Reactions to Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement from ODI cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Dec-2012″There was a doubt about whether he would play ODI cricket or not. But I am not surprised by his decision. He has done what he thought was right. I don’t think there was any pressure of selectors on him. It is his own decision. No one can drop him.”
“I have very fond memories of the century he made against Australia in Sharjah when I was at the non-striker’s end. He redefined the art of opening the innings in one-day cricket, and what was amazing was the consistency with which he continued to score over a period of 23 years and more than 460 matches.”
“Emotional moment to not see the person who inspired me to play for india not play one dayers anymore.hats off paaji.we all love you.respect”
“If you look at the statistics, his greatness becomes even more evident in the sheer volume of runs he has scored and the huge gap between him and the next batsman. To bat consistently at the top-order and the aggressive manner in which he did that is a staggering achievement.”
“He changed the way batting was approached in ODIs especially after he started opening. And he was good as a bowler, if a left-hander came in, he will bowl off-breaks, if a right-hander came in, he will bowl leg-spin, if there is dew then he will bowl seam-up and that’s Sachin for you.”
“He has figured greatly with runs in the longer version of cricket. I think he has played a little bit more in the longer version but when he feels that he is good enough to play in the Test side, I know, he feels he is good enough to play in the longer version in order to achieve the milestone of 200 Tests.”
“I am disappointed and unhappy that we did not get an opportunity to celebrate Sachin’s farewell ODI. He should have given time to the country to pay a tribute because legends such as him are born once in a century.”
“Against New Zealand in 1994 the team was looking for someone, and Tendulkar, still so young, offered to take up so much responsibility. The rest is history. The New Zealand attack was blown away by a rampant Tendulkar. His 49-ball 82 in Auckland remains one of the pivotal efforts of his ODI career.”
“I am lucky to have played cricket in Sachin Tendulkar’s era. We will never get a legend like him.”
“You can never beat the moment at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, that night when millions of fans cheered on as he took a victory lap sitting on the shoulders of his teammates with the World Cup in his hand.”
“Conclusion of a sterling ODI career from a wonderful batsman. Congrats Sachin Tendulkar.”
“Masters.423 matches, 23 yrs, 18426 runs !!!! These numbers no body else will be able to come close to.salute salute salute to Sachin.”
“He is the best man to decide when to retire from other formats because he knows his body well. All this time people were asking when is he retiring? Now that he has announced his retirement from ODIs, people are asking why has he retired? I don’t understand the Indian people.”
“He was the one who infused aggression into the game and you can say that he was a game-changer. It was a privilege to share the dressing room with him. The good thing is that he will still play Tests.”
“Emotional time ! Letting sachin go from one dayers ! 18 thousand plus runs ur jaw drops when u c those records ,master u will always live.”
“The reason for playing cricket. The reason for watching cricket. Sachin Tendulkar….. No words.. Love you Paji”
“Statistics NEVER lie! They tell a very true story.. Well done Sachin! What an incredible ODI career.. #thebest”
”When you’ve played 23 years of international cricket, a time comes when ODIs don’t excite you anymore as you have achieved everything that you possibly could have. Sachin has also won the World Cup, therefore his decision is understandable.”
“If cricket was a religion then Sachin would have been the God. I’d have loved to play against him. I played in the 2010 Asia Cup but he wasn’t there. I wish he was there in this series. I wish him all the best for the rest of his life.”
“Sachin is a cricketing God. Unbelievable what he’s done for Indian cricket.”
“Waqar Younis was on a hat-trick having dismissed Sehwag and Ganguly at Centurion in 2003. As I walked in, he said to me ‘be calm and stay focussed.’ There was a lot of chatting from the Pakistanis but I survived the hat-trick ball.”
“Greatest batsman of all time & my good friend Sachin Tendulkar retires from One day cricket. Thank you for making India so proud.”
“I think he has obliged Indian cricket by retiring. The god has ultimately decided. Everybody is talking that he should retire. I suppose if I am playing cricket whether I am playing good or bad, the call has to be taken by the selectors.”
“Actually I am surprised. If he is continuing with international cricket (Tests) then he should have continued with ODI also. We play almost 25 ODIs in a season. It is very important to keep playing international cricket.”

From Raghu, India
The curtain is ready to fall on one of the most colourful chapters in the history of Indian – nay – world cricket

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013Raghu, India
The curtain is ready to fall on one of the most colourful chapters in the history of Indian – nay – world cricket. Saurav Ganguly was an often mis-understood man and so it was ironically befitting that his departure from the international cricket scene was also tinged with some controversy.Did he retire on his own terms? Was he forced by the BCCI? And disgusting as it may sound, did a threat to kidnap his daughter have anything to do with his announcement? Nobody knows… and it’s possible nobody will ever know. But what we can say for sure it that Indian cricket will never quite be the same without the mysterious, aristocratic Ganguly.Nobody, and just nobody in the history of Indian cricket has evoked the kind of bipolar emotions that he has consistently done throughout his career. For every glorious extra-cover drive he played to every short ball he awkwardly fended; for every time he danced assuredly down the track to the spinners to every time he misfielded, for every silken boundary he hit to every single or two he refused – people either loved him or loathed him. But there was something more.Saurav Ganguly fed the Indian teams he led with a potion, an elixir which captains before him had not dared to touch. It was called aggression. And happily for us, team India has since then not stopped consuming it. Who can forget his adrenaline-fuelled shirt twirling on the Lords balcony, when he mocked not just the English cricketers but Lord’s tradition itself? Or India’s amazing run to the World Cup final in 2003? Or his captain’s innings of coruscating brilliance at the Gabba?No chronicle of his legacy would be complete without a reference to his captaincy and his ability to get the best out of his players, particularly the younger ones. Whether it was the inspired decision to convert Sehwag to an opener, or the rather painful decision to make Dravid keep wicket, or the decision to bring Harbhajan back from relative obscurity for the 2001 Australia series, or the decision to promote Laxman to no.3 in THAT match at the Eden – most of his decisions were taken by putting his players directly in the cauldron – and almost all of them came off.Saurav Ganguly will be remembered as, statistically and otherwise, India’s greatest ever left-handed batsman, an exceptionally good Test match player who never allowed his average to dip below 40 and one of the all-time greats of the one-day game. But most of all, he will be remembered for his brand of captaincy that quite simply changed the face of Indian cricket. The curtain is ready to fall … but there is one act of the play still left to witness. As Shah Rukh Khan would have said, “Abhi thoda picture baaki hai mere dost”. Farewell Saurav. And thank you for the entertainment.

