ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the final in Port-of-Spain where rain prevented an exciting conclusion

Daniel Brettig in Port-of-Spain19-Apr-2012Record of the dayWhen Kemar Roach sent Ben Hilfenhaus’ off stump cartwheeling – the second time he had plucked that very same stump in the match, having also removed it when belonging to Shane Watson – he became the first West Indies fast bowler to take 10 wickets in a Test since Corey Collymore against Pakistan at Sabina Park in 2005. Against Australia the drought had stretched as far back as the one-run Adelaide Oval Test of 1993, when Curtly Ambrose rounded up 10 to help the visitors to the narrowest win in the history of the five-day game. No wonder Roach celebrated wildly when the wicket fell, and also led his team-mates off at the end of the innings.Declaration of the dayFrom the moment Michael Hussey cracked Narsingh Deonarine’s first ball after lunch for six over wide long off, it was clear that Michael Clarke’s Australia would try to make something of the match, even though the rain threatened. Having taken the lead to 214 for the loss of eight wickets, Clarke called his men in, as he had done in the first innings at Kensington Oval. Given the scoring rate across the match and the strong likelihood of rain, Clarke’s call was as shrewd as it was bold, but his desire to keep the game moving at all costs remained clear.Promotion of the dayHaving been set a challenge by Clarke, Darren Sammy responded grandly in the 11 overs that were possible before the long threatened rain blanketed the ground. First, he promoted Kieran Powell to open with Adrian Barath instead of the more conservative Kraigg Brathwaite. Powell stroked his first ball through the covers for four, and after his dismissal the next man in was no-one other than Sammy himself, seeking to drag the West Indies into the contest with rapid runs. He had perished by this method in the first innings, but in the second he brought the match to life with a series of brave blows, reaching 30 from 26 balls before light and rain intervened. On a pitch that has been the epitome of slow and low, his innings was the only of the match to return a strike rate of better than 100.

Israr Ali, Pakistan’s oldest living Test cricketer, had a short and frustrating career, but one in which he made an Australian batsman his bunny

Umar Farooq05-Aug-2012When 91-year-old Aslam Khokar died last January, Israr Ali became Pakistan’s oldest surviving Test cricketer. At 85, Israr lives a humble life, away from cricket, in his hometown, Okara, southwest of Lahore.Israr played in Pakistan’s first Test, 60 years ago, against India. But unlike his famous team-mates from that tour, Hanif Mohammad, Fazal Mahmood and Imtiaz Ahmed, Israr is a forgotten man today.A misunderstanding with his captain Abdul Kardar, then the most powerful man in Pakistan cricket, is what Israr believes kept his Test career to four matches. A left-arm fast-medium bowler, he was picked as a bowling allrounder for the 1952 India tour, but played mostly as a batsman, confused and frustrated by lack of clarity about his role.Israr scored a half-century in the first tour game, against North Zone in Amritsar, and was sent out at No. 3 in the first Test in Delhi. Dismissed for 1 and 9 by Vinoo Mankad, he was dropped for the next match, in Lucknow – where he became Pakistan’s first substitute fielder to effect a dismissal, catching Gul Ahmed off the bowling of Amir Elahi.”It was Kardar who fought to get me in the side [for the India tour],” Israr told ESPNcricinfo. “He believed my being a left-armer could be lethal, and that my reasonable batting ability could be an advantage. But surprisingly, he didn’t ask me to bowl and that was frustrating.”In the third Test, in Mumbai, he was relegated to the tail of the batting and bowling orders, getting only three overs in an innings that lasted 112.”Kardar was a dominating captain at the time and I paid the price for the occasional argument with him and also some misunderstanding,” Israr remembers.He was rubbed up the wrong way by Kardar once summoning him in a disrespectful manner at the Gymkhana ground in Lahore. The two might have come to blows had other players not stepped in. Kardar was also under the mistaken impression that Israr was against his captaincy and had complained to the chairman of the board about Kardar. Israr puts this down to Kardar being misled by people with vested interests.All that is water under the bridge now. “Life has been very simple so far and I am satisfied with it,” Israr says, “but fighting with Kardar was my biggest regret. He was truly the best man in the history of Pakistan cricket. I went to him in Karachi to talk about my attitude and we resolved all the issues but it was too late.”Israr was 32 when he was recalled to the side for two Tests against Australia, in 1959-60. He took six wickets but failed with the bat. He remembers the games for his complete domination of Australia’s opening batsman Les Favell. Israr dismissed him in all four innings without the assistance of fielders.”A remarkable day in my career was when I bowled Favell in Dacca [the first Test] and a crowd of 50,000 spectators was on its toes, cheering for the dismissal. For a while I was stunned.” He bowled Favell in the second innings in Lahore for 4, in the process breaking a stump that was then signed by the Pakistan president Ayub Khan and Israr, and handed over to the Lahore museum – from where it disappeared years later.With that Test, Israr’s international career ended, and not long after that he had to retire from first-class cricket too, when he was injured in an accident: a bus collided with his car, killing three of his friends who were in it. Israr escaped with a broken arm, but vanished from the cricket scene for a decade and a half, before returning to work in administration for a few years.A young Israr•PCB/Maqsood AhmedToday he spends his days waking at sunrise and being driven to his farm, where he supervises the cultivation of wheat, rice and occasionally corn. He has three sons none of whom played cricket competitively. “I took them to the cricket ground but it was a hopeless attempt. Maybe they didn’t want to work hard or were lacking interest. So I was the only one in my family who played cricket at the top level.”Israr was the president of Multan Region from 1981 to 1982, and a member of Pakistan’s selection committee in 1983 and 1984, before he decided to move away from the game. In 1997 he was a beneficiary of the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series played in Sharjah. “I parted from cricket after 1987, maybe because I was losing the passion, and decided to stay back in Okara,” he says.Like many former cricketers, Israr isn’t happy with the how the game has evolved in the country. “The quality of cricket began to drop after the ’80s, and administration got more politicised. It has been going down since then. Pakistan cricket has been on top for decades but things don’t look good now. I feel cricket is reduced only to bigger cities like Karachi and Lahore. It’s very sad to see the talent around the outskirts of the cities being ignored.Inevitably, he thinks things were better in his time. “In our era we didn’t have to go to any coach to learn,” he says. “We just observed and applied it until we got perfect,”In his first over in first-class cricket, he could have done with some coaching guidance, though. Playing for Southern Punjab against Northern India in Patiala, he was warned by the umpire twice for stepping on the danger area in his follow-through. “I remember it because I was asked to bowl over the wicket and I struggled for a while with my follow-through and I ended up in the middle of the pitch. But I recovered well.”For Israr, the period between his playing days in the 1950s and the 1980s was “the best era”. “We didn’t have any inspiring figures in cricket to follow but we were passionate about the game and wanted to play it. There was a real competitive environment around us at school, in the nets, everywhere we played. We were out there to prove a point.”

