Sixty years ago, Fazal Mahmood inspired Pakistan to an incredible triumph against England

Osman Samiuddin13-Aug-2014It had been a long tour by the time the first day of the final Test of the summer, at the Oval ended. In losing only two of the twenty-four first-class games until then and winning as many as five, Abdul Hafeez Kardar’s very young and very inexperienced Pakistan side had already done far better than most had expected. This was, after all, only their second international assignment and not even two years since they became a Test-playing nation.But they had been in England for over three months by then, having arrived on 2 May. It had been the kind of stretched, wet summer that drives men mad. They still had a month to go before returning by sea on the SS Batori, back to Karachi and on 12 August, the first day of the last Test, Pakistan’s batting – much their weaker suit – had been hustled out for a paltry 133. England’s debutantes Frank Tyson and Peter Loader – the former frighteningly quick – and the experienced Brian Statham shared the honours.Khalid Qureshi, a tall left-arm spinner, who was part of Pakistan’s first Test squad, to India in 1952-53 was in London at the time. He had chosen to take up a Pakistan government scholarship to train in England as an engineer and had thus opted to skip the tour. He probably wouldn’t have been picked anyway; Pakistan had a specialist left-arm spinner in Shujauddin Butt and Kardar, as all-rounder, was by then of the same genre.Though the pair had developed differences during the India tour – Qureshi’s father, a first-class umpire wrote pieces criticizing Kardar’s leadership – Qureshi dropped by to see his ex-teammates. ‘I used to visit the team quite often because I had weekends off,’ Qureshi remembers. ‘I met Kardar after the first day of the Oval Test and he said to me, “For god’s sake, I cannot wait for this tour to finish and be over so I can go back.”’Kardar had taken particularly badly some of the more patronizing sentiments reserved for his side. They had been crushed in the second Test at Trent Bridge and but for rain would probably have suffered similarly in the first Test at Lord’s and the third at Old Trafford. Kardar’s book on the tour, published the same year, was called ‘Test Status on Trial’ and before his retelling of the Oval Test, there was a chapter of the same title. In it, he questioned the dismissive coverage his side received in much of the press (other than newspapers such as The Times or broadcasters such as the BBC), asking whether they shouldn’t be more supportive of a young nation.Even his own didn’t given them a chance. On arrival in the UK, at a diplomatic function in London, Anjum Niaz recalls the high commissioner M.A. Ispahani’s quite undiplomatic assessment of the tourists. Niaz, a long-standing journalist and columnist, was an eyewitness to the tour, having travelled as a young girl with her father Syed Fida Hasan who was manager of the side. ‘He disdainfully called our own team “rabbits” at a reception,’ she says. ‘He said, “What do you expect from these people who need to be taught table manners?”Kardar was not one of life’s pessimists and never could it be said that he lacked confidence or belief. But such was his concern that on the advice of two senior players – the colourful Maqsood Ahmed and Fazal Mahmood – Pakistan seriously considered issuing a statement ahead of the final Test saying unequivocally that they would win the Test. The trio mulled over it during an informal meeting in the game against Warwickshire in Birmingham just a week ahead of the Test. Stuck between trying to prove that morale within the side remained high and appearing too brash, Kardar chose the conservative option and made no statement.Play had begun after lunch on the first day and Pakistan’s 133 followed scores of 87, 157, 90 and 25 for 4 in the previous Tests; in itself 133 represented a recovery from 77 for 8. The batting in unfamiliar conditions was abysmal: ‘unreliable and generally unpredictable’ with ‘a tendency to let fly in all directions,’ in the words of Geoffrey Howard, the popular manager of the MCC side.The second day was washed out, though not before Kardar’s unusually nervy mood came through again. Walking out to inspect the ground with England captain Len Hutton, Kardar said he thought play before lunch was unlikely. Hutton, unsurprisingly, thought otherwise. The umpires agreed and decided to start at 12.30 p.m., but almost as soon as they said it, a cloudburst put the ground under water for the rest of the day. Kardar wasn’t keen for his players to be out in such conditions, fearing England may run away with a lead.

Pakistan seriously considered issuing a statement ahead of the final Test saying unequivocally that they would win the Test

The next day was the pivotal one where the shape of the Test, if not the balance, became clearer. Fourteen wickets fell, 193 runs were scored and champions did what champions do. Nearly 25,000 people watched it (almost 17,000 were paid admissions, so the gate money for Pakistan would be significant for their future growth), testament in part to the popularity of tourists who had played attractive cricket in good spirit through the summer.Play began at 11.30 a.m. but the sun had been out since the morning, gradually drying up a soaked surface. Had Fazal been the god of weather himself he might not have produced more ideal conditions for his work. He put on the same kit in which he had run through India in Lucknow just under two years before, to set up Pakistan’s only Test win, and settled in to bowl straight through. For nearly three and a half hours he bowled, through the entirety of the innings. When he finished thirty overs and six wickets later, he had secured Pakistan a three-run lead.It was a typical Fazal spell; long, tight and unyielding, attacking lengths and sharp cut both ways. Resistance came from the class of Hutton, Peter May and Denis Compton, who between them contributed 93 of England’s total. But none mastered Fazal. Hutton edged a boundary early on through slips; he then played on, the ball rolling on to the stumps but not dislodging the bails. There was also one confident drive through extra cover but soon after, shaping to play on-side he failed to recognize the Fazal autograph – the leg-cutter. It snaked away, Hutton edging it high for wicketkeeper Imtiaz Ahmed to catch behind slips. At lunch, England were intact but edgy. Fazal meanwhile was in the zone; there were 11 maidens in his first 15 overs.May and Compton steadied affairs a little thereafter but never with any great conviction. Kardar’s athleticism broke the partnership at 56, a one-handed catch at gully sending May back. That was the onset of England panic and three more wickets fell before they reached three figures. Having not gotten far with a more cautious approach, Compton decided to go on the offensive, often improvising greatly. On 31, he was remarkably given two lives. Fazal dropped him off his own bowling first, running back and fumbling a high, mistimed drive.Wazir Mohammad, comfortably one of the worst fielders in a poor fielding side, then made a mess of a simple chance on the boundary between mid-wicket and long-on the very next delivery. As if that wasn’t enough, on 38, Wazir dropped him again, also off Fazal. Pakistan’s fielding had hounded them through the entire tour like a determined heckler turning up randomly but persistently to spoil the mood. And they knew the gargantuan folly of dropping Compton; Imtiaz had missed a chance when he was on 20 in the second Test at Trent Bridge and he went on to make 278.Here, however, he ran out of partners and luck. By the time he reached fifty, Pakistan were into the tail at one end. Soon Compton fell too, stepping out to drive Fazal but only edging another leg-cutter behind. It was, Compton said later, one of his ‘most difficult and memorable innings’. With untiring support from the faster but wayward Mahmood Hussain at the other end, Pakistan was able to wrap up the England innings swiftly.Peter Loader’s three wickets helped bowl Pakistan out for 133 in the first innings•Getty ImagesSpirits emboldened, Hanif Mohammad and Shujauddin came out to negotiate the last hour or so – the latter had been promoted following his gutsy, unconquered, near-two-hour 16 in the first innings (and with a brave innings against Tyson and Northamptonshire earlier). Hanif had arrived in England with a reputation, a child genius of an opener blessed with uncommon patience. He had scored consistently against the counties but his Test scores, on paper, looked thin. The substance of his spirit, however, was unquestioned.In the first test at Lord’s, he took over three hours to score 20 while Pakistan crashed to 87. In the second innings, he made 39, constructed patiently over two and half hours. At Trent Bridge he made his only half-century of the Test series, an innings that showcased the naturally attacking game Hanif always insisted was his; in two separate overs from Statham and Alec Bedser he struck three boundaries each, racing to fifty in 35 minutes with ten boundaries.Outside the Test circuit, there had been plenty of evidence of this aggression; he made 145 in just 205 minutes, with 88 runs in boundaries against Somerset two weeks before this Test. At the end of June, ahead of the second Test, he had raced to 87 in 70 minutes (17 fours and a solitary, rare six) against a Combined Services XI. That was an innings of protest at his demotion in the previous game against Nottinghamshire when Pakistan had to chase a target in quick time.Now, deep into the third day at the Oval he launched a similar blitz. Statham was hit for three fours in his first three overs and Loader for another; Kardar couldn’t understand why Hutton didn’t open with Tyson, whose furious pace had so unsettled Pakistan in the first innings. Pakistan raced to 19 without loss in five overs, all the runs coming from Hanif. Hutton switched on just a touch late, turning to the spin of Johnny Wardle and Jim McConnon on a drying pitch now given to turn. Hanif fell immediately edging Wardle to slip and, with the score doubled, Shujauddin went too, a handy, irritating hand in the bag.Pakistan stumbled at the close of play, losing two more wickets and a lead of 66. But Hanif’s mini-innings and Shujauddin’s resistance showed, above all, that on the seventh anniversary of the country’s birth, Pakistan was up for an almighty scrap.The fight continued on the Monday after the mandatory rest day, through Wazir, Hanif’s elder brother. Known to family and friends as ‘Wisden’ for his mildly obsessive nose for cricket trivia, Wazir’s tour had been a strange one. There had been some resilient contributions from the lower reaches of the middle order, none more than a 69 against Northamptonshire, which took Pakistan from 209 for seven, to 368. He actually ended up topping the batting averages through the summer, but his fielding was so poor – the reprieves of Compton the most recent, damning evidence – he almost didn’t play.’He had been dropping catches and so Kardar decided to drop him for that Test,’ remembers Anjum Niaz. ‘However, the selection committee headed by my father and the assistant manager [Masood] Salahuddin and Fazal, all outvoted Kardar. So Wazir did play, and his contribution was crucial for Pakistan. They said later that nobody could face Tyson, except Wazir who held his own against him at Northants.’In front of 24,000 people, Pakistan lost four wickets within the first hour of the morning, three to an increasingly threatening Wardle. Only 85 ahead, with two wickets in hand, fat ladies the world over were singing when Wazir and the spinner Zulfiqar Ahmed came together in a defining ninth-wicket stand. The union was at once cautious and bracing; Zulfiqar, the team jester and Kardar’s brother-in-law to boot, took his chances. He cut Wardle, before pulling him for boundaries, happily mixing unorthodox defence with fortuitous runs through slips and third man. The humour stood him in good stead; after every Tyson over that he emerged unscathed, he would turn to the pavilion and wave, making sure his more established colleagues were watching and learning how to play fast bowling.Wazir played a straight foil, an innings of Karachiite smarts to counter Zulfiqar’s carefree Lahori musings. Having taken nearly half an hour over his first run, he stole singles to the covers, to fine leg, to midwicket, some sharp, others downright foolish. Through other moments he simply kept bowlers out, concentrating as hard as his brother was becoming renowned for. In this manner the pair gradually deflated the bubble of England’s momentum, over nearly two hours. Hutton made regular changes, the realization slowly dawning upon him that the game might be slipping.

