Being captain of his side, he is still the only one to have received this award as captain in World Cup history. His average of 114.00 in that World Cup is the best by a batsman in a single World Cup scoring 400 or more runs. The Nine fifty-plus scores by Crowe in World Cups are the most by any New Zealand player.299 Crowe’s highest individual score in Tests and his only double century. He is the one and only player in the history of Test cricket to be dismissed on 299; Don Bradman was not out on 299 once. Crowe was in fact the first player in the history of first-class cricket to be dismissed on 299; only one other player has managed that unlucky feat – Mike Powell in 2006. Crowe’s innings came against Sri Lanka in Wellington in 1990-91 in the third innings of the Test, which remains the third-highest individual score in a team’s second innings. It was the highest individual score for New Zealand in Tests until Brendon McCullum went past it against India, at the same venue, in 2013-14. Crowe had gone past Glenn Turner’s 259, which was scored in 1971-72, to have the record to his name. Incidentally, Crowe was captain in that match and was dismissed by the opposition captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, making it the highest individual score at which a captain was dismissed by another captain. There has been only one more double-century innings by a captain getting dismissed by another captain: West Indies’ Dennis Atkinson out for 219 to Australia’s Ian Johnson in Bridgetown in 1955.467 Runs added by Crowe and Andrew Jones for the third wicket against Sri Lanka (the innings in which Crowe made 299), which was the highest partnership for any wicket in Test cricket at that time. They beat a long standing record of 451 runs between Bradman and Bill Ponsford in 1934, which was equaled by Javed Miandad and Mudassar Nazar in 1982-83. Since then, there have been only two partnerships higher than that: 576 between Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama in 1997 and 624 between Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara in 2006.56.02 Crowe’s average in his first-class career, scoring 19608 runs in 412 innings. Among 469 batsmen who aggregated 15,000 or more runs in first-class cricket, only ten others had a better average than Crowe’s. He made 71 centuries in his first-class career which is the second-most among all New Zealand cricketers behind Turner’s 103. Crowe had a great ability of converting fifties into hundreds. His ratio of centuries to half-centuries in first-class career was 0.88 (71 centuries and 80 half-centuries). Among 166 players who scored 50 or more centuries, only the legendary Bradman (1.69) and Wally Hammond (0.90) had a better ratio than Crowe. In Tests also, Crowe made 17 centuries and only 18 half-centuries, which puts him eighth among the 71 batsmen with 15 or more centuries in terms of that ratio.

Plays of the day from the Super 10s match between Sri Lanka and West Indies in Bangalore

Alagappan Muthu20-Mar-20164:04

Chappell: Evidence confirms Chandimal catch was clean

Pulling the plugA six off the first ball. A four to follow that. Tillakaratne Dilshan was batting like his numbers against West Indies suggested he would. Coming into the game, he averaged 55.56 in eight matches. But like a party that was shut down before it could get raucous, Dilshan’s innings came to a grinding halt when umpire Johan Cloete gave the nod to a vociferous lbw appeal from Carlos Brathwaite. The ball was angled into the pads and it appeared to be missing leg stump comfortably and the cool kids were none too happy with that. A brand new redhead, Dilshan left shaking his head and his old team-mate Mahela Jayawardene tweeted, “Come on, umps! it’s a WC and u have to be better than this.”The slow motion sucker punch
The Dwayne Bravo slower ball has had a grand old run at the IPL, and it keeps embarrassing class batsmen. Today it was Angelo Mathews’ turn. Premeditating a lap sweep, the Sri Lanka captain went down on one knee and was face to face with a big old full toss. Mathews, having given up the option of a stable base, could only flail at the ball. The outside edge looped up and fell straight into wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin’s gloves. At no point in this sequence did the ball touch the ground.The anti-climax
Bangalore made no bones about who it was supporting. Their local boy Chris Gayle was in town and every Sri Lankan wicket was cheered with gusto. So it was surprising when a dropped catch that benefited the West Indian team brought out a chorus of boos. Johnson Charles went aerial and Chamara Kapugedera hunted it down from midwicket. It should have been a dolly, but the ball popped in and popped straight out. A crowd that had been screaming “We want Gayle! We want Gayle!” when the chase began without him thought the wicket would bring their hero out. Guess they weren’t informed that Gayle had twinged his hamstring and spent too much of the first innings off the field to take strike straight away.Too much tech
It seemed it was finally time. Andre Fletcher had played a blinder in his stead, but Dushmantha Chameera claimed his outside edge in the 16th over and it seemed like Dinesh Chandimal had pulled off a fine catch. Umpire Cloete gave it out straight away, but his partner at square leg Aleem Dar wanted a second look. Third umpire Simon Fry was in the hot seat and as is the case with catches that die into the fielder’s hand, the more camera angles that were used, the more doubts crept in. The replays showed the ball bouncing, a sizeable contingent thought it did so only after settling cleanly into the wicketkeeper’s gloves, Fry wasn’t among them and ruled not out.The hometown boy deniedChris Gayle had called Bangalore his “hometown” after blitzing a century against England and his fans had thronged to the M Chinnaswamy stadium by the hordes to see him and they went back home without getting to watch Gayle bat. The man tried his best though. He was by the boundary, padded up, helmeted and armed with his big bat itching to get on the field and entertain the crowd. He had to be jovially dragged off inside by umpire Ian Gould and feeling a touch guilty, perhaps, Gayle came out sans his gear to wave to salute the crowd and indulge in a few selfies

Moeen Ali’s unbeaten 155 was the sort of innings to make hearts beat faster, as well as a reminder that statistics only tell half a tale

