Rarely can the defending champions in any competition have come into a tournament with so little expected of them

George Dobell20-Sep-2012OverviewJonny Bairstow is one of the youngsters in England’s batting order with a lot on his shoulders•AFPRarely can the defending champions in any competition have come into a tournament with so little expected of them. Despite winning the last World T20 in the Caribbean in 2010, winning the majority of their T20 games since and a position at the top of both of the rankings in both limited-overs formats, few expect England to retain the trophy.The reasons for that are simple: England have an inglorious record in Asian conditions and several of the architects of that 2010 success have gone. Kevin Pietersen, the Man of the Tournament in the Caribbean, will be in the commentary box while Ryan Sidebottom, the left-arm seamer whose contribution was seen as so vital, and Michael Yardy, who conceded runs at a rate of just 6.80 an over, have gone. So, too, has Paul Collingwood, the only England captain to have led an England team to success in a global event. While Danny Briggs has replaced Yardy, no left-arm seamer was deemed ready to replace Sidebottom and Stuart Broad remains an inexperienced captain.England’s record in Asian conditions is not quite so black and white as some might have you believe. While they were thrashed in the Tests in the UAE earlier this year, it is worth remembering that they bounced back to take both the ODI and T20 series. Similarly, while England were also thrashed in the ODI series in India less than a year ago and endured forgettable ODI World Cups played in Asian conditions – in 1996 and 2011, when they lost to Ireland and Bangladesh – it is worth remembering that in that same tournament they also defeated South Africa and West Indies and tied with the eventual winners, India.This England squad is not hugely experienced. Danny Briggs has bowled just 12 balls in international T20 cricket, while Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow are talented but raw. But it is also worth remembering that they went into the 2010 event with an unproven team – both opening batsmen made their debuts in the first game – and a relatively inexperienced captain. Just as on that occasion they required much to go their way, so they will this time. The difference is that this time they are without their most likely match-winner.Key PlayerEoin Morgan. In the absence of Pietersen, Morgan is the only proven match-winning batsman in the England side. Blessed with the strength to clear the ropes and the ability to manoeuvre the ball into gaps with a range of idiosyncratic but highly skilful strokes Morgan can, when the mood is with him, devastate an attack. His struggles in the UAE – he was dropped from the England Test team after a gruesome series against Pakistan – and then spent the IPL season on the bench to do not bode especially well, but he bounced back with brilliant performances against Australia and South Africa. His T20 figures are actually unexceptional – he has passed 50 only three times in 25 innings and he has a strike-rate of 132.90 – but he has the experience, the skill and the big-match temperament to be a match-winner and, without Pietersen, England are heavily reliant upon him.7Surprise packageDanny Briggs. Dropped from Hampshire’s County Championship side due to a lack of incision – he claimed just five Championship wickets in 2012 at an average of 49.80 – he has nevertheless emerged as an excellent limited-overs bowler who played a key role in his county winnings both limited-overs competitions. Aged only 21 and having bowled only 12 balls in T20Is, he will be largely unknown to most opponents and, while he is not a huge turner of the ball, he has excellent control, surprising pace and decent variation. If he has a good tournament, it will go some way to his team doing the same.WeaknessThere are a few. The absence of Pietersen is clearly a blow and there is an obvious concern over England’s ability to combat spin bowling on the low, slow pitches that are anticipated. There are long-term worries about the elbow problems of Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann, too. But it is Ravi Bopara’s lack of form and confidence with the bat that threatens to disturb the balance of the side. Bopara’s well-controlled and skilful medium-pace has been particularly productive in recent weeks and built in a buffer zone for England should one of their main bowlers endure a poor day. But such is his lack of form with the bat that he has been rendered something close to a specialist bowler in recent weeks. Without his ability to clear the ropes, England look over reliant on Morgan and Buttler with the bat and uncomfortably reliant for back-up bowling on Luke Wright, who bowled just one over in the 2010 event.World T20 historyDespite winning the World T20 in 2010, England have arguably suffered more embarrassment in this format than any Full Member. No team has lost more games – eight – than England in World T20s (though New Zealand and Bangladesh have also lost eight) and, in 2007 and 2009, they failed to progress beyond the last eight. In 2007, England’s only victory came against Zimbabwe and they lost all three of their Super Eight games culminating in Yuvraj Singh’s thrashing of Broad for 36 in an over in Durban. They fared little better in 2009 when they were beaten by Netherlands at Lord’s, though England did defeat eventual winners Pakistan and India before they were eliminated. In 2010 they emerged from the group stages despite failing to win a match – they were beaten by West Indies and probably saved by the rain against Ireland – but then won their next five games to secure the trophy.Recent formEngland have won 15 of their last 20 completed T20 games and are currently rated No.1 in the official ICC T20 rankings. They have not lost a series of more than one game since the World T20 of 2009 and, of the six T20s they have played this year, England have won four. They have only played one T20 in Asia (against India in Kolkata), which they won, while in vaguely similar conditions – in the UAE – they won two of their three T20s against Pakistan.

