All posts by n8rngtd.top

What more could you ask for?

Alex Braae06-Feb-2013Quote of the day
“Conditions are fine and clear, perfect weather for cricket. Pitch looks good. Whangarei, you look good.” And on that slightly creepy note, the PA announcer got the game underway.Choice of game
Whangarei is a two-hour drive from Auckland, and today being Waitangi Day means New Zealanders get a public holiday. I thought it would be a great chance to see the mighty English give our 2nd tier players another whipping, in preparation for doing the same to our 1st XI.Team supported
The New Zealanders, though really this was about the spectacle rather than the result. When the result turned out to be a nail-biting win, I suddenly found myself to be very patriotic.Opening salvo
England got off to a lucky start, with a french-cut boundary off the first ball. Matt Henry was unlucky not to have Alex Hales caught on the boundary when Tom Latham dropped a sitter much to the mirth of the crowd. He fielded the next ball with ease, to exaggerated cheers.One thing I’d have changed

Surely it is time for DJs at cricket grounds to stop playing “Gangnam Style”. Everyone over the age of 12 in the crowd sat through it with mute resignation, though the kids went mental doing the invisible horse dance.Face-off I relished
My main interest in this match was to see who from the NZ XI would put their hand up for selection. Hamish Rutherford and Latham both pressed for a place in the Black Caps top order, setting up a win in the process.Wow moment
Hales struggled in his brief innings, and it only got worse when Michael Lumb flicked the ball to Henry at fine leg. Hales sprinted to make his ground but was undone by a stunning direct hit. The crowd knew it was out, even if the umpires had to have it confirmed.Close encounter
Eoin Morgan swivelled and hooked Henry to the boundary just in front of where we were sitting. The ball hitting the picket fence made a very satisfying thunk.Shot of the day
It could have been the straight six Jos Buttler hit out of the ground, or one of the many beautiful shots Morgan played. However, for me, it would have to be the first boundary hit by Rutherford – a delicate, subtle cut through backward point. Not only did he bisect two fielders standing metres apart, he also beat the boundary rider perfectly. It was one for the purists, and showed that Twenty20 isn’t just hit and giggle.Crowd meter
Cobham Oval is one of the boutique cricket grounds that New Zealand specialises in, and a crowd of a few thousand made the grassy banks seem packed. Generally, people were fairly sedate, enjoying the interesting match on a sunny day. There was one guy who entertained himself with terrible rhyming puns. “Ronchi Donkey!” “Dernbach? More like Dirtbag!” Hilarity ensued.Redemption of the day
After putting down the sort of catch boundary fielders dream about, Latham took his revenge by battering the English bowlers all over the park. His innings was the difference between the teams, and it was a shame he got himself out with a stupid shot just a few runs short of the target.Fancy-dress index
For some reason the cheerleaders were dressed as Native Americans. Why? Who knows.Catch of the day
If it were possible to take a captain’s catch, Stuart Broad would have done this today. He pulled off a stunning, running, diving one-handed effort to dismiss Colin Munro, almost swinging the game back into England’s favour.Mixed message
When the announcer called for last orders over the PA, causing a minor stampede to the beer tents, the message up on the big screen was a public service announcement, saying “Ease up on the drink.”Sledge of the day
Jade Dernbach went up for a long solo appeal for lbw, and sustained it even after the batsmen had crossed for a single. “Cut it out bro!” shouted the man sitting next to us, in true Kiwi style.Marks out of 10
9.5, because in cricket perfection is always just out of reach.

India’s selectors have given themselves the chance to assess several opening options ahead of the tour of South Africa in December