George Dobell at Chester-le-Street28-May-2016Do you remember the moment you fell in love with cricket?Everyone will have a different experience but, for those of us of a certain age, the sight of David Gower playing a cover driver was the gateway drug to a lifelong affair that has endured long after other loves have dulled or departed.Gower didn’t really drive the ball. He didn’t even persuade it. With the most gentle forward movement, he more suggested the ball might like to speed to the boundary and, as enamoured with him as everyone else, it seemed only too happy to oblige. If you judged Gower by stats you missed the point; you judged him more by the purrs of pleasure he generated. Was he great or very good? Who cares: he was beautiful.But there is a danger, in the business of analysing a day’s cricket, that we forget such fundamental pleasures. There is a danger that, with our caveats and our context, we crush the joy out of the moment and lose sight of the bigger picture: cricket is entertainment; it’s meant to be fun.Moeen Ali reminds us of this. It is perfectly reasonable that critics look at his statistics – a bowling average approaching 40 and a batting average that was, before this match, under 30 – and presume he is, by the lofty standards of Test cricket, a relatively mediocre player.But then he plays like this. He drives and cuts and pulls with such sweet timing, he brings up his century with a gloriously uncomplicated lofted drive for four over mid-off, he brings up his 150 with a flicked six over midwicket. And he tells you afterwards with a bashful grin that “it was nice”.His first fifty, coming with England in danger of being dismissed for somewhere between 300 and 350, took 109 balls. His second took 43 and his third just 41. Despite eight men on the boundary, despite turning down singles, he played with such overwhelming dominance, timed the ball so crisply and demonstrated such an array of strokes that it seemed preposterous that he has scored so few Test runs.

“I am quite loose but I don’t really care”Moeen Ali

Yes, he was dropped twice. Yes, on this docile pitch he was hardly tested by the short ball that has caused him discomfort in the past. And yes, there are probably quite a few batsmen in county cricket who, given 25 Tests, might score a couple of centuries.But not many of them would have taken 65 wickets with their offspin. And not many of them would have lit up a dispiritingly uncompetitive day’s cricket – Moeen rated Sri Lanka’s tactics as both “strange” and “perfect” for England – in a dispiritingly uncompetitive series with such a glorious display of strokeplay. On an increasingly sluggish pitch on which nobody else can time the ball, Moeen evoked memories of Gower. There isn’t much higher praise.And, just as you don’t want to be person at a wedding who mutters “40% of these things end in divorce, you know; the rest of them end in death,” so you don’t want to be person who applies reason to rainbows and sunsets and Moeen’s batting. Modern sport hasn’t become so results oriented that all the joy has been driven out.His fragility is part of the charm of Moeen. Oh, yes. It will infuriate at times. But, what’s that line about never feeling more alive than when you’re on the brink of death? Well, there’s an element of that to Moeen’s batting. He will probably always have a weakness outside off stump in the way that George Best always had a weakness for a night out. The slip cordon will always be in business; the bowler will always feel he has a chance. As he put it: “I am quite loose but I decided today, I don’t really care.”Can you imagine Alastair Cook saying that? But while Cook is all about the bottom line and practicalities, Moeen is all about feel and touch. He is the DeLorean to Cook’s Volvo. His batting offers charm more than security; joy more than insurance. In a pragmatic world, he bats like an artist.He doesn’t mean to, of course. When he made a century in his second Test, he impressed with his discipline outside off stump. Steeped in the skills of a top-order batsman from the moment he was old enough to pick up a bat, he batted like the No. 3 he is for Worcestershire.But, somewhere along the way, he has learned some bad habits. Knowing he will often be left with the tail, knowing he has limited time to make runs, he has lost the rhythm that defines so many good batsmen and instead started searching for the ball. Often he has not given himself time – or circumstance has not given him time – to build an innings. So instead of the elegant drives or effortless pulls, he has fallen to some ugly heaves and unworthy hacks.He believes the mentality of batting at No. 8 has been responsible for his decline. That and the decision to demote him in the limited-overs side after he had scored two centuries as opener. Confidence undercut by batting with men who grew-up as bowlers, he has increasingly batted like a tailender. Just as Ben Stokes was backed for the No. 6 position in the belief that he would react positively to the extra responsibility, so Moeen has reacted negatively to the lack of responsibility. The promotion to No. 7 for this match “definitely” helped him, he said. “It’s just not the same.”A lot may be made of his average at No. 7 – an eye-watering 276.00 – compared to his average at No. 8 of 29.33 from 18 innings. But he has batted just three times and been dismissed only once at No. 7. It is too small a sample size to draw conclusions. Besides, he averages just 21.00 in 11 innings at No. 6.Moeen Ali’s second Test hundred left England in complete control•Getty ImagesThere is little scope for promoting him at present. Jonny Bairstow looks a more complete batsman and Ben Stokes is a special cricketer who can win games with bat or ball. His average may never show it but then Stokes is a far from average cricketer.Realistically, Moeen has to get used to batting at No. 8. While it might not help England get the best out of him, it is a team game and individuals have to compromise for the general good. Perhaps, in Asia later this year, he may move up the order again to make space for another spinner. But, generally, this isn’t such a terrible dilemma for England. They have wrestled with far more troubling problems in recent years than a surfeit of good middle-order batsmen.It may pain Sri Lanka supporters to know that Moeen credits watching Kumar Sangakkara for his improved form. Struck by Sangakkara’s high back lift and “rhythm” of his trigger movements earlier this season, Moeen went home that night and practised in front of the mirror using the same technique. “I watched two balls and just tried to copy him, really,” he said.”I feel like I’m getting it back,” he said. “I owed the team a score. But, coming in at No. 7, you can put your batting mind on and contribute with a big score.”He is quietly putting together a decent career. During the day, he became the fifth-fastest England player to reach the milestone of 1000 runs and 50 wickets in Test cricket. All four of those who did it quicker – Ian Botham, Tony Greig, Trevor Bailey and Ben Stokes – are widely respected allrounders. He’s in pretty good company.Cricket isn’t just about winning. And it’s not just about stats. It’s about joy and feeling and pleasure every bit as much. And, one day way in the future, long after they have forgotten the scores, the drops or even the result, those fortunate enough to have been at Chester-le-Street on Saturday will look back and be glad that they saw Moeen Ali bat.

