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ESPNcricinfo presents the pivotal clashes to watch out for during the Sri Lanka-England Test series, which kicks off in Galle on Monday

Andrew McGlashan in Galle25-Mar-2012Andrew Strauss v Chanaka Welegedara
The England captain needs a strong series with the bat. He has not scored a Test hundred since Brisbane in November 2010, but if he is to get one on this trip the challenge will not just come from the spinners. Chanaka Welegedara removed Strauss in three innings out of four during the series in England last year, restarting the debate on whether technical issues existed against left-arm quicks. Zaheer Khan’s injury during the India series that followed removed an enticing battle. Opening batsmen falling to opening bowlers should not come as a surprise, but Sri Lanka will see it as an opportunity to make an early opening in conditions where new-ball wickets are so crucial.Kevin Pietersen v Graham Ford
This is a pairing between one person who will be in the middle and another who will be in the dressing room. Graham Ford is now the Sri Lanka coach but has been a huge figure in Pietersen’s career, a mentor he has sought out during times of struggle. Following a poor 2010 season, Pietersen went to South Africa and worked with Ford prior to the 2011 Ashes, during which he proceeded to score a double-hundred in Adelaide. Now Ford is in charge of the opposition and will have the inside track. Pietersen, for his part, is brimming with confidence. Will the pupil or the teacher come out on top?Graeme Swann v Mahela Jayawardene
To call Graeme Swann’s current situation a slump in form shows what high expectations there are of him – even being below his best, he took 13 wickets at 25.07 against Pakistan. He remains England’s No. 1 spinner, though, his hold on that title is now a little more tenuous. It hasn’t been a particularly easy start in Sri Lanka for him, either, firstly with the strong comments about an opposition batsman not walking, then match-figures of 1 for 132 against the Sri Lanka Cricket Development XI. Things will not get any easier. Swann is about to bowl against one of the finest players of spin around. Mahela Jayawardene put huge dents in Monty Panesar’s confidence four years ago, and his nimble footwork allied to deft touch will pose Swann a huge challenge.England v the heat
It may be clichéd to talk about England cricketers coping in hot conditions – as much as commenting on an overseas player wearing a few sweaters in May at Lord’s – but the temperature will play a key role for them in this series. It is why there is such debate about four bowlers verses five. Do such stifling conditions demand an extra option? And the heat does not just take a physical toll … England’s players have already lost their cool once in the middle when they were not impressed by an umpiring decision and it’s easy to crack.

Plays of the day from the fourth day of the second Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Colombo

Kanishkaa Balachandran in Colombo03-Jul-2012Shot of the day
Kumar Sangakkara was in such ominous form that he managed to work around the defensive field placements for him against the spinners. Three men were placed in the deep on the leg side for Abdur Rehman and he bowled a full one outside the off stump, but the field and delivery made no difference. Sangakkara still got down on his knee, swept it firm and bisected the gap between fine leg and deep-square leg. Sangakkara couldn’t have timed or placed it better.Race of the day
With Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sangakkara both progressing towards their centuries at similar strike-rates, it was a question of who would get there first. There was little to separate the two as they reached the late 90s. Batting on 98, Dilshan decided it wasn’t time to hang around and took the fast lane to his 14th Test century. He charged Saeed Ajmal, launched him over wide long-on for a six and won the race to a hundred.Irony of the day
You don’t often get Mahala Jayaewardene and Thilan Samaraweera out cheaply at the SSC, as both average 77 here. Junaid managed to send Jayawardene back in an inspired spell of fast bowling with the old ball. Jayawardene made the mistake of padding up to a ball coming into him with the angle from round the wicket and was lbw. There was an element of doubt regarding the height, but it’s fundamental that if you pad up, you’re asking for trouble. Samaraweera was nearly dismissed in a similar manner to the same bowler. Trapped on the back foot, he failed to get his bat behind the line and a confident shout was turned down. Samaraweera failed to capitalise on that let off though, when he was caught on the back foot again, this time off Ajmal. Junaid could have had both, but he wouldn’t have minded as Pakistan had sent back two players who have tormented several bowlers over the years at the SSC.

Andrew Strauss’ contributions for England go beyond the stats that he has achieved as an opening batsman

