The qualities that have brought South Africa’s No. 3 the form of his career

Firdose Moonda at St George's Park11-Jan-2013It was the drinks break in the evening session. Faf du Plessis was having his hamstrings stretched, the New Zealand players were in a huddle being given yet another talking to and Hashim Amla, on 89, was sitting on one knee on the outfield as he always does when it’s time to take in some water.He had the serenity of an oasis, as the desert around him continued to busy itself with activity. The physiotherapist issued instructions to du Plessis and the visiting bowlers and fielders wore expressions that suggested they were listening intently. Amla was crouched on the grass completely unaffected by any of it. His focus was perfectly uninterrupted.His ability to block out the peripheral was not just evident in those few small moments but throughout his innings. Amla’s calm nature is as well documented as his cover drive but serenity and sensibility are not the same things.The former is what makes Amla such a joy to watch because there is no panic in the way he plays. The latter is what makes Amla such a good player because he is able to compartmentalise. That character trait allows him to treat everything, not just every ball, on its merits. He is not affected by past mistakes, neither is he driven by future possibilities. By his own admission, Amla does not set goals because he finds them limiting.It’s a much publicised but almost always unrealistic notion to simply live in the now. Amla comes close to actually doing it. This innings showed that because it was not chanceless but Amla still came out of it covered in glory.Amla started with a leading edge off the first ball he faced that would have seen him dismissed for a duck if midwicket was in place. He edged a few too. The ball was swinging and Trent Boult and Neil Wagner were able to exploit that, so Amla had to be patient. “We felt under pressure,” AB de Villiers admitted.Unlike Amla, New Zealand’s bowlers were not able to maintain their standards. As lunch approached, they loosened up often erring on the side of a touch too full as they searched for edges. They also looked a bowler short because when the three seamers needed a break and Brendon McCullum did not want to turn to Jeetan Patel, he had nowhere to go.

“With him and Jacques Kallis we’ve got the best combination at No. 3 and 4 in the world. They steady the ship for us and we can just come out and enjoy our game.”AB de Villiers

Colin Munro did some work later in the day but McCullum wanted his frontliners upfront and it proved a tricky juggle to try and ensure they were all able to continue at their optimum for as long as McCullum needed. Doug Bracewell’s opening spell was seven overs long and he, like the others, seemed to tire before the break.They returned from it refocused, though. Trent Boult was tasked with trying to make a breakthrough and he almost did. He created the chance to have Amla caught at gully, tempting him with width, but Kane Williamson split it.With that, momentum had shifted to Amla, who is known for capitalising on second lives (just ask England about The Oval) and away from New Zealand, who knew they had made a costly mistake. “You can’t dwell on it when you miss those chances because you’ve got to focus on where the next opportunity it going to be,” Neil Wagner said. “But he never gave us a chance after that again.”Although the pitch remained slow, conditions became easier through the afternoon and Amla settled in. He worked the ball around the field creatively with de Villiers and then du Plessis at the other end, responding to their calls for quick singles even though that style of batting is not Amla’s first choice.He once mooted the idea that the reason him and Jacques Kallis are South Africa’s most successful partnership is because they bat at the same, relaxed tempo. But with the two energisers and an attack that had run out of ideas, Amla played along.The final session yielded 134 runs of which Amla scored only 37. He let de Villiers and du Plessis play the aggressor role and was content to simply stay there himself because that will be important for South Africa on the second day.”We all feed off him. He is the rock for us. With him and Jacques Kallis we’ve got the best combination at No. 3 and 4 in the world,” AB de Villiers said. “They are always steadying the ship for us and we can just come out and enjoy our game. Everyone fed off Hashim today. He played a great innings again. He has been in unbelievable form pretty much his whole career.”Words that will leave New Zealand sleeping uneasy tonight but that are a massive compliment for Amla. Knowing his bashfulness, it’s difficult to think Amla will lap up the praise. All he is likely to do is accept it graciously and then pack it away so it does not influence what he has to do tomorrow.

The Women’s World Cup was memorable because the powerhouses were challenged by lesser teams, but the game needs significant investment immediately

Abhishek Purohit20-Feb-2013Sri Lanka beating England and India; West Indies beating New Zealand and Australia. Women cricketers have been playing World Cups for the past 40 years but such results were scarcely imaginable, even as late as the 2009 edition. For showing that traditional powerhouses Australia, England and New Zealand can be beaten on the biggest stage by sides that hardly get to play them otherwise, this World Cup is a watershed in the spread of the women’s game.This tournament came amid increasing visibility for the women after the ICC’s commendable move to have them and the men playing the World Twenty20 together, with the women’s knockouts preceding the men’s on television. The cheers from the Premadasa crowd – growing every minute in anticipation of the men’s final – for Jodie Fields and her Australian team after they won the tournament in Colombo were spontaneous and heartwarming.While the people of Mumbai were largely ignorant of or indifferent to the Women’s World Cup, it was their loss as they missed out on some fascinating cricket. The women put up a spectacular display throughout – the power of Deandra Dottin and Eshani Kaushalya, the swing of Anya Shrubsole, the aggression of Katherine Brunt, the athleticism of Ellyse Perry, the tactics of Jodie Fields, the skill of Lisa Sthalekar, the talent of Harmanpreet Kaur, the vivacity of Holly Ferling, the dominance of Suzie Bates and much more.Sri Lanka and West Indies came out of nowhere and impressed, but the old order showed staying power. Australia were outstanding right through, and England would have probably given them a fight in the final, had they not suffered two narrow losses. To West Indies’ credit, they did a complete turnaround in the Super Six, winning all three games after suffering heavy defeats to India and England in the group stage. Hosts India were the biggest disappointment of the tournament. Sri Lanka ambushed them with the bat, and Mithali Raj’s comment that she had never expected Sri Lanka to make so many runs said it all.New Zealand captain Bates, the Player of the Tournament, said that with teams such as West Indies and Sri Lanka getting better and better, her team was in danger of falling behind if more resources and tours weren’t organised. Such a prognosis from one of the foremost players of the game should be taken note of, and not only by New Zealand Cricket.All boards have to invest more, and all teams have to play more. If ever the administrators needed evidence that most of the major teams can play consistently competitive women’s cricket, this World Cup provided that. If the cricket community is serious about women’s cricket, it will have to put in the money now. Looking at short-term or even medium-term returns is no way to grow a product. In industries such as insurance, companies take decades to break even. That does not mean the world lives without insurers.Player of the Tournament Suzie Bates said her team needed to play more matches to stay competitive•AFPThe business acumen of India’s administrators made the men’s game the lucrative industry it is today. It is a cash cow in India, generating massive profits far beyond what is required to keep it growing. In business, a cash cow is used to finance and grow other operations of the same company. Will the BCCI do the same for the Indian women’s team? At the moment, it is not even a remote possibility.Just providing your academies and grounds to the women and paying them peanuts is apologetically insufficient investment. What is the use if they don’t play most of the time? Twenty six ODIs in four years between the 2009 and 2013 World Cups? MS Dhoni and his men played around five times that number. Merissa Aguilleira and her West Indies women played close to 40. No wonder India sank at the slightest hint of pressure against England and Sri Lanka.For all their potential, Sri Lanka and West Indies have a limited pool of players at or close to the top level. It is understood to be just about 50 women in Sri Lanka and they will face a problem in the coming years when the likes of Shashikala Siriwardene, Kaushalya and Chamani Seneviratna depart. It is almost always a struggle for West Indies when Stafanie Taylor and Dottin don’t fire. There is no reason, especially after their World Cup heroics, why both sides have to wait for the next World Cup to play the big opponents.There is also no reason, after a few stars have hopefully been created in this World Cup, why the world has to wait for the next World Cup to hear about them again. A great like Mithali Raj might possibly not even be around when the next one comes along.It is here that the ICC needs to make its goal of a binding FTP for the women’s game come true sooner than later. Cricketers are supposed to play cricket, after all, and not lay dormant waiting for the big stage to be made available once in a while. There couldn’t be a better time for women’s cricket to be taken seriously by everyone, especially the administrators. It will be unfortunate if the world keeps waiting for 2017.

