Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders didn’t do many things wrong this season, but the small errors and their vulnerability away from home cost them

Devashish Fuloria18-May-2015Overview
This season threatened to be an awkward one for Kolkata Knight Riders, the defending champions. Sunil Narine had led them two IPL titles in four seasons but was now stuck in a tug-of-war between the BCCI, the board’s eyes fixed on his elbows, and his team. If one thought that Knight Riders were going to be a little circumspect in playing Narine, that did not happen.With his wings clipped, Narine was not at his best. Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan was not available either for a large part of the season. Knight Riders must have been flustered, but to their credit they never showed it on the field and other players chipped in with crucial contributions. Chinaman bowler Brad Hogg took the mantle of perplexing opposition batsmen in a few games, Piyush Chawla took a bundle of wickets, and Andre Russell enhanced his reputation as a hard-hitting allrounder.Knight Riders rose to the top spot in the league with a hat-trick of home wins and victory in one of their last two games would have taken them through to the next stage. What hurt them in the end was their inability to close out away games. If they were asked to travel back in time and correct one mistake, it would surely be that last over at the Wankhede against Mumbai Indians.High point
Narine did make an impact in one of the games, taking 4 for 19 against Kings XI Punjab, but Knight Riders came close to losing points against the bottom dwellers of the league. Chasing 184, they were struggling at 83 for 4. Then a Russell onslaught took them close, but he too fell short. They hobbled, before a crucial 18 from Piyush Chawla helped them to a one-wicket win – the first-ever in the IPL.Low point
It has to be their penultimate game against Mumbai. With 12 to get off the final over and a set Yusuf Pathan in the middle, Knight Riders were two hits away from a playoff spot. Even though Yusuf fell off the first ball, Chawla was there. A couple of good connections and the game was theirs. Chawla had hit the winning shot in the last IPL final; this time he just couldn’t get bat on ball and Knight Riders fell five short.Top of the class
Andre Russell’s development would have heartened Knight Riders. From not being able to find a game last season to becoming the go-to man with bat and ball, Russell was a revelation. He showed serious hitting ability with the bat; his 326 runs came at a staggering strike rate of 192.89. What more, he was also their leading wicket-taker with 14 scalps.Under-par performer
Robin Uthappa was the leading run-getter for Knight Riders for the second consecutive season. But he had almost 300 runs fewer in his bag than last year. Uthappa’s indifferent form at the top meant the middle order was always under pressure.Tip for 2016
Spin has been Knight Riders’ strength for a few seasons but it seems they will need an influx of fresh talent. Though they have backed Narine all through, at some stage they would want to think beyond him. The ageing Hogg won’t be available forever either. They do have two young recruits in Kuldeep Yadav and KC Cariappa waiting in the wings, but both will need to be match ready next year. Knight Riders also need some reinforcements in their batting order, especially at No. 3 and 4.

The England Development Programme’s focus on working closely with counties has helped players make an easier transition to the top level and also helped keep them grounded

Vithushan Ehantharajah04-Aug-2015During the third and final day of the Edgbaston Ashes Test, Nasser Hussain was sat in Sky Sports’ “Third Man” chair. It is often a seat in which the occupant points out differences, but this time Hussain had encountered a constant: Stuart Broad’s action. Alongside footage of Broad bowling in the third Test – arm straight, perpendicular to the head, which is off to the left, seemingly unable to watch what might unfold at the other end – was a slighter, less chiselled Broad bowling in the gold-emblem whites of the England Under-19 back in 2005.Broad is one of nine of the Edgbaston XI to have played U-19 cricket. On Tuesday, the current crop start their own home series against Australia, beginning with a solitary “Test”, followed by five one-dayers. It will not win much attention, with the Ashes series heading for a potentially decisive result at Trent Bridge, but the impact of U-19 cricket on the England side looks undeniable.It should also be a closely fought affair – the corresponding set of fixtures in Australia in April saw a drawn Test and Australia take the one-day series 3-2. Currently only the third one-dayer, on August 17, is scheduled for live TV coverage. In ten years’ time, an England player from that game might be given the Broad treatment using footage obtained from this very fixture.”I wouldn’t change that time in my life for the world,” says Azeem Rafiq, who spent years as a golden child at England age-group level and at Yorkshire, where he was heralded for his skill and determinedness as a cricketer. “It’s a privilege not everyone gets, to play for the U-19s, and it’s an opportunity that should be enjoyed, for sure.”At the end of last season, Rafiq was released by Yorkshire and took “the tough decision” to step away from first-class cricket. Now playing for his home-town club Barnsley, he believes that it won’t be long before he is back to where he wants to be. It is his enjoyment of U-19 cricket that he is keen to rediscover going forward in his career.”You get to go abroad and play in different conditions, against your peers who are also trying to get to the top of the game. And to be captain, too. I absolutely loved it.”

Last season, after one U-19 did not heed the warning of his team-mates, he returned to the dressing room to find the three-lions badge had been cut out of his bag and replaced with a picture of Mickey Mouse

The chance to travel the world is a perk, whether on a tour full of fixtures or winter away full of drills: to Australia, India, Sri Lanka or the UAE. But the shrewdest players recognise it is about more than that.”Sometimes it’s more professional than at your actual county,” says Essex’s Tom Westley, who represented the U-19 team between 2007 and 2008.”With us, the ECB did their best to shadow the behaviour and structure of the full England team. There are a lot of backroom staff, not to mention the facilities you have access to at Loughborough. And the standard of cricket was another level: I played in a World Cup against Junaid Khan, Mohammad Amir, Virat Kohli and Tim Southee. That can only be a good thing.”But for all the glowing references from those who have come through the system, there is an air of resentment from those who developed in the harsher climes, outside the national pathways. Mainly it seems to be at what they perceive as an arrogance from certain individuals who come fresh from the U-19 bubble.Craig Overton’s England selection, seemingly based more on potential than merit, raised a few eyebrows among his peers•Getty ImagesTo many, the programme breeds bad attitudes in youngsters who have achieved very little in the game. Naturally county cricket – the entity and its incumbents – bite back at those thus identified to succeed. A player’s first travails on the domestic treadmill can be humbling enough, without others willfully adding to the discomfort.When you next find yourself at a county match, prick up your ears when a highly rated youngster comes to the crease. At a Division One Championship fixture at Old Trafford last year, one group of players got under the skin of a high-profile, recently graduated U-19 batsman to such an extent that not only did they talk him out of his wicket, he had to be restrained from entering the opposition dressing room at the end of the day as he went in search of some form of retribution.That some established players find perceived youthful promise so irksome might be down to a cultural shift occurring inside the county dressing room. Those senior players would have come through a hierarchical structure in the dressing room where they would have to earn the respect of their fellow players from a position of weakness. As a youngster you had little credibility until you proved it out in the middle, and then later at the bar.Now players aged 19 and 20 are brasher, armed with sponsorship deals and agents on hand to help force a move if all is not rosy. “My boy’s going to be a star, he doesn’t need this shithole,” spluttered one agent when he thought his client was being strong-armed into a new deal by his county. The player in question would go on to leave at the end of the season, securing a pay rise in the process.