S Rajesh15-Aug-2012Statistically, Andrew Strauss’ career isn’t among the best of those who’ve played 100 Tests. After 99 matches, he has scored 7016 runs at 41.27, which is a fairly modest average in today’s age of 50-plus averages. In terms of runs, 20 other batsmen in the 100-Test club had scored more runs after the 99th, led by Brian Lara, who had 8833 in a similar stage of his career, and Kumar Sangakkara, who had 8572. Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain who played his 100th in the first Test of the ongoing series at The Oval, had 8042 runs after his 99th – 1026 more than Strauss – at an average of 49.64. In terms of averages, 35 batsmen had a higher number than Strauss after their 99th Test, led by two Indian batsmen: Rahul Dravid averaged 58.16 going into his 100th, with Sachin Tendulkar close behind at 57.99.But then, there’s more to Strauss than just his batting. There’s his man-management skills and his understated leadership style, which has probably played a significant role in him being one of the most successful captains that England have ever had. Under him, England won an Ashes series in Australia for the first time in 24 years, and then took over as the No. 1 side in Test cricket – though ironically, they might no longer be the top team after Strauss’ 100th Test is done. The Lord’s Test will also be Strauss’ 50th as captain, and in the overall context of his career, his contribution as leader has been as vital – if not more – to the team as his performance as a batsman.It’s true that Strauss’ overall numbers with the bat don’t compare favourably with the top names, but there have been periods when he has stacked up well with the best. Unfortunately, consistency as a batsman hasn’t been one of his virtues.The start to his Test career, though, was perfect. Against New Zealand at Lord’s, Strauss became the 15th England batsman to score a century on debut, and the first since Graham Thorpe in 1993. He was also only the second England batsmen to score a century on debut at Lord’s, and the first England opener to start his Test career with a hundred since Arthur Milton, way back in 1958. The dreamy start got dreamier still, as Strauss creamed another hundred – at Lord’s, no less – against West Indies in the same season, and then, even more impressively – scored three more in the five-Test series in South Africa. After 12 Tests, Strauss had struck five hundreds and averaged 56.63.Then came a prolonged slump, as in his next nine series, only once did he average beyond 40, against Pakistan at home in 2006. On the other hand, there were several low points, most noticeably on the Ashes tour in 2006-07, when ten innings fetched him 247 runs, and a highest of 50. After scoring five hundreds in his first 12 Tests, he could only manage five more in his next 28.Over the next couple of years, his form rose again, with an impressive Ashes campaign in 2009, and runs against New Zealand, India, and West Indies. However, since then he has been in a bit of a slump again, though he did score two hundreds against West Indies earlier this season. Those hundreds broke a spell of 25 consecutive Test innings without a ton, but despite those hundreds against West Indies, Strauss’ numbers since the beginning of 2010 are pretty ordinary. (Click here for Strauss’ series-wise averages.)

While’s Strauss’ numbers after 99 Tests don’t compare favourably with the world’s best, his stats are pretty good when compared with England’s best. However, Strauss has also had the benefit of playing in an era which has been good for batting: the last column of the two tables below list the overall averages in the 99 Tests that each of these batsmen played, and it’s clear that the averages are higher in the last 15 years or so. For example, in the first 99 Tests that Dravid had played in, the overall batting average was 33.27; however, the corresponding number for Viv Richards in his first 99 Tests was 28.59, which means the average in the matches Dravid played was about 16% higher. Similarly, the average in Strauss’ 99 Tests has been higher by about 15% compared to the Colin Cowdrey’s matches, and about 12% higher than the first 99 Tests that Graham Gooch played.

Though he has played in a batting-friendly era, Strauss’ job is still a relatively tough one – opening the batting, and often in England, where conditions can be quite favourable for new-ball bowling. Among England’s openers, Strauss is fifth in terms of aggregate; overall for England, he is in ninth place; in terms of Test hundreds by England’s batsmen, he’s just one short of equalling the record. Those are impressive numbers, even in this era.Apart from his individual contributions, Strauss has been one half of England’s most prolific batting pair (in terms of runs scored, at least). With Alastair Cook, Strauss has put together 5219 partnership runs, with 4677 of those being for the first wicket. In terms of partnership runs, they are well clear of all other England pairs: in second place is the Atherton-Stewart pair, who scored 3687 runs in 89 innings at an average of 42.87. In fact, Strauss-Cook is the only England pair who’ve batted together more than 100 times.Overall, this pair has the fifth-highest number of runs, the sixth-highest number of century stands, and the third-highest number of partnerships. Given that neither of the top two pairs who played together most often are still active – Greenidge-Haynes batted together 148 times, and Dravid-Tendulkar 143 times – Strauss and Cook have an excellent chance to become the leading pair in Test cricket in terms of innings batted.

Strauss hasn’t had much success in the ongoing series so far, scoring 86 runs in four innings, but he’ll be pleased that the next game is coming up at Lord’s – it’s fitting too, that Strauss will bring up his 100th at the same ground where he started off with a century on debut. In fact, Lord’s has been particularly kind to him: in 29 Test innings at the ground, Strauss has scored 1541 runs at an average of 55.03. His second-best venue in terms of runs scored is The Oval, where he has scored only 554 runs in 17 innings. Only one batsman has scored more runs at Lord’s than Strauss – Graham Gooch aggregated 2015 runs in 39 innings. In fact, Strauss’ tally is in the top ten in terms of runs scored by any batsman at a single ground.

