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.

Plays of the day from the fifth ODI between Pakistan and South Africa in Sharjah

Firdose Moonda11-Nov-2013(Un)lucky number three
A first inside-edge may leave a batsmen feeling nervous. Like when Quinton de Kock tried to cut Mohammad Irfan and almost played the ball onto his own stumps. A second, even more so, but still de Kock survived, and also collected a four for good measure. By the time the third comes, the fielding side can consider themselves unlucky. After two French cuts, de Kock had a third, off Sohail Tanvir. All of them, miraculously, missed the stumps.Rapid AB
AB de Villiers was on 97 going into the last over but Wayne Parnell was facing the first ball. After his partner hit a boundary off the first ball, de Villiers was anxious to get on strike. When Parnell beat the point fielder with his next shot, de Villiers called him through for three runs. De Villiers had to race against the throw to make his ground, but had his skates on as he fell mid-stride. He dived in vain at the striker’s end, with bat at full stretch to ensure he was well in his crease by the time Umar Akmal took the bails off. Having survived, de Villiers brought up three figures off the next ball.Flying AB
De Villiers had already led the batting effort but he was ready to do his part in the field as well. When a Lonwabo Tsotsobe delivery leaped up to take the shoulder of Mohammad Hafeez’s bat, the ball ballooned over second slip where de Villiers was stationed. He moved backwards, stuck his hand out and put in a jump to try and pluck the ball from the sky. For all his dedication, de Villiers could only get his fingers to it, but the ball spilled out when his arm struck the ground again, and Hafeez got away.The unlikely cricket enthusiast
Dead rubbers between two teams who will meet again in a return tour (two Twenty20s followed by three ODIs) that starts later this month are not exactly the biggest crowd-pullers and the numbers in the stadium were evidence of that. But there was someone who was interested in the action. A caramel-coloured pigeon was on the field for large periods of the Pakistan innings, and had to be shooed off on numerous occasions. He hung around at the boundary rope and was distracting some of the fielders to the point where Ahmed Shehzad had to wave him away in energetic fashion. Later, one of the members of the academy was spotted cradling the pigeon as the match drew to a close.Misbah unplugged
Tired of along, Misbah-ul-Haq played the shot of the match off just his seventh ball. Tsotsobe bowled it full, outside off, Misbah got underneath it, cleared the front foot, and lofted it over mid-off. The ball traveled high and far, crashing into the stand near the commentary box before bouncing back into the field. Even Misbah has an aggressive side.Irfan is bounced
The game was meandering to a foregone conclusion when a bit of spicy fast bowling from Parnell made people sit up and take notice. Irfan, at 7 ft 1in, would be the last person you would expect to be bounced out, his lackluster skills with the bat notwithstanding. But Parnell tested the middle of the pitch and made the ball rise towards Irfan’s head. The tail-ender fended it away as best he could, but the ball skied in the air and Hashim Amla back-pedalled from first slip to collect a safe catch. The wicket had no bearing on the eventual result, but was another example of the strange things that can happen on a cricket field.

Meet a Washington-based Afghan journalist who follows the nation’s cricket team as he tries to spread some cheer in a country starved of good news