From Vipul Gupta, India For long I have an unabashed admirer of the ‘seniors’ in the team particularly Anil and Sachin

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013Vipul Gupta, India
For long I have an unabashed admirer of the ‘seniors’ in the team particularly Anil and Sachin. Both these gentlemen have been the pillars of Indian Cricket for the last two decades and their contribution to the game has gone a long way in ensuring that the game flourished and prospered in India and their great deeds on the cricket field have only swelled the hearts of many Indians on countless occasions. That is the reason why I was completely surprised on reading reports appearing in certain sections of the media that the BCCI very ‘magnanimously’ offered the seniors an opportunity to gracefully exit from the game, a game which they served with distinction, by way of a ‘voluntary retirement scheme’. I am sure that the champions that they are, they take a lot of pride in their performance and it would have been absolutely galling for them to learn that people have started considering them to be a bit of a liability for their team.Cricket nowadays has become a very serious professional sport, where a lot is at stake for everyone concerned. It has become so cut-throat that there can be no room for any sentiment or emotion. If it is considered that a particular player’s best days have gone by, then he should be immediately put to pasture rather than risk any match or series. Lest I be misconstrued , I am not even for a moment suggesting that the ‘Fab 4’ and Kumble should retire, as I feel that all of them still have a lot to offer to the team in Tests. They had entered the team on the sheer weight of their performance and they had backed it up by performing at the highest level quite consistently. If the Board feels that by allowing a berth for these players in the team, they are only displaying the gratitude of an entire nation than they are only being grossly unfair to the players as well as the public.The seniors do not need the Board’s charity as the youngsters who are waiting in the wings to take their places have not shown the consistency that is needed to succeed at the highest level. Their time will come but it has not come now. It would be poetic justice indeed if this team does well and goes on to win the series powered by the seniors. Let the games begin.

From Balachandhran

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013From Balachandhran. S, India

At its simplest level, sport is about possibilities. We fans dream up spectrums of possibilities. We align ourselves based on these spectrums, pledge our allegiances and set ourselves up for emotional and sometimes even physical reactions based on how things actually turn out. Most times our dreamt up possibilities are restricted by our citizenship – in itself a simple piece of paper, if you think about it.It is perhaps then all for the good that there still exist a few in the realm of sport who make you forget about these restrictions and think only about the sporting possibilities. It takes no special skill to surmise that I am talking about Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and the possibilities that only he brings to the sport that he adores and so beautifies and typifies – cricket.I lay the blame squarely on Sachin Tendulkar – for making it so hard to write yet another article on his prowess and achievements and landmarks, which show no signs of fading away. Superlatives pale. Praise falls flat and comparisons do not seem to fit, if only because we are finding it harder to find appropriate standards of comparison as time goes on. Cricket’s prolific writing community has driven itself against the wall praising his two decades in the game. It has worked itself into a fury trying to explain to the layman about his passion for the game; his unsurpassed mastery of the art of batting. It has tired of continuously extolling his virtues on and off the field as a champion and a true sportsman. So much so that when you want to write about Tendulkar or his exploits it pays to take some time to think deeply to try and not repeat either yourself or the numerous others who have tried their hand at the same exercise over the years.I have a confession to make. Nothing seemed to suggest itself as exemplary enough. As momentous and unique enough to grace yet another occasion, yet another peerless achievement by the maestro. For a while I was stymied when trying to write about his latest achievement – that of scoring a double century in an ODI contest. Yet another time when he carried his bat through and batted for his team’s entire quota of 50 overs.I have heard it said that emotions tend to illuminate even the darkest paths where the light of reason fizzles out and leaves you alone. This is a case in point. If following sport is in essence a vicarious pursuit into which you throw not yourself but your faiths on individual players and/or teams, then nobody qualifies to be a Vicar quite as much as Tendulkar.The magnitude of emotions, enjoyment and realization he has been able to convey and amplify to millions and maybe even billions of people over the years across borders of nationhood, religion, economic means, caste, creed and colour ensures that it is so. It is not difficult to describe the drives, the cuts, the pulls and the cutest of nudges that he essayed today on his way to the first double-century in one-day internationals. But it would merely be superfluous.His supporters may very well be in the right if they argue that this was always on the cards. A splendorous 175 four months ago had already tantalised his fans. Informed and tempted them about this possibility. And when a summit beckons, Sachin cannot be far behind. He finds a way to the top. And so it was today. 200 not out off just 147 deliveries against the third-ranked side in the world.A successful man cannot have people simply singing praises about him. Ask his detractors. They would point out that the Roop Singh Stadium at Gwalior had short square boundaries, lightning fast outfields and an absolute marble-top of a wicket. And they would be absolutely right. But here is something they might consider. Give a top-class artist a canvas. Give him a room and give him a vista. See what he comes up with. For the art produced thereof we credit the artist himself; not the canvas for its whiteness and blankness. Not the room for the comfort it offered. Not even the vista for its having conveniently presented itself. They are all incidental. Art is transcendental. So too is Tendulkar’s batting.Much has been made of his drive for runs. Of the man’s sheer hunger for putting bat to ball and staying on there at the crease much to the bowlers’ bemusement. Forget the fact that he is largely peerless and matchless. He also appears tireless with the bat in hand when you observe his speed and skill when sprinting up and down the wicket putting pressure on the fielders at 36 years of age. Countless have been the questions posed to him about his desire to play the game and of the day when he wants to hang up his boots.Perhaps they have been posed in an attempt to find out just how long the game will be graced by his presence. The game’s own need of his genius does not however go far when trying to explain his superhuman dedication to the craft of batting and of the sheer determination that has powered him to make several sacrifices in order to be there for his team.In typical Sherlock Holmes fashion, if we eliminate the possibilities one by one it only leaves one last item. That Sachin Tendulkar needs the game just like we mortals need our oxygen, our daily fix of sports and the fount of vicarious joy it promises. That his bat is not an extension of his body as has been often said. Perhaps quite the opposite – that he is an extension of his bat. That his body arranges itself conveniently so that the bat may strike the ball at the most opportune time with optimum speed.All the better for our vicarious enjoyment. That he gives of himself every time through his bat so that we may once again experience the heady breathlessness that sports brings into our lives. So that over the years we all have a bit of Sachin Tendulkar in us. And that he suggests, in the true spirit of Vicar-ship, the existence of sublimation and transcendentalism in sport, also leaving us with the comfort that even after he ceases to perform his superhuman deeds on the cricket pitch he will live on in our minds – fuelling our dreams and defining our spectrums of possibilities.

