Years after the juggling act of hiding multiple poor fielders making do with the kind of attacks India have had, this current unit has given MS Dhoni some breathing space

Abhishek Purohit24-Feb-2015AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis had added 68 at close to run a ball when the former drove Ravindra Jadeja wide of sweeper cover. Mohit Sharma sprinted towards the ball, picked it up, and staggered back a few steps from the effort of his throw. Even though Mohit lost his balance, it did not affect the accuracy of the throw, and MS Dhoni found de Villiers short on the second run. Both captains later said that run-out was where the game turned towards India.An Indian fast bowler producing a crucial run-out from the deep. Does not happen often. It happened again in the same game, barely ten overs later. This time it was Umesh Yadav’s rapid arm from deep square leg that sent back the dangerous David Miller, despite a slide from the batsman.India outfielded South Africa on a ground as massive as the MCG. Has probably never happened before. Their prowling inner ring carried a greater threat throughout, keeping batsmen wary of attempting quick singles. There were far fewer fumbles and overthrows. The catching was safe. Their deep fielders covered hundreds of metres, saving boundaries and cutting threes to twos, in addition to those two big run-outs. Here again, an instance from a fast bowler stood out.Mohammed Shami had just finished an over and gone to long leg when he had to put in a long run to his left first ball of the next over. He reached there just in time, and stopped the ball with his boot before his momentum took him over the rope. Ajinkya Rahane had chased the ball from the inner circle and was around to pick it up and throw it back. The joint effort saved a run. Shami was breathless from the run, but gathered himself quickly and trotted eagerly back to his position.The fast bowlers are apt examples to highlight India’s fielding display in this World Cup so far because they show just how far the side has come from the previous edition. In 2011, India had Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel and Ashish Nehra. Those were not the only ones who had to be hidden on the field. Senior batsmen such as Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were not exactly sharp. Not many in that squad had a strong arm from the deep. Imagine defending a total, any total, with that unit at the MCG.MS Dhoni will not react much to a dropped catch but a slow reaction from a fielder will have him banging his gloves together in frustration. He hates conceding even one extra run on the field. Years after the juggling act of hiding multiple poor fielders making do with the kind of attacks India have had, this unit has given Dhoni some breathing space. The captain was grateful for that.”What we know is that we can add minimum 10 to 15 runs to whatever we score with the kind of fielders that we have got,” Dhoni said. “There may be one fielder or two slightly slower than the others, but by no means we are bad fielders. I think we have got some excellent fielders, and apart from that we have got fast bowlers who are above average fielders.”Overall I’ve got plenty to play with. I don’t always have to think about which player needs to go where. I have time to think more about the strategies rather than trying to use four or five good fielders and seeing what’s really needed, whether I need to stop the singles or I need boundary riders who can stop the twos and the threes. That actually eases the pressure off me.”Dhoni said that India’s fielding standards could only get better in the future, with an increased focus on fitness levels. “It’s something that you will see in the coming years with more players, the fresh players coming in with the infrastructure that’s provided to them and the importance that’s given to fitness, you will see more often than not the new crop of players, they’ll be really good in fitness, which will reflect in the fielding department.”Rahane is probably the best example of a high level of fitness translating into a quality fielder. He is possibly India’s quickest when it comes to chasing down balls from the inner ring. Against South Africa, Rahane sprawled to his weaker left side at cover to stop a potential boundary from Hashim Amla. The surprised batsman was so far down the pitch that even the backing-up Suresh Raina could have run him out had he hit.”You see him on the field, he’s very quick, and his intensity actually never drops right from the first over until the 90th over if you see a Test match,” Dhoni said of Rahane. “To me that’s what fitness is all about.”As India go deeper into the World Cup, that fitness will be tested further on the field. But they know that they have a unit capable of repeating their fielding performance so far in the tournament, that it was not a one-off. They may not be the absolute naturals like the Australian and New Zealand fielders, but they are still a threat to opposition batsmen.

Just how did Sri Lanka manage to lose? They ticked nearly every box required for victory, and put up all the right numbers

