To win a game of Twenty20, teams need to win the big moments. Since humbling Rajasthan Royals on the opening day of the tournament, Bangalore have developed a habit of losing them

Victor Brown26-Apr-2009One year on, Bangalore Royal Challengers have spent a lot of money treading water. Now, as then, they have lost four of their first five IPL matches. Now, as then, the correlation between spending and success has been badly skewed. The extra ingredient of Kevin Pietersen’s increasingly tricky return to top-level captaincy after he lost the England job earlier in the year has added an irresistible subplot. But Pietersen will play just one more game before flying home, leaving Bangalore a further eight group matches to avoid humiliation. On this evidence, it will be tricky.To win a game of Twenty20, teams need to win the big moments. Since humbling Rajasthan Royals on the opening day of the tournament, Bangalore have developed a habit of losing them. Today’s match summed the tendency up, and no moment was bigger than the 17th over of the Delhi reply, which began with the Daredevils needing 43 off 24 balls with seven wickets in hand.Undeterred by the pull for six with which Dinesh Karthik had greeted Jacques Kallis’ return to the attack two overs earlier, Pietersen asked Kallis to try again. This was questionable at the very least. Kallis’ career Twenty20 economy-rate is almost 10. In last year’s IPL he reduced that to 9, but was still the costliest of Bangalore’s regular bowlers. His stock ball in Tests, the widish away-swinger, is eminently hittable in Twenty20. Even so, Pietersen asked him to try again.The first two balls yielded three runs, which was fine. The third was well outside off-stump, but swung just inside the mark umpires use to determine wides. To Kallis’s horror, Sudhir Asnani disagreed and signalled a wide, at which point it all went horribly wrong. Tillakaratne Dilshan, surely one of the world’s most under-rated batsmen, whacked the next ball over wide long-on and out of the ground, before Mithun Manhas lifted Kallis over the head of Robin Uthappa at long-off and away for four.Uthappa should have been standing on the boundary, but worse was to come as Manhas drove Kallis’s next ball wide of mid-on, only for KP Appanna, the left-arm spinner who had earlier done well to concede only 24 off his four overs, to turn a single into a boundary with a mis-field. From then on in, Delhi couldn’t lose. In fact, they’ve now won three out of three. (Kallis, incidentally, has figures in this tournament of 11-0-135-1, which is even worse than Andrew Flintoff.)”The plans that we wanted to do, we executed,” said Pietersen afterwards. “We just let ourselves down with the [Uthappa] catch that went for four, and another one went down to the boundary that went for four. Some of those don’t help you in situations like this. Fielding definitely cost us today.”Bangalore had blown it with the bat too. Pietersen has not played as well as he did today all tournament and together with Ross Taylor was busy dragging Bangalore back from the rubble of 10 for 2. Twice Pietersen advanced down the track to loft a six over long-on – once off Ashish Nehra, once off Daniel Vettori – and when he swept Vettori for four, an imposing total looked on the cards.Next ball, though, he tried the switch-hit and was bowled – just as Vettori bowled him during a World Twenty20 match in Durban in September 2007. Taylor went in the next over, the first after the time-out, and Bangalore had to settle for a gettable 149. “It might have been the wrong option, but that’s how I play,” said Pietersen after his otherwise sparkling 25-ball 37. “I’ve played like that for five years in international cricket and I ain’t changing now.”Pietersen flies home on Wednesday after the game in Durban against Kolkata Knight Riders. Defeat then, and his contention today that he has found the IPL to be “absolutely fantastic” may be tested to the full.

Cricinfo looks at the important numbers ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 final

S Rajesh20-Jun-2009The overall numbersSri Lanka have been consistency personified in the tournament so far, winning all six games, and are only another victory away from equalling South Africa’s record of seven wins in a row. Standing in their way, though, is a resurgent Pakistan outfit, who have shrugged off two defeats early in the tournament, and were particularly impressive in their semi-final win against South Africa.The form book still favours Sri Lanka, but not by much. They have been the better team with the bat so far, with a higher average and run rate, while there’s little to choose between the bowling efforts of the two teams. Sri Lanka have taken 50 wickets so far – the highest by any team in the tournament – while Pakistan are second-best with 46, but there’s hardly any difference between the bowling averages and the economy rates of the two teams.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the tournament so far

TeamBat averageRun rateBowl averageEcon rateDiff inaveDiff in R ratePakistan25.027.5117.156.807.870.71Sri Lanka27.488.0816.267.0911.220.99The first six oversThanks largely to Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sri Lanka are clearly the better batting team at the start of the innings, scoring plenty of runs, and doing so without losing too many wickets. Dilshan has scored 317 runs so far – the highest in the tournament – of which 156 have come in the first six overs. He has only been dismissed once during this period, which gives him a fantastic average of 156, at a strike rate of 9.73 runs per over during the Powerplay overs. In comparison, Sanath Jayasuriya has a strike rate of 6.70 in the first six. Dilshan has hammered 25 fours in the 90 balls he has faced in the Powerplays, and how Pakistan control him early in the innings could have a huge bearing on Sunday’s result.Pakistan, on the other hand, have been sluggish at the start, averaging only 7.38 runs per over in the first six, which is less than the rate at which they have conceded runs during this period. As the table below indicates, Sri Lanka have generally taken the initiative at the start, while Pakistan have relied on fightbacks in the later overs to make up for lost ground in the early part of the innings.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the first six overs

TeamBat averageRun rateBowl averageEcon rateDiff in aveDiff in r ratePakistan24.187.3834.877.75-10.69-0.37Sri Lanka63.208.7723.727.2539.481.52The middle eight overs (7-14)This is where Pakistan have generally begun their fightback. The batting has been solid, while the bowlers have taken 18 wickets, the highest by any team during the middle overs. Sri Lanka’s bowlers have been effective too, with 15 wickets at an excellent economy rate, but their batsmen have tended to lose the momentum of the early overs, averaging less than seven runs per over.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the middle eight overs

TeamBat averageRun rateBowl averageEcon rateDiff in aveDiff in r ratePakistan38.447.3316.336.1222.111.21Sri Lanka27.756.9319.266.028.490.91The last six oversPakistan have been outstanding with the ball during this period, taking 20 wickets at an exceptional economy rate of less than seven runs per over. Sri Lanka have taken more wickets during this period – 24 – but they’ve also gone at more than eight-and-a-half per over. Both teams have had exceptional bowlers to handle the final overs: Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal and Lasith Malinga have all taken eight wickets at sub-ten averages and excellent economy rates (5.25 for Ajmal, 5.55 for Gul, and 7.44 for Malinga).Sri Lanka have been the better team, though, averaging almost one run more per over (8.94 to 7.96).

Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the last six overs

TeamBat averageRun rateBowl averageEcon rateDiff in aveDiff in r ratePakistan17.077.9610.806.756.271.21Sri Lanka17.388.9410.958.576.430.37Partnership statsThe table below again illustrates how important the opening partnership has been for Sri Lanka: they’ve scored 300 runs at an average of 50 and a rate of 8.57 per over, which is far superior to Pakistan’s effort at the top of the order. Pakistan’s best efforts have been for the second and fourth wickets, while Sri Lanka have slipped up slightly during these periods. Overall, though, Sri Lanka have had far more meaningful partnerships than Pakistan – seven half-century and one century stand for the Lankans, compared to just three fifty partnerships for Pakistan.

Wicket-wise partnerships for Pakistan and Sri Lanka

WicketPak – ave standRun rate100s/ 50sSL – ave standRun rate100s/ 50sFirst22.167.180/ 050.008.571/ 2Second31.668.440/ 021.507.160/ 1Third18.336.600/ 132.007.430/ 2Fourth39.167.870/ 227.838.350/ 2Fifth24.007.020/ 020.008.450/ 0Sixth22.007.540/ 028.009.330/ 0Run-scoring patternsContrary to what one might expect, Pakistan have played out fewer dot balls, taken more singles, twos and threes, and hit fewer boundaries. Sri Lanka have struck 107 fours to 69 for Pakistan, though Pakistan are slightly ahead in the sixes tally (17 to 14). Dilshan alone has smashed 46 fours, the highest in the tournament – Jacques Kallis, in second place, has 28.

How Pakistan and Sri Lanka have scored their runs

TeamDot ballsPercentage1s, 2s, 3sPercentage4s & 6sPercentagePakistan24135.4935151.698612.66Sri Lanka27238.0932144.9612116.95Sri Lanka have also bowled more dot balls at their opponents, though Pakistan have been more stingy in terms of conceding boundaries.

How Pakistan and Sri Lanka have conceded their runs

TeamDot ballsPercentage1s, 2s, 3sPercentage4s & 6sPercentagePakistan29442.2432646.847610.92Sri Lanka30544.3329142.309113.23The extras factorPakistan have bowled eight no-balls to just three by Sri Lanka, with Gul and Sohail Tanvir each contributing three. Sri Lanka have been guilty of conceding more wides, though – 28, to 24 by Pakistan. Malinga leads the tally with 12, while Isuru Udana and Gul have bowled seven each.Bat first or field first?Both teams have shown a clear preference for batting first and then putting the pressure on the opposition with their incisive bowling attacks. Five out of Sri Lanka’s six wins have come when batting first (the only exception was against Australia, when they chased down 160), while Pakistan have won every time they have batted first. Of the three occasions when they have batted second, they have lost twice, with the only win coming against New Zealand. Given that it’ll be a high-pressure game on Sunday, it’s almost certain the team winning the toss will choose to bat first.Head-to-headPakistan and Sri Lanka have played each other four times in Twenty20 internationals, and each team has won twice. This includes a meeting in a final, of a four-nation tournament in Canada, which Sri Lanka won by five wickets.

Ryan Harris’ pedigree as a pace bowler and his recently proven ability to play the fire-fighter in the crucial death overs will gladden the hearts of Deccan

