Mushfiqur Rahim said that Mahmudullah is set to stay at No. 7 but Bangladesh’s latest performance suggests they may need to be flexible

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur08-Dec-2012Mahmudullah had never walked into a collapse like the one he faced against West Indies on Friday evening. Bangladesh were 13 for 5 in the sixth over and were staring at quite a number of undesirables: the all-time lowest innings total, the lowest total in Bangladesh and also the team’s lowest total. Though he prevented all of these scenarios, he will remain restricted to the role of steering the innings to respectability and safety until the top and middle-order are experienced enough to handle the pressure.Bangladesh were still bowled out for 136, 75 short of West Indies’ modest 211 for 9, with Mahmudullah unbeaten on 56 off 78 balls as he found very few batsmen at the other end to put together a decent partnership. He led the initial recovery, a 74-run sixth wicket stand with captain Mushfiqur Rahim, who later said Mahmudullah would have to shore up the batting line-up from his the No.7 position.”[Mahmudullah] Riyad bhai has been batting there for most of his career,” Mushfiqur said. “But we have some young batsmen so if I, Riyad or Nasir bat up the order, our late order becomes too young or inexperienced. At the same time, if the top order does well, he doesn’t have to bat at all.”Nasir [Hossain] had three good scores in the Tests so it would be difficult to demote him to No. 7. I think our batting order is still fine. We wanted to give the newcomers their regular batting places so that they can bat from within their comfort zones. If there’s a collapse, we need one batsman down the order to anchor the innings.”Mushfiqur is correct in thinking that having an experience-light lower order wouldn’t help the team or the youngsters, but it also shows the backward step Bangladesh have had to take despite having a year in which they had some ODI success. The Asia Cup performance, for instance, was enough to set up a steady batting line-up but instead, the absence of a regular opening batsman to partner Tamim Iqbal and the injury of Shakib Al Hasan has thrown open too many empty slots. It also shows how inflexible Bangladesh are when under the pressure of winning a game.They would speak of playing their natural game but none of the aggressive batsmen attacked Kemar Roach and Darren Sammy and neither did the steady hands bat with patience and authority. It is too early to judge Anamul Haque and Mominul Haque, but they should have watched how Mahmudullah, Bangladesh’s most successful No.7, dug deep and remained unbeaten on 56. He is the highest run-scorer at that position in world cricket since his ODI debut, but even his form, attitude or ability will not earn him a promotion.Mushfiqur has asked the top and middle order to show Mahmudullah’s tenacity under pressure, particularly in the deciding game of the five-match series on Saturday. Mahmudullah had fought hard for more than two hours, often getting beaten outside off stump and yet continuing to find the gaps whenever the loose ball was available. His seven boundaries broke a spell of dot balls that West Indies were building up and pushing the fielders back.The batsmen before him did exactly the opposite as their own wastefulness helped West Indies. Anamul, Mominul and Naeem Islam were all caught trying to force the pace while Tamim and Hossain was comprehensively beaten by Roach’s pace. The top-order collapse was reminiscent of the careless performance that shut them out for 58 runs in the infamous World Cup match last year. Mohammad Ashraful was the No. 7 then, but this time they had a Mahmudullah to cushion the fall.”Credit goes to him for the way he played,” Mushfiqur said. “I would hope that our top order bats exactly like he did today. We knew they would attack us with pace. The wicket wasn’t too bad, and it was only natural that the two new balls, under lights, would swing.”They bowled well but our top-order batsman should have been more serious, take a bit more of the challenge, it wouldn’t have been 13 for 5. Chasing 212 runs became very difficult from there.”In Mahmudullah, Bangladesh have a batsman who is willing to lose the ego of getting beaten time and again, and still have the fortitude to bat the way he likes. He has had success, too, remaining unbeaten on 12 occasions when the team won, which includes his famous last-ditch effort against England in the World Cup. The Dhaka Test last month gave him the confidence, particularly the testing period he survived in the second innings.He is happy batting at No. 7 because the team management prefers him there but a time will come next year when Bangladesh would need him early in a chase before the top order collapses, rather than at a point when the collapse has already happened.

Laxman’s technique is marked by little footwork and a tendency to hang back in the crease that fosters an air of vulnerability around his batsmanship. Perhaps, it is this apparent susceptibility that creates a sense of beauty and delicacy