From Shishir Dwivedi, India Although one might be led to believe Matthew Hayden’s comments on India being a “third world” country have become more of a norm these days between enemy camps; more so if the camps concerned are those of India and

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013Shishir Dwivedi, India
Although one might be led to believe Matthew Hayden’s comments on India being a “third world” country have become more of a norm these days between enemy camps; more so if the camps concerned are those of India and Australia. With the Aussies, it has always been sort of a tradition to take a dig at the opposition before the start of an important series. Be it a Glenn McGrath singling out his bunny-to-be, or predicting a 3-0 or 5-0 scoreline,or a Steve Waugh playing mental disintegration tactics, or a Ricky Ponting boasting about their “New Age Cricket”. But more recently (and quite surprisingly). India have taken a leaf out of the Aussie book and have started giving them back as good as they get.It all started back in 2001 when Sourav Ganguly got to Steve Waugh’s nerves. His simple but effective ways of irritating Waugh (by turning up for the toss late, or wearing the track suit instead of the team blazer for the same) really frustrated Waugh to no end. And by the end of that series Waugh admitted that Ganguly was a tough nut to crack. The foundations for a great rivalry, on and off the field, were laid. Since then each BG series has produced not just fascinating cricket to watch but also quotable quotes to quote and listen to. But while these verbal (or mental) battles were healthy for a brief period of time, the acrimonious Sydney test at the start of this year changed it all.Since then the remarks from both sides have been either sarcastic, or satiric or clearly insinuating. Kumble quoting a famous quote first uttered by an Australian captain – Bill Woodfull- “There were two teams out there today and one of them was trying to play cricket”, after the Sydney test definitely irked the Aussies so much that they were itching to get back at the Indians. Hayden first called Bhajji an “Obnoxious Little Weed” and later apologised. When the Aussies touched Indian shores for the latest series, Ponting was quick to point out that Indians played an outdated version of Test cricket. But the Indians were not going to stay quite either. Sehwag first accused the Aussies of “cheating” in Sydney. Zaheer and even the usually diplomatic Laxman took a dig each at the Aussies’ negative approach.Meanwhile, Gilchrist lambasted Sachin in his autobiography. Symonds did the same to Bhajji in his book. And the most arrogant of them all, Mr Ricky T. Ponting, whose book is the latest to have hit the stands, pulled even Sunny Gavaskar into the murky waters. His arrogance is so profound that he even failed to acknowledge India’s gradual ascent in world cricket and labeled Dhoni’s men “fit only for T20”. Well, maybe, as rightly pointed out by Harbhajan, while Ponting and his men were busy writing their books, Dhoni’s men were busy preparing for the upcoming series. The result is there for everyone to see.I understand its difficult to acknowledge that you are not the best anymore. Especially after being at the summit for such a long period of time as the Aussies have. But comments like “There is so much luck involved in this shortened form of the game; it’s not always going to be the best team that wins” or “Teams that are outclassed in five-day matches and even 50-over games are much more competitive in Twenty20. India offer a good example of this”, only highlight his arrogance and refusal to admit the truth.Clearly (and fairly by all means), it was Ponting’s team that was thoroughly outclassed in the recent series. And they were also defeated in the 50 over format VB series earlier this year. But Ponting is not the only proud man. Matthew Hayden, as soon as returning to the safe haven Down Under, blamed his team’s defeat and failure to meet the over rates on the poor facilities and various distractions caused during games because of India being a third world country. It was no surprise that the remarks generated strongest of reactions from the Indian captain, BCCI personnel and others but none so more than those by Wasim Akram who retorted by terming Australia as being “no more than a village” and India being “hundreds of years ahead of Australia”.Hayden, although, has since clarified that he didn’t mean to disrespect the nation and everything. But it made me ponder. Isn’t what he said is actually true?We are a prestigious nation. And we are proud of it. But that doesn’t change the fact that we ARE a third world country. A majority of us still live below the poverty line. We are a non-aligned country. And our economy is still developing. But, this is in the literal sense. What about the cricketing sense? Well, we are a third world country even from that perspective. Ironic, isn’t it? Considering that the BCCI perhaps has more money than all the other major cricket boards put together. And that is because India is still underdeveloped in terms of cricketing infrastructure.Hayden had a point when he said that there were invariably, delays and stoppages because people kept moving in front of the sight screens. In this age when even Zimbabwe and Bangladesh have moved to electronically controlled sight screens and score boards, India still persists with manual labor. And that’s not it. Even the rollers and pitch covers are pulled on to the ground with six men at tow when mechanical machines are used for the same in the rest of the world. Forget super-soppers, in case of rains, we have numerous children running on to the ground with buckets and sponges in hand to dry the field. The media boxes at most of the venues are pathetic.I’ve lost the count of the number of times the television broadcasters have complained to the BCCI about heir expensive equipment getting damaged due to poor facilities at the venues. The venues themselves paint a very sorry picture. The Green Park at Kanpur is a classic example. It looks more like a playground for children rather than a Test centre. The entrance walls are plastered with posters of local political leaders or cheap bhojpuri films. And the street that leads to the stadium smells like cattle feed. And the major venues are no better.The Chinnaswamy at Bangalore is a sore to the eye with plastic chairs strewn all around at the end of a game. It needs a serious renovation. The Wankhede was a similar case till not too long ago and thankfully its being taken care of now. Most of the venues get ready for a game just hours before the start with some quick stop gap arrangements. Contrast this with the stadia in Australia or England or South Africa and you would have to think that Hayden is right.Fortunately, there’s a silver lining in the form of stadia like the PCA Mohali, or the Eden Gardens, or the brand new stadia at Nagpur and Hyderabad that are truly world class. Even the Motera in Ahmedabad has improved significantly in recent years and is now rated amongst the best in India. The FerozeShah Kotla has been renovated and the Wankhede is undergoing renovation. This shows that the BCCI is at least addressing the issue. But the ODI venues strewn all across the country are still substandard.Unless the above mentioned problems are addressed at the earliest and sorted out, India will, unfortunately, remain a third world country.

A fundamental tenet of learning is that it is pointless, because in the long run we will all be dead

