When a team loses its best bowler, it is expected that the team’s performance will suffer. As usual, Pakistan defied the expectations

Umar Farooq in Dubai26-Oct-2014The ICC might have banned Pakistan’s leading spinner Saeed Ajmal but the inexperienced pair of Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar proved enough to demolish Australia in Dubai.Without Ajmal, Pakistan’s attack seemed to lack firepower as since 2011 he has taken almost a third of Pakistan’s wickets in Tests. In his 35-Test career so far, he has picked up 178 wickets at 28.10 and has been an influential performer for Pakistan across all formats. But a raw bowling mix showed no one is indispensable; debutant Yasir finished with figures of 7-116 and Babar took 7-155 to set up a famous victory.Pakistan cricket’s controversies have hogged the headlines in recent years: the spot-fixing saga had three of their top cricketers banned, wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider mysteriously deserted the team in Dubai, the attack on the Sri Lankan team left the country bereft of major international cricket at home, a year-long legal battle in Islamabad High Court caused plenty of changes in the PCB leadership. The latest one was the ouster of Ajmal, but as with each crisis Pakistan bounced back. Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq was keen on playing down the impact of individuals.Left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar took five wickets in the second innings•Getty Images”I have always said that a win is always because of the team effort,” Misbah said. “The team effort [v Australia] was good as everyone did his role. Batsmen scored when it was needed and bowlers gave breakthrough when demanded, they did their role when needed. Cricket is due to names, but in this match all the players did well as a team.”Pakistan, perhaps apart from the fifth day of the third Test against Sri Lanka in Sharjah earlier this year, had been functioning with a conservative approach for the last two years under the regime of previous head coach Dav Whatmore. However, this match had Pakistan showing a different approach with Misbah being more aggressive, setting attacking fields, and being proactive with his bowling changes.”It’s difficult to rank this win but it is one of the finest victories,” said Misbah, who is one victory away from being the joint-most successful Pakistan Test captain. “I always rank 3-0 against England (in 2012 in UAE) at the top but after that this is a big achievement, for me also as captain. Looking ahead we will try to do this again but we have to try to focus more, be determined, avoid complacency and not get lazy which we do sometimes. A team like Australia, they are always there, always look for opportunity so we have to be focused.”This landmark win will take away some of the uncertainty the team faced and give them a sense of stability. Misbah ended day four with 55 push-ups in the field. When asked from where this energy and change came from, he smiled and said: “Waqar (Younis) is here and you will see.”It was a clear message from Misbah, as he had received exceptional support in the last month from the PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan. “Everyone supported me and I will especially thank PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan, the way he backed me helped increase my confidence in a big way and the role my coaches played, they supported me throughout and helped.”They removed the pressure off me and every time they said that we don’t want your performance just focus on captaincy and they told me that you will get back, you have been performing for the last three-four years and in one series if you have not performed then it doesn’t matter. I will also mention that all those people who used to criticise me in my good days, supported me in my bad times as well so that was encouraging.”

In part three, our correspondent takes in Dublin, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai

Subash Jayaraman20-Dec-2014Day 46
The first morning in Dublin, Google Maps helps us identify a cricket ground near our guest house, that of Leinster CC. It’s a ten-minute walk away but when we arrive the gates are shut. Luckily an elderly member, Tony Hyland, spots us while he’s walking in for his Lawn Bowls match. On finding out that we are on a cricket world trip, he lets us in and gives us a tour of the place. Founded in 1852, Leinster CC has a long history. WG Grace brought a team over for a set of matches in 1873 and 1874. As we part, Tony hugs us and says, “I’ll see you in heaven.”Day 48
Kathleen and I met at Penn State University in the US, so we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to watch our alma mater play a College Football game. In Dublin! Pep rallies, beers, food and cheering till our throats are hoarse give us the feeling of being at home for a day, six weeks in to the trip.Day 49
The in-laws are here from the US. Drive to the west coast of Ireland, from where Kathleen’s ancestors set sail for the US many generations ago. One of the family members who still lives on the ancestral land meets us at the property and suggests we dine at the nearby Ballynahinch Castle, which used to be the summer residence of Ranjitsinhji. Giant portraits of Ranji and framed letters written by him cover the walls of the castle.Ballynahinch Castle: Ranji’s summer residence in Ireland•Subash JayaramanDay 50
Drive to Dingle peninsula, whose rolling hills make it one of the most beautiful places on earth. The owner of the place we are staying at is a British expat. He talks of playing club cricket in Ireland and playing alongside Jack Short, who turned out for Ireland but captained France against a visiting MCC team in 1989 and beat them handily.Day 56
Drive back to Dublin and head straight to Malahide for the first of three Ireland-Scotland ODIs. Not more than 200 fans dot the boundary rope. Some of the boundary fielders are just a few feet away, giving the impression of it being a weekend club game rather than an international. The quality of the cricket, however, dispels that notion quickly. Ireland win easily.Day 59
Attend a “cricket evening” hosted by Cricket Ireland and the (as the kids there are quick to inform us). Children wearing EPL jerseys playing cricket – a definite change from when I was a kid. One group even lets me play in a match, making me keep wicket as they think, rightly, that I’d be too slow in the outfield.The Cricket Club of India, housed in the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai•Ben Radford/Getty ImagesDay 88
Interviewed by the Hindu for a podcast about our world trip. Feels surreal to be inside the offices of a newspaper I used to read religiously while growing up.Day 89
Back in Mumbai. A journalist friend takes us to the Legends Club meeting at the Cricket Club of India at the Brabourne Stadium. It’s the 103rd birth anniversary of Vijay Merchant, one of India’s greatest batsmen. Meet former Indian cricketers Madhav Apte and Nari Contractor. Hear stories about Merchant, Vijay Hazare and Polly Umrigar. Feel lucky to have the chance to interact with these gents.Day 90
Meet India bowler Snehal Pradhan. She encourages us to visit a bat-maker in the Marine Lines area, and we do. Many current and former Mumbai batsmen come here to make small adjustments to their bats.Day 91
Get a tour of the centre of the cricketing universe – the BCCI headquarters. Get to see the 1983 Prudential Trophy, which first sowed the seeds of a love affair that continues to the day.