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.

Team-mates pay tribute to former India allrounder Rusi Surti, who died at the age of 76

Nagraj Gollapudi13-Jan-2013Chandu Borde, former India team-mate
When a batsman hit the ball hard, Rusi, usually standing at a close-in position, would rush to the ball. That approach was completely in contrast to the rest of fielders who would normally wait for the ball to come. He was a very good allrounder and if he had played one-day cricket, he would have been really successful. He was an asset to the Indian side.Unfortunately, he was not consistent and that played against him. But his best quality was his grit. He was a (braveheart) cricketer. He would never take things lying down, he always liked to fight it out.Bapu Nadkarni, former India team-mate
He was a very old colleague of mine. We played together for about 18 years for Bombay and Times of India in the local Mumbai leagues. He was a really bold, big-hearted cricketer. Take the example of the second Test of the 1967-68 tour of Australia: it was a horrible wicket, an absolute green pitch with lot of movement. There was no chance we could face the likes of Garth McKenzie. India won the toss and elected to bat and were 25 for 5. Surti had retired earlier, hit just that once by McKenzie, but returned later to give Tiger (Nawab of Pataudi Jr) good support. If not for their daring knocks (and partnership worth 74 runs for the eighth wicket), India would have faced the disgrace of getting out for a low total. Rusi’s 30 was the finest innings on one of the fastest pitches, and he was proud of that innings, but would never talk about it himself. I have not seen a bigger fighter than him against all odds. Whatever side, tournament and level he played for, Rusi was a great team man. Farokh Engineer, former India team-mate
[how would it matter to him?]” was the line Rusi loved to use from his young days. Delivering it with that Parsi-Gujarati accent, he made it sound more interesting. He once said it reacting to Bill Lawry in the 1967 Mumbai Test, after the Australian had missed an easy full toss. Rusi, standing at silly mid-on, had turned his back as the batsman went for the stroke, but as soon as he heard the Australian captain use curse words, he instinctively came up with his favourite line. I had to pacify him in native Gujarati, but Rusi would not listen.I had known him from our days at the Dadar Parsi Colony Sporting Club and our careers ran parallel. He was an extremely talented player and a brilliant fielder. Along with Tiger Pataudi, Eknath Solkar, Abid Ali and myself behind the stumps, we comprised a very good fielding unit at one time. I would thank Rusi for improving my wicketkeeping skills. Playing for the Parsi Cylicsts in the Kanga League on horribly wet pitches, he would turn the ball from wide outside the leg stump and curl it outside off stump. He should have played more Test matches considering he was an extremely talented cricketer.

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 Hariharan Sriram, India As he has done quite often in his career Kumble brought alive a boring final day in a Test match at Kotla today

