Artist Paul Trevillion’s beautiful panels pose questions that will puzzle all would-be umpires, from the novice to the wizened expert

Martin Williamson09-May-2009Growing up as I did in the 1970s, I remember avidly reading Shoot, a popular football magazine, every week. In it one of the features my friends and I most enjoyed was You Are The Ref, a comic strip that posed refereeing scenarios, some likely, some highly improbable, for you to argue over. Some of those often heated debates lasted hours.I had all but forgotten about the strip when it was resurrected in the Observer‘s excellent monthly sports magazine in 2006. Soon after, a cricket version, You Are The Umpire, appeared to fill in the decreasing gap between football seasons.While the series relies on an expert (in the case of cricket, Test umpire John Holder) to deal with the nitty-gritty of the laws, the genius behind the idea, and the one who makes it work, is 75-year-old artist Paul Trevillion.Trevillion is more than just drawer of cartoons. He has an almost unique ability to bring character and movement to life (comic-art realism to use the technical jargon). Among his other claims to fame are holding the world speed-kissing record (25,009 in two hours if you must know), inventing the tags on the Leeds United socks of the 1970s (which almost drove Brian Clough to acts of violence), and creating a national row by drawing Wimbledon champion Evonne Goolagong nude for the Sun.The formula for Trevillion’s strips is simple but effective. Three beautifully drawn panels, each with a recognisable face from the relevant sport, each posing a question about the laws – in essence, what would you do? On the surface they are simply entertainment, but by using experts to give their opinions, they also serve as an excellent learning aid to anyone who plays the game.

It’s not just aimed at novices either, and I suspect some long-in-the-tooth officials could learn a thing or two. Do you know if a wicketkeeper is allowed to eat a hot dog at a drinks break, or if a fielder can catch a ball deflected off a cow?This book, which is essentially a collection of the last three summers’ worth of Observer strips, offers more, in that each cartoon is accompanied by a brief profile of the players involved. A few more general sections about the laws and the history of the game are also included, but while of interest to beginners add little.Overall this is an outstanding collection and one well worth the price. And even if you care little for the laws, it will still appeal to cricket fans because of the care and accuracy of Trevillion’s drawings.You Are The Umpire
by Paul Trevillion and John Holder
Guardian Books, 2009, hb, £9.35

From a cricketer in Guyana to a businessman in Australia: Carl Hooper may not play too much cricket but he stays in shape, and he plays the markets

Interview by Mark Pennell09-Dec-2009You live in Australia now, why is that?
I love the weather and the lifestyle, plus my wife Connie comes from Australia.What have you done for a living since retiring from Lancashire in 2004?
I help my wife and her brothers to run a chain of coffee shops called Un Caffe Bar.Do you enjoy any hobbies?
In my spare time I trade currencies on the foreign-exchange markets. It’s not stocks and shares, just trading dollars against sterling, that sort of thing. With the time difference between Australia, North America and England, it’s ideal for me to trade in my spare time – first thing in the morning or last thing at night. That’s when all the big boys really come out and it’s the best time for me to trade.Do you work for an investment firm?
Are you crazy? I couldn’t work for anyone else. I’d find it tough. And I could only ever invest my own money. I like to sleep at nights, and if things go against you on the markets I wouldn’t be able to do that.Have you made your fortune as yet?
I want to live well, but it doesn’t bother me about becoming a millionaire. I just want to be happy and sleep peacefully.Do you still play cricket?
The last time I played was in a benefit game for the family of David Hookes, up in the Barossa Valley sometime last year, but whenever I’ve got cricket coming up, I make sure I train. I’m off to Barbados later this month (November) to play in the first Cricket Legends of Barbados T20 Tournament organised by Joel Garner. I’m looking forward to catching up with a few old friends.

“I could only ever invest my own money. I like to sleep at nights, and if things go against you on the markets I wouldn’t be able to do that”

You were never one for spending hours in the nets, do you keep fit in other ways still?
I’m 42 now, but I’m slim and trim. I’ve played a lot of indoor soccer for the fathers’ team at my son’s school, but had to stop that, so I’m doing some road running instead.”You failed to win a major trophy while playing seven seasons of county cricket for Kent and Lancashire. Does that upset you?
I have good memories and if I could do it all over again I probably would. I couldn’t have hoped for a better club than Kent to start my introduction to English cricket. It was a good set-up. We had Min Patel, who was Indian-born; Dean Headley, who had some Caribbean roots; and a few more guys around my age, who I could mix with and relate to. The disappointment was that we didn’t win a championship or have a trophy or two under our belts.Did you notice much difference in attitude between the two dressing rooms?
There was a huge difference between Kent and Lancashire. At Old Trafford the guys were very hungry to get out on the park and desperate to win things. Most of them had aspirations and I’d hear them talking about wanting to play for England. I never heard too much of that at Kent.Do you wish you were still playing?
No, I’ve had my time and really enjoyed it. Viv Richards and Garry Sobers used to say, “We all have our time to play and you just have to make the best of it.”Your game would have ideally been suited to the Twenty20 format. Do you regret not being around to cash in on the global phenomenon of the short-form game?
You can’t look back with regrets; I had my time and enjoyed it. There will probably come a day 20 years from now when a cricketer picks up £5 million for a season. Who knows? But my thinking is, it’ll just get better and better. Good luck to them I say.<!–Will any of your children follow your footsteps by becoming cricketers?
I have three kiddies. Two girls: Alex over in England, and Catherine, as well as a son, Carl Jnr. Carl’s only 10, but he’s a big boy. The prediction is he’s going to grow to be about 6’4″. I want him bowling fast and batting at about six or seven, so in a few years’ time the England side will have to deal with him!–>