One group of players got under the skin of a high-profile, recently graduated U-19 batsman to such an extent that not only did they talk him out of his wicket, he had to be restrained from entering the opposition dressing room at the end of the day

There is also the belief among some on the circuit that their peers with previous involvement in England age-group programmes are given special treatment. One example that came up earlier this season was Somerset’s Craig Overton, who was drafted into the England squad during the ODI series against New Zealand, along with his twin brother Jamie, despite averaging under 15 with the bat and over 40 with the ball in List A cricket. At a glance, an extreme case of a selection based on potential rather than sustained performance.”I suppose there are some U-19 cricketers who are earmarked without having done much in county cricket,” agrees Westley. And I think that’s naturally going to happen every year. I don’t think that’s a bad thing; if they see someone that has potential and can bypass a bit of the system, then that’s at the discretion of the selectors.”Others do not necessarily share that view. “What has Craig Overton done to get a call-up to the ODI squad?” asked a county bowler in possession of better numbers. “That’s no slight on him, though – he can’t choose whether he’s picked or not. It’s just ridiculous.”This disconnect between the national system and county cricket is being addressed. In recent years the programme has evolved to ensure the two collaborate rather than exist in conflict.Now instead of two age groups, the U-17 and U-19, there is one England Development Programme, which competes at U-19 level, while providing opportunities and experiences for players in the full age range from 17 to 19. The process of picking those players is also more rigorous than ever.With each new crop starting on the programme in the first weekend of October, the work to assemble the best and most suitable youngsters begins at the start of that summer.A long list of players is drawn up at the beginning of the season through the recommendation of county and academy coaches. Throughout the summer these coaches provide feedback on how their respective players are performing, while a number of scouts (between 15 and 25) ensure that each player is watched at least six times, whether that’s in school, age-group, 2nd XI or first-class cricket.Once that information is collated, the list is shortened before EDP coaches and selectors focus their scouting trips on the selected few – 17, in the case of the current cohort – to ensure the right decisions have been made. It is a system that has been devised through working closely with the Football Association and noting how they operate, select and develop talent at age-group levels.Left-arm quick Sam Curran, a product of the EDP, took eight wickets on Championship debut•Getty ImagesThe final stamps on selection are delivered by a committee of four: EDP chairman of selectors David Graveney, who once fulfilled the role for the national side, the head of the EDP, Andy Hurry, and his assistants, Iain Brunnschweiler and Tim Boon. Such a thorough process helps to guard against favouritism.It is this increased liaising with counties that led the ECB to appoint Hurry last September. He left his job as director of high performance at Somerset. Having been at the county for 13 years, he cultivated an academy at Taunton that has produced Jos Buttler and nine of Somerset’s current 1st XI squad. One of those nine, 21-year-old Tom Abell is thought to have the talent and temperament to go all the way. His 571 runs at an average of just over 40 in his debut Championship season support that enthusiasm.With the number of days players are on the EDP significantly reduced, and more focus placed on working successfully together with first-class counties, having someone with Hurry’s experience in position at the National Cricket Performance Centre is vital.”Coming in from county cricket, I had a relatively experienced background working with developing players,” Hurry told ESPNcricinfo. “But I quickly appreciated that the staff working on the programme had a greater knowledge and understanding of working with adolescent players. I was fortunate to walk into a new environment where I could trust the staff to do what they do.”The brief was very clear – to collaborate that working relationship with counties. We recognise the development opportunity players have at their first-class counties. Our major role needs to be providing significant opportunities and learning experiences that the first-class counties cannot offer them.”It’s a point reinforced by Brunnschweiler, who was briefly employed as a professional and later assistant coach by Hampshire, and who has been with the EDP for four years.For those about to come to the end of the EDP cycle, Brunnschweiler has been an ever-present. As well as the county contribution for his young players, he respects the role of parents and schools. “It’s something we have worked really hard on over the last few years,” he says. “We have to make sure we are all aligned – whether that’s a club or even a school coach. Essentially, together we’re a whole system around the player. They need to be the focus for us.”The core group of players set to take on Australia U-19 over the next month have had up to three years in the central programme, meaning the depth of understanding that Brunnschweiler and his fellow coaches have about them is extensive.Of the 16 players selected in the Test squad, nine have already played competitive 1st XI cricket for their counties. Rightly, it’s a big tick for the EDP and those supporting the development of each individual.Brunnschweiller is quick to share the praise. For the development of Hampshire legspinner Mason Crane, credit is given to former Hants spinner Rajesh Maru, who has been working with Crane at Lancing College. Likewise for Surrey’s Sam Curran, who took match figures of 8 for 120 (including a five-wicket haul in the first innings) on Championship debut against Kent.”With Sam, the bulk of the work has been done by Surrey and Wellington College, but we hope the experience he had with the EDP out against Pakistan last winter helped. That’s what we need to do – provide excellent experiences for these guys to learn from and in an environment where the boundaries are very clear.”For Alex Wakely, England’s captain at the 2008 U-19 World Cup, his experiences as a highly rated youngster who has since had to work out his game in domestic cricket are more common than those of the select few who make unhindered progress to the top of the tree.As it happens, Wakely’s crop saw a big conversion of U-19s to full-time professional cricketers, with 12 of that squad of 15 currently active in the first-class circuit. Four of those 12 – Steven Finn, James Taylor, Chris Woakes and Stuart Meaker – have played international cricket, while others such as Westley, Sam Northeast and James Harris have been pushing their credentials for higher honours this season.Now, as captain at Northamptonshire, Wakely is keen do what senior players at the club did for him when he was an U-19.”I was lucky,” he remembers. “They took me to one side and said: ‘Look, don’t come here swanning around with your England kit. That means nothing in the big world’.”I try and instil that in our dressing room. But we’ve had a few lads in the past who have come back with their England bags to first-class games. It’s fine if you’ve played for the full side. But U-19s?”The bag is an interesting point of contention across the country. As a general rule of thumb, full international bags seem to be allowed, but stash obtained on Performance Programmes or U-19 duty is generally a no-no. Last season, after one U-19 did not heed the warning of his team-mates, he returned to the dressing room to find the three-lions badge had been cut out of his bag and replaced with a picture of Mickey Mouse.One player under Wakely’s stewardship whom he is focused on seeing succeed is Ben Duckett. An exceptional talent who thrilled at the U-19 level and is starting to replicate those performances on the domestic scene, Duckett is prone to moments of recklessness. Last month he was banned from driving for a year after he crashed his car into a ditch while over the alcohol limit.”Seriously, I love this bloke,” says Wakely. “He’s an absolute diamond with all the potential to go right to the top, but he needs more time in a professional environment. He knows he’s messed up. This has been a massive wake-up call for him.”It is perhaps here that the ECB and the EDP are making major strides.”The programme’s biggest change in the last few years, and some of the lessons we have taken, is that it’s about developing the person, not just the player,” says Hurry.It’s a point Brunnschweiler takes further. “We need to have a holistic approach about what we do. If there are players that are really talented but a bit challenging, it’s up to us as a system to work out how we are going to help them become the best and most effective player they can be. We should embrace individuality, while understanding why a player might be doing something slightly different to their peers.”All this,” says Brunnschweiler, “while getting them to learn how to win.”