Andy Zaltzman is almost back to normal after being debriefed on the World Cup, though a revolting song stays stuck in his head

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013Hello Confectionery Stallers, and welcome to my first post-World Cup blog. I have completed a month-long social reassimilation course following my trip of a lifetime around the subcontinent, and am now, on occasion, almost capable of conducting a competent conversation about something other than cricket. I have stopped asking my wife and/or children to hold pretend press conferences in the kitchen explaining their curious batting Powerplay tactics. I no longer wake up in a cold sweat dreaming that I’m bowling to Kevin O’Brien in my own greenhouse. I therefore feel ready to allow cricket back into my life.A few thoughts on what has happened during my sabbatical:1. The unstoppable churn of international cricket has continued. Australia and Bangladesh launched the 2011-2015 cycle with an ODI series that began seemingly seconds after MS Dhoni concluded his victory speech in Mumbai. Even by the stretchiest stretch of even the most gymnastic of imaginations, this was too soon.It is entirely feasible that, when the next World Cup starts, Mitchell Johnson will come charging in with a ball in each hand, and bowl them at two batsmen simultaneously on adjacent pitches, one to Gautam Gambhir in the World Cup opener, and another to Brendon McCullum in the fourth game of a seven-match ODI series that is a crucial early step in the Australians’ preparation for World Cup 2019.2. The IPL juggernaut is plowing on, its golden engine chugging on relentlessly, churning out cricket after cricket after cricket. Fifty-four games played, 20 remaining. I cannot claim to have followed the tournament closely, or even distantly. I am still getting over the disappointment of being ignored at this year’s auction. Was I not even worth my $19.99 base price? Even for spare parts?My family and friends also advised that I take a prolonged break from watching cricket featuring incessant blasts of pop music throughout the game. It has taken me over a month to eradicate the World Cup theme song “” from my brain. I estimate that I heard the song, or snippets thereof, on approximately 8470 separate occasions during the tournament. That is a lie, but the point stands. Merely writing the name of the song has brought the memories flooding back. I may need further treatment. I am still not entirely sure what it means – I assume it was something about slowly building an innings and working the ball into the gaps until your eye is in.As I wrote at the time, I felt that the ear-assaulting unavoidability of the irrelevant musical interludes on the stadium PA systems neutered genuine atmosphere. However, it should be said in mitigation that, during American hip-hoppers the Black Eyed Peas’ recent “The E.N.D. World Tour”, at the end of every song they played a 20-second snippet of John Arlott’s radio commentary at face-melting volume.I digress. The IPL team owners and grandees must be casting envious glances at Major League Baseball in America, whose season began at around the same time. The MLB has just ripped through the 450-game barrier, with just under 2000 more matches to go. Plus the up-to-41-game post-season. Each franchise hurls and thwacks its way through 162 games in the regular season, at a rate of six matches per week. Can a window in the international calendar be found for a similar IPL format? If there were 33 times as many games, would it be 33 times as exciting?3. It was a source of considerable relief that the ICC will reassess its patently bonkers format for the 2015 World Cup. Its proposed 10-team closed-shop retro-style tournament took the concept of cricketing development and clattered it hard in the groin with a 3lb 8oz bat, whilst proudly purring, “Shot, sir. Shot.”On the evidence of this year’s World Cup, few could argue that there are 14 teams deserving of a World Cup place. Even fewer, however, could argue that there are only 10, and even fewer than that could claim that the qualification process for selecting those 10 should have been conducted without public notification, and been concluded in 2000 before being kept under wraps until the least opportune moment. It should be 12 teams, and not take too long. Although either one of those two would be nice.A fascinating English summer looms. Sri Lanka, then India. England should be perkier than they were at the World Cup, with their three captains – rumour has it that Strauss will ride Cook and Broad in a pantomime horse outfit onto the field in Cardiff in two weeks’ time. By the time India arrive, after the IPL and a Caribbean tour, they might need some industrial-strength coffee. I’ve been working on my carrom ball, but cannot yet get it down my hallway without it hitting the wall. So it looks like I am facing another summer on the touchlines. But I’ve had my blogging licence renewed, Statsguru is waiting, and my computer will hurl itself off a cliff if it reads much more stuff about British politics. It’s good to be back.EXTRAS● In an effort to make the pre-Twenty20 era of cricket retrospectively more exciting, the IPL is being officially backdated. The 1976 IPL has been won by the now defunct Visakhapatnam Visigoths, led by Indian Test legend Gundappa Viswanath and part-owned by legendary film director Satyajit Ray and Scottish pop stars the Bay City Rollers. In a tense final in Madras, they defeated the Delhi Daredevils, for whom Geoff Boycott scored an undefeated 23 off 65 balls as his team narrowly failed to chase down the Visigoths’ total of 93 for 4, an imposing total for the time. The losing semi-finalists were the Punjab Pranksters and the Chennai Benevolent Dictators, later rebranded as the Super Kings.● After the batting Powerplay provided considerable tactical intrigue throughout the World Cup, the ICC has announced the introduction of a further Powerplay to spice up the 50-over game. In the new captaincy Powerplay, the skipper of the batting team will captain the fielding side for five overs. He will choose the bowlers, and place the field. An ICC spokesperson commented: “We’ve tested it out in club cricket, and it’s a hoot. To compensate the considerable advantage this gives the batting side, during the captaincy Powerplay the fielding team will be able to jump around and pull faces in an effort to distract the batsmen. These innovations should help cricket become the world’s most-watched spectator sport.”