Sharda Ugra07-Mar-2013The Indian selectors’ decision to drop Virender Sehwag for the last two Tests against Australia cannot be argued with, if cricketing logic and the weight of lack of runs is applied against sentiment and possibility.It is in many ways a far simpler decision to take at this stage, with India 2-0 up against an Australian side whose transition roadmap in all departments has disintegrated in the middle of a series. No replacement was announced for Sehwag either, an oddity and a signal in itself. Even in home series, the Indians travel in large squads -15 usually – which has long been treated as a fall out of zonal selection but has become a hard habit to break. Today, it was broken. The signal is that Shikhar Dhawan could get his big break after a first-class season with six centuries and five fifties.The Sehwag omission is an indication the selectors are treading on the straight and narrow directive of the ‘youth policy.’ It works particularly well in Indian conditions but to gauge whether it can succeed overseas – well, that’s what selectors are paid for. Sandeep Patil’s panel should be complimented for doing much of the dirty work sidestepped by the Kris Srikkanth panel that preceded it and lived off the 2011 World Cup victory for one year too long.After the announcement, Sehwag said he was going to find a way back and that he trusts his game. In the last five years, at his best and even his most mercurial, he produced, by a guesstimate, one in three innings of weight and influence on the state of the game. If he is able to find his way back to that state of mind and batsmanship, India will be pleased. If the new openers are beating him on that ratio, then Sehwag can do nothing but work and wait.Yet, the opportunities for Sehwag to work his way into runs and Test form are on the slender side. The IPL will take all of April and most of May, by which time the Indian summer will set in, in its energy-sapping force. The only avenue is an unusual one: a four-month window in the monsoon, set up for the first time by the BCCI, for A-teams to tour. This July, a proposed India A tour could act as a recce with beanies and thermals, for the full tour that is to follow in the South African summer.While nothing is final – all India tours appear to materialise at the last hour after mysterious agreements – the A tour is expected to contain three four-day matches and a bag of T20 and 50-over games. What both Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir do in the interim, post-IPL, will give clues about intention and effort.There was another option for Sehwag, but no one knows if was discussed: for him to slot into the middle order, where he has always said he really belongs. After all, he made his debut at No. 6 as it happens, in South Africa. It is the position where a specialist batsman, if the rest have gone, must bat with those that follow, maybe face the second new ball, farm the strike and push the innings along.The idea of Sehwag coming in at 44 for 4, batting alongside Dhoni and the bowlers, is a delicious one. But the No. 6 is more of an aggressive anchor and less of a pinch-hitter, more VVS Laxman than Sehwag, and most certainly not a Sehwag without runs. When Sehwag moved to open for India, he had scored a century and two fifties in his first seven Test innings in the middle order and was averaging more than 50. Not now.The decision to drop Sehwag makes Dhawan the first in line to open the innings with M Vijay in Mohali. Dhoni has by and large been rather fond of left-right hand combinations, particularly in ODI cricket. Dhawan may turn out to be an extension into Test cricket, particularly against the shaken confidence of the Australian bowling attack.The only thing that could come between Dhawan and a Test place will be the Rahane Reversal. Ever since he was picked for the 2011-12 tour of Australia, Ajinkya Rahane’s fledgling Test cricket career was turned into the Otis Redding song. Maybe Rahane’s time sittin’ around in the Indian dressing room, like Otis said, , may actually be over.The performance of the openers in Mohali and Delhi will give the selectors tips on who stands a better chance of making it to the XI in South Africa. By freeing up two openers’ slots, the selectors have given themselves a reasonable number to choose from, once the IPL is done with and the injury roster is up. But if anything, Australia’s struggles have proved that no matter how well intentioned a youth policy is, replacing skills is tough. If for the short term, it means going back to an older hand for tours of South Africa and then England in 2014, then so be it. The selectors have shown focus; they must also be ready to be flexible.If there is a blot on today’s events it is that, once again, the reasoning and thought process of the selection panel, the rationale behind Sehwag’s omission or where he stood in the succession-planning business, was left behind closed doors. It is one thing for the selection committee chairman to have to dodge bullets at one of our rowdy press conferences. It is another to infect silence onto the BCCI’s Twitter handle, website and its Facebook page. It can only be hoped that Sehwag, a batsman who is both rare and influential in Indian cricket in the best possible way, had been spoken to by the selectors.For a board that is extremely 21st century in the protection of its commercial interests, its communication with those that are responsible for the generation of that commerce – the public, the Indian team’s fans – belongs to the age when pigeons carried messages and telephones had not been invented.

Plays of the Day from the match between Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals in Delhl