Faiz Fazal displayed an impressive catalogue of strokeplay on ODI debut, but the 30-year-old’s international future is by no means certain

Karthik Krishnaswamy15-Jun-20162:29

‘This is just the first step, hopefully’ – Fazal

On January 10, 2000, India played Pakistan in Brisbane, and lost a low-scoring thriller by two wickets. In their XI that day was a new wicketkeeper, Sameer Dighe. He was lbw to Shoaib Akhtar for 6, and caught Yousuf Youhana off Javagal Srinath’s bowling. Dighe was 31 years and 94 days old. He was only the ninth thirty-something to make his ODI debut for India.It took until June 15, 2016 for India to field their tenth thirty-something ODI debutant, Faiz Fazal.

‘The game itself is a great motivation’

Faiz Fazal, the opener who made his ODI debut at 30, has said he kept himself motivated by his passion for cricket even when an India cap did not seem possible. “I love the game – it’s my hobby. So, the passion, the motivation, it’s just the game. I always wanted to play for the country, that was my aim,” he told ANI. “So if this aim is lost, there would be nothing to play for.
“I was numb [laughs], and I was really happy that I got the cap. But that’s the life of a sportsman; you just need to keep working hard and then when you get the rewards you have to accept it and go there and perform.”
Fazal said it was a “dream come true” to score 55 on debut and lead India to a 3-0 sweep of the series in Harare. “Yeah, me and Rahul were communicating really well. I mean, it was not a big total, but, to be honest, the wickets are not that great over here, a little bowling friendly. So it was important to just stay there and keep batting. That’s what we did, and it’s good that we won by 10 wickets.
“I was lucky to have got my cap from him [Dhoni], and it’s a dream come true, getting a half-century for India in my first game. But this is just the first step; hopefully there will be more.”

Some teams have no hang-ups about picking late bloomers. In this millennium, nine players over 30 have made ODI debuts for Australia, five for England, nine for New Zealand, seven for Pakistan, five for South Africa, and four for West Indies. India tend not to give new caps to older players. At 30 years and 282 days, Fazal was a definite outlier when MS Dhoni handed him a blue one, numbered 214, on Wednesday morning.It was an unlikely cap in more than one respect. Unlike the rest of India’s squad, Fazal did not have an IPL contract. He hadn’t played an IPL game in more than five years. He didn’t have an un-ignorable domestic record either: a first-class average of 40.15, a List A average of 34.52 at a strike rate in the 60s – this in a land of tall batting feats.Fazal’s case for selection came from a run of consistent form in the 2015-16 season, with two memorable spikes that occurred in matches that mattered. In late January, a 100 off 112 balls for India A in the final of the 50-over Deodhar Trophy, against an India B attack containing Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny, Karn Sharma and Pawan Negi, all of whom have been in and around the national team. In early March, a fourth-innings 127, spread over seven hours, to anchor Rest of India’s successful chase of 482 against Mumbai, the Ranji Trophy champions.On May 23, the selectors named Fazal in the squad for the tour of Zimbabwe. It may have helped his case that he had made, on May 7 and 14, in the chilly climes of England’s North-East, scores of 104 and 108 in successive games for Hetton Lyons.India versus Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club was presumably a stiffer challenge – though perhaps not, given the home side’s performances through the series. In the third ODI, they were a somnolent 80 for 2 in 27.2 overs when a powerful hit from Vusi Sibanda, off Barinder Sran, came hurtling to the left of Fazal at mid-on. His dive couldn’t stop the boundary, but he got a finger to the ball, and a bruise to show for it. For a moment, spectators may have wondered if this blow would deny him a chance to bat on international debut.But Fazal stayed on the field, and, after Zimbabwe slipped to 123 all out, walked out, padded up and helmeted, alongside KL Rahul.India had seven overs to negotiate before the lunch break, and Fazal took a couple of overs to settle. He missed the first ball he faced, angled across him by Neville Madziva, his front leg just a touch slow getting forward. Then he looked to work the ball into the leg side, and closed his bat face a little early. The ball ran into the off side off his leading edge. The same thing happened in the fifth over, off Donald Tiripano.In and around those nervy moments, he also tucked a single off his hips and clipped three off his stumps, both times off Tiripano. Like a lot of left-hand batsmen – with Graeme Smith at one end of the aesthetic spectrum, perhaps, and Usman Khawaja at the other – Fazal seemed to favour the leg side.With eight balls remaining in that mini-session, Fazal got an off-stump half-volley from Madziva. He didn’t really stride forward – he simply leaned over the ball and met it with the full face, and it thudded away to the left of mid-off. An excellent way to pick up your first international boundary.The drives continued to flow when play resumed after the break; through cover point off Madziva, through extra cover off Tawanda Mupariwa, and then – after an interlude when Rahul overtook him with a series of boundaries – another down the ground, on the up, off Mupariwa. There was definitely more to Fazal’s game than leg-side nudges and flicks.The target was small, but there was just enough time for Fazal to demonstrate his footwork against spin – down the track to Graeme Cremer for a single to long-on, down the track once again for a straight, effortless, six, arms at full extension. There was enough time, too, to show he could put the short ball away – a hooked four, a controlled pull behind square to go from 49 to 50, and a fierce pull in front of square to bring up India’s win.Fazal had waited a long time, but he had made a definite impression when the chance finally came. Those who watched him will remember his upright, bat-up stance and his easy, fluid strokeplay. But for those who didn’t, he might go down as the answer to a quiz question: Who made his ODI debut for India at 30, scored an unbeaten half-century, and never played again?Cruel, a little premature, but a definite possibility. India next play ODIs some time in September or October, against New Zealand. When that series rolls around, they will most likely field a full-strength squad, very different to the group that is currently in Zimbabwe. Will it have room for Fazal?