From TS Trudgian, Canada

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013
Ricky Ponting: the gambler’s gambler, has figured out how to beat the house•AFPIf, in the past ten years of cricket, there has been a better puller and hooker of the short ball than R.T. Ponting, then it is only a ten-year-old kid named Dave who spends all his time swotting sixes on StickCricket. Watching Ponting rock onto the back foot to deposit a ball behind square imbues one with a sense of precision. Footage and first-hand accounts of Sir Donald Bradman playing the same shot invites wonder: wonder that his feet could move into position so quickly, and in this respect The Don is said to have George Headley as his companion up on the dais. Footage and tales of Sir Vivian Richards conjure up thoughts of fearlessness, hooking and pulling without flinching, inviting the next ball to be faster and shorter, and so it was, and invariably hit further. But then, Richards didn’t have to play against his own pace battery of Holding, Roberts, Marshall and Co. Seeing Matthew Hayden pull, more often than not on the was to see sheer muscle and power. But with Ponting, the shot conjures up a certain clockwork regularity. Ball short, rock back, swivel around, thank you very much guv’nor.It has been said that Punter is going through a losing streak at the gaming tables when pulling. Most probably, but given his string of successes with the stroke over the years, a small nadir was inevitable. There are the nay-sayers who talk about the failing of the eye to detect whether the ball is short enough to be ‘on’, and these people would have you believe that Ponting is actually 55 and not twenty years more sprightly. These swindlers would say that Ponting’s pull will never regain the Midas touch. Perhaps this argument might have some weight in the debate as to the leading run and century scorer after the retirements of Tendulkar and Ponting, but that is a story for another day — and is getting more tiresome each time we hear it. No, I am concerned about his role in the forthcoming Ashes series.Yes, he is due for a big score: granted this in itself matters little in the build-up to the Ashes. Ponting in 2010 is not like Taylor in 1998 and nor is he like Waugh in 2003 (although, interestingly enough, both averaged more than 50 in their last 20 Test outings. Tubs’ 334* is an average booster if ever there was). It is difficult to imagine the negative thoughts towards his batting had Australia continued the dominance of the Steve Waugh era.Jeff Thomson has no qualms with decrying Ponting’s captaincy as ‘ordinary’ and that his approach to setting the field belies his gambling cognomen. The days are certainly passed when scoring 500 runs and then throwing the ball to Messrs McGrath and Warne guaranteed a hefty victory inside four days.Now Ponting needs to nurture the young blood of the side, while doing all those basics in the captain’s manual: regularly rotating the main bowlers, and the ends at which they bowl, chopping and changing field placings, and venturing into the unexpected (throwing the ball to M.E.K. Hussey, or more dramatically, M.J. Clarke in Sydney 2008) — but he has to learn these tricks, not merely revise them, having had no need to resort to them in the past.Expect then, to see the gambling nature come out in his captaincy in Australia.He joins Billy Murdoch in a select group of two Australian captains who have handed back the Ashes in England. This, as judged by all and sundry after his comments in the aftermath of the 2009 Ashes series, displeased him greatly.In familiar territory, and away from the Gary Pratts of this world, it is a fair bet that Ponting will be much more aggressive in the forthcoming series. For the first time in years we will have an old-fashioned combination of leg-spin and off-spin by two front-line bowlers. He also has the option of tossing the ball to all barring himself and Haddin, plenty of world-class slip fielders, and excellent short-leg in Simon Katich, and a genuine allrounder in Shane Watson. He will be cutting and thrusting with order and the odd dash of randomness. Like most skippers, when he is making the right decisions and the team is playing well, he will come into his own while batting. That line of reasoning doesn’t apply to a Courtney Walsh, but when you take 500 wickets you can bat as you damn well please.Lastly the footwork of Ponting deserves some comment. I have seen no cricketer make a larger stride forwards to a ball short of a length. As a short man Ponting is unable to retain his right foot on the ground if he wishes to prod necessarily far forward. Tendulkar, granted is even shorter, but plays more on his toes and relies less on mammoth strides down the wicket. There have been some slight problems with this in the past, in particular lbw dismissals to a swinging ball — although his maiden innings, four short of a century, was terminated by this striding forward without regard to the ball’s missing a second set of stumps. But Ponting ensures that balls which are verging on being pitched short are met on the drive.He is a cunning customer of course: if the balls short of a length are hit on the front foot then Joe bowler tries to pitch shorter still. Then we see the clockwork motion of rocking back, swivelling and pulling for four: Punter, the gambler’s gambler, has figured out how to beat the house.