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013Hariharan Sriram, India
As he has done quite often in his career Kumble brought alive a boring final day in a Test match at Kotla today. However unlike in the past, this did not cause discomfort and nervousness amongst the opposition batsmen.Many are the batsmen who have been at the receiving end of Jumbo’s super fast flippers and spitting leg breaks and though his form had dipped quite a bit of late, there will be lots of them who will be more than relieved to hear that the warrior had hung up his sword.Many are the special memories that he leaves us to cherish. The first of those came in the Hero Cup final when he picked up 6 for 12 against the Windies when a couple of wickets came thanks to yorkers which until then, even the Indian pacers couldn’t bowl accurately.It was yet again against the Windies that he would produce a sight never before seen and possibly never again seen scenes as he bounded in with his broken jaw to try and secure a wicket for India.His performance against in Australia was perhaps something which he enjoyed quite a bit himself. His celebration after taking out Ponting in Melbourne after he had worked him out is one of those rare occasions when he’s let his emotions be so visible on the cricket field.And so were his reactions after getting to his maiden century at the Oval. But perhaps the moments which defined all that Kumble stood for came during the course of that much discussed Sydney Test this year.Even as the rest of the Indian batsmen got out or gave their wickets away, he stood their at one end determined to fight it out till the end. With his limited technique he defied the Aussies, focussed on playing out every ball and taking India closer to safety. However as fate would have it, with just five minutes to go three wickets fell in one over leading to the defeat. How much it would have hurt the man is for anybody to guess.And then with the whole Indian and Australian press waiting for his sound bytes after the most controversial Test of our times, he kept his cool and came up with one single statement which said more than a five minute speech would have.Determination, commitment, composure and dignity are words which cannot be strung together to define any other sportsman better than him. Not many Indian cricketers have left the game on their own terms, but then the timing of Kumble’s departure has been spot on, much like his deliveries.Never once has he given less than 100% on the field and the moment he’s recognized that there were factors beyond his control which would not allow him to do so, he’s stepped down. Memory doesn’t serve up any names of Indians who have retired as captains and he definitely deserves to have done so.There are two kinds of great players. There are those whose very presence lights up the arena and then there are those whose absence speaks more about their contributions. India have been lucky enough to have one of each kind play in the same era.It is only fitting that he should have been carried on the shoulders of his team mates on his farewell lap, on the ground which has been lucky enough to witness the great man at his best, time and again. Goodbye Jumbo, and thanks for all the wickets.

Monty Panesar so far hasn’t looked at himself as the leading spinner in England’s side. It is time he changed that mindset

Andrew McGlashan in Auckland20-Mar-2013There was one moment in the Wellington Test that would not have been seen a few years ago. On the third evening, with England striving to make inroads before the weather closed in, left-arm spinner Monty Panesar remonstrated with his captain, Alastair Cook, about his close-catchers.From a distance away it appeared he did not much like the leg side, perhaps he wanted another man in the covers instead. Cook got his way and the leg slip stayed in place. Panesar completed the over then got an arm round the shoulder from Matt Prior. With rough to aim at and wickets an urgent need, the pressure was on Panesar. As it turned out he did not make further inroads and, ultimately, the Test was a watery draw.That moment, however, when Panesar questioned, or