England were hammered before England had even woken up – but all is not yet lost

Alan Gardner20-Feb-2015Where were you when English cricket was being wellied around Wellington? In bed, probably, sleeping through the nightmare. You might have cautiously reached for the phone when the alarm went off, checked the score with one eye still closed, discovered it was already a result and put the pillow back over your head. Rude awakenings? We’ve had some.England fans following the team on the other side of the world will be well acquainted with this procedure. Barring shocks – a competent performance, say – whatever England get up to won’t intrude much on the day. For some of us, abject hammerings on a foreign field are novocaine for the soul, a reminder of how things used to be before people got daft ideas about winning Ashes series in Australia. Something to roll the eyes and mutter about in the corridor at work. Although it’s fair to say the final day of the 2006 Adelaide Test might have put one or two off their breakfast sausage.Nevertheless, plenty will be outraged that England have had their muffins toasted twice inside a week. Geoffrey Boycott, that most prim and proper of observers, described the eight-wicket defeat as a “bit of a shock”, which suggested that he has not been watching either England or New Zealand much recently. Michael Vaughan claimed in his column that time is running out for Peter Moores, less than a year after he was brought in to clean up the previous mess. On Sky, Andrew Strauss went beyond his usual diplomatic brief and mentioned “crisis talks”.If that all sounds rather like football speak, it was perhaps fitting the subject came up in a couple of Premier League managers’ press conferences, with Arsene Wenger and Steve Bruce both consulted. News on whether Moores thinks Arsenal should have recruited a defensive midfielder in January and if Hull have enough goals in them to beat the drop is now confidently expected when the timezones allow.Of course, even those who have never watched , the oft-quoted John Cleese film, know that it’s not despair that is the problem, but hope. And really you would have needed a pure distillation of 2008 Barack Obama running through your veins in order to sustain much in the way of optimism about England’s chances in Australia and New Zealand.England at the World Cup is really a sort of thought experiment. Like Schrödinger’s cat, they are theoretically alive even though you know they are dead. It’s only when you open the box – usually around the quarter-final stage – that you are presented with the rather messy proof.This was supposed to be the best-prepared England World Cup campaign in a generation but that rather went down the chute when they changed the captaincy around what felt like tea time the day before it started. Promoting Eoin Morgan was a gamble that many thought worth taking but it was a gamble all the same. England then came over all Luke Rhinehart and started rolling whatever dice they could get their hands on, bringing in Gary Ballance, shifting James Taylor down the order and taking Chris Woakes off new-ball duty. And this really was around tea time the day before the tournament started.And yet, in another sense, England are right on track. Losing their opening two games against the in-form host nations was entirely predictable, even quite likely. The format of this World Cup – you may have heard it mentioned – means England could still get away with winning half of their group games to progress (albeit they are about 50% off in that regard right now). And while it’s hard to do when hyper-ventilating into a paper bag, there might also be some room to praise the opposition – particularly the magnificent displays of Tim Southee and Brendon McCullum on Friday.No, the time to start having a White Russian with your cornflakes will be if England lose to Scotland in Christchurch on Monday. Given their commitment to undermining ICC statements about how future World Cups should only be for “competitive” teams, this must be considered a real prospect. England have been defeated by Associates before but Moores really would need to engage in some football manager-style filibustering if they end up handing Scotland a first-ever World Cup win. That would call for celebration as well as condemnation but, as things stand, there won’t be much bile left to go around.Even then, England wouldn’t necessarily be out of the competition, which might leave some pining for the swift kill inflicted on Roy Hodgson’s team at last summer’s football World Cup. Perhaps there are lessons to be learned from the, er, winter sport after all, which brings us back to Wenger and his response to how teams can recover after a heavy defeat.”It is always difficult to make a separation of the emotional aspect and objective judgement of what happened,” Wenger said, having rather cruelly joked that cricket was always on TV in England (oh, the irony – Wenger is a Sky subscriber, obviously). “What is interesting in sport is that it’s practised by human beings, they are not robots, they have good and bad days. After a very bad day you can only get better. You have to be severe when you win and sometimes be helpful when the team loses.”So, there you have it, from the man who invented broccoli. The time to be get really angry is if England start winning. Now that really would be a reason to splutter into your morning brew.

Far from assuming the role of plucky underdogs, Ireland were forced to deal with unexpected pressure of being heavy favourites against UAE

