All posts by h716a5.icu

Callum Parkinson collects maiden five-wicket haul for Durham

ECB Reporters Network29-Apr-2024Durham 358 (Ackermann 112, Robinson 90, Bedingham 52) and 131 for 2 (Lees 48*) drew with Essex 488 (Browne 184, Khushi 107, Parkinson 5-131)Essex’s Nick Browne scored his first Championship century for over a year and Callum Parkinson collected his maiden five-wicket haul for Durham, but the Vitality County Championship at the Seat Unique Riverside ended in a draw.Such an outcome had always appeared probable once the third day’s play had been lost. However, having made 488 and taken a 130-run lead on first innings, Essex did their best to force a victory on the final afternoon, only for their efforts to founder on the broad bat of Alex Lees, who made 48 not out in 128 minutes and had steered his side to 131 for 2 when bad light stopped play at 4.40pm.The teams shook hands shortly afterwards, at which point David Bedingham, Lees’ third-wicket partner, was unbeaten on 33.The most notable event of the morning session came in the fifth over of the day when Browne back cut Ben Raine to the boundary to reach his first hundred in 22 Championship innings, a bleak run stretching back to the game against Kent in April 2023.Browne’s century was also a tribute to his patience in this match. He had batted 286 minutes and faced 238 balls to reach the landmark. Five overs later, another boundary from Browne brought Essex their third batting point but that achievement was swiftly followed by the dismissal of Jordan Cox, who was bowled by Parkinson for 36 when he played outside a ball that was deflected via the back pad to the leg stump.Parkinson soon collected his second wicket of the morning when he clean bowled Matt Critchley for 3 with a fine ball that turned past the outside edge and hit off stump. Noah Thain then helped Browne add 55 in 11 overs before being caught at midwicket by Scott Borthwick off Colin Ackermann for 23, but Essex reached lunch on 450 for 6 with Browne unbeaten on 169.The visitors looked to score quick runs in the afternoon session and lost four wickets in doing so, including two run outs in three balls. Browne departed for 184 when attempting a third run and failing to beat Lees’ throw from fine leg and then Harry Duke was sent back by Simon Harmer but Borthwick’s return from midwicket was too sharp.Parkinson then dismissed Harmer and Jamie Porter in the same over to finish with 5 for 131 from 31 overs in Essex’s 488 all out.The visitors’ hopes of causing a collapse were boosted when Borthwick played across a ball from Porter and was lbw for 4 in the third over of Durham’s second innings. However, Lees and Ackermann put on 75 for the second wicket before Ackermann was caught at slip by Cox off Critchley for 32, a fate that had appeared to befall him on 20, only for the umpires to rule that the ball hadn’t carried.Durham took 12 points from the game and Essex received 14, a return which leaves the visitors equal on points with Surrey at the top of the First Division. The champions lead the table purely by virtue of having taken one wicket more than Essex this season.

Greg Chappell, acknowledged thinker though he may be, has little to show for as coach

