A disastrous first two seasons made the Sydney Thunder a laughing stock. Will they get it right in 2013?

Daniel Brettig11-Apr-2013Upon being drafted by what was then a lowly Dallas Mavericks NBA team in 1994, Jason Kidd declared “we’re going to turn this team around 360 degrees”. On the day he was formally named as the new coach of the Sydney Thunder, Chandika Hathurusingha could have been forgiven for thinking in similarly dramatic terms, if slightly less faulty dimensions.As part of the new order at Cricket New South Wales, Hathurusingha will augment his primary post as the Blues’ assistant coach by helming the Thunder. Trevor Bayliss, for two seasons the Sydney Sixers’ mentor, has recently been installed as state coach. As side projects go, Hathurusingha’s may be all-consuming: the Thunder had by the end of season two of the tournament become rusted to the bottom of the table, winning twice in their first season and not at all in their second.Australian cricket has plenty of issues to address this year, but the Thunder are among the most troubling, so far proving less a gateway to Sydney’s west than an anaemic warning for parents in the area to send their children to watch the A-League football team instead. In 2012-13 they exhibited just about every problem a dysfunctional cricket team may possess, from a paper-thin squad and a want-away star player, to an absentee captain and a culture that was not so much poor as nonexistent.In Melbourne, the Renegades had suffered similarly as the alternative to the more establishment Stars in season one, but regathered stirringly in year two to lead the competition table before falling in the semi-finals. It was the sort of result the Thunder dreamed of while stumbling around the country in a numbing sequence of losses that had many wondering at the wisdom of their very existence. Mainly, their travails seemed to suggest that Australian cricket does not possess sufficient depth to stock eight passable teams.So there is little doubt Hathurusingha has a stern task ahead of him merely to develop a combination that is competitive, let alone trophy-winning, and no surprise that he homed in on culture as a key to changing the team’s fortunes. “We need to get the right culture, the right players around and then get good combinations of players,” Hathurusingha said.”I don’t think they had enough players in a balanced outfit to compete in the tournament, so that’s one thing. The other one is the culture and the training, they all play a role. For me the culture is that the players have to trust each other, so the culture of trust is there. And the clear messages and communication for that is you have to treat everyone equally. That’s one thing I would want to start with.”Already there are signs that a stronger squad will be knitted together for 2013-14. Early discussions have been had with the management of the Test match retiree Michael Hussey, and there is the possibility he may be installed as captain whenever Michael Clarke’s international duties keep him away from the team. Brett Lee is another target, while Hathurusingha’s Sri Lankan connections may yet lure the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan or Mahela Jayawardene to Sydney.A major advantage of Hathurusingha and Bayliss now sharing management of the two BBL teams is a dialogue about shared resources. While rules and conventions dictate a separation between state and franchise, the two coaches will be able to discuss how best to balance the two squads among those NSW players intent on staying in Sydney during the BBL.”We had a phone chat a few days ago about how to approach that,” Hathurusingha said of Bayliss, currently preoccupied by the IPL. “We haven’t spoken about any individual players yet, but we have had a chat among us about how we’re going to work on that situation. Because of western Sydney, probably the players coming from that part will be more inclined to play for the Thunder, so that’s one thing we need to decide, but then again the balance of the team also has to be taken into account.”I have a good idea of where and how I want to take the team forward. It depends on the player group available first, and then devise a strategy for how we’re going to approach the tournament.”Part of that strategy will be to ensure the Thunder players feel better about their surrounds, both on the field and off it. The drop-in pitches at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium have been the subject of some criticism, their spongy countenance making life unpleasant for all the batsmen, while only the highly skilled and travelled Dirk Nannes was consistent enough with the ball to use it to his advantage. A new training precinct has been added to the venue, allowing the team to prepare more fruitfully where they play.Another issue in the first two years was the players’ accommodation and transport. A lack of cars left squad members feeling isolated, whether it be at Rooty Hill in season one or Parramatta in year two. More comprehensive logistical arrangements are being planned, the better to have the players enjoying their time together off the field and so more likely to gel on it.”There were some issues like that and we are looking into that,” Hathurusingha said. “We’ve got a nice new training facility there, hopefully it’ll be up and running and up to the standard by the time the tournament starts. The home ground is going to be ANZ Stadium, so that is one thing we need to take into account, even when we are choosing the players because of the shape of the ground as well.”Shaping a team to fit the Thunder’s home ground makes rather more sense than the approach taken in the BBL’s first two years, when the XI seemed too often like a compilation of spare parts, among which the heavily salaried Chris Gayle was expected to perform miracles. Hathurusingha has a testing road ahead, but one that with a little more thought and care can result in a turnaround – of the 180-degree variety.

With the retirement of Michael Hussey and injury to Michael Clarke, Australia desperately needed Shane Watson to perform at the Champions Trophy

