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In terms of audience, the response was mixed, but CSA chief executive Thabang Moroe hinted that future editions of the MSL could have seven or even eight teams

Liam Brickhill17-Dec-2018Put together on an extremely short timeline, the inaugural Mzansi Super League was not without its glitches but was nevertheless groundbreaking. As Cricket South Africa chief executive Thabang Moroe put it: “It’s a plane that took off without wings, it managed to fly, and now it’s landed safely.”CSA had a couple of months to pull the first season off, and they now have a year to prepare for the next one. Below are five of the talking points from the first MSL, and hints of where it could go from here.Audiences were both better and worse than expectedThat sounds confusing, but hear me out. Attendances at the grounds themselves tended to be between 4000 and 7000, which can make big stadiums like the Wanderers – at 34000 capacity – seem very empty. Even for the final, at the beginning of the school holidays on a beautiful summer day, only 11000 people turned up at the 25000 capacity Newlands. Those numbers point to a disinterest in the league from the traditional cricket-watching public, but the television numbers suggest a different picture. As many as 3.4 million people tuned in to SABC to watch the opening weekend of the league, and according to CSA, the average television audience per game was 1.6 million in South Africa. So there is an audience, but it’s not the traditional one, and thanks to the legacy of spatial apartheid in South Africa, it’s an audience that tends to live disproportionately far from cricket grounds which, apart from Boland Park, are in the wealthier, central urban areas.As Cape Town Blitz coach Ashwell Prince pointed out on Twitter, even if entry to games was free, hurdles remain for the majority of South Africans. “The challenges that face a family of four or five, who doesn’t own a car, just to be able to get to the ground that is most definitely not situated in their neighbourhoods/townships is a major major challenge”, Prince wrote, adding “don’t mistake empty seats with a lack of interest”. In future, Cricket South Africa could look to partner with bus or transport companies to help overcome this challenge and subsidise transport to and from grounds.AB ain’t what he used to beIt’s obviously way too soon to call time on AB de Villiers’ greatness, but for a player with a reputation for being able to score in a 360-degree arc anywhere around the ground, the greatest innovation he brought to the league was that of communicating with his coach Mark Boucher via walkie-talkie in an early game – something that Hansie Cronje and Bob Woolmer tried 20 years ago. De Villiers’ availability from the very beginning of the tournament, when many other teams were still missing their Protea stars, should have given Tshwane Spartans an advantage, but aside from his fifty in Spartans’ first game and 93 not out in their last, de Villiers looked a little stale with the bat.AB de Villiers goes for an unorthodox shot•Getty ImagesHe wasn’t the only one. Hashim Amla also looked horribly out of sorts, though he may still have been struggling to recover fully from the finger injury that he picked up in the Caribbean Premier League. Fortunately, there was talent brightly shining elsewhere to light up the tournament despite the fading senior statesmen. And don’t discount a de Villiers comeback next season: he clearly has unfinished business.There’s talent on the fringesRassie van der Dussen picked up the best batsman award for his table-topping 469 runs at 58.62, at a strike rate of 138.75. He was remarkably consistent, scoring four fifties, and also displayed a particular nous for reading situations and pacing his innings accordingly. Elsewhere, Duanne Olivier was effective on a variety of pitches and conditions, leading with 20 wickets from 10 matches, while Spartans seamer Lutho Sipamla shone as a strike bowler both at the top of the innings and at the death with 16 wickets, showing a knack for knocking over big names in the opposition. Van der Dussen and Olivier have already played for South Africa, and Sipamla may well do so soon.Nono Pongolo takes off in celebration after hitting two sixes to win the match•Mzansi Super LeagueThen there is the story of seam-bowling allrounder Nono Pongolo, who was originally picked only as a backup option but ended up playing a key role in Jozi Stars’ title-winning campaign.Pongolo missed practice ahead of Stars’ opening game against Nelson Mandela Bay Giants with a side strain, and it seemed he could spend the rest of the tournament in the commentary box as he’d bagged a gig with the tournament broadcasters SABC. Then, everything changed.Pongolo was picked to play against Durban Heat and removed David Miller with his first ball. In the return game at Kingsmead, he smashed consecutive sixes off Marchant de Lange to seal a breathless, one-wicket win – Stars’ fourth on the trot, turning their campaign completely around after a wobbly start.He wasn’t done there, taking 6 for 20 – the best ever figures in a T20 at the Wanderers, and the second-best by a South Africa bowler in this format – against Spartans to secure a home playoff for Stars. His last act was to pull off a remarkable, acrobatic catch parried back into play at the third-man boundary to get rid of Farhaan Behardien, Cape Town Blitz’ last frontline batsman in the final, showing that he really can do it all. Pongolo’s fairytale story is exactly the sort that CSA was hoping to create by presenting the MSL as a platform for the development of fringe talent.Individual brilliance will win you games, but only a team can win a title The exceptional form of Quinton de Kock was both a blessing and a curse for Blitz. So potent was his hitting, when de Kock got in he won games virtually single-handed. But his numbers – 412 runs in eight innings, including a century and three fifties – stood in stark contrast to those of his team-mates. That fed into a belief, no doubt picked up by opposition teams, that if you can get de Kock early, the middle order might struggle, and that turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. In the tournament final, de Kock fell in the second over, and the rest of the batting limped to 113 for 7 without him.Quinton de Kock smashed the ball down the ground•Mzansi Super LeagueTheir opponents in that final, Stars, were also helped by the remarkable form of Reeza Hendricks and van der Dussen in their campaign, but vitally they also had players standing up in other areas.Pite van Biljon and Daniel Christian, with strike rates of 196 and 194.05 respectively – ensured that the advantage given by the top order was not squandered. While teams were content seeing Dale Steyn off defensively – as his economy rate of 6.48 suggests – that tactic couldn’t work against Stars. If Kagiso Rabada didn’t get you, Beuran Hendricks would, and behind them Olivier, Christian, Pongolo and Simon Harmer were waiting. The most complete team won the tournament.There’s room to growEncouraged by the ability to pull this tournament off on such a short timeline and the presence of a television audience, Moroe has hinted that future editions could have seven or even eight teams.”Why not?” answered Moroe when asked about plans to expand the league. “The plan is to expand by two more teams. We just need to re-do our calculations, have look at the budgets and forecasts, have a look at all the deals that we’ve signed and what is still there to be signed. Have a look at if we include the two teams in year three or year four, what does it really mean for us as CSA from a monetary point of view? What does it mean for the players? Which sorts of players would need to be involved? And then look at the cities that would be competing to host those two teams. Yes, we do want to expand by two teams. I don’t have an exact date as to whether we’ll do it in year three, year four, year five, but we definitely have plans for expanding.”Moroe also suggested that CSA would seek to include more foreign players next time around, including those from India who will be crucial in cracking the international market.”It’s definitely a reality, though I’m not sure how soon we can make that reality happen,” Moroe said of the inclusion of Indian players. “We continue to work very hard with our Indian counterparts, and not only them, we work very hard with the Australians and the English. I have a very good relationship with the CEOs of Afghanistan and Pakistan.”I’m working very hard with my counterparts to try and build what is a better picture for us and for this tournament. The bigger this tournament gets, the more it’s going to benefit all South Africans. It’s not just about what Thabang wants, or what CSA can possibly get out of it, it’s for everyone in this country. For the first time, South Africans have access to it, which is something that nobody can take away from South Africa.”