Ben Stokes has been the difference between England and Bangladesh in conditions where he has not always prospered

George Dobell22-Oct-2016England’s problem child has grown up.The kid who was sent home from a Lions tour, the kid who missed a World T20 after smashing his hand on a locker has matured – or, at least, is well on the way to maturing – into the player his talent promised he might be. In Ben Stokes, England have a gem.There will be those who look at the scorecard of this match, shrug and say: “But it was only Bangladesh.”And it is true that there were moments – such as during their first innings collapse – when Bangladesh’s lack of experience in Test cricket was obvious. England’s record against them – they have, to date, won all eight of the Tests they have played against one another – hardly reflects the narrowing gap between these two sides.But in these conditions, the margin is not very big at all. And in this game, it has been defined by Stokes. Having produced an outstanding spell of bowling to help take Bangladesh’s last six wickets for the addition of just 27 runs, he then contributed perhaps the most mature innings of his Test career to date.True, he didn’t turn it into a century. And true, it wasn’t as eye-catching or awe-inspiring as his centuries at Perth, Lord’s or Cape Town.But while all those surfaces offered, to greater or lesser degree, the pace and bounce on which Stokes naturally feasts, this innings was compiled in conditions in which he has often struggled.

We knew Stokes had talent: we knew he was strong; that he could thrash sixes and bowl bouncers. But he hasn’t always looked an intelligent, adaptable cricketer

Slow, low and offering help to the spinners, it was the sort of surface on which Stokes has often thrashed like a drowning man and given it away in infuriating fashion. Remember the dismissals in Grenada and Abu Dhabi: caught on the mid-wicket fence. Or the dismissals in Antigua or Abu Dhabi: charging down the pitch in desperation and missing.Bangladesh tried to entice him into similar mistakes here. But where once he would have tried to thrash his way to a decent score, here he played like a Test batsman. Where once he had no confidence in his defensive technique, here he gave himself a chance to succeed by playing himself in, defending when necessary, rotating the strike and still putting away the poor ball with that brutal power that has become customary.There were three sixes in this innings, but he no longer has boundary options alone; he has the ability, the technique and temperament to build an innings. Not satisfied with being a middle-order biffer – the sort of role that some, like Shahid Afridi, settled into a little too readily – he has combined his talent with an impressive determination to work hard and keep improving. He is well on his way to being England’s best all-rounder since Ian Botham.There will be those who point to his averages – the batting average is under 35; the bowling average over – and wonder what all the fuss is about. But if you judge everything on averages, you make some very average judgments.Stokes is a cricketer who, with bat, ball and in the field, is capable of altering games in circumstances where few can. Each one of his Test centuries might reasonably be described as “great;” he has taken some catches – remember Trent Bridge, 2015 – that few could and his bowling here defied a slow pitch to change the course of this game.In brutal conditions in which other seamers operated in three (or even one) over spells, Stokes started the day with a six-over spell of sustained skill and hostility. On a surface on which other seamers struggled to get the ball above hip height, he had batsmen jumping and sparring. And in an environment in which other seamers had to be content with cutters and slower balls, he swung the ball sharply.With his strength, his skill and his determination, he has developed into a huge asset to England as a bowler. If he couldn’t bat to save his life, Stokes may still be an international cricketer.Some aspects of this will be of no surprise. We knew Stokes had talent: we knew he was strong; that he could thrash sixes and bowl bouncers. But he hasn’t always looked an intelligent, adaptable cricketer. He hasn’t always had the subtlety to complement his raw ability. But now that he has the skill to harness the reverse swing and now that he is learning to adapt to the slow surfaces on which he will probably have to play half his career, he is developing into something quite special.Ben Stokes followed his wickets with a mature innings•AFPEngland missed him when he was injured. It wasn’t just his on-field influence, either. The team management felt the dressing-room environment at The Oval, when Pakistan defeated them to level the Test series, was a little too quiet; a little too passive. Stokes’ belief, energy and determination play a huge part in driving this team forward.As Paul Farbrace said a couple of weeks ago: “Stokes is a leader, wherever he goes, people want to go with him. He’s loved being vice-captain on this tour. But vice-captain or not, he is a leader, and people follow him and want to know where he is going, whether he’s going out for dinner, when he’s practising.”The England management deserve some credit here. For many months now, they have done everything they can to make Stokes feel valued and appreciated.It would have been perfectly reasonable to demote him to No. 7 in the order here or to leave him out of the limited-overs sides. Instead they given him responsibility – he was vice-captain of the ODI side on this tour – and security in his roles. Knowing his value and seeing his potential, they have invested heavily in him. Aged 25, he should be able to repay them for several years.Don’t discount that New Zealand influence, either. His father, Ged Stokes, was a rugby league player and coach who famously had a finger amputated when he couldn’t wait for it to recover from a bad break. The son has inherited the father’s determination and spirit.There’s more than a little Brendon McCullum about the way he lifts this England team: he might have made a decent All Black had he stayed in New Zealand.None of this disguises the fact that England’s top-order failed again. Again and again over the last couple of years, England’s middle-order has rescued them after poor starts. While their sixth-wicket averages 83 in 2016, their next-best partnership is 53 for the seventh-wicket. That is fine, up to a point. But if England are to beat they best, if they are to win in Australia or in India, they will need the top-order to contribute far more often.This game isn’t won yet, either. What we have learned so far in this match is that, after the first 30 overs or so, the ball becomes quite soft and the slow pace of the wicket partially negates the turn on offer. Bangladesh scored 331 in the fourth innings here against England in 2010 and lost, while New Zealand scored 317 for 7 to win in the fourth innings here in 2008.As a result, spinners are more dangerous with the new ball, when some deliveries turn sharply and others skid on, and seamers come into their own only if they can find some reverse. In that regard, England are well-served with Stokes. He has enjoyed an outstanding 24 hours or so, but his work is not yet done.