Nitin Sundar03-Dec-2009West Indies’ batsmen had a tough time at the Gabba but, for a line-up woefully short on runs and confidence, the venue for the second Test represents the best chance to get going. The Adelaide Oval should raise Chris Gayle’s spirits since it is one of West Indies’ better venues in Australia.The last of the visitors’ five wins in Adelaide was the pulsating one-run victory in 1993, when Courtney Walsh dismissed Craig McDermott to end a 40-run last-wicket stand in the nick of time. Since then, West Indies have lost in each of their three visits to Adelaide. Australia have an impressive record here, with the last of their 16 defeats coming in 2003, when Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Ajit Agarkar inspired a come-from-behind upset.

Adelaide is among the best venues for batting around the world. It has traditionally favoured the time-tested dictum of win the toss and bat first, a trend bucked only by the invincible Australian sides of the 2000s, whose dominance often removed the toss from the equation. Six out of the nine matches played since January 2000 have been won by the team that batted second; Australia were victors on five of those occasions.

Australia’s belief that they can enforce a win irrespective of the toss is statistically well-grounded. In recent times, the pitch at the Adelaide Oval has remained a batting beauty for long enough to ensure that teams batting second are not disadvantaged. This is evident through the fact that the average scores in the first two innings have gone up considerably, while the variation between them has come down since 2000. In the same period, batting in the fourth innings has become easier than in the third.

The most interesting aspect of recent Adelaide tracks is that they drastically change character around the halfway mark, making batting notoriously difficult for both teams in the second match innings. The variation in averages between the two match innings is significantly higher in Adelaide than in any of the other major Test centers in Australia.

The Adelaide Oval offers very high returns for batsmen who like to bat long periods. While it has witnessed 23 centuries since 2000, five of those occasions have seen, batsmen going past 200. All those double hundreds have come in the first innings and, on four of those occasions, in the first innings of the match – a compelling reason for the captain winning the toss to bat first. During this period only seven double-hundreds have been struck in all the other Australian Test grounds put together.

Australia’s batsmen have excellent records at the Adelaide Oval and will look forward to another run-feast. Michael Hussey tops the averages, aided by three not-outs, while Ricky Ponting has five centuries and an equal number of fifties here. Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin will also have fond memories of their hundreds in Adelaide. West Indies on the other hand will hope that the likes of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan (if he plays) can improve on their past showings here. Chris Gayle will be playing at this venue for the first time.

Although a batting paradise, Adelaide has also been among the more spin-friendly surfaces in Australia. Spin has accounted for over 35% of the dismissals here, a ratio topped in Australia by only the SCG. Nathan Hauritz, Suleiman Benn and Chris Gayle will look forward to exerting more influence on the proceedings than they did at the Gabba, which is the worst venue for spinners in the country. Dwayne Bravo will look to repeat his form from the 2005 Test where he picked six wickets.

Another striking feature about the Adelaide Oval is that it is an excellent venue for Test cricket. Of the nine Tests played here since 2000, seven went into the final day’s play, while only one ended in a draw. This, despite the fact that even all-time greats Shane Warne
and Glenn McGrath have failed to make an impression the first innings. That the mighty Australian side of the 2000s routinely failed to enforce early results here speaks volumes about the surfaces which have managed to be batsman-friendly and result-oriented at the same time.

Most fast bowlers wish they were skilled in both arts. And though physics and genetics play a role in determining who gets what, it’s not impossible to achieve the golden combo