Cricinfo staff02-Apr-2010″Hey champ.” Adam Gilchrist greeted Ryan Harris as soon the Deccan Chargers captain walked in to the team hotel in uptown Mumbai. Gilchrist and the rest of the squad looked fresh despite the overnight defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, and a two-hour long flight early in the morning. It was not just their captain, but virtually all the players who walked to Harris shook his hands, hugged him, and made it clear how happy they were to see him. “Rhino,” as Harris is known to his Deccan team-mates, couldn’t have been happier.Courtesy aside, probably what gladdened the hearts of his team might’ve been Harris’ pedigree as a pace bowler and his recently proven ability to play the fire-fighter in the crucial death overs – an area where Deccan have the worst run-rate in terms of runs leaked in the league this season.The figure, 12.39, is Deccan’s run-rate in the final five overs in the seven matches they have played. It is by far the most expensive. Of the three other teams who have played similar number of games, Punjab rank second at 9.67, followed by Mumbai at 9.35 and Bangalore at 8.63. Even the four remaining teams – Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Rajasthan – have a run-rate hovering between 9.73 (Chennai) to 8.71 (Rajasthan).Clearly the existing bunch of fast bowlers that Deccan possess at the moment have either lacked in pace or have been found to be woefully inept at dealing with the marauding batsmen in the final five overs. Kemar Roach (14.66), RP Singh (13.16), Jaskaran Singh (13.00) and Chaminda Vaas (10.50) have struggled to bowl full. Andrew Symonds, even if he lumbers in with a painful stride, remains the most economical bowler at 8.50.Harris is joining the team on the back of a successful summer in Australia and in the recently-concluded tour of New Zealand. Darren Lehmann, Deccan’s coach, indicated as much, stating Harris is a likely favorite to play in the crucial match against Mumbai Indians.Harris is confident about playing, but not because he is expected to turn things around straightaway. “I am not planning on coming here and being the saviour, I don’t think we need one of those,” Harris told Cricinfo in a relaxed fashion.Unlike last year when he came into the IPL (his debut season) with a broken foot and strived hard for match fitness, Harris is eager to get his stride back in to the field, having played a Test match in Hamilton two days ago. “I just finished a match two days ago and I am ready to go straight away. I’m hoping I get to play,” he said.In theory, jumping from Tests to the Twenty20 format might seem more difficult than that between ODIs and Twenty20. Harris says he does not need any warm-up time, considering he was playing ODIs before making his Test debut. If anything, the notorious Indian pitches have given Harris sleepless nights.”I have been thinking a lot about that from the time I left New Zealand – looking at the wickets, they are not made for bowlers, they are made for batsmen, and they are slower wickets and the ropes have been pulled,” Harris said. And he admits it will not be an easy task. “It is going to be a massive challenge for me.”In the shorter formats, Harris’ modus operandi usually has been to hit a good length to begin with and bowl yorkers and slower balls at the end. “I might have to go with yorkers early on,” Harris pointed out. Harris reckons Roach still remains the best death bowler, with his pace and the accuracy to bowl yorkers at will. “Kemar just probably missed the mark,” he said.Interestingly, Harris stressed that bowling yorkers is not the only tactic to numb opponents at the death, before elaborating with a personal example. “In the Twenty20 match in New Zealand, me, Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes kept bowling yorker after yorker and Brendon McCullum kept flicking them for a six and he got a hundred in 40-odd balls (116 in 56 balls). That is Twenty20,” Harris said. “Gone are the days when a perfect yorker was a dot ball. It is just assessing a situation and try and ball as full as you can.”The defeat in Kolkata was Deccan’s third straight loss and now the defending champions need to win at least four of their remaining seven matches to keep their semi-finals’ hopes alive. Harris, though, is more concerned about Mumbai, and has reminder, and a warning, for this season’s league-toppers. “Last year, Deccan won six in a row and then lost four on the trot. The pressure is on Mumbai to be able to keep performing and not take the foot off the pedal,” he said. “They are close to qualifying for the semi-finals berth. Whether that relaxes them in the mind or not could cost them. You just don’t know,” Harris said.

Cricket may not be top of the mind for Dharamsala’s Tibetan exiles, but a certain player is much in demand

Nagraj Gollapudi18-Apr-2010Tensang is laidback, sitting with his legs up on the arms of a plastic chair. About 18, he lounges with three of his friends from the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) on the porch of one of the many Tibetan restaurants lining the main drag of McLeodganj in Himachal Pradesh, home to thousands of Tibetan refugees, including their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.Half a century ago the young Lama managed to escape the Chinese invasion of his homeland. Traversing difficult terrain on foot, he made it to the village of Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh (McLeodganj is about five kilometres uphill), which went on to become the home of the Tibetan government in exile. Dharamsala is among the more popular global tourist hot spots, especially for those seeking vacations of the spiritual kind. This week, though, it is in the news for hosting a highly materialistic event – the IPL. Dharamsala is Kings XI Punjab’s second home ground and two matches will be played here this season, placing it on the global cricketing map.A thick, dark cloud hangs above the picturesque Dhauladhar mountains, which are covered by a thin veil of melting snow. I ask Tensang if he thinks it will rain. “No, no,” comes the confident reply in a heavy American accent, popular among many young Tibetans.I ask him who he will support in the first match. He says the Chargers are his favourite team. “I have a friend there,” he says. It turns out Mitchell Marsh, the Chargers’ young Australian allrounder, met Tensang when the TIPA group toured down under earlier this year as part of a cultural event. “He liked our performance there and last evening we met him over dinner,” Tensang says. I ask him if he would watch the match were it not for this connection. “I don’t think so,” he says.He isn’t alone. On the day of the match, April 16, the HPCA stadium is packed, but the Tibetan presence is miniscule. It is not as if the Tibetans are not keen on sport; just that soccer and basketball rank higher. The ever-smiling monks themselves have little interest in the game.Cricketers, though, are popular, even if many Tibetans are not sure exactly who’s who. As the Chargers’ players return after a special audience with the Dalai Lama, a group of Tibetan women start calling loudly, “Harbhajan Singh, Harbhajan Singh,” as a blushing Harmeet Singh walks past them.The IPL seems to have caught the imagination, however. About a thousand Tibetans have been hanging around at the Namgyal Monastery, the main Buddhist temple in McLeodganj, which also houses the Dalai Lama’s abode, from the morning of the day of the players’ visit. The maroon-robed monks, renowned for their zen-like calm, run around like excited kids, taking pictures of players and coaches from the Chargers and Kings XI Punjab teams. Lalit Modi makes an appearance, which generates a huge roar from the crowd. Many wonder where Preity Zinta is (she was reportedly set to appear in Tibetan garb).A banner says “Tibetan community welcomes IPL to Dharamsala. 51 years of refuge. Thank you India,” with a picture each of Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalai Lama.I ask two groups of monks, male and female, who their favourite player is. The unanimous response is “Yuvi” [Yuvraj Singh].The admiration seems to be mutual. For long, Yuvraj tells me the next day, he has been wanting to meet the Dalai Lama. “Five years ago I came here but I couldn’t get a chance. But this time I was lucky and it was an honour to meet him.”The Dalai Lama: more of a table tennis fan•AFPThough Punjab lost to the Chargers in a one-sided contest, Yuvraj and his team-mates, along with Tom Moody, their coach, and the team owners seem a happy lot. Yuvraj asks his mother, who is also present, if she managed to get the Dalai Lama’s blessings. She says she even got a good picture.”It is very warm, gives a lot of calmness to the mind,” Yuvraj says of the monastery. He isn’t a player you’d accuse of having a spiritual side, but he says he found listening to the Dalai Lama inspiring. How did it help him as an athlete, for whom winning is the most important thing, I ask. He speaks about how wanting to win creates stress, which a constant. “We get so stressed up because every day we want to perform. Now I am thinking of doing the same, but with a calmer mind,” he says.The Dalai Lama, with his resplendent smile, is known for being a magnetic speaker, who makes sure he has his audience listening, participating and laughing along to his words. He seems to possess an incredible lightness of being that is captivating and awe-inspiring.Yuvraj says he was at ease with the Lama immediately, and asked him a light-hearted question amidst the more routine moral and personal queries that everyone else was tossing up. “Everybody asks him about well-being and how can he get better, so I wanted to ask him what his favourite sport was,” Yuvraj says smiling. “He said, nothing in particular, but that he played table tennis and even competed against the Chinese prime minister once.”The mood turns serious after the convoy of IPL celebrities pulls away down the crowded mountain road. The Lama continues his press conference, this time attempting to alert the world’s media to the devastating earthquake in Tibet earlier this week. The Chinese claim only a few hundred Tibetans have died, but according to independent news reports from Tibet the figure is upwards of a thousand.Despite the tragedy, the Dalai Lama will honour his commitment to attend Punjab’s match with Chennai Super Kings on Sunday. Meanwhile, Tensang excitedly calls to inform that his group will be performing the traditional Tibetan Yak dance at the event.