Rutvij Merchant25-Feb-2013In the late 1990s, aged seven, I watched my first India-Pakistan match in Sharjah. I have vivid memories of screaming, ” (India will win),” infused with patriotic fervour. But regardless of which side won, all I wanted to see was a Saeed Anwar hundred. Representing the true power of sport, his peerless timing derived from wrists uncocking just the right amount to caress a drive to the boundary, made me forget all vestiges of national allegiance, rendering jingoistic thoughts petty in the face of an artist at work.Similarly, when Laxman announced himself with a silky 167 in Sydney on the 1999-2000 tour of Australia, cricket found its muse and a love affair began.I find it very hard to put into words the one quality that touch players such as Gower, Anwar and Laxman have that can send you into rapture. They lack the consummate perfection of a Tendulkar, the cocktail of arrogance, timing and power of a Lara, the technical excellence of a Dravid; indeed Laxman’s technique is anything but classical, marked by little footwork and a tendency to hang back in the crease that fosters an air of vulnerability around his batsmanship. Perhaps, it is this apparent susceptibility that is a necessity, the fragility creates a sense of beauty and delicacy in every flicked pull and supremely-timed back-foot punch that flows from his blade.Further, for someone whose technique can be construed as a weakness, he has exhibited a remarkable ability to perform when his country needs him the most. A 103 on a fifth-day turner at the P Sara Oval, 73 in Mohali against Australia, the instances are numerous … This capacity to just simply bat when the pressure is immense is what, in my opinion, truly makes Laxman special.Watching him at such times is akin to a spiritual experience due to the sheer equanimity that he exudes, rendering the match situation almost obsolete even in the eyes of the viewer. Whether 77 for 4 chasing 250 in the last innings, or 300 for 4, once Laxman is in and the effortless weight transfer through the crease and the supple wrists coax a flicked on-drive to the fence, it all feels the same, the tension associated with India struggling simply dissipates. The precarious situation is forgotten; in fact it is reduced to the status of something quite inconsequential, as you are ensconced in a bubble, where the only thing that registers is his batsmanship. This astounding ability to blissfully bat on normally, regardless of the pressure, rubs off on the viewer; his style simply pushes aside the strife.An archetypal middle-class Indian background has helped him wear his greatness lightly too. When my uncle met him on tour in the West Indies, he proved remarkably forthcoming. They exchanged emails, which my uncle assumed was simply an act of courtesy until he was surprised on his return home by Laxman inquiring as to a safe journey back, my uncle’s thoughts on the tour and the well-being of his family. Undoubtedly, an act of immense humility that provided me with an insight into his dignified character, an aspect that will in all probability be missed as much in the dressing room as his cricketing prowess.With the changing times, a propensity to hammer the ball into space is evident, with far more emphasis placed on the product rather than the process. Caressing boundaries in a way that the cherry itself would almost want to come back asking for more made Laxman probably the last bastion of a dying breed. This decline of the touch player is extremely disappointing as, though they may not be many things – such as adept at Twenty20, or capable of mammoth hits (Laxman has just five sixes in Test cricket) or innovative strokeplay – only they manage to uplift batting to an art form, allowing the viewer a momentary glimpse of a higher, purer game that got lost somewhere along the way.Laxman retires, with no significant batting record to his name, but somehow it makes no difference. Any records that he does hold may be overtaken, but the manner in which they were set will never be simulated. For now, all we can do is pray that Youtube never goes bust since the emergence of another player of VVS’s ilk looks increasingly unlikely.Perhaps, I should leave the last words to Tendulkar: after his and Laxman’s 353-run partnership in Sydney in 2004, where Tendulkar was the model of extreme self-restraint, he said: “I had just decided to stay there … and watch from the other end.”

The season is more likely to be remembered for the off-field drama, but there were several cricketing talking points as well