Jacques Kallis missed out on a chance to finally make his mark at Lord’s as the tourists’ No. 1 challenge reached a critical stage

Firdose Moonda at Lord's18-Aug-2012When South Africa readied themselves to jostle with England for the No. 1 ranking, they focused some of their time on planning for the big moments. It was the catches that make for the best photographs, the centuries that are scored where a run would fear to tread and the wickets that are taken despite those centuries that would decide the best of the best.One of their biggest moments has now come. Although the match is not South Africa’s to win, enough time remains for it to be theirs to lose and how they go about avoiding that will be one of deciding factors of the series. On the batting front, South Africa will have to do it without the two heaviest of their heavyweight line-up – Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis.Kallis, in particular, is a significant loss in the wider context. His batting has probably been on display at Lord’s for the last time and it did not show itself in the way he would have wanted it to. In three matches, Kallis has scored only 54 runs at the ground. Before the second innings he had collected just 23 runs. It’s not just that Kallis has not been on the honours board at Lord’s, it’s that he has not even come close to it.No matter how many times Kallis repeats that accolades and statistics don’t matter to him now, his reaction to his dismissal said something else. He was denied in the first innings, after a bizarre third umpire’s call gave him out despite replays that showed his hand was not on the bat when the glove made contact with the ball, and there was mild annoyance as he left the field. Knowing that the second innings would likely be his last batting stint at one of the sport’s most hallowed theatres must have been on his mind when he arrived at the crease with South Africa 50 for 2.So much opportunity presented itself. There was the chance to score a series-defining innings (his century at The Oval was a footnote to Smith’s 100th-Test hundred and Amla’s record-breaking 331) and rescue South Africa from trouble. There was also the chance to write his name into the only part of cricketing history it has failed to be inscribed on.On both counts Kallis missed out and, unlike the call on day one, he had nothing to complain about second time around. Despite emphatic gestures to his bat, brandishing of the willow and a wave of words as he walked off, there was little to support that Kallis had been hard done by. His was a dismissal that technology needed to prove was clearly not out after Simon Taufel had raised his finger.Hot Spot gave no indication that contact had been made and replays showed the ball had passed between bat and pad and Kallis was hit on the back leg. Without any conclusive evidence to overturn the decision, Taufel’s call was rightly upheld and Kallis Lord’s hoodoo remains. When his career in remembered, this will be brought up as his only blot. Should South Africa go on to be crowned the top-ranked Test team after his match, the dark spot will be a few shades lighter.But that will depend on factors out of Kallis’ control. It will hinge on whether the other batsman can hold their nerve to play the big moments in the same way he so often has and whether the XI as a unit can make something happen, where they have sometimes not been able to.South Africa do not have a good record of consecutive Test wins. Their solid record comes from not losing. A typical series for them includes one authoritative performance and a few gutsy draws. In this series, the domination has already come. Assistant coach Russell Domingo described the win at The Oval as the “perfect game” and said “to match that would be difficult”. The draw came at Headingley, where if weather was not involved the result may have been different.What next? In South Africa’s last three three-Test series, against India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand, they have drawn, won and drawn the last Test, after losing the second against both India and Sri Lanka. Had they won the match against India in 2010-11, they would have earned a series win and the No. 1 ranking. But the draw came as a relief after Kallis had to bat with a side strain to save the match. In big moments like those, South Africa had been endured but not prospered.This series has been different so far. The belief and confidence of the team is stronger than it has ever been in the past and if the big moments are considered in their widest possible form, South Africa have triumphed.Alastair Cook could have gone on from his 114 after the first day at The Oval but all he was able to do was add one more run before playing on. Alviro Petersen and Jacques Rudolph could have succumbed in the first hour on the second day at Headingley but they battled through, scoring only 36 runs and seeing off six maidens up front. Kevin Pietersen’s 149 could have bloated into a double century and more but Morne Morkel culled him in the first over of the fourth day at Headingley.Another watershed moment like that one awaits. Of the major run-scorers for South Africa so far, only one remains – Hashim Amla. Potential and talent makes up the rest. AB de Villiers, who has made his biggest scores in recent times only when platforms have been laid, is capable and then some. Rudolph, JP Duminy and even Vernon Philander can all bat but what goes on in their minds will end up being more important.The challenge facing them is not one of technique or skill but one of temperament. For the first time in the series, the middle order will come under real pressure to post a total that South Africa can defend. They have not needed in that capacity yet and when they were, in the first innings it was left to Philander. Leaving it that late again would likely not translate into a victory of the big moment, but more importantly, it could cost South Africa the biggest moment – that of becoming world No.1.