Andy Zaltzman at the SCG18-Mar-2015Modern international teams are resourced with support staff in a way that their predecessors could only have dreamed of. Or had nightmares about, depending on the way they liked to prepare for and play their cricket. South Africa’s backroom includes, one assumes, a fortune teller. Not to have one would seem counter-intuitive in a sporting world where nothing can be left to chance.If South Africa’s in-house soothsayer had informed them that today’s SCG quarter-final would be a close-to-perfect replica of the 2011 quarter-final in Dhaka, the players would have stuck their fingers in their ears, sung a medley of their favourite songs as loudly as possible, and whimpered a nervous prayer to any available deity. That soothsayer, however, would have been proved right – almost eerily right.Fortunately for South Africa, there were two quarter-finals in Dhaka four years ago. South Africa’s notorious rapid-onset meltdown against New Zealand was one, but the other, between Pakistan and West Indies, took an almost identical path to today’s Sydney showdown.That day, West Indies won the toss, chose to bat, lost early wickets, (including being 16 for 2 in the sixth over) and rebuilt slightly before subsiding catastrophically in the middle order and setting a trifling target which their opponents chased with ease. As sporting imitations go, today’s game was uncanny. South Africa were superb, but for the neutral, it was a similar anticlimax to West Indies’ supine subsidence in 2011.Before the tournament, Sri Lanka’s lower middle order looked to be a potentially fatal flaw, the statistics suggesting it was the weakest of the major contenders. As it was, the damage on Wednesday was largely done by the failings of the top six, in particular the careless terminal strokes of Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews. However, the rapid disintegration that followed confirmed the suspicion that if Sri Lanka ever found themselves in a position where they needed significant runs from their number 7 to 11 in a crucial match, they would be effectively checking in to the next available flight home.You might be tempted, after a walloping such as this, to ask whether there was anything Sri Lanka did right. The answer is: yes. There was plenty. Every team has keys to success, statistical goals which are all, incontrovertibly, key to achieving success. I do not know what the officially sanctioned keys to success were for this game, but Sri Lanka might consider that they succeeded in achieving the following keys so successfully that the keys opened the wrong door.Kumar Sangakkara – Cricketing giant, statistical phenomenon, creator of dreams, and most humble man in the history of the universe•AFP1. Keep South African pacers down to a maximum of three wickets: ACHIEVEDSouth Africa have lost 74% of the ODIs in which their pace attack has taken fewer than four wickets. At 4 for 2, with Abbott and Steyn probing relentlessly and Morkel still to come, Sri Lanka must have feared the worst. But they lost only one more wicket to pace, thus decisively creating the opportunity to use their finely-honed subcontinental skills to make hay against the historically less threatening South African spinners.2. Numbers 3 and 4 to both score at least 40: ACHIEVEDThe noble science of Cricketostatistics shows that teams whose numbers 3 and 4 both reach 40, win 78% of ODIs, and 74% of World Cup matches. Lahiru Thirimanne flayed some glorious off-side boundaries in his 41, and Sangakkara painstakingly accumulated his way to 45. Regardless of the clatter of wickets at the other end, victory had been 78% and/or 74% assured – even more so when their South African counterparts failed even to come close to the hallowed 40-run threshold. Faf du Plessis managed only 21, whilst Rilee Rossouw failed even to get off the mark.3. Stop South Africa hitting sixes: ACHIEVEDSouth Africa hit no sixes against India, and lost. They hit six against Pakistan, and lost. They hit seven, 11, 12 and 14 sixes in their other four games, all of which they won. Sri Lanka needed to follow their Asian predecessors and keep South Africa below seven maximums. As it was, they entirely prevented South Africa from clearing the ropes. Not one single South African six. Against a batting line-up containing the likes of Rossouw, AB de Villiers and Miller, that was a notable performance.4. Keep de Villiers down to less than 50 runs: ACHIEVEDArguably too well.5. The recalled Nuwan Kulasekara not to concede too many runs: ACHIEVEDThe medium-pacer had been in horrible form for months until his 3 for 20 against Scotland, but the stats showed that Sri Lanka had won 75% of the matches in which Kulasekara had conceded no more than 25 runs. South Africa could only muster 13 runs off the fading swingster. That they did so in the one over he bowled was surely immaterial – another three-quarters of a win was in the bag.6. Make South Africa think about their previous failings: ACHIEVEDSouth Africa had lost 100% of the World Cup knock-out games in which they had bowled first and had the opposition 16 for 2 after six overs. Admittedly, this is from a statistical sample of one. In 2011, South Africa began their quarter-final by reducing New Zealand to 16 for 2 in the first six overs. So, when Sri Lanka were 8 for 2 after 5.3 today, Thirimanne knew exactly what was needed. He laced Abbott for two sumptuous fours, then blocked the sixth ball. 16 for 2 after six. Bang on target. Book the flights to Auckland, this goose was in the oven.Thanks be to the stats.Also, a contender for the title of Most Modest Press Conference Response of the World Cup.Kumar Sangakkara, a cricketing giant, a statistical phenomenon of increasingly staggering proportions, a creator and fulfiller of sporting dreams for his nation, a player whose craft, art and steel have brought delight to cricket fans of every allegiance over the past decade and a half, and now a former one-day international cricketer, asked how he would like to be remembered. His reply: “If anyone can say they’ve enjoyed playing against me and playing with me, I’ll be more than happy.”