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013A few quick thoughts ahead of the Mumbai Test, which, personally, I am childishly excited about. It will be my first experience of watching Test cricket in Asia, and the cheapest per-minute entertainment I will have experienced since paying 10p to see the whole of read aloud in a slow drawl by an ageing tortoise from Texas. My ticket cost Rs 500 rupees – just under £6. For the whole match. The same price as around 20 minutes of a Lord’s Test. In fact, an ill-timed toilet break at next summer’s Ashes showdown at HQ could in effect cost you more than the whole of the Mumbai match.● Since the end of the Ahmedabad Test, much has been said, written, painted and sung about how England need to learn their lessons about playing in Asia (Lady Gaga been regularly addressing the issue in her live gigs, according to a well-placed source). Those advocating that England should belated learn the lessons they ought to have learned after the Dubai debacle at the start of the year are, however, chasing the wrong mongoose into the wrong exhaust pipe.Recent history suggests that learning from their experiences is, in fact, the last thing that Alastair Cook and his men should be trying to do. Excluding two series wins in Bangladesh, England have lost six and drawn two of their last eight series on the world’s biggest and spinniest continent. They have won only two Tests in those series, drawn nine and lost 11.They have toured Asia more regularly this millennium than at any point in their cricketing history. Their last successful series away in any of the three main Asian Test nations were when they scored back-to-back wins in Pakistan and Sri Lanka in 2000-01. Before then, they had played four Tests in Asia in the previous 13 years.In fact, England have played more Tests in Asia in 2012 than they did in the 15 years between their series wins in India in 1984-85 and Pakistan in 2000-01. In that time, England played just seven subcontinental Tests – three bad-tempered, finger-pointing, umpire-sqaubbling matches in Pakistan in 1987-88, and three ineptitude-fuelled selectorially nonsensical dodgy-prawn-aggravated games in India, plus a bonus defeat to Sri Lanka in 1992-93, which helped rectify the MCC’s erroneous assumption that Sri Lankans did not know which end of a cricket bat, or ball, to hold.Clearly the best recipe for English success in Asia is not only to not learn lessons, but not to even turn up to school. Amongst the fundamental tenets of educational philosophy are that learning is pointless as we’ll all be dead within 100 years anyway, that it is better to learn no lesson than the wrong lesson, and that chalk has ballistic properties that the marker pen cannot hope to emulate.England have a few winters off before their next Trial by Tweak in Asia. But when they next set foot there, they should do so with 11 debutants. They will romp to victory.● The Mumbai Test begins today, with the two sides most recently deposed from the top of the Test rankings casting half an eye at the current leaders being battered like a suicidal calamari by the team who were No.1 before the whole rankings relay began. The No. 1 ranking seems to have been touch-passed from team to team like a volcano-roasted potato at a Fijian rugby practice, and on a staggering first day in Adelaide, South Africa started displaying several of the classic symptoms of a team suffering early-onset ranking slippage. Injuries, weaker links ruthlessly exposed, stronger links out of form.The last few years of Test cricket have been, frankly, barking mad, with teams suffering wild extremes of form ‒ perhaps in an effort to raise global public awareness of how global warming could let to an increase in the amount of catastrophic weather. The world’s cricketers might be confusing their supporters, but they are selflessly safeguarding the long-term future of the planet that has been so influential in the development of the sport.● Both teams at the Wankhede have their innings co-started by a left-handed batsman. England’s is so sure of his place in the team that, were the planet to be obliterated by a colossal asteroid strike tomorrow morning, he would probably still find a way of adding a few more Test caps to his collection. This is partly because the second Test would probably still go ahead despite the devastation of the world’s end ‒ the Wankhede Stadium would likely be the only part of the planet to survive the impact, after the BCCI refuse to allow the asteroid access to the ground.India’s southpaw opener is rather less inkily inscribed in the selectors’ good books. Gautam Gambhir is not alone amongst Indian batsmen in having had a lean time in Tests of late, but the World Cup-final hero has not reached three figures in a Test since January 2010, a run of 23 matches in which he has averaged a less-than-impressive 28. In the ten Tests before that, he had scored eight centuries and averaged 91. This followed his first 18 Tests, in which he averaged 36, and which were adorned by a solitary hundred (against Bangladesh), and a 97 against Zimbabwe.If you exclude the minnows, he had averaged a less-than-impressive 29 before his spectacularly purple patch. In terms of career graph, Gambhir has one of the most extreme and pointy “sombreros” in Test history, putting the likes of fellow purple-patchers Michael Vaughan and Mike Gatting in the most Mexican of shades.The old cliché argues, “form is temporary but class is permanent”, which may be true, and applies equally to decent players in brilliant form as to great players in the middle of a slump.So is Gambhir: (a) a world-class player who has been woefully out of form for most of his Test career; (b) a good player who has been slightly out of form for most of his Test career, but played above himself for one stellar 15-month period; or (c) rubbish, but swallowed a snooker ball covered in Don Bradman’s DNA that he found in Ricky Ponting’s kit bag in the Mohali Test in October 2008, before nervously coughing it back up when he saw Dale Steyn charging in at him in Nagpur in February 2010? Answers on a postcard showing a contraband photograph of Gambhir batting in the Ahmedabad Test, to the BCCI. (The correct answer is B. In the opinion of the Confectionery Stall Player Class Analysis Committee.)● Tim Bresnan seems unlikely to play, barring injuries or illness to others. He was England’s lucky charm whilst they were winning every single one of the first ten Tests he played in, and, more pertinently, whilst he was bowling brisk swing, incisively and economically, and chipping in with useful lower-middle-order runs. He took 27 wickets at 17 runs apiece as England mercilessly whizzed Australia and then India into an easily digestible soup. Having completed the recipe to perfection, England then sat down to enjoy the soup. And promptly spilt it all over their trousers.In December last year, Bresnan had surgery on an elbow injury. Since then, he has bagged just 16 more wickets in seven Tests, averaging over 50, often bowling far from briskly. And he has chipped in with not very many useful lower-middle-order runs. Bresnan’s last 107 overs in Tests have brought him 2 for 416 – not figures to write home about, unless you are writing “Help! Please rescue” on a bit of paper, shoving into a bottle, and throwing it out to sea.Following on from this rather jet-lagged blog, I will be posting daily articles throughout the Mumbai and Kolkata Tests, and doing a podcast after each match. If you have any questions you would like me to answer in the podcast, please twitter them to @ZaltzCricket.

Board presidents chew their own feet, media outlets froth at the mouth, the players produce a cracker of a game