Daniel Brettig25-Feb-20151:56

‘Was confident we’d pull it off’ – Wilson

Ireland were in the unfamiliar position of runaway favourites for a World Cup match. Then the UAE were in the even less familiar position of having a match against a higher ranked team more or less in their keeping. Finally, both sides were in the uncharted territory of a thrilling encounter that sustained the attention of the globe like no other match at this tournament so far.Associate nations have to learn to be resilient. They suffer for a lack of funding, facilities and fixtures. Many players must juggle jobs. But seldom do they have to cope with the sort of expectation that has now settled upon Ireland at this event.They had not just squeaked past the West Indies but beaten them with plenty of room to spare. They look a more settled unit than Pakistan, a team they have of course defeated before. And they carry the torch for cricket’s second tier with passionate play and equally forceful words, as demonstrated by William Porterfield on match eve.In a match against a Full Member country, Ireland can keep a low profile, play to their limits and hope that things will run their way. Often enough in ICC events they have done so. But against the UAE, a team they had not lost to since 2001, there was a requirement to go into the contest knowing they should win, and knowing that all spectators and viewers fully expecting them to do so, and handsomely.Such a scenario can do strange things to the mind, the hands and the feet. First of all, at the unfamiliar Gabba, the captain William Porterfield elected to send the UAE in to bat, even though the surface looked brimful of runs and locals could attest to the ground’s propensity for more extravagant swing and nip off the pitch in the evening. Porterfield stuck to what Ireland have known best as an accomplished chasing team, but his choice left the bowlers to toil in warm conditions and in the absence of much movement.Next Shaiman Anwar, a middle order dynamo who was flushed with confidence after notching his highest ODI tally against Zimbabwe, made more than a few members of the Ireland attack look pedestrian after the UAE had slipped to 78 for 4 and then 131 for 6.In particular, Anwar drove Kevin O’Brien to distraction by moving laterally across the crease, causing the bowler to stop in his run-up several times and also deliver a motley collection of wides and other loose offerings that the batsman leapt eagerly upon. A chase for 279 was at least 40 more than expected. His first ODI hundred, and the first by a UAE batsman in the World Cup, had the feel of victory.There was a heaviness to Ireland’s early progress in the chase that conveyed further anxiety. The new balls zipped and curved in the early evening air, Manjula Guruge doing a decent enough impression of Chaminda Vaas by alternating inswing with away slant and accounting for Paul Stirling in the process.Ireland suddenly had a weight of expectation on them against UAE•Getty ImagesEd Joyce was exceptionally lucky when Amjad Javed struck his off stump but the corresponding bail refused to fly off, but even this rare moment could not prevent Ireland from fretting to 97 for 4 thanks to some nifty spin bowling by the ageless Mohammad Tauqir.Intriguingly though, the development of a scenario in which Ireland were no longer favoured to win proved to be the making of their victory. Suddenly minds were clarified by a simple, steep equation, much as they were on that memorable night in Bangalore. Alongside Andy Balbirnie, Gary Wilson set a platform, and once the younger man was dismissed for 30, O’Brien reprised his England burst while Wilson scurried busily between the wickets.It was an exhilarating stand, changing the game in the course of six overs and 72 runs. Wilson enjoyed the recognisable support at the other end from O’Brien.”A few people have mentioned that to me now,” he said afterwards. “I’ve batted a lot with Kev over the last 10-15 years, last year with Surrey and then with Ireland. We dovetail really nicely – I poke it for one and he hits it out the ground, so it’s great!”Perhaps not surprisingly, the team’s return to a favoured position brought another seemingly reflexive wobble, as O’Brien, John Mooney and Wilson fell to leave the cool-headed George Dockrell to smite the sealing boundary. Wilson spoke of how his team were unhappy to have let the match get as close as they did, but equally that they were sustained by a handsome record in chasing.”It was obviously closer than we wanted it to be definitely, but we’ve been in this position before at a World Cup and chased down totals before, and I think that really stood us in good stead,” he said. “We knew that if a couple of us were there until close to the end we would have a pretty good shot at winning.”Chasing is familiar but favouritism is not so common. For their next assignment, against South Africa in Canberra, Ireland will once again be cast as resilient outsiders. After the travails of a thrilling Brisbane evening, it is a position they will relish once again.

Over-coached, over-analysed, overwrought and, very often, over all too soon. The enormity of the entire cricketing structure in England and Wales is the burden these young men must carry. If they succeed, it is despite of it