Aakash Chopra07-Oct-2010Mitchell Johnson, despite clinching a five-for in the first Test in Mohali, might happily concede some of his pace in exchange for being able to get the ball to swing. He was candid enough to confess his inability to swing it consistently. Then again, Praveen Kumar, who swings the ball appreciably, probably longs to add those few extra miles of pace.The combination of pace and swing is an enviable one and very hard to achieve. If swinging the ball is a difficult skill to acquire, bowling quick has a lot to do with genetics. But just like Johnson discovers that crucial swing every now and then before losing it again, it’s possible to increase one’s pace – though you can only do so to a certain extent before hitting your threshold. So what makes the ball swing? And how does one bowl fast?Swing
While science confirms that shine plays a huge role in determining the direction in which the ball swings, there’s still only one method to swing the ball when it’s new. Since both sides are equally shiny, the bowler’s wrist and seam position dictate the ball’s path after release. The ball must be delivered with an upright seam position and enough backspin to ensure that the seam stays straight when it hits the ground. If the wrist is not behind the ball, or has fallen sideways, the ball will not travel correctly.You’ll notice this difference in the actions of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma. While Zaheer’s wrist is firmly behind the ball at the time of release and imparts enough backspin, Ishant’s wrist falls sideways and prompts the ball to tilt heavily towards the leg side upon release.Ideally you should point the seam in the direction in which you want it to swing. To bowl an outswinger, tilt the seam slightly towards first slip; for an inswinger, towards leg slip.Most bowlers alter their point of release to suit the swing they are trying to achieve. An outswing bowler like Matthew Hoggard maintains some distance between his ear and the bowling arm, making his action slightly round-arm, while Javagal Srinath, an inswing bowler, used to keep his arm as close to his ear as possible.Once the shine on one side becomes prominent, the air pressure starts to assist the swing. The ball moves from high static pressure, which is the shinier side, towards low static pressure – the rough side. There’s an early separation of air at the shiny surface, which makes it act like a ramp, pushing the ball towards the direction the rough side is facing. But you still need to maintain the correct wrist and seam position for swing.The dynamics change once the ball gets old and starts to reverse. There has been a lot of talk about how one side gets heavier thanks to the application of sweat and saliva, which supposedly makes the ball swing towards the heavier side. But science doesn’t buy that theory. According to research, when the ball reaches a particular stage, the rough side acts like a ramp and makes the ball move in the direction the shiny side is facing.Science may explain the phenomenon, but the fact remains that reverse-swing, if executed properly, is very difficult to negotiate. While the seam position is a giveaway when the ball is new, it’s of not much help to a batsman facing the old ball, because the same rules don’t apply. Reverse-swing is truly effective when the ball swings very late, for which the bowler must position the seam opposite to that for a new ball. Wasim and Waqar were masters of this art.*Speed
Swing may be difficult to master but speed is tougher to generate. For starters, everybody has either the fast-twitch fibres (white) or slow-twitch ones (red) in their body. These determine whether you can be a quick bowler, like Brett Lee, or a medium-pacer, like Praveen. While fast-twitch fibres give you a definite edge, there are other factors that help an individual generate pace.

The force generated from the run-up, the landing, the hip movement, the shoulder rotation and the wrist movement is translated into the speed of the ball. The more aligned the movements, the better the outcome

First, a proper run-up. A bowler must accelerate as he gets closer to the stumps, while keeping both arms close to the body (close levers ensure no wastage of energy).Second, the momentum generated by the run-up is transferred to the jump. That’s why most genuine quick bowlers – Imran Khan, Brett Lee, Malcom Marshall – have a reasonably high jump.Third is the landing. When the front foot hits the ground, the force generated is transferred to the hip before moving upwards. The bowler rotates the shoulder, which uses the force it receives from the movement in the hip. This force is then transferred to the wrist. The result: the force generated from the run-up, the landing, the hip movement, the shoulder rotation and the wrist movement is translated into the speed of the ball. The more aligned the movements, the better the outcome.Your fibres don’t limit you, either. I’ve seen people increase their speed as they gain power and better alignment. Ajit Agarkar is one such player who started as a medium-pacer (he even had the wicketkeeper standing up to the stumps in Under-16 cricket) but grew into a genuine quick.From the start of the run-up to the end of the follow-through, it’s important to keep the body aligned in the direction of your target – the batsman. The bowler must stay as close to the stumps as possible after delivering, without getting into the danger zone, while moving towards the batsman. A lot of bowlers, Zaheer and Praveen among them, are guilty of either having no follow-throughs or very limited ones, while others tend to fall towards the off side, killing the momentum and with it the speed.A bowler must also be careful about the order in which his limbs move in his action. If the shoulder begins to move before the hip has completed its action, the hip will stop contributing to the building up of momentum.Swing makes a bowler feel like a magician, someone who can get the ball to move in the air at his command, while speed feeds his hunger to be ferocious. There’s no better sight for a quick bowler than seeing his prey, the batsman, jump around with fear in his eyes, not knowing which way the ball will move or how fast it will get there. But as exciting as that may sound, it’s equally difficult to master both crafts.