Opportunities have been far and few at the first-class level, but becoming an IPL regular has breathed life into Yuzvendra Chahal’s yet flourishing limited-overs career

Deivarayan Muthu in Bangalore02-Feb-20173:05

‘Chahal worked with accuracy’ – Agarkar

While India’s captain Virat Kohli was beaming from ear to ear at the post-match press conference after his team secured the T20 series, Yuzvendra Chahal looked like a nervous kid told about a surprise test. On the field, though, he had delivered a nerveless performance, posing question after question to England’s batsmen. Chahal ultimately came away with incredible figures of 6 for 25 in four overs – the best by an Indian bowler in T20I history and the third best overall.He was chiefly responsible for England’s blink-and-you-miss-it collapse: they lost 8 for 8 in 19 balls. Chahal might not have been in the XI in the first place had R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja not been rested from the T20I series. Chahal’s sidekick in the match was Amit Mishra, his state captain at Haryana, who claimed 1 for 23 off four overs.Wednesday was just Chahal’s ninth match in India colours. He’s been an IPL regular now for Royal Challengers Bangalore for three seasons, and has been around in the first-class scene since 2009. However, opportunities have remained elusive – he has played just 27 matches in eight years. Seven of those games came in the Ranji Trophy season gone by, when Mishra was working his way into becoming a Test regular. When Mishra was released from the Test squad for the Ranji game against Goa last November, Chahal had to sit out. He has had to operate in Mishra’s shadows for a bulk of his career. More recently, he has had to also contend with Jayant Yadav.At the IPL, he was first snapped up by Mumbai Indians in 2011. He played understudy to Harbhajan Singh there, although he picked up 2 for 9 in Mumbai’s title triumph in the Champions League T20 the same year. Overall, he got only seven games for Mumbai between 2011 and 2013. In 2014, he was bought by Royal Challengers at the auction, and he made a mark immediately.He isn’t intimidated by the short boundaries at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. He loops the ball up and doesn’t lose heart even if he is launched out of the park. He managed 12 wickets in his first season with the Bangalore franchise and nearly doubled it in the next season. In Royal Challengers’ run to the final in 2016, he collected 21 wickets and finished as the second-highest wicket-taker in that season, but was overshadowed by Kohli and AB de Villiers.Chahal’s efforts, though, caught the eyeballs of the national selectors, who picked him in India’s second-string squad for the Zimbabwe trip in 2016. Chahal gave a good account of himself in Zimbabwe; none quite like his efforts in Bangalore though.Yuzvendra Chahal has spent a majority of his first-class career in the shadows of Amit Mishra and Jayant Yadav•Associated PressAfter having played the sidekick for several years, Chahal became the leader. He took the new ball but received a cold welcome from Jason Roy, who flipped his stance and switch-hit the legspinner into the stands. Two balls later, Chahal tossed one up above the eyeline, caused the ball to dip, and coaxed a bat-pad catch from Sam Billings to slip.Roy then brought out the orthodox sweep to send Chahal over square leg, but the legspinner wasn’t flustered. He lobbed the ball up outside off, again, beat Roy in flight as an inside edge snuck away to the left of MS Dhoni. He bowled two-fourths of his quota inside the Powerplay and conceded 19, a creditable effort at this ground.”In the IPL too, I use him [Chahal] in most of the matches [as a wicket-taking option],” Kohli said. “He never says ‘no’ to bowling with the new ball or bowling in the middle overs, so I mean having a guy like this is great. He doesn’t say ‘no’ to any situation.”Mishra then bottled up England in the middle overs and ended with 4-0-23-1, including only three off his last over, the 13th of the chase. England, though, were still in the hunt at 117 for 2 in 13 overs. Kohli’s Suresh Raina experiment had bombed with Eoin Morgan smiting the part-time offspinner for three sixes in three balls. Kohli needed a wicket and recalled Chahal.The move worked immediately as he dismissed Morgan and Joe Root off successive balls. His googly made a mess of Morgan’s slog-sweep but it was the next ball that showed Chahal’s range. He sent down a flat fizzer from the front of the hand à la Mishra – 10kph faster than the previous ball – which beat Root for pace and thudded into the pad in line with off stump. Chahal let out an almighty roar and the Chinnaswamy roared with him.England were still in it, though, with muscle in Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, and Chris Jordan, but Chahal gutted all in his next over to round off a mesmerising spell: 2-0-6-5. Moments later, England were skittled for 127 and Chahal, holding the ball up, walked off to a rousing reception.”It’s like a home ground match for me,” Chahal said. “I’ve not played too many series for India. Whenever I come to Bangalore, I get a vibe. I feel at home here as I’ve spent three seasons with RCB now.”The end may have come sooner than expected for England, but Kohli thought he may have just a par score to defend at the start. That victory was made possible, he said, was mainly because of Chahal, who has now been accustomed to different situations in a T20 game under Kohli.”In Bangalore, I feel any total is chaseable,” he said. “We’ve seen that in the past, talking from RCB experience, teams have chased 60-plus runs in three overs against us sometimes. When the ball starts travelling here, it is very difficult to consolidate. That’s why the middle overs become very crucial in Bangalore.”If you don’t get wickets in the middle overs then any total is chaseable. No total looks far-fetched. Any batting line-up in the world can explode in the end. The key today was to take wickets in the middle overs. This guy sitting here [Chahal] didn’t do such a bad job with that.”Kohli also said that the maturity shown by Chahal and the depth he added to the spin group would allow the management to rest Ashwin and Jadeja “whenever” they want.This record haul could probably be Chahal’s stepping stone for bigger things in India colours.