And then, as mentioned earlier, there’s his immense record as captain. Only two England captains – Michael Atherton and Michael Vaughan – have led in more Tests, while only Vaughan, with 26, has more Test wins than Strauss’ 24. With a 30-Test cut-off, the only England captain with a better win-loss ratio than Strauss is Mike Brearley, under whom England had a 18-4 record in 31 matches.Among all captains who’ve led at least 40 times, only five have a better win-loss ratio than Strauss, with Steve Waugh way ahead of the rest. If England win at Lord’s, Strauss will move up to fifth place, ahead of Cronje’s win-loss ratio of 1.45. More importantly, England will stay ahead of South Africa as the top Test side. That’ll be a fitting way to celebrate Strauss’ 100th Test match, and his 50th as captain.

People want him to retire because they want to live with happier memories. That’s selfish. He works hard to be an India player, and is not going to give it away just because we don’t find it pretty

Sidharth Monga29-Nov-2012Old Father Time has consumed another one, after Rahul Dravid, Mark Boucher, VVS Laxman and Andrew Strauss earlier this year. Thursday has had the feel of one long twilight. You would have thought that whoever took Ricky Ponting out would have to drag a kicking and screaming man with his pads on, wanting to play one more hook. However, even he has left in what is seemingly a tame manner. Father Time works quietly. You know he’s always there, but in the end he always gives the impression he just crept up. Removing the bails off Ponting’s stumps is but a distraction for him, keeping him from moving on to others.Moving on to other remnants of his era. A stocky allrounder who has defied laws of average by not getting injured, and then coming back within a week when injury finally caught up with him. And others who made their Test debut even before Ponting’s, about 17 years ago. A man with a protective gear one size too big and a stance that shouldn’t have lasted 18 days but has endured for 18 years.Only last week, Jacques Kallis had Ponting on the floor with an outswinger. Around the same time, Shivnarine Chanderpaul finished Man of the Series in Bangladesh. So the focus of mortality has been deflected to the only other survivor among those who were playing Test cricket in 1995. Seamlessly, ruthlessly, and out of pure human nature. At least in India, almost everybody has reacted to the news of Ponting’s retirement with “what about Sachin Tendulkar?”By the time he goes out to bat at Eden Gardens, Tendulkar will have gone 23 months without a Test century, the longest such period in his career. When Monty Panesar trapped him lbw at his home ground, he had gone 10 innings without reaching 30, again the longest ever. Without a doubt this has been his leanest phase.People are struggling to come to terms with his mortality. They want him to retire because they want to live with happier memories. That’s selfish. Allow the man his struggle. He works hard to be an India player, and is not going to give it away just because we don’t find it pretty.This is fascinating to follow too. It is not easy for someone like Tendulkar to be playing below the level he is used to, to swallow his ego, to struggle against bowlers he could have dominated without breaking sweat, in order to keep doing something he can’t imagine life without. This phase might end up telling us more about Tendulkar than all those years of prosperity.It is understandable for people to find it painful to watch him misjudge the length of spinners, to get rattled by a Brett Lee bouncer in an ODI in Brisbane and start playing ugly premeditated strokes, to have his place in the side questioned. However, question the form all you want, not his utility to the team. Dravid and Laxman have just retired, you need some experience in that middle order, someone who has played in South Africa before – provided he feels he is fit enough to last until that tour.As for Tendulkar’s place in the side, let’s also apply the same yardstick for some others. Gautam Gambhir has struggled for longer, Yuvraj Singh has looked more out of sorts, Zaheer Khan is less fit, and R Ashwin is less athletic than Tendulkar. The elephant that nobody used to speak about is now hiding other people’s failures just because he is so big. During a Test that was the biggest failure of Indian spinners – on a designer track, after winning the toss, and with runs on board – all we saw was people telling Tendulkar it’s time to go.It’s not that Tendulkar is getting any preferential treatment from the Indian selectors, it’s just that Indian cricket is going through a phase weak enough to justify his continued selection. If the cupboard was brimming with such exceptional talent, why would we keep going back to Suresh Raina and Yuvraj?There is something we can safely agree on, although it is not fair. Tendulkar will not be dropped; he will have to save the selectors that pressure, and take it all upon himself. In a country where it is big news that he has reportedly told selectors it is their call, Tendulkar’s retirement is not a standalone decision.In a perfect world, he would just be dropped when he merited it, and asked to go and score runs in Ranji Trophy if he wanted to come back. That’s not going to happen. That’s not how Indian cricket works. Even in this non-utopian world, had he seen a fixed No. 6, a proper replacement for Laxman, he would have felt the need to make way for another youngster. There is no one putting that kind of pressure on Tendulkar right now.On relative performance alone – yes, it has come down to that and why shouldn’t it? – we can’t ask Tendulkar to retire. It’s the age that is not on his side, and it will be wrong if he plays all the home Tests and retires before the South Africa tour, sending a virtual debutant to the vultures. If he feels that barring unforeseen injuries he can make it to South Africa – and he is the best judge of his fitness – he should continue. It is not the ideal situation, but India are hardly the ideal team.