Andrew Fidel Fernando06-Apr-2013The drop

With a reputation for being a fast mover and fine catcher, David Warner often traverses the straight boundary for Delhi Daredevils. But in the 13th over he dropped a straightforward chance from Rahul Dravid, and ended up conceding a six. Warner climbed into the air about a metre from the long-on rope to intercept Dravid’s mis-hit off Andre Russell, and having got two hands to it, palmed it over the ropes. Warner benefited from some reciprocal generosity in his own innings though, when Dravid dropped him.The welcome
Mahela Jayawardene strangely held Johan Botha back until the 15th over, but when he did come into the attack, he was savaged so severely, he didn’t bowl again. With Royals at 108 for 2 in 14 overs, Stuart Binny decided it was time to surge, and though his first boundary – an edge to third man – was somewhat fortuitous, a slog sweep into the stands next ball, and an advancing bludgeon over long off straight after, ignited Royals’ death-over dash.The ball
Unmukt Chand, the hero of last year’s Under-19 World Cup, had a rough introduction to the IPL when a fantastic Brett Lee away-seamer uprooted his off stump with the first ball of the tournament. He was in danger of collecting another golden duck when Samuel Badree rapped him on the pads first ball in Delhi, but he survived, only to be bowled by another terrific delivery in the sixth over. Sreesanth pitched one on off stump in the sixth over, and moved it in off the seam just a fraction, and Chand could not get near the ball as it passed between bat and pad and took middle stump out of the ground.The catch
Jayawardene had set himself up to be there at the close with a measured 19 from 15 deliveries, but as soon as he made a mistake, a little magic in the infield ensured he would not play the kind of innings that had given Delhi hope in the tournament opener. Spotting a full, straight delivery from Rahul Shukla, Jayawardene aimed a big drive, but ended up getting a thick outside edge that flew square. The ball’s trajectory would have taken it several metres to the right of Ajinkya Rahane at backward point, but he moved quickly and launched himself horizontally, heels kicked in the air, to complete a stunning two-handed take at full stretch.The throw
Despite a miserly 18th over of Daredevils’ innings, and a quiet start to the 19th, the hosts would have felt in control as long as Warner remained at the crease. A fine piece of fielding from acting captain Brad Hodge, however, dislodged Royals’ chief tormentor and yielded the floor to Kevon Cooper’s last-over heroics. Warner bunted one into the off side and took off, but as quick as he is between the wickets, he had hit the ball too close to Hodge at cover, who swooped on it instantly. Hodge then let rip with a fast, flat off-balance throw, and despite having no more than one-and-a-half stumps to aim at, and hit middle to find Warner metres short.

Plays of the day from the opening game of IPL 2013, between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils in Kolkata

Siddhartha Talya03-Apr-2013The start
Unmukt Chand came in fresh from two back-to-back centuries in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament, but the first ball he received this IPL – also the first of the season – produced the worst possible result he could have imagined. Brett Lee charged in, bowled a lovely outswinger, beat Chand’s attempted drive, and knocked out off stump and the microphone. For a format that is made for the batsmen to dominate, the start of IPL season six was a sign of encouragement for the bowlers. Whether that was a deceptive sign remains to be seen.The ball
David Warner’s woes against spin in India continued, though this time it was a West Indian who baffled him. In his first over of the new season, Knight Riders’ trump card from 2012, Sunil Narine immediately had the batsman thinking. The first ball that Warner faced off Narine was a sharp offbreak that spat away from middle past off, producing an outside edge and a simple catch to first slip.The six
The first six of the IPL took a while to arrive, 112 balls. The Knight Riders’ bowlers had done a terrific job to contain Daredevils, the only fluent batsman from the visiting team being Mahela Jayawardene. He had handled Lee well in his first spell and took him for runs in his second, pulling him over the deep midwicket boundary. It ended the longest wait for a six in an IPL season.The lapse
The Knight Riders were a superior fielding outfit on the first day of the IPL, and Daredevils reinforced that with their own performance in the field. Gautam Gambhir should have been gone on 23 when Jacques Kallis refused a single and David Warner at cover aimed at the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Gambhir had given up, but Warner missed and it didn’t help that there was no one backing up, not anticipating the possibility of a dismissal. It was among a series of let-ups on the field, but perhaps the costliest.

It may be on a sound financial footing but in terms of relationships with supporters there is work to be done for Haroon Lorgat at CSA