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013Finally, after weeks catching snippets of cricket on highlights programmes, intermittent blasts of radio commentary, morsels of Cricinfo’s text commentaries, and infinitely more news bulletins than would have been ideal, I actually sat down to watch a cricket match, live, on a television. During that accursed cricketless time, I have conclusively proved that work and family commitments can seriously impinge on a man’s fundamental human right to watch more televised cricket than is medically advisable, and that seven weeks without live cricket is more than flesh and blood can stand.The media outrage has continued. Earlier this week I heard a radio sport commentator who specialises in boxing and athletics bemoaning the fact that, due to the alleged spot-fixing, the action on the international cricket field was no longer believable. He may be right, at least partially, but to hear a boxing and athletics commentator make this complaint was rather like listening to famous flamboyant cooking starlet Heston Blumenthal whinge about overcomplicated recipes, or paint-splattering art wiz Jackson Pollock grumble at a picture not being realistic enough.The Lord’s game yesterday began under the now-traditional shadow of match-fixing allegations, as England responded to the latest inane witterings of PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt with furious threats of legal action, damnation and teeth-gritting. A slowly extended middle finger would probably have done the job more promptly and equally effectively.Butt, a man who has evidently not fully mastered the delicate arts of diplomacy, claims that he merely claimed that he had heard some bookmakers claiming that England threw the Oval game. This claim about claims that may or may not have been claimed in itself raises a number of questions:1) Why was Butt talking to bookmakers? At this time, of all times, you would have thought he might have made an excuse for not talking to them – dinner with the wife, or polishing his new Kawasaki 750cc motorbike, or translating into Australian. Let us cut him some slack – perhaps he was eavesdropping like the ace private detective he has always dreamed of being.2) Does Butt think every England collapse in history has been prompted by bookmakers? If so, he must imagine that all England cricketers of the mid-80s to late-90s live on enormous yachts and smoke gold-plated cigars.3) Is Butt trying to start a rumour in the hope that, in accordance with the rules of the modern media, if that rumour is repeated in more than four newspapers, and/or printed in unusually big letters on a front or back page, it becomes a fact?And 4) Is Butt unaware that attempting to play the “no smoke without fire” card is less convincing when you are obviously holding and operating a smoke machine?It was, therefore, in the circumstances, a delight to watch an excellent cricket match break out amidst the morass of allegations, counter-allegations, garbage, counter-garbage, assorted bickerings and the general sensation that cricket is not merely going to the dogs but actually arrived at the dogs some time ago, and is now operating undercover as a dog.Both teams played intermittently well and not well, which is often the recipe for an exciting game, and Pakistan won largely thanks to Abdul Razzaq catablasting 40 from 10 balls in the last two overs of his team’s innings, and Jimmy Anderson failing to do the same for England.Both teams are potential World Cup winners, if only by virtue of the fact that they might win three games in a row against other teams of roughly equal ability, which is, in essence, what will be required to triumph in Mumbai in April. The final 10 days of the six-week tournament should be thrilling – all of the top eight-ranked teams have displayed potentially fatal flaws, and all possess the capacity to lose at least one of those three matches.With a longer group phase, it is likely that at least seven of those eight will progress, and a three-game hot streak from a couple of key players, or even a three-game lukewarm-streak of not doing anything idiotic, could be enough to win it, or at least not lose it. Who knows what the format will be next time – probably something at least a bit silly – or whether Australia will have recovered their previous dominance; 2011 offers a golden chance for a team from outside the Big One of 50-over cricket to win the trophy.The series, and this most bizarre of English cricket summers, reaches an unexpectedly exciting climax at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday. Whatever happens will always be a footnote in a cricket season that will, sadly, not be remembered for cricket. Even if Tim Bresnan rips through the Pakistan batting to take 9 for 13 in a spell of fast bowling unmatched since the halcyon days of Alan Igglesden, even if Mohammad Hafeez follows up his second ODI fifty in seven years and 42 matches with a blazing match-winning 65-ball double-century reminiscent of a young Asif Mujtaba in his non-existent pomp, even if a spaceship lands on the outfield and deposits a fully padded-up WG Grace to smash England to victory with his magic beard, the cricket will always be a footnote.This is, to everyone apart from inveterate cricket-haters or lifelong lovers of the impact of illegal gambling, a great shame. It has been among the lowest-scoring English summers since 2000, and the fourth-lowest in the last 50 years. After a decade in which bowlers have been increasingly reduced to jelly, this was (even allowing for the landmark ineptitude of Pakistan’s batting) a refreshing change.Mohammad Amir should have been the unquestioned star of 2010 – 30 wickets in six Tests at 19.80 gave him the biggest haul ever by a left-arm fast bowler in an English Test summer. No teenager had previously taken more than nine wickets in an English season, and of bowlers under the age of 22, Amir’s total was second only to Alf Valentine’s 1950 record of 33 scalps. Cricket is full of stories of unfulfilled promise, careers cut short by injury, politics, war, underachievement, or the misfortune of having been born before cricket was invented (how good at cricket might Shakespeare or Joan of Arc or Jesus have been?). If Amir’s career is ended, or severely curtailed, by his being caught up in a piddling if highly illegal little no-ball scam, it would rank amongst cricket’s stupidest wastes.I had the unquestionable pleasure of watching the first half of yesterday’s match in the company of the fine, cricketous gentlemen of TestMatchSofa.com, a noble battalion of cricket nuts who seem to have, rightly, decided to devote their lives to watching, commentating on and talking about cricket and related subjects, such as, for example, life and more cricket. Whilst sitting on a sofa. And intermittently complaining about a lack of beer. Heroes. I commend their highly entertaining live commentaries to you.

In the Ashes squad – Part Two, Andy Zaltzman advises Steve Davies to fake an illness and skip the Ashes, and asks you trick questions about Strauss and KP