Despite his outrageously aggressive batting style, Richards’ numbers stack up well against those of the world’s best batsmen

Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan15-Aug-2010There are very few batsmen about whom it can be said that their impact on the game was greater than the sheer weight of the numbers they achieved. Viv Richards was surely one of them.This isn’t to say his stats aren’t impressive – a Test aggregate of 8540 at an average of 50.23 and an ODI average of 47 at a strike rate of 90 are outstanding numbers in any era, and more so during an age when bowling attacks and conditions were far more challenging than they have been over the last decade. Over and above these numbers, though, was the manner in which Richards approached the game: his swagger and sheer presence at the crease unnerved the best bowlers. He revolutionised the art of batting during his era, with his sheer aggression and the intent to dominate bowling attacks. That he achieved such outstanding stats despite this approach speaks volumes for his skill with bat in hand.Richards scored only seven runs in two innings on his Test debut in Bangalore in 1974, but an undefeated 192 in the next Test was an emphatic way to announce himself on the world stage. The next year was disappointing, but that only slightly delayed his reign on the world stage. Nineteen-seventy-six was his watershed year: he scored 1710 runs, including a remarkable 829 in the series in England despite missing one Test match. This aggregate in a calendar year remained a record till it was surpassed by Mohammad Yousuf in 2006. Richards made two double-hundreds in that England series, which included his personal best of 291 at The Oval, as West Indies trounced England 3-0. In World Series Cricket he was the best batsman on view against top-quality fast bowling, scoring over 1200 runs at an average of almost 60.His average dropped marginally over the next five years after 1980, but he scored centuries in 10 out of 12 series between 1980 and 1986. His form fell away drastically towards the end of his career, though, and he averaged only slightly over 36 in his last 19 Tests, with just one century and 10 fifties. Over this period his career average dropped from 52.88 to 50.23.

Richards’ best years were between 1976 and 1988. In 92 Tests during this period he scored 22 hundreds and was the only batsman to average more than 55 (among those who scored more than 4000). That was an era when several all-time greats were around – Greg Chappell, Allan Border, Sunil Gavaskar and Javed Miandad are all listed in the table below – but Richards’ average was marginally higher than theirs (though he obviously didn’t have to face his own bowlers, who were easily the most fearsome attack during that period). He averaged more than 50 in 13 out of the 23 series he played during this period.

The table below summarises Richards’ career series averages. Of the 29 series he played, 14 times he averaged more than 50, and less than 30 on just seven occasions, most of them coming either during the early years or at the end.

Of the 24 Test hundreds he scored, 12 were in wins. Between 1974 and 1991, which is when Richards played his 121 Tests, only Greenidge scored more centuries in wins. Richards also averaged nearly 54 with six centuries in away wins. Unlike some batsmen who struggle to score in the last innings of Tests, his stats were remarkably consistent over the four innings of a match: his average in the first innings of matches was 53, while his average in the fourth innings was nearly 48, which represents one of the lowest variations among top batsmen. (Click here for his career summary.)Richards saved his best for England, against whom he scored 2869 runs at an average of over 62 with eight centuries. Among those who’ve scored at least 2000 runs against England, only Don Bradman has a higher average. Richards also leads the list of batsmen with the mosthundreds against India – he added seven more to the century he scored in his second Test. His most destructive knock against them, though, was arguably in Kingston in 1983, when he scored a rapid 61 off 36 balls to lead West Indies to an unlikely win; his fifty came off just 32 balls in that innings.Richards batted at various positions during his career but was at his best at the pivotal No. 3 spot. Of all the batsmen who’ve played a minimum of 50 innings in that position, only Bradman and Wally Hammond have a higher average.

In the 1985-86 home series against England, which West Indies won 5-0, Richards smashed the fastest Test century, off just 56 balls, in Antigua, which remains the quickest in terms of balls faced. He stands fourth on the all-time list of batsmen with the most sixes in Tests.Richards took over the West Indies captaincy following Clive Lloyd’s retirement in 1985 and led them in 50 Tests, winning 27 and losing 15, but more importantly he didn’t lose a single series. Among captains who have led in a minimum of 50 Tests, Richards’ record as captain is next only to Steve Waugh’s and Ricky Ponting’s.

Richards’ style of batting suited one-day cricket perfectly. He set himself apart from the rest of the top batsmen of his era with his exceptionally quick scoring in a period where the average rate was much lower. The table below compares the strike rates of top batsmen between 1975 and 1991. Richards was by far the most dominant of the lot, and among players to have scored more than 2000 runs in ODIs, he still remains the only batsman to average more than 40 and possess a strike rate of over 90.

Richards played 187 ODIs in all, but only 33 of those were in the West Indies. On the other hand, he played more than twice that number in Australia, where he scored 2769 runs in 73 matches. He was by far the finest overseas batsman in Australia between 1975 and 1991.

Throughout his ODI career, Richards was the man for the big occasion. He scored a brilliant unbeaten 138 in the 1979 World Cup final, and played several crucial knocks on major occasions. His overall ODI record and performance in World Cups and finals is summarised below. He averages the highest among batsmen who have scored over 1000 runs in World Cup matches.