Commentary by Rahul Bhattacharya26-Sep-2005

Greg Chappell’s methods don’t seem to have hit home with a significant section of the Indian team © Getty Images
Look where we’re stuck now. Sourav Ganguly, cornered, fighting, armed with supporting evidence and affidavits, will respond point by point to the contents of the most read email in the history of cricket. The review committee which meets tomorrow (why must Jagmohan Dalmiya be on it?) will have before it sets of claims and counter claims to negotiate, and no power save that of an advisory body. It will emerge that both parties have told some truths or what they believe to be the truth and both parties will have told some half-lies. Inevitably the issue will be politicised.Eventually one man must have to make way. That man ought to be Ganguly; yet the irony is that, thanks to a calculated leak by the board, in being accused he now has his greatest chance of redemption.A few points. It needs mentioning here that Greg Chappell, acknowledged thinker though he may be, has little to show for as coach. He took over South Australia in 1998-99, much like he did India, a messiah, in charge of a team that had tailed off after a high. The expectation in the state then was that he would do a Malcolm Blight, the Aussie Rules Hall of Famer who had just coached a mediocre Adelaide Crows outfit to a pair of premierships in his first two years. Quite to the contrary, Chappell’s five years saw SA finishing fourth (out of six), fourth, last, fourth and fourth.One SA journalist says that Chappell `helped develop several poor performers into handy ones but found it difficult to communicate well with the lesser players. His major battles came with the state’s administrators and the conservative culture of SA. The relationship ended with both parties thinking they could have got more out of each other.’ Another SA observer thought Chappell overly theoretical, unable perhaps to connect with the team, and half-jokingly described his tenure as `reign of terror’. Whatever, that South Australia won a championship under Chappell, as was mentioned in a few news reports in India either shows the sheer sloppiness of journalists or else indicates how enamoured they were of him.And the press Chappell got in India was so fabulous that it immediately made one wary. Chappell does like the press, and he does talk a good game. He sought out the Indian media and wooed them with a presentation of his vision for Indian cricket on the last tour to Australia; barely a day has gone by in his tenure so far that an exclusive interview is not granted. Far more worrying is the number of journalists who routinely receive detail and opinion, plenty of it in writing, that really ought to remain inside, unless the idea in the first place is to spread the word.Is it unreasonable to harbour mild scepticism of Chappell? Leave aside Ganguly, the noises emerging from a significant section of the team indicate that he has not been able to hit home with them. By introducing the coloured hats of Mr de Bono he can come across to players as much a bullshit artist as enlightened guru; by expressing displeasure over players whistling or singing, as some have claimed, he risks being seen as an unbearable bore rather than a hard taskmaster. There is no telling yet if the Chappell way will work simply because there is no evidence of it.Chappell’s first objective of making India look beyond Ganguly is not just fair but necessary; yet reading his own account of trying to destabilise the captain before the Test match makes you wonder. He saw a moment which he tried to exploit, to finish off Ganguly. But what were the percentages here? What odds that Ganguly would indeed stand down on the eve of a Test match against Zimbabwe when he’s trying to save his career?Has Chappell been able to foster an atmosphere of positivity? Looking back at his early days, when he was presented with an England team that had scraped bottom, Duncan Fletcher said, “The first thing I say is that you win as many games in the changing room as you do out in the field.” It is worth analysing – and it is the more profitable area for the review committee to concentrate on for it is the younger members and not Ganguly who are important now to India – how much of this has been the wailing of slackers and how much of it is down simply to ineffective coaching. If the dissidents, and several of them have been pulled up for attitude before, are using this standoff as an opportunity to pave an easy path then they are not worth a moment of indulgence.The big worry for Indian cricket has become that a player rebellion against Chappell will take its final form in the reappointment of Ganguly. That Ganguly must be replaced as captain ought to be non-negotiable, email or no email. It is a decision that would have ideally been taken four months ago. The details remain open to dispute, but not much in Chappell’s email has surprised the majority of journalists.And there is a point in that. Much of the Chappell `vision’ is something any half-astute observer could tell you. Chappell’s job is that of execution. Has he the ability to? Crucially, is the system prepared to allow him to? These are questions which will only be answered over time but they must be raised.Despite the scepticism offered here, my personal opinion is that Chappell must be given the latitude and the duration to work things his way, to toughen up the side as is his brief. Ganguly, due respect and all, has nothing really to offer the future of Indian cricket. With Chappell we will not know unless we let him have his shot. Unpleasant as it may be, Indian cricket must brace itself and make the leap. We could come to owe him. It may help if Chappell, committed to holding up an unforgiving mirror to the team, can also hold it up to himself and consider his management of men. Perhaps he could start by dropping the MBE.

Pakistan’s cricket team is on an upward curve

Zulfi Bukhari07-Jul-2005

Bob Woolmer: Pakistan’s first truly professional coach© Getty Images
So it was too good to last. Just when things seemed to be going so well, Bob Woolmer and his Pakistan team made their first real blunder … and what a blunder it was. To bat first on a cold, grey Southampton morning, in a tournament where every captain bar one had chosen to bowl, was a mystifying decision at best. To compound that error, West Indies are never happier than when chasing a target – nine of their last 11 victories have come that way – and Pakistan’s notoriously brittle batting is never more shown up than in swinging, seaming conditions.But to their credit, both Woolmer and Inzamam have taken responsibility for the error and the subsequent defeat, and that in itself is a change from blame-shifting line of old. The team think-tank misread the pitch and got their tactics wrong, but mistakes do happen and greater captains than Inzamam have committed them.Nasser Hussain, regarded as one of the most astute leaders of the decade, put Australia in at the Gabba at the start of the 2002-03 Ashes series, only to watch them run up 362 for 2 on the first day. And what about Javed Miandad, the great tactician? He was one of the first to point the finger at Woolmer, but he may remember the occasion in 1992-93 when he similarly won the toss against West Indies in Brisbane, decided to bat, and watched as the team was shot out for 71.But it is time to learn from the mistakes of the past and move on, and, in the grander scheme of things, Pakistan can come out of the last few months with several positives. It is a credit to Bob Woolmer that, in a short space of time, he has already made a noticeable impact. Pakistan have won seven out of their last 10 one-day matches, including three consecutive wins against India – no small achievement against a team that is often considered the second-best in the world.There have also two narrow losses against the mighty Australians. The fielding has improved noticeably and there is a new discipline in the bowling. The batting remains a concern largely because problems in this department are deeper-seated and will certainly require more than a few months to tackle.