Karthik Krishnaswamy04-Mar-2014Out in the middle, Mohammad Nabi has just pulled Thisara Perera for four. Afghanistan, chasing 254 to beat Sri Lanka, are 108 for 5. In the press box, I open Matiullah Abid’s Facebook profile. His latest post, like most of his posts, is in Pashto, and I cannot read what he’s written. But I can see it has attracted 60 likes in six minutes.Two chairs to my right sits Abid himself, punching away at his laptop, a frown of concentration tugging down at the ends of his thick black moustache. “I’m telling my countrymen not to worry,” he says, turning away from his screen. “Lots of big teams get bowled out for low scores. I’m telling them it’s part of the game. They are still learning what cricket is all about.”Abid has played a big role in teaching them. Based out of Washington DC, Abid works for , the US government’s official radio station. His broadcasts in Pashto mainly cover youth affairs, and cricket has grown to occupy a prominent role in them.”I have a show, weekly, and all the players, once they have become part of my show, everywhere they go I’m in touch with them, I find their phone numbers,” he says. “If I can travel, I travel. If not I use my connections to bring them on the show and tell the listeners Afghanistan is playing and how they are doing. I ask them to send their pictures and post them on Facebook and on our webpage.”Our Facebook page has almost 130,000 followers. I myself have over 5000 friends, and nearly 10,000 followers. I don’t want to praise myself. If you go to Afghanistan and say my name, ‘You know Abid?’ and they’ll say ‘the cricket man?'”Cricket entered Abid’s life quite early. When war began in Afghanistan in 1978, his family migrated to Pakistan. He was seven at the time.”First time I saw cricket was in Peshawar. My friends in my neighbourhood were playing on the streets, in the gardens,” he says. “That was when Imran Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad were playing. Then Shahid Afridi came, and Saeed Anwar was there. I was a left-hander, so I followed Saeed Anwar when I batted and Wasim Akram when I was bowling.”Following the Russian withdrawal from Afghanistan, Abid thought he could move back home, but the start of the civil war put paid to that plan. He moved instead to the USA in 2000. There, he realised that cricket had taken root in Afghanistan, and began following the fortunes of the national team.After Afghanistan won the World T20 qualifier in Jersey, Abid decided he would start travelling to watch the team. He’s been at nearly all of their big moments since, but the first time was a particularly emotional experience.”I went to West Indies in 2010, and I could not believe it,” Abid says. “How can Afghanistan be here, playing against South Africa and India in the T20 World Cup? I was listening to our national anthem, and I cried, in front of my friends, and I said, look, people think Afghanistan is a terrorist state and drug state and Afghanistan is nothing. But now, we have a flag, we have an anthem, we have representation.”So this cricket has made us a country in the world arena and now people know us with a different name. If you go on Google, and write Afghanistan – attack, fighting, killing, death, drugs. If you add cricket with Afghanistan – jubilation, victory, fun. Cricket has changed the face of Afghanistan.”Apart from changing how the country is perceived by the outside world, Abid says cricket is also helping heal Afghanistan from within.”The war is the base of all the problems,” Abid says. “Infrastructure is totally destroyed. No schools for a long time, and two generations almost, from 1978 to 2000, remained out of normal life. They lived a refugee life. They can’t think about moving forward. This is the big problem. In Afghanistan, they still don’t believe that things will remain as they are now. If Americans go, what will happen? If the war started, what will happen?”Second thing, the government has misused the money and funding the world is giving, so people live by their own, everybody taking care of themselves. So youth are struggling, trying to make their own life. Thirdly, peace. The main thing is peace. If you are free of all fears – I will go to my school, I will go to work, I will go to the ground, and come back – this thing Afghanistan is lacking.”So these boys give hope to the Afghan youth, that look, we have qualified for the World Cup, so we are concerned about 2015, so we have already crossed this year. Recently, the Afghan cricket team went to the province of Khost. 35,000-plus people were there, and the big ground was full of people, only to see a glimpse of Mohammad Nabi or Hamid Hassan. The guys travelled from Kabul by helicopter.”The reception they received there gave a message to all of the youth. They are the guys who were refugees. They were nobodies. Now the whole country is following them, there are pictures in people’s houses. If you go to Kabul there are big hoardings with Mohammad Nabi and Hamid Hassan. This thing is very good, to push them, to motivate them, to say, look, if they can do it, everybody can do it.”And everyone in the country, it seems, is starting to play the game. Having first established itself in the regions bordering Pakistan, Abid says cricket is becoming popular in other parts of the country too.”The youth who belong to the border areas, the Nangrahar province – Jalalabad is the main city – and in the south, Paktika and Khost, most of the people migrated to the nearest part of Pakistan [during the war]. Which is why most of the players [in the national team] speak one language – Pashto,” Abid says. “Cricket was not that famous in the beginning in the north of Afghanistan [where Dari is the more commonly spoken language], but due to this explosion in popularity, now youngsters in that region also follow cricket. Mirwas Ashraf is from the north of Afghanistan, and there are some other players in the A team and the Under-19 team.But Jalalabad remains the epicenter.”The people who first spread cricket in Afghanistan – Taj Malik, Dawlat Ahmadzai – they belong to Jalalabad,” Abid says. “They established a club, Nangrahar Cricket Academy, which is still producing youngsters, talented guys like the Under-19 players, Hashmatullah Shaidi, Fareed (Ahmed) and the captain [Nasir Ahmadzai], who is the brother of Raees Ahmadzai, the former senior team captain. So Jalalabad has made a big contribution to cricket.”The spread of cricket in Afghanistan, and the successes of the national side, have made Abid a very busy man. Since Saturday’s historic win over Bangladesh, he’s barely had a moment’s rest.”Day before, we beat Bangladesh, and our whole radio programme was based on this,” he says. “Different programmes covering Pashto audience, they were just calling me, can you be our guest, so for four hours I was continuously on radio, talking and talking. Yesterday, I was watching the India-Pakistan match but still talking about what happened against Bangladesh.”