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013Having sought the assistance of Big Mama Stats to prove why England will definitely, decisively and unarguably win the Ashes, I will now ask her to prove that Andrew Strauss and his men are heading for a definite, decisive and unarguable pulping.()THE ASHES-LOSING ENGLAND XI, 2010-11StraussDeceptively inconsistent throughout his Test career, for one who is outwardly as unflappable as a granite pterodactyl’s wing. Strauss seems to have a bizarre and inexplicable fixation with averaging between 24 and 26 in series of longer than three Tests – he has done so in five of England’s last seven such rubbers.These include the last two major series, in South Africa and at home against Pakistan (in which his highest score in eight matches was 54), and his previous tour of Australia, on the supposed 2006-07 Ashes, when he allegedly averaged 24 if Australia claims are to be believed. He has not scored a century for 13 Tests, and only one in his last 17.As a captain, he masterminded England’s 2009 Ashes triumph by sitting in the pavilion in Cardiff quietly wetting himself whilst Anderson and Panesar held on for a draw, then skilfully led his team to a drawn series in South Africa by doing the same thing twice more.CookToo often bats as if he is trying to befriend the slip cordon, his legs, arms and bat moving like frantic passengers at a busy station all heading for different trains. Averages just 26 in 10 Ashes Tests, and, since the start of the last Ashes tour, in 36 Tests against the top-seven ranked Test nations (i.e. excluding Bangladesh and West Indies), he averages just 33.TrottThe Cape Town Compulsive Twitcher averaged just 29 in his only previous winter of overseas Test cricket, as his game melted down like a dead zebra’s ice cream on his return to the country of his birth.PietersenHere’s a question for you: What do Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen have in common? Is it: (a) they were both born in South Africa; (b) when they eat a fishfinger, they both nibble the top corners off first to make it look like a fish cricket bat; (c) neither of them has read War And Peace, start to finish, in the original Russian; (d) they were both shortlisted for the role of Tim Curtis in the forthcoming Hollywood blockbuster The Savage Blade, the $150-million biopic of the former Worcestershire and England opening batsman (in the end, the part of three-Test wonder Curtis was given to Vin Diesel, with Kiefer Sutherland as county team-mate Stuart Lampitt, and Scarlett Johannson as England chairman of selectors Petra May); or (e) they have both averaged under 26 in England’s last two major series?It was a trick question. The answer is of course: all of the above. In his last six series, over 16 Tests, Pietersen has averaged 35, with no centuries, and has plinked only five sixes from his once explosive bat. He is far from the dominator he once was. He hit 32 sixes in his first 18 Tests, but has crossed the ropes just 21 times in 48 matches since then, whilst his scoring rate has dropped by 20%. Pietersen needs to regrow his successful, almost unstoppable 2005 badger hair. It was a source of strength and inspiration for him, and fear and confusion for the Australians.CollingwoodThe glue holding England’s batting together has been decidedly unsticky of late – he has posted six single-figure scores in his last eight Test innings. In his last 17 Tests, he has scored just one century and averaged a sedate 37. In the eight Ashes Tests since his Adelaide masterwork (“The Sistine Chapel ceiling of Durhamite batsmanship” – The Durham Weekly Sprout), Collingwood averages a Brearley-esque 23.BellThe Flamethrower Of Eternal Justice averages a piddling 25 against Australia in 13 Tests, dreamy cover drive or no dreamy cover drive. The latter, in most of his Ashes innings – Eternal Justice has trousered a scarcely believable 14 single-figure scores in just 25 Ashes innings.Could be vulnerable to verbal attack. On his last tour of Baggygreenland, the Australians, masters of psychological intimidation that they are, sledged him using techniques they had clearly learnt from CIA terrorist interrogators – they teased him about looking a bit like someone from a film. “What works in Guantanamo, works at the MCG,” explained captain Ricky Ponting, as he scuttled off to try and put an orange jumpsuit on Alastair Cook.PriorAs a wicketkeeper, his handling skills were once compared to those of a baby-hating midwife. This is not true, but the point stands. As a batsman, in his 14 Tests against the three highest-ranked teams of recent years (Australia, India, and South Africa), Prior averages 26, with no centuries.More pressingly, Prior, about to make his first trip to Australia, will be fretting bucketloads about his future career prospects. England have changed their wicketkeeper in four of their last five Ashes tours. The last five keepers to don the gloves for England in Australia for the first time have never played Test cricket again after the end of that series – Rhodes in 1994-95, Hegg in 1998-99, Foster in 2002-03, and Jones and Read in 2006-07.Alec Stewart in 1990-91 is the last England gloveman whose career was not ended by his first Ashes tour, and that series was also the last England jaunt to Australia that did not signal the total annihilation of a wicketkeeper’s Test existence. Even then, established first-choice Jack Russell was jettisoned after three Tests, and was in and out of the team for the rest of his battered-hat-festooned career. Furthermore, in 1986-87, Jack Richards kept wicket in all five Tests as England triumphed. He was promptly dropped for the first Test of the following summer, played only three more times, and never passed double figures again.Since Alan Knott, England’s wicketkeepers in Australia have averaged 20.66 in 45 Tests, with one century and five fifties, all whilst crawling along at a fraction over two runs per over. In summary, Australia is a bad place for English wicketkeepers.SwannIs Graeme Swann: (a) the world’s most valuable all-round cricketer who holds the key to England’s Ashes hopes; or (b) a fortuitous chancer who has buffed up his bowling average against some of Test history’s most inept batting line-ups? It’s another trick question. The answer is (a), with a bit of (b) thrown in. Swann averaged 40 with the ball in his previous Ashes series, and, against the higher-ranked Test nations, averages close to 36. He averages just 15 with the bat in his last 11 Tests, with a highest score of 32.BroadThe man who puts the “petulant” into “often needlessly petulant” has seldom produced for England overseas – he averages 37 with the ball and just 14 with the bat in away Tests (compared to 32 and 39 at home). He has not taken five wickets in an innings since that Ashes-winning apparent breakthrough at The Oval in 2009, and has never averaged more than four wickets per game in a series.AndersonCould win the Ashes single-handedly. If they were being played in cloudy conditions in England, with Pakistan’s batsmen playing for Australia. Sadly, that is a big “if”. Perhaps the biggest “if” since Rudyard Kipling started projecting the titles of his poems onto the skies above Gotham City. The Ashes will not be held in England with Pakistani batsman. Not this year. Anderson has taken just 17 wickets in eight Tests against Australia, at an average of 56. Over his whole career, in overseas Tests, he has taken 52 wickets at an average of almost 44.FinnStruggled to take wickets in his two previous overseas Tests, against Bangladesh, and tends to leak runs – his economy rate is 3.77 in Tests, 3.61 in first-class cricket. Finn is tall. Martin McCague was tall. He once bowled one of the worst opening spells in Ashes history. Logically, therefore, Finn will definitely do the same.Finn has taken fewer Ashes wickets than, amongst others, Len Hutton, Uzman Afzaal, Ranjitsinhji, and Alan Igglesden (and I guarantee that is the first time in human history that those four names have appeared in the same sentence). Finn can play the “lack-of-opportunity” card as hard as he likes, but the fact remains that he has taken the same number of Australian Test wickets as actress Julie Christie, controversial former professional pope Pope Pius XII, my wife, Diego Maradona and 1997 England one-cap left-armer Mike Smith.BACK-UPMorganHis brilliant array of strokes will not be of much use if his technical flaws against seam bowling continue to rear their indecisively-fiddling-outside-off-stump heads. He has scored just 103 of his 257 Test runs against pace, and been dismissed six times by quicks (compared to 154 runs for once out against spin and dobblers).DaviesHe could become the first English-born wicketkeeper to make his debut for England since James Foster in 2001 – the previous five England-born glovemen to debut for England since Alec Stewart (Foster, Read, Hegg, Rhodes and Blakey) have, between them, averaged 19 with the bat in careers lasting an average of seven Tests.Also, see Prior’s entry above for the fortunes of England’s wicketkeepers in Australia. In addition to that list of woe, of England’s reserve wicketkeepers on Ashes tours, Gould (1982-83) never played in a Test match at all, Tolchard (78-79) never added to his four caps, Taylor (70-71 and 74-75) played one Test in New Zealand at the end of the 70-71 tour then waited seven years and a Packer revolution for his next. Going further back, surprise first-choice AC Smith never played another Test after the 1962-63 tour, back-up keepers Keith Andrew and Arthur McIntyre played only one Test each after their tours 1954-55 in 1950-51 respectively, Paul Gibb never played again after the 1946-47 tour. Nor George Duckworth after 1936-37. Dodger Whysall played just once after 1924-25. Arthur Dolphin never played after 1920-21. I’m boring myself now. The point is: Davies should fake a serious illness if he wants to have a future as an international cricketer.BresnanHe struggled to hit the ball off the square or take wickets in his Tests against Bangladesh; expensive and unpenetrative in ODIs this summer; has had a poor first-class season for Yorkshire. No current reports of anyone in the Australian squad waking up in the middle of the night sweating and screaming, before clambering into their parents’ bed, and asking, “Mummy and Daddy, is it OK if I sleep in your bed again? I’ve had another nightmare about Tim Bresnan.”PanesarHe has spent much of his recent international career on a learning curve. Unfortunately, that curve has been heading downwards. He averages over 40 in his most recent 22 Tests − the reincarnation of Ashley Giles himself, but with the useful batting and fielding having gone AWOL during the changeover. Monty averages 44 in 17 overseas Tests. His batting has never kicked on from the promise shown in that one straight drive he hit in Perth four years ago that had critics excitedly hailing the new Garry Sobers. And he fields as if he has read the wrong instruction manual, but refuses to back down.TremlettHe has taken little over three wickets per match in county cricket over the course of his career. The last time England took a temperamentally suspect giant fast bowler to Australia, the first ball of the series almost killed second slip.It all looks very, very bleak for England. If you ignore the last blog. And it all looks fantastic if you ignore this one. Statistics are a fickle mistress. I think it will be a close series. Two-all. Or 5-0 either way.