Firdose Moonda23-Jul-2013″There is no broken business.” That was the only defiant statement at Haroon Lorgat’s unveiling yesterday and it was uttered by someone who should know. Louis von Zeuner is one of CSA’s independent board members and is also a banker. From his vantage point, there is nothing ailing CSA and when browsing the books it’s hard to argue with von Zeuner’s assessment.Over the last two years, CSA has signed an eight-year broadcast deal with Taj and Willowton TV worth R1.5 billion (US$150 million). The last revenue figure they released was after the 2010-11 season when they reported a record R727.4 million (US$72.74 million) income. They have high-profile corporate sponsors attached to each of the three formats and all domestic competitions so financially, CSA is strong and healthy.But a business is not only about money and that is what von Zeuner forgot when he made his declaration. A business is also about relationships and at the moment, CSA’s most important one is fractured.The South African public still harbours suspicion towards the organisation, justifiably so in the aftermath of the bonus scandal, which revealed a lack of corporate governance in the body and the continued series of PR blunders which followed. CSA has not done a good job of explaining things to the people they should be accountable to – the supporters – be it the delay in appointing a new CEO or whether a player has passed or failed a fitness test and so they have earned nothing but circumspection. It is Haroon Lorgat’s job to change that.Just the fact that he was appointed is a good start for CSA’s beleaguered reputation. In Lorgat, CSA has picked a familiar and trusted face. He spent almost a decade working in various positions in South African cricket before appointed ICC boss. His rise is an example of how a traditional cricket-person – Lorgat is a former allrounder with a decent record – can combine corporate acumen.He is the only convenor of selectors since readmission to leave the job with the same amount of respect he had when he started it. Perhaps he was lucky in that the choices he had to make were not as confusing as the crossroads other convenors stood in front of, particularly when it came to established players and transformation.In Lorgat’s era, Makhaya Ntini was at his peak and Herschelle Gibbs’ allegations of a Graeme Smith-Jacques Kallis-Mark Boucher-AB de Villiers cabal were not fully formed (de Villiers was only a rookie at the start of that period) or released. But he also made brave decisions like dropping Boucher in late 2004 and giving Hashim Amla his debut the same year and that added to his stature.His time at the ICC did the same. South Africans are proud that one of their own headed up world cricket’s governing body. They see Lorgat as a man of great prestige. The other side of the story – the one which alleges Lorgat was skating on thin ice towards the end of his tenure – has not reached these parts. And Lorgat’s battles with the BCCI are considered a case of the Indian board flexing their muscles against a man who was strong enough to stand up to them.It’s no secret that some view the BCCI as a bully because of their money and influence. When, in March they voiced their concerns over Lorgat’s bid for the CSA job, it came with a threat of a possible pull-out of their upcoming tour. The BCCI’s beef was believed to be because of some of their old baggage with Lorgat, emanating from disagreements at the ICC, but South Africans saw it as unwarranted interference. That CSA appointed Lorgat regardless of the BCCI’s concerns has been received as an act of bravado. CSA has been congratulated for holding the line where other boards may have caved in.While the board puffed its chest out with pride that they had made a popular decision, Lorgat emerged almost apologetically into the limelight. At his first press engagement, he spoke on the India issue with humility. He said he did not know exactly what he had done to earn their ire and he wanted to understand their concerns. He also gave an assurance he would be willing to say sorry to India because maintaining close ties with him is in the best interests of CSA.

He will have to find equilibrium between heading up CSA in a way that is credible to the South African public while also keeping peace and fostering relationships with other boards.

Therein also lies Lorgat’s biggest challenge. He will have to find equilibrium between heading up CSA in a way that is credible to the South African public while also keeping peace and fostering relationships with other boards. In essence, Lorgat will have to be a diplomat. Fortunately for him that is something he has had a lot of practice doing.With one eye on international image and the other at restoring CSA’s reputation at home, Lorgat will also need a third, to scan over the intricacies of running South African cricket. The main protagonists, the players, cannot be ignored. South Africa’s Test squad appear to be able to take care of themselves and the limited-overs’ units seem the problem children but it is not that clear cut.South Africa’s golden generation are slowly being affected by injury and age as Graeme Smith’s ankle recurrences have come too frequently and Jacques Kallis accepts the twilight. Even the usually fit Dale Steyn has begun to pick up niggles. As we’ve seen recently with India and Australia, a succession plan needs to be watertight for a country not to feel the losses of some heavyweights. South Africa’s depth exists but when it is severely tested, as has happened with the one-day side now, it’s evident there is work to be done.The franchises have continually produced players who are capable of stepping up but they have oft-cried for assistance. They rely on CSA for grants and many of them would like those to increase. The domestic Twenty20 competition is an avenue they want to further monetise with players with a worldwide appeal to draw in advertisers to match. CSA do not want to compete with the IPL, that would be pointless, but they would prefer something like the Big Bash League instead of the low-profile event they are saddled with now.And to make Lorgat’s job a little more difficult, he also has to pay attention to development. In a country with a past as divided as South Africa’s, addressing inequality is complicated. Transformation is associated with fast-tracking players of colour but it is not as unfair as that. As a policy it looks at making opportunities to play cricket available to all people and, by implication, those who were previously disadvantaged require more attention.It is often criticised because it is applied higher-up at the same time as it takes root at the lowest-levels. Many would prefer to see real change at grassroots long before it grows elsewhere because they believe that will allow for real change. But others have growing impatience about the slow rate of representation.Unity took place 22 years ago and to date only five black Africans, who make the majority of the population – Makhaya Ntini, Mfuneko Ngam, Thami Tsolekile, Monde Zondeki and Lonwabo Tsotsobe – have played Test cricket despite black African communities having century-long traditions in the game. Lorgat himself said he feels South Africa is not benefitting fully by failing to tap into this talent pool and he wants to change that.Von Zeuner may be strictly correct: by the traditional understanding of a business, CSA is not broken. But by the larger one, it has holes. If Lorgat can fill some of them, his time in charge will be judged successful.