Nagraj Gollapudi at The Oval17-Jun-2013In the 2009 Champions Trophy in South Africa, Shane Watson was the Man of the Match in Australia’s victories in the semi-final and the final. He also had the best average and the most centuries (two) in the tournament. Four years on, Watson cut a much diminished figure throughout.Just 34 runs. That’s all one of the most valuable players for Australia managed in this edition of the tournament. With Michael Clarke convalescing, the burden was on Watson’s shoulders to pilot Australia. It was an opportunity to correct the wrongs committed during the controversial Test series in India earlier this year where Watson was slapped with the one-match ban for not doing his homework.Watson has not forgiven the Australian team management for rapping his knuckles, calling it the lowest point of his career. He made it clear that he was not interested in standing as Clarke’s deputy in case the occasion arose during the Ashes as he wanted only focus on how best he could help the team with his contributions.Mentally, Watson remains vulnerable. His failure has only exacerbated Australia’s problems. Undoubtedly, being the senior-most player adds to the team’s expectations. But you earn your badge by rising to the occasion.Take Mahela Jayawardene. He had come in at a point when Xavier Doherty had tied down Sri Lanka in the middle overs. He had walked in midway into the Sri Lankan innings. Sri Lanka were 99 for 3 after 25 overs. Ten overs later they had managed just 43 more runs. But Jayawardene remained busy.The pitch was two-paced, verging on the slower side. An elastic batsman, Jayawardene used his strengths to guide the ball into the various gaps without breaking sweat. The beauty about watching Jayawardene is he does not take the fielder on, but simultaneously he can beat any field.Coming from round the wicket Mitchell Johnson pitched back of a length and short. Backward point and point were in position. Rooted to the crease, Jayawardene stretched laterally, opened the face of the bat, cut the ball to the left of backward point, lending just that much power required to beat Phil Hughes, who rushed in vain from third man.Cuts, upper cuts, revere sweep, nudges, failed scoops. Jayawardene used all those weapons to make the bowler’s job that much more difficult. He played the situation, using his head to put Sri Lanka in a winning position.In contrast, Watson lost his head while attempting a stroke which has proved to be dangerous. He had started off with a fluent boundary in the first over but having just faced one ball from Nuwan Kulasekara, Watson cut; so close to his body he virtually cut the stumps. He was the most crucial batsman in the chase. Someone who could overpower their bowling. In the end Watson sat in the changing rooms head in hands, as Sri Lanka kept their nerve in a tantalising victory.The period between 2009 and 2011 were Watson’s best years. He worked hard, performed consistently and deserved the status of the most valuable player. He was in a happy state of mind. He was especially formidable in the one-day arena. You could look up to Watson and, up to a point, he would deliver. Coincidentally, it was the period when Ricky Ponting was Australia’s captain. Ponting had a lot of respect for Watson and backed him in every possible situation. Watson respected Ponting for having the belief in him and standing by him.Today Watson is isolated with Michael Clarke at the helm. He was Clarke’s deputy in India, but as soon as he reached India, he made it clear he had no intention to step into the leadership duties. Watson is happy to continue making the contributions, but wants to do it on his own terms. Mickey Arthur has admitted his dynamic within the team remains a work in progressFailing to adapt to the situation has been the major stumbling block. Disappointingly Watson has remained an impact player. Not the batsman who has the patience to construct an innings consistently. His form has declined from 2012 where onwards he has averaged 32.05. In Twenty20 cricket, such as the IPL, Watson has expressed himself with much more freedom. He has remained the most dependable player for Rajasthan Royals since 2008. He has remained flexible in the roles he has been asked to perform in the IPL.Australia need an assertive Watson now more than ever. Of course, the Australia team management needs to make some allowance. Clarke needs to relay the message to Watson that he remains his best man, and perhaps commit the sort of time to the allrounder that Ponting once did. For his part Watson has to realise that he cannot rely on a captain cajoling him all the time. He has the ability to stand up on his own two feet and be heard, even if recent evidence of such is growing scarce.

Or will they be squashed like bugs by the weight of the past and by England, who they squashed mercilessly all these years?