In the 1984 series against England, Richards made an extraordinary unbeaten 189 out of a total of 272, which is still the highest percentage contribution to a completed team innings. He shared a last-wicket stand of 106 with Michael Holding, which is a record for the 10th wicket. In fact, West Indies did not lose a single ODI when Richards scored a century.While batting was clearly his best suit, Richards was also a more-than-useful contributor with the ball, especially in ODIs. He picked up 99 wickets at an average of 32.05 and an economy rate of 4.43; against India his 33 wickets came at fewer than 20 runs apiece. In 1987 against New Zealand, he became the first player to score a century and pick up four wickets in an ODI.Richards has the astonishing record of winning 31 Man-of-the-Match awards in just 187 games, which is one award every six games, easily the highest among all players to win more than 25 awards. The table below summarises this record for the top players and clearly establishes Richards as one of the greatest match-winners in ODIs.

If it weren’t for one thing, we could today be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of the greatest batsman of all time

Steven Lynch20-Nov-2010

If it weren’t for one thing, we could today be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of the greatest batsman of all time. Walter Hammond, who was born on June 19, 1903, played 85 times for England over almost 20 years, and averaged 58.45 in Tests. In first-class cricket that average was 56, from over 50,000 runs.The snag, though, was one that bugged Hammond for most of his career – Donald Bradman. The Don, in his debut series, was an interested observer when Hammond broke the Test record with 905 runs in the 1928-29 Ashes series, and Bradman smashed the record himself with 974 in the next rubber, in 1930. It still stands. Hammond hit 36 double-centuries in his career, more than anyone else … except Bradman, who pipped him by one.Hammond was a famously moody character, and his humour can hardly have been improved by those constant comparisons with the incomparable.In many ways Hammond was a more correct player than Bradman. He was tall and imposing at the crease, and his cover-drive was a thing of beauty. Uniquely, he was the leading Englishman in the batting averages for eight successive seasons (1933-46), and topped 3000 runs three times. He was a handy bowler, with 732 first-class wickets. And he caught like a flytrap, usually at slip – he took 10 catches (a record) in a county match in 1928, and 78 (another record) all told that season.His career stalled early on, thanks to the sharp-eyed administrator Lord Harris. In those days (1920) the qualification regulations were very strict, and Harris, a Man of Kent, objected to Hammond playing for Gloucestershire when he had been born in Dover. But Hammond made up for lost time when he was allowed to play, before a mysterious illness contracted in the West Indies in 1925-26 kept him out of the whole of the following season.Hammond’s biographer David Foot suggested that this was what is euphemistically known as a “social disease” (surely antisocial would be more appropriate?), and that it accounted for Hammond’s mood-swings later in life. Whatever the reason, his Wisden obituary refers to an “almost Olympian aloofness”, and his Gloucestershire team-mates were never quite sure how he would react to anything.He started as a professional, albeit a somewhat superior one, and back then it was unthinkable that a pro should captain England. But in 1938 there weren’t many suitable unpaid candidates, and Hammond “turned amateur”. He wasn’t a great success as England captain (Bradman again), winning only four of his 20 matches in charge. That included a rather sad farewell tour of Australia in 1946-47, when he was troubled by fibrositis and gave only glimpses of his former glories with the bat. Again, it didn’t help that The Don, who hadn’t been expected to play, turned up and reeled off scores of 187, 234, 79, 49, 0, 56*, 12 and 63.That was the end of Hammond’s serious cricket, apart from couple of mildly embarrassing appearances in 1950 and 1951. These days Hammond would be a hero, feted everywhere and a regular in the commentary box – but, prematurely aged, he disappeared to South Africa, where he struggled to find work. He was never the same after a car crash in the early 1960s, and died in Durban in 1965, aged only 62.You could argue for Hobbs or Sutcliffe or Woolley or Grace or Boycott as England’s greatest batsman. But I have a hunch that it was Walter Reginald Hammond.Steven Lynch is editor of Wisden CricInfo.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from Group B match between India and Ireland in Bangalore