ESPNcricinfo’s George Binoy picks his team of the Under-19 World Cup

George Binoy in Townsville27-Aug-2012
1. Unmukt Chand (India)
After one half-century and a couple of starts on difficult pitches, Unmukt’s performances had been average during India’s progress to the final. However, on the grandest stage an Under-19 player can have, he delivered a breath-taking innings, his century helping India pull off the highest successful chase at Tony Ireland Stadium to become World Champions.2. Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Began the tournament with 75 against Afghanistan and a century against Scotland to help his team top their group. Made the curious decision of batting first on a tricky pitch in the quarter-final but was good enough to score a half-century against India as his team-mates collapsed around him. Was Pakistan’s top-scorer in a play-off semi-final against West Indies as well.3. Quinton de Kock (wk) (South Africa)
Blitzed 95 and a century against Namibia and Bangladesh to finish top of the run-charts in the group stages, but had consecutive failures in the quarter and semi-finals. Finished the World Cup with a half-century against New Zealand as South Africa won the third-place play-off. Made the best XI because, with 18 dismissals, de Kock was the best wicketkeeper-batsman on show in Queensland.4. Anamul Haque (Bangladesh)
The highest run-scorer in the World Cup, Anamul began with a hundred that would relegate Sri Lanka to the plate competition and ended with another hundred, against Pakistan, which helped Bangladesh finish seventh out of 16 teams. He scored a half-century against England’s potent attack as well, and had starts in two other innings. Wasn’t tested on the tough pitches at Tony Ireland Stadium, but received praise from his former coach Stuart Law.5. William Bosisto (capt) (Australia)
Player of the Tournament. Unbeaten in five out of six innings, his only dismissal was a run-out against South Africa. Made important contributions in chases against England, Ireland, Bangladesh and South Africa, often shoring up a top-order wobble. Saved his best for the final, his 87 taking Australia to a competitive total. Had the coolest head in the competition. Bosisto’s only slip-up was dropping Unmukt in the last ten overs of a tense chase in the final.6. Kyle Mayers (West Indies)
One of three players to have scored over 100 runs and taken more than ten wickets in the tournament, Mayers batted at No. 6 and bowled second change for West Indies. He was their highest wicket-taker and conceded fewer than four runs an over, hitting the bats hard with his pace and bounce. As a batsman, he had the ability to play in several gears, showing patience against India and attacking against Zimbabwe.7. Ashton Turner (Australia)
Finished as Australia’s leading wicket-taker by bowling an attacking brand of offspin. Turner got the ball to bounce and spin from an aggressive line just outside off stump. A useful batsman at No. 7 as well, contributing valuable runs in the quarter-final against Bangladesh and in the final against India.England’s Reece Topley was the most complete bowler at the World Cup•ICC/Getty8. George Dockrell (Ireland)
The left-arm spinner who could not be attacked is the only player from the plate competition in the XI. Dockrell’s tournament figures were 60-22-122-10. He had astonishingly economical figures against strong opposition as well – 0 for 22 and 1 for 10 in full spells against England and Australia. Against Namibia, he had 10-5-8-1. His economy-rate of 2.05 made him impossible to not pick.9. Ronsford Beaton (West Indies)
His stats may not be the best but Beaton was a tough quick to face. He hit speeds of 145 kph and was a constant threat with his lines and length. Began with a match-winning 3 for 33 against India and also took 3 for 47 in the quarter-final against New Zealand. In that match, Beaton conceded only four in the penultimate over of the chase, leaving Justin Greaves 18 to defend in the 50th, which he failed to do.10. Sandeep Sharma (India)
Had supreme command over the new ball and could swing it prodigiously in both directions with exceptional control. His inswingers with a right-hander’s nightmare and, for the left-hand batsmen, the same deliveries were un-leaveable. They would begin around leg and finish just outside off. Could be relied on to provide an early breakthrough nearly as regularly as the sun rises.11. Reece Topley (England)
The most complete bowler at the World Cup. Tall, fast and skilled, Topley was dangerous with both new and old ball. His attacking lengths – good length and straight – made it difficult to score off him and he had an economy-rate of 3.17. Finished as the top wicket-taker and provided one of the most memorable moments of the tournament with his second ball – breaking Jimmy Peirson’s middle stump in half.