Part of Hashim Amla’s problem could be that he’s being called in too early to steady the innings. With Stephen Cook coming good, a turnaround can’t be too far away

Firdose Moonda in Adelaide26-Nov-2016It was not supposed to be pretty. Not for Stephen Cook.His feet have been in a tangle all tour. The front one isn’t moving freely enough and the back one is too often left behind. That has mostly resulted in him playing down the wrong line. On Saturday, they were more in sync, but only reluctantly so. What kept him at the crease was his defence, which is about as exciting to watch as someone building a 1000-piece puzzle. To the trained eye, there is something to be impressed with.Cook can make everything look like an effort, especially the leave. When he hops back and watches the ball carry through to the keeper, there is a nanosecond of anxiety as Cook waits to see if he made the right call. His awareness of his offstump appeared so shaky in his first three innings on tour that it was difficult to believe Cook had spent more a decade-and-a-half opening the batting in domestic cricket.The Cook who has bossed domestic cricket for the last seven seasons is not as much a stonewaller as the Cook who has been in Australia for the last four weeks. That Cook is more confident. This Cook is more circumspect, because he has to be.Unlike many of his team-mates who have matured on the international stage – Quinton de Kock, for example, only played 10 franchise first-class matches before he made his Test debut – the bulk of Cook’s experience has been at a lower level. That means most of the bowling he has faced has not been of the quality on display in this series. Of course, the South African first-class competition has the likes of Marchant de Lange in its ranks, but like any domestic tournament, there are also has less exceptional bowlers on the circuit.Many players have spoken of the step up in intensity needed when they become internationals. it’s been no different for Cook. This is only his sixth Test and even if he failed, its likely he would have been given a slightly longer run. In tough circumstances, he showed he deserves one.Cook moved cautiously through an innings in which he lost partners at a quick enough rate to know that if he did not knuckle down, the Test could be gone. Slowly, he got into a rhythm of moving across his stumps to play Nathan Lyon into the leg side and getting forward to meet the fuller deliveries. He never looked entirely comfortable or in control.On 45, after facing 96 balls, he edged Jackson Bird to the vacant second slip area. It could all have ended right there. On 49, after facing 113 balls, a Lyon delivery spun back to hit his thigh pad and carry to short leg. On 51, after facing 135 deliveries, Josh Hazlewood half-appealed for a lbw after Cook missed a flick.But none of that unsettled him. Cook was content to let the dot balls mount. No doubt his father Jimmy’s words – “You can get out to bad shot or a good ball, but you can’t get out because you are tired” – would have been on his mind. He did not let the frustration or the fatigue get to him. Not even under lights, when legend has it that the pink ball becomes more difficult to face. He hung on, only just, but at the end of the day, he was still hanging on.***South Africa’s opening woes may have impacted Hashim Amla’s mindset at the crease•AFPIt was not supposed to be ugly. Especially not from Hashim Amla. The man with the magic wrists, the most delicate flick and smoothest drive in world cricket is supposed to make batting look like field of flowers. For his last four away series, that field has been razed to the ground.Since August 2014, South Africa have toured Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, India and Australia for 10 Tests, and Amla has scored 233 runs at an average of 16.64. His top score is the 47 that he made in Hobart on this tour. In this period, Amla has been dismissed in single figures eight times and been caught behind (by the keeper or in the slips or gully) the same number of times.Amla’s issue seems to be that he is misjudging the line too often, something Josh Hazlewood, who has dismissed him all five times in the series, has taken note of. That could have changed when Mitchell Starc drew the drive but Matt Renshaw expected Matthew Wade to take the catch and reacted too late to hold on at slip.That almost proved the catalyst for an Amla turnaround, as has so often been the case in the past. Amla attacked after that, with a drive, a cut and even a loft over mid-on for six, but Hazlewood ended all that when he got just the right amount of deviation to take the edge.Part of Amla’s problem could be that he is being called on too early because of the inconsistency of South Africa’s opening pair. Eight times in the the 14 innings mentioned, Amla has walked in to bat with with the score less than 20. Some of those have been at No. 4, but since Faf du Plessis’ took over as stand-in captain, Amla has been bumped up a place. Having spent most of his career coming in after Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis, Amla had some buffer. Now, things have been different.Amla was the speaker at the MCG press conference, the person who called the ball tampering allegations against du Plessis a “joke,” and the one who reacted with feigned ignorance that sugary saliva could be used to shine the ball. Several players including du Plessis and the opposition captain Steven Smith have since confirmed that the sweet science is a common tactic. That has made Amla look as out of touch in his talk as he has in the middle.But to write Amla off would be premature, especially now that Cook has come good. If Cook can find some consistency, some of the pressure may be pulled away from Amla and South Africa’s top order can become beautiful again.

Lancashire’s Liam Livingstone has confounded the sceptics and naysayers to emerge as an exciting middle-order batting option for the national team

David Hopps14-Mar-2017″I was brought up in the north so I don’t really care what people say about me.” As Liam Livingstone sheltered from the heat in Colombo and reflected on a successful debut tour with England Lions, his note of defiance encapsulated a career that is now demanding reassessment.Only good things were said about Livingstone in Sri Lanka. He made two hundreds in a match in Dambulla against Sri Lanka A, doubling his first-class tally achieved in his introductory championship summer for Lancashire, and he might have had a third century in little more than a week had he not been afflicted by cramp during a one-day match against the same opposition at the same venue.By the end of a Lions tour, there is often a Man Most Likely To. In Sri Lanka, Livingstone became that man.Andy Flower, the England Lions coach, had recently observed that Livingstone hit the ball as hard as anybody he had ever seen. From Flower, whose official pronouncements often seem to come from the other side of a firewall, it was praise indeed. Livingstone’s work to quicken his footwork against spin bowling was also commended.

“If you are soft in the north, you don’t really last very long. If I was in any way soft or weak, then I might have believed that I might never play first-class cricket”