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.

ESPNcricinfo picks out the plays of the day in the third T20 between South Africa and Australia in Centurion

Firdose Moonda14-Mar-2014Starc’s chin musicIn a tour that was billed as a battle of the bowlers, the batsmen would have known they were in line to get hurt. With extra bounce on offer in Centurion, pain was all but guaranteed. With the third delivery of the match, Mitchell Starc got one to rear up and seam away from Quinton de Kock and the youngster’s heart my have skipped a beat. He would have had it in his throat three balls later when Starc dug it in short and the ball bounced to hit de Kock just below the chin. His grille jammed against the lower part of his face and his collarbone appeared to have taken the bulk of the impact. De Kock received treatment immediately and took a few minutes to get his breath back before batting on.The mis-hit sixIt’s not often that AB de Villiers gets it wrong but even when he does, he manages to make it right anyway. De Villiers was two balls into his innings when Brad Hogg served up a half-tracker. The swipe over mid-wicket was not timed at all and, at first, it looked as though de Villiers had hit the ball straight up. He wore a pained expression even as he watched it sail over over the boundary for six and eventually offered a sheepish grin at his good fortune.The triumphant returnAlbie Morkel spent his comeback match doing nothing more than fielding and would have have been pleased to get some time in the middle in this one. With South Africa in trouble, he was quiet for six deliveries before Shane Watson presented him with an inviting length. Morkel cleared the front leg and swung hard, sending the ball over cow corner and many rows back into the stands to announce his big-hitting return.The toe-cruncherMorkel managed only one more cracking shot before he was undone by a delivery that needs to become more frequent in this format. Starc’s toe-cruncher was on target and Morkel could not keep it out. By the time he brought the bat down, middle and off stump had been disturbed.AB’s apologyIt wasn’t de Villiers’ night with the bat and it wasn’t his night in the field either. It was the fourth over of the chase and he was stationed at point when Aaron Finch hit the ball his way. Awkward bounce saw it slip past him and allow two runs. Later that same over, de Villiers was undone by bounce again. Cameron White’s square drive went over his head as de Villiers’ was on his haunches trying to stop it. When de Villiers looked to be fooled by the bounce off the next ball, his home ground could not help but jeer and de Villiers raised a hand in apology to them.The perfect cover driveBefore play, Aaron Finch joked that he did not just stand and swing but there was some method to the madness. He proved it by playing the shot of the match. Finch played the perfect cover drive off Wayne Parnell after slamming a couple of short balls with disdain. He inched forward to a slightly fuller one and caressed it through the covers. The timing was exceptional and would have satisfied most purists.