Wazir played a straight foil, an innings of Karachiite smarts to counter Zulfiqar’s carefree Lahori musings

Eventually Zulfiqar fell for 34, the sixth of Wardle’s eventual seven victims but having helped put on 58 priceless runs. That was the cue for Wazir to uncoil, having gathered steadily. He now opted for strokes in front of the wicket, twice driving Loader through covers and driving Statham straight making 18 of the 24 runs of the last wicket stand with Hussain. When Hussain fell after 25 minutes–having done well to go beyond Alf Gover’s conclusion that he ‘only carried his bat to take guard’ – the broad significance of those 24 runs was immediately clear; last-gasp momentum shifts in cricket hold great, almost superstitious, value and more so in a match with so much swing anyway. The exact significance of it would emerge later.After nearly three hours, Wazir was left unbeaten on 42, worth at least twice as much given the circumstances, having doubled Pakistan’s score with the last two wickets. ‘There are very few players who have batted so well for their side at No. 8 in a Test match,’ Kardar wrote later, relieved no doubt he had been outvoted, possibly chastened that he had to have been. England needed 168 to wrap up the series 2-0.Again, Fazal had other ideas. Another headstrong character not given to self-doubt, Fazal was convinced the total was defendable. Dismissing Hutton, Compton, May and Tom Graveney – the very meat of England’s batting – in the first innings helped. ‘This time I had adopted a new strategy,’ he wrote in his autobiography. ‘I would change the line of the ball every now and again. For instance, I would bowl the leg-cutter from the return crease which was a wicket-taking ball. There was also a hidden in-swinger from the return crease, an in-swinger from the middle of the crease and an in-swinger from close to the stumps.’In particular, Hutton struggled to pick the variation, playing and missing repeatedly. In the over in which he fell he was hit on the pad three times in four balls. He was almost caught driving just over covers, which induced a quasi-sledge from Fazal: ‘This is not Hutton-like.’ Next ball he was gone, caught behind, inevitably, to the leg-cutter. Fazal reckoned that over two innings he had bowled twenty-seven different types of deliveries at the great man to dismiss him twice.But for all of Fazal’s incisiveness, England’s quality still threatened to come out on top. Two partnerships of substance took the score dangerously close to the target. Reg Simpson and May put on 51 in just 40 minutes and as the surface became harder, May especially settled into an elegant groove with Compton providing support, albeit cautiously. Hussain was proving expensive at one end and the spinners Zulfiqar and Shujauddin were economical, but without bite. May looked authoritative, twice hooking Hussain for boundaries.When they began the chase, England had 155 minutes of the fourth day left and when May and Compton were at the crease, it looked like the game might finish that evening. The rush was to prove fatal, because at 109 for 2, with an entire day to come there was no need for it. According to Fazal, Kardar looked like he knew the game was up. So he went up to Kardar just as the captain was contemplating a change, snatched the ball from him and arbitrarily told him to stand on the off-side and rushed in to bowl before Kardar could change his mind. Wanting to force matters, May pushed at one that didn’t come onto the bat, only lofting it to Kardar: breakthrough.Hanif Mohammad: a child genius of an opener, blessed with uncommon patience•Getty ImagesEngland’s eagerness to finish the game that day – Hutton was said to be worried about the weather as well – then manifested itself in another vital, strategic miscalculation. The wicketkeeper Godfrey Evans was sent in above Tom Graveney because he was thought to be a more flexible option, capable equally of batting out the day but also of finishing off the game; if they chose to go for it, England had just over half an hour left in the day to make 59. Kardar shrewdly called for a drinks break as Evans walked in, sensing that this could be a moment. Bowlers, fielders and the leader took stock.It paid dividends. Fazal worked away at Evans’ legs before knocking back his stumps: 115-4. In came the protected Graveney and minutes later he too was gone, leg-before to Shujauddin to a ball that kept a little low: 116-5. With that, the last recognized batting pair of Compton and Wardle was at the crease. As the threat of an England win on the day receded, the field came in, as many as six close-in fielders crowding around the pair.Fazal was in the zone, feeling it, dropping ball after ball precisely where he wanted. With a couple of overs remaining in the day, he turned to Kardar. ‘Hafeez, what if I get Compton out?’ In Punjabi, Kardar replied, ‘Then we win the match.’ Compton duly edged one behind where once again Imtiaz made no mistake: it was his sixth catch of the game, all off Fazal. England ended the day alive but shaken and dazed at 125 for 6 and looking, as would be pointed out, a batsman short.An uneasy evening followed for Kardar. He visited Fazal’s room to discuss the match, only to be met coldly. ‘He asked what I thought about the match,’ Fazal wrote. ‘What should be the line of action? I said that he was the captain and that he should know better.’ The two of them never really got along, a tension between them built on several layers.Both formed separate power centres in the side, Kardar as captain, Fazal as match-winner. Fazal pointedly called him Hafeez – not Kardar as was now the norm – for that is how he had known him before Kardar went to Oxford. A man rooted firmly in the spirits of Lahore, Fazal sneered at Kardar’s sudden transformation post-Oxford into a haughty, snooty and worldly leader. There was also friction from the fierce rivalries of the Lahore club scene; Fazal felt Kardar was biased in not picking players from Mamdot club, where Fazal initially played and Kardar had also before leaving.Nothing contributed as much, however, as the rivalry between Mian Mohammad Saeed, Fazal’s father-in-law, and Kardar. Saeed was Kardar’s predecessor as Pakistan captain in their unofficial Tests before they got status; before the tour Saeed had been in the running to return as captain with the support of many players, but eventually lost out after political intervention, possibly prompted by Kardar. On tour, Kardar was constantly wary of Saeed’s supporters undermining him – not just the players, even the manager.Kardar spent much of the night wondering whether to open with spin to support Fazal the next morning or opt for a seam bowler. Wardle was left-handed so Kardar felt Zulfiqar’s off-breaks were an option. But he remembered too that Wardle was a capable batsman and had biffed Pakistan around in an entertaining 72 in their game against Yorkshire at the end of June. The team arrived at the Oval for the last morning in a quiet mood, reflecting their captain’s pensiveness. Zulfiqar, as he often did, lightened the mood by producing a morning headline pleading with Wardle: ‘Oh Johnny can you stop Pakistan?’