From Brad Hinds, Australia

Cricinfo25-Feb-2013
Among the many players who have drifted in and out of the Australian side over the past few years, Shane Watson is one of the few who have solidly remained•AFPShane Watson may best be described today as the product of a ‘long-term investment plan’ by Cricket Australia. It’s been an interesting development for Cricket Australia, whose managerial and administrative decisions over the past few years have become increasingly dubious and contentious. Very few have paid off. In Watson’s case, the returns have been exceptional.Watson always had respectable first-class batting and bowling figures, but the first few years of his professional career on the international stage playing for Australia were plagued with a seemingly insurmountable array of problems. Primarily, there was little confidence in Watson’s longevity. He was continuously hampered by injuries between 2005 and mid 2009 (ranging from stress fractures and hamstring problems). Even more problematic, there was little confidence in his ability to make valuable contributions in the batting order despite his useful medium-pace bowling. In his first 13 Test Innings – spread sparsely between 2005 and the middle of 2009 when he alternated between sixth and seventh in the batting order – Watson scored 257 runs at only an average of 19.7 with a solitary half-century.He had a solid but noticeably exploitable technique, and Watson had a tendency in the early stages of his career for being trapped lbw. Of course, these forgettable performances (and subsequent injuries, evidently) were easily overlooked when Australia’s normal line-up consisted of great players performing at their prime; Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Justin Langer, Damien Martyn. Watson was only ever a substitute. He was never called in as a permanent replacement.But since the retirement of those players (with the exception of Lee in ODI’s), Watson was a key figure that Australia seriously needed to consider in trying to rebuild the team. Watson had Test experience, and this was an advantage when mulling over the many players available who had no international experience at all. When Matthew Hayden retired in 2009, someone had to take his place. The decision, therefore, to give Watson the opportunity to open the batting with Simon Katich – with his apparent fragility and flawed technique – was understandably met with harsh criticism and deep apprehension. It was a precarious gamble; one whose result could be decided only by Watson.The result? Years of hesitation and apprehension has given way to profound respect and admiration. Despite the myriad of reasonable concerns since that decision, Watson has developed into an enviable cricketer, and one that Australia simply couldn’t be without. Through the tribulations – physical, mental, social – he has emerged perhaps as one of the world’s most complete international allrounders. The board’s faith in him and the guidance of Ricky Ponting, who Watson credits as being a large contributing factor in his development as a professional cricketer, has paid off.Indeed, when you consider how far he’s come and the extent of his current achievements, his story is almost a romantic one. He is a fighter – a typical Australian quality. Whereas other cricketers in his position may have buckled under the pressure, Watson did not. Rather, the criticism seems to have propelled him to perform above and beyond even the highest of public expectations. Among the many players who have drifted in and out of the Australian side over the past few years, Watson is one of the few who has remained. He has never been in any danger of losing his spot since receiving it. He has embraced the new role that he plays, despite it having been foreign.As vice-captain, a promotion he only just recently acquired since Ponting stood down and Michael Clarke took over, he is already a leader in every facet of the game. As a batsman, he is the very embodiment of the modern cricketer; an obvious product of the increasing importance placed on the shorter formats of the game. He is powerfully built, relies more on brute strength as opposed to delicate timing, and is very versatile. He is shaping to be an outstanding fielder despite his bulky physique, and he is exceptionally handy as a medium-pace bowler who frequently takes wickets.He has shown the capacity to adapt well to changing conditions around the world and especially with regards to the differences between cricket formats. On the field he can be a force to be reckoned with. He is both very aggressive and completely dominating. Watson has rarely been bogged down by bowlers. That said he is also a very humble player. When off the field he maintains a calm and collected disposition, and he appears to be both quiet and oddly gentle.Since he gained the opening position in Tests, he has scored 1696 runs at an average of 50 with 14 half-centuries, two centuries, and a top score of 126. On the ODI scene especially, Watson has even more impressive figures and is becoming an increasingly feared individual across the world with his ability to dominate the scoring from the get-go on almost any pitch and against any opposition. Between 2002 and April 2009 Watson scored a total of 1263 runs across 36 innings at an average of 35 with a top score of 126. In 2009, he scored 1013 runs across 20 innings at an average of 50.6 with a top score of 136 not out. From 2010 to today he has hit 1589 runs at an average of 48 with a top score of 185 not out. (Click for Watson’s career summary in Tests and ODIs.)The frequency at which he scores fifty or more has increased over the years. In Tests he scored only one half-century between 2005 and 2009. In 2009, he scored six half-centuries and one century. In 2010 he scored eight half-centuries and one century. In ODIs he scored seven half-centuries and a century between 2002 and 2009, an average of one per year. In 2009, he scored three half-centuries and as many centuries. In 2010 he scored seven half-centuries. In 2011 he has already scored five half-centuries and two centuries, including knock against Bangladesh.Despite his accomplishments, Watson isn’t free of criticism or ridicule. His tendency to fall after getting himself in, persistently plagues his batting. His particular tendency to get out in the 90s has been the source of much humor in the cricket community. That is a phase that he will probably grow out of as he settles even more comfortably into his role as opening batsman. The run won’t last forever – the runs won’t always keep coming. But if Watson maintains his positive approach to his game, there’s no doubt he’ll continue to be a defining symbol of Australian cricket for many years to come.

But no one will win. Probably. Of course, someone has to, in the end. Anyway: the official Confectionery Stall preview