He has lost a significant amount of pace and is no longer a promising talent. It’s wishful to persist with him thinking he’ll be able to turn things around suddenly

George Dobell05-Mar-2015Potential is probably the most overused word in cricket. In English cricket, anyway.While players in their 20s might reasonably be described as possessing potential, in England the word is sometimes used to describe players well into their 30s. Chris Lewis, Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash were picked for their “potential” long after experience provided a far stronger indication of their suitability for international cricket.But how should we see Steven Finn? Finn who, aged 22, became the youngest England bowler to 50 Test wickets. Finn who, aged 24, was ranked No. 2 in the ICC’s ODI bowling rankings. Finn who, for the first two or three years of his England career, bowled with unusual pace but who has, for the last two years, bowled with the attitude and length of a fast bowler and the pace of a fast-medium bowler. Finn who is still only 25.The uncomfortable truth is that it has been a long time since Finn has bowled fast. Since his run-up was altered (originally shortened, then returned to normal), since he altered his approach to the crease to avoid colliding with the stumps, since bowling became more of a mental battle than a natural process, he has tended to bowl a great deal closer to 130kph than 150kph. And England have several 130kph bowlers already. Picking him in the expectation that everything will suddenly click into place is wishful thinking.There tends to be a great deal of wishful thinking in the debate around the future of Finn. So desperate are England to have a fast bowler to complement an attack a little stronger on guile than force, they have snatched at any sign of improvement in Finn. They did so after he took some wickets at county level. They did so when he claimed three wickets against Scotland. They did something similar with Chris Tremlett before the last Ashes series, when it was clear that he could no longer bowl at the pace he once did. Desperation can distort judgement.In Test cricket, England are considering alternatives. The pick of their fast bowlers on the recent Lions tour were Mark Wood, who has an excellent chance of winning inclusion in the Test squad to tour the Caribbean, and Boyd Rankin, whose inclusion may depend on whether the selectors choose to rest either James Anderson or Stuart Broad. Liam Plunkett is also ahead of Finn.But it is understandable why England persist with him in ODIs. He is younger than Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Plunkett and Rankin, and even now, while conceding his runs at a rate of 6.89 per over during the World Cup, he still has an excellent strike rate. A wicket every 21.7 deliveries is the fifth best of any seamer in the tournament who has delivered more than 25 overs.Perhaps that sounds better than the reality? After all, Finn took a hat-trick in the match against Australia. But the wickets came from the final three balls of the innings as batsmen tried to thrash him for boundaries. Two of them were caught by men running in from the rope.He has suffered horribly at times, too. To see him concede 49 in two overs against New Zealand was to see a ruthless – brilliantly ruthless – exposure of England’s tactics: short or length bowling at fast-medium pace on good pitches is just not good enough in this day and age. Finn’s treatment at the hands of the Sri Lanka batsmen was little better.It is unfair to fully pin Finn’s problems on his bowling coach, David Saker•Getty ImagesThere have been just enough glimpses of the Finn of old to sustain hopes of a full revival. During the Scotland game, he passed 140kph quite often as his spells progressed. Equally, during a Championship match against Yorkshire last summer, he noticeably increased in pace when bowling to Joe Root. It suggested that his issues may be mental as much as technical.But those moments are brief. In general, Finn has been the third quickest member of the England seam attack at this World Cup. There have been times when, as he waited at the end of his mark for the ball to be recovered from the other side of the boundary, he has looked the loneliest man in the stadium. There have been times when you worry if further exposure to this level of punishment might damage his long-term prospects further still. Nobody wants that.Some blame David Saker, the England bowling coach, for Finn’s troubles. Others blame Richard Johnson, the Middlesex bowling coach. Certainly, neither has been able to cure him. But when we talk of Finn having his run-up changed or his action remodelled, we talk as if he is a passive object. Ultimately he has to take responsibility for his performance. There is no shortage of goodwill extended towards him.In the longer term, when the review into England’s World Cup performance (or lack of it) takes place – and such performances tend to give birth to such reviews – it might be pondered why players seem to deteriorate with long exposure to the Team England culture. Whether it is the coaching, the media or the ferocity of the schedule, it does seem that national team does not extract the best from their talented players.In the shorter term, England must decide whether to stick with Finn for the key match in Adelaide against Bangladesh. To drop him risks damaging his self-confidence – perhaps a little more brittle than some – further. But to persist with him in the face of mounting evidence could damage their chances of progressing to the quarter-finals. He has played 98 international matches. They really should know what they are going to get from him at this stage. It isn’t a fast bowler.Jordan, a better fielder and batsman, who has bowled with good pace in training, is one option. James Tredwell, who will offer reliability if no great bite, is another. At least with Tredwell, Eoin Morgan will know what he is going to get from his bowler and will be able to set fields accordingly. That has been a luxury rarely afforded him of late.It remains unlikely that England will drop either Anderson or Broad despite their underwhelming tournaments to date. Whatever their World Cup records, they have built up a great deal of credit over the last few years, and in an inexperienced team, the management still hope their quality will shine through.All of which leaves Finn looking vulnerable. He is young enough to come again. But if he is to win a recall, it will probably have to be on merit not potential. We’ve been down that road before.