Liam Brickhill at the Chinnaswamy Stadium06-Mar-2011The minnow milestone
When Niall O’Brien opened his wrists into a precisely-placed drive that threaded the field and bounced over the rope in the ninth over, he achieved more than just the first boundary of his innings. He also became the third Irish player to score 1,000 runs in one-day internationals – joining his brother Kevin and his captain William Porterfield in an elite league.The anti-climax
Such is the name he’s made for himself after innings, there was a loud rumble of approval from the crowd when Kevin O’Brien’s name was announced as part of the Ireland XI before the start of play, and an even bigger cheer when walked to the crease after Andrew White’s stumping. There was no repeat of last Wednesday’s heroics, however, as he managed one muscular thump to the cover boundary but departed soon after, chipping the ball tamely back into Yuvraj Singh’s waiting hands to spark the spectators’ loudest shout of the innings.The yips
Piyush Chawla was preferred to R Ashwin as the second specialist spinner in India’s attack for this game, but had a disappointing day despite a surprisingly helpful surface, upon which the ball gripped and ripped. His nadir came in his fourth over – the 24th of the innings – when, facing a growing barracking from the crowd, he sent down three wides and a front-foot no-ball in a 10-ball over that also included a crunching cover drive for four to take Porterfield to his half-century. He recovered somewhat thereafter, but his final figures of 0 for 56 in eight overs remained distinctly sub-par in comparison to his team-mates.The chicken dance
The world was first treated to Trent Johnston’s ‘chicken dance’ celebration during the World Cup in the Caribbean four years ago, and though he’s a little older and a lot more bald now he showed he still knew how to cut a rug in some style after his caught-and-bowled dismissal of Virender Sehwag. A packed, 40,000-strong crowd was stunned into silence – partly by the wicket, and partly by the bizarre gyrations that followed it – and Johnston provided a timely reminder of Ireland’s passionately joyful brand of cricket.The DRS moment
The use of the review system hasn’t been entirely free of controversy in this tournament, and the so-called ‘2.5 metre rule’ has borne the brunt of the criticism – and caused most of the confusion. The offending clause was tweaked ahead of this game, and Alex Cusack was the first to feel the effect of the change of protocol. Originally given not out, HawkEye suggested the ball would’ve hit middle – the crucial point – and so the decision was reversed and Cusack was sent on his way. The decision also gave Yuvraj Singh his first five-wicket haul in ODIs.The DRS moment Part II
George Dockrell celebrated with understandable enthusiasm after trapping Sachin Tendulkar – a man who had scored more than 2,000 international runs, including three centuries, before he was even born – but he was made to wait a while before the wicket that the Dockrell grandchildren will hear about was finalised. Rather a long while, actually, as Tendulkar and his partner Virat Kohli engaged in a lengthy discussion over whether to ask for a review. That decision is meant to be made in “no more than a few seconds” according to the rulebook, but as the conversation continued the game came to a standstill. Tendulkar eventually trudged off, and Dockrell’s place in cricketing lore was secured.

Five uncapped players who could have a memorable debut IPL season

Abhishek Purohit07-Apr-2011Ashok Menaria, Rajasthan Royals
On a turning fourth-day pitch, Rajasthan had lost four wickets for 61 against Baroda in the Ranji Trophy final in January. Bhargav Bhatt, the tounament’s leading wicket-taker, was posing problems when Ashok Menaria took matters in hand, and shifted the momentum in Rajasthan’s favour. He hammered Bhatt for three straight sixes in four balls and Baroda wilted after that. Menaria, India’s captain in the Under-19 World Cup, had been drafted straight in to the Rajasthan side for the Ranji quarterfinals after a long injury break, and went on to score hundreds in each knockout game. His batting style resembles Yuvraj Singh’s, and what’s more, he also bowls handy left-arm spin. He hasn’t played a Twenty20 game yet, and is looking forward to the IPL. “My style of play is naturally aggressive, and I hopefully should not have any problems in adapting to this format as far as skills are concerned,” Menaria told ESPNcricinfo. “Rahul Dravid has been advising us on the mental aspect, things like playing in front of a big crowd in a major tournament and how to focus amid the noise levels.”Ishank Jaggi, Deccan Chargers
Jaggi’s growing reputation for solidity has been built over the past three seasons, when he’s been the bulwark of Jharkhand’s middle order along with Saurabh Tiwary. He was instrumental in their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy triumph this year, finishing as the tournament’s highest run-getter with 346 runs at 57.66 including half-centuries in the semi-final and the final. A strike-rate of 98.01 in eight Twenty20 innings does not do full justice to his talent, and he hopes to carry on his good form for Deccan Chargers. “The modern player must be able to adapt to all three versions. Being part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad earlier has helped me a lot in improving my game,” Jaggi said. “Facing Dale Steyn in the nets has been a different experience altogether, and he has even given us tips on how to face up to pace bowling. Darren Lehmann, our coach, has emphasised the importance of being able to find gaps in this format.”Varun Aaron, Delhi Daredevils
Aaron hit the limelight when he bowled a delivery that was clocked at 153 kph on the speed gun in the Vijay Hazare final for Jharkhand. In his next game, he took 5 for 47 against West Zone in the Deodhar Trophy semi-final, including the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Abhishek Nayar. Pace is a rare commodity in India, more so extreme pace, but Aaron has said that he consistently bowls above the 140 kph mark. Previous such prodigies have often been clouded by fitness and form worries, but Aaron remains positive after having battled a stress fracture in the past. “I just want to bowl fast, I do not want to cut down on my pace,” Aaron said. “I know this format demands a lot of variation from bowlers, and I have been working on the yorkers and the slower balls. But I think that speed is very important even in Twenty20s.” The speed guns will be out in full force during the IPL.Harshad Khadiwale, Pune Warriors
Maharashtra’s Khadiwale possesses a solid record across all three formats, and finished as the second-highest run-scorer in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with 214 runs from five games at a strike-rate of 132.91. His overall strike-rates of 140.08 in Twenty20s and 95.67 in List A games suggest an aggressive streak, and Khadiwale says that it’s his natural game. At 22, he has already been around for five seasons, and prior to that, was a prolific scorer at age-group level. He would like to be a more consistent first-class batsman, but as long as he can blaze away in the IPL, his side Pune Warriors won’t be complaining.Mayank Agarwal, Royal Challengers Bangalore
Agarwal was a bright spot in a disappointing Under-19 World Cup for India, top-scoring for his side in the tournament. He is an explosive batsman with a strike-rate touching 100 in Under-19 one-dayers. He was a consistent performer for Karnataka in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, scoring 166 runs at a strike-rate of 139.49. He was also Man of the Series in the 2010 Karnataka Premier League, making the only century of the tournament. Facing up to Zaheer Khan, Dirk Nannes and Daniel Vettori in the Bangalore nets will be a different experience for this 20-year old, but he has lots of potential.