challenged, his captain, was important – that is what people had wanted him to do. Come out of his shell; be confident in what he wants; set the agenda himself rather than have it set for him. A few years ago Shane Warne remarked: “Monty Panesar hasn’t played 33 Tests, he’s played one Test 33 times” in reference to his lack of development of self-thinking. The fact he did not get it on this occasion does not matter and, it must be hoped, it will not stop him from trying again in the future.Panesar was not expected to play any part in this series. Then, Graeme Swann’s elbow became too great a concern for the England management and he was sent off to the United States for surgery. Suddenly, on the morning of the first Test in Dunedin, Panesar was pitched into the series without having bowled a competitive delivery since the Nagpur Test in mid-December.He was rusty in Dunedin. His economy, normally a safe house for him even when he isn’t taking wickets, was high as Hamish Rutherford, especially, made an effort to get after him. In Wellington he was better, playing an important holding role in the first innings to allow the quick bowlers to rotate and dismiss New Zealand for 254 on a flat pitch. At the start of the second innings, Panesar made one spit and bounce out of the rough to remove Rutherford but that was as good as it got despite a few near misses.There have been suggestions that Panesar’s place could be under threat for the final Test, either from James Tredwell or a fourth seamer, on a surface unlikely to offer much for the spinner. Panesar, though, should be persevered with. He is not a naturally confident person so, although Test cricket is not a place for soft decisions, he needs to be given the sort of strong backing which will keep his self-belief high.This is the first time Panesar has been England’s lone spinner since the start of the West Indies tour in 2009, when he played the Jamaica Test, where England were bowled out for 51, and the next match in Antigua that was abandoned on a sandpit outfield after 10 deliveries. He was then dropped, in favour of Swann, for the rearranged Test at the Recreation Ground, and ever since has only ever partnered Swann, until this tour.Being the main man is still not a position that comes naturally to Panesar. His successes in the UAE and India came when he knew the expectation was on Swann, something that Swann does not struggle to cope with. Yet Panesar can, even though he perhaps doesn’t realise it, take a leading role. Cook’s second-innings hundred in Ahmedabad instilled belief in England they could compete, but Panesar’s spell on the first day in Mumbai – which included dismissing Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar – sparked them into life.This tour, and especially the final Test with the series still square, is an important challenge for Panesar. The very early signs are that Swann’s elbow surgery has gone well, but it will be a few more weeks before anyone has a clearer picture. Swann, certainly, is unlikely to be tweeting any downbeat thoughts. Panesar, however, must get his mind around the possibility that he will be England’s one spinner in the Ashes not just that he might, yet, be part of a two-man spin attack that is looking tempting after Australia’s problems in India.If there was a combination of conditions Panesar would not want to have, it could well be what he will encounter at Eden Park. A drop-in pitch is unlikely to encourage the spinners and then there are the odd dimensions of the ground; short straight boundaries which are no more than a chip away. In his favour, he has a batting order filled with right handers and the DRS.And, it might just be that one of the most discussed facets of Panesar’s game helps him. Pace, pace, pace is often the theme when he bowls. Why can’t he vary it more? Toss one up, Monty. Sometimes it can be infuriating when there appears no discernible difference during a long spell, but the slower he bowls often the more erratic he becomes. With short boundaries inviting lofted shots, Panesar’s quicker speed, which gives batsmen less time to get under the ball, might just give him another trick up his sleeve.