Andy Zaltzman09-Aug-2013I wrote earlier in the week about how Donald Bradman’s Invincibles had clinched the Ashes in 1948 with a soggy, drawn, Mancunian 2013-precursoring third Test – the first post-war Ashes Test in which England had held the upper hand. The Don’s team rebounded to clobber England in the final two Tests, and earn their eternity in the annals of the game.Michael Clarke’s Australians are unlikely to be remembered quite as fondly, and will be anxious to avoid a similar false dawn as the one Norman Yardley’s England team briefly enjoyed. They even managed to stretch the false dawn as far as a full English false breakfast, with a good performance in the first four, tightly contested days of the following Test. Then, before their false bacon had even settled in their stomachs, Australia chased 404 in a day to win, with 15 minutes and more importantly seven wickets to spare. (There is no way that Clarke’s Australia could do that to this England team. Yardley’s team naively sent down 21 overs per hour through the day. The more streetwise 2013 side would, shall we say, “manage the over rate” rather more “professionally”.Whether Australia can maintain their Old Trafford improvement may depend largely on the performances of the top three batsmen in each side. Of the many instructional DVDs that will not be released after this series (including: , How To Know When You Have Edged A Cricket Ball – A Guide For Young Batsmen and The Spirit Of Cricket, And How To Uphold It Relentlessly, With An Almost Evangelical Zeal), both sides will be holding back on bombarding the shops with A Masterclass In Top-Order Batsmanship In The First Three Tests Of A Series.Seamer-friendly Chester-le-Street will further examine the fragilities shown by both sides in this area, and, I think, Australia will need reasonable productivity from their top three to have realistic hopes of repeating their Old Trafford dominance.History suggests it will not be easy. (History, it should be noted, suggests some pretty crazy things, and often talks outright nonsense when it comes to cricket.) England became seasoned masters at drawing the third Test after sinking to a 2-0 deficit – they did so not only in 1948, but also in four consecutive Ashes from 1989 – before being splattered once more by the end of the series.In 1989, there was no false dawn. It was barely anything even resembling a glimmer of light. Only unremitting night, and a sense that the end of the world would be a merciful relief. The drawn third Test was severely rain-affected, and Australia dominated what play there was. They clubbed England again in the fourth and fifth Tests, before the weather again had mercy on the hosts at The Oval. The smallest first-innings deficit England conceded in the six Tests was 171.In 1990-91 and 1994-95, the relative resurgence lasted for the third and fourth Tests, before the series ended with an illusion-shattering final-Test power-spanking for England to mull over until the next Ashes.In 1993, there were discernible green shoots in the now-traditional third Test non-defeat, at Trent Bridge. After two hefty tonkings, England selected half a new team – four debutants (Lathwell, Thorpe, Ilott and McCague), plus the recalled Nasser Hussain.They played a good match. Hussain made 71 and 47 not out in his first Test for over three years, the talismanic Robin Smith returned to form with 86 and 50. In the second innings, Thorpe scored a superb debut hundred- the first by an England player for 20 years – and captain Gooch, batting as low as five for the first time since his disastrous debut series 18 years previously – scored a masterful 120. England then had Australia six down at tea on the fifth day, despite having a four-man attack with a grand total of four previous Test caps between them (212 fewer caps, and 806 fewer wickets, than the bowlers Cook was able to call upon in Manchester). Brighter Ashes days seemed to be just around the corner.And indeed they were. The only problem was that it took 12 years to get around that corner. And those 12 years involved enough thrashings along the way to keep even the most sadistic 19th-century headmaster scouring his stick catalogue for some back-up whacking implements. Trent Bridge proved to be far from a watershed. In the next Test, Australia posted 653 for 4 declared, won by an innings, retained the urn, and precipitated the end of the Gooch captaincy era. Atherton took the reins, and was promptly whooped by eight wickets in the fifth Test. He led England to a stirring consolation win at The Oval – with another entirely new bowling attack – but, nevertheless, Australia had reasserted their total superiority, and everyone knew it.There are certain similarities between the 1993 Australians and the current England side. The Australians had had some big wins, but had also recently lost a series to the world’s leading team. They had a team with proven Test seamers (McDermott and Hughes, approaching 200 wickets, averaging under 30), a core of hardened batsmen averaging over 45 (Taylor, Boon, Border; plus the Waughs, who were soon to head in that direction); they had an experienced keeper (Healy) and a promising new opener (Slater). The major difference was that Warne was a decade younger than Swann is now, and had laid the foundations for a 13-and-a-half-year reign of slow-moving terror with one single delivery.Can 2013 England re-establish their Lord’s chokehold in the fourth and fifth Tests, as 1993 Australia were able to? Can 2013 Australia stop them, as 1993 England could not? (The answers: yes; and yes.)● Graeme Swann may be less of a threat to Australia at Chester-le-Street than elsewhere. In six first-class matches this year, tweakers have taken 29 wickets at an average of almost 43, whilst seamers have 169 victims and average 22. In the four previous Tests there, between 2003 and 2009, pacemen have taken 96 wickets at 29, and spinners just 14 at almost 52 (even including Monty Panesar’s 5 for 46 against the tweak-averse 2007 West Indians).It is still likely, however, that Swann, who has taken 19 wickets at 27 in the first three Tests, will overtake Derek Underwood’s 20-wicket total in the 1968 Ashes to become England’s highest-wicket-taking spinner in a home Ashes since Jim Laker’s 46-scalp series in 1956. Laker averaged 9.6 that year – Swann could still match that figure, if he returns match figures of 18 for 0 in both of the next two Tests. The highest Ashes tally by an England spinner since Laker’s stellar year was Geoff Miller’s 23 in the 1978-79 series.If Swann takes one more wicket in the series – the smallest “if” in cricket since Imran Farhat tattooed his initials on his lucky ladybird with a microscopic insect pen – it will be his fourth 20-wicket series. Only three times in the 32 years before Swann’s debut had an England spinner dismissed 20 batsmen in a series – Panesar against those hapless 2007 West Indians; Ashley Giles against their 2004 predecessors; and Miller. (Shane Warne, in his four series in England, took 34, 24, 31 and 40 wickets.)Swann will become the seventh England bowler with four or more 20-wicket series, after Trueman (who had 9), SF Barnes, Bedser, Willis and Botham (5 each), and Caddick (4).● Alastair Cook has scored two half-centuries this series – only the second time in England’s last nine series that he has passed 50 on more than one occasion (the other being his three-century tour of India late last year). However, those two innings have been modest – 50 and 62. He had converted his previous six half-centuries into hundreds, and, since March 2010, had scored at least 79 on 20 of the 22 occasions when he had reached 50 (including 15 hundred-plus scores). In those 22 innings, he went on to score, on average, 145. Over the same period, all other opening batsmen in Tests, in innings when they reached 50, went to score, on average, 91.His two fifties in this series have come from six innings. You do not need to be a rocket scientist to calculate that that equates to one half-century per three innings. Those previous 22 scores of 50-plus were made in 69 innings (one every 3.1 innings); and the 32 he had made up to March 2010 (with ten centuries, and a 50-plus-innings-average of 89) were scored in 94 innings (one every 2.9 innings). So Cook has maintained his overall rate of reaching 50 – but been unusually ineffective after reaching that milestone. So far. What can be read into this? Choose one or more of the following options:(a) Nothing. It’s a temporary glitch
(b) Impending Armageddon
(c) Cook is less good when good bowlers pitch it up and swing it. In common with, for example, almost all other batsmen
(d) Australia – and Australian spectators – had better brace themselves for his return to Baggy Greenland
(e) It’s Trott’s fault
(f) Cook has been so preoccupied by the Egypt crisis that he has found it hard to concentrate on mundane ephemera such as cricket
(g) He is still struggling to come to terms with (i) the increased demands of captaincy during the media hypestorm of an Ashes series; and (ii) the death in May at the age of 92 of the pioneering American stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen
(h) England will not win the Ashes again for another 30 years
(i) Cook is obsessed with averaging in the 20s or 120s in Ashes series – he averaged 27 in 2006-07, 24 in 2009, and 127 in 2010-11. He is back at 24 in this series. It is probably code for something.

A key bowler suspended, the other bowlers struggling to take wickets and batsmen unable to cope with swing. Can any of West Indies’ reserves make a difference?