Fazal leapt for joy looking around for someone to hug. Some of the others ran towards Hanif. Some clapped politely as one might after a boring speech. Imtiaz, gloved hands behind his back, looked sheepish as if he might have broken something and was subsequently trying to avoid suspicion

Fifteen minutes before the start of play and Kardar still wasn’t sure of his opening ploy. A senior Pakistani government official arrived in the dressing room, a needless distraction. Only when he left five minutes before play began did Kardar finally decide to back his own instinct for pace and open with Hussain and Fazal. It almost paid off immediately, but Alimuddin dropped Wardle at second slip on 129 – off Hussain – and it seemed the slip might prove costly for Pakistan.But Kardar’s gut wasn’t wrong. Tyson fell after a tortuous half hour having added only six to England’s overnight total, caught by Imtiaz off Fazal. Wardle now saw the need to farm the strike and bat at both ends. Loader came in and drove Fazal past mid-on for an all-run four. Next ball he drove to cover and stole a single, bringing Wardle back on strike. Captain and bowler had a discussion. Deep midwicket was brought in to a short square leg; Wardle wasn’t going to chance slogs right now. Fazal instructed Shujauddin: ‘You put your right foot here, left foot there, unfold your hands and stand ready for a catch. The ball will come right into your hands and you just grab it.’He bowled the leg-cutter – coming into the left-hander – and Wardle duly prodded it straight to Shujauddin who didn’t need to move. The game was nearly up now. Loader soon skied the deserving Hussain to cover without addition to the total. McConnon and Statham were the final pair with 30 still to get, the former attempting to keep most of the strike. For nearly 15 minutes they stayed alive. But just before half past noon, not even an hour into the day and having played out five balls of Fazal’s 30th over, McConnon bunted the last ball out towards extra cover.The path the ball followed was perfect for Hanif, running in towards it from conventional cover and towards the stumps. Without stutter he picked up the ball one-handed and in his stride threw at the stump-and-a-half he could see. The ball struck and McConnon was short, adding to the misery by clumsily falling over as he ran on and slid. Umpire Frank Chester, standing behind the stumps rather than to the side to assess line calls, raised his left hand instantly, before McConnon had completed his fall. It was a slick piece of fielding not just for the side but for the time as well. It was over; Pakistan had won by 24 runs, exactly what their last wicket in the second innings had put on.Fazal leapt for joy looking around for someone to hug. Some of the others ran towards Hanif. Some clapped politely as one might after a boring speech. Imtiaz, gloved hands behind his back, looked sheepish as if he might have broken something and was subsequently trying to avoid suspicion. Others loitered around him not sure what to do. Kardar looked relieved, leading the side off with a beaming Fazal alongside him.Back home in Pakistan, the result reverberated instantly, for thousands upon thousands had been tuning into Radio Pakistan’s daily relay of BBC commentary. Coverage of each day of the Tests would start after lunch in the UK, after 6 p.m. Pakistan time. Either way this last day wasn’t going to last beyond lunch. Niaz Ahmed, president of the Sind Cricket Association twigged that the Test would be over before Pakistan got to hear about it, so he got on the phone to Iskander Mirza, then steadily working his way up the pecking order of power in Pakistan as defence secretary (he would soon become Pakistan’s last governal-general and first President).’My father rang up Mirza and told him about the commentary,’ says Jaweed Niaz. ‘He spoke to Radio Pakistan, who got in touch with BBC and they said they can’t do it. Mirza said “What nonsense, who is this BBC?” He then rang up the Duke of Edinburgh directly and complained. The Duke said of course they would do it. And they did, so that on the fifth day commentary started when play began.’From any angle it was an incredible outcome. Pakistan had become the first – and till now, the only – team to win a Test on their first tour to England and to not lose the Test series. The country had only organized its first first-class tournament the November before, which saw the birth of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy. They’d played their first official Test less than two years ago. In terms of first-class experience, the players were rabbits; only six of the entire 18-member squad had played more than forty first-class games by the time the Oval Test began.Fazal Mahmood bowled long, tight and unyielding spells to finish with 12 for 99•Getty ImagesMost of their experience had been built in a competitive club cricket structure in Lahore and Karachi and an even more intense college rivalry between the two great educational institutions of Lahore, Islamia and Government colleges. Ten of the eighteen players, in fact, were products of the two colleges and their games. And it was a young squad, with an average age of 24, with only two players over 30. But only Kardar had played more than 10 Tests and the Oval was only his 12th.On the other hand, England were a strong side, arguably the best in the world. In the decade between 1951 and 1961, they won 14 of 20 Test series, winning 42 out of 89 Tests. At home they were almost unbeatable, winning 9 out of 11 home series and losing only seven Tests. They’d beaten India 3-0 at home in 1952, Australia 1-0 in 1953 to regain the Ashes after 19 years and they went on to beat Australia 3-1 in Australia after playing Pakistan.They had Hutton, already a bone fide great; Compton who was among the finest; May who would establish himself as a post-war legend over the decade; Evans who was unparalleled at the time as a pure wicketkeeper; Tyson who was just beginning a brief, but fiery career as a very quick and very smart fast bowler; and Statham, who was well on the way to becoming one of the finest English fast bowlers ever.They all came from the finest domestic system in the game. They owned the game and were its modern creators. They had ruled over much of the planet, including the territory that was now Pakistan, until very recently. And now Pakistan somehow had beaten them in battle and shared the spoils of war. It was unthinkable. The players celebrated late into the night and early into the morning at a function organized by the High Commissioner Ispahani. Messages of congratulations poured in from all over the world.Kardar, who had fought tigerishly for Test status and from whom the tour had required so much, was most relieved. ‘With this victory, we had confirmed our status as a Test playing nation,’ he wrote. The next day, nine members of the team that played at The Oval turned up at Lord’s to play Canada. It was another wet, drizzly day though not as miserable anymore.This is an extract from Osman Samiuddin’s book on Pakistan cricket, due to be published by HarperCollins India in November 2014

Jacques Kallis did not need South Africa’s selectors to tell him that he may not have been in the right frame of mind for the World Cup. He already knew