Inzamam-ul-Haq: a secure leader, who is beginning to grow into the role of elder statesman© Getty Images
The PCB deserves a lot of the credit as well. Not only have they hired the best man for the job, they have also bestowed on the coach, the captain and the selectors some much-needed authority. Non-interference is not the same as weakness, and the day-to-day running of the team has improved markedly since this new policy was undertaken.As a result, the cliques and intrigues that so undermined Pakistan cricket in the past are receding. Inzamam is a secure captain and, apart from his aberration at the Rose Bowl, he is showing signs of growing into the role of elder statesman and leader of the team. Woolmer, with the full backing of the PCB, has also made clear that players not subscribing to the new work ethic of the team will not be retained. Get on board the train, is the message, or miss it altogether.And the players seem to have responded. There is a new commitment and desire to succeed. The seniors are not lobbying for positions. The younger members are eager to learn. And even Shoaib Akhtar appears to be enjoying his cricket again. For once the team is pulling in the same direction.It is therefore a great pity that Woolmer’s appointment has been greeted with such suspicion by certain commentators, both at home and around the world. Woolmer is a pioneer among cricket coaches, and if his methodical, scientific approach to the game can harness Pakistan’s volatile talent and convert it into a consistent, world-beating outfit, then Pakistan could open up a wonderful new chapter in its cricketing journey.This is the feeling in the majority of cricketing circles, and the general public also regard Woolmer as a man who undertakes his job with professionalism and one who is free of the politics and baggage of past messy relations with the players. Much of this goodwill is fostered via his exhaustive efforts of his website, bobwoolmer.com, where he regularly answers even the most mundane questions from Pakistan’s fans.Naturally, the cynics will not be entirely dissuaded, and his appointment was accompanied by howls of protest that a foreigner would lack the “patriotism” to undertake the job with any distinction. This crude line of reasoning only represents a self-serving argument that has nothing to contribute to the forwarding of cricket in Pakistan. If you had to undertake an operation for a serious condition, would you select your doctor because he or she was Pakistani, or because he or she was the best qualified professional?Any serious observer of the game, let alone those who have played Test cricket, knows that it will take several months, if not years, for substantial progress to be made. It has taken Duncan Fletcher five years to turn things around for England; similarly, John Wright took four years to mould the current Indian team. But in each case, it is continuity of policy that is the essential ingredient.

England resumed on 234 for 4 but collapsed to 291 all out. Australia ended the day on 188 for 4 and have managed to gain a slight advantage. Cricinfo looks at the stat highlights of the second day

George Binoy03-Jan-2007

Justin Langer scored 26 off 27 balls on the second day at Sydney © Getty Images
89 – Andrew Flintoff’s highest score in 30 innings since his 102 against Australia at Trent Bridge in 2005. Since then he’s reached 50 on eight occasions (including his 89 today) but hasn’t been able to convert them into hundreds.291 is England’s second highest first-innings total of the series after their 551 for 6 dec at Adelaide. Their other first-innings scores of the series have been 157, 215 and 159.73.50 – Justin Langer’s strike-rate during this Ashes series in which he’s scored 283 runs at 40.42 in eight innings. It’s his highest strike-rate in Ashes contests, his second highest is 64.48 in 2002-03. This is also his third highest strike-rate in a series after 93.82 against South Africa in 2001-02 and 87.27 against New Zealand in 1999-00.40 – The number of Tests Matthew Hoggard had played in a row before missing the Sydney Test. He last missed a Test in December 2003 against Sri Lanka at Colombo.0 – the number of runs Flintoff scored against Andrew Symonds who bowled two maidens to him. Flintoff’s strike-rate against Glenn McGrath was 39.47 but he was very aggressive against Brett Lee and Stuart Clark against whom he scored 29 off 28 balls and 24 off 29 balls respectively.37 – Michael Hussey’s score at the end of the second day. If he fails to score 13 more, it will be the first time in the series that all of Australia’s top four failed to reach 50.

How James Anderson, England’s poster boy, has become a man

Emma John06-Oct-2007Anderson is thinking back to the start of his career – the one where he was an overnight sensation, where he was catapulted from his club side, Burnley, tothe England team within six months, where he briefly threatened, with his skaterboy looks and his Freddie Ljungberg hair, to make England cricket cool. “I lovedevery minute,” he says. “I wouldn’t change a thing.” He pauses. “But part of me does think, maybe, if I’d just had two or three years more to settle, I might have had a longer run at it.” He smiles. “Then again, I might never have got the chance.”