Quietly going about his business as interim coach, Paul Farbrace has helped lay the foundations of success for a talented young England team

George Dobell22-Jun-20153:25

‘None of us could have predicted this series’ – Farbrace

Amid all the talk of fresh starts and new eras, another one will end for England at Old Trafford on Tuesday.The T20 match against New Zealand will be Paul Farbrace’s last – for the foreseeable, at least – as interim head coach. Trevor Bayliss will arrive in England at the end of the week and Farbrace will slip, without fuss or complaint, back into the wings.Bearing in mind the progress England have made under his control – and the change to their approach in limited-overs cricket has been radical – it is a spell that deserves some recognition.The simplistic explanation would be that England, freed from Peter Moores, have had all impediments removed and shot forward. But attractive though any simplistic explanation might be, it does not really stand up to scrutiny.In many ways, the language of Farbrace and Moores is the same. As Steven Finn admitted last week, England intended to play aggressive cricket at the World Cup. They were just unable to turn words into actions on the big stage.Cricket first passion for ‘show pony’ Billings

It has long been feared that the best athletes in British society are lost to cricket but, if Sam Billings is anything to go by, perhaps that is changing.
Billings, usually a keeper with Kent, has excelled in the field since his ODI debut for England and has now revealed that he was a more than handy footballer in his youth. But such is his love of cricket, he never thought twice when forced to pick a sport.
“I dabbled in a bit of football back in the day,” he said. “I’d like to say I played centre attacking midfield but that’s generous. I was up front, a show pony.
“I scored a hat-trick against Tottenham Academy and managed to get a trial, but I didn’t go because I was on tour in Barbados with South of England Under-14s.
“Cricket was always going to be the only sport I was going to play to a professional level. That was my first passion.”
Billings is also an accomplished rackets player and his cousin Tom Billings is rated No. 3 in the world at the sport.

Equally, the idea that Moores was prescriptive and obsessed by “data” remains a myth. The England analyst during the World Cup was frustrated by the lack of use of his work. Farbrace has pointed out that the Sri Lanka side he coached previously utilised stats far more.But, since the World Cup and Moores’ departure, England have embraced the new approach without compromise or fear. Senior players have been discarded and any sense of selfishness or caution has been banished in case it sets root and spreads. Everyone has bought in to the idea. As Bob Dylan put it, when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose.Farbrace may well be the perfect man for such an environment. He has, in the course of his sporting career, played county cricket for a decade – often on the brink of being dropped – coached football, 2nd XIs, county sides and academies. He has led a side to the World T20 title and read of his own future dismissal many times. He has been shot at, criticised, lauded and ignored. He has, in short, experienced just about everything the game can throw at him. He has a sense of perspective.For that reason, it has been relatively easy for him to reduce tension in the dressing room. While nerves are inevitable – these young men have been dreaming of this for most of their life – Farbrace has the easygoing, phlegmatic manner to help the players relax as much as possible and play fearless, consequence-free cricket. He knows it is just a game. It matters, but plenty of things matter more.That is not to say he is soft. His fielding drills are brutal, his fitness standards are exacting. And if he makes sure every player leaves the nets feeling good about their game, they will have had to work for it along the way.His commitment to the bold approach is absolute and extends beyond on-field tactics. It is understood, for example, that after Liam Plunkett and Chris Jordan were injured and England required replacements, a couple of names were suggested by the selectors. But they were rejected by Farbrace and, eventually, the Overton twins were selected instead. His desire for progress, for youth, for boldness, is uncompromising.Reece Topley is another young player selected on potential by England•Getty ImagesThere are tougher tests to come for England, though. Churlish though it may sound, the ODI series victory was achieved against a New Zealand attack that was increasingly weakened from their World Cup unit. Not only will the arrival of Australia provide some sort of barometer of progress – it is much easier to be upbeat when you are winning – but, if this new England do enjoy further success, it will become a challenge to maintain the same united spirit and camaraderie as they enjoy at present. As Craig Kieswetter’s words have shown, success can be just as much of a challenge as failure.Already the relative success of this team is attracting attention. ESPNcricinfo understands that David Willey is the subject of interest from several counties and is highly likely to depart Northamptonshire. It is understood that, while he is not out of contract until the end of 2016, he has an agreement with the club whereby he can leave if he requests. He has no shortage of suitors.While there is no reason to think that Willey’s head will be turned by such opportunities, the point remains that innocence can be one of the first casualties of success. Alex Hales admits that, for a while, he lost his way after his first coming as a T20 batsman. Farbrace, with his experience of triumph and disaster, is ideally placed to help them keep their feet on the ground.This T20 squad is another picked on the basis of potential rather than achievement. Mark Wood, for example, has only taken three – yes, three – T20 wickets in his career. Sam Billings has only scored one half-century. Reece Topley is just 21.But they all have raw talent and they are all free from the scars of previous campaigns. They can be moulded in the image their captain, Eoin Morgan, desires and they might give England a better chance of progress in next year’s World T20. The chance of a return for Kevin Pietersen has receded markedly.It just underlines Farbrace’s success. He took the tiller in stormy seas and has helped England to much calmer waters. If this England go on to enjoy success, they will owe him plenty.

Watch the plays of the day from the fourth day of the second Test between Sri Lanka and India in Colombo

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Aug-2015

#SangaSignsOff

The time had come and Colombo knew how to make it special. Kumar Sangakkara strode out for the final time as a batsman in Test cricket through a guard of honour and a very noisy crowd. It was a chancy innings though. He was nearly run out off the seventh ball he faced. There were two crisp fours as well. But the innings would only last 18 balls.