In either liking or hating the captain, the statesman, the keeper with the irritating shouts, we tend to forget the reason why we liked Sangakkara in the first place

Sidharth Monga at the SSC27-Jul-2010For the last year or so we have known the man who repeatedly questions cricket’s lopsided scheduling. The man who has perhaps strived to make Australia out of Sri Lanka, and perhaps cutting down on some of the Sri Lankan flair. The man who complains about the inconsistent use of Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS). The man who has had to make bold decisions regarding Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas. The man who keeps saying Ajantha Mendis is not over, and answering questions about life after Murali and Vaas. The man who has become insufferable with his incessant and excessive appealing from behind the stumps, for LBWs that don’t exist. The man who made Tillakaratne Dilshan keep wicket in Tests when Prasanna Jayawardene was injured. Somewhere in all that, we tend to forget Kumar Sangakkara the batsman.In either liking or hating the captain, the statesman, the keeper with the irritating shouts, we tend to forget the reason why we liked Sangakkara in the first place. His batting has all that grace, style, and also the aggression. The drives still flow beautifully all through the cover field, the whip-flick between mid-on and midwicket that he plays even as he is moving across the stumps is still a joy to watch, the sweeps to all parts of leg side still negate the spinners.Silently, as a captain, Sangakkara has scored five centuries in 10 Tests, three of them in his last three games against India, the latest being his seventh double-century, putting him behind only Don Bradman and Brian Lara on that count.When he came in to bat on Monday, on his beloved SSC pitch and against an average attack, a century was there to be taken. Still, how you got there, and how far you took it beyond 100 mattered too. This innings had all the hallmarks of a Sangakkara special. The intent was clear from the first over of his innings: when Pragyan Ojha was slightly short, he was cut away; when he flighted he was lofted over mid-on. From thereon until he was caught by an alert Rahul Dravid – and it’s a task to stay alert after you have spent one-and-a-half days without anything remotely resembling an edge – Sangakkara owned the attack.Even with the deep point in place, India struggled to keep Sangakkara quiet. Though Tharanga Paranavitana was 34 when Sangakkara came out, it wasn’t a surprise that he was overtaken. No scoring opportunity was missed. There weren’t shots that stood out for audacity, but there weren’t any that stood out for being inelegant either. Even as Mahela Jayawardene struggled in the final hour on the first day, Sangakkara kept getting the runs, scoring 34 off 58 in that period.How he played on the second day, though, was going to determine how well Sri Lanka could time their declaration. The first two balls of the day brought clear indications. Two of his favourite shots got him boundaries: the drive wide of mid-off, and then the whip-flick through midwicket. Five overs later, the same bowler, Abhimanyu Mithun, was hit for three consecutive boundaries. After a relatively quiet spell, he showed Ojha the complete range of sweep shots in one over: slog-sweeps to cow corner and midwicket, and then two regulation ones to square leg and backward square leg. That over took him from 183 to 199.The platform was set up again, the bowlers had been deflated again, and Jayawardene did the rest. When Sangakkara got out, though, the reaction was of acute dissatisfaction. The double-hundred wasn’t nearly enough. The reaction was of a man who has scored seven of them, a man who wants more.

The more occasions Ian Bell helps the team out of difficulty, the harder it will be for people to suggest he doesn’t belong at this level.