Siddarth Ravindran27-May-2013Home, sweet home
In Test cricket, the contrast between teams’ record in familiar home conditions and their record away is stark. In the IPL till this season, there was only a bit of a difference between teams’ home and away record. In 2013, though, IPL teams were succeeding so often at home – the win-loss record was twice more than all other seasons – that it stirred a debate mid-season over whether away wins should be awarded an extra point. Both Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals swept all eight matches at home; one highlight of the home advantage was Royals using a bouncy track and an all-pace attack to outwit Kolkata Knight Riders, who play most often on a slow, low track at Eden Gardens. Royal Challengers Bangalore’s headlining trio – Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers – made the most of perhaps the flattest surface in the country, at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, to ensure there was only one defeat in Bangalore. Sunrisers Hyderabad, one of the teams with the least batting firepower, had pitches that assisted their top-quality bowling attack, allowing the team to regularly defend low scores on their way to seven wins at home. Partly this was due to players having got accustomed to the conditions over three years, an advantage which could be lost when the teams are shuffled ahead of next season.The pitfalls of foreign captains
If the captain is supposed to be the person around whom the franchise is built, foreign players seem to be a bad choice, as Adam Gilchrist, Kumar Sangakkara, Ricky Ponting and Angelo Mathews proved. Besides poor form, there’s the possibility of them not being available for the entire season due to international commitments. The pool of players available to be the face of the team has shrunk further as Rahul Dravid is uncertain for the next season, Sachin Tendulkar has retired, and Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh were not leading this year. All of which means most franchises will have to splash big money for the few viable candidates likely to be available for auction, more so as most suitable Indian choices – MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina – will likely be kept by their current franchise (though the retention policy is yet to be determined).Fielding mixed bag
Many IPL fans will remember Ricky Ponting’s supremely athletic diving, one-handed catch against Delhi Daredevils early this season. Far fewer will remember Lasith Malinga putting down a more straightforward chance at short fine leg two balls later. It encapsulated the fielding standards in the IPL – some were spectacular made-for-promos efforts, while others were nearly amateurish. That has been the case for most seasons now, with a particularly vast gulf between the standards of the Indian domestic players and those of the overseas pros. Given that, it was heartening to see that the official catch of the season award went to the unheralded Kings XI Punjab youngster, Gurkeerat Singh.No panic batting
In the early years of Twenty20, batsmen felt the need to attack virtually every ball, and teams turned to jelly when the asking rate hits double digits. No more, as several teams gleefully discarded the age-old concept of the best batsmen facing the most number of balls. Rajasthan Royals often held back Shane Watson for later in the innings, or trusted Brad Hodge to get 50 in the final five, while David Miller routinely walked out below little-knowns like Manan Vohra.Chennai Super Kings’ preferred strategy was to go at just about a run-a-ball in the first 10 without losing too many wickets, before unleashing the heavy-hitters in the middle order. It worked wonders most times, though it seemed to backfire as MS Dhoni walked out as low as No. 7 in the final, with the match seemingly lost.Hapless umpiring
As with wicketkeepers, umpires are said to have a good day when they don’t draw undue attention to themselves. This IPL season, though, the umpires were frequently in the spotlight, for all the wrong reasons, even before Asad Rauf was pulled from the Champions Trophy following media reports that indicated he was under investigation by Mumbai Police. Perhaps for the first time in his career, Rahul Dravid showed how livid he was with the umpiring after he was given out caught behind though his bat was nowhere near the ball. Dhawal Kulkarni bowled six full tosses in one of the worst final overs of the tournament, but Mumbai Indians still won as a chest-high full toss was somehow deemed valid. “They are not playing run-outs anymore,” Adam Gilchrist deadpanned after Michael Hussey was inexplicably given not out even though he looked short of the crease. Those were just a few of the prominent glitches in a tournament where the level of umpiring was consistently below par.

The Plays of the day from the IPL match between Pune Warriors v Kings XI Punjab, in Pune

Mohammad Isam07-Apr-2013The catch
There have already been a couple of astonishing catches this season with Ajinkya Rahane and Kieron Pollard pulling off stunning takes yesterday. Kings XI Punjab’s Gurkeerat Singh added to that list today, sprinting across from deep backward square leg, diving full length to his right and towards the boundary, to pouch a superbly timed Ross Taylor shot. The television angles that checked whether the catch was completed properly showcased the brilliance of the catch as it looked even better when seen from behind the fielder.The end
The eventual last ball of the match was evidence of Pune Warriors’ struggle. Mitchell Marsh had David Hussey spectacularly caught at midwicket by T Suman but the umpires decided to check for a no-ball. The replays showed Marsh had overstepped, and which the resulting extra run ended the game.The ball
Parvinder Awana pegged the Warriors’ batsmen back during his quick four-over spell. The crowning glory was a superb delivery that sliced open Angelo Mathews, took the outside edge and had him caught behind by Adam Gilchrist.The whip
It was a bowlers’ game until Gilchrist went after Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the first over of Kings XI’s chase. He pummelled the first and fourth balls of the over down the ground for fours, before the fifth delivery brought back memories of Gilchrist in his pomp. Gilchrist effortlessly swung a leg-side delivery into the stands beyond square-leg. It was the cue for the youngsters Mandeep Singh and Manan Vohra to smash the Warriors bowlers and complete a straightforward victory.

His young features bely a grown-up temperament and steely focus that prompted England to test Joe Root’s leadership credentials