New Zealand’s latest power hitter is only 23 but he has overcome a series of challenges, including debilitating injuries, to get this far

Andrew Alderson09-Jan-2014Every so often a New Zealand sportsperson delivers a memorable turn of phrase.World heavyweight boxing title challenger David Tua went on the game show and asked to buy a vowel. “O for awesome,” he said. That gem ended up on t-shirts.Former All Blacks rugby captain Buck Shelford was dropped unexpectedly from the nation’s most revered sports team in 1990. “Bring Back Buck” banners still appear at grounds.Olympic gold medal-winning rower Nathan Cohen delivered a succinct “Yep, go” pep talk to partner Joe Sullivan heading into the last 500 metres of their double sculls final in London. They won, moving from last to first during the race. Cohen’s remark had a good airing at mates’ barbecues last summer.Like the other phrases, Corey Anderson’s admission that “shot, bro” was the principal dialogue he and Jesse Ryder shared in their 13.2-over blitzkrieg of West Indies in Queenstown, was also quintessentially Kiwi. Whether the phrase graduates from barbecues to t-shirts to folklore will depend on how the career of the fastest one-day international centurion unfolds.Anderson produced a 3D wagon wheel – on his way to a century off 36 balls, and eventually an unbeaten 131 off 47 – that resembled a spider that might have starred in . In fact, it was scarier. Fourteen legs protruded in the form of sixes from a tiny 23-run thorax of singles and twos.Rarely has an innings of such grievous bowling harm come from a New Zealand bat. The first of the modern genre was Lance Cairns’ six sixes at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in February 1983, which included pasting Dennis Lillee one-handed over deep square leg. Another was Nathan Astle’s 222, the fastest Test double-century, during a defeat to England in Christchurch in 2002. Brendon McCullum’s 158 not out off 73 balls for Kolkata against Bangalore in the first IPL match, in 2008, also cemented his reputation as a power-hitter.If last year’s IPL auction is a gauge, relatively unknown players outside their country of origin – like Australians Glenn Maxwell and Kane Richardson and South African Chris Morris – can earn lucrative sums. Add in Anderson breaking Shahid Afridi’s 17-year ODI century record and he should come to the bidding armed with a suitcase. He may thank Queenstown’s inclement New Year’s Day weather for the rest of his life.A crucial hurdle stands between him and IPL riches: the Indian ODI series. The IPL auction is scheduled for February 12, at which point New Zealand will have played five ODIs against the visitors, matches beamed live into the homes of significant IPL decision-makers. There are no T20Is scheduled, so if Anderson sustains his form, he will be on the cusp of a career breakthrough.His sporting pedigree is sound. Dad Grant was a sprinter at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch; Mum Linda was a top netballer. Anderson was useful in throwing events at Christchurch Boys’ High School, alma mater to arguably the country’s two finest Test pace bowling allrounders – Sir Richard Hadlee and Chris Cairns. Anderson fans can be grateful there is no “hitting” event in athletics.Yet his story still contains an element of nothing-venture-nothing-win. The 23-year-old has overcome a series of debilitating injuries since his first-class debut aged 16 years and 89 days in 2006-07; the youngest New Zealand first-class cricketer in 59 seasons. As Anderson recovered he took a bold step breaking away from his Canterbury home. He wasn’t under contract when he started with Northern Districts in 2011-12 but adapted well in their professional environment to progress his career.Former New Zealand representative Grant Bradburn was Anderson’s coach at ND; he also mentored him on this season’s development tour to the subcontinent.”Corey has developed hugely over the last couple of years to be fitter, stronger and more resilient,” Bradburn says. “He is an explosive cricketer but has learned to trust that his body will be up to the rigours of the sport. I see him as a batting allrounder good enough to be in the top six in any format. As a bowler, he is certainly not a part-timer. He has pace and the ability to swing the ball or hit the wicket hard. As a fielder, he’s dynamic in the inner ring, with a bullet arm.”

“People pigeonhole me as a limited-overs player. The pinnacle is still playing Test matches”