George Dobell28-Feb-2015England can still qualify for the quarter-finals of the World Cup if they lose to Sri Lanka. Such is the bloated nature of the tournament, they can even qualify if they lose by a similar overwhelming margin as they did against New Zealand.But if England are going to move into the knockout stages with any confidence, with any credibility, with any realistic hope, then they have to start winning games now. Expecting to turn up for a major game and suddenly find form is naive. And a multi-million pound organisation that has supposedly planned for this event for several years should really not be trusting to luck.If England were to produce a highlights DVD of their last five-and-a-half World Cup campaigns it would be found in the horror section of any shop.The unvarnished truth is that, since losing the World Cup final of 1992 in Melbourne, England have only won five games against teams from the top eight of the Test rankings and none against Australia, India or New Zealand. Their other 12 victories have come against the likes of Netherlands (three times), Kenya (twice), Canada, Scotland, Ireland, UAE, Namibia, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. And there have even been some defeats along the way.The usual suspects are blamed for such a record: the coaches, the players, the standard – and amount – of county cricket, the draining international schedule. Perhaps there is a grain of truth in each of them.But a detailed analysis does not support such a conclusion. In between World Cups, England have played some very good limited-overs cricket. In 2012, they topped the ICC’s ODI rankings. In 2013 they contested – and probably should have won – the Champions Trophy.They won a tri-series in Australia in 2006-07 and the four-nation Sharjah tournament in 1997. They beat Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka in 2007 and made the final of the Champions Trophy in 2004, which they probably should have won too. In 2009, they got the better of South Africa in South Africa. It is a patchy record, certainly, but it is not as hopeless as their recent World Cup record.That suggests, perhaps, a propensity to underperform on the biggest stage. Just like their counterparts in the national football side, when England’s cricketers find themselves in global events, the 2010 World T20 is an obvious exception, they seem to not so much revel in the spotlight, but become frozen in it.While players from other teams seem inspired, England seem overawed. They seem more likely to buckle and cower than flourish. Fear of failure may well be at least as big an impediment as domestic structure or any inherent lack of talent.It is not hard to see why. Put yourselves in the shoes of these young men for a moment: imagine your 24-year-old self addressing a press conference. Imagine your words being used against you. Imagine having a net while a member of the England support staff makes notes on a clipboard. While members of the media judge you.Imagine, too, the last time any of this England squad played this great game for fun. Just for fun. Many of these players were talented -spotted before they were 10 and have been hot-housed ever since.Peter Moores wakes to another destruction of his methods most mornings•Getty ImagesOh, sure, they’ve enjoyed it many times. They will have enjoyed success. But they will also have been expected to lead the way for every team they have represented. They will have been promoted beyond their age group and, at every level, felt pressure to perform and to climb to the next rung of the ladder. Most of them will not have played a game for years without their dismissal being analysed by the media, their opponents and their own coaching team.Add to that the layer of coaches and analysts and support staff – some excellent, some looking to justify their own existence, nearly all well-meaning – at every level. School, county age-group, England age-group, Academy, Lions… all with their views and their advice and their note-taking.One recent England player observed that the England dressing room during Andy Flower’s tenure was the most claustrophobic environment they had experienced. An environment where every movement was catalogued for dissection. The environment where a member of the support staff was told not to celebrate their birthday lest it create a distraction.Those of us in the media do not help. Our scrutiny, propensity to over-praise and over-criticise – neither benefits in the long term – and, most of all, the sense that we are always there: watching training, watching games, watching in press conferences and on Twitter.Former players are often the most critical. While some simply tell it as they see it – Geoff Boycott and most of the Sky team, for example – others have a clear agenda or need to produce hard-hitting comments to ensure they remain commercially popular.Peter Moores wakes to another destruction of his methods most mornings. It must be hard for him not to ignore that and not pass on his anxiety to the team.In recent days, “stories” have circulated about England players enjoying nights out and Eoin Morgan declining to sing the national anthem. Some even complained that, following the defeat to New Zealand, the coach and some players were seen smiling as they walked through the airport.None of these things is the reason England have been losing. And none of them would be much of an issue if England were winning. But, coming now, they tighten the noose a little more. They increase the sensation that every move is analysed; that the world is closing in; that they’re under pressure.Cricket, in England at least, is a serious business.And while England’s joyless methodology can still work, up to a point, in Test cricket, it is an impediment to limited-overs success. For while success in Tests can be earned by denial and discipline, in limited-overs cricket success requires other skills. It requires freedom and raw skill. It’s ever more about allowing instinct to take over. It’s ever more about allowing the joy to suppress the pressure.Ah, but players of every other country have the same issues, I hear you say. But no other team carries with it the same press pack. No other team has to stage an almost daily press conference. No other team has such a deep professional structure, meaning their players never develop without the complication of coaching. No other team is under quite the same sort of constant, unyielding, joyless pressure.And we tell them to relax and be themselves? It’s the last thing they know how to do.Over-coached, over-analysed, overwrought and, very often, over all too soon. The enormity of the entire cricketing structure in England and Wales is the burden these young men must carry. If they succeed, it is despite of it.

The best pitch in Australia has hosted very few of the world’s best players at a tournament purporting to show off the virtues of cricket down under

Daniel Brettig02-Mar-2015So that’s it, then. Not even halfway into the World Cup and it has seen the last of Brisbane and the Gabba. Three matches scheduled, one washed out, around 15,000 spectators in total and two tightly-contested matches in conditions that were quintessentially Australian. Like Gabba’s habitual place as the first Test of summer, it was over quickly. Unlike the Test schedule, it had nothing like the usual importance.Brisbane’s allocation was the bare minimum that could be expected of such a storied ground, worse than that granted to the embattled WACA Ground, which is in some doubt of even hosting Test matches in future. It was also identical to the number of matches assigned to the Gabba in the 1992 tournament. The rained-off encounter between Australia and Bangladesh was a shame for those spectators who had bought tickets – a crowd of nearly 30,000 was anticipated – but it also summed up the damp squib that the ground was dealt.Brisbane’s more prominent place in the scheme of the regular Australian cricket season is assured for largely the same reason that Test cricket has for so long been enshrined as the pinnacle of the global game – the players want it that way. Heaven help any Australian administrator who dares to tell the national captain, whoever he is, that the Gabba will not be allocated a Test match early in the home summer.It is a venue the players love for its local advantages of pace and bounce, and a place where the arch aggression of the Australian team in excelsis can be given full vent. Try imagining Michael Clarke telling James Anderson to “get ready for a broken f***ing arm” in Adelaide or Hobart? Not so easy is it.But the World Cup is a different event, not scheduled directly by Cricket Australia in conjunction with the states. Rather the process was a more multi-layered exercise taking in the ICC, the tournament’s local organising committee, CA, the state associations and governments both federal and state-based. It was an ordeal more involved than is typical for each ground, and the allocation of sought-after matches required plenty of lobbying.This was where the Gabba fell back in the order of preference. Whereas Melbourne and Sydney held obvious advantages in terms of population and centrality, Adelaide and the South Australian government pushed hard and at some length for a big ticket pool match – India versus Pakistan – and a place in the knockout round. By contrast, the austerity of the now departed Campbell Newman-led LNP government in Queensland left very little room for the Gabba to spruik its wares. It is believed that haggling went down even to issues like who would pay for the ground’s security detail and catering, with a fledgling and budget conscious government showing very little interest in using the tournament to showcase their state’s virtues.There was perhaps also an element of complacency about things. Brisbane was the first venue outside Sydney and Melbourne to accede to major upgrade work in the mid-1990s. Driven largely by the move of the Brisbane Bears (now Lions) AFL club to the Gabba, this turned the ground into the most advanced stadium hosting Australian cricket matches 15 years ago, and at the head of the queue for most scheduling scraps left over after Melbourne and Sydney had taken the major share.Other grounds around Australia were actually ushered towards their own upgrades by Brisbane’s example. Adelaide Oval’s change from a picturesque cricket ground into a gargantuan stadium with lights and a drop-in pitch can be traced largely to the fact that the Gabba’s growth had begun to threaten the SACA’s rights to the matches it expected. After years of setting the pace, Brisbane has now been superseded in a few senses, with the potpourri seats, press facilities and stadium amenities all starting to feel just a little dated next to more recent improvements in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and even Hobart’s Bellerive Oval.So when the World Cup schedule was announced in mid-2013, Brisbane lost out largely to Adelaide. This apparently came as quite a shock to the state government, even if little had been done to ensure the Gabba’s primacy. The greatest pity of it all is not that Adelaide Oval has been allowed two showpiece days to Brisbane’s zero, but that arguably the best and most distinctive pitch in the country has played host to very few of the world’s best players at a tournament purporting to show how vibrant cricket can be when played down under.Instead, five of the Cup’s seven knockout matches are destined to be played on drop-in pitches both here and in New Zealand, a stark illustration that the preferences of the players come a distant second to commercial and corporate expedience when a global event is being knitted together. To watch Mohammad Irfan and Wahab Riaz revel in the bounce and zip they could extract from the Gabba was to wish that all parties concerned had taken the liberty of thinking a little more about which venues were likely to produce vibrant cricket as well as fat revenues.There has since been plenty of hand-wringing in Brisbane over the bidding – or lack thereof – for World Cup matches, and a far more concerted effort from the new Labor government is expected to pursue the next major trinket being handed out by CA, namely a historic day/night Test against the resurgent New Zealand in the first half of the 2015-16 summer. That contest will again be supported by the Gabba’s greatest virtue, the 22 yards at its centre, and the national team’s strong attachment to it.