Stats highlights from the fifth day of the second Test between Sri Lanka and West Indies in Colombo, where the hosts registered their first series win in 2015

Shiva Jayaraman26-Oct-20150 Tests won by West Indies out of the 11 they have played in Sri Lanka. There are only three other instances of a team failing to win a single away Test in ten or more matches in any country. Sri Lanka themselves haven’t won a Test in India or Australia from 17 and 11 Tests respectively. Bangladesh have no wins from the ten Tests they have played in Sri Lanka. For West Indies, Sri Lanka remains one of the two countries where they haven’t won a Test. They have lost both the Tests they played in the UAE against Pakistan.3 Number of Sri Lanka players who have won more Man-of-the-Series awards than Rangana Herath, who won his third award in this series, equaling Mahela Jayawardena’s tally. Muttiah Muralitharan leads this list with 11 such awards. Kumar Sangakkara and Aravinda de Silva won four each. Herath was the leading wicket-taker in the series with 15 wickets at an average of 16.13.3 Number of series Sri Lanka had lost between their previous win and this. They had last won 2-0 against Pakistan at home in 2014. After that, they had lost all the three series they had played, 0-2 in New Zealand and 1-2 to both Pakistan and India at home.2010 The last time – before Milinda Siriwardana in this match – a Sri Lanka player hit at least one fifty and took five or more wickets in a Test. Lasith Malinga had hit 64 in the first innings against India in Galle and had taken seven wickets in the Test. Overall, Siriwardana’s was only the ninth such instance.12 Number of times West Indies have been dismissed for fewer than 200 in 42 Test innings since 2013, the most by any team in Tests during this period. They were dismissed for 163 and 171 in this Test. West Indies’ frequency of getting dismissed for fewer than 200 once in every 3.5 innings in this period is better only to Zimbabwe’s frequency of once in 2.5 innings.6 Fifty-plus scores by batsmen in the fourth innings of Tests at the P Sara Oval before Darren Bravo’s 61 in this innings. The last time this was achieved here was in 2010, when VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar got 103* and 54 respectively helping India successfully chase a target of 257 set by the hosts.2005 Last time, before this, a Test in Sri Lanka that ended in a decisive result had two or fewer fifty-plus scores. On that occasion too, West Indies were involved and only one fifty-plus score – a 157 by Sangakkara – was scored. Including this Test, this has happened only six times in Tests in Sri Lanka that have not ended in a draw.9 Second-innings fifty-plus scores by Darren Bravo including his 61 in this Test. Bravo has made 1422 runs in the second innings at an average of 50.79, which is higher than his first-innings average of 33.82. Among batsmen with at least 1000 runs in both first and second innings, Bravo’s difference of 16.97 runs between his second and first innings averages is the fourth highest. Angelo Mathews is third on this list with an average difference of 19.63 between his second (1673 runs at an average of 64.35) and first innings (2236 runs at an average of 44.72).2005 The last time an overseas top-order (No. 1 to No. 7) averaged worse in a Test series in Sri Lanka than West Indies’ in this one. Bangladesh’s top-order had averaged just 17.42 in two Tests on that occasion. In another series in 2005, West Indies had also done worse, averaging just 18.44 in two Tests.60 Runs added by Shai Hope and Darren Bravo for West Indies’ second wicket – their highest partnership in the match. Before that, West Indies had added a highest of 39 runs between Marlon Samuels and Kraigg Brathwaite for their fourth wicket in the first innings. However, it was all downhill for West Indies after that stand, being bowled out for 171 with the next eight wickets adding only 91 runs.