Zimbabwe and Ireland are 10th and 11th in the ODI rankings but they have not played each other that often. Their clash in Hobart will have significant impact on their World Cup campaigns

Brydon Coverdale in Hobart06-Mar-2015Eight years ago this month, Ireland became world cricket’s good news story. In their first World Cup, they beat Pakistan and qualified for the Super Eights in the Caribbean, going on to add victory against Bangladesh later in the tournament. It was a remarkable emergence for a side that had played its first ODI just a year before. But really, it all began against Zimbabwe at Sabina Park.William Porterfield, now Ireland’s captain, was out in the first over of his nation’s World Cup debut, but Jeremy Bray scored a century and Zimbabwe were set a target of 222. At 203 for 5, Zimbabwe seemed set for victory against the newest so-called minnow. Then Brendan Taylor was run out off a deflection from the bowler’s hand, Zimbabwe collapsed, and the match was tied.”I remember that very well,” Taylor said. “I remember the last ball, Stu Matsikenyeri was on 70-odd not out and he got a low full toss and he missed it. I’m sure he’s kicking himself. We all kicked ourselves. There was a chance for Ireland to win and there was a chance for us to win.”Now, Zimbabwe and Ireland are about to meet in a World Cup for the first time since that memorable encounter. Two days after that tie, Ireland enjoyed their St Patrick’s Day victory over Pakistan; Zimbabwe know what it’s like to come up against Ireland on the national day, having lost to them in a tight World T20 game in Bangladesh on March 17 last year.”We’re not taking them lightly – they’re a quality side when they’re going good guns,” Taylor, Zimbabwe’s stand-in captain in the absence of the injured Elton Chigumbura, said. “Fortunately it’s not St Patrick’s Day as well.”When Hobart residents glanced at their city’s fixtures when the World Cup schedule was released, they might have viewed the Ireland-Zimbabwe clash as an unimportant match. Far from it. Zimbabwe have to win to keep their tournament alive; if Ireland win they have a decent chance of progressing, notwithstanding the hit to their net run-rate from their heavy loss to South Africa.”I don’t even know our run-rate at the minute,” Porterfield said. “Everything is in our hands in terms of wins. Tomorrow is no different. We’ve gone into every game looking for those two points, and we’re two from three. We’re going into tomorrow looking to make that three from four.”Ireland have one more win than Zimbabwe and one extra game in hand, meaning the pressure on the Zimbabweans might be ramped up that little bit more. It is a case of ICC Full Member versus Associate, but the gap between the sides does not appear significant. Remarkably, given they are the 10th and 11th ranked sides, they have not met in an ODI for four and a half years.”We haven’t played them a heck of a lot,” Porterfield said. “The last series we played may’ve been 2010. We’ve come up against them in a couple of games, warm-up games for competitions … but yeah, if you look at the tables you’d suggest we’d be quite close together.”Ireland have the advantage of a steady line-up, whereas Zimbabwe have been forced to alter their balance due to the injury to Chigumbura. Regis Chakabva has been included as the replacement for Chigumbura, and Taylor said the batting needed to lift if Zimbabwe were to post the convincing win they believed was possible to keep them in the tournament.”We’ve been playing some good cricket, 80% of the games we’ve been playing winning cricket and then probably just letting it slip in that other 20%,” Taylor said. “If we can narrow that gap a little bit, we’re going to be a lot more consistent and get over the line a lot more often.”There’s been times where we haven’t batted our 50 overs and that’s hurt us … We’ve not been ruthless enough in terms of kicking on as batters. We’re all aware of that. We keep emphasising the importance of one of the top four batting through, get 130, 140.”That puts you in a winning position, and we haven’t been able to do that. Guys have got bits and pieces, getting out at crucial times and we’re not batting our 50 overs. Those are the main areas that we’ve discussed.”Taylor is one of five Zimbabwe batsmen who have scored half-centuries so far in this World Cup, but the highest individual score was the 80 that Hamilton Masakadza posted in the first-up loss to South Africa. No Ireland batsman has yet scored a hundred in this tournament either, but Taylor knows how dangerous they can be.”They’re a hungry team, they’re a team that’s very passionate,” Taylor said. “When you give them half a sniff they try and capitalise and make it pretty difficult for you, so it’s important we strike early with bat or ball, maintain that momentum.”