Andrew McGlashan in Hamilton16-Dec-2013The optimism generated by West Indies’ fightback in Dunedin – even though without the rain it would have still ended in defeat – disappeared in the space of three days in Wellington. Now their key bowler, Shane Shillingford, has been suspended from bowling two days out from the final Test. So who is there in the squad that West Indies can turn to?Sunil NarineSuddenly a bowler with 15 wickets at 48.06 is West Indies’ big hope. That is largely based around his performances against New Zealand in the Caribbean where he took 12 of those Test scalps in two matches. New Zealand have had problems against spin – and did not play Shillingford well in the second innings in Dunedin, although that was down to over-aggression – but the pitch is likely to be another with a good covering of grass. Still, the batsmen have not seen anything of Narine for a while so he could catch a few by surprise.: “Looking at New Zealand, if I was in their camp it would probably be another green seamer. They’ve got three seamers who are swinging it and causing us problems so I don’t see why they’d change the format. “Sheldon CottrellJohnson, Boult…Cottrell. Probably not, but West Indies’ three right-arm pacemen have not caused New Zealand’s batsmen too many worries so a change of angle could be useful. He would probably have to replace Shannon Gabriel, who improved in the second Test, because there will be a reluctance to ditch Tino Best as, for all his waywardness, he has caused a few problems. West Indies are also desperate for someone who can generate some swing.: “It’s a constant work in progress to get people thinking clearly under pressure and understanding you need to be a bit fuller on this pitch when the ball is new. Our bowlers are probably a little quicker than theirs and we have bowled a bit short. But if it’s not swinging you can’t pitch it up to quality batsmen. It’s finding the right length. We find it sometimes three balls out of six. We have been inconsistent with everything we have done. As a bowling group we haven’t stuck to plans for long enough.”Kraigg BrathwaiteDelayed by visa difficulties, Brathwaite eventually joined the squad in Wellington. The 21-year-old has played nine Tests and scored four half-centuries. Prior to the series the plan was likely to be for him to open alongside Kieran Powell, but the delay in arriving meant Kirk Edwards had to take on the role and he has made some gusty contributions. Powell has reached double figures in six of his last eight Test innings but has not gone past 48 which is wasteful. Brathwaite’s lack of recent cricket counts against him, but the incumbent batsmen need to feel pressure from somewhere.: “We have faced swing bowling before. Last time we went to England we faced swing bowling. some of us got undone a little bit. Marlon Samuels had a great series, but this is high quality swing bowling at good pace and we haven’t been able to deal with it in this game.”Veerasammy Permaul and Chadwick WaltonThe left-arm spinner and reserve wicketkeeper are the two least likely players to figure in the final Test. If West Indies really wanted to pick from left field they could still play two frontline spinners with Permaul alongside Narine, either with just two seamers or as part of a five-man attack on the basis that they have to take 20 wickets. Denesh Ramdin, as vice-captain, will hold his place but his keeping has been poor in this series and the batting unconvincing – although his second innings at Wellington was ended by a contender for catch of the year – while Walton made an unbeaten 61 in the warm-up match.

Robbed of precious practice time in Potchefstroom, the Australia captain had a hair-raising net against the team’s fast bowlers on damp pitch

Daniel Brettig04-Feb-2014With apologies to Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel, Australia’s Michael Clarke may not face tougher bowling all tour than he did on Tuesday. A hair-raising 30 balls in the nets on a dangerously damp and drying Centurion Park practice wicket ensured that Clarke’s feet were moving and his blood pumping as he faced up to the combined might of the Australian pace attack, stretching out in their first notable spells of the trip to South Africa.Aware of the danger posed by the pitch and adhering to the markers laid down by the bowling coach Craig McDermott, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Jackson Bird, James Pattinson and Moises Henriques all pursued a fullish length. Even so, they repeatedly hit the splice of Clarke’s bat as they did so, with the odd shorter ball rearing up devilishly from the sort of surface Derek Underwood might once have delighted in.There was little sense of something held back either, as a frustrating few days in waterlogged Potchefstroom had robbed the tourists of valuable preparation time. Clarke was as eager for a bat as his bowlers were to charge in, and their brief combat energised all who witnessed it. Certainly the Australian players were fascinated by the contest, the bowlers’ glee matched by the batsmen’s winces. The team physio Alex Kountouris and doctor Peter Brukner stood close by, just in case.Pushing through their paces, familiar patterns emerged. Harris and Siddle were the most precise, Johnson appreciably the fastest, Pattinson and Bird the most in need of more bowling. Henriques surprised by extracting as much life out of the track as anyone, his trajectory digging the ball into the pitch while the others tended to kiss it a little more lightly at a higher pace. Of the sextet, only Harris kept his foot consistently behind the crease.When Clarke decided he did not wish to risk any more, having worn a couple of blows, the difficulty of the net was emphasised by the next ball after he departed. The unflappable Chris Rogers was struck a prancing blow on the chest by a Harris delivery that climbed and seamed back at him, letting out an involuntary yelp before moving promptly across to the net being used by the spinner Nathan Lyon. No-one was about to question Rogers, and it was enough for Phillip Hughes and Shane Watson to turn on their heels and return to Centurion Park’s indoor nets.The remainder of the session had the pacemen bowling at unguarded stumps, as numerous batsmen tested themselves out against the spin of Lyon, his mentor John Davison and the eager David Warner, who has returned to leg spin after a year’s flirtation with less beguiling medium pace. Alex Doolan was a notable absentee from the session due to a bout of flu, but he will not have done his chances any harm by missing a stint in the net Clarke had dared to tread.Before the session, Harris had expressed the tourists’ irritation at the weather that had robbed them of their one and only tour match before the first Test, but balanced that with hope for improving practice surfaces and the possibility of centre wicket training at Centurion ahead of the series opener on February 12.”It’d be nice to get a couple of good net sessions in and be starting the game tomorrow, but that’s the way it is. We have to deal with it,” Harris said. “It hasn’t been great, but everyone’s dealt with it really well and got what they needed. As bowlers we were able to get a decent bowl in the nets down there one day, and a centre wicket.”It helps, centre wicket – if you’re not playing a game – is always better than training in the nets. As a bowler, you haven’t got the normal cues that you get when you’re out in the middle. There’s no net posts, you can feel a bit enclosed in the nets. But hopefully over the next couple there’s plans that we can get some center wicket and we can get out there as much as we can. I’m ready to go. If the game was today or tomorrow, I’d be ready to play.”After his brush with danger, so too would Clarke.