David Hopps07-May-2013Sometimes the best captains never actively seek the job. They are invited to lead because others perceive qualities that they themselves regard as second nature and therefore nothing out of the ordinary. Joe Root could be one of those captains.Root has had scant experience of leadership in his formative years, yet his elevation to the Lions captaincy against New Zealand at Grace Road on Wednesday, the final warm-up before the Lord’s Test, is the latest accolade in a quite remarkable year.Long innings of intense fortitude after his breakthrough to England’s Test side have been followed by the most abundant, free-flowing form of his life – 467 runs in three first-class innings for Yorkshire, a batting talent suddenly flowering – with the excitement of the Champions Trophy and back-to-back Ashes series ahead.But there has been so much emphasis on Root’s slip-of-a-lad countenance, the impression that he is a boy amongst men, that his captaincy credentials have gained little attention. When he broke into the England team you could sense people looking at him in wonder and exclaiming: “You ain’t nothing but a child.” Now the child is in charge.The official view, as expounded by Geoff Miller, the national selector, is that he had been given the role “in order to assist his development as a cricketer and provide him with valuable experience of captaincy against quality opposition”. Andy Flower, England’s director of cricket, is uncomfortable about the hype. But the has pitched it higher, pronouncing only four Tests into his England career that he is the likely successor to Alastair Cook.England do nothing without analysing its impact so it is fair to conclude that something is afoot. The selectors wanted Root to lead the Lions on a one-day tour of Australia last winter only to pass the job on to James Taylor when Root was called up for the full tour in New Zealand. They are grateful for a second chance. Fast-tracking young players into the England set up means that captaincy opportunities come rarely.Root has the sort of maturity that takes time to be recognised, a serious intent which was not always noticed by his peers during his teenage years when more fast-talking, outgoing characters held sway. His strength of character emerges subtly but it is apparent to all those who deal with his cricket on a daily basis.At Yorkshire, they were wise to his gifts. He was the youngest player ever to be awarded a scholarship to the Yorkshire Academy, at only 13. Ian Dews, Yorkshire’s academy director, who has known the Root family since his playing days in the Yorkshire League, still remembers a young man who found himself pushed forward when it came to the crunch.”He was often the youngest in the group but he never took a backward step,” Dews said. “In any group of players he was the one who would lead. We would do classroom presentations on dealing with the media or time management and it would often be, ‘go on Rooty, you have a go’.”He’d have battles when he was not strong enough to hit it off the square but you knew that when he did develop as a cricketer they would struggle to get him out. When he practices, he does so to the finest detail.”Andrew Gale, Yorkshire’s captain, can expect to see little of Root for the rest of the season, but he recognises his influence on and off the field. His unbeaten 182 against Durham, followed by 236 against Derbyshire, fashioned two victories that have stabilised Yorkshire’s start to their Championship campaign, but Gale knows that his value goes deeper than that. “He’s 22 and he’s a big voice in our dressing room,” Gale said. “He speaks like a 35-year-old.”Paul Farbrace arrived at Yorkshire as second XI coach, after more high-profile spells as Sri Lanka’s assistant coach and Kent’s director of cricket, eager to concentrate on player development again. He has grown to admire Root’s qualities. “He is so committed to learning and understanding the game he will make an excellent captain,” Farbrace said. “Underneath that exterior is a very hard-working, steely, gutsy character.”He speaks his mind more than some might imagine. He has always had strong opinions and is foremost in speaking up and expressing his views. He has a great desire for knowledge; he is an absolute sponge.”The toughness you see when he is batting goes through is always apparent. He is up there with Kumar Sangakkara when it comes to working hard on his technique. He is the absolute benchmark for any kid. He is full of hard work and dedication.”Cricket has fascinated Root since childhood and his immersion in it gives him many of the qualities inherent in a good captain. He is a natural believer in setting goals, both individually and for the team. His dedication and, latterly, his achievements work in his favour when it comes to commanding respect. So too does a belief in his even-handedness and equilibrium. If he can find the same mental stimulation in captaincy he does in batting, he can make a success of the job.In choosing captains, England no longer place much store by charisma. Ted Dexter had charisma in the 1960s but if the game drifted, Dexter could drift too, practising his golf swing at square leg. What some people saw as charisma in David Gower was condemned by the Yorkshire sage Geoffrey Boycott as flippancy. Mike Brearley, who was briefly replaced by a superficially more charismatic captain in Ian Botham, later observed: “Charisma seems to me to be a most limited asset for a captain.”When it comes to it, what England require from a captain is somebody steadfast, patient and analytical; somebody who can develop naturally from knowing his game to knowing . On Thursday, they will begin to discover whether Joe Root is that man.

The TV cameras focused on him a few times, his fan report made it to ESPNcricinfo, and his team won. Franklin Joseph is a lucky man