The early days © Getty Images
Caught at a glance, he looks very much like the Anderson of four years ago, who appeared on the cover of the first issue of bearing such promise for the future. He is tall and still trendy and undeniably good-looking. He is, once again, in a designer t-shirt and jeans, although this time the logo on the t-shirt is more subdued. He looks taller, however, because he walks with a more upright step. He seems more in control of his body and of his situation than the loose-limbed 21-year-old he was in 2003. His face is different, too. His cheeks are more shaped, his eyebrows less heavy. To be blunt, he has stopped looking like a boy and started looking like a man.After three years of limited visibility Anderson is back. In August the Indian team chose him as England’s player of the Test series. He had taken 14 wickets and, still with only 19 Tests to his name, led England’s most inexperienced attack in years to a creditable performance despite losing the series. A few days later he achieved his best ODI bowling figures. For the first time in his career he was proving his worth consistently against top-class opposition, not to mention dismissing Sachin Tendulkar five times in six weeks.Two images of Anderson’s Indian summer will endure. One is that glorious clattering of Tendulkar’s stumps in the third Test. The other is his five-for at Lord’s, which included India’s big three – Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly – and secured Anderson his best Test figures. He is particularly proud of the ball that dismissed Ganguly. “What made it more special for me was the fact that I was bowling outswingers to him and that was, I think, the second inswinger I bowled at him. I don’t think I could have bowled it better.”At the start of 2007 few would have predicted that Ryan Sidebottom and James Anderson would be the best bowlers of the summer. But injury to all five of the 2005 Ashes-winning bowlers left England facing India with an untested attack. Did it help, walkinginto a dressing room with no remnant of that particular posse? Anderson thinks carefully about this. “Maybe,” he says. “I guess when there’s a few other guys around, there’s not as much pressure on you and that can be a bad thing because you can think, ‘Well, it doesn’tmatter if I don’t get the wickets, because someone else will.’ It should never be like that.”Allan Donald, England’s former bowling coach, took Sidebottom, Anderson and Chris Tremlett to one side before the first game and told them they must not use their inexperience as an excuse. He had already told Anderson he wanted him to lead the attack and Anderson relished the responsibility. “I enjoyed taking the first over, trying to set the tone for the rest of the game. It probably did help my performance.”Anderson’s voice is deadpan. Ever since his arrival on the England scene his laid-back attitude fostered an inaccurate image of a sulky teenager without much to say. I remember, meeting him four years ago, being surprised at how wrong that impression was – Anderson was thoughtful and responsive about every question he was asked.Today he is even more relaxed. He smiles widely and often, and is self-deprecatingabout those three years of obscurity. “I still bowl the odd inswinger down the leg side” – he laughs – “and it keeps going and the keeper can’t get it. But I’m a lot more consistent.”

“…it’s no coincidence that his good performances for England have come after bowling ahigh volume of overs in county cricket…” © Getty Images
Lancashire’s cricket manager, Mike Watkinson, who has been working with him since he was a 17-year-old in the 2nd XI, says Anderson’s demeanour has often been misconstrued. “When he was younger he was pretty quiet and quite shy around the place. In many instances people felt he hadn’t got many good ideas. But he’s a real thinker on the game. He puts a lot of time into analysing the opposition and he’s quietly thorough in his personal preparation.” Since the start of this summer Anderson has requested toplay as many games as possible for Lancashire – something that the new England coach, Peter Moores, has been much quicker to accommodate than Duncan Fletcher. “Everybody’s a confidence player,” says Watkinson, “but some people mask it better than others.”James is not one of those people who can turn up whenever he feels like it and bowl how everyone wants him to. And it’s no coincidence that his good performances for England have come after bowling a high volume of overs in county cricket.”For those who have been waiting to see Anderson fulfill his promise, his achievements this summer – unspectacular in themselves – have caused a ripple of satisfaction. Many, however, will require further proof. Anderson and consistency have been distant cousins at best. When we first met, a few months after his explosive start to international cricket, Anderson was suffering a humiliating change in fortune; 11 wickets against Zimbabwe and an ODI hat-trick against Pakistan had been followed by a thrashing – though the series was drawn – at the hands of Graeme Smith and his South African team. He said then his greatest asset was to be able to “come back stronger”.But Anderson’s comebacks were infrequent and disappointing. His control deserted him. What had been a thrillingly instinctive ability to swing the ball into the stumps now looked like guesswork. His unorthodox head-down delivery, a charming quirk when it was taking wickets, was now heresy and there were rumours that he was undergoing a redrawing of his action. That, in turn, was blamed for his lack of confidence on thefew occasions he did get to the crease. He lost his place, first to James Kirtley, then to Simon Jones, and then to whoever else was available. In the years that followed, Anderson toured Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Pakistan with England. On those four tours he played just two Tests and had little more to do than bowl in the nets and keep his team-mates hydrated. Even in home series he was frequently called to thesquad as cover, only to be sent back to Lancashire where his county team were already two days into a Championship match. In the summer of 2004 he played seven first-class games, three of which were Tests.Was Anderson ever able to enjoy the 12th man role, to which he was condemned so long? He ums and ahs, trying to think of a redeeming feature. “Not really, no. Not for me anyway. You don’t feel part of it and it’s quite hard being around. If there’s a win, you might have run round like a madman all day filling people with drinks but you still don’t get the same enjoyment.”When you’re not playing – and anyone will say the same thing, I’m sure – it’s hard when other bowlers are doing well, even though everyone is good friends. I’ve been 12th man when Matthew Hoggard has been playing. He’s one of my best mates in the team and I’mreally happy for him when he does well but at the same time you think that’s one more place where I can’t get in.”How was his relationship with Duncan Fletcher? He pauses, thinking carefully how to answer. “It was quite a difficult situation. You were expected to run around and look after everyone, but you also felt ignored at times. You’re not playing, so you get brushed toone side. You did feel a little bit left out and you could be made to feel a little bit left out as well. It was a pretty thankless job really because you’re just expected to do it.”