Stats highlights from a low-scoring game in Brisbane, which turned out to be the third-shortest completed ODI ever played in Australia

S Rajesh18-Jan-2013

• Only twice have Australia been bowled out for less than 74 in one-day internationals: they were bowled out for 70 on two occasions, against England at Edgbaston in 1977, and against New Zealand in Adelaide in 1986. Both those scores, though, were in run-chases, which makes this Australia’s lowest ODI total when batting first. In fact, it’s the first time they have been bowled out for less than 100 when batting first in an ODI. (Click here for Australia’s lowest ODI scores.)
• Australia lost with 180 balls to spare, their largest ODI defeat in terms of balls remaining. Their previous-biggest was 142 balls, against South Africa in Centurion in 2009.
• Nuwan Kulasekara’s 5 for 22 is his maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs, and it is also the best bowling figures for Sri Lanka against Australia. Lasith Malinga, Sanath Jayasuriya and Thisara Perera are the only other Sri Lankans to take a five-for in ODIs against Australia. Perera is the only other bowler to take a five-for in an ODI in Australia. Only three bowlers from the subcontinent have had better figures in an ODI in Australia.
• Australia’s top eight batsmen all scored less than 10, which is a first for Australia and the third such instance in all ODIs. The two previous teams who met with this fate are Canada and Zimbabwe. In all three cases, Sri Lanka were the bowling team.
• Australia lost their ninth wicket at 40, the sixth-lowest score at which a team has lost nine. Four of the previous five were by Canada or Zimbabwe. The lowest score at which nine wickets have fallen is 26, by Pakistan against West Indies in Cape Town.
• Sixteen wickets fell for 149 runs in the match, an average of 9.31 runs per wicket. It’s the lowest average in a completed ODI in Australia, and the eighth-lowest in all completed ODIs.
• Out of 14 players who batted in the top seven for each team, 11 were dismissed for single-digit scores, which equals the ODI record: the only previous such instance was in the semi-final of the 1975 World Cup between England and Australia.
• The entire match lasted 280 deliveries (46.4 overs), the third-lowest in an ODI in Australia. The quickest finish was also at the Gabba, in a match between Pakistan and West Indies 20 years ago: Pakistan were bundled out for 71 in 23.4 overs, and West Indies chased it down for the loss of one wicket in 19.2; the entire match lasted 43 overs.

From M Swaroop, India

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013
Associated PressThere is a theory doing the rounds that with Darren Sammy in the XI, West Indies will always be either one batsman or one bowler short. It is an easy argument to make. Sammy, the batsman, struggles to make an impact because he does not have the defensive technique to play a long innings. Sammy, the bowler, is a holder, and he cannot be more than that at his pace. The only successful attacking Test bowler at Sammy’s pace in recent memory is Shaun Pollock, and Sammy doesn’t have the skill or the control to be him.On the morning of the first day of the third Test, I prayed West Indies would have the courage to play one batsman less, and pick Kemar Roach to bowl with Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Sammy and Devendra Bishoo. In this series, every time West Indies had the Indian batting on the mat, the batsmen found a passage of uninspiring bowling to capitalise on – Harbhajan and Raina did it in the first Test, Laxman and Raina in the second. A fifth bowler might have helped, I thought; a fresh pair of legs, some variety.Moreover, the extra batsman hasn’t done much. On Friday, with Rampaul missing – an unfortunate, unforeseeable problem – West Indies still had India in trouble, at 18 for 2 and at 172 for 5, and both times, the bowlers who were doing the damage were too tired to continue. A fifth bowler might really have helped. But with Sammy in the fold, a fifth bowler means a batsman less. It means Carlton Baugh bats at six, and Sammy at seven – not confidence-inspiring at all. Which brings us to that easy argument again – that Sammy is a fielder, not good enough as a bowler or batsman.Let’s look at the tougher argument. That West Indies have been struggling to compete in Test matches is obvious. They won a Test after two years against Pakistan earlier this year. They ignominiously lost to Bangladesh at home some time ago when their top players walked out of the series. The board and the players’ association are locked in a battle that resembles a socialist trade union clamour for better pay and working conditions. There are player strikes, suspensions, mysterious selection decisions, controversial interviews, talks of corruption, mishandling, unnecessary interference.For ten years now, since Walsh retired, West Indies have been fissured and fractured by politics. Sammy’s appointment as captain – he’s known as a board man, rather than the players’ association man his predecessor Gayle was – happened in this context. He was never a regular in the Test side, and in the shorter versions, his report card read, “Can do better”. His appointment came as a bolt in the blue. And it was well understood that his role as a captain is similar to his role as a bowler – hold until the next guy is fit and ready. Sammy has done a lot more.Before Sammy, there were flashes of team-play, in that unexpected Champions Trophy win, for instance. Fans of the team, like myself, have consoled ourselves in individual brilliance – Lara’s exploits against Murali, Chanderpaul’s invincible runs of attrition, Gayle’s random, merciless attacks, and Jerome Taylor’s freak spell.For the first time in ten years, under Sammy, West Indies are playing like a team, pooling in collective resources to punch above their weight – in a manner that reminds one of the way New Zealand play their cricket.In this home season, they drew with Pakistan, and have troubled India more than most imagined. On Friday, with Rampaul out of the XI, it would have been easy for West Indies to bend over and submit. But two bowlers and Sammy – who, by the way, always bowls better than he looks like he’s bowling – all carrying niggles, made India fight for their runs. Except in that last hour, when the bowlers were too tired to make an impact, they traded on equal terms with the Indian batting line-up. Sammy has brought this will to toil to the team, along with heart and commitmentWhen he’s badgered in the press conferences, his responses are never tired, they are honest. When he is asked about his own merit, he responds with belief. When asked about selection, Gayle’s for instance, he responds with a shrug, it’s not his job to comment. And that is exactly how he plays his cricket, and how he captains the side – with enthusiasm and devotion that belies his natural talent. Maintaining his morale, his conviction amid this pressure from the media and the players is admirable enough; that he infects his team-mates with this courage is the sign of a true leader.Today’s West Indian cricketers are still only discovering how to win, and Sammy is pushing them to discover it together, as a team. Sammy is still doing a holding job, he knows that. When Bravo, Bishoo or Barath are ready, he will, most probably, make way. But he is doing a lot more than he was expected to – it is just a question of time, and a little luck, before results follow.