Their weakness at the top of the order is obvious but few solutions are forthcoming

Firdose Moonda in Harare26-Apr-2013One of the Zimbabwean players joked that the reason the current team has so many bowling allrounders is because “we don’t trust our batting”. The first three innings of this series will explain why.Zimbabwe have had to crawl out of tricky positions in all of them – 65 for 3 and 16 for 3 in the first Test and 47 for 3 in this one. It’s obvious they have a problem at the top but before examining how they can solve it, they need to understand its cause.In this series it is explained by one man: Robiul Islam. The seamer has given the top-order a thorough working over and put on an exemplary display of swing bowling. His method is consistently effective: good length, angled in and moving away.He tempts batsmen into getting forward and trying to drive and in so doing takes the edge. Both Zimbabwe’s openers, Vusi Sibanda and Regis Chakabva, were dismissed in that fashion. But it is what he does mentally that is equally destructive. He tests patience through tight lines. His odd short ball and sporadic fuller one ensure batsmen don’t settle and, most impressively, he is fit.Robiul’s first spell lasted 11 overs, although he did have the lunch break to separate the first one from the other ten. He took a break four overs before tea and was back on immediately afterwards for another four-over spell. Then he came on late in the day for final four-over burst and landed a good few effort balls as a show of his stamina.No batsman would be disgraced succumbing to a bowler of this quality and Zimbabwe’s frontmen are no different. Top-order batsmen playing for far bigger countries all struggle to some degree against the moving ball.It’s what else they do that matters. Those who develop the temperament to hang around and the techniques to score runs in other ways, blossom. The problem is that Zimbabwe have not got those players at the moment.Perhaps Zimbabwe play too infrequently against bowlers of Robiul’s class for a regular opener like Sibanda to make sustained progress. Having only cobbled together 113 runs in his last seven innings, he is a concern but so is the man on the other end.Zimbabwe are struggling to replace Tino Mawoyo, who was establishing himself as Sibanda’s partner in the West Indies before he was injured. It has brought their depth under the microscope and so far, there has been precious little to examine.

Zimbabwe are struggling to replace Tino Mawoyo, who was establishing himself as Sibanda’s partner in the West Indies before he was injured

Both men used in this series are not openers by trade. Timycen Maruma, who played the first Test but then picked up a knee niggle, is a middle-order batsman. He finished the Logan Cup as the fourth-highest run-scorer with an average of 51.80 and he showed he has the disposition to cope at the highest level.Although he did not score many runs, he was willing to spend time at the crease. Zimbabwe could to worse than try him again but, if they want to reward Maruma for a solid domestic showing, it would seem sensible to do so in the position he has done well in.Chakabva was brought in for this match in place of Maruma. He has two of the fingers on his left-hand strapped together as he recovers from an injury so he cannot keep wicket, but he was deemed fit to open the batting.He has only done the job once for his franchise in the past season and it did not go well. He scored 28 and 1 on that occasion and finished the summer mid-table on the run-scorers list. Chakabva did not even score a century in the last season so only the experience of three Tests could be used as a reason for him leapfrogging ahead of Sean Williams (one Test) or the uncapped Sikanda Raza and Chamu Chibhabha.Those are three options Zimbabwe may consider through the rest of their winter programme if Mawoyo does not recover in time for series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Williams was heavily touted for this Test but would have probably been used at No. 3, not to open, and Hamilton Masakadza could have been asked to move up one.It’s understandable why Zimbabwe did not gamble with that. Masakadza, although his runs so far do not support this claim, is one of their best batsman and oldest hands. Team management cannot be faulted for wanting to bat him where he is most comfortable.Including Raza would have required a similar shift to accommodate him in the middle-order. Judging by the amount of time the Pakistani-born batsman has spent working with batting coach Grant Flower in the nets, it seems he is certain for a debut at some stage but it will need some reworking of the batting order to find a spot for him.Chibhabha is an occasional opener, who could have been a stand-in. He had a fairly good first-class season, finishing just inside the top 10 run-scorers in the first-class competition with an average of 40.63 and two hundreds.Zimbabwe also have two youngsters worth monitoring. Brian Chari and Kevin Kasuza are 21 and 19 years old respectively and both have shown promise. Kasuza averaged 35.00 this season and played regular for the Mountaineers, while Chari found the going tougher but established himself at Tuskers. Mawoyo mentioned both as possibilities but advised against rushing them into international cricket while they are still finding their feet domestically.That leaves Zimbabwe with few options for the immediate term and the danger of exposing the middle order too early continues to exist. The top-order failings also revealed their over-reliance on Brendan Taylor and the middle order, who have, for now, rescued them. That will not always be the case and Zimbabwe will be pushed to find openers they can trust as they face opposition who can exploit that weakness.