Plus, most World Cup runs without a duck, and Seb Coe’s brother-in-law

Steven Lynch07-Apr-2015What’s the highest any team has gone on to score in a Test after being five down for less than 100? And what’s the corresponding figure in ODIs? asked Dhanushka Edussuriya from Sri Lanka
The Test record was broken in February 2014, when New Zealand recovered from 94 for 5 in their second innings against India in Wellington to reach 680 for 8 – that’s 586 runs for the last five wickets, led by Brendon McCullum’s 302, New Zealand’s first Test triple-century. The previous record was 474, by Pakistan against New Zealand in Lahore in 1955-56 – they recovered from 87 for 5 (and 111 for 6) to rack up 561 in all. The one-day international also belongs to New Zealand: against Sri Lanka in Dunedin earlier this year they were 93 for 5 after 20 overs, but ended up scoring 360.Which England cricketer is the brother-in-law of the famous British Olympic runner Sebastian Coe? asked Mark Hanson from Australia
Sebastian Coe, the Olympic 1500m champion of 1980 and 1984, is now married to Carole, the daughter of the former England captain Mike “MJK” Smith. His son Neil, who also captained Warwickshire, played seven one-day internationals for England early in 1996, three of them in that year’s World Cup. Neil Smith and Lord Coe are therefore brothers-in-law.Is Sanath Jayasuriya the only batsman to score over 1000 World Cup runs without making a duck? asked Oscar D’Souza from the UAE
Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya scored 1165 runs in the World Cup, without ever being dismissed for a duck in his 37 innings (three of them not out). He does hold the record for the most runs in the World Cup without a duck, but there is another man who reached 1000 without one: Viv Richards ended up with 1013 runs in 21 innings without ever being out for nought. Matthew Hayden made 987, and Steve Waugh 978. The most by current players is 888 by Michael Clarke, and 809 by Martin Guptill. The overall record is held by Kepler Wessels, who scored 3367 runs in 109 ODIs for Australia and South Africa without ever bagging a duck.Nathan Bracken played ten World Cup games and didn’t get to bat even once•Getty ImagesWhat’s the highest score in a losing cause in a World Cup match? asked Debapriya Chakraborty from India
There have now been 31 individual centuries in vain in the World Cup, with Herschelle Gibbs, Ricky Ponting, Scott Styris, Brendan Taylor, Ryan ten Doeschate and Sachin Tendulkar having made two each. Up to this year, the record for the highest score was Gibbs’ 143 for South Africa against New Zealand at Johannesburg in 2003, but that was broken in 2015 by Scotland’s Kyle Coetzer, who hit 156 against Bangladesh in Nelson but still ended up on the losing side. In all one-day internationals there have now been 360 centuries in a losing cause, the highest among them Charles Coventry’s 194 not out for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh in Bulawayo in August 2009.I noticed that Glenn McGrath played 39 World Cup matches but scored only three runs. Who has played the most matches without ever scoring a run? asked Lucy Agbai from Malaysia
It’s true that Glenn McGrath’s 39 World Cup matches brought him just three runs, although the strength of the Australian side he played in – they won in 1999, 2003 and 2007 – meant he only had to bat four times, and was not out on three of those occasions. One of his team-mates, Shaun Tait, played in 18 World Cup matches in 2007 and 2011, but only batted once … and made 0 not out. Another Australian seamer, Nathan Bracken, played ten matches in the World Cup (all in 2007) and never batted at all. Trent Boult, one of New Zealand’s 2015 heroes, got to the crease just twice in his nine matches this year – both times against Australia, in the group stage and the final – and made 0 not out each time.With a Wisden Trophy series about to start in the Caribbean, I was wondering whether Shivnarine Chanderpaul has played in more West Indies-England Tests than anyone else? asked Ricky Cameron from Jamaica
Shivnarine Chanderpaul has so far played 33 Tests against England since his debut back in 1993-94. Six players have appeared in more, all from West Indies: Desmond Haynes, Viv Richards, Garry Sobers and Courtney Walsh all played 36, and Curtly Ambrose and Clive Lloyd 34. Rohan Kanhai also played 33. The England record is Geoff Boycott’s 29. Chanderpaul therefore needs to play in all three Tests of the upcoming series to equal the overall record. He has so far scored 2359 runs against England, a number exceeded for West Indies only by Sobers (3214), Brian Lara (2983 from 30 matches), Richards (2869) and Haynes (2392). The England record against West Indies is also held by Boycott, with 2205 runs. The leading bowlers are also all West Indians: Ambrose took 164 England wickets, Walsh 145, Malcolm Marshall 127, Sobers 102 and Lance Gibbs 100. Fred Trueman leads the way for England with 86.