Memories of the man

Although the fairytale ending was foiled, Sangakkara’s value and “what he was for SL cricket is something you can’t take away,” to quote his best friend Mahela Jayawardene. Here is what some of his other team-mates had to say4:17

WATCH – What Sanga meant to his team-mates

Behind the scenes

For those curious about the man himself, Sangakkara’s wife Yehali talks of how she was wooed by five-page love letters, and of family cook-outs2:26

WATCH – Yehali Sangakkara on her husband

Rise to the top

That Sangakkara has toppled various records is common knowledge, but how does he rate among his peers? ESPNcricinfo compared his average as a Test cricketer with some of his peers as his career went on0:53

WATCH – Sanga soars from from No. 21 to No. 1

The nemesis

That he had to go through his first Test series without aggregating 100 runs in two years was down to India offspinner R Ashwin, who took Sangakkara’s wicket four out of four times

A lack of basic facilities, administrative problems, selection politics, age-group frauds… it all plagues Delhi cricket, the home of many an Indian cricketer in recent times

Sidharth Monga21-Oct-2015At 8am on Wednesday morning, a day before the start of a Ranji Trophy match between Delhi and Virender Sehwag’s Haryana, the guards at Feroz Shah Kotla are not letting the press in. When asked why, one of them points to a newspaper and says, “Probably because of this.” The newspaper has a photograph of Chetan Chauhan, former India Test opener, former member of parliament, and now vice-president in Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA), with Mohammad Azharuddin, former India captain now banned by BCCI for match-fixing.Chauhan had invited Azharuddin to the match. Now the BCCI doesn’t stop Azhar from attending the match, but he was seen talking to a couple of Vidarbha players and some Delhi support staff, regaling them with funny tales and advice. All went fine until a DDCA official went and brought this to the match referee’s attention. This was not done out of some great duty to BCCI regulations, which nobody knows fully yet, but to bring the other down. Just another day at the DDCA office.This year DDCA has had more such days than the usual. The BCCI has stopped DDCA’s funds because the association has not filed its accounts. It has not filed the accounts because there are allegations of fraud against the president Sneh Bansal. One bank account has been frozen, and no signing authority in DDCA wants to issue a cheque now and risk facing serious investigation. There has been a free for all when it comes to administration, with three teams selected, not enough balls or drinking water at the preparatory camp. The players, and various other vendors – team kit, for example – haven’t been paid for two seasons.A player’s earnings in Ranji Trophy is made up of two factors. Match fee, paid by his association. Arrears, paid by the BCCI, a share of its annual profits. Some players have asked the BCCI why they haven’t been paid those arrears, having given up on DDCA’s match fee. They have been told the DDCA needs to give the BCCI a list of players who have played for Delhi in the season, and how many matches. The DDCA hasn’t found time to do that.Mithun Manhas, a senior player, transferred to Jammu and Kashmir ahead of the 2015-16 season•ESPNcricinfo LtdVirender Sehwag and Mithun Manhas have already left, but Rajat Bhatia was being asked to stay back, and made to hope he would captain the side, while eventual captain Gautam Gambhir didn’t want him in the side. The idea was to contain the power Gambhir enjoys. , as it is referred to as behind the tinted glasses of the Willingdon Pavilion from where many officials and former Delhi cricketers watch the Ranji Trophy match. Some even floated the name of young Unmukt Chand for captaincy. Gambhir has prevailed, and continues to get the team he wants and conditions he wants.The way Vijay Dahiya – the coach after Ajay Jadeja, the choice of government nominees for the role, left mysteriously – talks of the combination a day before the Ranji Trophy match suggests a clear thinking within the group. There is solid reasoning to all three changes he is making, and he has announced the XI on the eve of the match. This is completely at odds with an association that couldn’t even ensure they had a coach when the first match began.Delhi have just won a match outright after a slow start to the season, conceding a lead to Rajasthan in Jaipur. Mother of all ironies is that cricket in Rajasthan – at least on paper – is now being run by a DDCA member. A letter in its notice board says, “It gives me great pleasure to advise you that Mr CK Khanna has achieved another milestone and brought laurels to DDCA as he is appointed on the ad-hoc committee for managing cricket affairs in Rajasthan.” Next to it is a missive to a Mr Sarkar who is allegedly not collecting charges from members who are using the gym at Feroz Shah Kotla.Day one
There was recently a brilliant investigation in on the frauds committed by and against Food Panda. The food app tried to woo the customers with unrealistic offers, often buy-one-get-one. The get-one cost would be borne by Food Panda, not by the restaurants. Suddenly fake restaurants began to swindle that money through fake orders placed by their own people. No food was delivered, but the offer money, running up to lakhs per restaurant per month, was gone. This was earning by proxy. Through restaurants that Food Panda recognised without due diligence.Similarly DDCA is run by proxy. Proxies are people who vote for DDCA’s executive committee, but they vote by proxy. They are such old members that no outsider can even establish who they are. They have given their proxies to those in power. Some of them are dead, but no one knows. In some cases 70-80 people live in the same house, on paper of course. No outsider can breach this hold of the few in power. You can litigate, but the DDCA has the backing of the biggest lawyer in India, union finance minister Arun Jaitley, who was the president of DDCA from 2000 to 2013. The funda is clear: let us drag the litigation, and no one has as much muscle as us to keep fighting in the court.Kirti Azad, a former India cricketer, member of parliament, and anti-DDCA activist is now trying to fight the DDCA from the outside. He recently registered police cases for age fraud in Delhi’s age group teams, and some DDCA officials are actually fearing arrest. Yet the attitude in Delhi cricket is best summed by a former player and official: “Kirti Azad. He is the son of a chief minister. He is himself an MP. He played for India. It should be beneath him to do these things. When I played Under-19, XXX played with me, but he was at least 23-24. Now if Kirti Azad had filed a police case then, would we have got such a good cricketer?” Age fraud is in DDCA. Petty.On the field, Sehwag bats against his home team. He plays a cut early on in the innings. Nobody has paid to enter the ground, but the small crowd says this shot in itself is [money’s worth]. Sehwag then does what he does, plonking his bat after calling his partner through for a quick single, and is run out when sliding the bat would have got him home.Despite enduring multiple troubles, Delhi have managed to produce more India cricketers than other states in recent times•ESPNcricinfo LtdDay two
Back. /bak/. Noun and verb. In Delhi dictionary it means the support of a godfather. As in, “You want to play for Delhi? What is your back?”Yet Delhi has been producing more India cricketers than other states in recent times. Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma. Before that Gambhir, Aakash Chopra, Ashish Nehra, Sehwag. Before that, Dahiya. Add to it players who represent other states but learnt their cricket in Delhi. Amit Mishra. Praveen Kumar. Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Murali Kartik. Mohammad Kaif.A former Delhi player turns up at the Kotla. He doesn’t sit behind the tinted glasses of Willingdon Pavilion, but watches cricket from outside. He knows the system. I ask him what is the process for a talented young cricketer to get into the Delhi team. “We knew early on this is Dhokha Dhadi [cheating and fraud] Cricket Association,” he says. “When I was young I went for trials. I played four balls. The selectors asked three questions, ‘Son, what is your name? What does your father do? What club do you play for?'”I didn’t have an answer for the third because I didn’t play for a club. I was asked to leave. Next year I had enrolled at a club run by a DDCA official, and I was picked.”Delhi’s brittle and almost entirely new middle order collapses, but youngster Nitish Rana, only in his second first-class match, shows composure to score 48 before Pradeep Sangwan and Sarang Rawat strike late blows to take Delhi into lead. Not bad for a team in an administrative mess.Day three
A successful local coach – but not a former player – shows up to follow the progress of his wards. I ask him the same question as I did the former Delhi cricketer. “Keep the talented kid away from DDCA,” the coach says. “Just avoid the age-group teams. These teams are not representative of the kids’ talent, but of their fathers’ influence and money.”In fact I don’t like kids who come to my academy with their fathers. Because you can’t fight in the presence of your father. Playing cricket in Delhi is a fight. You have to fight. Cricket talent is natural, my job is to teach them to fight. There is a lot of talent in Delhi, but outside DDCA. It is in the local tournaments.”But what about the back? “Kids with influential fathers never go as far as Ranji,” he says. “That’s why I avoid age-group tournaments. These kids don’t know how to fight.”You look at Mohit Ahlawat, Delhi’s young wicketkeeper. He is a son of an autorickshaw driver. He has no back, in the traditional sense. He has the support of his captain, who has picked him out of nowhere. Ahlawat plays for the club that Gambhir used to play for, but that is not the case with Navdeep Saini, whom he brought from Karnal to Delhi last year despite protests from the sports committee of DDCA, or with Sumit Narwal, the much-valued veteran seam bowler and handy lower-order batsman from Karnal. This is a U-turn from the times Amit Mishra had to leave Delhi for Haryana because he was ignored by DDCA selectors. Mishra’s official communication and cheques still arrive at a friend’s house in Rohtak.It is unfortunate that Gambhir won’t talk and explain his thought process and motives. Whatever might have happened between him and some other seniors who have now left Delhi, right now there seems no need for the conventional back. Most of the private academies in Delhi have been told to send net bowlers to Delhi nets, and there is every chance a good bowler there can bypass all the DDCA systems to play for Delhi.Manan Sharma, a left-arm spinner, meanwhile takes six wickets to make up for the loss of Ishant Sharma to injury, bowling 30 overs on the trot, holding one end up, and also taking wickets on a seventh-day track (previous match was played here too) where if the batsman begins to defend, it is difficult to get him out. Delhi need 224 to win.Day four
Unmukt Chand scores 99, Sangwan hits a couple of blows after a mini collapse, and then Milind Kumar, the 25-year-old playing his 12th first-class match in his fifth season, shows composure to take Delhi home. Despite all the pre-season troubles, Delhi are now top of the table, with 14 points. “We don’t care about what is said in even 50 metres’ radius of us,” Dahiya says.I ask him how Delhi produces so many cricketers. “Is there a system to produce cricketers in Delhi? No. Then why are you saying Delhi produces so many cricketers? They produce themselves. They fight it out. Nobody complains.”You are from Bombay. A guy makes a fifty, you make them a star. That is the legacy of Bombay and Calcutta. I have been going to Calcutta for 15 years. A guy makes two hundreds in the league. This big picture. Here you don’t get anything. So much bickering, so much negativity. Cream comes to the top. You go through everything in the beginning. Once you get there you make it count. There is so much talent in Delhi it is unbelievable.”This is, of course, not ideal or to be endorsed, but is there a slight chance that unwittingly DDCA makes its cricketer mentally strong? Like Pakistan does. Like Uttar Pradesh does. Those who have had their careers ruined by the politics might disagree.