The big one: Anderson bowls Sachin Tendulkar © Getty Images
In 2006 he married Daniella Lloyd, a model he had met two years previously while with the England team. Marriage has made him “a much happier person,” he says. “At the start of my career all I thought about was cricket. That was the only thing in my life and, if Iwasn’t playing it, I was watching it or I was thinking about it. If I had a bad game it would be the end of the world and I could be extremely grumpy around my friends. Now I’ve got a lot more to think about. I still have my moments where I’m a bit grumpy but I try and stay as upbeat as possible.”Certainly, if Anderson has had one problem as a bowler, it has been trying too hard, caring too much. A couple of years ago Angus Fraser told him to stop being such a perfectionist. He has learned the lesson. “I think that’s one thing I’ve moved away from a little bit,” he says, nodding at the realisation. “If I bowl a ball nine inches away from off stump, and I’m happy with it, I’ll try and bowl the same ball – even if I think I’d rather be a little bit straighter. If you’re always looking for the perfect ball, that’s where mistakes creep in, and in the past they have done with me. Sometimes you do try a little bittoo much.”He has also had his share of seriously bad luck. Just as he seemed to be gaining confidence a stress fracture put him out of action for virtually the whole of last season. Returning to the England side last winter, he walked straight into an Ashes team that was carrion meat from the moment the toss was lost in Brisbane. Like many of those players, Anderson still struggles to speak of it lucidly, as if he were a trauma survivor. Then came the World Cup; Anderson broke a finger before England had played their first group match. “The doctor looked at my X-ray and I could see his face, it wasn’t happy. I thought, ‘Right, I’m going home.’ I was gutted and thinking of places I could go on holiday.”Instead Anderson was offered the chance to play through the pain. He took it. “I thought after winning the CB Series, why can’t we do well in the World Cup?” Following defeat by New Zealand in the opening game, he took to the pub with Jon Lewis and threeother players. It was the most ill-advised evening out since Britney and Paris last hit the town together. All five players were fined for “breaching team discipline”, while somewhere nearby Andrew Flintoff was falling into the Caribbean sea in an incident that became known simply as Fredalo.Does Anderson regret it? He nods and gives a wry smile. “There’s been a culture in the past that you can go out after a one-day game because you’ve got a few days to recover. That’s something that Peter Moores is trying to get rid of, which is right. We made a bad decision. Our aim wasn’t to go out and get drunk. We just wanted to get a drink and where we’d been out in Australia you could get away with it a bit more. In St Lucia you can’t. It’s very small, there were a lot of English people there. And with the Fred incident as well, as much as we apologised for that and said we wanted to put it to one side, I don’t think we ever really did.”

“I’ve tried bowling with my head up and the ball comes out about 20mph slower” © Getty Images
He talks with admiration of Moores, who has, he says, brought fresh ideas and a new discipline. “The fitness side has taken a step up since Duncan left and Peter took over,” he says. “After a one-day game we used to have a day off. Now we’ve got to train the next day, keep things ticking over, keep our strength up.” He is also full of praise for the three bowling coaches who have helped him so much over the last four years: Troy Cooley, Kevin Shine and Watkinson.Still he sounds a little weary of discussing his action which has, contrary to rumours, changed little. “I’ve tried bowling with my head up and the ball comes out about 20mph slower. I don’t think it matters that much; there’s other bowlers in international cricket who do it.” The only element that has changed considerably, he says, is the angle of his run-up. “I’ve almost gone full circle – I’m quite close to the action that I started with in first-class cricket. And it does feel more natural. The last thing on my mind as I run up now is my action. In the past, if I wasn’t bowling well, I’d be wondering in the back of my mind if it could be my action.”Perhaps all Anderson needed was to learn to relax. He certainly seems content. He and his wife now live in Hale, in Cheshire – he says that Daniella, who is from London, is keen to move him “as far south as possible” – and his Burnley club-mates are still his closest friends, and still text to rib him whenever he gets a tonking on the field. Children are “not a long way off” [Daniella is six years his senior]. “I’d love to be a dad, I can’t wait, whenever it is,” he says. The last time we spoke, girlfriends were still a touchy subject. Four years is a long time to be in the wings. It is no time at all to grow up.