Within the England set-up, anticipation abounds. It is easy to imagine him slipping into an England one-day middle order before too long, perhaps even against Ireland in May. A late dash into the Champions Trophy squad this summer might be too ambitious – such is the strength of the batting at England’s disposal – but his shot-making is bold and his offspin, a recent development initially encouraged by Sri Lanka A’s procession of left-handers, has been instantly serviceable. His progress this season will be eagerly monitored.But accolades have not always come so easily. Growing up, dreaming of one day making the grade at Lancashire, Livingstone became inured to hearing that he was “just a slogger”. He makes no secret of the fact that he would quite like to bump into one particular Under-13 coach in the north of England who was particularly disparaging about his chances. Even now, doubts may still linger about the adaptability of his attacking style.”I’ve always been a person who doesn’t really care what people think,” Livingstone said. “If you are soft in the north, you don’t really last very long. If I was in any way soft or weak, then I might have believed that, because I am a bit of a whacker in one-day cricket, I might never play first-class cricket.”The coach who fervently believed from the outset was John Stanworth, who was a director of Lancashire’s academy until he lost his job in a coaching reshuffle in 2015, and who is now head coach of the England Women’s senior academy. When Livingstone made his two hundreds in a match against Sri Lanka A, matching an achievement only previously managed by Kevin Pietersen, Stanworth was the first person to WhatsApp him to say well done.The hot, humid conditions in Sri Lanka took their toll on Livingstone during the Lions tour•ECB”The one person who always said I would be good enough was Stanny,” Livingstone said. “He told me I hit the ball cleanly, as cleanly as he had ever seen a young kid hit a cricket ball. He was the one who had brought everyone through the academy at Lancashire, and for him to say that to me gave me the confidence that I was going to be all right. He was my one big supporter for my three years at the academy.”Livingstone is a physical cricketer, and on his first Lions tour, it is unsurprising that his Dambulla exertions took their toll. Fatigue caught up with him a few days later when he dominated another Lions innings, this time making 94 in the second one-day fixture. Increasingly stricken by cramp soon after passing 50, he was eventually last out, caught at deep midwicket, falling short of a third hundred by a few metres. His leaden attempts to return to the field to bowl in the Sri Lanka A innings lasted a single, painful over, as his body rebelled. Sri Lanka’s cloying climate had claimed another victim.”I asked the physio if there was anything I could have done, eating-wise, to avoid it,” he recollected. “I had tried to prepare. I had taken salts on. I had taken fluids on. My calves were probably just cooked from the week I had had. It was just something that happened.”I was getting a rub from the physio between innings, trying to flush out the cramp, and even lying on the physio bed I was getting cramps in my whole body, everywhere including my back. It was just physical exhaustion. When I walked back onto the field, I felt I was going to be all right. Then I tried to bowl a ball. The first ball, I felt it in both legs.

Andy Flower, the England Lions coach, observed that Livingstone hit the ball as hard as anybody he had ever seen. From Flower, it had been praise indeed

“Everything on this tour has been a learning experience for me. It is not just the heat and the humidity, the concentration takes it out of you as well. And you are very rarely able to jog a one these days. You can try and save as much energy as you can, but you always have to put fielders under pressure.”Two Lancashire players moulded by Stanworth – two players, too, of very different approaches, one unyielding in defence, one committed to attack – have this winter challenged the perception that English cricket draws from too narrow a base.Haseeb Hameed received much attention when he made his England debut against India in his father’s home state of Gujarat in November, becoming, at 19, the fifth-youngest England Test cricketer.Livingstone’s pathway, in its own way, has been just as challenging. He grew up in Barrow, an unpretentious industrial town on the Cumbrian coast, at the end, the locals like to say, of the longest cul de sac in England. Chetwynde School, a free school, like many of those in the state sector, had no cricketing pedigree. The staff arranged an occasional game in the summer, partly for Livingstone’s benefit, reacting to the talent and enthusiasm they had found in their midst.By the end of last summer, Livingstone was topping Lancashire’s Championship averages•Getty ImagesBarrow Cricket Club was only 30 yards from his home, and as he grew up, it became his favourite haunt. He was the kid who would forever be hanging around, waiting and hoping.”People these days would rather be inside playing on PlayStations – I think the whole of sport is suffering from that,” he said. “But when I was a kid, the last thing I would want was to be inside. I would be getting dragged in by my mum every night. Whenever there was training on, I would be there. Whenever there was a game on, I would be hoping that somebody wouldn’t turn up so I could fit in.”Barrow CC is home for me. As a kid, growing up on a slow, low wicket at Barrow was better for me than playing on really top club wickets because you learn you don’t score runs easily. Then as you go up the levels, the wickets get better.”So many people can take different routes into an England Lions team, and when that happens you kind of share different qualities in a team. I wouldn’t change anything.”His formative years were also striking for a brief, and entirely unproductive, university career. Many sportspeople in the past have abandoned their studies when a professional career beckons, but Livingstone was faster than most. Not a single lecture attended. The memory brought a philosophical expelling of breath.

“When I was a kid, the last thing I would want was to be inside. I would be getting dragged in by my mum every night. Whenever there was training on, I would be there”

“I never wanted to go to uni anyway. I just wanted to get closer to Lancs. I think it was a sports management degree. I went to my induction and I lived in my student halls for three months. Then I got signed on a scholarship by Lancs and that was that. I imagine there aren’t many people who have gone to uni and not gone to a single lecture. That’s the way it goes, isn’t it? Luckily I did well at the academy or I don’t know what I would have done.”In 2015, he made an impact in T20 and was part of Lancashire’s trophy-winning side in the NatWest Blast, although he made a duck in the final. Lancashire were pressing for the Division Two championship that year, so the advent of a big-hitting batsman in the academy brought no first-class baptism.But he made a List A debut against Kent at Canterbury in August of that year and made 91 from 88 balls, which convinced him that he could make the grade in all formats. He was soon pressing Ashley Giles, then Lancashire’s director of cricket, to be given his chance.Ashley Giles gave Livingstone a chance in the first-class team, and the young batsman grabbed it•Clint Hughes/Getty Images”I had a chat with Gilo at the start of last season and he said, ‘We don’t know whether you have the technique for first-class cricket but I am going to take a punt on you.’ With a person like me, it was probably the right approach. I wanted to prove them wrong.”I said I just wanted to play my own way and I thought that would stand me in good stead. He said, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah.’ After the last warm-up game he said I was going to bat 7. It suited me to ease my way in. I batted with the tail a lot and it took away my own pressure because you get involved in the game scenario. It is also acceptable to be positive as a batter when you are batting with the tail. I moved up the order later in the season and it didn’t go as well, but I know I have the capabilities of batting up the order.”The summer ended with Livingstone topping Lancashire’s Championship averages, enough for England Lions to come calling. To those two Championship hundreds have now been added two more in Dambulla, but Giles has departed to Warwickshire, there is a new head coach in Glen Chapple and he will be awaiting proof that Livingstone can also prosper in Lancashire’s Championship middle order in an English spring.This might be an age when T20 riches increasingly abound, but Livingstone dismisses suggestions that this is where his career might naturally head. “A lot of people say that I am a very one-day player, and all the talk is about T20,” he said. “Stuff like that annoys me because in my first year in first-class cricket I have done all right and then I have come away and done well in Sri Lanka. I have always believed I am good enough to play first-class cricket.”The heat of Sri Lanka is now behind him. In the chill of an English April, few players will be watched with more interest.