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.

The Champions Trophy will put the spotlight back on Cardiff and Welsh cricket, and the likes of Robert Croft plan to make the most of it

Alan Gardner07-Apr-2013England will always have Cardiff. That is, the memory of the first Ashes Test of 2009, recently evoked by the images of Monty Panesar helping Matt Prior rescue a similarly triumphant draw in Auckland. There have been difficult times for Glamorgan and their ground since then – in particular a hefty loss on the Sri Lanka Test of 2011 and the subsequent forfeiting of a West Indies Test last year – but in June, the global cricket caravan will cross the Severn for the opening game of the Champions Trophy, a tournament that could go a long way to determining the future of hosting international fixtures in Wales.As with England against Australia four years ago, cricket in Cardiff might be considered to have its back to the wall. Less than a mile down the River Taff squats the Millennium Stadium, home of Welsh rugby. In their national sport, Wales have breathed fire over the Six Nations in recent years, and last month they won a fourth title – including three grand slams – since 2005. In football, Cardiff City are closing in on promotion to the Premier League,where they will join Swansea, who in February became the first Welsh side to win the League Cup.Passion for the English summer game may be harder to discern than daffodils in this bitterest of springs. But walking along the river towards the SWALEC Stadium, although the trees are bare, it is possible to make out a faint, pointillist constellation of yellow. In a couple of months, with the rugby and football seasons finished and cricket out of hibernation once more, the cricketing world will be introduced to the ECB’s silent W.Or perhaps not so silent, as Robert Croft, the former Glamorgan and England offspinner, alludes to in his promise of a “carnival atmosphere” at the Cardiff Wales Stadium (as it will be called for the duration of the Champions Trophy). Croft is used to fielding questions about Welsh support for an England team – in most sports, the are jeered rather than cheered across the border – but he is confident that the locals will open their arms and clear their throats. TV coverage is expected to reach hundreds of millions of eyeballs and little stirs the Welsh as much as pride in a sporting occasion. Indians might not know the words to “Bread of Heaven” by the end of the Champions Trophy but the hope is they will want a further taste.”There’s going to be the eyes of the world on Cardiff,” says Croft, who is now in a coaching and ambassadorial role with Glamorgan after retiring last year, and will be prominent during the tournament. "We want the Welsh cricket brand to get across to the global audience. There’ll be a lot of potential people who would love to come to Wales getting an opportunity to see it on television – so we want to make that sing, as it were.”Croft believes that the continued ability to stage cricket at the highest level is important for the game in Wales. Alongside the immediate financial benefit to Glamorgan, having regular international cricket in the Welsh capital can help to pique the interest of a new generation, who might otherwise be lured to rival sports.A man who knows something about nurturing the grassroots of cricket in Cardiff is David Kirtley, younger brother of the former England international James. Having moved from his hometown of Eastbourne in the 1990s in order to go to university, Kirtley has captained Cardiff Cricket Club for the last eight years and can remember as far back as the days when they played their home games at Sophia GardensCardiff CC now play in Whitchurch, to the north of the city, but as part of the Cardiff Athletic Club they are still officially billeted in a small brick building between the Millennium Stadium and Cardiff Arms Park, an insurgent in rugby heartland. Founded in 1819, the club is one of the oldest sporting associations in Wales – Kirtley jokes that they are older than the Australia team – and with almost 200 years of history to fall back on, there are no feelings of insecurity. Having a Test ground up the road is an added fillip, reckons Kirtley.”There’s no doubt it’s been a benefit for cricket in the area, havinginternational cricket on your doorstep,” he says. "Our junior section iscontinuing to grow and we had definite a spike around when the Ashesstarted.”For Glamorgan’s chief executive, Alan Hamer, hosting a successful Champions Trophy is a matter of “reputation”. While the first Test match to be held in Wales was well received – described it as a “triumph” – the drive to construct international venues in outposts such as Cardiff, Durham and Southampton has been characterised in some quarters as the fake sound of progress. A £1.7m loss in 2011 did little to counter that argument but, despite the economic turmoil of the last few years, Glamorgan have taken steps to improve their financial footing and Hamer is confident that a regular offering of international cricket is central to the county’s fortunes. A successful Champions Trophy will be a prerequisite to Glamorgan’s prospects in the ECB’s next four-year match allocation cycle, which will include the 2019 World Cup and Ashes, as well as the World Test Championship, which is expected to be held in England in 2017.Perhaps just as important to bringing in the crowds and establishing Cardiff as a cricketing citadel is the regeneration of Glamorgan as a genuine county force. Gimmicks such as calling the one-day team the “WelshDragons” have been abandoned and Glamorgan recently published a Strategic Plan aimed at improving links with Welsh clubs. In the club’s 125th year, Croft has been touring the country and taking part in q&a sessions; Kirtley says that after a “rocky time three-four years”, Glamorgan are going in the right direction.Croft: “There’ll be a lot of potential people who would love to come to Wales getting an opportunity to see it on television – so we want to make that sing”•Getty ImagesHamer also acknowledges the need for a corrective. “We recognise that continued poor performances in the Glamorgan team have compounded the gap between the profile of rugby, football and cricket. We know we have an important part to play in resurrecting that interest. Over the last few years we’ve pursued a strategy which has involved investing money in cricket by signing players, either from other counties or overseas. It’s not something financially sustainable long-term but also in order to resurrect the interest in the Welsh public in Glamorgan, we need as well to be developing our own players.”Forty years ago, in Swansea, England and New Zealand played the first international match ever to be held in Wales. There were no Welshmen in the side that day and Cardiff is still waiting to cheer a homegrown hero in an England shirt. “I would have loved to have played in an international here,” Croft says wistfully. “It’s very important for the profile of cricket in Wales that we get another Welsh lad playing at the highest level.” That, surely,would secure Cardiff’s status. And all the cricketing cathedrals in the world will not have heard a roar like it.