Zimbabwe recognise that they don’t have a bowling attack to blast out sides. Instead, they draw batsmen into making errors by sticking to disciplined lines and lengths over prolonged periods

Firdose Moonda in Harare10-Aug-2014There are a variety of ways to show skill on the cricket field. Modern spectators tend to prefer the emphatic ways of fiery fast bowlers, firmly struck boundaries and feisty fielding and are far less likely romanticised by an old-fashioned scrap. Watching Zimbabwe at work may force them into a rethink.The No.9 ranked Test team are held back by a lot of things including fixtures, finances and finely-tuned skills but they have learnt how to work within those limitations to push teams rated much higher than them as far as they can. What they lack in prowess they may make up for with pluckiness, a quality that has the ability to charm even the cold-hearted.That was evident on the first day when they stopped themselves from unravelling against a bowling attack whose reputation intimidates long before their actions do and emphasised on the second day with a bowling performance built on patience. Zimbabwe’s pack does not have out and out quicks or mystery spinners so they know they are unlikely to be able to blast teams out. They have to bore them out, and they’re happy to do that.That is why Tinashe Panyangara and Tendai Chatara adopt the Vernon Philander approach to discipline. They both bowl a good length outside offstump over and over and over again. A significant percentage of their deliveries can be watched as they go through to the wicketkeeper Richmond Mutumbami. They don’t make the batsman play nearly as much as they should and as a result they do not concede many runs.Between them, Panyangara and Chatara bowled 31 overs and conceded just 35 runs. Their message to the South African batsman was clear: if you want runs off us, you will have to come and get them and if you don’t want to, we will wait until you change your mind and when you do, maybe we’ll get you out.The third seamer, debutant Donald Tiripano, is still being schooled in those ways but he was the first to benefit from it when Dean Elgar chased one he would have left alone and was caught behind. Elgar had faced 146 balls for his 61 and the frustration mounted. That’s what Zimbabwe were banking on and it gave them three of the four wickets that fell.The lines and lengths Zimbabwe’s seamers offered and the surface they offered them on – a dry, slow pitch – tested will rather than willow, which is how Zimbabwe could claim some moral victories. Elgar admitted it took only a small lapse in concentration for Zimbabwe to break through. “I went out of my bubble a little bit. I had a bit of a brain fart and all you need is that one ball,” Elgar said.”They are very good bowlers in their conditions. The seamers are very patient. They stuck to the game plan well and are difficult to get away. They have no Dale Steyn, whose pace actually helps, but getting scoring opportunities is quite tough. They bowled well. We are lucky not to be more wickets down.”South Africa’s own laboured approach did not help them move the game forward but, like they said of the SSC two weeks ago, they were batting with brakes on because of the surface. “It’s a very subcontinent-like wicket,” Elgar said. “We felt like we were back in Sri Lanka.”South Africa’s focus on sluggish surfaces like this one is to spend as much time on it as possible and once again, the clock is on their side. After bowling Zimbabwe out early on the second morning, South Africa had the best part of four days to apply their strategy to win this match, which is to bat once, however slowly and leave enough time to bowl Zimbabwe out again.”Any runs ahead of their first-innings total is key for us. We’ve got to try and extend as much as possible tomorrow, even if it’s done slowly. We have to try and bat big,” Elgar said.Even if South Africa continue to score slowly, Zimbabwe will look to continue to bowl with discipline and eventually make some inroads. “Our plan is to keep it tight and do the basics right. If we can get two or three quick wickets we’d be happy,” John Nyumbu, the offspinner said.Nyumbu expects it to become “quite a bit more difficult” to score runs as the game goes on and although he did not say it, Zimbabwe will require a massive effort in their second innings to push for an unlikely win. They will not even tease themselves with that thought. What’s evident is that they are making the best use of their skills to ensure they are still in the game and making statements about it, however subtle those statements are.

I woke this morning with an increasingly unusual feeling in my cricketing belly – one of genuine anticipation

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013I woke this morning with an increasingly unusual feeling in my cricketing belly – one of genuine anticipation. This emotion, of course, has almost been successfully and completely excised from the cricketing calendar by the powers that be, as they pile wodge upon wodge of increasingly indistinguishable contests on top of each other, crammed into the few remaining crannies of time available.

Furthermore, as a die-hard lover of the five-day game, Test matches increasingly seem to me to be tagged on as a regrettable but contractually essential precursor to an interminably tedious one-day series, which would be forgettable were anyone able to take enough notice of it in the first place for its existence to register in their brain before being lost into the swamp of time and the ICC rankings.However, hearing the words “Sabina Park” on the radio instantly conjured up childhood memories of listening to terrified English commentators describing even more terrified English players in the terrifying heyday of the Caribbean pace attack, and of trying to work out if the resounding clonk I had just heard was leather on bat (unlikely), leather on stump (likely), or leather on nose (probable).This is a series that possesses that rarest of cricketing commodities – rarity. It is only the second time in the last 11 years that West Indies have hosted England in a Test series. (Admittedly, when the two sides reconvene for a hastily-arranged two-match series in England in May, minutes after concluding business in the Caribbean, and seconds after some of the players have returned from briefly adorning the non-business end of the IPL, it will be the third time in five years that the two have met in England, it will begin almost before the and looks set to smash all records for Least Eagerly Awaited Test Series Of All Time.)There are other factors adding to the excitement. Under their new captain Strauss, England are entering a new dawn, albeit with the same players who have boldly woken up on its last few new dawns, stretched, pulled back the new curtains, calculated the minimum allowable performance to avoid being dropped, hit the snooze button and settled down for a well-deserved lie-in, whilst Owais Shah sits alone in the breakfast room, picking at his corn flakes with an increasingly irritable spoon.England should win, although, hopefully, not quite as easily as in recent series between the two, if only because of the height of their bowlers – the most successful bowlers in the Caribbean recently include Harmison, Nel, Clark and Shabbir Ahmed – and because deposed skipper Pietersen appears to be in vengeful mood, like Anne Boleyn after her husband had had her head chopped off, only with his head still attached to his central nervous system, and therefore more able to act on his anger than the young church-schisming temptress of Kent and England. This is all dependent on someone concocting a method of dismissing Chanderpaul, who is arguably now the single most important player in world cricket, as well as the oddest.A few statistical pointers:The Lara Effect
Chanderpaul averaged 44 before Lara retired at the end of 2006, but a Bradman-embarrassing 104 since then. The team’s next best two batsmen have also posted more impressive numbers since the great Trindadian swished his spectacular bat for the final time. Both Sarwan and Gayle averaged 38 before his retirement; they average 45 and 44 respectively since.Fast Bowlers
In their last 16 Tests, Steve Harmison averages 47, Fidel Edwards 32, and Jerome Taylor 31. Harmison does however average 24 in 12 Tests against West Indies.Spin Bowlers
Since 1980, England’s specialist spinners in the West Indies have taken 53 wickets in 6 series at an average of 49.70.England’s stagnant batsmen
Excluding Pietersen (50) and Flintoff (32), five of England’s current top 7 have career averages in the low 40s. However, their recent form is less impressive.Cook: career average 42. Last 19 Tests: 36. First 17 Tests: 48.
Strauss: career average 42. Last 24 Tests 37. First 31 Tests: 46.
Bell: career average 41. Last 21 Tests: 36. First 24 Tests: 45.
Pietersen: career average 50. Last 20 Tests: 45. First 25 Tests: 54.
Collingwood: career average 42. Last 24 Tests: 37. First 17 Tests: 48.
Flintoff: career average 32. Last 12 Tests: 24. First 60 Tests: 33.
Prior: career average 40, but excluding century-spanking debut, has averaged 33 over 11 Tests.The statistics speak for themselves. Exactly what they are trying to say is not clear, and the selectors almost certainly are sticking their fingers in their ears and humming the theme tune to themselves, but they are certainly speaking.Possible interpretations of their utterances include:

• “These boys have been operating in the comfort zone of undroppability for too long.”
• “Moores was really, really adequate.”
• “They still haven’t got over the 5th day at Adelaide in 2006.”
• “If at least two or three of you don’t swing your career curves upwards again, you could lose this series.”

Finally, an apology. To Jack Russell. I have lain awake over the last few nights tormented by feelings of guilt and anguish that I have perpetrated a grave injustice by including the Gloucestershire genius in my World’s Dullest XI. His sublime glovework alone should have rendered him beyond consideration, let alone selection, and his batting provided far too fascinating an insight into the curious psyche of a tatty-hat-wearing painter-cricketer. Selectors often make mistakes – I am prepared to be the first in history to admit my error in public.

India’s bowling consultant is happy that his charges are one tight unit, working together, and he expects them to do well in England no matter what combination gets picked

Interview by Sriram Veera10-Jul-2011

Ishant Sharma

“If he bowls with the control he has got now, Ishant can be a real handful in England. His ability to get bounce out of a wicket from a fuller length is crucial there”•AFPI remember one of the first spells he bowled after I got involved. It was against South Africa in Kolkata, when he bowled a really great spell but didn’t get any wickets. He was stressed, and I told him, “Ishant, you bowled a wonderful spell so let’s focus on what you have done there.” Like Pragyan Ojha’s spell against Australia in Mohali, where he bowled 20 overs for around 28 runs and got no wickets, but played a huge role in India eventually going on to win that game. I have tried to tell the guys it’s not always about the wickets column.In South Africa we got Ishant to do a few drills, and when I was catching the ball from him, I saw the seam in different positions and I saw his confidence grow. Wickets may not be coming, but I am seeing good things stacking up.I got really excited with what I saw from him during the IPL. He still wasn’t getting wickets, but the channels he was bowling [were good]. I always thought he needed to bowl a little wider outside off stump. He did that during the IPL and he is doing it consistently now. Then his natural ball comes in, hits the off stump and the batsmen don’t know where to go.One of the things I tried to enforce with him was to never lose your belief in his ability, and everyone who saw him had to keep telling him that and keep him positive in his thinking in terms of how he sees his ability. In Ishant you’re now seeing confidence and technique come together. There are a lot of things you can do [to help a player regain confidence], but it’s seldom technical. It’s more about getting your mind in a calm space. It’s crucial to just get [the bowler] to a place where he is confident, calm and believing in himself.If he bowls with the control he has got now, Ishant can be a real handful in England. He has obviously got the height. His ability to get bounce out of a wicket from a fuller length is crucial. He is getting more confident now that his control is back. The no-balls are disappearing. He’s going to start finding the pace that he has. To try and bowl quicker when you haven’t got confidence is not going to work. I think now he’ll start bowling consistently at 140kph, 141, 142, and that’s just going to add to his strength. The only thing is he can drift down leg now and then, but it is a minor issue.A lot of it is to do with angles. If you run up in a particular way and use a particular action, you must try and use that action all the time. If you are bowling over the wicket and bowl with a certain action, and then if you bowl around the wicket and you are landing differently, it makes no sense – you bowl across yourself. Ishant used to run from behind the umpire, but now he runs in from wider. So his action is the same around the wicket as it is from over the wicket. His delivery is coming at the batsman’s off stump but his action’s the same, and because he naturally has a tendency to move the ball away, it makes it doubly difficult for the batsman. That’s the technical change we have made, so he is bowling down the line of his feet rather than across his body.My mantra for this bowling unit has been: the perfect plan you can execute for the batsman is not as good as the perfect plan you can execute for yourself. If Ishant bowls back of a length, we’ll pack the square field [in England] instead of making him bowl fuller.