Franklin Joseph20-May-2013Choice of game
Having watched in disbelief as RCB surprised CSK on Saturday, I realised I was right in picking up tickets for this match. Now the Sunrisers needed to win to get through and I had to be there to take them through.Team supported
I have always backed the Hyderabad franchise. Last year, the Deccan Chargers knocked Bangalore out of the tournament in the final league game, but the victory was only half sweet since Deccan finished in the bottom half. But this time there was a lot more riding in the result for the Sunrisers. I was in the same Sunrisers jersey I wore to the victory against Rajasthan, and the good-luck charm worked wonders again.Expectations sky-high
We could sense the intensity in the air. Normally, when Hyderabad plays the popular teams the support would be 50-50. But today, the stands were a sea of orange. The tension was evident when the crowd watched in silence as the Kolkata openers got through the Powerplay without much trouble. There was applause whenever Dale Steyn ripped in his short balls or when Anand Rajan kept it tight. The crowd was cheering, but cautiously. Things changed gradually, though, and as the match proceeded, the carnival set in.Key performers
The Sunrisers openers Parthiv Patel and Shikhar Dhawan. Having watched KKR make only 130 I feared the SRH openers would struggle. But they took off instantly and grabbed the match out of KKR’s grip with a fluent 89-run stand.One thing I’d have changed about the match
The sudden twist in the climax made it too nervy – especially the maiden over from Sunil Narine. I’d have preferred to have a smoother finish. But then, to make it up, Darren Sammy’s sixes made it a grandstand finish instead of a heart-stopping one.Face-off I relished
After Steyn delivered sweet chin music to Yusuf Pathan, the next ball was duly dispatched over the fence. Yusuf instantly dropped his bat and put his hands up in mock-applause. After seeing the celebration on the big screen, Steyn returned the compliment at the top of his run-up with applause of his own. The two were inseparable till the end of the over.Close encounterSteyn kept playing to the gallery as he’s done all season. He began with the ‘I can’t hear you’ gesture towards the crowd on the Eastern stands and applauded every time the crowd responded. But he did curtail his antics after a misfield miffed him.We were in the front row in our stand, which afforded us a close-up view of the action at third man, or long-on. Amit Mishra put in a dive in front of us, and Yusuf’s sixes fell into our gallery. After returning home, I watched highlights and got to see myself on TV every time the ball made it to the boundary at our end.Shot of the day
Shikar Dhawan’s jump-and-cut off Jacques Kallis for six was the shot of the day for me. That shot had the words ‘This is T20 my friend’ written all over it.The careful banner banter
I had wanted to bring a ‘Bye-bye RCB’ banner to the ground, but I was aware that it could backfire. So I decided against it. I looked around the ground and on the big screen for at least one such banner. But clearly, everyone was apprehensive. But finally with the target under 40, I got the first glimpse of a banner that had exactly those words.Crowd meter
It took the crowd some time to get pumped up and the Manvinder Bisla dismissal triggered off delirium. When the SRH innings started, no amount of coaxing from the DJ or the big screen could get them going. But a few minutes into the chase, all that changed when Parthiv Patel crashed one over the top.Hardship factor
Having a cricket stadium in the middle of a hugely populated residential area does not help at all. Parking is a big mess with cars parked all around the ground, and along the roads abutting the stadium. Drinking water is not available for sale at the ground – soft drinks are the only thirst-quenchers on sale. Mobile phones and cameras are not allowed inside the ground, but some people managed to sneak them in. One person in the crowd was even caught on the big screen taking a picture of the roving cameraman.The farewell
As has been the case at other stadiums, the fans got a view of the home team players on a victory lap. A lucky few also got to take home jerseys that the players flung into the crowd during the lap of honor. The franchise representatives were there too, with a ‘Shukriya Hyderabad for the support’ banner.Marks out of 10I’d have to give a 10/10, if only for the favourable result.

Weighed down by impossibly high expectations, Stuart Broad again produced a performance to hint at greatness

George Dobell at Chester-le-Street10-Aug-2013It is never hard to understand why England persevere with Stuart Broad. Even on days when his body seems fragile, when he looks more of a slogger than the classy batsman he has shown he can be and when he releases the ball with all the force of a shuttlecock, he still looks as if he has all the raw ingredients to develop into a top-class international cricketer.Perhaps he already has. After all, aged 27, he has passed 200 Test wickets, scored nearly 2000 Test runs and played a part in a World Twenty20 win, three successful Ashes series and the England team achieving the No. 1 Test ranking.Yet the sense is there is more to come. The sense is that, with all that ability and all the faith the England selectors have invested in Broad, that he should be even better. That good isn’t good enough; he has to be great.That is quite a burden for a young cricketer. But when Broad first appeared in county cricket, he looked a player of such outrageous potential that there were hopes he could develop into something approach Glenn McGrath as a bowler and Andrew Flintoff as a batsman. That is a desperately high bench mark.That may be part of the reason some have become infuriated with him. He has so much natural talent and so many of the advantages that were denied his predecessors – not least a central contract and the security of continuity of selection – that a Test bowling average of 31 and a batting average of 25 appear a disappointing return six years into a Test career that promised more.It is true that Broad has, at times, been more decorative than functional. Times when he has been long on potential and short on delivery. When watching him has been like waiting for a Faberge egg to hatch.England prepared for ‘big day’

Stuart Broad anticipated a crucial third day in the fourth Test at Durham after his bowling kept England in the match. Broad gained sharp seam movement and claimed four wickets but, with Australia reaching stumps just 16 runs behind and with five wickets in hand, he accepted England were likely to concede a first-innings deficit.
“Every day is a big day in the Ashes, but tomorrow is a very big day for us,” Broad said. “This team has won from tricky positions and also saved games from tricky positions. But one thing we can’t do tomorrow is chase too much. I think if we go out and chase too much, Brad Haddin is one of those cricketers who will just smash you for four.
“So we have to be very patient. The new ball will naturally do a little bit, but we need to make sure the ball is in a very good area. We are going to concede a bit of a lead, but that shouldn’t scare us as long as it’s a not a big one.”