The Big Bash League is heading into its fifth year and is now much more than just a staging post on the way to the summit of the CLT20

Daniel Brettig16-Dec-20152:15

Sixers, Thunder ‘Batting for Change’

Every mainstream entertainer goes through numerous phases of growth in terms of audience and attention. The band at home in a club might struggle to advance to arenas, or fail to connect with a raucous gathering at an outdoor festival. The solo artist packing out arenas might not enjoy or resonate so much in a stadium.Artistically, those who excelled in personal tales told in confessional manner may be unable to create the widescreen musical vistas often demanded by a mass following. Sometimes that leap is made before the performer is quite ready, others well after they have done their time, still more never at all.

Batting for Change flavours Derby

A Sydney derby opening to the BBL will have the added sub-plot of both sides earning money for charity with every six hit. Each player has pledged to donate $750 for each six hit during the match, as part of the Batting for Change cause set-up by the Sixers’ Ryan Carters.
“The vision Ryan Carters had when he launched Batting for Change with the LBW Trust, his mindset of educating women is going to be more substantial and help with growth in generations to come,” Sixers captain Nic Maddinson said. “So any time we can contribute to educating women who don’t really have the opportunity in countries like Nepal, last year it was India, this year it’s going to be the same school in India and another one in Sri Lanka, that’s extremely important. “For the players to contribute, we’ve seen how much its grown, and it just adds a little bit more to the rivalry between the Sixers and the Thunder.”