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Mar-2015Captain William Porterfield stitched a 63-run partnership with Ed Joyce before falling to Sean Williams•Getty ImagesZimbabwe’s fielding was scrappy and they dropped several catches•Getty ImagesJoyce scored his third ODI century, off 96 deliveries•AFPAndy Balbirnie was run out for a 79-ball 97, which included seven fours and four sixes•Getty ImagesDespite a few late wickets, the 138-run third-wicket partnership between Joyce and Balbirnie took Ireland to their highest ODI total of 331•AFPZimbabwe lost their first wicket for 32, followed by a mini-collapse that left them at 74 for 4 by the 18th•Getty ImagesBrendon Taylor and Sean Williams shared a 149-run stand and scored them at 7.15 runs to the over•AFPKevin O’Brien picked two crucial wickets – Hamilton Masakadza and Sean Williams•AFPKevin O’Brien and Alex Cusack combined to remove Brendan Taylor for a well-made 121•AFPTurning Point: Williams was caught on the square leg fence by John Mooney, almost sealing Zimbabwe’s fate•AFPTawanda Mupariwa almost turned the tide late in Zimbabwe’s favour but Ireland held on to win the game by five runs•AFP

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Apr-2015Tamim, fresh from his Man-of-the-Series effort in the ODIs, scored 25, his personal best against Pakistan•AFPBut he could not add any more to that score, as he departed after inside-edging Yasir Shah to short leg•AFPImrul, who started cautiously, made the most of two dropped catches and played with more assurance after lunch, compiling a patient 51•AFPImrul was dismissed by Mohammad Hafeez, but Bangladesh were buoyed by another big partnership – 95 for the third wicket between Mahmudullah and Mominul Haque•AFPWahab Riaz eventually ended that stand after 33 overs, inducing an edge off Mahmdullah for Sarfraz Ahmed to take a diving catch•AFPMominul, though, carried on and added a 50-plus score in a Test for the 10th consecutive time•AFPBut once again, he failed to convert it into a century, as Zulfiqar Babar trapped him lbw for 80 with the final delivery of the day. The hosts finished with 236 for 4•AFP

Plays of the Day from the match between Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils

Andrew Fidel Fernando03-May-2015The accidental dogpile
Delhi Daredevils’ catching had been woeful most of the evening, and their most farcical moment came in the 17th over when Amit Mishra and Zaheer Khan failed to lay a finger on a descending ball, and finished up in each other’s embrace. Ajinkya Rahane’s top-edge flew high, in the direction of cover, and Mishra began to give chase, running back from inside the circle. Just as he was lining up the catch, though, he saw Zaheer steaming in from the deep, and both men stalled, expecting the other to commit to the catch. Mishra realised Zaheer had stopped too, and made a vain, belated dive. The two men tumbled to the floor, Mishra positioned on top of Zaheer’s stomach.The botched bluff
Rahane was batting so sublimely towards the end of the Rajasthan Royals innings, Zaheer resorted to a little sleight of hand in an attempt to get him out. Having been driven down the ground for four in the 18th over, Zaheer pushed square leg back to the boundary and asked long-on to come into the circle, suggesting his next delivery would be short. He went full and slow instead, but Rahane was unperturbed. He lofted Zaheer back down the ground again, and that ball sped to the fence even quicker than the previous one.The catch
Yuvraj Singh has not had a reputation for dealing with the short ball well recently, but having middled a pull off James Faulkner in the ninth over, he was stunned to have to depart. Faulkner’s chest-high bouncer was cracked over square leg, but Stuart Binny ran around from the deep, leapt to his left and caught the ball high above his head. He slid after his dive and stopped about a foot short of the boundary, as a disbelieving Yuvraj began to trudge off.The double dive
Rajat Bhatia didn’t have a lot to do in this game, as he was not required with the bat and only bowled two overs. He did have one industrious moment in the match, even if it was to save one run. Running to his right after JP Duminy pulled Tim Southee towards deep square leg, Bhatia put in a full-length dive to intercept the ball just before it hit the boundary, but found he had not got enough of his hand on the ball to scoop it back infield, and he had just parried it square, where the curving boundary would meet with it a few metres away. Quickly he rose, gave chase a second time, and dove again to haul it back just in time.