Andy Zaltzman07-Jun-2013Welcome to the one-day-late official Confectionery Stall 2013 ICC Champions Trophy preview. This is an emotional moment for me – this will probably be the last Champions Trophy preview I will ever write. Unless I choose to re-preview the tournament in three weeks’ time with the benefit of hindsight. Or unless the ICC decides at some point in the future that a condensed, well-formatted 50-over tournament between the world’s best teams is a good idea. And finds a way to make the world’s cricketing public genuinely care who wins it.Group AAustralia
Potential winners. They have the Champions League pedigree, having won, as far as anyone can remember, the previous two incarnations. Wherever and whenever they were. The Baggy Greens will be eager to add a third gong in this final incarnation of the much-maligned tournament, in order to keep the trophy for all eternity, as some material proof with which to convince sceptical future generations that the Champions Trophy did once exist. They have the best team bowling average in ODIs between the top-eight nations since the 2011 World Cup, and the second-best economy rate.However, they will probably not win the tournament. In their final warm-up match, they were clouted about, then skittled for nothing, by India, exposing a thin batting line-up that is over-reliant on the sporadically effective Warner and Watson, and the worryingly back-crocked Clarke. They now wear a cloak of vincibility.England
Potential winners. Despite their recent defeat to New Zealand – properly thumped in two games in which they were missing two key prongs of their bowling attack, and thus two key prongs of their overall strategy – they have a good record in top-eight ODIs since their supine World Cup exit in Sri Lanka (won 23, lost 15, the second-best win percentage in such games, behind India). Despite the unquenchable grumblings about the ploddiness of their top order, statistically England’s batting line-up is in the top three for both average and strike rate over the last two years, with similar figures to India and South Africa, and significantly better numbers than everyone else. They are experienced, playing at home, full of wicket-taking threat, and favoured by the two-ball ICC strategy that still seems frankly weird.However, they will probably not win the tournament. Their batting line-up, without the injured Pietersen, is over-dependent on the often-decisive performances of Eoin Morgan – who averages 60 in ODI victories, and 23 in defeats – and on the unproven but explosive Jos Buttler for acceleration, and they could struggle in any sizeable chase unless they adopt greater flexibility and initiative in their batting strategy. They are the team least likely to balls up a chase of 230, but one of the less likely sides to knock off 320.New Zealand
Potential winners. They have bowlers who can thrive in English conditions, and hard-hitting batsmen in form. Martin Guptill might have been one of the least effective Test batsmen of the last five years, but he has shown the extent of his talent in the last two weeks. Taylor and McCullum can also transform an innings in the blink of an eye (provided that eye takes 15 or 20 minutes to shut and open again).However, they will probably not win the tournament. They have had a good 2013 in away ODIs, and played some excellent all-round cricket against England. But they have still won only six of their 20 completed ODIs against other top-eight nations since their World Cup semi-final defeat to Sri Lanka, and lack depth with the bat.Sri Lanka
Potential winners. They have a good balance of youth and experience. They have an impressive recent record of reaching tournament finals. And they have the still-spectacular Lasith Malinga.However, they will probably not win the tournament. They have a bad balance of the unproven and the over the hill. They have an unimpressive recent record of losing tournament finals. And they have several bowlers considerably less spectacular than Malinga.GROUP BIndia
Potential winners. They have the batting firepower to decimate any bowling attack. As they have just demonstrated in Cardiff. Their entire top seven can score fast and hit boundaries. They can dominate from the start, and recover from a crisis. They won the World Cup with a fairly somnolent fielding side, but the recent influx of new blood – and outflux of old blood – has made them a significantly more dynamic and vigorous side in the field. Ravindra Jadeja is continuing his impressive transformation from highly paid miracle of coiffeuring to significant international all-round cricketer, and MS Dhoni remains the most influential player in the one-day game.However, they will probably not win the tournament. The have the bowling firepower to be decimated by any batting line-up. As they have just demonstrated in Cardiff. To win one tournament with only a moderately effective bowling line-up was impressive. To win two would be close to miraculous.Pakistan
Potential winners. Saeed Ajmal is ODI cricket’s most effective bowler. Since the 2011 World Cup, 46 bowlers have bowled 100 or more overs in ODIs between the eight Champions Trophy teams. Ajmal is on the medal podium for total wickets taken, bowling average, strike rate and economy rate. In the 30 innings he has bowled, the Faisalabad Flummoxer has taken 60 scalps (silver medal, behind Malinga, who has taken 81 in 49 innings), at an average of 18.33 (gold medal), with an economy rate of exactly 4 per over (bronze medal, behind Mohammad Hafeez [3.72] and Sunil Narine [3.75]), and a strike rate of a wicket every 27.4 balls (silver, behind Mitchell Starc [23.3]).Junaid Khan adds further penetration, and Hafeez is so miserly that the late Charles Dickens is rumoured to be considering coming out of his deathly retirement to write a moralistic novella about him.However, they will probably not win the tournament. Their batting line-up is as volcanic as a meringue – they have been comfortably the slowest-scoring of the top-eight teams over the last couple of years, and of the selected squad, only Jamshed has scored at faster than 80 runs per 100 balls in ODIs against the teams in this tournament since the last World Cup. This balance might win them the four or five games needed to take the trophy. But it probably will not.South Africa
Potential winners. Despite their dismal start in Cardiff, a scatty performance littered with schoolboy errors, injuries and unfulfilled potential, they still have the capability to win four games in a row. Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers are currently the world’s two best batsmen – first and third respectively in the Test rankings, second and first in the ODI standings. This decade, between them they average 69 at a strike rate of 98 – per team innings, their joint contribution averages out at 111 runs off 113 balls, which is a handy contribution in anyone’s book. Unless that person’s book is not about cricket, which in itself would raise questions about their priorities in life.However, South Africa will probably not win the tournament. Outside their two world-leading modern greats, their batting is unproven and error-prone. Their bowling is overly dependent on Dale Steyn, who (a) has generally been much less of a force in ODIs that the regular match-shaper he is in the five-day game, and (b) is currently injured; Morne Morkel, who (a) has a high-class ODI record, but (b) is currently injured; and Vernon Philander, who (a) has generally been much less of a force in the one-day format than he is in Test and first-class cricket, and (b) is not in the squad.West Indies
Potential winners. They have proven match-winners throughout their line-up, and the erratic Kieron Pollard has shown much-improved ODI form over the last couple of years, averaging 37 against top-eight opposition since the World Cup (at the end of which his career ODI average versus the top teams was a less than devastating 17). They won their last international tournament in spectacular style, and have Chris Gayle, one of the most destructive players in the history of the game, and a man who seems to enjoy the big stage. And who seems particularly to enjoy putting the ball as far away from that big stage as the physics of willow will allow. Like the team, he is sporadically dangerous. But in a two-week, five-game shootout, sporadic danger can be enough, as their World Twenty20 victory showed.However, they will probably not win the tournament. They have proven match-losers throughout their line-up. No batsman in their squad averages more than Pollard’s 37 over the last two years against top-eight opponents, and Gayle’s recent ODI form has been horrific – he has scored 114 runs in his last 11 ODI innings, with only one hundred (and an average of 29) in the format since January 2009. Narine is a very effective limited-overs bowler, but other than he, only Darren Sammy has managed to keep his economy rate below 5 over the last two years. They have a rotten record against everyone other than New Zealand in that time – won seven, tied one, lost 19, against top-eight sides without a capital Z in their name – whilst posting the lowest collective batting average, and second lowest run rate.● So who will win? In a groundbreaking scientific experiment on Wednesday, I predicted the tournament through the medium of tossing a coin. A humble, verifiable British one-pence coin – a response to the ruptures that questionable megamoney has inflicted on the game in recent times.The results were as follows:A thrilling Group A came down to the final round of matches with all four teams on one win each. England defeated New Zealand by one head to zero tails, whilst Australia were sent packing by an impressive Sri Lanka, who recovered from a first-match loss to win two must-win tosses in a row to progress to the semi-finals (as group winners, after winning a sudden-death flip against England).In Group B, India maintained their impressive pre-tournament form by crushing South Africa and West Indies, each time by one head to zero tails, before losing a dead rubber to the already eliminated Pakistan. The Proteas shook off their “chokers” tag by impressively bouncing back from their disastrous start, beating Pakistan, then seeing off West Indies in the decisive final group match.However, that tag was dangled around their necks once more in the semi-finals, where de Villiers’ men were pitted against the in-form Sri Lankans. Once again, the pressure told, the sinews tightened, and they came up agonisingly short in a coin-toss they really should have won. As they have lost their heads in previous international tournaments, so they lost to heads in this one, with the copper coming down with Ol’ Lizzie Windsor’s grinning mug giggling at yet another major trophy failure for the South Africans.In the other semi-final, India, perhaps emboldened by their World Cup win of two years ago, set up a repeat of the 2011 Mumbai final by comfortably crushing England by a tail to no heads – Jonathon Trott was unable to influence the result of this one, prompting further questions about his function in the side, and the balance of the top order around him.Dhoni’s side then once again proved masters of the big occasion, tails coming up trumps to devastate the perennial near-missers Sri Lanka, and secure another title for India.It was a thrilling competition, with all the teams registering at least one win, and worthy champions emerging at the end of it. It was all completed in under two minutes – watch and learn, ICC World Cup formatters – and was completely and utterly devoid of any suggestions of match-fixing, conducted as it was in total privacy, without anyone else in the world knowing it was happening. Much like the 2004 Champions Trophy.● I am delighted to report that, after one match, my coin-toss prediction is 100% on target. And, as a result of it, India have come in to 10-3 with the non-naughty bookmakers, whilst South Africa have drifted from 4-1 favourites to 15-2 outsiders. And New Zealand, without playing, have shifted from 10-1 to 11-1. My one-pence piece is now under police protection.