Bangladesh’s marks out of ten, for the Test series against Sri Lanka

Mohammad Isam20-Mar-20137Mushfiqur RahimApart from becoming the first Bangladeshi batsman to make a Test double-hundred, Mushfiqur Rahim held the batting line-up together for nearly two days. He was the bedrock of the team’s success in Galle.In Colombo, Mushfiqur would have been expected to bat differently on a sporting wicket and a sluggish outfield. But he too fell, trapped by the team’s negative mindset on a deteriorating pitch. By the time he launched a recovery in the second, Sri Lanka had a firm grip on the game.His wicket-keeping has been largely sound, including only the second instance a Bangladesh wicketkeeper has taken five catches in an innings. He took five in an innings against India in Dhaka in 2010, so he remains the only wicketkeeper to do so. But there has been the odd misses, which thankfully didn’t gnaw at him too much.Mohammad AshrafulApart from playing the odd wondrous innings, there are not many lists that Ashraful finds himself on the top of. During this series, the inscrutable batsman came good by tweaking his game in Test cricket.He missed a double-hundred by just ten runs, and one assumes it was the expectation of reaching the milestone that did him in. But the preceding 416 balls or the innings were played by a batsman matured to his age. He was run out in the first innings of the second Test, and was undone by being tied up at one end in the second innings. This is however a start Ashraful can take off from, especially by settling himself at No. 3.6.5Nasir HossainHe has continued on his good form in this series, and the only difference in Sri Lanka has been the maiden Test hundred at Galle. Batting at No. 7 in a Test match, Nasir has given Bangladesh the option of having a fresh batsman to take on the second new ball on most occasions.He has also improved his batting against the short ball, considered one of his weaknesses when he first arrived in international cricket. Nasir’s enthusiasm can sometimes bring about his downfall. Against Rangana Herath in the second innings in Colombo, a cooler approach would have been expected, but he decided to throw caution to the wind. A quality bowler will always have the advantage if he is too willing to take a risk in a delicate situation.6Sohag GaziThe offspinner, playing in only his second international series, has given Bangladesh the belief that all is not lost without Shakib Al Hasan. Sohag Gazi was the automatic choice to lead the bowling attack in the absence of the all-rounder, and he has not done too badly.The seven wickets he took may have come at a high average and strike-rate, but he has much left to learn in his trade. He has done whatever a half-coached player could do, but the only difference is that Gazi has been asked to do it at international level.He can only improve from this, and with the building blocks already in place, much is expected from the offspinner. His potential with the bat has also not gone unnoticed. He can cut a niche for himself lower down the order. With him at the crease, the other batsmen can have the confidence to rotate the strike, and not just farm it.Mominul HaqueThe left-handed middle-order batsman made two fifties in his first two Test innings, but in the Bangladesh batting line-up these days, fifties should not be the end product. Mominul Haque has batted well in Sri Lanka, but his approach of staying busy at the crease with a calm exterior, should yield more runs.He has very few technical difficulties to attend to, though there are areas for him to improve. Playing for Bangladesh is a big deal for someone like Mominul, but he will quickly grasp that a position in the middle-order is not one to give away.5Jahurul IslamHe could be the opener to partner Tamim Iqbal in the long-term. Jahurul Islam has showed that he can take on good pace bowlers, and may even master the art of handling quality spinners soon. But he has to start scoring some runs, otherwise a return to Test cricket after almost three years, will go to waste.He gave a good account of a solid opener in both Tests, but gave away the hard work by untimely dismissals. He has been scoring heavily in domestic competitions in the last five years, so he needs to replicate such form into top-level cricket. His catching however hasn’t been up to the mark, but he has shown willingness to field in crucial positions.Tamim Iqbal
He was part of this series for just the two innings having missed the first Test due to injury. But the second innings in Colombo showed why Tamim Iqbal is such an integral member in the side. He made a fifty in no time, but it was the manner in which he batted that showed the batsmen they shouldn’t have too much to think about the wicket.One area he has to improve on is the number of Test centuries he has hit so far. There hasn’t been one since 2010, so he is mindful of the extended period.4.5Robiul IslamFor a player with a stop-start international career, Robiul Islam did a decent job of taking four wickets in the second Test. Apart from playing his last Test in December 2011, the last competitive match he had played before this match, was in January this year.He fared better than all the other pace bowlers by trying to maintain a proper line and length. He tried everything against Kumar Sangakkara, but came up short. It was quite uplifting for the other pace bowlers too, though his fitness caught up after he missed part of the second day’s play due to cramps.Abul HasanOnly the slightest can be expected from a cricketer who has played very little first-class cricket in the past, so Abul Hasan’s performance can only be seen as an improvement. At least his bowling average is becoming more respectable with every wicket he picks up.But Abul has won praise from Sangakkara, for bowling quick over a period of time. There were flashes with the ball that would excite any Bangladeshi captain, but there has to be a concerted effort to keep an eye on his training regimen. Bangladesh doesn’t want another injury-prone fast bowler, especially one that can hold his own with the bat too.4Rubel HossainAnother pace bowler who is injury prone, especially since last year, but Rubel Hossain has again showed what potential he has in Test cricket. That hasn’t translated into wickets for him, though he is known as a quick learner by the coaching staff.He has bowled quickly in this series, sometimes topping the 140kph mark, but it has not been with regularity. With the second new ball, he troubled the Sri Lankan batsmen in the first innings but again, it was only in short bursts.3Anamul HaqueIn only one Test appearance, Anamul Haque has showed frailties as an international opener though it can be quickly remedied. He probably believed that there is a different way to play Test cricket, and it is hoped that his concept changes quickly. He has scored heavily in domestic and age-group cricket over the last three years, and a similar method can be utilised in Test cricket.Both his dismissals looked poorly thought out, but again, he is a talented batsman who has the ability to adjust his technique. He has scored runs in Australia in the Under-19 World Cup, so that should give him confidence in easier batting conditions.2MahmudullahThe only saving grace for the Bangladesh vice-captain has been the three wickets he has picked up in the two Tests. Otherwise, it has been a strangely poor series for him with the bat. He charged down the wicket and gave away his wicket in the Galle Test, when all others around him scored heavily. It was another forceful shot that had him dismissed in Colombo, before a beauty from Herath ended his series with just eight runs.He has had troughs like this in the past, but not after such a high. Mahmudullah was Bangladesh’s best player against West Indies earlier in the season, playing a major part in the team’s ODI series win. He is expected to return among the runs, because it is quite clear that he is not an out-of-form batsman.Elias SunnyThe left-arm spinner had nothing to show for from the 40 overs he bowled in the Galle Test. He wasn’t the only bowler having an ordinary time in that game, but Sunny showed little sign of the bowler who debuted so well against West Indies in 2011.Shahadat HossainHis fitness left a lot to be desired, and there wasn’t much he could offer at Galle too. He picked up just the one wicket, and unless he improves drastically, Shahadat Hossain could well be a spent force in Test cricket.