Bradburn remembers a key moment when Anderson’s mental maturity shone: “He scored a beautiful hundred in India [on the development tour] where he found a consistent tempo and stayed with it, rather than trying to bully the attack.”The calmness he exuded was a credit to him because he had a habit of going well, then losing control and getting out too early.”Anderson’s feats on the recent tour of Bangladesh pushed him ahead of Colin Munro in the race to secure the vacant Test allrounder berth, a problem compounded by Daniel Vettori’s extended absence.”New Zealand’s probably been calling out for [a pace bowler allrounder] since Chris Cairns left,” Anderson said after his ODI debut against England in Cardiff in June where one ball from James Tredwell was dispatched into the River Taff. “I’ve had a lot of injuries and my bowling has only come along in the last 18 months. If I can play more consecutive games over a couple of years I might become a genuine allrounder but for now I’m a batsman who bowls fourth change.”Because I’m a harder hitter people pigeonhole me as a limited-overs player. The pinnacle is still playing Test matches.”Anderson made his debut century in his second Test. He was less compelling with the ball, taking three wickets at an average of 22 – there was a decent lbw but also two soft dismissals from wafts outside off stump. However, he’s been consistent and, after the West Indies series, has contributed the useful sum of 11 wickets at 19.36 in five Tests.Jacob Oram played his last Test in a similar role to Anderson during 2009. His biggest concern is ensuring Anderson avoids the same injury issues he suffered over a stop-start career.
“I have empathy with him trying to stay on the park for sustained periods,” Oram said. “As an allrounder, you’re susceptible to more injuries because there is less downtime between batting and bowling. It’s about trying to work out a balance so his body has a chance to rest.”

With Alastair Cook isolated and the deficiencies in his captaincy laid bare, the suggestion that English cricket is at a low point continues to gain credence

George Dobell at Headingley23-Jun-2014Might this count as a low ebb?After the Ashes defeat in Australia, the ECB chairman, Giles Clarke, said it was “utter nonsense” to claim that England were at “some sort of massive low ebb”.Since then, though, little has gone right for England. They were embarrassed in the World T20 by Holland, they lost the ODI series (and the T20 match) against Sri Lanka and their new managing director, Paul Downton, has sometimes looked so out of his depth that it is hard to resist the temptation to throw him a pair of armbands.And, as their bowlers were thrashed around Leeds by Sri Lanka’s eighth-wicket pair, as their captain’s grim run of form continued, as they allowed a game they had every chance to dominate slip away in front of a ‘crowd’ so small it should probably be called a ‘sparse’ and as their batsmen displayed the resilience of a papadam – Liam Plunkett’s dismissal might be remembered as the worst shot by a nightwatchman in the history of Test cricket – it was hard to avoid any other conclusion than England had slipped not just to a low ebb, but to basement flat below one.Ian Bell’s dismissal was another example of senior players failing to help out Alastair Cook in England’s time of need•Getty ImagesEngland have already gone seven Tests without a victory. But even if they do produce a miracle and prevail on the final day (and they might as well pray that a plague of unicorns prevents play), even if they pull off the largest successful fourth-innings run chase in their history, it should not obscure the deficiencies that have hurt them. And it should not obscure the deficiencies in the leadership of Alastair Cook.It is not just the poor batting form or the uninspiring tactics that provoke such concerns. Yes, we know that he has now gone 24 innings without a Test century and that, since July 2013, he averages in the mid-20s. And we know that, as a tactician, he is more mouse than Strauss; more phoney than Dhoni. The decision to set spread fields in the opening overs of the day simply allowed Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews to settle in.But we also know his long-term batting record is excellent and, given time, he should come again. And we know that, when he is batting well, he has the ability to unite his team and lead them to fine victories such as a series wins in India and an Ashes win at home. There are different ways to lead and Cook is not as hopeless as some would suggest.The real concern is his inability to raise his team when required. Frustrated by his ineloquence, he appears unable to find the stirring phrases to rouse and renew in times of trouble. He is the type of captain who leads by example. And his current example is mediocrity.More than that, though, he was the captain backed by the ECB when it was decided to drop Kevin Pietersen. He was the captain either unwilling or unable to accommodate the highest run-scorer in England’s international history and, as a result, he has weakened his side and shouldered an unnecessary burden.Any suggestion that he was unaffected by the relentless negativity towards him from high-profile critics such as Shane Warne and Piers Morgan was dashed when Cook snapped back the day before this match. It has clearly been on his mind.But if Cook must take his share of responsibility for England’s performance, a few of his senior players also need to reflect on the support they have offered him. Matt Prior has looked unrecognisable from the keeper who proved so reliable up until the end of 2013 and, in this match, has flapped like a seal and dropped like a stone.