He had to carefully plot his way to the second new ball, but by keeping his best bowlers fresh, New Zealand’s captain has just about kept his side in this series

Jarrod Kimber25-May-20135-0-14-1. That was Kane Williamson’s return after 61 overs. Brendon McCullum would have benn pretty confident that Williamson could have helped rest his seamers for one last new ball dash.It had been a good day for Williamson. He had taken the wicket of Ian Bell. He had beaten the bat of Jonny Bairstow. He’d kept up an end, got decent spin, been economical and dismissed the No. 4. He was doing more than a part time spinner would have been expected to do on the first day. One crusty old scribe had even said he’d take 150 career wickets based on his early spell.On any day a part time spinner is most useful in that period from the 60th to 80th over. On a long day like this, he’s even more important. Anything around three an over would have been handy. Another wicket would have been a bonus. But the 63rd over changed all of McCullum’s plans.A floated offspinner from Williamson was driven through wide mid-on to the padded boundary triangle. It was the sort of shot that made old men in the members’ seats nod at each other with a glint in their eye.The third ball was a fraction short, but there was little room outside off. Bairstow nimbly gave himself room and played a beautiful cut shot for two, that turned into three with an overthrow.When Root had last faced Williamson, he’d scored only a single off a complete over. There had been a decent appeal for an lbw. Williamson might have hoped for a quiet last three balls, maybe, even a chance of a wicket.That seemed improbable as Root came down the wicket confidently flicked a full toss for another boundary. The next ball Root moved across his stumps and played another sweep. This time there was no appeal, just a boundary as the ball went very fast and fine. With 15 runs in the first five balls of the over, Root could have been forgiven for blocking the last one. He reverse swept it for four.19 runs in the over. Williamson dragged out of the attack. McCullum’s plans in tatters. They’d outwitted his chancellor, bested his swordsman.When the over started, it didn’t look like an obvious plan; it just looked like a loose ball being dealt with. But the intent on the last four balls was blatantly clear. These two young batsmen were not content with sitting back and waiting for the new ball. They were using their aggression to tire the Kiwi bowlers out before they got the new ball in their hands. Root was also trying to get his hundred in before Tim Southee and Trent Boult came back on.It was great, attacking, smart cricket. Both players weren’t content with waiting for something to happen, they were changing the face of the game.McCullum also knew exactly what was happening, some captains would have locked Williamson in the basement. McCullum refused to allow England to dictate. After only four overs, he brought him back from the other end. The end he had taken him off after an over where he’d taken Bell and beaten Bairstow.Root and Bairstow continued to attack. This time it didn’t end in a bunch of boundaries, just good milking. Williamson tried darts, legside fields and even stopping in his delivery to see what Root was planning to do. Root late cut, Bairstow reverse swept, and Root walked across his crease and played a delicate paddle pull. Williamson’s two overs back went for 12 runs, and McCullum had to shelve him.But McCullum didn’t give in altogether. Southee bowled two overs after Williamson’s 63rd. Boult bowled none. Instead McCullum rode his two workhorses, Neil Wagner and Doug Bracewell, into the ground. He was risking it all on the fact that a fresh Southee and Boult was worth more to him with the new ball.Because of the attacking, it wasn’t until the 79th over that Williamson came back on. Giving Bracewell one over off. This time, Root and Bairstow just played him out. There was no need to attack him now.Root was rewarded for his smart work with a hundred, but in keeping Boult fresh, McCullum had done very well. The first delivery with the new ball, Boult took a wicket. Then another in his next over. Then another in his next over. He’d broken the alliance of young Tykes, and taken an extra one as well.Had Prior been caught off Southee, New Zealand would have ended the day with all of England’s batsmen gone. Perhaps even with England all out. Instead they had to bowl to the close, and Bracewell bowled one over (the second last) with the new ball. He suffered from cramp during it. And then during Southee’s last over, Bracewell was brought off the field after barely moving to field a cut from Prior.McCullum, who looked just as sore, had gambled with Wagner and Bracewell’s fitness, yet won three wickets and given New Zealand some hope of saving this series. Williamson finished with 9-0-49-1.