Stats highlights from Martin Guptill’s incredible innings, and New Zealand’s ODI series win in England

S Rajesh03-Jun-2013

• New Zealand’s ODI series win is their second on tour this year. In January they’d beaten South Africa 2-1 in South Africa. It’s also their third triumph out of four in an ODI series or tournament in England: they’d won the four-nation NatWest Challenge in 2004, and beaten England 3-1 in a bilateral series in 2008.
• New Zealand have an outstanding ODI record in England over the last nine years: in their last 15 matches there, they’ve won ten and lost just two. Their win-loss ratio of five is the best by any team in England during this period – the next-best is Sri Lanka’s 8-4 win-loss record. It’s also New Zealand’s best record in any country during this period, and much better than their home record of 43-29.
• The common protagonist in both their wins in the current series was Martin Guptill: his scores of 103 and 189, both unbeaten, gives him a series aggregate of 292, the third-highest by a New Zealand batsman in a series in which he’s played fewer than five innings. The highest is 333, by Glenn Turner, in four innings in the 1975 World Cup. Guptill will have a chance of going past that mark in the third ODI of the series, on June 5.
• Apart from being the fifth-highest ODI score by a batsman and the highest by a New Zealander, Guptill’s unbeaten 189 in Southampton is also the joint highest by any batsman in ODIs against England. Viv Richards had scored the same number of runs against them at Old Trafford in 1984. While Richards’ knock came off 170 balls, Guptill scored his runs off 155.
• That innings propelled New Zealand to a total of 359, their sixth-highest in ODIs but their best against one of the top sides. Their five higher totals have come against Ireland, Zimbabwe (three times) and Canada. This was also the second-highest number of runs conceded in an ODI by England, after India’s 387 in Rajkot in 2008.
• New Zealand’s innings of 359 included three century partnerships, with Guptill being a part of all three – 120 for the second wicket with Kane Williamson, 109 for the third with Ross Taylor, and 118 for the fourth with Brendon McCullum. It’s only the second instance of three century stands in one ODI innings – the previous instance was by South Africa, in the 2007 World Cup against Netherlands.
• The partnership of 118 between Guptill and McCullum came off 50 deliveries, a run rate of 14.16 runs per over. That makes it the sixth-best recorded run rate in a century stand in ODIs, and the third-best for New Zealand. The top two such instances are both by New Zealand batsmen – 136 off 46 balls between Craig McMillan and Nathan Astle against USA in 2004 (run rate 17.73), and 114 off 41 between James Marshall and Taylor against Ireland (run rate 16.68). However, the run rate of 14.16 is the quickest for a century stand against one of the top sides: the five quicker ones came against USA, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Netherlands and Canada.
• In the last ten overs of their innings New Zealand scored 132, their third-highest in ODIs since the beginning of 2002. Their best in this period is 142, against USA in the 2004 Champions trophy, while the next-best is 139 against Pakistan in the 2011 World Cup. It’s the most runs that England have conceded in the last ten during this period. The previous highest was 124 in that Rajkot game when India scored 387.
• Guptill’s unbeaten 189 included 19 fours and two sixes, which means only 88 of his runs came in boundaries, a percentage of 46.56. Among the 21 ODI innings of 175 or more, this is the second-lowest boundary percentage: only Gary Kirsten’s unbeaten 188 against UAE in the 1996 World Cup had a lower percentage – he hit 13 fours and four sixes, scoring 40.43% of his runs in boundaries.
• The England bowler who suffered the most was Jade Dernbach – his ten overs went for 87, the fourth-highest number of runs conceded by an England bowler in ODIs, and the highest by an England bowler against New Zealand.