Five phases of voting and over 220,000 votes later, we have the final nominees for our all-time IPL XI

ESPNcricinfo staff09-May-2017After over a month of polling, spread over five phases, we have our long list of 31 probables to pick the final IPL all-time XI from. Apart from the response being overwhelming throughout the five phases, our readers have fared well in adhering to the restriction of picking only four overseas players in the final XI. Accordingly, there are 14 overseas players – five of them allrounders – and 17 Indians on this list, from which our panel will vote to decide the final XI.The Openers
ESPNcricinfo LtdNoteworthy omissions : Michael Hussey (1.8k votes), Robin Uthappa (1.3k votes), Shikhar Dhawan (774 votes)The batsmen
ESPNcricinfo LtdNoteworthy omissions : Dinesh Karthik (2.2k votes)The allrounders
ESPNcricinfo LtdNoteworthy omissions : Yuvraj Singh (3.3k votes), Jacques Kallis (3k votes), Albie Morkel (1.8k votes)The spinners
ESPNcricinfo LtdNoteworthy omissions : Muttiah Muralitharan (2k votes)The seamersESPNcricinfo LtdNoteworthy omissions : Morne Morkel (1.1k votes), RP Singh (689 votes)Our jury, which includes four former Test players (Sanjay Bangar, Aakash Chopra, Brad Hogg, Shaun Tait and Ajit Agarkar) and members of our staff, will now pick the final XI. The number of overseas players in the final XI will be restricted to four, keeping with the IPL’s rules. Keep visiting our all-time IPL XI page for updates on the team selection.

Delhi Daredevils have several fast-bowling options this season but will be without JP Duminy and Quinton de Kock. Their domestic players will have to fill that void

Akshay Gopalakrishnan03-Apr-2017

Likely first-choice XI

Sam Billings, Shreyas Iyer*, Sanju Samson, Corey Anderson, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant (wk), Chris Morris, Mohammed Shami, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan (capt), Kagiso Rabada

Reserves

Batsmen – Aditya Tare, Ankit Bawne, Shashank SinghBowlers – Pat Cummins, Shahbaz Nadeem, Khaleel Ahmed, M Ashwin, Chama Milind, Navdeep Saini, Pratyush SinghAllrounders – Carlos Brathwaite, Angelo Mathews, Jayant Yadav

Strengths

A strong bowling attack and a good mix of match-winning allrounders. Daredevils could potentially have six full-time bowlers in the XI. Even with their best selections, they will have to bench some top players, making for strong bench strength.

Weaknesses

Their batting seems depleted, and will be hit further as Shreyas Iyer recuperates from chickenpox – subsequently, he will miss at least the first week of the league. The middle order will heavily feature domestic talent, some of whom are excellent players, but it lacks firepower. Zaheer Khan will lead them again, but he has not played competitive cricket since the last IPL and at 38, is one of the oldest players in the tournament. While Corey Anderson started bowling again only recently, in short spells, in domestic matches in New Zealand, Angelo Mathews is under an injury cloud after missing the ODIs against Bangladesh.Daredevils are spoilt for choice when it comes to fast bowlers but they will have to pick their bowling attack wisely. If they are to play two spinners out of three – Amit Mishra, Jayant Yadav and Shahbaz Nadeem – they will probably have to leave out Mohammed Shami. If that does not happen, they could end up with five quicks, including allrounders, and one spinner, which could affect variety and team balance.

Where they finished in 2016, and what’s different this year?

Sixth out of eight teams, their best finish since making the playoffs in 2012.Imran Tahir was the most high-profile talent released by Daredevils. They spent most of their purse in shoring up an already strong overseas contingent comprising Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy and Chris Morris. They will miss de Kock, who is out injured, and Duminy, who pulled out due to personal reasons, but have ample cover with the signings of Anderson, Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada, who was their most expensive buy at INR 5 crores. They also acquired legspinner M Ashwin, who showed promise last year.Rishabh Pant may have to play a bigger role than he did last year•BCCI

What have their players been up to?

• Rabada and Shami appear to be Daredevils’ most likely new-ball duo. The former, in his most recent international appearance, took four wickets even as his team was flattened by New Zealand in the Hamilton Test. In the preceding one-day series, he was the highest wicket-taker from either side, with an average of 17 and an economy rate of 4.22. Shami recently returned after a four-month layoff due to hamstring injury and took four wickets for Bengal in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final against victors Tamil Nadu.
• With 124 wickets, Mishra is the second-highest wicket-taker in IPL history. He was impressive in the T20 internationals against England at the start of the year, taking 2 for 48 in his combined eight overs across two games. It was also his last competitive appearance.
• Morris’ ability to pick wickets and seamlessly clear the boundary will once again make him one of Daredevils’ many MVPs. He only shone in parts during the New Zealand ODIs and was subsequently released from the Test squad. Come IPL, though, Daredevils may find him more useful.
• Several of Daredevils’ local players have grabbed eyeballs over the last few months. Rishabh Pant had his breakout Ranji season that led to a T20 international debut; Shahbaz Nadeem was the tournament’s highest wicket-taker, Jayant Yadav played his part in India’s golden home season as an allrounder, and Karun Nair became only the second Test triple-centurion from India. Following their phenomenal achievements, there will be more expectations from all of them.

Overseas-player availability

Anderson will be unavailable for the final three matches as he will travel to Ireland for a triangular series also involving Bangladesh. Billings will be absent for the second half. And if Daredevils make the playoffs, they could also miss Morris and Rabada as South Africa travel to England. They are also yet to name replacements for de Kock and Duminy.