Sreesanth

Sreesanth is an incredibly talented bowler. We try to make him understand his game plan and when he is most effective. You are not the most effective when you are bowling six different deliveries just because you can. His spell against Australia in Bangalore was one of the best in fast bowling I had seen. He was reversing the ball in and away. There are few in the world who can do that.That’s been one of the successes of Praveen Kumar: the patience he has shown in Test cricket. In one-dayers he has got so many variations, but in Tests he has put them away and bowled the way you need to in Test cricket, and reaped some success. That’s what Sree needs to do too – to stay focused and be patient.It’s been a little frustrating for him with injuries. He’s understood the importance of patience. But you also don’t want to take [his personality] out of him. That’s what makes the man special. He’s an artist in so many ways. So it’s just trying to keep all those things in place and keep him motivated and focused on the job he can do. He’s a very special talent to cricket. He’s a flamboyant personality and people love him. And I think the game needs him.Sreesanth can do really well and be effective in English conditions. I think back to the delivery he bowled to Jacques Kallis in Durban. There are few who can do that. And the spell in Mohali. He is a swing bowler, and I would like him to bowl a fuller length and see him make them drive.

Praveen Kumar

Six months ago we wouldn’t have thought Praveen would be going to England. And now, not only is he going to England but going there on the back of what he’s already done in Test cricket. He’s going to be a massive asset for us.”In Tests Praveen has put his variations away and bowled the way you need to in Test cricket, and reaped some success”•AFPWe have stressed to him the importance of patience in Test cricket; the importance of bowling to your field; how a batsman is thinking. If Praveen’s going to be nibbling outside the off stump, who’s going lose his patience first? I don’t think England like that kind of pace or balls that swing both ways. Just nibble away around off, they lose their off stump.In Jamaica he was prepared to bowl only outswing for a full over, for two overs. I think sometimes, what the batsman doesn’t want is the right tactic. You need to think like him.In the past Praveen has tried too many things. In Test cricket just having the variation is a strength in itself, because while you keep pitching it and nipping it away, the batsman knows you can also swing it back. How long before you bowl the inswinger? You can bowl one in three overs, and it’s all you have to do.I think Praveen can bowl quicker, but we are not talking about it now. I would love every bowler to have that 5kph more pace, but it shouldn’t be cause and effect in terms of gaining pace and losing something else. He has got something unique and one needs to respect that. You need to work on his pace slowly. You can’t try immediately to make it 145kph. You don’t want him to be falling over [at the point of release] because he wants to bowl quicker. Who did Sachin Tendulkar hate facing the most? Hansie Cronje! That’s a weapon. If you can nag at that pace, some people hate that. Sometimes it is the variation that keeps you going.

Munaf Patel

I would have loved to see Munaf bowl more [in the West Indies series]. He is just beginning to feel his way back. He has natural bounce and he is actually a natural athlete. He can be a casual-looking guy, but when he runs in at pace and does something, he is quicker than what most people think.In many ways he was one of the leaders of the attack in West Indies. He is in control of his emotions. He is a mature guy. He says little things to me at times that make me go, “Wow, I hadn’t seen that.” It could be about a batsman or about one of our bowlers. I have hopefully influenced some guys, and I have learnt a lot from Munaf as well. The way he embarks on a game, the way he thinks about it.I do believe he has a few more yards of pace in him, which we will see. He has the ability to bowl different lengths. He can be effective, keep a fuller length and do little things with the ball. He is going to be a handful if the conditions suit him. I am quite excited to see where he goes from here. The injuries were unfortunate. Hopefully he is over it now and can stake a good Test claim for England.Munaf comes across as a guy who is very grateful with what he has got, with what he has achieved. He is humble to everyone around him. The little things he does tell me he doesn’t see himself as a superstar . He doesn’t see himself as a World Cup winner and therefore as a bit special. He comes across as a guy who is very grateful with what he has got, with what he has achieved. He works hard, has a great attitude, and it rubs off on the people around him.

Zaheer Khan

Zaheer is a guy who knows his action very well. His ability to bowl at the same pace from a short run tells you he knows his action, because not many guys can do it. He is a different bowler because of his wrists. He can swing the ball just with his wrists.He also understands his body really well. He picks up on niggles very early. At times something could have grown more serious, but he picked it up early and pulled himself off. He has the ability to fix things. Now even Ishant has started to do that. I used to tell Ishant that his front arm was going over, that he was falling over. Now he is fixing things himself. Zaheer has the ability to fix things in the middle, and not wait for tea or lunch break.His break has been a blessing in disguise. He has played a lot of cricket. He went into the IPL from the World Cup. That must have been difficult.My contribution with Zaheer is that I might look at something differently and give a few suggestions. I have spoken to him about bowling round the stumps to right-handers. It’s not really worked for him in terms of the angle he comes in at.He has the ability to knock over Andrew Strauss during a crucial moment in the game against England at the World Cup, and to take crucial wickets in a Test when the ball starts reversing and the match is going nowhere.Also, because of who he is – to go to a young bowler and calm him down when he’s under pressure. To say, “I have been there before and this is maybe an idea and a thought.” We have tried to build a family unit. It’s great for me to see the bowlers build this spirit together. They have to hunt together as a group, and to have someone like Zaheer is crucial to lead that group. Again he’s got incredible ability technically, and you learn from people like that.

Harbhajan Singh

“Zaheer is a guy who knows his action very well. His ability to bowl from a short run, yet at the same pace, tells you he knows his action, because not many guys can do it”•AFPHarbhajan needs to see what the right bowling line is for him. He has the ability to read the situation and decide whether it’s important to attack or to hold. Particularly with a four-man attack, it’s hard work for seamers. Someone should hold down one end – a seamer or spinner. Sometimes Harbhajan has to do it. I would like him to have the freedom to make that decision. If it means a line outside off will be more attacking, or if it means bowling a straighter line because holding down is important so Zaheer can pick up a wicket from the other end , we trust Harbhajan with making that decision.I think Harbhajan is bowling a better line. He is hitting the line outside off. It’s all about encouragement and giving them a sense of belief in the system – the process.I have checklists with Harbhajan. You can see what people do when they are successful and what they are not doing when they are not. When I’m standing and taking balls when Harbhajan or Amit Mishra bowl, and I can sense the seam is in a good position, I stop them and ask, “What did you do there? What was different this time? The ball came out really well this time, we need to do more of this.”