Plays of the Day for the Champions League semi-final between Titans and Sydney Sixers in Centurion

Firdose Moonda in Centurion26-Oct-2012Sigh of the day A match that refused to pick a side finally seemed to choose one when Pat Cummins sliced a ball high in the air, in the direction of mid-off. Farhaan Behardien readied himself to take the catch and had time to get under it but found himself needing to dive forward to grab it low down. He ended up grassing it, to the collective groan of the crowd and, presumably, a sigh of relief in the Sydney Sixers dugout.Fightback of the day At 91 for 5 after 16 overs, it did not look as though the Titans were going to post a competitive total, but David Wiese thought otherwise. He started the four-over blitz with a six over square-leg but it will be the way he ended that will be remembered. An inside-out shot over long-off gave Wiese the opportunity to display his power and with it gave the Titans more than a fighting chance.Throw of the day The Titans didn’t have much going for them early on but Michael Lumb gave them something to smile about nonetheless. When Henry Davids pushed the ball to him at point, all Lumb had to do was the simple pick-up-and-throw. He got the first part right but when he tried to throw, the ball rolled out of the back of his fingers and fell over his shoulder. Lumb spent a millisecond trying to figure out what had happened before returning the ball, blushingly.Fielding of the day Steven Smith has established himself as one of the best boundary fielders in the competition but there was something he could not get right. When Wiese sent a low full toss back over Mitchell Starc’s head, Smith ran around from long-on to cut it off. He initially managed to scoop it back infield but his second move, to keep it there, saw him tumble into the advertising boards while the ball just about breached the boundary.Almost splash of the dayAfter the ball landed in the spectators’ splash pool on the opening day of the tournament, the organisers put up a net to prevent it heading back there. A net too has its limits, and the Sixers’ opener Lumb exposed them. His only six of the night was a fierce shot over the on side, and the pool. The ball bounced onto the deck before bobbling down, inches away from the paddle pool below and then made its way onto the field. With the latest antics, one wonders whether the authorities will demand closing the pool during play as they had done before.Roar of the day Roelof van der Merwe is nicknamed Bulldog for his tenacity but he also has a powerful bark. When Brad Haddin was caught at deep midwicket and the Titans sensed a small opening, van der Merwe let his voicebox loose. He stretched out both arms and howled at the night sky, like only someone called Bulldog can.

Geoff Boycott on England’s upcoming trial by spin, why South Africa can beat Australia, and his memories of playing in India