If India can change their bowling philosophy during a watertight tour and deliver the results, it will be an incredible achievement. Otherwise we will be back to expecting the batsmen to clean up

Sidharth Monga06-Dec-2013Towards the end of South Africa’s training session a day before the Johannesburg ODI, coach Russell Domingo asked a few volunteers to go deep into the outdoor practice facility at the Wanderers. “JP [Duminy] is going to hit long balls. We’ll need somebody to retrieve them,” he said. This was a pretty simple exercise. Domingo was giving Duminy throwdowns. He gave Duminy straight length balls at an average pace, Duminy opened up his front leg, and swung through the line of them. And he actually hit them long. This was all about getting the swing right, it seemed. So all he wanted was those straight length balls without much menace. It turned out to be the perfect replication of what Duminy would face from the India bowlers out in the middle come match day.Even before India reached the stage where Duminy and AB de Villiers hit them at will, taking 100 runs in the last six overs, their bowlers had ceded the advantage of winning the toss when the pitch was green and dew was expected later in the evening. To say that the poor bowling and the consequent high total made the Indian batting look worse than they might be might sound a bit harsh on the bowlers playing their first internationals in South Africa, without any practice games, with little preparation time, but it is clear that the bigger bridge between the two sides is their bowling and not the batting. India’s home success over the last year has been built on the slowness of the pitches, and their bowlers have it all to do when the bounce is true and the ball comes on.The opening bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohit Sharma bowled a bit like R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha did during the home series against England last year: put the ball there, and expect the conditions to do the rest. When the half-volleys were put away, they overcompensated, and at their pace were easy to put away for runs. Mohit did make a good comeback when he produced chances from both the South African openers in one over, but that over proved to be an exception. Once the new balls had been wasted, Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were worked away easily, and the final statement from de Villiers and Duminy was emphatic.For years the great Indian batting line-up compensated for an ordinary bowling attack, and drew all the flak when they couldn’t. Now, with both departments almost starting afresh, might be time the expectations were more even. The likes of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will be criticised much more than the bowlers because they have raised the expectations with exceptional numbers in the home season.Thanks to them, India got away with conceding 300 nearly every time at home, but they cannot afford to go for 300 on pitches that have assistance for the quicks. “Overall it was a bad performance,” said the captain MS Dhoni, not mincing words. “It started with the bowlers initially. This was not really a 350-plus wicket. We didn’t start well. We were supposed to bowl it up, and the wicket would have done the rest. We didn’t get the kind of start that was needed. At the same time we should have backed it up with some good batting, but we weren’t able to do it.”By the time South African got hold of the two new balls, they got it to seam, swing, bounce and whiz through. Dhoni might have preferred pitching it up and expecting the pitch to do the rest because the Indian bowlers don’t have the pace to bowl short, but Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel were not just putting it there, they were forcing out all the assistance from the pitch. That combined with the high total left the batsmen a difficult choice between either letting the asking rate go too high or playing low-percentage shots.”They know the conditions better than us,” Dhoni said. “They know what lengths to bowl. That is one of the reasons why I want our bowlers to step up, so that you don’t give away 300 runs. That puts pressure on the batsmen, because they have to go after the bowling right from the first ball, which was not easy on this wicket against bowlers like Dale Steyn. If you see how he bowled to Rohit, he didn’t move away from the good areas.”Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher are big fans of good areas and performing within the limitations, but the answer might not lie just in the good areas. Mohammed Shami clearly hit the pitch harder than the opening bowlers, and he produced better results. South African conditions are difficult for batting, but they are not quite as overcast as England or New Zealand where the ball can do things by itself. You have to coax it out of the surfaces, otherwise the quick and small outfields can be quite unforgiving.If India can change their bowling philosophy during a watertight tour and deliver the results, it will be an incredible achievement. Otherwise we will be back to expecting the batsmen to clean up after the bowlers.