Stats highlights of the record-breaking day in Chennai

HR Gopalakrishna and Mathew Varghese28-Mar-2008
Virender Sehwag reached new highs while laying low the South African bowling © Getty Images
: Sehwag’s unbeaten 309 is the second triple-century by an Indian – he had scored the first in Multan in 2004. It was also the first time that a batsman had gone past the 300-run mark in India; VVS Laxman’s epic 281 in Kolkata in 2001 was the previous highest score in the country. Sehwag needed only 278 balls to reach 300, making it by far the fastest Test triple-hundred. Sehwag also becomes the third batsman after Don Bradman and Brian Lara to score two triple-hundreds. Sehwag scored 257 runs in the third day’s play, a feat bettered only by three other batsmen, with Don Bradman’s 309 runs in a day against England in Leeds in 1930 topping the list. However, the last time a batsman scored over 250 runs in a day was in 1954, when Dennis Compton made 273 runs on the second day of the Nottingham Test against Pakistan on the way to his 278. Sehwag’s two partnerships so far – 213 for the first wicket with Wasim Jaffer and an unbroken 255-run stand for the second with Rahul Dravid – make it the first time double-century stands have been posted for the first two wickets of a Test innings. Two triples indicate Sehwag’s appetite for scoring big runs but what confirms it is the fact that each of his last ten centuries have seen him go past 150, including a couple of double-hundreds and triple-hundreds. Sehwag’s unbeaten 309 in a total of 468 for 1 so far equates to just over 66% of his team’s total. The record for a completed innings is 67.35%, when Charles Bannerman scored 165 of the 245 made by Australia in the first innings of the first-ever Test in 1877. Another Australian, Michael Slater, is second on the list, having made 123 in Australia’s 184 in the second innings of the Sydney Test against England in 1999. Laxman’s 167 at the same ground is third; he scored 63.98% of India’s 261 as they went down to Australia. In the 14 innings when Sehwag has scored a century, his strike rate has been 77.79. Among batsmen with at least ten Test hundreds, only Adam Gilchrist has a faster strike-rate in centuries (99.64). The fact that his overall career strike-rate is 75 also reveals his tendency to bat at the same tempo regardless of his score. For the second time in his Test career, March 28 turned out to be a day to remember for Sehwag. In 2004, on the first day of the first Test against Pakistan, Sehwag had finished the day on an unbeaten 228, and went on to score 309 the following day.

A collection of excellent modern newspaper pieces from a fine journalist, not too well put together

Jonathan Rice07-Feb-2009

First the good news: The Independent‘s James Lawton is a very fine writer on cricket (indeed, on all sports) and any collection of his columns is going to be stimulating, entertaining to read and chock full of opinions and marches under fire towards the moral high ground. For those who have not come across Lawton before, this is as representative a collection of his work as you are likely to get.He is particularly good on issues involving the spirit of cricket. Lawton writes superbly on Zimbabwe, notably an article from November 2004 imagining Michael Vaughan telling his grandchildren how he did his duty by playing cricket there, and he is good on the game’s characters – Matthew Hoggard, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting among others. His take on the forfeited England v Pakistan Oval Test still makes good reading, though it was written in the confusion of the moment and much has happened since.That, of course, is always the risk when articles written for immediate consumption are reprinted at a later date without changes, and with readers’ benefit of hindsight. It is a tribute to Lawton’s view of the game as much as to his way with words that he gets the mood right pretty well every time.That is the good news. The bad news is that the book shows every sign of having been put together without much thought.The editor (Ivan Ponting, an experienced cricket writer) obviously thought Lawton’s name was not enough of a selling point, so he had to find a way to pitch Lawton to bookshop browsers and Amazon surfers. Thus, even though the articles are all chosen from the Indie, from June 2000 until now, the introduction reports at length on the dispute Lawton had with Viv Richards in Antigua in 1990, when he was with the Daily Express.I assume this is because his squaring up to Sir Viv was the only time that Lawton has impinged on the game’s casual followers, but it smacks of desperation by marketing men to make use of such an irrelevant event here. Interestingly, even Lawton himself in his introduction gets the year wrong, saying it was 1989, which shows how much we all remember about it.Another pitfall of collections such as these, if not carefully edited, is that the writer appears to repeat himself. If you have an anecdote about Mike Atherton’s view of what makes a good captain, or Merv Hughes and Javed Miandad sledging each other, it is fine to tell it three times in eight years as a columnist. Three times in 250 pages of a book is less exciting.A bigger gripe is that there are no words of introduction to any of the articles themselves. We are left to remember what the big issue of the day was. A couple of lines each time to help us on our way would have been nice. Instead, all we get is cut-and-paste. Lawton deserves a better compiled book than this.On Cricket
by James Lawton
Dewi Lewis Media £9.99

Haidee Tiffen looks back at the 2000 women’s World Cup

13-Mar-2009
Tiffen and Co. celebrate the penultimate wicket, of Cathryn Fitzpatrick, in the 2000 final © Getty Images
2000, New Zealand
Haidee Tiffen
My best memory of the World Cup is obviously our win against Australia in the final.To become world champions in front of our home crowd was truly special and it wasNew Zealand’s first world title as well – Australia and England had scrapped for itin the previous World Cups.The match went down to the wire. Australia needed five runs to win andwe needed one wicket. Offspinner Clare Nicholson came to bowl the final over andCharmaine Mason edged the first ball to our keeper, Rebecca Rolls.All I rememberafter that is throwing my cap into the crowd during the celebrations and feeling gutted that I had justthrown my New Zealand cap away! I still haven’t recovered it, obviously.That win wasthe best highlight of my career to date.