Andrew McGlashan at Old Trafford04-Jun-2010Ian Bell’s success during the winter tours to South Africa and Bangladesh revived a career that was threatening to be stalled again. Yet, given the competition for England’s batting places, his name has been mentioned among those under pressure to cement his place again this summer.It is no bad thing for players to be constantly on their toes. It should avoid complacency when they know there are others lurking over their shoulders desperate for a chance to impress. Paul Collingwood will return for the Test series against Pakistan and one of these top six will have to make way. No batsman wants to be the one with a recent failure next to their name, so Bell’s unbeaten 87 on the opening day at Old Trafford was timely.”There’s still a lot of competition for places, especially with the batting, so you have to keep yourself in good form and get as many runs as possible,” Bell said. “It’s a good place for us to be as a squad. I feel massively part of the side, and always have done, but you have to keep working hard.”It’s a good position for both Andys especially with Morgs [Eoin Morgan] coming in, someone who has a massive future, to have seven batters to pick from and probably more. There are guys doing well in domestic cricket who are knocking on the door as well.”Bell is one of the squad that has prepared for this series in county cricket rather than the Caribbean, but his domestic results weren’t outstanding – much the same as Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook – as he averaged 30.77 in five matches for Warwickshire. He also missed out at Lord’s when he received a decent ball from Rubel Hossain that nipped back between bat and pad.Bell has batted in more pressurised scenarios than he faced here at 83 for 3 – Cape Town in January springs to mind – but it was a good moment for him to reacquaint himself with a Bangladesh attack that has proved a rich source of runs. Following his 17 at Lord’s, Bell’s average plummeted from the heady heights of 244 (having previously been 350) to 168.33; now it is back at 197.33 and may well tip 200 again tomorrow.Given the winter Bell enjoyed, where his 140 at Kingsmead was followed by a match-saving 213-ball 78 in Cape Town, plus 138 in Dhaka when England were in a spot of bother, and where he was the sole century-maker in an innings for the first time, he would have been within his rights to feel pretty secure. Yet the doubters aren’t going to be satisfied until he corrects his record against Australia, against whom he has scored at a modest average of 25.70.”I missed out at Lord’s and the situation demanded someone got stuck in,” Bell said. “Not scoring runs when the team needs them is the criticism that has hung over me and hopefully over the last six months I have done something towards playing more of those innings that people want from me.”I needed it on a personal note as well. I’ve played some nice innings but maybe not when it mattered. Certainly if I get the chance in Australia I have the experience to dig in when the team needs it.”As with his hundred in Dhaka, the runs here will include that invisible footer of being “only against Bangladesh” but England needed his contribution. Whereas Bell concentrated hard and didn’t try anything too flamboyant, the top-order didn’t cover themselves in glory with a display that came across as lazy.Strauss and Cook prodded to slip and Kevin Pietersen couldn’t control himself as he had a wild mow at Shakib Al Hasan. Jonathan Trott can be partly exonerated as he received a decent ball and Bell was quick to defend Pietersen’s approach, which he felt played a key role in giving England the edge on a pitch that offered much more turn than expected.”From my point of view I’m trying to play spin as positively as possible, I’m a better player when I’m positive and I thought Kev was fantastic to get us the momentum back, which was important,” he said. “He really gave us the chance to put Bangladesh on the back foot.”It turned big and that’s how Kev was playing. When you are playing like that it can go either way, but leading up to that he shifted the momentum which is what we needed because we could have dug ourselves a hole.”Even though Pietersen’s dashing effort helped England restore order it needed someone to carry on that work. Bell was again that man and the more occasions he helps the team out of difficulty, the harder it will be for people to suggest he doesn’t belong at this level.

Douglas Jardine, Len Hutton, Ray Illingworth, Mike Brearley, Mike Gatting… Andrew Strauss. In almost 80 years of Ashes combat, only six England captains have been able to win in Australia

Andrew Miller at the MCG29-Dec-2010Douglas Jardine, Len Hutton, Ray Illingworth, Mike Brearley, Mike Gatting… Andrew Strauss. In almost 80 years of Anglo-Australian combat, only six England captains have been able to pack their bags at the end of a trip to Australia, and include in their mental baggage all of the triumph and joy that, almost since the dawn of the sporting age, has been invested in the legend of Ivo Bligh’s little urn. Almost every other campaigner of the 20th and 21st Centuries has endured a return journey accompanied by despair, regret, recrimination and anger. Such is the hold of the Ashes, arguably the most storied trophy of them all.For that reason, the achievement of Strauss’s men is one that not only deserves to stand the test of time, but is already ensured of doing so – no matter that Australia still have the chance to square the series at 2-2 and restore a modicum of pride. As Shane Watson conceded on the third evening of this contest, possession of the urn is the only thing that counts, and the manner in which that prospect was shredded as early as the first afternoon at Melbourne was formidable to behold. Regardless of what happens at Sydney, Australia have been beaten by the better side; thrashed by an innings in half of the matches of the series.It might be claimed in mitigation that the Aussies are not what they used to be – what team could be, given the losses of such champions as Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer? – but to tar the series with any such caveats would do a gross disservice to the ruthless, meticulous nature of England’s preparations. Not since Illingworth was chaired off the field at Sydney in 1970-71 has a campaign been more brilliantly orchestrated, and not since Jardine made a mortal of Bradman in 1932-33 has a strategy been more perfectly conceived and carried out.Australians right now will doubtless feel all the more wistful for the days of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne – in the 24 Tests in which both men were at his disposal, Ricky Ponting never lost a match and averaged 78.73; since their retirements he’s lost 13 out of 42, and his average has plummeted to 41.03. But as Ponting himself conceded after the match, sport is cyclical – it is the seizing of opportunities as and when they arise that defines the greatness of a team or a player.History has demonstrated that an Ashes victory in Australia is a once-in-a-generation achievement, and the general perception in the build-up to the 2010-11 Ashes was that this was England’s moment – because if not now, then when? That in itself created a burden arguably greater than anything felt by Graham Gooch, Mike Atherton, Alec Stewart, Nasser Hussain and Andrew Flintoff, the five most recent England captains to try their luck in Australia and depart with ambitions crushed.With the exception of Gooch in 1990-91, who arrived in the batting form of his life and with the memories still burning of the exceptional challenge that his team had posed to the great West Indians the previous winter, each of those squads were written off almost before they had unpacked. Injuries and ineptitude undermined them from the off – the loss of key bowlers such as Devon Malcolm in 1994-95 or Darren Gough eight years later; the loss of respect through dreadful performances either in the bear-pit of Lilac Hill, or thrashings at the hands of the Australian Academy.No such pitfalls were permitted on this trip, or rather, the pitfalls that did exist were not allowed to consume the campaign. The loss of Stuart Broad after two-and-a-half innings, for instance, was not only budgeted for, but actively anticipated, with each of the three reserve seamers earmarked a specific Test match in which their skills would come to the fore. Chris Tremlett’s height was duly unleashed at the WACA, Tim Bresnan’s stamina was set loose at the MCG, and by all accounts, Ajmal Shahzad would have featured on the reverse-swing-friendly Adelaide Oval, had it not been for Steven Finn’s six wickets at the hit-the-deck Gabba.And likewise, losses of the result variety were also expected, because this is Australia, and Australians can never be discounted, no matter how lowly their expectations may be. The Gabba, as it happens, was the venue where the England management had initially anticipated defeat, because of the fearsome reputation of the venue, and because of the danger of stage-fright at the start of such a hyped campaign (which, as they proved on that fretful first day, was a very real factor indeed), while the WACA had been earmarked for victory. But either way, the likelihood of resistance was encoded in England’s planning, and with it the challenge and expectation of a weeble-like response to adversity.Andy Flower’s unparalleled record as a player who triumphed over adversity provided the squad with a director who demanded absolute respect, while David Saker’s knowledge of Australia’s venues armed his bowlers with intimate insights that enabled them to make the best possible use of their warm-up matches, in particular their reconnaissance trips to Adelaide and Melbourne, the scenes of England’s two crushing victories.The influence of Richard Halsall, the fielding coach, was seen in any number of galvanising moments – from Monty Panesar’s flying catch in Hobart to the direct-hit run-out that Jonathan Trott pulled off in Adelaide – and he was deemed sufficiently integral to the squad to take over as head coach when Flower’s skin cancer scare briefly took him out of the dressing-room in Brisbane. And then there was Graham Gooch, attached to the team only in a consultant role, but whose personal protégé, Alastair Cook, is now on the brink of 600 series runs. Kudos is due in every department, because it’s not often that England get it this right.The net result was that Strauss and his cohorts arrived in Australia with an intent that was the equivalent of Allan Border’s invasion of England in 1989. Then as now, Border sensed the changing of an epoch – Ian Botham, the Warne of the 1980s, still endured as a personality, but his last hurrah had been at Melbourne two-and-a-half years earlier – and the challenge he put to his squad was to confound expectations. They did so with a ruthlessness that went on to establish a dynasty, which in itself is the challenge that now confronts England.Strauss and Flower have said on many occasions that their true goal is to be the No. 1 team in the world. It’s an ambition that is very much there for the taking, if the team can maintain its focus and drive on to the next level with the singlemindedness that eluded Michael Vaughan’s men in 2005, when the sheer emotional overload of ending Australia’s hold on the Ashes proved too much to kick on from.The first clue that things can and will be different this time came back in 2009, when England’s reaction to their home Ashes victory was a quiet night of revelry and an early flight to Belfast for a one-day international. The circumstances of that itinerary were far from ideal, of course, but they nipped in the bud any prospect of over-indulgence. England’s celebrations were instead kept to a 6-1 ODI trouncing at the hands of the vengeful Aussies, an instant reality check which reminded the players of that old sporting truism, you’re only as good as your last result.Those are the mantras that keep the great teams grounded. “I think while you’re still involved in the England side, if you’re not still looking to keep pushing forward, there’s something wrong there,” said Strauss. Throughout history, for England to triumph Down Under has indeed been a once-in-a-generation achievement, but this squad is so well drilled, they actually believe they can make it a habit. Starting at Sydney in the New Year, of course.