Firdose Moonda30-Jul-2014As the shadows grew long into a Sri Lankan afternoon on July 12 in Hambantota and South Africa drew closer to a first ever ODI series win on the island, Sachithra Senanayake skied a delivery into the wind. The air was swirling hard enough to carry the ball away, as it had done with a few others that day, but the man chasing it was wise to the possibility. That man was Jacques Kallis.He was on the edge of the circle, he kept his eye on the ball as he had done for 19 years before, cupped his hands in the bucket-shape he had formed for 19 years and claimed the catch. He had barely scored a run in the series, he had not bowled a ball because he picked up a back niggle which forced him out of the warm-up game, but he had taken that catch. The catch that put South Africa within touching distance of the trophy.Jacques Kallis was South Africa’s bedrock in ODIs, even early in his career•Associated PressIt’s fitting that has ended up as Kallis’ last act in international cricket because it sums up everything that he was to South African cricket: safe, stable and strong. For almost two decades.Early in his career, he showed he could be relied on to be the bedrock. His first ODI century came in a match against New Zealand in Perth, when South Africa were 7 for 1 in the first over and he had to provide stability. He went on to do that over and over again.South Africa’s one-day cricket philosophy in those years was one of safety-first and meant that Kallis often had to be the anchor rather than the aggressor and he was given more license with the ball. He was quick, he could swing it and his most telling performance came when it mattered most. In 1998, Kallis’ 5 for 30 laid the foundation for South Africa to win the Wills International Cup (which later became the Champions Trophy). That will remain his only ICC limited-overs medal.Kallis performed in tournaments from 1999, when his 96 against India in Hove was match-winning to 2011, by which time he had lost some ground to the live-wires like de Villiers but was still an integral part of South Africa’s set-up. He wanted to hang on for one more shot at glory to complete an already glorious career. His body would not let him.After the 2011 World Cup, Kallis’ role in ODIs became less and less prominent as the focus shifted to gaining the No.1 Test ranking. He was rested from matches, a necessity considering the years he had given to the game and the workload he carried during that time, and was eventually left out of series. Gary Kirsten, who was by then the coach, explained that Kallis need not play bilateral ODI series and would only be considered for major tournaments as part of his management.He returned for the 2012 World T20, for example, and was due to play in the 2013 Champions Trophy. But time was catching up with Kallis. Having spent years away from his family and his life in Cape Town, he wanted to be at home more and he opted out of the squad to deal for personal reasons. He spent the months between the end of the IPL in 2013 and South Africa’s tour to the UAE doing “what normal people do,” in his words. And he enjoyed it.On that tour, Kallis’ career appeared to be winding down like never before. He had had his leanest Test series since his debut but did not play the ODIs. Only on his return home, shortly before his Test retirement, did he recommit to the ODI team. He scored a half-century to signal his intent.After that, Kallis struggled. His next six innings brought just 31 runs and the last three of those, only five. He also could not bowl in his last three matches because of injury. Wear and tear was always likely to play a role in Kallis’ availability and on the recent tour of Sri Lanka they showed what that may be. After the amount of time Kallis has spent as an elite sportsman, it was expected the demands would catch up with him.What never left him was his commitment. Although Kallis had a terrible run in the three ODIs, he remained a presence on the field and in the changeroom. He was often seen giving advice to bowlers, helping set fields and enjoying the victories as much as anyone else. He was part of the team even though he knew that soon it would no longer be a part of him. Kallis did what many expected when he let go first.CSA indicated they would send a full-strength squad to play in next month’s tri-series against Zimbabwe and Australia. Kallis would definitely have been part of that squad. He would also more than likely have had to travel beforehand for the three ODIs against Zimbabwe, in which key players like Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and even de Villiers may be rested.Then, he would have had to travel to Australia and New Zealand later this year, play a five-match rubber against West Indies early next year. After all that, he would still have to hope that he had done enough to crack the World Cup XV.Of course Kallis has already “done enough,” and much more in the 19 years he played for South Africa to crack the team anyway but that is not the way he would have wanted to earn his place. He would have wanted to do it on merit which would have meant being in form and being in the right frame of mind. Kallis did not need South Africa’s selectors to tell him that early indications were that he would not be. He already knew.He stepped down as gracefully as he batted. If the class of 2015 manage to claim the World Cup, they will owe some of it to Kallis.

Shock and awe are the two feelings most commonly stirred up by the old warhorse called the WACA

Tristan Lavalette04-Nov-2014Perth, the capital of vast Western Australia, is a magnet for tourists despite being one of the world’s most isolated cities, with Sydney and Bali each about four hours away by air. Perth’s major attraction is its aesthetics (its beaches rival any worldwide), sunny weather and tranquil lifestyle.Locals, referred to as Sandgropers, believe Perth is a healthy fusion of its more famed compatriot cities. It boasts Sydney’s splendour, and, like Melbourne, has an eclectic mix of small bars and alternative cafés, thanks to a concerted cultural push from some local governments. Still, Perth finds it difficult to shake off its inglorious moniker, “Dullsville”.Situated a short stroll from the city’s central business district heartbeat, the Western Australian Cricket Association Ground (WACA) is Perth’s most iconic sports facility. Despite its pristine surrounds and close proximity to the Swan river, the WACA is not the archetypal picturesque cricket ground, and certainly would not pose a threat to Adelaide Oval in the beauty stakes. The WACA is neither an awe-inspiring colosseum nor a quaint ground. Worse, it looks tired and dated, the very antithesis of Perth’s newfound energy.The ground’s exterior can evoke some pity – after all, its major redevelopment, initiated in 2007, has stalled – but the uncomfortable innards make it difficult for spectators to embrace an outing to the cricket. Basic amenities, most notably toilets, are inadequate and there’s barely any shade for most of the ground. The last is especially unfortunate, given the uncanny coincidence of sweltering weather and international matches. Even if you’re oblivious to the cricket, it is difficult not to realise what spectators have to endure at the WACA.Low though the WACA may be on creature comforts, cricket connoisseurs may have another story to tell. For those enamoured of Hollywood westerns, the “Wild West” evokes lawlessness and roughness. The WACA’s inimitable pitch has helped spawn gunslingers. Dennis Lillee’s swinging gold chain and thick moustache never menaced more wickedly than when he was steaming towards the WACA’s pitch. Relocating to the “Wild West” has helped Mitchell Johnson rediscover his mojo (although many attribute his rekindled powers to his handlebar mo’).But it’s not just the pace bowlers who have all the fun. Adam Gilchrist’s swinging blade was never so destructive than when he eviscerated poor Monty Panesar at the WACA during an Ashes Test in late 2006. Justin Langer scored a half-century on Test debut on a difficult pitch in Adelaide and emerged as one of the steeliest batsmen of his generation, because he had been brought up on a diet of bumpers at the WACA.

It’s fun to watch the ball rocket from the pitch and hurtle towards a batsman’s throat. It’s fun to watch the cut, pull and hook in abundance. Simply, cricket at the WACA has more action than an Arnold Schwarzenegger film