Home and away record in 2016

Daredevils fared almost equally well both home and away. They won four and lost three at home. The figures were the opposite away. They maintained a proud record at their original home – the Feroz Shah Kotla – where they won three of their five matches and lost one of them by one run. They then shifted base to Raipur for their final two fixtures. Thumping wins against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Lions made for memorable highlights from their away campaign.

Poll

Test your Delhi Daredevils knowledge

*6.00GMT, April 5: The preview has been updated with the news of Shreyas Iyer’s illness.

It tells you much about the current state of world cricket that Edgbaston had only budgeted for a three-day Test

George Dobell20-Aug-2017It tells you much about the current state of world cricket that Edgbaston had only budgeted for a three-day Test.Little was expected of West Indies but they disappointed nevertheless. And just as David Gower joked that West Indies would be “quaking in their boots” ahead of the 1985-86 tour following his side’s success in the Ashes, so it seems fair to suggest few in Australia gulped, crossed themselves and whispered prayers when they saw the scorecard from Birmingham.Before reaching conclusions over West Indies’ future it is worth remembering a few things. It is not so long since England succumbed to whitewash defeats in Australia (2006-7 and 2013-14), the UAE (2012), India (1992-93) and West Indies (1984, 1985-86). West Indies won the previous Test between these sides – in Barbados in May 2015 – and this series remains live. It is probably sensible to postpone the firmest of judgements.This was, however, a desperately lame performance from West Indies. Arguably not since an inexperienced Bangladesh team were brushed aside in 2005 – England lost only six wickets in the entire series; winning both Tests by an innings – has such weak opposition played in a Test series in England. The difference is that Bangladesh side was at the start of its journey in Test cricket; this West Indies side has no such excuse and no such hope for the future.Coming on the heels of a series of other one-sided encounters – there have been more than a dozen series (of three matches or more) whitewashes this decade alone including the recently-concluded thrashing of Sri Lanka by India – it is a reminder that it will take more than a pink ball and some floodlights to save Test cricket. Such novelties worked in encouraging record crowds to Edgbaston over recent days (the ground has never seen a higher single day attendance for a non-Ashes Test than it did on the second day) but once that wears off, it will become tough to retain the numbers in the grounds or the numbers watching on television.The solution? If players are well compensated for their work – at least as well compensated as they are for their appearances in T20 leagues – and if greater context can be added to such games (ideally the introduction of promotion and relegation in Test cricket) the format can be saved. But the water is rising fast now and, with more players from South Africa and West Indies exploring their options away from international cricket the situation will, if not confronted, only worsen.All of which renders it hard to gauge what progress England have made. In winning three Tests in succession for the first time since 2014 (when they defeated India), they demonstrated admirable ruthlessness. They also gained some experience of pink-ball cricket, albeit with a different ball to that to be used in Adelaide, and the confidence gained from such performances may prove beneficial. They will know, though, that far tougher challenges lie ahead.Mark Stoneman has precious little time to prepare for a potential Ashes tour•Associated PressRoot made a point, after the match, of praising his “record breakers.” In Alastair Cook, England’s leading Test run-scorer, James Anderson, England’s leading Test wicket-taker and Stuart Broad, who overtook Ian Botham to move into second place in the list of England’s greatest Test wicket-takers, he has an extraordinary bank of experience in his dressing room. Add to that the all-round depth offered by Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali and he has the basis of what could be an excellent team.Anderson may have lost a little pace but he has compensated with exemplary control this summer. He has hardly bowled a poor delivery and, after five Tests, almost a third of the overs he has bowled (47 out of 147) have been maidens. His economy rate – 2.22 runs per over – and average – 13.12 – in that period are not too shabby, either. It is also hugely encouraging that he has managed five successive Tests without fitness issues. Trevor Bayliss suggested he would have his head bitten off if he suggested either Anderson or Broad be rotated out of the team ahead of the next two games. Besides, Chris Woakes – while in the 13-man squad for the second Test – may well find himself playing another Championship match next weekend as he seeks a return to Test levels of fitness and consistency.But we knew Anderson and Broad were fine bowlers before this match. And we knew Cook and Root were fine batsmen. None of them taught us anything new by bullying a soft West Indies team.What Root didn’t learn was the readiness of Mark Stoneman for Test cricket, the ability of Tom Westley to add substance to his obvious style or whether Dawid Malan can cut it as a Test match batsman. It was Stoneman’s ill-fortune to receive perhaps the best delivery of the match, while Westley (who looks so like John Crawley you half expect his hair to fall out and then have a ferocious disagreement with Lancashire) may have to play straighter if he is to sustain a career at this level. Malan survived some nervous moments early on to register his first half-century in Tests, but may yet come to regret not compiling the sort of score that makes an irrefutable case for his retention. All three will have another chance at Headingley.That, in itself, is an issue. There are now only two Tests left until the Ashes start. If Stoneman and co. are unable to find their feet in those next two games, it leaves England with no chance of blooding anyone new before Australia. There’s no time for a Plan B now.In time, though, you suspect England may omit one of the specialist batsmen, shuffle their talented middle-order up a space each and bring in both Chris Woakes – who is a more than capable batsman – at No. 8 and find room for a second spinner.Yes, that would leave England with six bowlers and yes, that would be harsh of Toby Roland-Jones who has had a terrific start to his Test career. But with three of those bowlers more than decent allrounders – Woakes, Stokes and Moeen – it would not much weaken the batting and would mean the burden on the bowlers could be lessened a little. On tough days in Australia and with a couple of those bowlers carrying a few miles in their legs, that would be no bad thing. It’s not as if that extra batsman has contributed a great deal, anyway.The test for England now is to retain the intensity they have shown since The Oval for the rest of what promises to be a mis-match of a series. While they do not have a great record in such situations, the level of hunger palpable in Root does appear to have instilled a new edge in the side. And, if the newer players in the side can settle and gain some confidence, it may yet prove a valuable experience.