Jenny Thompson considers the impact if the women’s game gets its own World Twenty20 alongside the men

Jenny Thompson20-Dec-2007

Attractive talents such as New Zealand’s Suzie Bates could shine in front of huge audiences © Getty Images
Women are great innovators in cricket. They played the first Twenty20, ahead of the men. They thought of the first World Cup, in 1972. Some say a woman, Christina Willes, even thought up overarm bowling. In some ways it’s a surprise, then, that they didn’t beat the men to the World Twenty20.But now they have their well-deserved chance to shine in the limelight as the ICC has confirmed to Cricinfo that, subject to budget approval, the women will have a World Twenty20 scheduled around the men’s at the next tournament in England in 2009. The championship could do even more for the women than what it has for the men: much, much more, as the game could be on television every day throughout the tournament, meaning increased exposure and sponsorship.Women cricketers’ achievements have gone largely unnoticed over the years, bar the occasional televised match, and precious few are still household names. This, though, is the game’s chance to burst into the awareness of the general public, and comes on the back of the largely excellent work of the ICC in bringing together the men’s and women’s boards around the world, while working towards making the game more professional. Some boards had already merged before the ICC took over the women’s game. The ECB, for example, had already instigated funding, unified the administrations, and had the same kit for women and men, but with the world merger the game has had many more opportunities, of which this is the biggest yet.While some may question whether the women’s version is attractive enough to be on television, the game has improved immeasurably, with power-hitting, playing over the top – as demonstrated by New Zealand’s Suzie Bates and England’s Sarah Taylor – and 70mph-plus fast bowling from such players as Jhulan Goswami of India and Australia’s Emma Sampson.The women’s game has always been big on technical accuracy, but has often been a comparatively dull affair, with 200 a winning score in 50-over games. These days it has the attractive, fast-paced element to match, although it cannot hope to match men’s cricket, and it is better than it is often given credit for. Nevertheless, exposure had remained a challenge. Until now.The game will have to wait until early 2008 to hear if budget approval has been given, but if and when it is, it would be welcome news for a sport that is often overlooked despite abundant talent. The story is the same from women’s cricket colonies around the world: whenever spectators attend their first match, they are surprised and impressed. It’s one of the sport’s best-kept secrets.Twenty20 in particular lends itself to the new women’s game. As with the men’s version, it’s a short enough injection while still providing a chance for the display of manifest skills. The women’s game is also a family-friendly arena, and the players are highly accessible, making it an attractive proposition for young autograph hunters.One challenge at the World Twenty20 would be for the second tier of women’s teams – including South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies – to put on a show worth watching. The experiment to have the Afro-Asia women’s tournament as a curtain raiser to the men’s last June was hardly a great advertisement – the teams made 105 and 45. But other domestic experiments in England and Australia, where women’s teams played ahead of domestic and state men’s matches, succeeded in showing off the skills in exciting games.And, thankfully, the competition offered by the second level on the world stage should at least be more than that on offer at the Afro-Asia tournament. South Africa’s captain Cri-zelda Brits believes her side would put on a good show. She watched England and New Zealand entertain during a Twenty20 over summer and told Cricinfo in August: “Just watching these two teams and how they’ve excelled in that form really is proof that we could all participate in such an event, and I’m sure you’ll see the gap closing between nations participating in these sort of games.”The ICC, along with the boards, must be applauded for their thinking. They have the clout, the money and the exposure, and most crucially, they are putting their mouth where their money is and making great strides. At a time when they face criticism for scheduling too many matches in the men’s game, they have hardly burdened the women’s game the same way. Women’s cricket offers them a largely untapped market, one with much potential for growth among women and young fans, and this latest plan could hopefully help reach out to those audiences.The ICC showed they could put on an excellent show in the first World Twenty20, and the format breathed new life into the game. Now with the women’s game they are on the cusp of turning the lick of flame into a burning fire that could at last set the public’s imaginations alight.

Yousuf, Iftikhar fifties not enough as Gladiators fall short by nine runs in chase of 263