England weren’t just beaten, they were blown away. The selectors will not want to show signs of panic but none of the struggling batsmen should be surprised if they are dropped

George Dobell at Lord's19-Jul-2015Well, that didn’t last long. After basking in the glory of a fine performance at Cardiff for all of four days, ‘new England’ produced the sort of performance – or lack of it – to bring back memories of the bad old days and bad ‘old England.’ Perhaps it was not a corner that England turned. Perhaps it was a roundabout. There was no invite to the Australian team to join them for a drink after this match.You have to go back to 1976 since England were beaten by such a crushing margin, in terms of runs, anyway and overall there have only been three heavier defeats. On that occasion, too, it was fast bowling that proved their undoing with Michael Holding and Andy Roberts combining to claim 16 wickets between them. It will be of little comfort to England to reflect that they subsequently went two-and-a-half decades before they beat the same opposition in a Test series.There was a time when, defeated in such a manner, the selectors would swing the axe. By the end of the 1989 Ashes, for example, almost every county player with a pulse and bladder control had played a game.It seems unlikely that the current selection panel will react in similar fashion. Continuity of selection has been a theme of recent England sides and there has been an acceptance for some time that this developing side would require patience. There were bound to be days like this.There is a modicum of mitigation for this thrashing. By losing the toss, England were sentenced to bowling on the pitch at its flattest and, certainly in the final innings, batting on it when its bounce had become variable. If England asked for such a surface, they deserve no better. If they did not – and that is what they claim most vociferously – the MCC should reflect on the surfaces they regularly provide on this ground and the service they are providing English cricket. This really was not very good.”We want to play on English wickets,” Alastair Cook said afterwards. “And that wasn’t too English.” If England are going to challenge in this series, they need to be providing their own bowlers some encouragement – particularly seam encouragement – and backing their own batsmen to deal with the conditions – what might be termed typical English conditions – better. It would not be easy, but it would give them a chance.But England would be deluding themselves if they hid behind the pitch or the toss as the only reason for this defeat. They would be deluding themselves if they did not accept that they had a problem with their top order, accept that their bowling attack was comprehensively outperformed here and admit that their excellent catching in Cardiff was the aberration. With bat, ball and in the field, Australia were better.England’s most pressing problem is that, even on these slow pitches, their top-order scores have been inadequate. In the four innings to date, they have been reduced to 43 for 3, 73 for 3, 30 for 4 and 64 for 7. And, in nine of their most recent 14 innings, they have lost their third-wicket with the score on 52 or fewer. It has happened “too often,” Cook said. “It’s just not good enough.”Such figures tell of a recurrent problem. They tell of a problem with the opening partner to Cook and the recent contributions of both Ian Bell and Gary Ballance. While Joe Root’s excellence has masked the problem quite often, it cannot do so indefinitely. Bell, Ballance and Adam Lyth all face an anxious wait ahead of the announcement of the squad for the third Investec Test on Tuesday. None can have much cause for complaint if they are dropped.Adam Lyth, despite a maiden Test hundred against New Zealand, has had a pattern to his dismissals•PA PhotosLyth’s dismissal here was revealing. Caught behind playing a ball – a good ball, certainly – that he could have left on length, it was the seventh time in his eight innings he has been caught in the cordon. The other dismissal was a run-out. While he scored a century three Tests ago, he has reached 40 only once in eight innings and looks to have a major issue playing at balls just outside off stump. For an opener, that could be a terminal problem.Ballance, too, is struggling. While his dismissal here, a victim of the variable bounce that saw Root bowled by one that kept low and Ballance receive one that lifted sharply, was somewhat unfortunate, it is happening too often to be dismissed so charitably. Only once in his last 10 Test innings has he reached 30 and, on five of those occasions, he had been bowled. Talk around the England camp suggests he is the most precariously placed of the three in-danger batsmen.And then there is Bell. Nobody doubts Bell’s inherent class or can seriously question his long-term record. But he has reached 30 only once in his last 12 Test innings and, in that time, has been out in some oddly soft ways. His dismissal here, caught at short-leg as he prodded forward to an off-break, was infuriatingly facile for a man of such experience. England need more from him if they are to win the Ashes. He needs to provide more if his international career is not to end within weeks.It seems most unlikely that England would drop all three. Not only would such a move suggest panic but there are not so many top order batsmen pressing for inclusion from county cricket.In the middle-order, Jonny Bairstow is in terrific form. He has made centuries in his last three first-class games and won the Man-of-the-Match award when recalled to the England one-day side against NewZealand. It is entirely possible he could be recalled and Joe Root – who has the highest average of anyone but Cook who has previously filled the opening role that has proved such a problem since Andrew Strauss’ retirement – promoted up the order to make room for him.Alex Hales, Mark Stoneman and, perhaps, James Taylor might also come up in the selectors’ conversations. England have a Mitchell of their own, too, though it seems that Worcestershire’s Daryl Mitchell – averaging 47.35 in Division One this season – is not in the reckoning at this stage.The optimistic might even point out that Bairstow’s recent century came against a side containing two left-arm seamers. It might be pointed out, however, that Jack Shantry and Ross Whiteley – Worcestershire’s bowlers – may be left-arm and may be mammals, but there the similarities with Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson end.”You don’t face that kind of pace in county cricket,” Cook said. “You may get one quick bowler. You won’t get three.”Whoever comes into the side is going to find there is quite a step up to this level.Another man who could make a difference – Nick Compton – spent the weekend at the beach. Compton’s Test career was ended (for now, at least) after he went six innings in succession without reaching 20. His Test average – 31.93 – does not make his case for a recall especially persuasively, but he remains as hard to dismiss as anyone in county cricket and has a defensive technique that would appear well-suited to negating pace bowling. He really should come into the equation.That he probably will not is largely due to a misunderstanding. Having taken a blow in the 2013 Headingley Test against New Zealand, Compton was sent for a scan and, while chatting to a doctor, was informed that he probably had a cracked rib. When the scans were analysed, however, he was shown to have suffered nothing more than deep bruising and it was alleged by the team management that he had shirked his fielding duties as he did not want to put himself in the firing line. Compton was offended, words were exchanged and he has never been selected since. It is two years since the selectors even spoke to him about a possible recall.It would be a shame if such a trifle issue were to have any bearing on selection. While his record this season is unexceptional – he has averaged 40.47 in the Championship with one century and five other half-centuries – it is hard to think of a man in the county game who has a better package of skills for this particular challenge.Such a recall might be seen as a climb down by England. They have, after all, talked a great deal about aggression and expressing skills in recent times. They have talked about banishing words such as “fight” and battle.” And Compton, for all of his pleasant drives and strong cuts, is basically a battler. He might even make Cook look like a dasher.It should not be an issue, though. Both the Tests in this series to date have finished inside four days. Time is the least of England’s worries. Seeing off the new ball seems rather more pressing a problem. As Cook showed, old fashioned technique, old fashioned temperament and old fashioned running your bat into the crease is just as important as flair and flamboyance.