After their third loss and exit from the tournament, Dav Whatmore’s claim that criticism of his side is unjustified doesn’t stack up

George Dobell at Edgbaston15-Jun-2013If Pakistan were under any doubt as to the level of anger their poor performance in the Champions Trophy had engendered among their supporters, it would have been banished as the team bus was pelted with bottles and stones as it left Edgbaston.Having succumbed to their third successive defeat in the tournament, Pakistan were forced to admit that they had been comprehensively out-played by their arch-rivals India. Yet their coach, Dav Whatmore, responded to his side’s elimination by chiding journalists for getting “carried away” with their criticisms and then claimed that his side were “one ODI victory from a good series”.It is simply not true. Had Pakistan prevailed in one of their three games in this event, they would still have been eliminated at the first hurdle, they would still have an inadequate batting line-up and they would still be deluding themselves into thinking there is not a gap emerging between the top nations and themselves. There is no excusing the bottles that were hurled at the Pakistan bus – such behaviour shames the vast majority of passionate but sensible supporters – but their performance in this competition has failed to justify the proud traditions of Pakistan cricket.There is much to celebrate and nurture in Pakistan cricket. The fielding is improving and the bowling is genuinely exciting. But it would be foolish to deny there are also real causes for concern. If Whatmore cannot admit there is a problem, he may find it hard to find the solution.To rub salt in the wound, this game confirmed a fear that many Pakistan supporters would have had for a while: that a chasm is growing between these two arch-enemies. While Pakistan have batted like blind men lost in fog, India have developed a couple of top-order players of real class. The manner with which Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan dealt with the short ball, in particular, suggested there is no reason they cannot both excel in all formats, all around the world. Even the Indian fielding, for so long a weakness, has become a strength. It was not a completely dead game, either. It remains possible that, if the semi-final is rained off, then points scored in the group stages could yet be relevant. It may be some consolation to Pakistan that India have shown how quickly change can come.Pakistan, by contrast, failed to reach 200 in any of their games (they made 170, 167 and 165, which is consistency of a sort) and have now been bowled out in eight of their last 13 ODIs. Shoaib Malik averaged 8.33 in the tournament, Kamran Akmal 7.66, Mohammad Hafeez 12.66 and Imran Farhat, dropped from this game like a suffering dog might be put out of its misery, 2.00. That is not a blip, it is a pattern. Pakistan’s batting has failed.”You don’t have to be Einstein to know we didn’t make enough runs,” Whatmore admitted. “But this is almost the same team that beat India in India. It’s not a bad team. One series doesn’t make the team a bad team. It’s a trend in this series only.”Fans from both sides came together to provide passionate support•AFPThat is debatable. Apart from the series win against India, Pakistan have actually lost ODI series against England, Sri Lanka, Australia and South Africa, with the victory in the Asia Cup the stand-out performance. It is hard to sustain Whatmore’s argument.The aim now must be to look forward to the 2015 World Cup. That gives Pakistan enough time to build a new side and to make the changes that they know are required: more A tours, more players experiencing conditions around the world and an end to a system where it sometimes seems that patronage and contacts are as important as merit. Whatmore’s “these things happen” attitude, which seems to put such results down to bad luck, is an attitude that is simply too for modern, professional sport.Perhaps the most accurate comment Whatmore made was when he said “it’s easy to be critical”. When Pakistan perform like this, it is indeed very easy.There are bigger issues than winning and losing, though. Here, in the city where Enoch Powell made his “rivers of blood” speech, the supporters of two nations whose political relationship might best be described as frosty, sat side by side in a packed stadium in passionate support of their teams. There was no need for segregated seating, no heavy-handed policing, no serious trouble (a handful of spectators were ejected for directing abusive language at stewards and there was some foolishness at the end, but no more the case than is fairly normal when 25,000 people come together for 10 hours) and, generally, very little other than cheerful good humour despite the rain breaks and one-sided nature of the contest.Norman Tebbit, the Conservative peer, would have hated it. It was, after all, Tebbit who infamously suggested that the descendants of migrants should support the England cricket side to prove their assimilation into British society. But for everyone but Tebbit, this was a day that reflected well on multi-cultural Britain, on multi-cultural Birmingham and, most of all, on the unifying powers of our great game.

Aiden Blizzard can claim the title of monster six-hitter and has Youtube to back him up

Interview by Jack Wilson07-Aug-2013You’re credited with hitting the biggest six ever, which ended up flying out of the WACA. Reckon there’s been a bigger one?
Apparently not! Everyone tells me it’s the biggest six ever – that’s what it says on Youtube. It was pretty huge but I reckon some of Chris Gayle’s ones may have gone further.Did you know it was a biggie as soon as it left the bat?
It was one of those ones that if you do it in the nets, no one knows how far the ball would have gone. I was lucky enough to hit it well in a big final. It was one of those things that just happened.It’s got a fair few views on Youtube. Do you go on there and watch it?
A few years ago, yes. The phone tended to get passed around between guys in the dressing room, but not now. I’m still living off it a bit.Wikipedia reckons there was a 150-metre one you hit off Nathan Bracken too.
That’s 150% a myth. Maybe in ten years time the ball will be going that far, but I haven’t done that.You’ve shared a dressing room with Kieron Pollard. Ever had a hit-off to see who can hit it further?
Plenty of times. We played together for the Adelaide Strikers and at Mumbai Indians. We’ve always had a bit of a joke about it and he’s taken my left-arm orthodox apart in the nets a few times – but I’ve got him out!That’s a big beast of a bat he’s got, isn’t it?
It isn’t too heavy, but he has, like, five or six grips on it. Maybe that’s the secret, because they definitely stay hit.What do you look for in a good bat?
It has to have a good balance with the middle being a lot lower. Gray-Nicolls have started doing ones with big, thick edges, which I like.What’s it like to walk out and open the batting with Sachin Tendulkar?
It’s something you can’t describe – it’s a phenomenal experience. The crowd are roaring and it goes right through your body. It’s a surreal thing when the guy walking down at the other end and tapping the pitch is Sachin.Is he a big talker between overs?
I get nervous if the other batsman talks a lot, but the crowd blocks it out. He’s an absolute student of the game. He remembers every ball he faces and he dissects everything that goes on out in the middle.Do you suffer nerves?
A bit. I get a little anxious to get out there and get going, and the blood starts flowing pretty quickly. Once I hit a few boundaries, I settle down.How good does it feel to play in front of those Indian crowds?
You get big crowds at home in Australia but it’s a bit different there. The grounds are open and quite large, but in India the stands are almost vertical and it’s like the crowd are on top of you. It’s quite phenomenal. It can be hard to hear and hard to concentrate when it’s 38 degrees and there’s a bowler of Dale Steyn’s calibre running in at you.Who’s the biggest joker in the Mumbai Indians dressing room?
Harbhajan Singh – he’s always one step ahead of you.Anyone else?
Rohit Sharma is a bit of a silent assassin. He’s the kind of guy who will tap someone on a shoulder, tell them to do something, then sit in the background laughing when they do. But Bhajji’s the main one.You’ve played in Australia, India, Bangladesh, England. Where’s the best?
I love playing at home and being closer to my family but India has to be one of my favourite places. The passion the locals have for their cricket is amazing.How do you wind down away from cricket?
I’m studying to be a life coach. It’s a bit left-field but something I enjoy. I also have two dogs, and my fiancée and I spend time walking them down the beach.What’s the worst chirp someone has given to you?
Paul Collingwood said something about it being cold and that a blizzard had come, because of my surname. I had a bit of a chuckle at him. It was in a warm-up game for the 2010-11 Ashes at the Adelaide Oval for South Australia.