Apart from a sedate period in the mid-2000s when it was rendered lifeless, the WACA’s pitch has brimmed with fury through the sharp bounce and rapid pace extracted from its hard surface. But it is not just a fast bowler’s nirvana. Tall spinners – such as WA’s Michael Beer, who earned a baggy green after relocating from Victoria – have relished plying their craft at the traditional graveyard for slow bowlers. Batsmen adept on the back foot and at attacking square of the wicket have always been rewarded with scoring opportunities, and the runs can flow rapidly.Perhaps a by-product of the WACA, aggressiveness is the overriding characteristic of WA cricketers. WA cricket teams relish playing a brand of cricket with a hard edge. Perhaps the trait can be traced to the state’s golden era of the 1970s, when they were led by the talismanic Lillee. A generation imitated Lillee, resulting in a bevy of speedsters until the production line suddenly halted sometime in the late 1990s, forcing WA to import.Even though Lillee’s playing days are several generations removed, he casts an unforgettable and permanent shadow over WA cricket. He emerged in the late 1960s, during a period of cultural change and at a time when Perth was starting to transform from a sleepy country town into a developing city. Alongside Rod Marsh, and later Kim Hughes, Lillee became a mirror to Perth’s evolving self-belief. He showcased confidence, brashness and resoluteness, but he also possessed a sense of humour. Cricket was important, and he competed fiercely, but there was a tongue in cheek element to his demeanour. Winning wasn’t everything, cricket was just a game. After all, there were beers and gags to revel in with team-mates and adversaries after a hard-fought match.Perth’s cricket fans are ardent and devoted to their team. It should not be forgotten that WA is ridiculously patriotic, with an undercurrent of scepticism towards the eastern states. This leads to the occasional silly chatter on whether WA should secede from the Commonwealth.So WA cricket fans follow their team with fervour and WA players in the national team are revered (an annual highlight of Australian matches at the WACA is hearing the stadium reverberate when a WA player is announced). Of course, winning is enjoyed and celebrated. But defeats do not leave that permanent painful pang – like they do for sports fans in a place like Melbourne – because there is always beautiful weather to embrace and overall, life is pretty good, thanks to WA’s resource-rich powerhouse economy.Still, WA cricket fans thirst for exciting play. They cherish the sight of athletic pacemen, bounding into the crease off long run-ups. There is perhaps no visual more pleasurable than watching a wicketkeeper planted halfway towards the boundary, reinforced by a plethora of catchers. Fans long for energetic action – plenty of wickets and bones broken, fused with a healthy dose of boundaries. But it’s not merely flash that captivates. Substance and grit are appreciated too. Batsmen willing to take a few blows to their body are lauded. Bowlers prepared to toil through arduous spells under Perth’s scorching sun are admired, especially by fans who flee to find comfort at nearby watering holes.Perth: not quite Dullsville•Getty ImagesRecently I met the Afghanistan cricket team during their visit to Perth to play two warm-up matches against a WA XI team. It was a chance for the players, used to the dustbowl pitches of the subcontinent, to acclimatise to the WACA’s cauldron before the looming ODI World Cup.After talking to several Afghan players, it was evident that the WACA’s aura has taken on a life of its own. It is little wonder so many batsmen – not just foreigners but also from the other side of the country – are befuddled before they even set foot on the hallowed pitch. “I expect the ball to bounce sharply and quickly… I can’t imagine what it would be like to face Mitchell Johnson here,” was basically what several players told me on the eve of Afghanistan’s first match against WA. A fusion of excitement, awe and apprehension was evident in their voices.It dawned on me that no other ground holds such trepidation for visiting players. And that’s what makes watching cricket at the WACA so compelling. It’s fun to watch batsmen walk to the crease slightly sheepish. It’s fun to watch the ball rocket from the pitch and hurtle towards a batsman’s throat. It’s fun to watch the cut, pull and hook in abundance. It’s fun to watch spinners get treated with disdain, and batsmen occasionally perishing because of it. Simply, cricket at the WACA has more action than an Arnold Schwarzenegger film.However, the WACA’s days as Perth’s premier cricket venue could be dwindling. A new sports stadium, which will have a capacity of 60,000, is set to be completed by 2018. It is being built in close proximity to Perth’s only casino, and many believe cricket needs to be moved to the emerging Burswood locale. Even former WA cricket legend and Australia Test captain Kim Hughes believes the WACA’s days are numbered, and is backing calls for international cricket to be played in Burswood.Despite its uncertain future, I’m pretty certain the WACA’s treasure trove of memories will forever resonate with cricket fans.

The Hagley Oval has put Christchurch back on the cricketing map after the AMI Stadium was damaged by the earthquake of 2011

Marc Swain-Rogatski04-Nov-2014The venue
While the Hagley Oval has only had a handful of international matches so far – during the World Cup qualifiers in January 2014 – the newly built facilities are set to host New Zealand’s first Boxing Day Test in 11 years, against Sri Lanka, as well as the first match of the 2015 World Cup, featuring the same teams. The new set-up looks picturesque, with its lush outfield and floating tensile roof covering the pavilion – a fitting setting, indeed, for the cricket Christchurch has fought so hard to get back.The primary venue in the city was the AMI Stadium – formerly Jade Stadium and originally Lancaster Park – in the south-east of the city. Following the devastating earthquake of 2011, the ground suffered irreparable damage. From late 2014 building up to the World Cup, cricket in Christchurch will be homed in the more central Hagley Oval.The AMI Stadium was always abuzz on game day. Before the Hadlee Stand and the other large seating arrangements were raised, the ground had a large embankment area that was often home to some very colourful individuals; its atmosphere provided a lot of fun for the boundary fielders. Spectators were even allowed to play their own games of cricket on the field during the lunch interval. If one was to walk the corridors beneath the DB Draught stand, they would find games as fierce as those on centre stage, raging between the New Zealand players of the future.Ground page | FixturesGreat matches (AMI Stadium)
New Zealand v India, 3rd ODI, March 2009
The third ODI between New Zealand and India in 2009 saw an Indian batting class in session, led by Sachin Tendulkar. On track to record the biggest ODI score, he helped pummel New Zealand’s attack, but retired hurt in the 45th over on 163 as India reached a mammoth 392. An excellent Jesse Ryder century and a late partnership between Kyle Mills and Tim Southee gave India a scare, but they still emerged victorious by 58 runs.New Zealand v Australia, 3rd ODI, 2005
A few years earlier, in 2005, in the third ODI of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, a New Zealand chase led expertly by Scott Styris and Brendon McCullum got New Zealand to the highest ODI score at the time (332), and won them the match. McCullum’s unbeaten 50, thrashed from 25 balls, aided Styris’ gallant century in chasing down the large total, which had seemed a high mountain to climb after Michael Hussey’s 88 from 56 earlier in the day.Top performers in ODIs (AMI Stadium)
Most runs: Nathan Astle 705 at 50.35 | Highest score: Sachin Tendulkar 163* v New Zealand | Most wickets: Daniel Vettori 23 at 31.82 | Best bowling: Simon O’Donnell 5 for 13Major players
Chris Cairns | Stephen Fleming | Nathan Astle | Chris Harris | Shane Bond | Craig McMillan | Richard Hadlee | Rod Latham | Lee GermonHome team
Christchurch is home to Canterbury, which supplied several players to the New Zealand one-day team in the 1990s. They won the one-day trophy seven times in the 1990s. They have also won the first-class Plunket Shield 17 times.

Stats highlights from the Group A game between England and Scotland in Christchurch

Bishen Jeswant23-Feb-20150 World Cup wins for Scotland in 10 matches. They are the only team to have played in two or more World Cups without a victory.21 ODIs Scotland have lost to Test nations out of as many completed matches. This was their third defeat to England.128 Runs for Moeen Ali today, his career-best in ODIs. This is also the highest score posted by any England batsman against a non-Test nation.172 The opening partnership between Moeen and Ian Bell, the best for England in a World Cup game. The previous highest was 158, between Barry Wood and Dennis Amiss, against East Africa in 1975. The England record for the opening wicket in all ODIs in 200 by Vikram Solanki and Marcus Trescothick against South Africa in 2003.0 Times that Matt Machan has made a single-digit score in ODIs before today. He was dismissed for 5 in Christchurch. Machan had played 16 innings before today, scoring a hundred and three fifties, with a lowest score of 11.71 Runs for Kyle Coetzer, the second-highest score by a Scotland batsman in a World Cup game. He fell six short of bettering Gavin Hamilton’s 76 against Pakistan in 1999.60 The partnership between Coetzer and Preston Mommsen, the highest for the fourth wicket for Scotland in a World Cup game. It is also their fourth-highest partnership for any wicket in World Cups.1 Moeen, with 128 and 2 for 47, became the only England player to score a hundred and pick up at least one wicket in a World Cup match.