The seven World Cup matches between India and Sri Lanka have been mostly dramatic, with Sri Lanka having the numerical edge

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Apr-20111979, league match, Manchester
The Dravid-Ganguly assault shocked Sri Lanka in Taunton•Getty ImagesSri Lanka’s victory by 47 runs in this encounter was a milestone in their cricketing history – their first win in a World Cup game. Sri Lanka ran up a competitive total after a delayed start, with the trio of Sidath Wettimuny, Roy Dias and Duleep Mendis making half-centuries. There was also a cameo from the youngest player in the tournament, Sudath Pasqual, which pushed them to 238. In reply, India’s top order got starts but the de Silvas – Somachandra and Stanley – nipped out the heart of the batting. From 119 for 2, India crashed to 191 all out to round off a miserable campaign, which ended with no wins. Sri Lanka had qualified for the 1979 event after winning the Associates tournament, and this win over an established nation helped strengthen their case for Test status.1992, league match, Mackay
This India-Sri Lanka clash was deemed to be so low-profile by the organisers that it was the only match to be scheduled at Harrup Park in Queensland which had not hosted any internationals previously. Incessant rain meant that only two deliveries were possible before the game was called off, and Harrup Park hasn’t hosted any international matches since, making this game something of a familiar name in cricketing quizzes.1996, league match, New Delhi
Sachin Tendulkar made a run-a-ball 137, which included a volley of sixes towards the end that lifted India to a seemingly sufficient 271. Few Indian fans remember the innings though, and the match sticks in memory far more for Manoj Prabhakar’s hapless bowling in what turned out to be his final international match. Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana added to the growing buzz around their opening partnership by bludgeoning 50 by the fifth over, with Prabhakar’s medium-pace going for 33 in two overs. Prabhakar, till then a key member of the line-up who opened both the bowling and the batting, was reduced to trying equally ineffective offspin. Sri Lanka cruised to a six-wicket win, with Arjuna Ranatunga and Hashan Tillakaratne playing cool knocks to guide them home.1996, 1st semi-final, Kolkata
An erupting Eden Gardens and a tearful Vinod Kambli might be the lasting images of this ill-fated game, but before matters deteriorated to that extent, Sri Lanka had thoroughly outplayed India on a pitch that had become almost unplayable. Stung by a six-wicket defeat to the same opponents earlier in the tournament, India fielded first, but Aravinda de Silva did not let the score of 1 for 2 bother him. The impact of his silken 66 was such that it lifted Sri Lanka to 251. Sachin Tendulkar responded with 65 but his dismissal triggered a dramatic collapse. India plummeted from 98 for 1 to 120 for 8 as the Sri Lankan spinners bowled more than one established batsman behind the legs. Eden Gardens could watch it no longer and flared up in a volley of missiles and bonfires, forcing match referee Clive Lloyd to award the match to Sri Lanka.1999, league match, Taunton
Taunton could not quite have been payback for Kolkata, but India nevertheless sent the defending champions out of the tournament with a batting assault that saw them rattle up 373, which was then the highest total against a Test nation. In a year in which he made six of his 12 one-day hundreds, and was involved in both the 300-plus ODI partnerships, Rahul Dravid began uncharacteristically with a flurry of boundaries along with Sourav Ganguly.Sri Lanka had taken a wicket off the fifth ball of the game; they had to wait another 269 before the second one came, when Dravid was finally run out for 145. Ganguly accelerated with seven sixes to 183, and Sri Lanka were so stunned that they lurched to 216, giving Robin Singh only his second five-wicket haul in 136 games.When it all came crashing down for India in Port of Spain in 2007•Getty Images2003, Super Six match, Johannesburg
It was the match that confirmed India’s place in the semi-final, and, in many ways, it was the one that turned hopes of a successful campaign into genuine belief that this was a side that could go all the way. India’s bowling had been sensational against England; and against Pakistan, the batting had chased a challenging score. In Johannesburg, they put in the complete performance. Sachin Tendulkar, who had been in commanding form all tournament, scored 97, and contributions from Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly ensured India got 292; all this after Sanath Jayasuriya had oddly chosen to bowl despite Sri Lanka having struggled while chasing, even having lost to Kenya in pursuit of 210. They were done in by a magical spell of 4 for 35 from an older, slower, but considerably craftier Javagal Srinath. There were more strange decisions from Sri Lanka as Jehan Mubarak turned up as a pinch-hitter at No. 3, and they were bowled out for a paltry 109 in 23 overs.2007, league match, Port of SpainIndia were dumped out of the World Cup after their 69-run loss in the game, and it was to have severe consequences as interest in the tournament dwindled and the organisers of the current edition plotted to avert a repeat. But this was also a match in which a fresh-looking Sri Lanka gave a glimpse of how impressive they would be through the tournament. It was the young guns who fired, with Upul Tharanga and Chamara Silva getting fifties to take Sri Lanka to 254. India’s batting then crumbled to 185 all out under the pressure of an impending exit, a stifling early spell from Chaminda Vaas, and an at-times unplayable Muttiah Muralitharan. The doosras, topspinners, and everything else were on display in Muralitharan’s spell of 3 for 41, during which he trapped MS Dhoni so plumb the batsman started walking even before the umpire raised the finger.