Five years into its history, the Big Bash League is thrust into the position of topping the bill for the Australian summer’s prime cricket months. This has come about largely through the scheduling of a hapless West Indies team for the Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests, a decision made some years ago but well after the regional collective had ceased being a factor away from their home islands.The leap the BBL must make is summed up by the fact that most of West Indies’ best players are going to be turning out for Twenty20 teams rather than their Test side, in matches played concurrently. Dwayne Bravo summed up the primary reason for this choice – longstanding dysfunction at home leading many players to conclude they are simply better appreciated elsewhere.”I get frustrated at times,” Bravo said, “not only for myself but for all the other cricketers, Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, we all want to represent West Indies. But sometimes the way we have been treated over the years … why should we actually fight with West Indies’ cricket where the rest of the world opens their arms for us? Yes they pay us well but at the same time we never feel disrespect when we play for those teams around the world.”We feel love. We feel well-respected. Do we get that type of treatment back in the region? No we don’t.”Caribbean players are developing relationships with BBL teams that, after five years, are starting to feel a little more like clubs than marketing conceits. This is apparent nowhere more tangibly than at the Sydney Thunder, where a hellish start to the team’s story has given way to something more methodical and character-driven. Tellingly, they are the only club to have downsized their venue: this year they have moved from the catacombs of Sydney Olympic Stadium to the more boutique Showground stadium, where crowds of 20,000 will have atmosphere.Personified by their captain Michael Hussey, the Thunder are doing all they can to usurp the established hegemony of the SCG-based Sixers. A narrow loss last summer will form part of their motivation on Thursday night. “It hurt a lot that night for sure, we got ourselves in a position where we should have won that match and couldn’t finish it off,” Hussey said. “Great innings by Jordan Silk helped the Sixers get over the line. It certainly hurt me a lot, and I know a few of the guys who were part of that game last year it hurt them a lot as well.”It’s taken time, you can’t just build a team, culture, environment overnight, it’s going to take time. I feel like the amount of work that’s been done off the field to get things in place has been incredible and we’ve done a lot of work to try and build a good roster and people of good character as well, that’s been the philosophy of the team. I think we’ve got it to a place where we’re really confident. Certainly no excuses coming into this season.”The BBL is more significant in other ways also. It is no longer viewed as simply a staging post on the way to the summit of the CLT20 – it is now the peak of achievement for an Australia-based T20 player, and the only way they can grab the attention of IPL talent scouts. For each of the past four editions, it was understood that the true prize was qualification for the final, given its attendant CLT20 qualification and associated riches. This time the decider will be just that.Playing ranks have swelled, too, with Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara bringing their brands of Sri Lankan genius to the tournament. Samuel Badree, another West Indian, will grant the Brisbane Heat a quality spin bowling option through the middle overs.The BBL brand has been vitalized by the presence of players like Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene•AFPAs ever, player availability due to national team duty will have an influence over the tournament – Shane Watson’s place in the plans of Darren Lehmann may very well impact those of the Thunder. Usman Khawaja will not be playing Thursday night in order to have the best chance of being fit for the Boxing Day Test. Renegade Callum Ferguson’s hopes of a successful BBL and a limited overs call-up in the new year have been cruelly dashed by a serious knee injury.Of course, the greater attention to be lavished on the BBL this year will also bring greater scrutiny of its quality and ability to maintain the interest of all fans, not just those who have taken to tuning in after the Test match day has run its course. There remains an enduring contradiction to T20, as summed up by Ed Cowan – a Sydney Sixer – in his diary of the 2010-11 Sheffield Shield season.”One of the first things they taught us at university,” Cowan wrote, “was that humans react to incentives – and this format is the most lucrative and prestigious in town. Less work for more pay … You can be paid a lot more for not being as good as you used to have to be. Perhaps that’s more ‘democratic’, but it also seems to make efficiency sufficient when the objective should surely always be excellence.”T20 is indisputably the most cashed up of cricket’s formats, but the way it is played, it is also the least taxing. A preponderance of cricketers who have retired from international or Test cricket in order to pursue T20 cheques tells that tale succinctly, and as Brad Haddin quipped: “If someone’s bowling really fast I can stand outside leg and have a swing and say I was trying to move the game forward and not be scared!”One of cricket’s truisms has it that the longer the format the greater the chance of the superior team being able to prove themselves as such. In order to get a fair measure of the best T20 sides, a greater volume of short form matches need to be played, taking a greater physical and mental toll than they currently do.As Hussey said: “I think the more the better, we enjoy playing, the competition’s really strong. I guess it is pretty cutthroat, with eight games you can’t afford too many slip ups along the way, and so the competition’s really high. But in a way that’s a real positive as well, you know you’ve got to be on your game and playing your best cricket all the time, you can’t afford to have too many slip ups. That’s part of having a good roster.”To amend things slightly, more matches need to be played if the game’s players and administrators actually want to know who is the best. If not, then T20 will remain a diverting entertainment and a healthy revenue source, but not the defining test of a cricketer. A summer in which the traditional Test matches cannot provide the same level of intrigue and drama as those of recent seasons is a time to open up that kind of debate. Australian cricket waits to see how the BBL will handle top billing.

Our readers weigh in on cricketer’s nicknames, South Africa’s stonewalling, the fortunes of Amir and Irfan, John Mooney’s career and Ambrose’s stirring words