It may be on a sound financial footing but in terms of relationships with supporters there is work to be done for Haroon Lorgat at CSA

Firdose Moonda23-Jul-2013″There is no broken business.” That was the only defiant statement at Haroon Lorgat’s unveiling yesterday and it was uttered by someone who should know. Louis von Zeuner is one of CSA’s independent board members and is also a banker. From his vantage point, there is nothing ailing CSA and when browsing the books it’s hard to argue with von Zeuner’s assessment.Over the last two years, CSA has signed an eight-year broadcast deal with Taj and Willowton TV worth R1.5 billion (US$150 million). The last revenue figure they released was after the 2010-11 season when they reported a record R727.4 million (US$72.74 million) income. They have high-profile corporate sponsors attached to each of the three formats and all domestic competitions so financially, CSA is strong and healthy.But a business is not only about money and that is what von Zeuner forgot when he made his declaration. A business is also about relationships and at the moment, CSA’s most important one is fractured.The South African public still harbours suspicion towards the organisation, justifiably so in the aftermath of the bonus scandal, which revealed a lack of corporate governance in the body and the continued series of PR blunders which followed. CSA has not done a good job of explaining things to the people they should be accountable to – the supporters – be it the delay in appointing a new CEO or whether a player has passed or failed a fitness test and so they have earned nothing but circumspection. It is Haroon Lorgat’s job to change that.Just the fact that he was appointed is a good start for CSA’s beleaguered reputation. In Lorgat, CSA has picked a familiar and trusted face. He spent almost a decade working in various positions in South African cricket before appointed ICC boss. His rise is an example of how a traditional cricket-person – Lorgat is a former allrounder with a decent record – can combine corporate acumen.He is the only convenor of selectors since readmission to leave the job with the same amount of respect he had when he started it. Perhaps he was lucky in that the choices he had to make were not as confusing as the crossroads other convenors stood in front of, particularly when it came to established players and transformation.In Lorgat’s era, Makhaya Ntini was at his peak and Herschelle Gibbs’ allegations of a Graeme Smith-Jacques Kallis-Mark Boucher-AB de Villiers cabal were not fully formed (de Villiers was only a rookie at the start of that period) or released. But he also made brave decisions like dropping Boucher in late 2004 and giving Hashim Amla his debut the same year and that added to his stature.His time at the ICC did the same. South Africans are proud that one of their own headed up world cricket’s governing body. They see Lorgat as a man of great prestige. The other side of the story – the one which alleges Lorgat was skating on thin ice towards the end of his tenure – has not reached these parts. And Lorgat’s battles with the BCCI are considered a case of the Indian board flexing their muscles against a man who was strong enough to stand up to them.It’s no secret that some view the BCCI as a bully because of their money and influence. When, in March they voiced their concerns over Lorgat’s bid for the CSA job, it came with a threat of a possible pull-out of their upcoming tour. The BCCI’s beef was believed to be because of some of their old baggage with Lorgat, emanating from disagreements at the ICC, but South Africans saw it as unwarranted interference. That CSA appointed Lorgat regardless of the BCCI’s concerns has been received as an act of bravado. CSA has been congratulated for holding the line where other boards may have caved in.While the board puffed its chest out with pride that they had made a popular decision, Lorgat emerged almost apologetically into the limelight. At his first press engagement, he spoke on the India issue with humility. He said he did not know exactly what he had done to earn their ire and he wanted to understand their concerns. He also gave an assurance he would be willing to say sorry to India because maintaining close ties with him is in the best interests of CSA.

He will have to find equilibrium between heading up CSA in a way that is credible to the South African public while also keeping peace and fostering relationships with other boards.

Therein also lies Lorgat’s biggest challenge. He will have to find equilibrium between heading up CSA in a way that is credible to the South African public while also keeping peace and fostering relationships with other boards. In essence, Lorgat will have to be a diplomat. Fortunately for him that is something he has had a lot of practice doing.With one eye on international image and the other at restoring CSA’s reputation at home, Lorgat will also need a third, to scan over the intricacies of running South African cricket. The main protagonists, the players, cannot be ignored. South Africa’s Test squad appear to be able to take care of themselves and the limited-overs’ units seem the problem children but it is not that clear cut.South Africa’s golden generation are slowly being affected by injury and age as Graeme Smith’s ankle recurrences have come too frequently and Jacques Kallis accepts the twilight. Even the usually fit Dale Steyn has begun to pick up niggles. As we’ve seen recently with India and Australia, a succession plan needs to be watertight for a country not to feel the losses of some heavyweights. South Africa’s depth exists but when it is severely tested, as has happened with the one-day side now, it’s evident there is work to be done.The franchises have continually produced players who are capable of stepping up but they have oft-cried for assistance. They rely on CSA for grants and many of them would like those to increase. The domestic Twenty20 competition is an avenue they want to further monetise with players with a worldwide appeal to draw in advertisers to match. CSA do not want to compete with the IPL, that would be pointless, but they would prefer something like the Big Bash League instead of the low-profile event they are saddled with now.And to make Lorgat’s job a little more difficult, he also has to pay attention to development. In a country with a past as divided as South Africa’s, addressing inequality is complicated. Transformation is associated with fast-tracking players of colour but it is not as unfair as that. As a policy it looks at making opportunities to play cricket available to all people and, by implication, those who were previously disadvantaged require more attention.It is often criticised because it is applied higher-up at the same time as it takes root at the lowest-levels. Many would prefer to see real change at grassroots long before it grows elsewhere because they believe that will allow for real change. But others have growing impatience about the slow rate of representation.Unity took place 22 years ago and to date only five black Africans, who make the majority of the population – Makhaya Ntini, Mfuneko Ngam, Thami Tsolekile, Monde Zondeki and Lonwabo Tsotsobe – have played Test cricket despite black African communities having century-long traditions in the game. Lorgat himself said he feels South Africa is not benefitting fully by failing to tap into this talent pool and he wants to change that.Von Zeuner may be strictly correct: by the traditional understanding of a business, CSA is not broken. But by the larger one, it has holes. If Lorgat can fill some of them, his time in charge will be judged successful.