But whenever you think you can write off Broad, he produces a performance like this. A performance of such undeniable class and skill that it would seem madness to even contemplate dropping him. When, after all the time invested in him, it still seems he might just fulfil all those lofty ambitions people had for him.He does not do it often enough, of course, but even this year – a year when he has supposedly struggled – he has taken two five-wicket hauls against New Zealand and is on the brink of another against Australia. His figures in this series did not flatter him, either. He bowled well at Lord’s and Old Trafford without a hint of fortune.Broad was comfortably the best of England’s bowlers on the second day in Durham. Partly as a result of his height, but mostly as a result of his skill, he generated more movement than his colleagues and maintained an immaculate line and length just on or outside off stump.David Warner was undone by a beauty that seamed in, Usman Khawaja by one that had him unsure whether to play or leave and Chris Rogers was beaten more often than a snare drum as Broad, swinging the ball away but seaming it in, plugged away on off stump. Rogers later praised it as “an unbelievable, beautiful” spell of bowling. Broad finished the day with four wickets, but could have had several more.At present, he requires a bit of assistance from conditions to be truly effective. It is not so much that he does not have the skills to contribute on the flattest of pitches – he did so in the UAE and Sri Lanka, after all – it is more that he does not always seem to have the heart for it.In India, for example, there was a perception – possibly an incorrect one – that he did not have the stomach for the tough job required of him on flat surfaces and as one of only two seamers. Instead of rolling up his sleeves and embracing the glamour-free task – and the no-excuses culture – Broad spoke of illness and injury and finally went home early. The impression given at the time was that the England management were underwhelemed.Perhaps that was harsh, though. Perhaps the foot injury and food poisoning that Broad sustained really did contribute to his lacklustre performance and Broad’s real problems, once again, were the unrealistic aspirations we have had for him.He has already had, by most standards, a good career. And, if he can remain fit and perhaps invest in a little more time in the gym to ensure he has the strength required for the rigours of his role, there is no reason the best should not be ahead of him.Broad’s performance came in stark contrast to that of James Anderson. On the sort of pitch that Anderson must dream about, he appeared, for the second Test in succession, jaded and lacklustre. He did not bowl badly – he almost never does – but by the standards he has set, it was an oddly neutral performance.It may be facile, but it is worth reflecting for a moment on what the reaction might have been had Graham Onions played ahead of Anderson in this Test and produced an identical performance. He may well have been jettisoned forever. Anderson will certainly – and correctly – not suffer such a fate, but all the signs indicate he requires a break. A strong case could be made to suggest he has played his last international cricket of the summer.

The indecision over the Tests between Sri Lanka and South Africa, in the wake of the SLPL’s cancellation, has robbed cricket of a interesting contest. The worrying thing is that it may lead Sri Lanka down a path of Test mediocrity