12-Dec-2015Whatever happened to the clever nickname?
Reader: Indianinneredge
Venkatapathy Raju, the former Indian spinner was called “Muscles” for his obvious lack of them. In the 1970-71 Ind-WI series, Windies had a quick called Uton Dowe, seems Indian batsmen took a liking to his bowling prompting the famous banner and take on on the 11th commandment, ‘Dowe shalt not bowl’. How could you miss Jesse “Giddyap” Ryder, Jonty-on-the victory-Rhodes who also was nicknamed ‘the Maritzburg mamba’. “Iron Bottom” was legendary, Rahul Dravid was “Jammy” as his Dad worked in a jam factory, Mark “Purple” (Great)batch, Chris “Drum-roll”… how about ‘the Ab-devil ‘for ABD?Lehmann backs scrapping of toss
Reader: puntificator
When I was growing up watching cricket, the curator was assumed to be a neutral party, like a match official. Their job was to produce the best cricket wicket possible under the circumstances of local conditions and weather, while staying true to the character of the wicket. Now the ground staff are increasingly seen as part of the home side’s entourage. Home fans and commentators scream if the wicket isn’t tailored to the home side’s bowling. This is the thin end of the wedge though. The next step is zoning a pitch, so that it favours right-handed over left-handed fast bowlers, or offspin over legspin. Together with the right to choose the make of ball, too much is in the home team’s hands.The solution? Make the ground staff answerable to the match referee, and give the MR the power to award the toss to the visiting side, if they feel the pitch is not prepared appropriately for competitive cricket, given local conditions and the historical character of the wicketA tale of two Pakistani bowlers
Reader: r1m2
Irfan has done very well with the limited opportunities he’s had during his career thus far. He was unlucky to be playing at a time when Pakistan isn’t playing many Tests and whatever Tests they play are on the barren desert land. I feel the story of both Irfan and Amir are kind of tragic. Amir everyone knows the reason. Irfan because of his age. I wish he was discovered by 20 and groomed to be ready for international by 25. Instead he started around 28 and now with his typical fast bowler’s injuries and Pakistan’s lack of cricket he’s turned 33 (34 soon) without playing a whole lot of matches.For me a cricketer doesn’t leave much of a legacy if they play less than 50 Test matches. For me those talented and performing cricketers with less than 50 Test matches are in the category of potentials. At the same time variety of stadiums and pitches also account for much of the practical international performance.I have a slight hope that Irfan by some miracle gets to play at least 50 matches and some matches in Australia, England and West Indies, more in South Africa. Then we will know the true quality of Irfan. I also hope that he is able to show his talent more consistently with the limited opportunities he gets so that he can be talked about in the same tone as the West Indian greats, especially for his height. All these are highly unlikely occurrences . Hence they are hopes.If only the current West Indies side had a player like Curtly Ambrose•WICB Media/Randy Brooks of Brooks LaTouche PhotoReader: Khurram S Chaudhry
In Ahmer’s last article, he gave some stats for bowlers after WC 2015. Based on those, I think none of Wahab or Irfan or Yasir is (the) leader of attack. Wahab has been wicketless 7 times in 12 matches. Yasir 5 times in 12, Irfan 4 times & picked more than 1 wicket in only 3 games (3 wickets twice & 2 once). Clearly not leaders of attack. Wahab can give you spells here & there which most will keep talking (about) but not wickets which are required. Same is the case with Irfan. Difficult to play but batsmen can avoid giving him wickets.Amir has been good and he is bowling well in BPL or QAT. He has served his ban so should be given fair chance. Not based on past performances but recent ones (which) are better than the bowlers played in last 12 months or so. Also Pak need to think about Junaid Khan. He has been really good on these Asian wickets in ODIs & Tests. Out of form after his injury but what’s been happening for him to get back to some shape?South Africa push for draw in epic blockathon
Reader: _-Will-_
Stone cold resistance. Indeed, this is one of the primary elements that has contributed to South Africa’s awesome nine-year away record. Very glad to see they’ve still got it!This final match, albeit a dead rubber, has been the most enjoyable for me. From an Indian perspective several things were quite refreshing, including: all our bowlers operating as a cohesive and effective unit in the second innings, Rahane’s superb twin hundreds, the stoic Rahane-Kohli partnership on day three, Ashwin’s 50.Nothing wrong with Kohli’s declaration IMHO; he removed the chance of an SA win from the equation, allowing over five sessions on a day 4-5 pitch to bowl SA out. If this isn’t enough time, we don’t deserve a win.But again, really happy to see the re-emergence of the renowned SA brick wall type resistance/determination. Their fast bowling was also of typical top shelf quality.Already looking forward to the SA v ENG tests. As for India, we must wait many months for more Test matchesMooney retires from internationals
Reader: MariusPontmercy94
So much loyalty to that shirt that he may as well have bled green when bowling himself into the ground for his team. A giant of Irish cricket in more ways than one. Cricket is poorer for your retirement, but so much better off now than it was when you first came along. Thanks for the memories, and all the best for whatever comes next, Mooney.Ambrose fires up Frank Worrell bout
Reader: tappee74
Sir Curtly is among my dearest cricketers. He is a no-nonsense man trademarked with that glare. Anyone young or old knows that he is indeed among the finest fast bowlers ever. How I wish we can have a man or two of his like in the WI team. I have entertained his views,but I do not necessary agree with him. The ammunition in the quiver is weak,the alloy lacks the lethal steel. Nevertheless, pouring from his heart are words of comfort and hope, which in many ways may be an inspiration to a group who is about to face the greatest challenge in cricket or perhaps in life. I wish them well, I am still disappointed with the selectors for not taking Chanderpaul, who in my opinion would have been important to the batting.

Having already broken the record for the highest score in all known cricket, Pranav Dhanawade told his father he would ‘score big tomorrow’, and proceeded to smash his way to a life-changing 1009 not out

Srikanth Ravishanker05-Jan-20163:15

The 1009* boy

On Monday morning, Prashant Dhanawade was plying his autorickshaw as usual around Kalyan, a sleepy northern suburb of Mumbai, when he got a phone call from a friend. “Go to the Union Cricket Academy ground,” his friend said. “Your son has scored 300 and doesn’t look like slowing down.”Prashant called his wife Mohini and asked her to light up the house in celebration, then rushed to the ground. He watched Pranav score another 300 runs, then returned with Mohini the next morning to watch him cross four figures and break just about every school-batting record.By Tuesday evening the modest neighbourhood of Wayale Nagar, where the ground is located, was Cricket Central. ” [The BBC guys are on their way! They just called],” said a stray voice at the ground. Prashant and Mohini struggled to catch their breath in between boundary-side interviews, while Pranav, after spending 396 minutes at the crease, took the field in his wicketkeeping attire, which he gave up after a few overs to field at slip.Whatever else life holds for the Dhanawades, these two days will be unforgettable. However small the ground and however weak the opposition, this record is now Pranav’s. His name is in the books. His name figured in all the tweets. Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni praised him, and even Michael Atherton mentioned his achievement in commentary during the Cape Town Test between South Africa and England.”I wasn’t at the ground,” Prashant says. “Pranav’s friend’s father called me up and told me that Pranav has scored a triple-century. I couldn’t believe it. By the time I reached the ground he had crossed 350, and went on and on, breaking record after record, and we didn’t even know that he was breaking them. After going home at night, he himself told me, [dad, I will score big tomorrow], and today he crossed 1000.”Pranav’s mother wasn’t aware of the records her son was steadily breaking. “I was at home when [Prashant] called me and asked me to deck up the house. ‘Your son has scored 300,’ he said. He kept calling me from the ground and updating me on his scores, but I didn’t realise anything till it was night. I thought he was just batting well. But when he got home I realised the magnitude of what he had achieved, and I couldn’t have been prouder.”Everyone was celebrating, even the opposition bowlers – who knew their names would also be part of the record.” [He hit me for 33 runs in two overs], [and also smashed two sixes of me],” Mayank Gupta, tiny and barely out of his puppy fat, says in a chirpy voice filled with pride. Then he points, one after the other, to two of his team-mates. ” [He smacked him for 200 runs, and him too].”Eventually, even the opposition bowlers were celebrating Pranav Dhanawade’s feat – they knew their names would also be part of the record•ESPNcricinfo LtdNone of this was planned, of course, but it was no accident either. Harish Sharma, Pranav’s school coach, said he promoted the wicketkeeper to open the batting after a chat with him, and asked him to hang in there and build an innings.”During friendly school matches I sent him in at No. 7 or 8, and when the team needed him the most, he would play a rash shot and get out,” Harish says. “He has a good technique, a wide range of strokes and he’s quite powerful. I then thought that I can send him as an opener and I asked him if he was ready. He grabbed the opportunity and said ‘yes sir, I’ll go’. I made him promise me that if you’re going to open, you have spend time at the wicket, for which you have to be mentally and physically prepared, to which he agreed.”The score was Pranav’s first century in any tournament recognised by the Mumbai Cricket Association. “But he has otherwise scored centuries in school cricket and friendly matches,” his father points out. “His game is such that he scores quickly – with that kind of game there are very few chances of scoring a century; he would bat lower down the order because of which he wouldn’t get to face many balls. But now that he opens, he has all the time to score.”What does the future hold for Pranav? On one hand is the example of Sachin Tendulkar, whose feats of heavy run-scoring as a schoolboy, including the famous partnership with Vinod Kambli, are the stuff of legend. On the other is that of AEJ Collins, who held the previous record score of 628 not out, scored in 1899.”For a while Collins was public property,” Martin Williamson wrote on ESPNcricinfo. “Today all men speak of him,” wrote one newspaper. “He has a reputation as great as the most advertised soap: he will be immortalised.”But Collins never played first-class cricket. It is too early, therefore, to tell what Pranav’s future will look like. But one thing is for sure. Nothing will be the same when he walks out to bat the next time.His cousin Rugved Lad puts it in perspective. “He’s in tenth [grade] now, so cricket had taken the back seat to studies, though he’s good at both. He also plays kabbadi. But after this, everything has changed. Cricket will definitely be his first priority.”His school, his neighbourhood club, pretty much every IPL franchise, his Ranji Trophy team, the millions across the world who were following the updates on his feat – everyone hopes it will.