Pakistan’s fast bowling seemed to have lost its teeth after the ban on Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif. Wahab Riaz is bringing it back

Umar Farooq in Galle19-Jun-2015Wahab Riaz is bringing back a cutting edge to the Pakistan team, an edge that appeared dulled over the last five years following the spot-fixing controversy that cost the country its two best bowlers – Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir – and appeared to subdue the innate confidence of the other quicks.Since 2010, there has been extra vigilance around Pakistan and their players have often been instructed in what to do and what not to do. Under Misbah-ul-Haq’s leadership, the team shed much of its stormy characteristics and built itself around more stable performers. But something was lost.

Waqar disappointed by batting

The Pakistan batting stumbled in Galle, and they ended the third day on 118 for 5, trailing Sri Lanka by 182. Their coach Waqar Younis rued the performance, which gave Sri Lanka a significant edge with two days to go.
“I am disappointed without a doubt as we could have done better with the bat,” Waqar said. “Unfortunately, poor shot selection let us down and put us in a situation where two days seems like plenty of time. But we really have to come back hard tomorrow and repair it again. We have to make sure this ongoing partnership keeps on going. Wahab bowled with some serious fire and Yasir spun the ball, but the batting really let us down.”

From Khan Mohammad and Fazal Mahmood to Sarfaraz Nawaz and Imran Khan to Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis to Shoaib Akhtar to Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, Pakistan’s quicks have always had something more to offer than the routine fast bowler. Over the last five years, though, no bowler has been able to make Pakistan forget the loss of Asif and Amir, because of the excitement they provided. And then Wahab bowled that spell in the World Cup quarterfinal in Adelaide to make everyone watching sit up and take notice.Wahab always had it in him, and the Australians only roused it, waking up the Lahori inside with their baiting. Shane Watson bore the brunt of Wahab’s anger during one of the most memorable spells of short-pitched bowling in recent memory.Wahab’s resurgence as a fast bowler, however, did not begin at the 2015 World Cup but during the Colombo Test in August last year, when he took 6 for 164 in the match. He became Pakistan’s driving force, and though his stats may not be the best, on any given day Wahab’s aggression can be awesome when he channels it through his bouncers.”You must always have an attacking option, an x-factor in the team,” Waqar said about Wahab after the end of the second day’s play in Galle. “When you play four bowlers we look for a bowler who attacks in smaller spells and picks up some quick wickets. And since Adelaide, Wahab has a lot of firepower and has done really well so far. It’s good to have him in the squad and he is a match-winner when he gets it right.”For Wahab, cricket is a passion and not essential for a livelihood. He hails from a wealthy Lahore family and is playing to satisfy his love for the game. His career has zigzagged since his international debut in 2008 and most of his best performances are under the coaching of Waqar. Playing his 11th Test, Wahab has only one five-for, and only from the start of 2014 has he been a consistent selection for Pakistan.On the second day of the Test at the picturesque ground in Galle, the main attraction other than the old fort by the sea was the battle between Wahab and Kumar Sangakkara. Wahab mostly bowled short and fast, touching speeds of 93 mph, and threw in some stares to go with his bouncers. One struck the batsman on the shoulder. Wahab bowled 24 balls at Sangakkara and conceded 12 runs before forcing an edge to slip to win the duel.Wahab finished with figures of 3 for 74, having accounted for three of Sri Lanka’s top five batsmen.