09-Nov-2012Siddhartha Talya: Hello and welcome to another Bowl at Boycs. Speaking to me today from Dubai is Geoffrey Boycott. Good morning, Geoffrey. There was a bit of uncertainty over the BBC commentary coming down to India for the Test series. It’s resolved now. Happy to be making your way here?Geoffrey Boycott: Yes, no problems at all. There are always hiccups. Looking forward to it. I know the people there love cricket and, fortunately, I have a good rapport with them. So I think the Test matches will be good. England have a number of problems but you could say India are in a sort of change, aren’t they, with one or two of their great players going. So it’s going to be interesting.ST: Lots of Test cricket happening around the world. Sri Lanka will take on New Zealand, Bangladesh play West Indies, Australia play South Africa at home and India take on England in a four-match Test series starting in Ahmedabad on November 15. The first question of the day, from Atreya in India, is about that series.He says: England haven’t won a Test series in India in a while. Do you think this is their best chance, and are India at their most vulnerable for the first time in a while at home?GB: Good question. Yes and no. England haven’t convinced anyone that they can play the turning ball. I don’t think they’ve convinced themselves. They might talk [about how] they’ve done lots of planning and preparation, but they actually haven’t done it in the middle. So it really boils down to what sort of pitches are produced by the Indian groundsmen. If the pitches turn, which they usually do… by the third, fourth or fifth day they will turn at some stage. How much will they spin is important. And who wins the toss, that’s vital. If you can win the toss and have a chance of putting up a really big first-innings total on a pretty good batting surface before the ball spins, then make no mistake, that is really a vital factor.If the pitches stay flat, England have some good batsmen who can score heavily. But I don’t think anybody can believe that you can go to India and the pitches won’t turn at some stage. It just always happens that way. Occasionally you get a very flat one over five days. Nobody can back England. Nobody in their right mind can back England until England play well on the subcontinent.There are young guys there, like Joe Root, who’s played very little county cricket, never mind anything else. There’s young Jonny Bairstow. I know them both from Yorkshire. Extremely talented, but the turning ball? They don’t see that very much in English conditions these days. The pitches have got great covering. They are dry and flat. In the old days we used to play on uncovered pitches. They could find it very difficult. Then there’s this guy [Nick] Compton. He is a new boy to this sort of bowling; he hasn’t seen anything like that in English cricket.For India, if Zaheer Khan can stay fit, he’s a really fine bowler with the new ball and the old ball. He’s an old warrior. On Indian pitches he’s been known to be very good, get early wickets and let the spinners do the job when the batsmen are under pressure.Now I know a lot of people, like the [one who asked the] question, say that India are in transition. No Dravid, no Laxman, the great names are gone. Sachin [Tendulkar] is at the end of a fabulous career – not sure how he will play. [Virender] Sehwag looks vulnerable, bit of loss of form. He’s always been a mercurial batsman but done well in the subcontinent. Now Yuvraj [Singh] as well, he’s been ill and not played for many months. These are all question marks everybody is conscious of about these very well known players.But India are still good. They’ve got captain [MS] Dhoni there, who is still a very fine player. [Gautam] Gambhir is a very good batsman at home. He struggled in England where the ball bounces and seams a great deal more, but at home in India, he is a very good player. [Virat] Kohli is a top young batsman, he’s a real quality player in the making.India usually play well at home. The players are used to the slower bounce in the pitches, that’s the key. It doesn’t move as much with the new ball and it doesn’t move for long. And it’s the lower bounce, it doesn’t get up high past the chin. They like their own food, they’ll get home support. They may look a little vulnerable for these questions that I’ve posed, but I still fancy India over England. There are far too many ifs and buts about the English batting. Sorry, I’m not sure they’re going to do it, the English batting.ST: Geoffrey, when India went to England in July last year, they had a lot of problems against pace. Do you see the England pace attack making an impact in Indian conditions?GB: I’m not sure even the Indian fast bowlers will make too big an impact. What you want from your fast bowlers on either side is get a couple of wickets. Although spinners are vital in India, it’s helpful if your spinners don’t have to get all ten. That’s much harder work. When you start, when you come on bowling, after a number of overs have been bowled and the ball has lost a little shine and you are expected to take ten wickets… if you’ve got a seamer like Zaheer or James Anderson, who can nip you out a couple, then the batting sides are a bit under pressure and you’ve got eight wickets to pick with the spinners. That’s much easier. But when you just rely on spin to take all ten, unless it’s a real raging turning pitch, a real big one, then the spinners can do it… but, you know, you want a pitch that’s really decent and turns a bit.The England seamers will be all right. I know they’ve had injuries. I like [Graham] Onions, as well as Anderson. They keep picking everybody else but I think Onions is a good bowler.ST: Our next question is about a series happening Down Under. It’s a series between two major teams, and there’s a contest on for the No. 1 spot in the Test rankings. Aaron writes in from the UK. He says: There’s no Pat Cummins but Australia still have a strong attack. Can South Africa beat them, as they had done almost four years ago?GB: Yes, I think they can. They are No. 1 in the world because they are the real deal. They are a very good team. They are good in batting, bowling – seam bowling, particularly – catching… They’ve got only one weak link, have South Africa. That’s Imran Tahir. For me, he’s too expensive, is their legspinner; there’s too many easy balls to hit, and that lets the pressure off batsmen than keeping it on. [Dale] Steyn, [Morne] Morkel, [Vernon] Philander, these guys are from the top drawer – terrific attack. Plus a bit of Jacques Kallis. He’s getting on a bit now but he’ll still bowl about ten overs a day if need be. They are some deal.The biggest threat to South Africa not winning the series is their self-belief. If deep down they really can have the conviction and confidence that they can win, really believe it… it’s not enough in top sport to hope you can win, you really have to believe it deep down. Not talk a good game, but play a good game. If they do that, they can win.

“Winning will be nice, that’s what you play for, but, more than anything, they have to perform because if they make two mess-ups, then it will just show that they’ve learnt nothing.”Boycott on England