Danyal Rasool11-Mar-2023

The Rawalpindi leg of the PSL this season has stood out for the surfeit of fours and sixes that have pervaded it, but even by those gluttonous standards, Usman Khan stood out. The former Quetta Gladiators man tormented his previous employers, smashing the fastest PSL hundred as Sultans piled on 262, the highest PSL score in history.Gladiators, needing a win – and in truth, a comprehensive one to stay alive – battled gamely, half-centuries from Omair Yousuf and Iftikhar Ahmed keeping the scoreline respectable. But despite the placidity of the surface, there were simply too many runs to get. Abbas Afridi showed the bowlers could have their say too with a five-fer that included a hat-trick, and though Gladiators took it much deeper than it appeared they might, they fell short by nine runs.Gladiators required a run-rate boosting victory to retain realistic hopes of pipping Peshawar Zalmi to a playoff spot, but the manner in which Multan started put any such notions to bed. It wasn’t until the third over that Usman struck his first boundary, but the four he plundered off that Aimal Khan over was very much a harbinger of what would follow. By the sixth over, Multan were purring, and the hapless Qais Ahmed was clobbered for 27 as Sultans posted 91, the highest powerplay score of the season.The carnage continued with 21 of the next over, and a further 27 off Qais’ second. During that over, Usman had brought up his 36-ball hundred, the fastest this league has ever seen. The following over saw the 150 come up, with the innings still in its first half. Nawaz brought himself once more and, to Gladiators’ relief, deceived him with the flight as Umar Akmal effected a smart stumping, though, having bludgeoned a 43-ball 120, the damage had very much been done.Mohammad Rizwan wasn’t exactly plodding along, but he’d been happy to turn the strike over, facing just 17 of the first 61 balls. He brought up his own half-century off 26 balls, but the carnage often happened at the other end. Tim David was in imperious form and combined with Kieron Pollard to finish strongly after the Gladiators had staged a mini-revival in the middle overs. The fourth wicket partnership between the duo combined for an unbeaten 58 off 33, and while that almost felt snail-paced after Usman’s fireworks, it still powered Sultans to the highest PSL total by 15 runs.Gladiators needed a huge effort from the top three if they were to stage a repeat of the monster chase they achieved against Peshawar Zalmi earlier in the week. But the architect of that triumph, Jason Roy, was dispatched with a slower ball in the second over. Martin Guptill took charge with a blistering powerplay cameo, smoking 37 off 13 balls before a bit of extra pace from Ihsanullah took the outside edge.But cameos weren’t enough in a chase of this magnitude, and to make up for the lack of one huge innings, Gladiators strung together several small, consequential ones. Seven of the ten who batted registered double figures, none of them at a strike rate lower than 170. Yousuf and Iftikhar appeared to be making a game of it with a 57-ball 104-run stand through the middle overs, with both batters scoring half-centuries. Iftikhar, somewhat bizarrely, gestured to shush the Rawalpindi crowd after getting to the mark in 28 balls, even as his side was well on course to be silenced before the playoffs for the fourth successive season.It was Afridi who dismissed him with a slower ball to ease any Multan nerves, but to Gladiators’ credit, they kept hammering away. Mohammad Nawaz struck a four off his first ball, while Akmal and Umaid smashed sixes of theirs, and though the wickets kept tumbling, the runs were steadily being knocked off. When Akmal smashed two sixes in the 17th to leave Gladiators needing 56 off 22, they might even have been narrow favourites, but Afridi would have the final say.Three wickets off successive balls straddling two overs were the icing on the cake, as Afridi achieved just the fifth PSL hat-trick, and though Gladiators raged against the dying of the light, the light truly was going out for them. The scoreline might say they fell short by just nine runs, but this elimination is the fourth first-round exit in a row for the 2019 champions. The narrow margin of defeat cannot detract from the gulf between them in a league where most of their competitors have pulled far out of sight.

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Skipper David Willey smashed seven sixes and seven fours in a 34-ball 79 as Northamptonshire Steelbacks made it two Vitality Blast wins from two with a crushing eight-wicket win over Notts Outlaws.After bowling Outlaws out for 154, Steelbacks knocked off their target with a commanding 40 balls to spare, South African opener Matthew Breetzke hitting the winning boundary in a 30-ball unbeaten 51. Northamptonshire had never won at Trent Bridge in seven previous visits in the shortest format.Outlaws had appeared set for a substantial score after building on a 63-run powerplay to be 104 for 1 after 10 overs, new skipper Joe Clarke and Outlaws debutant Jack Haynes having shared a 95-run partnership from 58 balls.But Clarke fell for 48 and Haynes for 51 and the home side lost their last nine wickets for 50 in 9.2 overs.Left-arm spinner Saif Zaib – only an occasional bowler in this format – took a T20 career-best 3 for 12 in three overs, with 6ft 7ins pace bowler George Scrimshaw claiming three for 16 from 14 balls.Asked to bat first, Outlaws lost Alex Hales in the second over, caught behind after making room to cut Raphy Weatherall, but raced to 63 for 1 in the opening six nonetheless, Clarke hammering two sixes and Haynes another amid a rush of boundaries.The second-wicket pair had added 95 by the end of the 10th over before they were stopped in their tracks by left-arm spinner Saif Zaib – the seventh bowler used by David Willey – as Clarke was caught by off-side sweeper Ricardo Vasconcelos for 48 off 30 balls.A brilliant piece of fielding by Willey from mid-off then ran out Will Young and when Tom Moores holed out to long-on for 9 Outlaws had stumbled from 104 for 1 to 117 for 4 in three overs, with the scoring rate being dragged back for good measure by the slower bowlers.The Northamptonshire fightback continued with Zaib striking twice in his second over as Haynes was caught at wide long-on and Matt Montgomery was bowled sweeping.Willey re-entered the attack to bowl Calvin Harrison off an inside edge before the unravelling continued thanks to two in two by George Scrimshaw as Lyndon James was out via a steepling catch and Dillon Pennington leg before. Scrimshaw wrapped things up by having Olly Stone caught behind as Outlaws failed even to bat out the full 20 overs.The early wicket of Vasconcelos, caught at slip as a scoop went badly wrong, lifted home spirits momentarily but they had fallen flat by the end of the powerplay, with Steelbacks ahead at 68 for 1 after the sixth over saw Willey hammer his one-time Northamptonshire team-mate Stone for 4-4-6-4-4-1, before going 6-2-4 off legspinner Harrison’s first three deliveries to complete a 21-ball fifty.Willey’s explosive innings continued with four more huge sixes off the first four balls of Harrison’s second over. The left-hander clearly had it in mind to go for a full set but his luck ran out next ball, which he mistimed just enough for it to drop into the hands of James at long-off.Nonetheless, with opener Breetzke, who faced only 20 balls in the opening 10 overs, at last getting a look-in to clear the rope off Stone, Steelbacks reached the halfway point needing just 35 more for victory.As it was, it took them only another 20 balls to get the job done, Breetzke and Ravi Bopara picking up two more maximums each before the former lofted Montgomery’s offspin through long-off for the winning boundary, completing his maiden Outlaws half-century in the process.