Coming into this match with questions over his place in the Test side, Michael Hussey responded with an innings of freedom and purpose that kept his team in the game

Peter English at the Gabba26-Nov-2010The Australian player with the most to lose has improved his team’s chances of developing a winning position. For two years Michael Hussey has been clinging on, but with his spot in increasing danger he has let go. By choosing his destiny and combining freedom and purpose, he is being watched by the selectors purely for pleasure. Their red pens now look elsewhere to mark crosses.A true professional stirs when the danger is most severe, but Hussey didn’t merely save his place by grafting or working the ball, like he did at The Oval in 2009 and the SCG in January. This time he was a fresh shot-maker, an aggressor chasing early boundaries instead of settling in by leaving and hoping. When the rain and bad light arrived with 17 overs still to bowl he had breezed to 81 and belted 13 fours and a six.The only periods in which he looked like the Hussey of the recent past were his opening ball and when he was fretting about the conditions towards the end. As he walked off he carried the heavy steps of a man with a major responsibility, rather than the light-striding batsman who had pushed his team to within 40 runs of England’s first innings.At his most consistent, Hussey is an accumulator who becomes less cautious the further his account inflates. He entered this series without any credit and knew it was time for some risks. Having re-trained his mind to attack during his century against Western Australia last week – an innings which convinced the selectors he was still valuable – he was quickly showing signs that he could move on from his run of Test troubles.There was none of the fidgeting and reliance on defence in the early stages, even when he edged Steven Finn just short of Graeme Swann at second slip. “It just goes to show how much the game is a fine line,” he said. “Nicking that first one, I was praying it would fall short and thankfully it did. A foot more and I was gone for a first-ball duck.”His intent was soon evident in the size of his purposeful lunges, either forward or back, as he waited to swing. This was the version of Hussey that was so successful between 2005 and 2008. Finn dropped a touch short and Hussey unleashed a brutal pull for his second scoring shot, an attack he repeated in the bowler’s next over and beyond.Swann, a former team-mate at Northamptonshire, initially wanted to tease Hussey forward with some flight. There was no doubt or delay as Hussey raced at the ball and dropped it for six to long-on. “I was beaten in the flight, just followed through, and it came out of the middle,” he said modestly.The start was so fresh he was more like Brad Haddin or Matthew Hayden than the workmanlike Hussey. When Swann dropped short he was also pulled and by the time Hussey was on 40 only two runs had not come from boundaries.The Australians were desperate to attack Swann early to dent his confidence ahead of a pitch that will suit him better in Adelaide. Despite the unsteady scorecard, Hussey followed the plan and five of his boundaries and 37 of his runs came from the offspinner. Another five fours were taken from Finn, a 21-year-old, who the hosts would also like to ruffle.At one point Swann had three men on the boundary on the legside but it still was not enough to stop Hussey’s pulling power. “I wanted to be positive,” he said. “I do get in a bit of trouble when I’m tentative and a bit negative.”Finn had already seen one of his short balls split the two men protecting the rope behind square. The crack of the strokes even told those who were unfortunate enough to be looking away that this was a man with his game back.”It’s a time where my mind is a lot clearer and maybe I’m just seeing the ball a bit clearer out of the bowler’s hand,” he said. “At other times in the last couple of years, there’s maybe been other clouds or doubts or negative thoughts going through my mind. Or the situation of the game, or what the pitch is doing. It stops you playing with the same freedom.”There was some caution displayed against James Anderson and Stuart Broad, but Hussey was in command throughout the performance. However, he knows there is much more to do. This is the longest Test series in the game and Hussey is aware of how swiftly the contest can change.Australia were in the dominant position until their latest batting wheeze, which allowed England to feel better about their first-innings 260. The hosts are strong at the top, with Shane Watson and Simon Katich putting on another half-century stand, but they have been weak in the middle. The stomach of the local order softened again and after Ricky Ponting (10), Michael Clarke (9) and Marcus North (1) departed, it was left to Hussey to deliver the punches.In this game Australia have relied on two men who began it with doubts over their spots. The selectors were right to look to Hussey and Peter Siddle, who have covered up the deficiencies of some faltering team-mates.No side performs with all its recruits on fire, but the lack of output in key areas is as concerning for the locals as the return of the real Hussey was brilliant.