In 1997 Australia secured a remarkable come-from-behind victory in Port Elizabeth which helped define a generation. The lead in to the Test this year has some striking similarities

Daniel Brettig in Port Elizabeth19-Feb-2014Seventeen years ago, Australia’s cricketers arrived in Port Elizabeth flushed with confidence after routing South Africa by an innings and 196 runs in Johannesburg. Their brio was summed up by Steve Waugh, who publicly doubted the hosts’ capacity to rebound from a hiding of such magnitude as they faced their first series defeat at home since returning to international cricket in 1992.What awaited the cocksure tourists at St George’s Park was a pitch made to the specifications of the hosts’ coach Bob Woolmer and captain Hansie Cronje, an extremely well grassed and untrustworthy strip that ensured there would be a result, in conditions where Mark Taylor’s team had struggled in preceding years. After two days South Africa had run up a lead of 184 with all 10 second innings wickets in hand.The events of the next two days might be summed up as “the legend of Port Elizabeth”. Australia’s bowlers surged on the third morning to take those 10 wickets for the addition of only 81 more runs. The chase, which like poor pitches was seen as the team’s weak spot, was marshalled wonderfully by Mark Waugh’s hundred. When a late rush of wickets threatened the result, Ian Healy struck what he estimated to be the first six of his first-class career to seal victory. Taylor, in the midst of an 18-month run drought, called it the best win of his life.Asked about that shot and the result it wrought, Michael Clarke gave a quizzical look. “How did I miss that?” he said. “Heals hit a six?” The team were later told a little about the match by the squad doctor Peter Brukner ahead of their regular quiz night. However distant the memory, that meeting takes on some relevance for this one, as circumstances of series and pitch have converged in a remarkably similar manner. Once more Australia arrive with all the confidence gained by a storming display on the Highveld, and once more South Africa are scheming a way to protect a proud unbeaten record via consultative pitch preparation at sea level.Ian Healy salutes his winning six during the 1997 encounter•Getty ImagesThen, as now, Australian eyebrows are being raised by the unabashed discussions between the St George’s Park curator Adrian Carter and the coach Russell Domingo, who had established a relationship over years together with Eastern Province. As with tours of India and England last year, Clarke’s team are at the mercy of conditions tuned to suit their opposition. It is a trend only Australia has avoided in recent times, even if Clarke admitted to occasionally wishing he could twist a groundsman’s arm now and then.”[It’s everywhere] apart from one country I know quite well,” Clarke noted wryly of pitch doctoring. “It doesn’t bother me. That’s a big part of playing international cricket, you travel the world and play in different conditions. I think it’s a big part our game that the captain, especially, can communicate with the groundsman in his home country and produce the wicket that is best suited to their team.”I would like to see it happen more that way in Australia but in saying that I think the wickets in Australia, we’re very lucky compared to a lot of other countries around the world. We get very good Test cricket wickets, there’s normally enough in there for quicks and spin bowling but generally if you get in it’s a beautiful place to bat. So it’s not like I don’t communicate, I speak very openly and honestly with our groundsmen but I’m confident that they’ll produce a great cricket wicket anyway.”The major difference between now and 1997 is that Australia quite liked the idea of a grassy surface. Taylor’s team built their success on the ability of a strong batting line-up to make runs and then waiting alertly in the slips for Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath to apply the ‘coup de grace’ on good pitches that wore over five days. They were notably less comfortable on sportier pitches, encouraging the grass at St George’s Park.However Johnson’s terrifying speed and the ability of Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle to stand up the seam make them a highly threatening trio in just such a situation. South Africa need runs from batsmen of shaken countenance after Centurion which would offer the chance to put Australia’s talented but less than consistent batting order under some scoreboard pressure.The only possible change to the team – unlikely as it may seem – would be to include James Pattinson at the expense of Nathan Lyon, who has struggled somewhat with a stomach ailment despite bowling well at Centurion. Pattinson’s inclusion would add still further to the pace battery and also add a little more starch to the lower order batting. Either way, Shane Watson is not expected to return.Clarke then was eager to see the grass remain, but at 12.15pm on match eve Carter could be seen applying a partial shave with his mower. Of course he will not be able to apply the same treatment to Johnson’s moustache, and the tourists will be confident of achieving a similar result on a less responsive pitch than at Centurion, just as their forebears fought their way through the thicket of 1997 to secure a series win.A large part of that belief is derived from the way Johnson dominated England on Adelaide Oval’s drop-in after the hosts had run up a tally of 570 for 9 declared. His 7 for 40 on days two and three demonstrated that the character of the pitch was not the decisive factor in his new-found effectiveness, despite what Graeme Smith had to say following the Centurion hiding.Adelaide helps Australia in another way, providing a reminder of how a major victory like Brisbane or Centurion should be followed up. While the tourists celebrated their opening win heartily in each case, the team’s focus has not been diverted by the vast margin of victory. Clarke offered plenty of perspective on this, noting that a meteoric rise over the past six Tests cannot obscure the days, months and years of indifferent displays that preceded it.”We’re playing some good cricket but we know we’ve got a lot of improvement in us, we know we’re playing the No. 1 team in the world so we have to be at our best to give ourselves a chance of beating these guys,” Clarke said. “There’s no complacency in our group and there hasn’t been through the Australian summer – we have no reason to be complacent.”We’re ranked third in the world and we went a long period without winning a Test. At the moment we’ve got a bit of momentum, we’re trying to run with that for as long as possible, but we understand the fact that we’re playing such a strong team. If we’re five per cent off they’ll destroy us.”Australia’s win in 1997 was a key moment in the building of an era, for it proved beyond doubt that they could win Test matches from anywhere, under all conditions and in all territories. Another victory in Port Elizabeth 17 years later would add considerably to the aforementioned legend, lifting Clarke’s team to the ranks of legitimate contenders through the winning of a major overseas series.