Netherlands had gone through 16 matches without winning in four-day cricket. That changed when they beat Scotland by 44 runs to go to the top of the Intercontinental Cup table

Peter Della Penna in The Hague11-Sep-2015Netherlands have had a peculiarly difficult time mastering multi-day cricket. Odd, considering they are among the most successful Associate countries of the past decade: three straight World Cups from 2003 through 2011 not to mention a pair of World T20s in 2009 and 2014.Canada, Kenya, even Namibia have all been to the final of the Intercontinental Cup but not Netherlands. They have found winning a single game of first-class cricket difficult let alone stringing a series of them. Prior to this week’s I-cup victory over Scotland, Netherlands have come out trumps only four out of 27 times since the competition was founded in 2004. There are 15 losses among that number as well and their record at home was especially poor – one win and eight defeats.Netherlands’ best finish in the competition came in 2007-08 when they came in fifth out of eight teams. Beating UAE that April in Sharjah had been their last success in four-day cricket. It has taken seven years, and 16 matches, but finally Netherlands are back on the board again.There had been two great opportunities to break the streak sooner. Both at home in Amstelveen and both against countries who had yet to win a first-class match. They wasted a 74-run first-innings lead in 2009 as Afghanistan chased down 207 with one wicket to spare. Had Netherlands won then, they would have cut short their losing streak to three matches.A bigger upset was to follow this summer, when they could not stop Papua New Guinea from running down a target of 305. There had been a Sisyphusian feel to that match as Assad Vala and Mahuru Dai denied the Dutch with a 200-run fifth wicket partnership. A similar feeling may have crept in on Friday when, after taking two wickets in the first three overs of the day to peg Scotland back at 52 for 5 in pursuit of 201, Rob Taylor joined Richie Berrington for an ominous stand.”Obviously Berrington and Taylor batted really well and this was the kind of wicket that when you get in, you could stay in. It was never easy for people to start though,” captain Peter Borren said after the win. “They batted beautifully and [both were] really good, disciplined innings. But I was really happy with the way we bowled during that period anyway. We bowled with a lot of discipline with our three young quicks – Kingma, van Meekeren and Gunning – they all ran in hard for both innings and put the ball in the right areas.”We knew that we were probably one breakthrough away and that wicket that Michael Rippon got, Richie Berrington lbw just before lunch, that opened an end for us. They’ve still got good players but for guys just coming to the wicket, it’s not easy and you’re always in with a chance as a bowler.”Before lunch that was a big wicket for us. I’m glad we took advantage of it but I guess the reason why we ended up winning this game was a lot of work from those three seamers.”The frontline seamers may have done the bulk of the work, but Borren’s career-best 4 for 1 was no less significant. In light of his shoulder troubles – he had surgery last year – Borren’s recent bowling workload has been far less than it was when he began playing for Netherlands. He might not be back to full pace yet, but after cleaning up Matthew Cross and Con de Lange on back-to-back deliveries and with victory within sight, adrenaline started kicking in. There was more vigor, more purpose with each charge up to the crease.”For me it was nice to get some wickets,” Borren said. “I suppose the ball was pretty scuffed up on one side. The wicket was a little bit abrasive and it was just nipping back in, getting a little bit of reverse and the pitch also wasn’t bouncing much towards the end of this match. I guess if I ran in and bowled wicket-to-wicket, I was going to be pretty well suited to these conditions.”Netherlands secured victory 14 balls into Borren’s post-lunch spell and the seven-year itch had been scratched off. From this XI, only he and Pieter Seelaar have known the joy of winning an Intercontinental Cup match, and Borren was pleased that the younger players can now understand that feeling, one he described as more satisfying than winning 50-over or T20 games.”We haven’t won one of these matches for a long time,” Borren said. “It’s a great feeling. I’ve been trying to say to all the boys to win one of these games, you have to work hard and it’s an amazing feeling when it happens, but a lot of our guys haven’t won a four-day game before so I’m just really proud of the effort the guys put in. It’s just an awesome feeling and I’m really stoked.”