In June, Geoff Cook suffered a heart attack while out running. He admits it was ‘touch and go’ for a while, but now he is back working with his beloved county as they chase the Championship title

Jon Culley09-Sep-2013A lot is made of team spirit, perhaps too much at times. There is no doubt, though, that it has been a factor in Durham’s ascent to the top of the Championship table as the season nears its conclusion, not least because of the news that reached their players on the morning of June 20 this year, news that their head coach – their father figure – was in hospital, his life in the balance.Geoff Cook, in charge of the first team since 2007 and director of cricket since Durham became a first-class county in 1991, had been found unconscious on a riverside path near the county’s headquarters at Chester-le-Street, having suffered a heart attack while on his morning run. His condition was so serious it was feared he might not survive.Yet he did pull through. Not only that, he is back at work. As Durham defeated Sussex in three days last week to displace Yorkshire as favourites to win the Championship title – for the third time under Cook’s guidance – the 61-year-old was on the field at the start of every day, providing throw-downs and catching practice, as if the mid-summer drama that had rocked his family, the club and his countless friends across the game had been something we had collectively imagined.”I’m feeling absolutely fine,” he said, thanking me for inquiring. “The medical people could not find anything physically wrong with my heart. I think it was just one of these electrical things where it got out of sync. It gave me a bit of a shock but I was very lucky in that some people were in the right place at the right time.”I was running down by the river. I love running and have been doing it for years, so there was no particular reason for it to have happened. Luckily there was another guy, a Durham member as it happens, who was only a minute or so behind me and he began the process of helping me through in terms of resuscitation and getting some people to call for help.”It was three and a half weeks before he was released from hospital, during which time he admits there were moments when “it was touch and go” as doctors tried to stabilise his condition. Whether he returns to working at full capacity, having handed the reins temporarily to coaches Jon Lewis and Alan Walker, remains to be seen – but staying away during such an exciting phase of the Durham team’s evolution was never likely, not least because he was in the minority tipping Durham to mount a title challenge.”The vibes we were getting at the start of the season were that people thought we would get relegated,” he said.
But at the start of the year the targets I felt were realistic, depending on player availability, included finishing in the top three of the championship.”

Luckily there was another guy, a Durham member as it happens, who was only a minute or so behind me and he began the process of helping me through in terms of resuscitation and getting some people to call for helpGeoff Cook recalls his collapse

The key to Durham’s success has been the accelerated development of home-produced players at a time when the retirement of several senior figures left the squad seemingly short on quality and experience. Where Durham would be carried, year after year, by the likes of Michael di Venuto, Dale Benkenstein, Ian Blackwell and Steve Harmison, the key contributors this season have been Mark Stoneman, Scott Borthwick, Chris Rushworth and Ben Stokes – with a little help, naturally, from the perennially brilliant Graham Onions.Onions, meanwhile, has a new crop of supporting seamers in which Mark Wood, Jamie Harrison and Usman Arshad are stepping into the shoes of Liam Plunkett, Callum Thorp and Mitch Claydon.”It is always pleasing to see players emerge from your own system,” Cook said. “We had a game against Surrey recently where, if you excluded Collingwood who was pre-academy, there was only Will Smith who had not come through that system. They are not all going to be international cricketers but it is quite gratifying that they can play to a decent standard.”We have lost some pretty effective players – Di Venuto and Blackwell left at the end of last year, Benkenstein injured after three or four games this year – so they have had to take on the extra responsibility and I think they have enjoyed doing that. They have been able to take on tough situations and have had the nerve to win games through expressing themselves under tough circumstances.”Cook is thrilled, in particular, to see Stoneman, Borthwick and Stokes starting to fulfil the potential he saw in them as raw teenagers. Borthwick, the legspinner, has found another dimension to his game after Cook promoted him to No. 3 in the batting order, in which position he has made three centuries.”It has been a breakthrough year for Mark [Stoneman] in terms of consistency,” Cook said. “He used to love to watch Di Venuto bat and Michael took him under his wing to a certain extent. He is 26 and has been around the first-team for probably five or six years now and you can see how he is learning to bat, learning how to put innings together, learning to turn up at a cricket ground every morning with the mentality of having to produce and he is doing it very well.”Stokes continues to improve. There was huge expectation on him when he came on to the scene. He was belting the ball over the boundary on a regular basis and people thought ‘he’s got the talent, he’ll just keep performing’ but cricket’s not like that.Usman Arshad has come through Durham’s ranks in the closing stages of this season•Getty Images”His bowling is coming on gradually, his batting probably in four-day cricket has not been as prolific as he would like this year. But the good thing from my point of view is that when we came to the limited overs stuff he took on the responsibility of actually winning a few games for us.”He is growing up too. It was a bit of a chastening experience that he had in Australia [when he was sent home from the Lions tour] but those things can accelerate your progression. He has got a little family now, which is good, and he is doing a lot of the right things in terms of giving himself every chance of having a fantastic career.”As for Borthwick, his skill is a tricky one because not many teams in England can carry a juvenile legspinner as their main spinner. He had a couple of good years supporting Blackwell who was a good performer for us, and he was learning his trade.”Now suddenly he was having to be number one spinner. But batting at No. 8, if he was not bowling his overs – and here at the Riverside he does not bowl so many overs – it was difficult to justify playing him. So getting him up the order was the answer to that and he has relished it.”It is no coincidence that the new prominence taken by these players has coincided with Paul Collingwood’s appointment as captain, replacing Phil Mustard last season at a time when relegation did look a possibility. Durham won five of their last six games under the former England allrounder’s leadership in 2012 and he has steered them to another seven victories this season.”Paul has a huge amount of experience and knows what is needed to win over an extended period in four-day games,” Cook said. “Because of that experience and the confidence he instils in other players, up to now he has managed to get the best out of everybody. He made a very clever move as soon as he accepted the captaincy in that he immediately made it plain that the likes of Mitch Claydon, Stephen Harmison and Ian Blackwell would only participate in the first team in extreme circumstances and that immediately gave a vote of confidence to those who are remaining. And they have responded very well to that.”Cook will look at his own future once this season is finished. “I’m easing my way back in to it,” he said. “But I still get a bit tired. In terms of running the team on a full-time basis, that has not been talked about yet. We’ll sit down at the end of the season to discuss it.”I’d like to be involved, of course. Cricket for a long time has been my life and Durham for the last 20-odd years. We have got an evolving team with some pretty decent young players and there are some exciting times ahead.”They begin with Durham at Derby this week, trying to overcome the in-form relegation battlers who have won three of their last four matches, while Yorkshire travel to Hove hoping not to be on the end of a Sussex backlash. The title could still go either way. The sentimental neutrals, you suspect, will be with Cook’s boys.