You’ve got to remember that Australia’s batting has a big question mark over it. It doesn’t look that great. You’ve got [Michael] Clarke, the captain, who’s a fine batsman. The left-hander Michael Hussey is still a fine player. But there’s a number of question marks about the rest of the players. They’re still searching, are Australia, for a good-looking, settled batting order. They’ve got the Ashes coming up in England next summer and they still don’t look settled. I know their seam bowling will be all right, even without Cummins. I would have played Cummins definitely, he’s a fine young bowler. I also liked Mitchell Starc, who played at Yorkshire this year. He’s a fantastic bowler and he’s been in the best bowling form of his life, left-arm as well, over and round the wicket. This kid is really good. So they’ll be okay in seam bowling.You’ve got to think, well, they’re at home, are Australia, but they do look very vulnerable.ST: Time for a bit of a flashback and this is leading into Geoffrey’s favourite question for this show. It comes from Sameer in India. He says: Geoffrey, you didn’t play a Test match in India until 1980, 16 years after you made your Test debut. But you did play your last Test in India, in January 1982. What are the memories that stand out for you of having played Test cricket in India?GB: I didn’t come for most of my career. I was worried. I lost my spleen in an accident when I was nine and doctors told me at the time that the conditions in India could have been very difficult for me.But when I did come, I loved the crowds, full stadiums, so I was lucky. When you play Test cricket now in India, crowds are very few. They’ve all got into ODI and T20 cricket; the IPL’s taken off. I was lucky. In the era I played the game, ODI cricket hadn’t yet captured many cricket lovers’ attention. Test match cricket was still a fantastic event and occasion that cricket lovers wanted to go to and watch. When I played at Calcutta, my last Test match, it was a full house. You don’t see that too often now. There must have been 80,000-100,000. It was fantastic. I played at the Wankhede Stadium, which I really liked. I felt that the smaller stadiums, with the crowds so close, made for a fantastic atmosphere and India beat us there in ’81, and deservedly so.I have memories of Delhi, where I scored my world record for most Test runs, when I passed the total of the greatest cricketer I’ve ever seen, Garfield Sobers. I said then and now that making more Test runs than Garry didn’t then make me a better batsman than him and it still doesn’t. It’s facts and figures and they never lie. They tell you that the guy was pretty good, whoever he is, but they never tell everything.Geoff Boycott sweeps while going past Garry Sobers’ world record aggregate of Test runs, in Delhi 1981•Getty ImagesI remember playing against the three great spinners. Now that was something. Bishan Bedi, he could bowl, and that Chandra [Bhagwat Chandrasekhar], wow. When he had a good day, he was very difficult. They were a handful, with [Erappalli] Prasanna as well. They were a handful, but it was the competitive thrill of playing against such great spinners that if you succeeded, made runs and did well, you felt that you had scaled a mountain. That you had done something really good because you knew you were playing great bowlers.I enjoyed playing against Kapil Dev. He was one of the great allrounders with Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee. With the new ball, he had the most fantastic action. All you saw was the back. You didn’t see the shoulder, you saw his back – he turned his shoulders that much. He had such a fluid, high action, swung the ball out, which is the most dangerous delivery for any batsman. He was a real handful with the new ball. He got me out sometimes and other times I succeeded, and that’s the challenge. If you can succeed against the truly great bowlers then that’s what you want as a player. You’re in there to test yourself, test your skill and character.Watching Sunil Gavaskar bat… technical excellence, beautiful batsman with lovely footwork, his concentration and determination was 100%. I didn’t know him very well then, just watched his batting, and we’ve become good friends doing TV commentary together. It’s one thing to become a great batsman, but he’s a great human being – straight, honest, loyal, and he’s got a naughty sense of humour, which I love.Some wonderful memories, and I’m looking forward to this series. For England, it’s a bigger series than [for] India. Remember, in February-March, they absolutely got outplayed by Pakistan in the UAE on pitches that turned. They couldn’t pick the doosra, they were a right mess, they made some real cock-ups in batting. Deep down they know, and we were watching as ex-players and public, that they are under real pressure. They’re under pressure to perform. It’s not about winning. Yes, winning will be nice, that’s what you play for, but more than anything, they have to perform because if they make two mess-ups, then it will just show that they’ve learnt nothing.They say they have been practising, they say they have been trying to work it out – this doosra business and everything. It’s one thing to practise, one thing to think about it. Now you’ve got to go and do it. If they really make another mess-up, then I don’t know where they go from there. I really don’t. And I think they’re going to struggle. [Kevin] Pietersen will be all right, he’s a class act. [Alastair] Cook somewhere will get some runs. But [Ian] Bell had a terrible time against the doosra and the turning ball and he’s a wonderful player. He’s going home for the second Test because his wife is having a baby. Then you’re left with a lot of young kids. Jonathan Trott will work hard and graft, but there’s a few other spaces where I’m not sure how the batsmen will do. I’m looking forward to it. I’m crossing my fingers, because as a former England Test player I want them to do well. But I need to cross all the toes on my feet and all the fingers.ST: Here’s hoping for an exciting Test series. It gets underway in a week’s time. Geoffrey, one final question. You did play in the Jubilee Test in 1980 didn’t you?GB: Played at the Wankhede Stadium, which we did win actually, by ten wickets. And I met Mr Wankhede. I liked him a lot, I got along really good with him. I’m sorry he’s passed away now. I liked him, he built his own stadium, and it was a great atmosphere. We were coming from Australia and we came to celebrate your Jubilee, and that’s the first time I came.ST: Thanks a lot for that, Geoffrey.That’s a wrap on today’s show. Please don’t forget to send us your questions using the feedback form, and Geoffrey will be joining us from Mumbai the next time we get together. He’ll be watching the second Test between India and England then and we’ll be sure to pick his brains when we catch up again. Thank you for tuning in and we’ll see you again in two weeks.

Stats highlights from an incredible England victory, their second in successive Tests at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai

S Rajesh26-Nov-2012

• England’s ten-wicket win is their second successive Test win at the Wankhede Stadium: in 2006 they won by 212 runs, in what was Rahul Dravid’s 100th Test, while this result spoiled Virender Sehwag’s 100th. In seven Tests at the Wankhede, England have won and lost three each.
• For India, this was only their second home defeat in a Test match since October 2008, during which period they’ve played 23, and won 14. Their only other defeat during this period was to South Africa, by an innings and six runs, in Nagpur in 2010.
• Monty Panesar’s match haul of 11 for 210 is the ninth instance of an overseas spinner taking ten or wickets in a Test in India, and the second by an England spinner, after Hedley Verity’s 11 for 153 in 1934. Had Aleem Dar not erred in giving Pragyan Ojha not out, Panesar would have finished with the best bowling figures by an overseas spinner in India.
• Panesar’s haul is the fifth ten-wicket haul by any bowler at the Wankhede Stadium. The only Indian in that list is L Sivaramakrishnan. He is also the eighth England bowler to take a ten-for in India, but the first since Neil Foster’s 11 for 163 in Chennai in 1985.
• With Graeme Swann taking 8 for 113, this was only the fourth occasion that England’s spinners had taken 19 or more wickets in a Test, and the second such instance in India. The last time it happened was in 1958 against New Zealand at Headingley, when Jim Laker and Tony Lock took 19 for 109.
• India’s second-innings total of 142 is their third-lowest in the second innings of a home Test since 2000. All three of those totals, and five of the seven lowest, have come at the Wankhede Stadium. The lowest during this period was also against England at the same ground, when India were bundled out for 100 in 2006.
• In India’s second innings, the six batsmen from No.2 to No.7 (Virender Sehwag to MS Dhoni) scored a total of 44 runs, with none of the batsmen reaching double figures. It’s the lowest total by these six batsmen since 2000, and the first time during this period that none of them touched double digits.

From Nandun Senanayake, Australia
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the new Indian legend, is praised by cricket fans all over the world, but I do not believe he is as good as fans believe him to be

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013Nandun Senanayake, Australia
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the new Indian legend, is praised by cricket fans all over the world, but I do not believe he is as good as fans believe him to be. Dhoni who usually bats at 3 down or 4 down takes absolute advantage of the spinners and medium pacers. Is it just me that has realised he cannot play fast bowling?In the recent test tour of Australia (2007) it was evident to me that he could not play consistent pace bowling properly. From what I recall his highest score was about 36 runs, I might be wrong on this fact but I don’t recall him getting a half century. In the ODI series however he played brilliantly, mainly against Sri Lanka who was filled with spinners and medium pacers, and he Dhoni did not manage to get Lasith Malinga away for many.The ODI series in Sri Lanka (2008), the !dea cup I believe it was called, Dhoni was obviously the best batsman in the series, take no respect away from that, but once again the two times he convincingly got out, he was taken by Dilhara Fernando the inconsistent Sri Lankan speedster. With a Sri Lankan line up lacking in pace Dhoni was almost lucky to not to have face Malinga, Amerasinghe and Fernando more. But this was due to Sri Lanka’s stupidity not to realise this rather than Dhoni’s weakness. Right?

Angelo Mathews’ career is in transition, and he is steadily coming to terms with his new role with both Sri Lanka and Pune Warriors

Nagraj Gollapudi07-Apr-2013He smiled at the question. After a moment’s consideration, he spoke about Sri Lankan players not being allowed to play in Chennai during the IPL. “There is a bit of a situation in Chennai and we have to refrain from going there. Politics and sport don’t mix. We need to concentrate on our cricket and not worry too much about things happening around. If this was an issue between the two countries we wouldn’t have been playing in the IPL,” the Pune Warriors captain Angelo Mathews said.Mathews’ response wasn’t as thoughtful as what his Sri Lanka team-mate Kumar Sangakkara expressed. But neither was it a casual response to what was a serious question. Had he been just a player, he may have shrugged off the question. But since he is captain, Mathews spoke responsibly.For Mathews, 2013 has been a year of transition as a cricketer. After Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara decided to pass the baton to a younger cricketer, Mathews was picked as the man to replace them as leader. He was a long-term choice, who could provide stability. These were the key factors the selectors had in mind while appointing him ahead of Tillakaratne Dilshan, who had led Sri Lanka briefly a couple of years ago.Mathews led Sri Lanka in the Test and ODI formats during the home series against Bangladesh. He did not disappoint, despite Sri Lanka losing their first-ever game to Bangladesh on home soil in the drawn ODI series.Mathews blamed his bowlers for the defeat, but signs of his inexperience were evident when he showed impatience with bowling changes during the preceding Test series. But Mathews is willing to accept his and his team’s shortcomings, and that’s a good sign. On Friday, after the dispiriting defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mathews admitted his batsmen had played “too cautiously” and “choked” chasing a small target. So how does he rectify the error? How does he tell the senior trio of Yuvraj Singh, Marlon Samuels, and Ross Taylor that they need to play more responsibly?”You’ve got to stay calm as far as possible. You need to gel with the boys because they are the ones who will make you a good leader. You have to listen to the boys because it is important to get all things on board. And then you take the positive stuff out of what they have said,” Mathews said.Desperate to rise from the bottom of the IPL table, where they finished over the previous two seasons since they became part of the tournament, the management appointed a new coach in Allan Donald, the former South African fast bowler. For Donald, aggression is the . At the same time, he believes in the player understanding his role clearly. In that regard Mathews could be the ideal man to communicate the coach’s message to get the job done.Reading situations correctly, identifying the right go-to men, and keeping back-up plans ready, are what Mathews believes make a good leader. For him, Sangakkara ticks all those parameters, as witnessed on Friday evening, when Sunrisers won by 22 runs despite scoring just 126. His rival captain’s strategy on the field, Mathews agreed, was good homework for him. “He has been a successful captain in the past for Sri Lanka and Deccan and Sunrisers now. He stays calm all the time and the way he handles the guys is amazing. There is a lot to learn from him. The way he carried out the bowling changes, the way he thought through the game, the way he read the situations was really learning stuff for me,” Mathews said.In January this year, Mathews led Sri Lanka successfully to a 2-0 victory in a two-match T20 series in Australia. Sangakkara had returned home due to injury, but Mathews displayed the right temperament to make sure he did not look out of place as a captain.An impact player himself, Mathews recognised the primary priority for a player in Twenty20 was to retain focus at all times. “We need to have the focus right through the 20 overs. We can’t just give in to the situations because we need to play some really good cricket to win against quality teams.”Mathews shows an aggressive spirit, especially evident at times in his batting, and is steadily coming to terms with captaincy. There is a long way to go, but just like Sri Lanka, the Warriors, too, might have chosen the right man to lead the team.