A perfectly paced one-day innings set up Sri Lanka’s victory and opening could now be Jayawardene’s role for a while

Andrew McGlashan at Headingley01-Jul-2011Before the second one-day international, Mahela Jayawardene said he had sympathy for Alastair Cook as he tries to find his feet as England’s captain. However, there was none of that sentiment on show at Headingley as Jayawardene ensured Cook was pushed to his limits in the field by a majestic career-best 144. It is a mark of the longevity of his career that Jayawardene set a new high 11 years after his previous best made in 2000.And he could go on for a while longer yet. At 34 – a spring chicken compared to the now-retired Sanath Jayasuriya – he could carry on batting for at least another four years if the hunger remains and 10,000 runs in both formats is within touching distance. If he carries on as long as Jayasuirya a whole mountain of milestones are still his for the taking, but in a volatile set-up such as Sri Lanka it’s always possible that a player may decide to quit sooner than expected. Jayawardene must be savoured while he’s around.He struggled during the Test series, which was a surprise because, with a pair of Lord’s hundreds in 2002 and 2006, he was the one Sri Lanka batsman to arrive with an impressive record in England. However, since the change to one-day cricket he has looked much like his normal self. Either side of being lbw to James Anderson for 5 at The Oval, which has happened to many batsmen, he has toyed with the English bowling in the Twenty20 at Bristol and now at Headingley.”We all had a chat after The Oval about what our roles were and our plans,” Tillakaratne Dilshan, the Sri Lanka captain, said, “We said one of either myself, Sanga or Mahela had to bat a long time and Mahela did a great job. That’s why we got 300.”Being on the end of a Sri Lankan hundred in Leeds is not a new feeling for England. In 2006 their whitewash was completed when Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga added 286 for the first wicket. Three England players survived from that day – Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Tim Bresnan – and yesterday Bresnan was asked about his memories of his two overs for 29. He played down the impact, of course, but the home side probably wouldn’t mind not having a one-dayer here next time Sri Lanka visit.On that occasion the damage to England’s bowlers was done largely by brute force, but it was difficult to remember anything approaching violence from Jayawardene in his innings. Yet the results were just as impressive for Sri Lanka. It was much the same story with his elegant hundred in the World Cup final which, purely as an innings, didn’t deserve to finish on the losing side. In fact, the most anger he showed at any point was a momentary confrontation with Jade Dernbach who, Jayawardene felt, had tried to get in his way.Jayawardene’s final score of 144 actually sits behind Jayasuriya’s 152 on this ground in 2006 and Viv Richards’ 189 at Old Trafford as the third-highest score against England on their home soil. As he has shown many times in one-day – and Twenty20 – cricket there is more than one way to build a limited-overs innings. He had his luck by being dropped at slip by Graeme Swann on 7 but was experienced enough to allow the opening bowlers a few tight overs before opening up as the innings progressed.It was only the seventh time in his 343-match career that Jayawardene had opened the batting but he now has three hundreds in that position. In this series Upul Tharanga is absent due to serving a doping ban and Jayasuriya has now retired after the opening match. However, as Jayawardene has shown in Twenty20 cricket, it’s a position that fits well with his natural game of building an innings and he is likely to get the job on a more full-time capacity.”We are looking to have Mahela open for us on a permanent basis,” Dilshan said. “But he wants to play for another three or four years so may need to be rested for some matches which means we’ll need to rotate players. We have about four openers who we can rotate which will allow us to give other people a chance.”Jayawardene hit 14 boundaries but didn’t clear the ropes, a clear sign of how progressing at a run-a-ball can be achieved by manipulating the field. Cook, who is trying to develop as a one-day opener, should keep a copy of this innings as reassurance of how traditional batting still has an important role to play. At the moment, though, the England captain will be hoping he doesn’t get another first-hand example in this series.