The return of cricket in Sri Lanka is enough to get fans interested, while a depleted New Zealand have points to prove – providing the rains hold off

Andrew Fidel Fernando08-Nov-2013It is a fortunate thing that, by this stage in 2013, Sri Lanka fans have developed a sense of humour as a means of coping with their team’s schedule. Two Tests in the West Indies were canned to accommodate the IPL, in which Sri Lanka players almost universally bombed, then the biggest incoming Test tour in years, featuring No. 1-ranked South Africa, was postponed to accommodate an SLPL that flopped in an even more emphatic fashion – by failing to begin at all.In the intervening months, the plight of the nation’s highest-paid sportsmen was almost identical to the fate of so many of Colombo’s street cricketers, who have to play matches amongst themselves when no opposition turns up. Now, finally, there is some cricket in touching distance. Depleted opposition, maybe, and battered, but who cares? Real flesh-and-blood international cricketers from New Zealand have arrived in the country.But, oh dear, so has the northeast monsoon.You would think by now, Sri Lanka’s rains would have learnt to work around the cricket patterns in the country. This tour was scheduled all the way back in 2008 but the depressions rolling in from the Bay of Bengal have refused compromise and rebuffed basic sense. Surely they are aware that, year after year, Sri Lanka Cricket will host international series in October and November. To be fair to the board, it is difficult to negotiate a happy outcome when such imprudence abounds.Not that New Zealand will mind so much. This is not a tour that would stoke particular excitement at home, ahead of the summer, and New Zealand’s selectors suggested as much when they pulled their two best batsmen, Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor, out of the series. Kane Williamson, who was supposed to lead in their stead has also since been ruled out, leaving Kyle Mills with a job he admits he did not expect.After New Zealand were embarrassed in Bangladesh, Mills’ first task will be to inspire a team that may be less than excited at the prospect of another subcontinental ODI series. But, at least on the subject of watching Sri Lankan storms blow through, he can be sure to provide robust leadership and valuable insight: he is a veteran of last November’s plentifully moist limited-overs campaign.New Zealand will hope, though, that apathy will be overcome by the will of young men out to prove themselves. Allrounder James Neesham has an opportunity to embed himself in the ODI team, after his two outings in Dhaka brought him eight wickets. If he can reclaim his batting form from the recent Champions League as well, he may show himself to be the kind of player New Zealand have lacked since Jacob Oram’s exceptional early years. Batsmen Colin Munro, Anton Devcich and tearaway fast bowler Adam Milne are also on trial, while Grant Elliott and Neil Broome seek to re-establish themselves in positions they once held.The sum of all this ambition seems less likely to topple the hosts than if New Zealand had fielded a full-strength side, but if Hambantota serves up more pace-friendly pitches, as it often tends to, the tourists will be buoyed by the memory of their last ODI at the venue, where they had Sri Lanka 123 for 8 before the heavens opened up.Despite the possibility of rain and the relative inexperience of the opposition, however, Sri Lanka’s cricketers appear genuinely excited at the prospect of finally playing internationals, as do many fans. Mahela Jayawardene, who has hit form in the two practice matches in Colombo, even went as far as tweeting a picture of the back of Lasith Malinga and Ajantha Mendis’ heads, with the caption, “In bus off to Hambantota! Great to be on tour again”. It is probably safe to say this is the most thrilled anyone outside the Sri Lankan government has ever been about going to Hambantota.The hosts’ game plan will likely revolve around their spin attack, as it did when South Africa toured in July. In that series, Mendis and Sachithra Senanayake flummoxed an inexperienced top order, while either Rangana Herath or Tillakaratne Dilshan provided steady support. Angelo Mathews has been averse to experiments and speculative calls so far during his tenure, and is unlikely to depart from such an effective blueprint.The onus to assure fans that a future without the seniors is not so bleak is again on middle-order men Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne, but the most interesting subplot in the side will be Dimuth Karunaratne’s race with Kusal Perera for one opener’s slot. Perera has shown signs of form in the past weeks but none so emphatic as Karunaratne, who outscored him in the practice matches, as well as in List A and first-class cricket in recent months.If the weather, incredibly, stays away, New Zealand’s youth will need to discover the spark that eluded the team in Bangladesh to avoid another one-sided series, rusty as Sri Lanka might be. Neither team has momentum going in and, if nothing else, the manner in which they seek to overcome inertia ahead of full tours will at least make interesting viewing.