Andrew Fidel Fernando02-Aug-2013The day after South Africa arrived in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka Premier League’s franchise owners missed their second payment deadline, and slammed the door on the tournament’s second edition. Sri Lanka Cricket had not quite moved mountains to secure a window for their cash cow, but they had postponed the Test leg of South Africa’s tour to 2015. As a one-sided ODI series has helped make clear, SLC’s disregard for Tests has robbed Sri Lanka of a genuine chance at toppling Test cricket’s best team.Sri Lanka are now ranked seventh in the world in Tests. In 2012-13, they had an abysmal tour of Australia, losing all three Tests comfortably on the most high-profile tour they have had in years. They were uninspiring at home, throwing away a 1-0 lead against New Zealand, and allowing Bangladesh to muster a draw on a featherbed in Galle. Yet, despite the team’s shortcomings, Sri Lanka’s ranking has also been a victim of SLC’s contempt for the format.In 2012, four Tests were removed from the schedule: one against England, that clashed with the IPL’s schedule in March, and three against India, which were replaced by an ODI series that bordered on disastrous for the home side. The effects of culling the Test against England are yet to be felt in full. Sri Lanka’s reciprocal tour of England in 2014 will also now have only two Tests. In 2013, Sri Lanka were only too happy to acquiesce when the West Indies Cricket Board wished to free up its own players for the IPL, and sought to replace the scheduled bilateral tour with an ODI tri-series. When that tri-series and the window already set aside for the SLPL then made a full South Africa tour untenable, the Tests, predictably, were relocated to a vaguely defined period in the future.While it’s true that only a few men in the South Africa side that have been demolished in Sri Lanka also take their whites on tour (and perhaps they are better at red-ball cricket, anyway), there can be little doubt that a three-match series would have been more competitive than the teams’ disparate rankings suggest.South Africa’s troubles with playing and producing good spin bowling have been the most conspicuous contributors to their dismay in Sri Lanka and, in a country that presents a distinctive challenge to bowlers and batsmen, Sri Lanka are well placed to exploit the widest chink in South Africa’s cricket. Robin Peterson had been South Africa’s frontline spinner in their last Test series against Pakistan, but on pitches as helpful as any he might bowl on, the ease with which Sri Lanka’s batsmen played him might have caused particular worry in the South Africa side if Tests were to follow.Sri Lanka have also been something of a bogey team for South Africa in the past. South Africa have established a 15-Test unbeaten streak in the last 18 months, but Sri Lanka are the last side to have defeated them, in Durban in 2011. Their unbeaten streak in away series – which stretches all the way back to 2006 – is also a feather in their cap of dominance. Even then, the last side that had bested them was Sri Lanka, in a 2-0 win. Hashim Amla, AB de Villers and Dale Steyn are vastly improved players now, but even so, chasing leather for over two days as Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara amassed the largest partnership of all time in Colombo, must count among their least favourite cricketing memories.”We saw how much South Africa didn’t like our spinners, our climate and our pitches in the one-dayers,” Sangakkara said, after Sri Lanka completed a 4-1 victory in the ODIs. “If we had the chance to play them in Tests here, and if we had won, our ranking would have risen. There is a Test championship in 2017. If we had been able to play at home, where we have such an advantage, it would have been a great thing.”SLC offers up its financial disarray as justification for its policy of Test abandonment, but the same forces that drove the board into the fiscal abyss still make the plays at Maitland Place. The board will claim it is not at fault for the SLPL’s demise this year, but the tournament had failed to appear financially viable from the outset, and has now become the most high-profile victim of a regional cooling on Twenty20 leagues, following the IPL’s sixth-season scandals.The opportunity cost of postponing the Tests may not make a major difference to SLC’s ledger, but it has robbed the sport of what promised to be a fascinating battle, and has led Sri Lanka down a path of Test mediocrity.

A few excerpts from Michael Hussey’s autobiography, , with his thoughts on the Sheffield Shield, team selection, and more

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Oct-2013: It affects relationships between the players on the fringe and the captain. You become more guarded in the dressing room. Michael Clarke is watching how I prepare, how I am in here, and that might impact my selection. I noticed, during that period, that when Michael was around, everyone went a bit quieter and kept their head down. It’s not a comfortable feeling; people aren’t being themselves. Overall, I just felt that it drove a wedge between the players and their leader, and it wasn’t fair to either side.: Another area I was concerned about was the rush to get teenagers and other youngsters into first-class cricket. I thought the Sheffield Shield should be hard and uncompromising, not a finishing school. If you start playing youngsters who aren’t quite good enough yet, it will lower the standards and intensity and make the jump to Test level so much bigger. I opposed any concerted push to get rid of guys in their late twenties and early thirties. We’re all formed by our own experiences, and I was living proof that you could start playing Test cricket at 30 and still have a long career.: The batters were sat down before the first game [in Dubai] and told, ‘We want to stick with this batting order for the foreseeable future. We want you guys to have the confidence to go out there and play for the team. You’re not under pressure to keep your wickets.’ I thought that was fantastic to know. Put the team first, yourself last – a brilliant philosophy. So we played the first two games, and then my brother Dave was dropped. I said to George, ‘What happened to the philosophy of sticking by guys and giving them a long run?’
He said, ‘Yeah, I know, but we’re not sure of what our best team is.’ Suddenly they’d dropped one of our best players after two games. We were all under pressure. I could understand they weren’t sure about what was the best team, but saying one thing and doing the other created some doubt among the players.: As a member of the team I was bewildered. Different rationales were coming out all the time. First I was hearing they were exhausted and couldn’t recover in time. The next day, the story was that they had injury niggles. Then I heard a third version, which was that they’d been dropped. I didn’t know what was going on.

Vithushan Ehantharajah picks the bones out of England’s ODI series defeat to Australia and suggests how they can move forward towards the 2015 World Cup