Struggling under the weight of England demands, Alastair Cook has considered given up the one-day captaincy – but he remains the right man for the job

George Dobell20-Jan-2014They say that mountaineers, having been caught in an avalanche, are sometimes so disorientated that they dig down rather than up in a bid to free themselves.So it seems with Alastair Cook in the aftermath of another defeat in Australia. Struggling for equilibrium after another series had been snatched away from him by the avalanche that is Australian cricket at present, Cook admitted for the first time that he was considering his position as captain. Six months after leading England to the brink of their first global ODI trophy and 12 months before a World Cup that England have been planning towards for years, Cook must decide whether to stick or twist.Much of this could have been avoided. Had the England management been just a little more flexible and a little more sensitive, Cook would have been sent home with other senior members of the squad at the end of the Test series. While his voice said all the right words about “challenge” and “excitement” ahead of the ODI series, his eyes said something quite different. He was obviously drained.But instead of being given a rest, he was asked to lead a side lacking five of the players – James Anderson, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Steven Finn and Graeme Swann – who had helped it to No. 1 in the ODI rankings, against a resurgent Australia. It was an impossible task. This was an accident waiting to happen.Some respite may be at hand. Cook will not tour the Caribbean in February and March and will not feature in the World Twenty20 squad. But it would be wrong to think he is about to put his feet up. Not only will he be scheduled to have meetings with the likes of Andy Flower and Paul Downton, but he is also due to become a father in March. That is a wonderful event that will enrich his life beyond measure. But parenting is anything but restful.

Leaders among the pack

Eoin Morgan
Possibly the most likely alternative. Morgan has already captained England in six ODIs – three wins and two defeats – in which he recorded his highest ODI score. A guaranteed selection and reflective of the more dynamic sort of cricketer many feel England should embrace, Morgan should also remain fresh, with little likelihood of returning to the Test team.
Ian Bell
Bell has excelled as an innovative captain at domestic level, though whether he would feel the same freedom at international level remains to be seen. He was interviewed for leadership roles at the time the captaincy was split three ways and was the only man not to be given an official leadership role as either captain or vice-captain of a team.
Kevin Pietersen
Pietersen would be a hugely controversial choice and might feel, at this stage of his career, that he could do without the burden. But he remains close to Ashley Giles, the limited-overs coach, and has the bonus of both experience and, on merit at least, a secure place in the side. England lost all five of his final ODIs in charge, in India in 2008, however, and it seems hard to imagine that he could be offered the role with Andy Flower in his current role.
Stuart Broad
Andy Flower dismissed the idea of a bowler leading the Test side recently but Broad, as T20 captain, must be among the candidates for the 50-over format. While Broad still has little experience, he has shown himself to be an astute reader of the game and is guaranteed his place in the side.
Paul Collingwood
Remains the only man to have led England to a global limited-overs Trophy – the World T20 in 2010 – and underlined his leadership credentials by turning a struggling Durham side into county champions in little more than 12 months. His powers as a player have waned considerably, though, and it is hard to see how he could be squeezed into a side. But the same might have been said of Mike Brearley in 1981.

Besides, in Cook’s absence, other players will be given a chance to fight for his ODI place. The ODIs against West Indies, ridiculously scheduled as they are right before a World T20, will be utilised mainly to give the T20 squad a chance to find form. So the likes of Michael Lumb and Alex Hales will have the chance to show what they can do in the longer format. Bearing in mind Cook’s wretched form in Australia, he could do without such a challenge.Cook’s decline may come to be seen as the latest example of burnout undermining the team’s performance. And perhaps, in time, there will be little cross-over between Test and limited-overs players. The demands may simply be too great. For if Trott’s breakdown represented the final stop on a journey of mental exhaustion, there are several other members of the squad a long way further down the road than should be the case. It is telling that, upon his return from Australia, one of the Test squad was met by the question from their young child: “Is daddy staying the night?” It is hard to avoid the conclusion that too much has been asked of too few for too long.The administrators have much to explain. While they have been busy plotting the meritless carve-up of world cricket, they have allowed their most precious assets to be exploited to breaking point in the short-sighted search for a few dollars more. And yet, they take little responsibility for the debacle. Both Flower and Cook have said they will consider their positions in their own time: it seems remarkable that, for the plethora of highly paid managers filling offices at Lord’s, players and coaches are still left to decide their own futures.The shame of all this is that England were on the right track before this tour. While their ODI tactics continue to infuriate those who would like to conjure a Sehwag or Jayasuriya from the shires, all the signs were that they were building a team that could challenge at a World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Their method, conservative though it may seem, saw them rated No. 1 as recently as August 2012 and took them to the brink of the Champions Trophy in June 2013. Had Pietersen or even Swann been available for the final, perhaps England might have gone the extra step.England’s ODI tactics do not need re-visiting. They simply need to play better. With Finn – rated the No. 2 ODI bowler only six months ago – Pietersen and co fit and firing (yes, that is a leap of faith) they still have a method that can challenge against the best.But the man who Cook has missed most is the man who perhaps best represents England’s controversial ODI tactics better than anyone. Trott’s ODI record will continue to vex some but the fact he is averages nearly 20% more than anyone who has ever represented England in the format (having played a minimum of 20 innings) and, with him in the side, England have won 19 of their last 26 matches. Without him they have lost eight out of 10.Without these men, Cook was sent into battle without ammunition. What he requires now is time to rest and reflect on the impossible task he was given. If Cook was the right man to lead England’s ODI side in June 2013 – and all the evidence suggests he was – then there is little reason to believe he is not the right man to lead them in June 2014.