Notes from the first day of the IPL auction in Bangalore

Siddarth Ravindran12-Feb-2014The silence
IPL auctions sometimes present difficult moments for aging Indian stars. After years of being the most lauded players in the game, they are at the mercy of the whims and calculations of the IPL franchise owners. Sourav Ganguly famously went unsold in 2011, and over an increasing tense minute it seemed Virender Sehwag would face a similar fate today. Even as the auctioneer Richard Madley repeatedly asked whether there were any bids, the franchises remained silent. Just as he was about to bring the hammer down and move on to the next player, Kings XI Punjab raised their paddle and Sehwag was saved the ignominy of being unsold.The bonus
Yuvraj Singh’s services were hotly contested for and his price rapidly went up to INR 10crore ($1.6million), a level reached only by one other player’s salary on the day. The hammer came down, and Royal Challengers Bangalore thought they had added to a blockbuster batting line-up which already featured Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli. Kolkata Knight Riders, though, insisted they had put in a higher bid before the auctioneer pronounced Yuvraj an RCB player. After a bit of haggling, Madley allowed further bidding. In about 30 seconds, Yuvraj’s price went up by four more crores – as much as Rajasthan Royals paid for their most expensive player on the day.The wake-up
Overall, this was a fairly dull auction, with few of the what-were-they-thinking moments that spiced up previous editions. Even as early as the start of the post-lunch session, a vast number of players were going unsold. A series of overseas wicketkeepers didn’t interest any franchise, and when Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor’s name came up, it was expected the trend would continue. However, Sunrisers Hyderabad put in a bid, and Madley was surprised enough to exclaim, “that made my afternoon”. And when Taylor was bought, Madley enthusiastically said, “Sold”, before adding, “I like saying that”.Ignored – 1
It wasn’t a good day for Sri Lankans at the auction. With a tour of England and Ireland restricting their availability for the IPL season to less than three weeks, almost all Sri Lankan players went unsold. Mahela Jayawardene had a $1.5m contract last season but didn’t attract any bids today; neither did Angelo Mathews who hit the jackpot with $950,000 in 2011. Even renowned Twenty20 players like Tillakaratne Dilshan and Ajantha Mendis were ignored. The only player to buck the trend was allrounder Thisara Perera, who scored a INR 1.6 crore ($266,000) contract with Kings XI Punjab.Ignored – 2
Given the paucity of quality Indian fast bowlers, even mediocre performers had been virtually guaranteed hefty paydays. This time, though, the likes of Munaf Patel (who only made the Mumbai Indians XI four times last season), Manpreet Gony (who leaked 9.14 runs an over in 2013) and Abhimanyu Mithun (whose IPL economy rate is 9.83) went unsold. It was another sign that franchises are no more willing to indiscriminately splash the cash.The question
Delhi Daredevils had thought they had got Australia fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile for INR 2.2crores ($366,000) but Rajasthan Royals insisted they had placed a higher bid. Neither Madley nor his associates had spotted Royals’ raised paddle, so Madley asked Royals’ team mentor Rahul Dravid: “I’ve got to completely trust you because I didn’t see it, do you feel you bid before the hammer went down?” Not often that Dravid, for years an exemplar of the gentleman cricketer, is questioned like this. He insisted he had bid in time, and the subsequent bidding made Coulter-Nile richer by more than 2crores more.