It took many by surprise when Jade Dernbach was called into England’s World Cup squad, but his development over the last 12 months has been rapid and he’s eager for more honours

Andrew McGlashan07-Apr-2011Jade Dernbach’s elevation to the England squad during the World Cup proved the biggest surprises of their winter, but was just the latest marker in a steady rise for the Surrey pace bowler. In many ways his career has followed the natural path through domestic cricket, but it has developed from an unusual beginning.He was Surrey’s youngest debutant when he made his first appearance as a 17-year-old in 2003, but he had actually been a fairly late starter into cricket, barely playing the game until he was 14. That was when he moved from South Africa having been born in Johannesburg. Until then rugby had been his main sport and he was good enough to have been able to consider trying to take it further as a career.Then, however, came the journey to England and he found himself playing club cricket near London. His potential was soon spotted and a place at the Surrey Academy followed. He’s the first player to move from there into the England set-up Despite that, he has had to field the predictable questions about the country of his birth. “I owe South Africa nothing,” he said. “I basically played a bit of schools cricket and nothing else. I learnt everything in England.”The main reason for surprise at Dernbach’s call to replace Ajmal Shahzad was that Chris Woakes, the Warwickshire seamer, had impressed in Australia especially with his 6 for 49 at Brisbane. However, without gaining the same attention as England’s fraught campaign on the subcontinent, Dernbach had been making a strong impression for the Lions in West Indies and on some flat pitches he bagged 19 wickets at 15.63.”It was testing and they were conditions I hadn’t really come across before, but like everything you have to find a way,” he said. “I had to learn pretty quickly and it played into my hands. I like to think I have a few variations and it helped out there.”Dernbach has the accessories of a modern player; a pair of diamond earrings and arms emblazoned with tattoos. Perhaps it’s those things that play a part in the ‘preconceived ideas’ people had of him, factors that Chris Adams, the Surrey cricket manager, spoke about when he was called up by England. However, he comes across as a very thoughtful and intelligent cricketer.One of the tattoos emblazoned on Dernbach’s arms carries the Latin saying carpe diem – “seize the day” and he has certainly seized his moment this winter. A few days after arriving in Sri Lanka he gave Andrew Strauss a tough workout during a net session in Colombo; the sight of the team captain in the nets can give a pace bowler extra impetus. In the end he wasn’t selected for the quarter-final against Sri Lanka and England’s 10-wicket thumping meant his World Cup experience was over. However, it was more than enough to whet the appetite.”I’m over the moon with my achievements during the winter,” he said. “My aim was to have a successful Lions tour which I managed then got the call up in the end which was a bonus. I’m now hoping to put my name in the mix for the Tests and one-dayers against Sri Lanka.”Dernbach clearly doesn’t lack confidence, but with no shortage of pace bowlers in the England set-up a Test call is still likely to be some way off for him. His first job this summer will be leading the Surrey bowlers, in the absence of a resting Chris Tremlett, and it’s a role he feels has already played a part in making him a more complete cricketer.”Over the past couple of years I’ve taken that role on already without it really being mentioned so I’ve got the grounding and backing of everyone here,” he said. “I’m not going to put any extra pressure on myself but of course I’m going to thrive with that, I like leading the team and being the man at the front.”However, his statistics make for curious reading. In one-day cricket his economy rate is above a run-a-ball (and in Twenty20 above nine-an-over) but a strike rate of 25.8 balls per wicket shows the priceless ability to make inroads. Dernbach isn’t a traditional line-and-length merchant and his slower ball, bowled out of the back of the hand, has already filled a few column inches.”It took two or three years to perfect it, it’s a slower ball that comes out the back of the hand, but it’s all well and good having that but then you have to develop it further. On a yearly basis I try and add bits and tweak it.” However, he now expects batsmen to know far more about him. “Once people see it once they starting looking for it and I’ve a feeling they may be waiting for it this season,” he said. “You have to constantly develop as a bowler.”That development has been swift over the last 12 months. More of it this season and that decision to leave the rugby ball aside could be looking very wise indeed.

One of the best known radio voices of the Caribbean belongs to a man who stammered as a child