A look-back on five memorable strokes from World Cup 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Mar-2015There is nothing AB de Villiers cannot do. After going down to India, South Africa rebounded strongly, their captain leading the way with 162* off 66. On his way to the fastest 150 in ODIs, de Villiers stunned Andre Russell by running across to off and sweep-scooping one to the square leg boundary. As Dale Steyn puts it: “It’s like watching the movie. There’s Neo right there. He doesn’t understand how good he is.”•Getty ImagesIn Perth, Shapoor Zadran with his Shoaib Akhtar-inspired run-up steamed in and missed a yorker. Maxwell reversed his stance and flicked a 140kph full toss over the third-man boundary with consummate ease. He went onto smite 88 off 39 balls as Australia surged to the highest total in World Cup history.•Getty ImagesKane Williamson’s lofted six may not be as outrageous as Maxwell’s or de Villiers’, but its impact was decisive – it was the clincher in a nail-biting Trans-Tasman clash. Mitchell Starc’s fiery spell left New Zealand needing six runs with only one wicket in hand. An uber-cool Williamson, who was aware that mid-on was in the circle, targeted the short straight boundary and launched Pat Cummins for a six, sealing the deal for New Zealand.•Getty ImagesRilee Rossouw played the pick-up truck to the Rolls-Royce in de Villiers against West Indies, but his flying uppercut might have left even de Villiers envious. Rossouw reached his fifty by leaping off his feet, getting on top of the bounce and cracking Jerome Taylor over backward point.•Getty Images

They coasted through the group stages and appear one of the teams to beat. But going into the knockouts, they might prefer to be put under a bit more pressure to see how they react

Abhishek Purohit in Perth05-Mar-2015The Indians strained every nerve in the four-Test series against Australia but ended with a 0-2 margin. They were so drained after that they sleepwalked through the one-day tri-series, later labeled by their team director as a “waste of time.” Given their labour coming into the tournament, the World Cup was supposed to be a lost cause for India. But halfway through their group campaign, they are the team to beat, along with New Zealand.The pressure of a Pakistan match? A 76-run win. The might of the South Africans? A 130-run win. UAE done and dusted in just over 50 overs. The tide has turned so quickly and emphatically that it has started to seem all too easy for the defending champions. India need an opposition that can challenge them before the knockouts.The direction of the questions in the press conferences has neatly reflected the transformation. You haven’t had a win in all these months in Australia, so how hard it is to go up against Pakistan with that background? Would you have preferred a different team? After the Adelaide victory, MS Dhoni was asked what magic wand he had used to lift his team.Then it was about tackling the famed South African pace attack as well as scoring on a massive MCG outfield. After that game, the theme was India’s astonishing turnaround and how well certain individuals had done. The UAE rout only carried forward both those lines of questioning.On the eve of the West Indies match, R Ashwin was asked whether India had talked about finishing top of the group so that they could face the fourth-placed team from the other group in the quarter-final. Ashwin pointed out that there were three more group games to go, but the query was not out of place.The players certainly deserve credit for stepping up their performances in the big event. But they have been so clinical that India have not really been tested.Among their remaining group opponents, West Indies seem to have the best chance of doing that on Friday at the WACA Ground. No disrespect to Ireland and Zimbabwe, but good luck trying to this contain this group of batsmen on the outfields of Seddon Park and Eden Park.For now, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli have scored 410 runs between them. The next-highest: Suresh Raina with 80. The earliest the third wicket has fallen has been in the 44th over. The second has not gone down before the 28th. India need some wickets to fall early against the new balls so that the middle order can bat through that situation.Can a West Indies fast bowler rattle them enough? Get Raina in to face a few bouncers from fresh legs. Get Ajinkya Rahane to dig in and do some rebuilding. Get Dhoni to do something other than try and swing a few sixes in the last five overs.The same goes for the bowlers. The longest India have had to wait for their first wicket has been the fourth over. It has allowed the spinners to come on, settle down and do their thing. “I think it’s huge in the sense if you get a couple of wickets up front, then the entire game turns on its head,” Ashwin said. “As far as the spinner is concerned, when I come in, I’ve got that little bit more freedom.”The freedom in the middle overs has meant that two of three matches didn’t last enough to reach the death overs. And it was only Misbah-ul-Haq’s fight that dragged Pakistan’s innings to the 47th and only to reduce the margin of defeat.A Chris Gayle or a Dwayne Smith has to hit the fast bowlers out of the attack, so that the spinners feel some pressure. They have to be milked around so that the pressure sustains through till the batting Powerplay and at the death. Not so long ago, India’s bowlers and the slog used to be the most damaging combination going around. For themselves, They need to find out if that has changed.A knockout match is not when they will want all of the above to happen in this World Cup for the first time. For their own good, India need to be tested by West Indies on Friday.

Taking cross-country trains across Australia to watch cricket’s top tournament? Who does that?