Mantri may have had a modest record at the Test level, but that didn’t prevent him from being an influential figure in Indian cricket

Ayaz Memon23-May-2014When he turned 90 on September 1, 2011, I asked Madhav Mantri if he was going to take fresh guard for the last decade to his century. “That is for those who get nervous in the 90s,” he replied, joining in the jest. “After seven first-class centuries, I should be able to play freely.”Mantri’s passing on Friday was typically without much ado, 100 days short of turning 93, ended a life-innings that was remarkable, not so much for its longevity but that he should have been such an influential figure in Indian cricket despite having played only four Tests as wicketkeeper-batsman.He never scored a century in Tests. His career at the highest level was brief – between 1951 and 1955 – and more about thoughts of what might have been than any great achievement, as 67 runs and nine victims would testify. His first-class career over almost two decades, in contrast, fetched him 192 dismissals (including 56 stumped, testimony to the quicksilver reflexes he was praised for) and 4403 runs at a fairly healthy average of 33.86. And those seven centuries, of course.Even so, these are not spectacular numbers. Indeed, for a while, it seemed that his claim to fame was his nephew, Sunil Gavaskar, who exploded on the international scene with a record 774 runs in his debut Test series and soon developed into a run machine.But viewed over a sweep of more than half a century, Mantri acquires a strong and compelling identity all his own. Apart from what he achieved on the field of play, he was also Mumbai Cricket Association president, national selector for four years between 1964-68, manager on the Indian team’s tour of England in 1990, and BCCI treasurer between 1990 and 1992. He also coached, criticised, advised, and mentored players and administrators almost till his last breath, as it were.

He had a sense of righteousness that seemed to stem from his very core. The notion of the British disciplinarian seems almost Dickensian in these free-flowing, individualistic days of ours, but Mantri, austere, stern and fair to the core, embodied it

If cricket was his all-consuming passion, Mumbai’s place in the national game was an obsession for him. Indeed, though the much-touted “Bombay school of cricket” has been represented by the likes of Vijay Merchant, Subhash Gupte, Bapu Nadkarni, Ajit Wadekar, Dilip Sardesai, Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Sachin Tendulkar over the decades, in my opinion Mantri was its exemplar; not so much for his performances as for his beliefs.A great deal of this mindset was exhibited on the maidans of Mumbai, and especially in club cricket, which between the 1950s and the 1980s was played with rich fervour and never-say-die commitment, demanding the best from players in performance and behaviour.The rivalry between Mantri’s club, Dadar Union, and its most famous adversary, Shivaji Park Gymkhana – which could be compared to the War of the Roses in English county cricket – is not only part of the lore of Mumbai cricket, it provided a grooming ground for the “Bombay school”, the ethos of which Mantri was to become instrumental in establishing.It said you needed to be tough, unrelenting and unforgiving in matters of discipline, as Mantri was – on himself and others. He is reputed to have tamed even the mercurial Subhash Gupte when the legspinner played for Dadar Union. In Mantri’s book, there was no room for dilettantes, however brilliant.Madhav Mantri embodied the tough and unyielding attitude that came to define Mumbai cricket•MiD DAY Infomedia LtdHis punctuality, for instance, is part of lore in Mumbai cricket circles (and it extended beyond match hours). More so, he had a sense of righteousness that seemed to stem from his very core. The notion of the British disciplinarian seems almost Dickensian in these free-flowing, individualistic days of ours, but Mantri, austere, stern and fair to the core, embodied that image. He was from another era, as it were, and a sterling proponent of those values – in every aspect of life.Of course there is duality in this. Bishan Bedi, for instance, also owed much to the idea of the English gentleman cricketer. But where Bedi was sociable and full of cheer, Mantri was sparse with his praise and modest of lifestyle. Both were like characters from John Galsworthy’s Forsyte Saga.Mantri was a bit Old Testament, if I may be permitted the usage, in his approach to life: singular in his thinking (he was a bachelor too), fastidious about rights and wrongs, seeing things in black or white – though without lapsing into violent biblical recourse to set things right.So when Gavaskar as a young boy once wore his uncle’s India cap, he was quickly admonished. “This has to be earned,” he was told. And when Gavaskar as a young man came and told his uncle of how well his team had done in scoring 400 for 1 in a match and he had thrown his wicket away after having scored a bagful, he was roundly castigated. For Mantri, such disregard for team and self – in that order – revealed a flaw in character, not just tactics. It was the lesson he carried throughout his life: at the playing level when he was active, and at a personal level till he breathed his last. This is the legacy he leaves behind.