For Sri Lanka to come in early summer and secure their first series win is a damning indictment of England’s new era

James Anderson, impeccable for so long, bowled horribly short and wide in being out-performed by Dhammika Prasad. His first over with the second new ball did not demand a single stroke; his second was little better. Ian Bell was beaten through the gate, back when he should have been forward, while Stuart Broad was unable to summon any of the menace gained by his Sri Lanka counterparts. In an inexperienced side, these are the men who have to support Cook. On Monday, at least, they let Cook down. All those burned by the Ashes thrashing fell away under pressure.What England cannot – must not – do is blame bad luck.If you win the toss and decide to bowl first, you cannot complain if you end up batting fourth against a turning ball.If you waste your two reviews on speculative lbw shouts – one where the ball was clearly going down the leg side – you cannot complain when an umpire misses a blatant outside edge off Shaminda Eranga before he has scored and there are no reviews remaining.If you waste the new ball and squander more than half-a-dozen chances in the field, you cannot complain when Test batsmen punish you.If you pass your opposition’s score with only two wickets down but then lose 7 for 54, you cannot complain when the opposition fight their way back into the game.And if you bowl your overs so slowly that you run out of time when the opposition are nine wickets down, you cannot complain when they hold on for a draw.Sri Lanka have played well in this series, but England have been, to a large extent, the architects of their downfall.There is, as ever, mitigation. This is an England side containing several inexperienced players; there were bound to be days like this as they learned their trade. Equally, in a two-match series, the effects of one poor day can be magnified. England have not been this bad for the other eight days. But overseas victories are hard to come by for any side and for Sri Lanka to come to the UK in early summer and secure their first series win, is not just a reward for fine cricket, but a damning indictment of England’s new era.

If England do win the ODI series against Sri Lanka, it may only serve to mask some of the issues they must resolve ahead of the World Cup

George Dobell02-Jun-2014You could argue that, if England are to challenge at the World Cup, the best thing to happen to them would be to experience defeat in the final match of the ODI series against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston.Were England to win the game, and with it a series that is currently tied 2-2, it might convince them that the make-up of their current side – with only four frontline bowlers and four steady batsmen at the top of the order – is adequate to serve them well in New Zealand and Australia. Indeed, victory might render it awkward to drop individuals ahead of the ODI series against India. It would be a feel-good win with a long-term hangover.This was always going to be a transitional series for England. Coming to terms with life after Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann and, in all probability, Jonathan Trott (who began his comeback in Warwickshire’s 2nd XI on Monday) was bound to take time. A couple of other players, Stuart Broad and perhaps Ben Stokes, are also likely to feature in a World Cup squad when they have proved their full fitness.As a result, England have chosen a team with a view to these early season English conditions. They have reasoned, understandably, that the benefit of winning this series will outweigh any negatives of failing to settle upon a specific XI for the World Cup.So they have stocked their top four with good quality, traditional batsmen who can negate the movement offered by two new balls and build a solid platform before the middle-order leads an acceleration. And they have tried to plug the gaps in the bowling attack with a couple of batting allrounders who, in these conditions, can generally be relied upon to contribute 10 overs between them. In these conditions, it makes sense.But will it work in Australia?So far in this series, England’s fifth bowlers – generally Joe Root and Ravi Bopara combined – have contributed 25.5 overs between them and taken one wicket for 149 runs. They are comfortably the most expensive of England’s bowlers.Away from early summer English pitches there is no reason to think they will fare any better. On the fast-scoring grounds anticipated in the World Cup, going in with a part-time fifth bowler is not only an obvious weakness in itself but it leaves the team exposed should one of the four frontline bowlers suffer a bad day or sustain an injury.As England have found out so many times before – most notably in the World Cup final of 1979 – a side may get away with part-time bowlers in bowler-friendly conditions. But on good pitches, against good players, such a tactic will often prove damaging.The choice of who to bat in the top four is equally perplexing for England. With Alastair Cook presumably assured of his place – and he might not be an automatic choice, at present, were he not captain – England’s options at the top of the order are limited. With Peter Moores, the England coach, admitting that a total of around 300 might be considered par in the World Cup, the clamour to select Alex Hales will probably not be denied for long.