In a tournament that gave the appearance of being dominated by the bat, the ball had the last word and it was Australia’s attack that provided a degree of redemption

Sambit Bal30-Mar-2015If the essence of Australia’s World Cup-winning campaign could be distilled to one moment, this would be it. A thunderous ball, full, fast and swinging, from Mitchell Starc zipping past Brendon McCullum’s bat to rattle his off stump. It was a match-shaping, tournament-defining moment: New Zealand never recovered from it, and it electrified Australia to a performance worthy of champions.A previous moment of such significance had belonged to Grant Elliott, whose final-over six off Dale Steyn had carried New Zealand to their first-ever final. It can be argued that the drama and the definitiveness of its impact made Elliott’s six a more iconic image, but Starc’s ball established Australia’s dominance even before New Zealand could begin their challenge.And it was fitting, too. In a tournament that gave the appearance of being dominated by the bat, the ball had the last word. Starc was the Man of the Tournament, James Faulkner was the Man of the Match, and the best bowling side won the Cup.Australia brought to the tournament arguably the most powerful batting assembly in recent times, but the destruction was wrought by their bowlers. Their explosive opening pair failed and, barring Steven Smith, none of their batsmen featured in the list of top 10 run-makers. The only match they lost in the tournament was an outcome of a sensational batting collapse. Even that match was almost salvaged by their bowlers. In the knockout round, they were irresistible, never allowing a challenge even to develop, never conceding at a rate of more than five runs in the innings.The bowling story, however, wasn’t limited to Australia. Three of the four semi-finalists were carried by their bowlers. Until they ran into Australia, India bowled out all their opponents and New Zealand nearly did so. Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami were the third and fourth highest wicket-takers in the World Cup, and they defied their pre-tournament form by conceding less than five an over each. Trent Boult’s bowling was one of the most compelling parts of New Zealand’s journey to the final: rare was an opening spell from him that didn’t produce a wicket.Until South Africa get over the line in a global tournament, their ability to hold their nerve in the vital moments will continue to be questioned.•Getty ImagesAnd while the 400-mark was breached three times, and overall there were 28 scores of 300 or more – 11 more than the 2011 World Cup – only three times in the tournament was a target of over 300 chased down. Ireland managed it against West Indies in their first match, Sri Lanka sauntered in their chase against England, while Bangladesh secured a record chase against Scotland. In 2011, there were two instances of winning teams chasing over 300 and England scored 338 to tie against India.By themselves, the numbers told a story. There were bigger scores, but fewer even contests. Only one of the seven knock-out matches produced a grand-stand finish, and only more match that mattered – Bangladesh’s win over England that helped them qualify – went to the last few overs. It wasn’t as much a World Cup of bat v bat as had been feared, but the playing conditions – two white balls that never aged sufficiently to allow reverse-swing or turn, and one less fielder in the outfield which made protecting boundaries that much harder – made sure that batting first, despite the final and two of the quarter-finals, created almost an unfair advantage between equal teams.A couple of days before the final, Mark Nicholas hosted for us Ian Chappell, Michael Holding, Martin Crowe and Rahul Dravid in a discussion over the ideal format for the 2019 World Cup. Opinions were split about the size of the tournament and the place of the Associates in it, but there was unanimity that the balance between the bat and ball had to be restored. The vote was in favour of abolishing two new balls and for sending one more man outside the 30-yard circle.Holding argued passionately, and found unconditional support, for restricting the depth of the bat. “There was a time when the bat used to have a sweet spot,” he said, “these days, there are sweet bats.” Wickets in the first 20 overs made the big difference for Australia, but 150 runs in the last 15 overs feels thrilling only as an exception. As a routine, it dulls the senses.Inarguably, the four best teams made it to the semi-finals but, of these, South Africa under-performed again. They lost three of the five matches they played against top eight teams and, once again, vital errors in the closing stages cost them a spot in the final. It was a gut-wrenching result for them, but unless they get over the line in a global tournament, their ability to hold their nerve in the vital moments will continue to be questioned.On the other hand, New Zealand and India went as far their ability could have taken them. In some ways, their clean record till the losses to Australia flattered them somewhat. Barring South Africa, India didn’t meet a team that could give them a contest. Their death bowling went largely untested until the semi-final, and their lack of finish at the end of the innings never cost them. New Zealand played all their matches at home, and even though they beat Australia at Eden Park, they still arrived at the final decidedly as underdogs.But Australia won because they were a class above and in each of their final three matches, the ones that really counted, their bowling – the fast bowlers applied such pressure that even Glenn Maxwell took wickets – proved decisively superior. And in the process they provided the World Cup a degree of redemption and a clue to shaping its future: even one-day cricket needs to cherish and nurture bowlers.Pity the behaviour.