It was a strange game that saw the defending champions knocked out in an uncharaceteristic fashion. A sense of claustrophobia was in the air. The future strangled Rajasthan; the past threatened to haul in Kolkata

Sriram Veera in Durban20-May-2009Yusuf Pathan had just ran himself out and the big screen caught Shane Warne in a private moment of despair. He shook his head and stared at a distance, at nothing in particular. It was a image that one saw again at the end as Laxmi Shukla staged a brilliant match-winning partnership with Ajit Agarkar.It was a strange game that saw the defending champions knocked out in an uncharaceteristic fashion. A sense of claustrophobia was in the air. The future strangled Rajasthan; the past threatened to haul in Kolkata. Rajasthan were struggling to stay alive in the tournament while Kolkata were waging a battle against their losing habit.Until Shukla took control of the situation, the batsmen on either side were seemingly gripped with a sense of fatal attraction to doom. Rajasthan prides itself on winning the tight moments. They hadn’t lost a close game so far but the batting choked today under pressure. It’s a team that has dazzled the public with their control of nerves in big-pressure situations. Warne built his career on that trait and his boys were magnetically following their Pied Piper.Pathan had spoken about it earlier: “When you are fielding and the ball comes to you and you are in doubt whether to go for the catch or prevent the boundary, Warne has always urged us to go for the catch.” It’s that nerveless approach that set apart this team. But it wasn’t on evidence today when batting.Rajasthan’s top-order collapsed against Charl Langeveldt but their sorry tale of the day was best captured by their confused running that led to three run-outs. They walked like zombies into danger. Swapnil Asnodkar and Pathan set for singles after tapping the ball to silly point. They saw the bowler rushing past them and the non-striker retreating but they kept hanging on outside far too late. It can happen under pressure. You freeze and at times, move towards disaster knowing fully well what awaits you there. Ditto Tyron Henderson. He and Jadeja strolled across, hoping against hope that there won’t be a direct hit. It’s the kind of cracking underpressure that we have seen from Kolkata; not Rajasthan.You expected some one to stay out there and do the job. But no one did. Warne grew more desperate when he came out to bat. Suddenly, they were firing in yorkers and his intended big swings weren’t going anywhere; in the end he was just digging them out.However, they aren’t the defending champions by accident. Though they just made 101, Warne tried to lead his team to do the improbable. Kolkata aided him like only they can. At 45 for 6, Rajasthan seemed to have weaved a Houdini act again. And Warne had two overs left. Surely, he would do the job. He tried. In his third over, just after being slog-swept for a six by Shukla, he turned one in from the leg stump to hit Shukla’s pad in front of middle. But the decision didn’t go his way. He stood there for long, puzzled by the negation. It’s another Warne image that we have used to seeing over the years.A few overs later, he brought himself back with Kolkata needing 27 from 24. It was perfect timing. If he had held himself longer for his last over, it might have been too late. Warne is always there at your throat but he is extremely deadly when he senses some inhibition of mind from the opposition. Agarkar and Shukla didn’t give him the taste of blood. Agarkar stepped down the track to ping long-on; Shukla moved outside leg stump to play him with the turn. The over ended and Warne could play no more active role in the game.As ever, Warne kept running to the bowlers to keep encouraging them. Pathan came over to have a chat about the field placing. Very carefully, very deliberately, Warne kept changing his field. But nothing was working tonight. He turned gloomier by the minute. Naman Ojha, who did a superb stumping earlier to remove Hodge, missed two run-outs. Ravindra Jadeja gave an overthrow at the death. It was out of character for this team and hit them at the worst possible moment.

Halfway into the IPL, Cricinfo looks at the biggest failures so far – those who’ve belied the hype or not delivered on their salaries