AB de Villiers’ captaincy will be under scrutiny in the decider, as will South Africa’s ability to improve on a hit-and-miss performance in this ODI series so far

Firdose Moonda23-Mar-2013The childhood game of being able to make believe is considered a useless skill later in life but maybe it isn’t. People deploy it in many situations: mock job interviews or preparing to tell a loved one something important by acting it out in front of the dog first. In the case of the South African cricket team, they could use it by imagining the fifth ODI against Pakistan is a World Cup final.In a few ways, it could be. It’s a winner-takes all situation, the teams have been at it for the last few weeks so the competition has been sustained and public expectation is high. When South Africa have been faced with exactly the same set of conditions during a World Cup, they have never come out successfully.But in bilateral series they have had little trouble. Three times over the last three years, South Africa have entered the final match level with their opposition and twice they’ve won, against India and Pakistan in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Both times it was spoken about as proof that they are not chokers. Still, it did not translate into success at the World Cup.That’s why the outcome in Benoni could have no bearing on the upcoming Champions Trophy or South Africa’s state of mind going into it. If they lose, they will probably have less to live up to in England and if they win, it will be a case of more of the same unless they can go on to claim silverware in June.Where it can make a difference is by testing AB de Villiers’ captaincy and the collective capacity of the squad to pull together when it matters. Consistency is out of the window, as a unit and individually, as no-one except de Villiers himself has had a decent run.De Villiers’ showings with the bat are not a reflection on his leadership as he still appears uncertain despite saying he is settling in. He has made too many questionable decisions, most recently getting Colin Ingram to bowl the over that handed Pakistan the advantage in Durban. He changes fields too often and even needlessly, and is sometimes at loggerheads with the bowlers about where they want their men.De Villiers admitted that he needed time to establish a style of leadership – understandable given the amount of time Graeme Smith spent in the position- but that has surely run out. South Africa will go into a major tournament with a leader who is still uncertain unless he finds himself in seven hours on Sunday.He could, because the same Smith who has acted as an advisor so far has been ruled out of the final match so de Villiers will need to the job mostly on his own. David Miller thinks he will have some help, though. “Graeme’s record and his personality speaks for itself. He is a great role model to many of us but there are also many other senior guys who can fill that spot.”In reality, there are not that many. Hashim Amla is one but he is a reluctant leader, Dale Steyn is another but spends a lot of his time getting hot-headed and then cooling down. Robin Peterson is perhaps the closest to an old hand and how he and the other two support de Villiers will be important, not just with ideas in the field but the way they perform.So far, South Africa have not had enough from the key players to be comfortable. The main batsmen, Amla, Ingram, and to a lesser extent, Farhaan Behardien, have had one good score sandwiched between sub-standard performances. The bowlers have been impressive in patches – Lonwabo Tsotsobe’s opening spells, Rory Kleiveldt’s occasional squeezing, and Ryan McLaren’s slower-ball bouncer – but they have not consistently threatened. Catches have been dropped in between magical saves. On the whole, they have been a little hit and miss.What de Villiers wanted from the squad at the start of the series was a straight-line graph. He spoke about establishing a unit that could perform at a certain level for a period of time. What he’s got are peaks and troughs but that is not a crisis.Many pundits believe that a reliable ODI unit is not as a good as one that can up its game at the right time and one need look no further than South Africa as evidence of that. They spend the years in between World Cups clearing away most who come in their path but cannot repeat that in the few weeks over which the ICC event is played. Few can understand why.Is it because they spent too much effort on the build-up so that they lack freedom once the actual tournament comes around? Is it because they don’t understand how to make spur-of-the-moment decisions under intense pressure? Is it because others are just better on the day?Pakistan may agree with the final argument, especially as they were the team to knock South Africa out of two World T20s and have a reputation for being a side that could win a World Cup final tomorrow, on the moon, if they felt like it.”When they see a bit of sunlight at the end of the tunnel, their tails seem to wag,” Miller said. That tunnel could be a long tour like this one or a major tournament and Miller seemed to suggest that when Pakistan sense there is a way for them to get in and achieve something, they do. Just like that.That hunch has evaded South Africa and there seems to no secret way to develop it. Apart from maybe making believe that Benoni is Birmingham, while remembering, somewhere in the very back of their minds, that it is not.