Plays of the Day from the second qualifier match between Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab

Karthik Krishnaswamy30-May-2014The Sehwag slice
When Virender Sehwag is in full flow, life is a long nightmare for point and short third man. Till this innings, Sehwag had looked in fairly good touch all season without quite reaching the heights he is capable of, and it had been notable how many runs he had been scoring, unusually, on the leg side.All of that changed today, and Sehwag was back to batting like Sehwag, punishing the merest hint of width. Sehwag had already struck two boundaries, both thrashed square on the off side, when Ishwar Pandey angled a length ball in towards off stump in the fourth over of the Kings XI innings.It was a pretty good ball, and would have cramped most batsmen for room. The rules, though, are different when you bowl to Sehwag. Down came that bat, in a slicing motion, with a slightly open face. The ball raced away to the fine third man boundary.Ashwin versus Maxwell
When he was interviewed pitch-side after the Eliminator against Mumbai Indians, R Ashwin had given Glenn Maxwell a hint about what to expect. “Hold on,” he had told the interviewer just before he was about to cut to the studio. “Maxwell can expect me to bowl more over the wicket in the next game.”It was a throwaway bit of pre-match psychology, and Ashwin had reason to use any weapon he had at his disposal. In the two league meetings between them, Maxwell had scored 64 runs off 24 balls against him, at a strike rate of 266.67.As expected, Ashwin bowled from over the wicket right after Maxwell walked in. At first, there seemed to be no change in fortunes. The second ball he bowled was a quick, nervy wide fired down the leg side. The third disappeared over long-on for six. Trying to slog-sweep the next one from way outside off, though, Maxwell holed out to deep midwicket. It was a top-spinner from Ashwin, and Maxwell, without any turn to work with, did not get the power he desired to get it over the fielder, and might have dragged it a touch straighter than he intended.As Maxwell went past him on his way off the field, Ashwin blew a theatrical kiss in the direction of the dressing rooms. A livid Maxwell stormed off, remonstrating with a match official as he crossed the boundary rope.Raina in the zone
Suresh Raina was batting in a dreamlike state. He was in perfect position against every ball he faced – such as a Mitchell Johnson bouncer that he pulled behind square for six after rocking back to within inches of knocking over his stumps – and everything he hit was going off the middle of his bat. He had reached his half-century in the previous over, and now, Parvinder Awana was facing the heat. Raina launched the first two balls for six, the first over deep midwicket, the second over long-on, and Awana responded with the best possible delivery he could bowl in that situation.Awana was bowling with very little protection square on the leg side, with only a midwicket in that region, that too inside the circle. He speared one into the blockhole, on, or possibly even just outside off stump, angling away from the left-handed batsman. Raina, though, would have his way, no matter what. He flicked the ball, square on the leg side, and at the moment of impact it looked as if he would only get a single for it. But he had found the gap to the left of the midwicket fielder, and his timing, moreover, was so unearthly that the fielder had no chance of giving chase and cutting it off.The run-out
Chennai Super Kings were 100 for 2 at the end of the sixth over. It was the highest Powerplay score in Twenty20 cricket. Suresh Raina was batting on 87 off 25. The highest score any had made in the Powerplay this season, before this, had been 86. Super Kings were threatening to pull off the biggest successful T20 chase with five overs to go. It needed some very smart thinking from Kings XI Punjab if they were to get back in the game.With Brendon McCullum on strike, George Bailey brought on the legspinner Karanveer Singh, and placed three fielders in front of square inside the circle on the off side. He knew, with the ball turning into him, how eager Raina would be to get on strike. But he probably did not know how quickly this would create an opening.McCullum pushed the first ball into the off side, to the left of cover, and hesitated for a moment before calling Raina across. Bailey was the man at cover. He ran to his left, picked the ball up with his left hand, transferred it to his right hand as he spun around to face the stumps at the batting end, and threw on the turn, hard and flat. It was a sensational piece of athleticism, and the ball hit the base of the stumps, catching Raina well short of the crease. As he walked off the pitch, Raina smashed his bat into the turf.The tennis-forehand six
MS Dhoni had walked in with Super Kings’ hopes fading, and the loss of David Hussey meant he was in danger of running out of partners as well. At the start of his innings, Dhoni looked out of sorts, and was nearly stumped off Karanveer Singh, swiping against the turn and missing completely.Mitchell Johnson started the next over with a length ball outside off stump. Dhoni swung hard at it, his body spinning as he swiped across the line, and missed. Possibly encouraged by this, Johnson dug the next one in short. Dhoni’s response came completely out of the blue. Jumping off his feet, he met the ball outside off stump with a horizontal bat, at close to shoulder-height, and smashed it over mid-off for four.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the second T20 between West Indies and England

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Mar-2014Recall of the dayKrishmar Santokie played the second T20 against Ireland, taking 1 for 12 as West Indies defended 96, but could not make the cut for the first game of this series. However, with Sunil Narine ruled out he got his chance to stake a claim for a starting place in the World T20 and took it with both hands. In his first over he removed Michael Lumb, then in his second a beautiful slower ball deceived Moeen Ali. At the death, after a rain break, he ensured England could not cut loose when he removed the well-set Jos Buttler and added Ravi Bopara.Kick-start of the dayEngland were not going anywhere very quickly, but Buttler and Alex Hales had to try and rebuild the innings from 26 for 3. Then, in the 12th over, Buttler unfurled his scoop shot against Darren Sammy – after two earlier boundaries in the over – and connected so cleanly that it cleared fine leg for six. That over cost 17 and the next cost 16 as England at least found a foothold in the match.Shot of the dayIt does not matter whether you clear the boundary by six inches or find the road outside the ground, the batsman can’t score more than six. Chris Gayle, though, often goes for the latter option and one of his four sixes, when he advanced at James Tredwell, went clear over the roof of the stands at wide long-on and may have come down somewhere in the harbour. The local sages in the press box suggested it was the biggest ever seen at the ground, bigger than when Joel Garner deposited one into the nearby petrol station.Comparison of the dayThe tale of two Powerplays: after six overs England were 30 for 3 while West Indies were 58 for 1. That head start meant that even when their chase was clawed back that enough was in the tank to get over the line. The tactics were opposite too. West Indies used pace off the ball for all six overs, from Santokie and Samuel Badree, whereas England used three overs pace, which cost 34, before turning to Tredwell.