Gary Ballance, a young left-hander with a Zimbabwean lilt could be asked to solve one of England’s more enduring problems: the No. 6 Test spot.

Alan Gardner24-Sep-2013English cricket has a lot to thank Zimbabwe for. The two coaches most responsible for transforming England into one of the best teams in the world over the last decade and a half, Duncan Fletcher and Andy Flower, hardened their characters and honed their philosophies in southern Africa and now another young leftie with a Zimbabwean lilt could be asked to solve one of the more enduring problems within the current set-up: the No. 6 Test spot.Gary Ballance, of Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Mid West Rhinos and, some years ago, Zimbabwe Under-19s, was the Ashes bolter who caught the eye when England’s squad to tour Australia was announced. A powerful batsman, the 23-year-old has been capped once by his adoptive country – making a two-ball duck in the ODI against Ireland earlier this month – having qualified through residency, and could become England’s first Test debutant in Australia since the Lancashire wicketkeeper, Warren Hegg, in 1998.It is often said that a strong Yorkshire makes for a strong England, and Ballance played a full part in the county’s tilt at the title this year, scoring 995 Championship runs so far as they secured second. He may not have mastered the accent but Ballance will happily band together with his friends, team-mates and fellow tourists, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, in England’s young Yorkie club.”I’ve played at Yorkshire for four to five years, I don’t think you get more English than that,” was his unequivocal response to being asked about his allegiances. “I feel 100 percent English.”There will be those that prickle at the claim, as well as England’s recruitment of another foreign-born player to their ensemble. Indeed, upon announcing the Ashes squad the national selector, Geoff Miller, had to defend the selection of yet another player drawn from non-English roots.But Ballance was not inveigled away from his homeland. Like soon-to-be team-mates Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott, who both came through the South African system, he left with a clear goal in mind.Born in Harare to parents who ran a tobacco farm, Ballance played several sports but knew early on that a career in cricket might be more fruitful – and stable – overseas. A family contact, in the form of the former Zimbabwe captain and coach Dave Houghton, then in charge at Derbyshire, was able to assist. Houghton is married to a cousin of Ballance’s father and was happy to be involved in bringing the teenager to England, putting him up for a period before he took up a sports scholarship at Harrow.”His father and mother came to see us on one of my trips back to Zimbabwe,” Houghton recalls. “I knew Gary was a decent player, we’re quite close as a family. They said to us, ‘He’s 15, what do you suggest we do? He wants to play cricket as a profession and he’s got a British passport’ I said, if he can get to England, we’ll happily look after him.”Ballance described his Ashes inclusion as being “quite a shock” and his parents, who are currently in England, were the first to be told. Their farm was among the many confiscated by the Zimbabwe government, shortly after Ballance left home, but they remain in Zimbabwe and involved in the farming industry, making periodic visits to watch their son play.Asked about the challenges of starting a new life in another country at such a young age, Ballance answers with a clear-eyed sense of purpose. “I don’t think it was as hard as people might think, it was in the interests of my career and wanting to play cricket,” he says. “It came down to that. I knew if I wanted to play cricket that England would be the best place to do it. I got help from my parents, when I came over here I got a lot of help from Dave Houghton and that made the decision a lot easier.”Since I moved over it’s been my dream to play for England. I moved to Yorkshire, to the academy there, they’ve treated me very well and I’ve had a great time there. I’ve always dreamed of the opportunity and I’m really looking forward to it.”

A solid, muscular presence, Ballance looks like a bit like a svelte Rob Key and has a similarly cheery disposition, indicating there will not be any animosity should he and Bairstow, a one-time room-mate, end up in competition to bat at No. 6.

An indication of Ballance’s ability is provided by his appearance at the 2006 Under-19 World Cup – at the age of 16. He played against England in the tournament, top-scoring for Zimbabwe in a two-wicket win, and was quick to impress when he was brought to Derbyshire. Karl Krikken, then in charge of the academy, suggested immediately that Ballance be signed on a summer contract.Observant Sky Sports viewers would have caught a glimpse of the future in 2007, when Ballance smashed a century for Derbyshire club side Ockbrook and Borrowash in the televised national T20 cup, and it wasn’t long before he attracted the attention of a bigger county in Yorkshire, whose academy he joined at the end of that year.Ballance learned his cricket in Zimbabwe, where he went to the independent Peterhouse boarding school, and his batting idol was Sachin Tendulkar rather than Michael Atherton or Graham Thorpe (though Michael Vaughan’s personal Ashes of 2002-03 made an impression). He returned in 2010-11 and 2011-12 to further his development in the first-class Logan Cup competition but has since become one of England’s track-suited, talent-identification generation, through the Lions and Performance Programme squads.He impressed with the Lions in Australia over the winter, his only previous visit to the country, and although his one-day debut “didn’t go as well as I’d hoped”, he has now overleapt the likes of James Taylor and Ravi Bopara for Test selection.A solid, muscular presence, Ballance looks like a bit like a svelte Rob Key and has a similarly cheery disposition, indicating there will not be any animosity should he and Bairstow, a one-time room-mate, end up in competition to bat at No. 6.And what of his prospects if called upon to fill the position, which has chewed up numerous candidates since Paul Collingwood’s retirement three winters ago? Could Ballance provide just that and offer Flower, England’s made-in-Zimbabwe coach, a made-in-Zimbabwe solution? Houghton has further words of encouragement.”His business is scoring runs. When he gets in, he gets hundreds and he has got hundreds at every level he’s played at – plenty of them. And I don’t expect that to change once he gets into Test cricket.”