The Bangalore crowd gets fireworks from their batsmen, but their bowlers disappoint

Gaurav Mathur12-May-2014Choice of game
This was going to be my last live IPL game for quite some time so what better choice than a revenge match against Rajasthan Royals. I expected the match to be extremely competitive and I was sure that Royal Challengers Bangalore would look to settle scores after they had received a hiding from Rajasthan Royals in the UAE. In my last report, I had stated that I wanted Yuvraj Singh to spend more time at the crease and score heavily. I guess he read it.Team supported
I was supporting Bangalore. I knew they would enjoy a huge home advantage and that they had the crowd behind them. The team was desperate for a win as were the fans, and the atmosphere in the stadium was highly charged.Key performer
This innings was vintage Yuvraj and what a pleasure to watch him in full flow. As soon as he started sweeping the spinners down leg side for boundaries, the crowd sensed they were in for a special night. He starred for Bangalore not only with the bat but also with the ball. The crowd gave him a standing ovation, which carried on long after he entered the pavilion. Today he owned the crowd and his performance is one that won’t be forgotten for a long, long time.One thing I’d have changed
I really wanted Bangalore to win. I have always been a great fan of Yuvraj and my heart goes out to him for being on the losing side in spite of a great performance. The crowd was stunned to see the team lose and was openly berating the bowlers on the way out. I noticed that a lot of them even threw their team flags in disgust as they made their way out. It was a very muted procession from the stands to the exit.The face-off I relished
Pravin Tambe was on top of Yuvraj in the last encounter but today Yuvraj showed his true class. He swept Tambe for two boundaries in the same over, down the leg side, and they were good clean hits. Fans around me couldn’t believe that this was the same Yuvraj who had struggled in the UAE.I also loved the Watson v Yuvraj encounter, with Yuvraj sending back Watson with his leg stump uprooted. That roar from Yuvraj made the entire stadium delirious and everyone was jumping and roaring in the aisles. We couldn’t hear the music in the background at that time.Wow moment
Both Yuvraj and AB de Villiers reached their respective half-centuries off sixes.Close encounter
de Villiers fielded near our stand and received a round of cheers whenever he waved at the crowd. The Bangalore crowd truly admires him and some of the loudest cheers were reserved for AB. We also had Mitchell Starc and Steven Smith patrolling the area where we sat.Shot of the day
De Villiers’ six off James Faulkner was the longest of the game, and it was hit on one knee. AB held the pose for the shutterbugs while we watched the ball sail into the deep end of the midwicket stand.Crowd meter
The stadium was packed and I noticed that my stand had a relatively young crowd. Generally I have seen a good mix of people of all ages in the past but it wasn’t so this time. That said, the energy was infectious and a lot of people were dancing a lot more in the stand than I have seen at any point of time.This was the also the first time when I have seen an entire stadium participate in a Mexican wave that lasted ten rounds without
pausing. The DJ kept egging the crowd on and later mentioned that it was a record of sorts.Hardship factor
Generally the organisers do a great job in Bangalore but this time they messed up. For some reason my friend was not allowed to carry her purse inside. A cop took her out of the queue even before she reached the security booth. It led to a delay and a quick ride to her office to stow the bag. What really took the cake was that we noticed a lot of women were carrying their purses inside the stadium. We weren’t given a reason and it really wasn’t a fair decision.T20s v ODIs
T20s, definitely. The ball finding the boundary in quick succession every over ensures that the crowd has a great time and that the action can never be dull. We were on our feet during both innings and were cheering and applauding throughout the match. Add to it a festive atmosphere, a DJ spinning some great music, and a young crowd – and the result is the best party in town.Banner of the day
There were lots of banners for Mother’s Day and others that had love messages for Virat Kohli. I saw quite a few girls holding placards with Kohli’s name and a ton of hearts.TV versus stadium
Watching from the stadium is like being in a big party. The atmosphere was festive, the weather was great, the Bangalore crowd was well behaved as always, and the music ensured that we continuously danced in our seats and in the aisles. It was a great experience and made me realise how much I would miss this carnival in the future.Marks out of ten
8. I deduct one point for Bangalore’s loss after Yuvraj and AB’s heroics. Bangalore’s bowlers were a big letdown and I hope that the team gets its dynamics right quickly if they wish to move ahead. I also deduct another point for the way my friend was treated at the security gate. But overall a great game of cricket and an exhilarating experience, one that won’t be forgotten for a long time.