Jamie Alter01-Apr-2010Yuvraj Singh, Kings XI Punjab
Matches played: 7
Runs: 101 @14.42
Wickets: 3 @ 26.66
Price: $1,063,750
By far the biggest failure of IPL 2010, and correspondingly the most hyped flop so far. The stats above tell only part of the story; rumours abound as to the reason behind his drastic loss of form but from the outside Yuvraj – stripped of the captaincy after last season – does not look either fit or interested, or even a potential matchwinner for India at the ICC World Twenty20. His dismissals, notably against Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai, were shots of a man torn between attack and defence, and struggling for timing.Kumar Sangakkara, Kings XI Punjab
Matches played: 6
Runs: 91 @ 18.20
Price: US$700,000
The idea behind giving Sangakkara the Punjab captaincy can be understood, especially after the coach Tom Moody’s outburst against Yuvraj last year. Sangakkara led Sri Lanka to the ICC World Twenty20 final last year and is respected on the international circuit. But he’s been a massive let-down this season, tactically and statistically, and being fined and subsequently banned for a poor over-rate hasn’t helped. His most disappointing innings came in the dismal loss to Kolkata where, along with Mahela Jayawardene, he failed to go for the shots and left his team-mates with too much to do. A reported rift with Yuvraj could have had a bearing on someone who prides himself on being a team man.Mahela Jayawardene, Kings XI Punjab
Matches played: 7
Runs: 102 @ 17.00
Price: US$475,000
Like his Sri Lankan team-mate, Jayawardene has been cut a forlorn figure at the crease. He’s just not been able to get going and on the occasions he’s managed a start, Jayawardene has been bogged down by a sluggish strike-rate and cut off before he can hit hard. His innings alongside Sangakkara against Kolkata was baffling and allowed the pressure to mount rapidly on Punjab. With the run-rate shooting up, Jayawardene fell while going for a high-risk shot: he moved outside off stump and couldn’t connect with the paddle shot.Sreesanth, Kings XI Punjab
Matches played: 4
Wickets: 3 @ 45.66
Price: US$625,000
The “fastest mouth in the south” has, perhaps not surprisingly some would argue, been erratic this season. Much was expected of Sreesanth in Brett Lee’s absence due to injury and Irfan Pathan’s return from injury, but after a good first game he was carted for 42 in three overs by Bangalore Royal Challengers and dropped. The story read much the same: too many deliveries down the pads, slower balls ended up full tosses, and the chatter just didn’t outdo the success. An economy rate of 9.78 ranks as one of the worst in the league. At least he hasn’t slapped anyone yet.RP Singh, Deccan Chargers
Matches played: 6
Wickets: 6 @ 32.00
Price: US$875,000He snared 15 wickets in the inaugural season to be one of the bright spot in Deccan’s dispiriting inaugural season. He topped that by winning the purple cap in 2009 to spearhead Deccan’s unexpected run to the title. This season, though, hasn’t followed the trend set in the first two: he’s been plastered for 9.60 runs an over, and he has bowled a full quota of overs in only half his matches. The only game he’s had an impact in is the one against Mumbai Indians, when an early double-strike left the table-toppers in trouble.The runs haven’t flowed for Tillkaratne Dilshan this year•AFPTillakaratne Dilshan, Delhi Daredevils
Matches: 4
Runs: 32 @ 8.00
Price: US$250,000The man who blazed his way through every form of the game last season, and whose signature scoop shot became the rage, has been a pale imitation of his flamboyant self. He batted all of three deliveries for two ducks in Delhi’s first two games and was cut off before he could get a start in the next two. By the time the team played their fifth game, Dilshan was benched and that’s where he’s been since.AB de Villiers, Delhi Daredevils
Matches: 6
Runs: 107 @ 17.83
Price: US$300,000Like Dilshan, it would seem a little unfair to criticise de Villiers, who was also a key performer for Delhi in 2009. But de Villiers has performed in only one match, against Bangalore, where his 45 helped set a competitive target and his stunning catch on the boundary gave the fielding effort some lift. His problem has been the same as Dilshan’s – getting a start. His preferred cut and square drives have not come off and led to his dismissal against Mumbai Indians, while against Chennai Super Kings he was part of a key collapse. Against Deccan Chargers de Villiers missed a full toss from Rohit Sharma that sparked another collapse.Ishant Sharma, Kolkata Knight Riders
Matches: 6
Wickets: 7 @ 27.14
Price: US$950,000An Indian national fast bowler valued at $950,000 who can’t keep his place in an IPL side. Ishant continues to disappoint in this tournament and this season he has just seven wickets – that works out to $135,714.28 per wicket. He has struggled to deliver with the new ball, taking just two wickets at 49.00 inside the Powerplays, and when he’s been called on to bowl during the death – after the 15th over an innings – he’s taken just three wickets and cost 10.57 runs an over.Shane Bond, Kolkata Knight Riders
Matches: 5
Wickets: 5 @ 29.60
Price: US$750,000Shane Bond’s first foray into the IPL has been pretty average so far; in five matches he has five wickets. Not what the owners had in mind when they signed on the New Zealand fast bowler. His first outing was wicketless and cost 33 from four overs; his second yielded 2 for 32; his third 0 from 31 from three overs; and in his fourth Bond took 2 for 24. These are adequate returns, but more is expected from the tearaway who has been given the responsibility of spearheading Kolkata’s attack.Kieron Pollard, Mumbai Indians
Matches: 6
Runs: 79 @ 13.16
Wickets: 2 @ 44.00
Price: US$750,000This year’s hottest and most expensive buy hasn’t translated his earnings into success with bat or ball. Pollard has become one of West Indies’ main money men without proving his value in the international arena, but his achievements in the IPL leave much to be desired. He missed the first match and some will argue that he’s been under-used, especially when batting at No’s 6, 7 and 8. In his first major opportunity with the bat he came out at No. 8 and hit 21 from 19 balls. In the next match he had a good chance to get some batting practice but fell to a daft shot for 7. Against Deccan his manic swipe ended up a top edge to third man. In the last match Pollard was sent in at No. 3 and again fell trying a big shot. His slow medium-pace has proved largely ineffective, especially during the Powerplays.Eoin Morgan, Royal Challengers Bangalore
Matches: 6
Runs: 35 @ 11.66
Price: US$220,000Morgan appeared the biggest steal of the 2010 auction. In a team with correct batsmen such as Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid, Morgan’s innovativeness – hard reverse-sweeps through packed off-side fields, for instance – seemed the right touch for Bangalore. But in six games, Morgan got four innings and returned 35 runs at 11.66. A lot of this had to do with the success of Bangalore’s openers, who lead the league in terms of partnership success, and the little time Morgan consequently had to bat. You can’t really call him a total failure, but seeing Morgan put on the bench upon Kevin Pietersen and Cameron White’s return to the squad indicates how he’s been valued so far.