India’s leading offspinner of the 2000s fell away because of his tendency to overuse the doosra. Can he make enough of an impact in Bangladesh?

Aakash Chopra09-Jun-2015There are a few boxes you want the ideal offspinner to tick:1. Turns the ball
2. Gets the ball to drift in the air
3. Gets the ball to drop on the batsman
4. Extracts bounce
5. Has variations
6. Bowls an aggressive outside-off-stump line
7. Pitches fuller, enticing the batsman to drive off the front foot
About a decade and a half ago, when I first played the 17-year-old Harbhajan Singh, he had all of these qualities, even as a youngster. He was the perfect product of the SG Test ball, which offers a pronounced seam and allows the ball to grip the surface and, if maintained well, offers drift in the air too.The key to achieving these attributes is that the ball must be delivered with the seam slightly tilted towards fine leg. That way it almost always lands half on the seam and half on the leather, and that allows it to grip and spin. If the position of the seam is maintained, the shine of the ball dictates that it drifts in the air, either away from the batsman or into him, depending which side the shine is on. The young Harbhajan was almost miraculously effective at this.There were a few other things he could do that most of his peers couldn’t. His high-arm action coupled with his height produced more bounce than other bowlers could, and so the fielders at short leg and backward short-leg were always in play. You couldn’t simply offer a dead bat while defending, for the turn and bounce could take the ball in the direction of the two close-in catching fielders on the on side. Harbhajan would almost always bowl an aggressive outside-off-stump line and bowl full to entice the batsman to play against the spin, through the off side.

Harbhajan couldn’t quite master the Kookaburra, but that wasn’t the reason why he was dropped. The reason was the lack of zip in his offspinners, and a corresponding decline in his wicket-taking ability

He was also the first high-profile Indian offspinner to bowl the doosra. But the good thing was that even when he had mastered it, the regular offbreak continued to be his stock ball, and it produced more wickets for him. The doosra was a surprise ball to keep the batsman guessing, and in any case, Harbhajan’s doosra didn’t go the other way as much as it did for the likes of Saqlain Mushtaq or Saeed Ajmal. That was a good thing, for it ensured that his focus was always on the stock ball. The only thing that he didn’t have at 17 was the strength to sustain bowling quality for long periods. Once he achieved that, he became the complete bowler.He flourished, the wickets came, and Harbhajan became an important cog in the Indian bowling unit – so much so that for some time he was the first spinner in the side, even when Anil Kumble was in the squad.His problems arose when India played Test cricket in countries where the Kookaburra ball, which has a less pronounced seam, was used. Anyone who has grown up bowling with an SG ball faces serious issues adjusting to a ball that has close to no seam – like the Kookaburra when it is old. With no seam to grip the surface, you have to put more revolutions on the ball to get purchase off hard and bouncy surfaces.Harbhajan couldn’t quite master the Kookaburra in his heyday, but that wasn’t the reason why he was dropped from the Indian team. The reason was the lack of zip in his offspinners, and a corresponding decline in his wicket-taking ability.In his last five Tests, he has nine wickets at 63.88 apiece. These matches span three series – two at home against England and Australia, and one away against England.Every player is a product of his conditioning, and Harbhajan was no different. He was always the first to reach the nets of Burlton Park in Jalandhar, was the last to leave, and bowled through the net session. He would bowl a lot of overs, and bowl a lot of orthodox offspin. That is how your bowling muscles are developed: the more you bowl, the better the ball comes out of the hand.As T20 cricket took root, Harbhajan seemed to focus more on variations and lost his zing•BCCII think the reason his offies became less effective was that he didn’t bowl enough of them in the nets and in matches. And that might have something to do with the introduction of T20 cricket and with playing a lot of one-day cricket. That’s when it began to seem that Harbhajan had started focusing more on his variations than on traditional offspin.His trajectory got lower, the speeds faster, and the line was more on the pads as opposed to outside off. He would bowl a lot of doosras and topspinners to minimise damage in the shorter format. Now, all of this was not unexpected – the demands of the shorter formats are such that most spinners go down that route when batsmen line them up to hit with the spin through the midwicket region; so if the ball holds its line or goes the other way, it becomes a little tougher for the batsman. But you need to be careful not to overdo the doosra, because you might lose your stock ball in the bargain. Also, there’s still some merit in bowling slow in the shorter formats.That’s what Harbhajan did in the last season of the IPL, for Mumbai Indians. He was back to bowling a lot slower in the air, and the overwhelming majority of the deliveries he bowled were proper offbreaks. Now this could be because the doosra in general is less used on the circuit because of the crackdown against it, or the fact that Harbhajan almost always bowls the middle overs in a 20-over innings.Even so, it was heartening to see glimpses of the old Harbhajan. Sterner tests await him now that he has made it back into the Indian Test side. His first assignment is the one-off Test match against Bangladesh. That will be played with a Kookaburra ball, and likely on a shirtfront. There will also be the small matter of another offspinner bowling from the other end, and comparisons will be inevitable. Comebacks after a certain age hang by a thin thread, so it’s important he makes a mark in his first game back. Will Harbhajan do so?