Liam Cromar01-Apr-2015It is eccentric to attempt to get around Australia by train at the best of times. Weekly, slow and bumpy: to try to do so under the constraints of a World Cup schedule marks a descent into lunacy. Any sane person, of course, flies.So, naturally, come February 10, I’m standing on a platform, with blazer and raincoat, temperatures heading into the mid-thirties Celsius, about to undergo my first experience of both overseas ODI cricket and Australian rail travel. This suburban hop from airport to city centre is no more than an hors d’oeuvre for the main trips: the Overland (Melbourne-Adelaide), Indian Pacific (Sydney-Perth), and the Ghan (Darwin-Adelaide), the latter two crossing Australia from east to west and north to south respectively.Melbourne is where the journey starts, for both me and England. Before the off, though, there are a couple of dates to keep: one at the MCG with 85,000 Australians, and one at the Gabba with about eight.Trudging through the semi-suburban surrounds of the Gabbattoir, it’s easy to comprehend why it has been such a fortress for Australia. It could not honestly be called a pretty ground. Crows circle with catlike caws. Animals lie dead on the roads. It’s even bordered by Vulture Street. The only positive aspect is that its concreteness is camouflaged by the locality’s style. Inside, Victoria are feeling the heat in the Sheffield Shield; even the redoubtable Chris Rogers falls soon after his fifty, as the visitors slip to a massive defeat.The Ghan begins its 2979km journey to Adelaide from Darwin•Liam CromarHaving doubtless enraged many Brisbane residents, I can only hope to assuage their ire by commenting on the contrast between the unfriendliness of the structure and the friendliness of the people. One older steward, bless her, offered unprompted advice on where to buy cheaper refreshments than inside the ground (“But you didn’t hear that from me”). I also wonder what the stewards at Lord’s would make of my attempting to bring in a bag full of dirty laundry, as I did here with little problem.If the Gabba is Fort Knox, the MCG is the Colosseum, and it’s England’s turn to be thrown to the lions. It’s almost as much an ordeal for the England supporters. For my part, I’m sat next to a monosyllabic Barmy Army member – a creature I didn’t know existed – and a quiet young Yorkshireman. To be fair, there isn’t much to be said about the English performance.Feeling quite glad to leave the scene of such a train crash, it’s time to head to Adelaide. To use one of many mangled railway-cricket metaphors, if the suburban trains I’ve taken thus far have been T20s, the Overland is an ODI. Taking ten hours to cover the 828km from Melbourne to Adelaide is only slightly faster than Majid Haq-pace (wrong word). It really is all about the journey.It’s easy to lose track of time on the Indian Pacific•Liam CromarThat doesn’t necessarily mean luxury. The Overland’s decor is tired, the seats worn, and the exterior rather shabby. Yet masses of space and friendly staff mean there’s none of the tension of a commuter train. The staff go to great lengths to explain both the importance of locking the lavatory doors to avoid unintentional exposure to the entire carriage, and also the complicated procedure for opening doors between carriages. “If the door is closed, press the yellow button. If the door is open, press the yellow button. If someone’s just gone through the door, press the yellow button.” I’m not entirely clear, but I think one is supposed to press the yellow button. Give me something simple like the DRS protocol every time.It may not be popular with the England management, but I strongly recommend looking out of the window. Once we’ve sidled out of the Melbourne industrial build-up – mainly graffiti and open crossings – the landscape reveals itself as being predominantly flat, crossing flat areas, with extra-flat bits thrown in. Coming from the UK, with its hedgerows and field boundaries to break up the view, it’s a little on the sparse side, but after passing North Shore, there’s a little more greenery and signs of cultivation. As we head into South Australia, though, the country looks drier. Trees with yellowing foliage stand limbs askew. A water pipeline running beside the track testifies to the scarcity and value of the resource.However, once we cross the Murray River, the contours slide closer. The train winds its way through cuttings, past a copper mine, and beside vineyards. The colour palette increases its range, too, with reds, greens, and yellows spreading themselves over the rolling hills.No relation to a former England captain: the Indian Pacific halts at a no-horse town•Liam CromarThe Overland has been a useful warm-up fixture, but after the one-day slog comes the test: between the two Test venues of Adelaide and Perth. The Indian Pacific, from Sydney to Perth, via Adelaide, takes three nights to cross 4352 km. Boarding in Adelaide, I’ll only spend two nights on the train, but since they’ll be in a chair rather than a bed, I could be in for a harrowing time.Talking of ordeals, England v New Zealand will be on, but there’s no internet connection available on the train, and little mobile reception as we head into the outback. I anxiously survey my fellow passengers to assess chances of cricket discussion. My heart sinks: I’m surrounded by an Austrian, a Dutchman, a Swiss girl, two Japanese, several Germans, and a couple of Quebecois Canadians. Prospects of cricket chat are not looking good. I’m doubtful about how many of them even realise there’s a World Cup on.Isolation is the name of the game as we cross the Nullarbor, all salt bush and straight lines. It holds the longest stretch of straight track in the world, straighter than Boycott’s bat. At times Alastair Cook must have felt as alone and exposed as his namesake, a tiny halt in the middle, literally miles from anywhere. With four inhabitants, the place has been effectively abandoned.Happily, before dying of cricket drought, in the on-board café I get talking to a softly spoken Australian couple from Perth. He admits to being more of a Test guy; good man. The next day I overhear snatches of a middle-aged lady passing on the England score to an expat Englishman. It appears that being away from Twitter and television was a mercy. The lady and her husband turn out to be from New South Wales. He describes her as the cricket fanatic: a refreshing break from stereotype.The Ghan: (clockwise from top left) the Queen Adelaide dining car; a Gold class cabin; and the Outback Explorer lounge car•Liam CromarThis is definitely one of the main benefits of this type of travel. Unlike flights, where you can don an eye mask and retreat into your cocoon for ten hours, 36-hour train journeys give you no option but to interact with your fellow inmates.Time runs in a peculiar way on the train. Much like England’s supposed anachronistic approach to batting, stuck somewhere in the wilderness of the 1990s, the Indian Pacific has its own time zone as it trundles westwards across the Nullarbor, to soften the two-and-a-half hour jump from South Australia to Western Australia. It’s easy to lose track of minutes, hours, and even days, as one unfortunate passenger discovered: waiting patiently by the door on the morning of the third day, he had to have the news broken to him that there were still 24 hours to go.On the fourth day since its Sydney departure, Perth welcomes the Indian Pacific. Pacific, however, is definitely not the word to describe the Indians as they batter the UAE at the WACA. UAE’s hopes of a grand derailment are quickly ground under the wheels of the Indian locomotive.Associate participants remain on the mind, as 11 days later the Ghan sets off from Darwin, in the Northern Territory. It seems the least that could be done for the Afghan cameleers who assisted in the laying of the track was to name the train after them. One would have thought the least the ICC could do for the Afghans today would be to invite them to the next World Cup.Staff on the Indian Pacific prepare a meal for the passengers•Getty ImagesAt 901m and 2019 tons, the Ghan is nearly as long as the World Cup schedule, and as heavy as three Inzamams. Two locomotives are used, but only one is actually required to move the train: the second provides back-up in case the first conks out in the desert. A sort of captain and vice-captain relationship.Unlike the Indian Pacific leg in Red Service (or translated into Jeremy Clarkson: Scum Class), on the Ghan I’ve moved up the order to Gold Service, which means a private cabin, complimentary meals, drinks, and off-train excursions around Katherine and Alice Springs. It’s immediately obvious that the clientele in Gold are of a different demographic to those in Red. The average age has jumped about 30 years: unsurprising, since a Gold fare’s cost would be out of the reach of most under-25s.While the cabins, dining car and lounge car are delightful, as in Red, fellow passengers provide the most interest. A Melburnian lady and I end up discussing everything from dogs to the death penalty (she approves of the former, disapproves of the latter). She then reveals she used to be a private investigator. I immediately replay our conversation in my head to see whether I inadvertently revealed any embarrassing secret, such as supporting the England cricket team. Later, in the Queen Adelaide dining car, shattering my xenophobic stereotypes, I find an American who claims to not know much about cricket but nonetheless is well up on the World Cup group standings. I’m also deeply flattered to be mistaken for a member of a travelling cricket team, thanks to my wearing a Bowral shirt.With some deft manoeuvring, you could even enjoy some privacy while you read aboard the Indian Pacific•Getty ImagesStrip away the luxuries of Gold, and you get Red, with its sense of shared challenges, not least of which is the sleeping arrangements. Compared to an airplane, it’s far superior: the legroom is enormous, and the angle of recline vastly more generous.Nonetheless, it’s much more of a trial than Gold, which is designed to be virtually a holiday in itself. Here in Gold, the shared challenges are of a different, more long-term nature, as one would expect from the altered demographic: one picks up on spousal bereavements, or details of poor health. Yet dinner arrangements throw passengers closer together, providing companionship, and an overall sense of shared holiday-making.All rails lead, apparently, to Adelaide, where the Indian Pacific pauses, and the Overland and the Ghan terminate, as do England, with their World Cup “campaign” going dramatically off the rails / hitting the buffers / running out of steam (take your pick of hackneyed railway cliché) at Adelaide Oval.Time for the last leg, both of the World Cup and the three Great Southern Rail journeys. Whether the best has been saved till last remains to be seen. As regards the journey, though, this section is definitely in with a shout, as we run through the flat farming plains of South Australia, through the wooded valleys of the rather un-mountainous Blue Mountains of New South Wales, and past Victorian English-style station buildings on the run in to Sydney. With more Australians in evidence on this particular leg, it’s a matter of enduring the gleeful, though good-natured, jibes about England’s exit.Buoyant at the start of the journey, relieved by the end•Getty ImagesAfter 8339km, this is the end of the line for me. You’d say it was a good run. It pales into insignificance, though, when compared to the joint journey of Sri Lanka’s powerhouses, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, which also ends that day in Sydney. Goodbye to Great Southern Rail, and goodbye to these greats of the subcontinent.”You’re a strange dude,” was the succinct assessment by an Australian after I explained my choice of train travel across the country. It’s probably true that no one but an Englishman in the mid-day Australian sun would contemplate such a course. As with the World Cup, it’s not fast and it’s not smooth, yet why wouldn’t you love it?