“In Australia, or on any good pitch around the world, you have to be able to score 300. It’s the new par score. So we know we have haven’t got long”Peter Moores

Gary Ballance, Joe Root and perhaps even Ian Bell might be considered vulnerable later in the summer, though bringing in Hales only a few months ahead of the World Cup will give him less time to learn his trade at the top level.”We’ve got some decisions to make,” Moores said. “One is to make sure we’ve got enough depth in the bowling.”It’s a balance, because sometimes you don’t want too much bowling. You don’t want to take the responsibility away from those guys who’ve got to be able to front up and deliver, and know it’s their role.”But against strong sides, you need five strong bowlers as well as decent depth and ability to strike up front. They’re the things you’re going to need to win that World Cup.”One option at the World Cup would be to play another bowler – almost certainly Broad – ahead of one of the batsmen. But that would weaken the batting further and require even more of the likes of Jos Buttler, who is required to produce a miracle almost every time he bats. As on Saturday, sometimes even Buttler’s miracles aren’t enough.”Our top four haven’t quite got it right,” Moores admitted. “Bell and Cook are a very experienced opening partnership and have done well in the Powerplays. It’s important that we stay positive out of the Powerplay. In Australia, or on any good pitch around the world, you have to be able to score 300. It’s the new par score. So we know we have haven’t got long.”To be fair to Root and Ballance they had to rebuild on Saturday from 10 for 2. They did the right thing and rebuilt and kept wickets in hand. Looking back we could have done with pushing things a little bit more.”We’re fortunate that there is a domestic 50-over competition this year in which we can have a look at the players like Alex Hales. Then we have to identify what is our best team for the back end of the summer, the winter and then that World Cup.”Whatever happens at Edgbaston on Tuesday, England are surely going to require some further rebuilding before that World Cup.

Stats highlights from the first day of the SL v SA Test at the SSC, where Mahela Jayawardene scored yet another hundred

Shiva Jayaraman24-Jul-201434 Test hundreds that Mahela Jayawardene has made, having drawn level with Sunil Gavaskar and Brian Lara. Jayawardene needs two more centuries to catch up with Rahul Dravid, who is the only other batsman within striking distance of Jayawardene given that the Sri Lanka batsman only has a maximum of five more Test innings before retiring. Kumar Sangakkara also has 36 Test centuries, but is likely to end up above Jayawardene in this list.11 Number of hundreds Mahela Jayawardene now has at the Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo – the highest any batsman has in Tests at one venue. Jayawardene was already leading this list before his latest century at this venue. Don Bradman and Jacques Kallis are next with nine hundreds at the MCG and Newlands, Cape Town, respectively.1031 Runs scored by Angelo Mathews since the New Year Test against Pakistan. Only Sangakkara has outscored Mathews in Tests during this period. Mathews has scored three centuries and five fifties in 15 innings and has averaged 85.91.131 Partnership runs between Jayawardene and Mathews – Sri Lanka’s highest for the fourth wicket against South Africa, beating the 118-run partnership between Roshan Mahanama and Arjuna Ranatunga in Centurion back in 1998.10 Number of times Sri Lanka have lost their first two wickets before reaching 20 in their innings, including today. The last such instance came seven years ago against Bangladesh, when Sri Lanka were two down for just 14 on board.21 Debutant wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella’s age on Test debut; he is the third-youngest wicketkeeper at 21 years and 263 days to make his debut for Sri Lanka. Asanka Gurusinha, who made his debut at the age of 19 years and 52 days against Pakistan in 1985, is the youngest Sri Lanka debutant wicketkeeper.5 Number of times Kumar Sangakkara has been out for a first-ball duck. Including this, three of the five instances have come at this venue.18 Hundreds Jayawardene has scored at the SSC and Galle put together. He has currently scored 5135 runs at these venues at an average of 76.64 from 74 innings. He has taken nearly a hundred more innings at other venues to score the remaining 16 of his 34 centuries. At other venues, Jayawardene ‘s 6511 Test runs have come at an average of 39.7.

VenuesMatInnsNORunsAve100/50SSC and Galle48747513576.6418/19Other venues991739651139.7016/29Overall147247161164650.4134/48