Although World Sports Park is not yet a finished article, the success of the ICC Americas T20 proved that it won’t be the last time a national or international event is played here

Peter Della Penna14-May-20151:08

Indianapolis World Sports Park makes its debut for the 2015 ICC Americas Division One T20 tournament

The approach along Indiana state Route 52 is highly inconspicuous. A few tractor supply equipment rental stations line the road to signal that you’re in America’s heartland. A private airport mainly used for model planes sits mostly dormant just across the street. The entrance on Post Road leading into the facility is a simple two-lane road with modest traffic.It may not have all the bells and whistles of stadium seating and a two-tiered pavilion like the Central Broward Regional Park in Florida. It doesn’t possess the wide expanse of four separate fields located at Woodley Park in Southern California. It doesn’t even have a local league to support it with regular use.Yet less than a year after it opened, Indianapolis World Sports Park has beaten the odds to host an ICC World T20 Qualifying tournament. Based on the facility’s debut event, it won’t be the last time a national or international event is played at the $5 million facility. Despite being three hours away from the nearest genuine US cricket enclave in Chicago, and much further afield from bigger pockets like New York, Dallas and San Francisco, it didn’t take long for everyone involved at the ICC Americas Division One T20 to warm up to playing at the simple, yet impressive facility.The positivesAccording to Mark Perham, a groundsman from New Zealand brought in as a consultant to work at IWSP for this tournament, the space’s best feature is a world-class outfield including a Test-match-standard drainage system. Despite persistent rains on day three and day six, only seven overs of play were lost during the tournament compared to far more drastic reductions in play for wet weather at the Central Broward Regional Park in Florida.”I think what they’ve done here is pretty outstanding really,” Perham said. “It’s a full sand carpet outfield which is pretty much the world’s best standard practice for building outfields. The drainage is phenomenal. You’ll never lose a game because of drainage here. That’s for sure.”Two strips were used for the tournament, one for the first three days before shifting to a new pitch for the second half of the tournament. Though the ICC Americas Division One T20 featured consistently low scores – the average first innings total across 12 matches was 122 with only one score in excess of 150 – there were hardly any complaints about the quality of the pitch. The star batsmen from each squad – Bermuda’s David Hemp, USA’s Fahad Babar, Canada’s Ruvindu Gunasekera – had few problems making scores. Perham had less than two weeks to get the ground ready after arriving from Auckland but was satisfied with the way the pitch played.In addition to the main oval, the facility has six practice nets beyond the north-east boundary. Three are synthetic turf and three are natural but those were just seeded and were not ready for use during the tournament. There is also a secondary oval to use but is not approved for international play due to its synthetic wicket.The problemsMost of the drawbacks of the facility relate to logistical aspects beyond the boundary. There is no pavilion so consequently there are no change rooms for the players, no permanent media facilities, no bleachers for fans to sit in and no concession stands or food vendors stationed inside the park. There are also no floodlights.While Perham felt the standard of pitch and outfield was Test standard, it was obvious that most other aspects outside the ropes were makeshift accommodations that would only be suitable at amateur level. In order to host something like the West Indies vs New Zealand matches held in Florida in 2012, Indianapolis would need to invest significantly more in infrastructure at World Sports Park to attract revenue-generating events.In the context of Indianapolis itself, the facility is also 20 minutes east of downtown whereas all the major sports venues – Lucas Oil Field, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Victory Field and Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium – are within a 12-block radius of each other right in the heart of the city. Driving to the facility feels like you are far away from the heartbeat of the city’s sports action.World Sports Park hosted the ICC Americas T20 tournament•Peter Della PennaWhat the players said”The facility here is excellent. I enjoy the field. It’s very picturesque. It’s in the middle of nowhere but it has a lot of space for a lot of people. It’s a definite change from past tours. It was filled with Americans actually cheering for the USA team so it felt really special.”
“Facility-wise I think it’s really good. I think the outfield is magnificent. All it probably needs is a clubhouse, a proper changing area, but apart from that I think it could be a really good venue so I’m really impressed with what I’ve seen.”
“It’s a great facility. I believe there’s no local cricket here in Indiana but it’s a great facility to come to and play. It’s great to have these facilities here and in Houston and cricket can only go up in this part of the world. USA is blessed with a lot of cricketing facilities all around. It’s probably one of the better ones.”
The way aheadBeing used regularly is the biggest obstacle facing IWSP. City officials and local residents still speak of USACA in hushed tones after the city and governing body ripped up an agreement last year that had been in place to host USACA’s National T20 Tournament from 2014-2016. There is only one local cricket club in the city and rental fees, ranging from $560 for use of the synthetic field to more than $1,000 a day for the natural turf oval, make it untenable for regular use by the club.The ICC Americas won’t be staging another regional Division One tournament for at least two years and unless other investments are made to upgrade the site, it won’t be desirable for hosting neutral site, Full Member cricket like the Central Broward Regional Park has done in the past. City officials have always stressed the multi-purpose nature of the facility, so as to avoid the trap the CBRP has fallen into of being purpose-built for cricket only to lie empty for the majority of the year.”The approach we have taken with the World Sports Park has been to put world class playing conditions in,” Andrew Stephens, senior marketing manager for Indy Parks and Recreation, said. “We need time to allow cricket to grow and build a following and for that demand to grow. You never want to build anything to just let it sit. It is flexible and even with other sports we continue to look at what we can do to keep it a world-class facility.”Perham still maintains hope that it will get more than sporadic cricket use to have a chance of becoming a premier cricket facility. Seeing how pristine the outfield looked and the pitch played over the course of the six days, it would be a shame if the rest of the facility never rises to that standard due to neglect.”Personally I just think the more it can be used the better it’ll become because that’ll mean the local parks division will invest more money into it and maybe appoint a full-time curator and that’s the best thing that can happen here,” Perham said. “They need somebody who is cricket-orientated and can drive it and make sure the practice facilities are good and the pitch is good. I know there’s not much of a local [league] competition but even if teams can come here for a training camp or things like that, it can only be a good thing.”