Their bowlers have had immense success by slowly strangling oppositions at home, but pitches in the World Cup are not conducive for that tactic

Andrew Fidel Fernando02-Mar-2015At times on those steamy floodlit nights at the Premadasa Stadium, the pitch appears to be laced with poison when Sri Lanka are defending a score. Teams often begin well against the hosts; openers cracking boundaries, required rate heading south. But Sri Lanka bide their time. They are in collusion with the clay.Eventually, there will come a time, they know, when the toxins in the surface begin to seep through the batsmen’s shoes. Their legs grow heavy. Hands become less sure. Their eyes fail to read the spin, and before long, poison has spread to the entire opposition dressing room. Batsmen arrive at the crease already corrupted. They play part-time spin like the bowler is lobbing grenades. Fielders surrounding them are in a frenzy. The require rate shoots up again. The chase is derailed.Perhaps Sri Lanka had sought to bring this South Asian slow death to the World Cup when they stacked their squad with four spin-bowling options. But as they have lost a series to New Zealand and bled runs through the opening stages of the World Cup, they have seen that squeezing does not work in this part of the world. Drop-in pitches are not spiked with poison.They have seen, but have they learned? Sri Lanka fielded four frontline bowlers, but have since returned to a formula that proved untenable in the previous series. In January, Sri Lanka persisted with only three frontline options, and hoped to get 20 overs out of their allrounders and part-timers. Match after match, it was now the opposition biding their time, conserving wickets early to exploit Sri Lanka’s lack of bowling depth towards the end.England’s innings against Sri Lanka observed a familiar script. After 35 overs, England were 161 for 4. Then Joe Root and Jos Buttler began to charge, reverse-scooping quicks for six, and slamming near-yorkers over the deep cover fence, and 148 was reaped from the last 90 balls. Amid the mayhem was a 25-run over from Thisara Perera. When Suranga Lakmal was taken out of attack for bowling two dangerous full tosses, Sri Lanka appeared to be coming undone. On the players’ faces were writ the same frustrations they had known in places like Kolkata, during that Rohit Sharma rampage, or in Dunedin as Grant Elliott and Luke Ronchi amassed the biggest sixth-wicket stand in ODIs.Bowling has long been Sri Lanka’s stronger suit in world events. The five recent runs to the final had seen a wonderfully varied and menacing attack at the core of the campaign. Lasith Malinga’s precision had not wavered between the 2007 World Cup and 2014 World T20. Muttiah Muralitharan threatened during the middle of the innings. Nuwan Kulasekara had brought inswing and consistency, and in more recent years, Rangana Herath has turned matches on his own.But when the attack has floundered at the top end of this tournament, Sri Lanka have thinned the bowling stocks instead of bolstering them. In his ICC column, Murali himself has found it strange. “One thing is clear after Sri Lanka’s great run-chase against England in Wellington: the make-up of the side needs a re-think,” he said. “The bowling is very obviously proving a big weakness and a major headache for captain Angelo Mathews, especially in the closing overs of an innings.””The attack failing to restrict the opposition means having seven specialist batsmen is a waste of a spot. The need is to be positive and back six specialist batsmen to do the job”Murali advocates for Kulasekara’s re-inclusion, but Sri Lanka also have young tearaway Dushmantha Chameera in the wings, should Kulasekara’s past form continue to elude him. Also awaiting his first World Cup match is Sachithra Senanayake. If Sri Lanka secure their place in the quarter-final, they will be tempted to play both frontline spinners in Sydney. The injury to Herath’s finger may give Senanayake an opportunity at the SCG on Sunday, against Australia.Four of Sri Lanka’s top five batsmen have hit hundreds in the tournament. The opening combination that had so long been the team’s bane, has struck up two hundred-stands on the trot. The top order has hit 644 runs for two wickets in the past two matches without even calling on Mahela Jayawardene, who may move to no. 5 to balance the XI further.Sri Lanka have spoken of needing several bowlers to peak if they are to rattle the more favoured sides in the knockouts. The batsmen are buying the bowlers some time. The team might do well to retool the combination to suit the tracks they are presently playing on.

Despite being one of Bangladesh’s best batsmen and boasting a strike-rate not too dissimilar from his team-mates, he is considered a Test specialist and overlooked in limited overs

Mohammad Isam in Fatullah14-Jun-2015Mominul Haque missed a chance to equal AB de Villiers’ world record for fifties in consecutive matches, but there will be lasting impact of his batting consistency in the Bangladesh team and beyond. Yet, Mominul’s immediate future looks bleak as he is unlikely to be an automatic choice in the ODI series against India despite being named in the 14-man squad on Saturday.Mushfiqur Rahim is the prime candidate to bat at No. 4 in place of the injured Mahmudullah. Soumya Sarkar could drop down to No. 3 with either of Rony Talukdar or Litton Das opening with Tamim Iqbal. Chandika Hathurusingha had said after the World Cup that Soumya’s emergence would keep Mominul out of the ODI setup for a while. Soumya’s unbeaten 127 against Pakistan also strengthened his position at the top of the order and won him a place in the Test XI as well.The same smooth transition between formats has not quite occurred for Mominul, who has been playing international cricket since 2012. Due to the traditionally high importance given to ODIs in Bangladesh, not being in the limited-overs team has often led to seriously question a player’s international future.There is a feeling that since ODI cricket is so important to the well being of Bangladesh cricket, someone who only cracks it in Tests must have limitations. In Mominul’s case, it has been mostly his lack of batting speed, even though his team-mates, who are perceived to be more aggressive, have similar lower strike-rates.Mominul’s run of 11 consecutive Test fifties, now level with Viv Richards, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, makes his absence from the ODI XI feel like a strange miss. A batsman like Mominul, with his technique and international runs, is rare in Bangladesh, but he is still viewed as a misfit in limited overs.Though he ended one fifty short of equaling de Villiers’ record, Mominul’s run is the sort of consistency that future Bangladesh batsmen should aim to emulate in Test cricket.Mominul’s feat also stands out because most of the records broken by Bangladesh players were one-time affairs – Mohammad Ashraful becoming the youngest centurion, Shakib’s hundred and 10 wickets in a match, Abul Hasan’s century at No.10, or Alok Kapali’s hat-trick, to name a few. Mominul’s run, on the other hand, is a sustained effort that began in October 2013 and ended in this game. But missing ODI and T20 glitz means he is not a very popular figure and remains only a cricket nerd’s favourite.Mominul is considered among the Bangladesh hierarchy to be too slow for ODIs•AFPWhen Tamim made seven fifties in consecutive matches between January and June in 2010, he created a new benchmark for Bangladesh openers. He showed that they need not be obdurate and only there to see the shine off the ball. His slam-bang method never went overboard, but he showed that batting at a good speed can also be done consistently. Bangladesh’s openers henceforth tried to bat with a bit more adventure, though very few were successful. But the goalposts were shifted for opening batsmen across the country in the last five years. Very few openers in Bangladesh’s domestic cricket now bat slowly.Mominul’s development as a Test batsman, at least at home, means that Bangladesh’s plans will have more substance almost by default even as the BCB’s plans become more ODI and T20-centric. Already, by resting Rubel Hossain for the Fatullah Test, the hierarchy has sent out a signal that Test cricket can have a less balanced bowling attack, but they won’t compromise on qualifying for the 2017 Champions Trophy. Whether they admit it or not, the lack of on-field results and performances, coupled with the dwindling down of the number of Tests have contributed to the shift in focus within the authorities.The apathy has also somewhat contributed towards Mominul’s mindset, at least when he speaks in public about it. He has always maintained distance when talking about his high batting average and as the successive fifties kept growing, he looked less at ease. Tamim , known to be a big fan of Mominul, said on the fourth day when Mominul got out for 30 that he was disappointed that he didn’t touch the world record but also that Mominul himself didn’t think much of it.”I don’t know if he is disappointed because from what I know he doesn’t care about records,” Tamim said. “But personally I was really disappointed because I wanted him to get the fifty and complete the record. But unfortunately, this was the Test that he had to face for the record where around 120 overs were bowled in four days. So it would have been good if someone from Bangladesh could have entered the record books.”It is hard to disagree with what Tamim said. Mominul has set the bar high, and every young batsman should aim to jump and reach it. For that, Mominul should be thanked, not derided or seen suspiciously.