Sriram Veera09-Jun-2011It is sometime in the early 1950s in Georgetown, Guyana. Frank Sinatra’s voice fills the room and the boys and girls are swaying, but one kid stands apart a little, shy. He has a problem, a terrible stammer that is killing his confidence.”By the time I went ‘May I…’ Sinatra’s song would get over. I struggled socially in school. I couldn’t participate in discussions because I couldn’t get my questions or replies out.”He would, though, grow up to be Joseph “Reds” Perreira, a famous radio commentator and sports administrator in the Caribbean. His voice, clear, loud, and with no hint of a stammer, goes on to boom through radios across the world for decades.It’s a remarkable story. Reds covered 145 Tests and over 300 ODIs and regards himself lucky to have had the career he has had. As you would expect, he has stories to tell. To start with, about how he overcame that stammer.”My mother, a marvellous lady, allowed fantasy.” And so the young boy would lie in bed and do imaginary broadcasts for imaginary matches. “Statham comes in to bowl to Kanhai. Kanhai goes back and plays to third man. Kanhai moves to 13, West Indies move to 50. It’s important that Kanhai and Sobers stay together.” And on and on. For 30 dreamy minutes. Every day.As a teenager Reds lived in Denmark for a year and worked as a dishwasher. He spent his spare time sorting out his stammer, without a therapist. Not quite but sort of. He returned to the Caribbean, took up radio commentary and went from strength to strength.Fast forward to a pivotal moment in his reporting career. It was Reds who broke the story of West Indies flying out to South Africa for the rebel tour. It was breaking news before breaking news became a fad, and a development that tore the Caribbean apart.Reds was travelling in Barbados when he was stopped by a man; his version of Deep Throat. “I swear I will never ever call his name,” he says. “He has passed away, but it would be a betrayal.”So he tells me, ‘West Indies rebel team is going to South Africa. Do your homework.’ And slips away. “I’m thinking, ‘It will be so bad if BBC breaks this story.’ I’m thinking hard.”So he calls a friend and asks her about flights from Port-of-Spain to Miami, via Barbados. Too many. She needs a name. He gives her a couple and, voila, hits the jackpot. She confirms that the players are on a flight out the following day.”So I went on air and said, ‘Breaking news. A West Indies rebel team is going to South Africa.'” The telephone threatened to ring itself out of service. “If I was wrong, my whole career would end. Next day every one turned up at Barbados airport to see if I was right or wrong.” The plane comes in. People get on the plane. No West Indies team. Reds is sweating.”Oh my god, I really am in trouble here. I walk around, searching. I meet a red cap, people who handle bags, and nudge him: ‘Seen anything?’ And he goes, ‘Pereira, I saw Alvin Greendige come in with family and take a suitcase to American Airlines.’ Reds hits up the airline’s manager. “I’m not here to cause trouble. Just confirm by nodding your head whether the team is in. And he nodded.” Reds’ biggest scoop had come to pass.All of a sudden, a van arrives. Screeching tyres. Out come Sylvester Clarke and the rest of the team. “I was very relieved. The first plane was a decoy. Then they met Colin Croft and Lawrence Rowe up ahead.”Reds’ views on the tour have no ambivalence. “It was disappointing. We were made honorary whites! That hurt a lot of Caribbean people. Honorary white for a month. Then, when the tour is over, you can’t go into the same hotel or restaurant. It was a bit of a farce.”Reds’ fame grows. He does boxing games. Foreman v Frazier in Jamaica. Foreman v Ali. ABC runs a 45-minute programme with Reds ringside. A career on the rise. He meets the Brown Bomber, Joe Louis. He meets Fidel Castro in Cuba.”I shake hands, bow and prepare to leave, when Castro stops me through an interpreter. He wants to know why cricket is so popular in the Caribbean. I told him, ‘As a colonial country, we beat our rulers, England, and it inspired our people to fight for independence. What baseball is to Cuba, cricket is to West Indies.’ He got it.”Reds’ voice comes through the wireless all over the world. India, Australia, England, Sri Lanka. New Zealand, everywhere. He stays for a week with Hanumant Singh, former India batsman, in Singh’s Cuffe Parade home in Mumbai. He spends time with the Chappells in Australia. “Chappells either like you or dislike you. Luckily for me, they thought I was an okay guy.”

“We were made honorary whites! That hurt a lot of Caribbean people. Honorary white for a month. Then, when the tour is over, you can’t go into the same hotel or restaurant. It was a bit of a farce”Perreira looks back on the West Indies rebel tour of South Africa

The travels continued till suddenly, one day, his heart gave way. He was in Sydney, Australia, covering West Indies’ 1996 tour of Australia when he had a stroke on the 1st of January. “My life changed. Whole left side was gone. Paralysed. I was lying in bed in the hospital in Sydney.” Reds doesn’t omit to provide the cricketing background as well. “That was the game Windies lost on the last ball – Bevan hit Harper for four.”With modern medicine, doctors, friends, and a positive mindset, I recovered,” he adds. Commentary played a part. The physiotherapist brought in a tape of the match between Sri Lanka and Australia and Reds did commentary for it, from his hospital bed. Like in his childhood; the days of imaginary commentary. “Vaas comes in, bowls to Waugh, who goes on the back foot to tuck it away. They run hard and come back for second. The score moves to…” The voice returns. The heart stabilises. Reds is back. Or is he?A game between New Zealand and West Indies later in 1996. Curtly Ambrose has the ball. A nervous Reds is behind the mike. “I don’t know whether any word is going to come out of my mouth.” They do, though. “Ambrose runs in to bowl to Crowe, who goes back and plays it to mid-off.” All is well.His mind goes back to the Kerry Packer series. He commentated on Lawrence Rowe’s 175 against Lillee and Thomson. “It was one the best knocks I have ever seen in my life, and hardly anyone saw it. “Packer gets a breakthrough and gets the SCG. West Indies v Australia, starting at 2pm. By 4, the crowd start to come. Australia are batting first. Now it’s 6’o clock and the crowd are packing in. It’s 8pm and your skin is crawling. I can’t believe what’s happening. Are there really 50,000 people in? Packer was delighted. Champagne flowed like water. Finally, he had made the point to the Australian board. I was delighted too. West Indies won that game, you see!”Those were happy times, on the road with West Indies when they were rulers of the world.Reds tells another story. “It’s in South Africa and they make me read out a letter on air. A custody case in court. The judge asks the boy whether he wants to live with his father. ‘No, lord, my father beats me. No, lord, my mother too beats me.’ Halfway through I realise the joke is on me, but what to do? ‘Send me to the West Indies team. They don’t beat anyone.’I laugh. Reds doesn’t. I wonder how West Indies’ fans have endured the last 15 years of decline.Fast forward to today. Reds, no longer active in commentary, is in the press box. A call comes in from a radio network. They’re doing live updates from the ground. Reds clears his throat. “Simmons and Sarwan are playing really well. West Indies 100 for 1. Simmons is playing the big shots and, importantly, rotating the strike well. Sarwan is looking good. West Indies are looking good…”