ESPNcricinfo’s countdown on the things that mattered in the latest round of matches in the NatWest T20 Blast

Tim Wigmore19-May-20145
This person’s phone is currently unavailableAfter a weekend of pulsating cricket, it feels amiss to begin by talking about corruption. But, as much as the ECB would like the focus to be on the pitch, the pleas from Ravi Bopara and Ian Bell should not be ignored.Both have urged the ECB to ban mobile phones from all dressing rooms for the duration of games. The message is that what needs to be banned at England level also needs to be banned for televised county games. The logic is inescapable. Under current rules – or lack thereof – “You could be on your phone all day if you want,” as Bell said.ECB always like to trumpet that its domestic competitions mimic the international game. In this context, the inertia on mobile phones, which are banned from dressing rooms for internationals looks like a blind spot. It also reeks of being “complacent”, despite an ECB spokesman dismissing the very thought..It remains possible to conclude that county cricket is probably relatively clean: only one of the so-called “dirty dozen” being investigated following Lou Vincent’s claims is an English county player. But the success of this year’s NatWest Blast is far too important for strange goings on to be tarnished by dark murmurings, however unfounded, of wrongdoing.There is no excuse not to do everything possible to convince fans of the veracity of what they are seeing. As Bopara said, “if that’s what is required to keep the game clean then let’s do it.” How about by, say, noon tomorrow?

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Middlesex’s double painIf it’s Friday night, it must be T20 night. The tournament’s launch date was a qualified success, with crowds that were raucous rather than obnoxious, and evening sunshine aplenty. In the south at least, it could have been 2003 all over again. In the north, Durham especially, it appears there remains much convincing to be done.By comparison, the rest of the weekend’s action felt rather like 2012, when domestic cricket struggled to be heard above the cacophony of European Championship and Olympic mania. Lancashire struggled to flog tickets for Saturday’s visit by Worcestershire; even the allure of a sumptuous afternoon and the return of Graeme Smith resulted in at least a thousand empty seats at Taunton on Sunday.And what of Middlesex’s much-vaunted double-header at Lord’s? 15,000 watching a pair of T20 group games sounds like a triumph. Except more than twice as many, in total, regularly packed out Lord’s and The Oval on Thursday and Friday nights last summer. Yes, there are mitigating circumstances – Middlesex were hardly to blame for Arsenal’s trophy doubt ending simultaneously. But county cricket is adept at making excuses for itself. On a glorious day on which both the England Test captain and tomorrow’s T20I skipper played at Lord’s, it sent a clear message: the public just prefer Friday nights. And the sporting value – an increasingly turgid pitch (invariably the problem with back-to-back games) made for dour viewing – was questionable too.Middlesex’s scheduling, especially with a Championship game at Wantage Road the following day, amounted to self-sabotage. Eoin Morgan admitted it was “not ideal”; coach Richard Scott captured the mood by branding it “ridiculous”.Player focus: Ben Duckett (Northants)Ben Duckett•IDI/Getty Images

After last year’s triumphs, Northamptonshire supporters have been reacquainted with rueful looks this summer. Deprived of Trent Copeland and T20 specialist Cameron White by inflexible work-permit laws, Northants signed contracts with a third Australian, Jackson Bird, and the seasoned South African Rory Kleinveldt, before both had pulled out with injury. England hopeful David Willey, star of last season’s final, is also currently unable to bowl due to a back problem.
Against this backdrop it was quite a triumph for the defending champions to open with a win at Headingley. England U-19 keeper Ben Duckett finished the chase with an unbeaten 39, including depositing Ryan Sidebottom for six in the final over.

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Stop dawdlingDelight should have filled the air at the news that both Surrey and Sussex were penalised for slow overrates in their match at Hove on Friday night. An insistence that players get on with the game ensured that an average England T20 game finished around half-an-hour faster than IPL. T20 was designed as a fast game and it needs to stay as such. Players are notorious for slowing down a game at the slightest excuse.It has yet to be confirmed whether the actions of umpires Ian ‘Gunner’ Gould and Steve O’Shaughnessy have been encouraged by the ECB. But they acted on the regulations and did T20 cricket in England a great service by doing so. We await the first Timed Out in English cricket with enthusiasm.

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A welcome to friends old and newRelaunched it may be – but it wouldn’t be English T20 if some familiar faces didn’t keep resurfacing. There is something oddly reassuring about the cast of T20 nomads that return every year, reassuring presence in an ever-changing world. Between them Kevin O’Brien, Scott Styris and Dirk Nannes have now played for 12 counties.They may not be deemed good enough for the IPL, but all are assets in English T20. O’Brien bowled astutely in both of Surrey’s games, though he twice failed with the bat; Nannes celebrated turning 38 with four wickets against Gloucestershire. Then there was Styris – 39 before this year’s competition ends, he bludgeoned 63* for Leicestershire at over two runs a ball.Marcus North, who has five counties to his name falls into a different category to the other three – he is playing for Derbyshire in all formats this season – but his 49-ball 90 bested them all.There was still room for new faces to make a splash. Jordan Clark – a cult hero in Lancashire after hitting six sixes in a second XI Roses match against Yorkshire last season – smashed 44 against Notts before taking 2-30 against Worcestershire. Evidently Clark has no intention of being the player to make way if Andrew Flintoff does indeed make a miraculous return.

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More testosterone pleaseIs there something about English cricketers that draws them to sedate cricket? Yes, it all sounds a bit fatalistic. But it is hard to imagine the wicket-to-wicket medium pacer or non-spinning spinner, two breeds of cricketer who enjoyed successful weekends, being treated with such deference in the IPL or Big Bash.Craig Kieswetter, the top scorer in the T20 last year with 517 runs and normally regarded as one of England’s most belligerent strikers, was emblematic in his two half centuries. This is not to decry Kieswetter, who was presumably playing to orders, but the sight of set batsmen decelerating – he began yesterday’s innings by smiting 41 off his first 22 balls, then took 25 more over his final 20 runs – is peculiarly English.