The visitors may be out of contention to regain the Trans-Tasman trophy in this series, but by reflecting on their mistakes in Brisbane and Perth, they have the chance to set themselves up for a genuine tilt at victory on home shores next year

Daniel Brettig at the WACA14-Nov-2015Before this Test, Brendon McCullum admitted it was possible that even with improvement, New Zealand may still be beaten by a dominant Australia at the WACA Ground. Typically candid and clear-headed, this observation grew in resonance throughout day two: both the tourists’ best day of the series to date, and more or less irrelevant to the result of the match and series.Irrespective of an unforgiving pitch, in Spartan weather conditions, New Zealand were awful on day one. Their bowlers were shaken far too easily from their moorings by the early morning dynamism of David Warner, consigning McCullum to a kind of defensive recovery mode for the rest of the day. At 2 for 416, the match was effectively done as a contest after the first day, much as the Gabba had been.This has been a difficult tour for New Zealand on a number of levels. Their preparation was hopelessly compromised by the abandonment of the Blacktown tour fixture, having already been adversely affected by the scheduling of warm-ups on a series of dead pitches far removed from the greater bounce afforded in Perth and Brisbane.There was also the fact that bowlers such as Trent Boult and Jimmy Neesham were not 100% in fitness and rhythm at the outset of summer, after suffering various ailments during the winter. This cannot have helped in a period when the attack is also adjusting to a new bowling coach in Dimitri Mascarenhas, a jovial and knowledgeable operator but no substitute for the instant respect commanded by his predecessor Shane Bond.Lastly, the spectre of the Chris Cairns perjury trial kept McCullum away from his team for the week before they actually arrived in Australia, and has hung uncomfortably in the background throughout – a verdict in London’s Southwark Crown Court is expected to fall next week. McCullum said at the tour’s outset that he did not know how much this issue would affect him and others.In many ways, their plight resembles Australia’s after two days of the Lord’s Test in the 2013 Ashes series. Admittedly the defeat in the first match of that series at Trent Bridge was a tight one, but in St John’s Wood the tourists were humiliated and consigned to a 2-0 series ledger in the course of one afternoon’s dire batting, while James Pattinson grimaced out of the series with a torn side. At the time it was difficult to see a way forward, and some at Cricket Australia conceded it might be a matter of years before the Ashes were returned.Of course it is well known what happened next – the team of Michael Clarke and Darren Lehmann steadied in the latter part of the series, not winning a game but showing themselves to be quite capable of stretching England. By the end of the summer they had improved significantly, and when the return series arrived at home a few months later they tore into England with aggression bolstered by relevant knowledge.To seek improvement and remain united in the face of heavy defeats away from home is among the hardest tasks in the game. Australia’s subsequent 5-0 triumph was not as remarkable for happening in Australia than it was for taking place a matter of months after the 3-0 defeat in England. There is a lesson in all this for New Zealand, of the kind that McCullum and the coach Mike Hesson are doubtless aware.This summer features a smaller version of that dual Ashes bout, with Australia due to cross the Tasman in February for two Tests in Wellington and Christchurch, following a trio of ODIs in Auckland, Wellington and Hamilton. Given the right conditions overhead and underfoot, New Zealand will fancy their chances of performing far better against the same Australians who have so battered them thus far in Brisbane and Perth.Kane Williamson has looked majestic, but lacked support from his team-mates•Getty ImagesStrong as a newly-minted top order has looked at the Gabba and the WACA, McCullum knows that on slower, more seam-friendly tracks, the likes of Warner, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Adam Voges and even Steven Smith will not be quite so secure. He knows this due to the ample evidence provided in the chaotic scenes of Birmingham and Nottingham, where English bowlers of similar velocity to Boult and Tim Southee created utter mayhem.Likewise, Hesson will be aware that Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Johnson were nothing like the same force on English pitches not affording them much bounce or pace to augment their natural height and speed. Intimidating as these bowlers can be, they were shown in England to lack the skills to adapt to such circumstances, particularly without runs to defend.So it will be a source of considerable long term succour for the tourists to reflect on what they were able to demonstrate on day two in the face of more febrile Perth heat. Boult and Doug Bracewell produced their best and most sustained spells of the trip, not just ending Warner’s stay earlier than expected but also frustrating Smith into a windy whoosh that drew his own dismissal. Even Mark Craig was able to prosper against batsmen dancing down the wicket to him – a day’s tally of 7 for 130 was something to remember.Likewise, the visiting batsmen were not rumbled when they took their weary legs out to bat. Martin Guptill fell lbw to late swing from Starc, but after that Tom Latham and Ross Taylor looked nicely composed, and most importantly provided steady support for the tremendously calm and organised Kane Williamson, who glided once more into an innings that frustrated Australian bowlers now forced to slog through the same heat New Zealand’s had.What Williamson showed in the final session of the day was already well known, but the other green shoots of hope offered up by his team-mates were new to the Australia players and observers present at the Gabba. New Zealand may be out of contention to regain the Trans-Tasman Trophy in this series, but they have the opportunity to set themselves up for a genuine tilt at victory on home shores a few months from now. Today was a worthy start to that effort.

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Feb-2016Voges continued his good form, scoring a half-century that took Australia past 450•Getty ImagesSoon after he fell, however, Neil Wagner cleaned up Australia’s lower order to claim a career-best 6 for 106. Australia were bowled out for 505 and their lead kept to 135•Getty ImagesNew Zealand were hurt early in their second innings, after Martin Guptill fell to James Pattinson for a duck in the fourth over•Getty ImagesPattinson then struck in successive overs to send back Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls, leaving the hosts at 72 for 3•Getty ImagesIn his final Test innings, Brendon McCullum smacked 25 off 27…•Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images… Before he was removed by Josh Hazlewood late in the day•AFPKane Williamson held the innings together for the hosts, as they ended the third day at 121 for 4, trailing Australia by 14 runs•AFP