Vithushan Ehantharajah27-Jan-2014Persist with Bell and Cook
Despite a lethargic start at the MCG, compounded by their opposite numbers David Warner and Aaron Finch putting on 163 for the first Australian wicket, Alastair Cook and Ian Bell bucked up. Their next three partnerships were 57, 50 and 87 before 23 on an arduous Adelaide pitch.It’s worth noting that in batting first for the first four ODIs, England’s openers were exposed to the toughest conditions for batting in each of them. Collectively, they were at their best at Perth; closing shop till the threat of swing had passed, four overs in, with the score at 15 for 0, before scoring at nine an over for the next eight overs. Both ended the series with a decent strike rate of just over 82 but they will know this will need to be closer to the 90s if they are to consistently register scores of 300.They will also be frustrated they didn’t capitalise on the starts they made, as only once did one of them – Bell in Brisbane – make it past the 25-over mark. Cook finished without even a fifty to his name, but the increase in the variety of strokes he played spoke promisingly of an established player, feted for his frugal shot selection, learning and executing new tricks.One boundary in particular, off James Faulkner in the 3rd ODI at the SCG, was audacious. To a ball outside off stump, Cook stepped across and whipped it sweetly through midwicket. His follow-through, the “bus wheel” – a flamboyant quirk, fetishised in Australia, where a southpaw’s hands cross over entirely, as perfected by Marcus North – was very un-Cook but pretty damn cool.Stuart Broad will make a good vice-captain
Throughout the ODI series, the pot shots at Stuart Broad continued. A rest from the first two ODIs led to photos in the Australian papers of the England seamer paddle-boarding and the second “Man takes to beach during time-off” story in less than a month.While he was rusty on his recall at the SCG, he was back up to scratch at Perth before opening up the 5th ODI with one of the quickest spells of the series. But what was most impressive about Broad was his demeanour on the field. It might have been easy for him to grow weary because of a number of reasons, from the length of this tour to the inane barracking of the local crowds. But he has managed to continue till now with great vigour, fitness and a sense of responsibility that hasn’t wavered. He took time to talk to bowlers before important spells as well as having what looked to be some candid discussions with Cook.When speculation was abound about Cook’s future as captain, thanks to his own emotional words at the SCG, Broad came up as a potential replacement, but with forewarning of hot-headedness and a list of cons of having a bowler lead the side. If Cook is to continue, then Broad might be the perfect “bad cop” to rejuvenate England in the field.How best to use Chris Jordan
Ashley Giles recognised Chris Jordan as one of the successes of this series. He bowled at a sprightly pace and was able to maintain that speed throughout. An economy rate of 5.38 is commendable given he bowled the majority of his overs in the first and second Powerplays.It was only in Adelaide that Jordan was entrusted with a spell at the death, as James Tredwell, Tim Bresnan, Broad and Stokes shared the load from 30 overs on, meaning Jordan had two overs left for the death.Could Steven Crook be someone for England to gamble on?•Getty ImagesWith four out on the leg side boundary – the shorter side – he varied his approach to Faulkner with great results. Initially he followed him, digging one in at his toes. The following over, he caught him out with a bouncer before Faulkner could only find Eoin Morgan in the deep (in truth, it was the only ball he got wrong).Of course, this was in the first innings; it’s worth noting that when Faulkner completed his smash and grab in the 2nd ODI, Cook had chosen not to bowl out Jordan, whose nine overs had returned 0 for 53. Defending a total brings an altogether different pressure, but the indication from those close to Jordan is that he is perfectly equipped for the challenge.His ability to bowl in different situations of a 50-over game allows England to be more flexible with their bowling plans.Does English cricket have a “Big Show”?
It’s hard to know what to make of Glenn Maxwell. Behind the WWE moniker and David Brent beard stands an exceptional cricketer whose career path projects a best case scenario as a scorer of great runs rather than a great runscorer. His only score of note in the series came at the Gabba with a 54 that featured four reverse sweeps – three of them in a row – to set up a phenomenal chase.His bowling was useful and his fielding is top notch. His work in the ring through the series has been second to none, with every pick up on the floor and every throw, whether balanced or not, clean as a whistle. His direct-hit run out of Bresnan in Adelaide, as England lost their nerve, was a formality by his standards.While Darren Lehmann has warned him about shirking his responsibility with the bat, it’s hard not to plump for a maverick.England’s approach to eccentrics is exampled no better than the current state of limbo Kevin Pietersen finds himself in. But it does make you wonder about English cricket’s rogues and what chance they might have of making a late dash for the 2015 World Cup.A brilliant 2013, with eye-catching performance in four-day and limited-overs cricket, sees Samit Patel as the most worthy of the outliers. His ability to manipulate the field and find gaps in front of him would add something to England’s middle order. His spin bowling has also come on leaps and bounds, particularly his accuracy.Moving onto the uncapped muscle, Peter Trego and Steven Crook are unhindered heavy-hitting, seam bowling allrounders that are more than worthy of mentions. Crook would be a smart acquisition for an IPL franchise and good performances in high quality competition will turn heads.Trego’s worth is clear for all to see and he underlined his quality with excellence in last year’s Yorkshire Bank 40, which he finished as the competition’s leading runscorer. But Trego himself admits that the international bridges he burned as a hotter-headed youngster may be beyond repair.Perhaps more likely for selection are the younger livewires, such as Leicestershire’s Josh Cobb and, if he enjoys a record-breaking 2014 for Surrey, the enigmatic Jason Roy. It’s all hypothetical whimsy, but as Ben Stokes showed during the Test series, sometimes the punts come good.