ESPNcricinfo revisits the best innings of the World T20 2014

Karthik Krishnaswamy07-Apr-2014Alex Hales, 116* off 64 balls
England v Sri Lanka, Super 10Yes, there was dew, and Sri Lanka’s bowlers were trying to coax a spherical lump of soap into behaving like a cricket ball by the end of the match, but that was about the only factor in Alex Hales’ favour when he and England began their pursuit of 190.England had been shambolic on the field, letting four catches go. They then slumped to zero for two. At the start of the second over, on strike for the first time, Hales showed he wasn’t too rattled by the circumstances, driving Angelo Mathews for successive fours through cover.Still, when England began their 10th over, they needed 134 from 66 balls, or more than two runs every ball. From there, Hales and Eoin Morgan floored the accelerator, and England scored 61 runs in the next five overs, with Mahela Jayawardene helping them along by dropping Hales when he was on 55.Even so, at the start of the 15th over, England still needed more than 12 an over. They had only just kept pace. They still needed, to lapse into Twitter-speak, that #onebigover. Hales delivered it, launching Ajantha Mendis for three big sixes over deep midwicket and spanking him for four through cover. Suddenly, England needed 9.60 an over – more or less their required rate at the start of the innings – and Sri Lanka were spooked. England lost Morgan, but Hales wasn’t to be denied, as he finished with a flourish – three sixes in the last two overs – to inflict upon Sri Lanka their only defeat of the tournament.Glenn Maxwell, 74 off 33 balls
Australia v Pakistan, Super 10Australia’s innings, in their ultimately doomed chase of 192 against Pakistan, makes for bizarre reading. Two of their batsmen made half-centuries, and none of the others got into double figures. When Glenn Maxwell came in, they had lost two wickets in the first over, to the left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar.Maxwell responded in the only way he knows, launching the ball over the leg side in that effortlessly brutal manner of his. At the end of the Powerplay, Australia were 57 for 2, with Maxwell on 31. In the eighth over, Maxwell slapped Bilawal Bhatti for two fours through the off side and two sixes over the leg side, in the process reaching his fifty in 18 balls.By the time Maxwell holed out for 74, Australia needed what seemed a very manageable 66 from 50 balls. But the manner of their capitulation after his dismissal suggested Maxwell had been batting in an entirely different cricket match. Even as Finch carried on to finish with a far more prosaic 65 off 54, the rest of the line-up crumbled against a bowling attack that woke up from the Maxwell-induced daze and rediscovered itself.Meg Lanning, 126 off 65 balls
Australia Women v Ireland Women, Group AMeg Lanning hadn’t had a great start to the tournament. She had scored 2 in Australia’s opening-day defeat to New Zealand and 6 in their win over South Africa. Neither Lanning nor Australia would have foreseen their triumphant finishes to the tournament – Australia as winners, Lanning as the highest run-getter – when she walked in to bat against Ireland with her team 24 for 1 in the third over.Lanning began sedately, and was on 18 off 17 before she struck three fours in one over from Lucy O’Reilly. That leapfrogged her score above that of opener Delissa Kimmince. Starting with that over, Lanning scored 108 out of the 137 Australia scored (or more than 78% of their runs) while she was at the crease, and finished with the highest individual score in Women’s T20.Lanning’s first 50 came up in 32 balls, and her second in 21. With her captain going berserk, Alex Blackwell played her part to perfection during an 83-run third-wicket partnership. Blackwell faced 12 balls and scored 12 runs – one dot, one double and ten singles to get off strike.Meg Lanning’s 126 against Ireland was the highest score in Women’s T20s•ICCDwayne Bravo, 46 off 26 balls
West Indies v Pakistan, Super 10In a straight shootout for a semi-final spot, against one of the better bowling attacks in the tournament, West Indies had crawled to 84 for 5 in 15 overs. After they had started their innings in their usual manner, scoring 30 of their 39 Powerplay runs in fours and sixes, even the boundaries had dried up – they hadn’t found the ropes in 4.3 overs.All of that ceased to matter as Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy exploded, as West Indies scored 82 in their last five overs – the most ever scored against a Full Member opposition in T20s – and 59 in their last three. Bravo turned the tide with his assault on Umar Gul in the 18th over, smashing his first two balls for six and following it up with a cracking boundary over point later in the over.Seemingly spooked by this, Saeed Ajmal, who had till now been his usual teasing self, went into a containing mindset and tried to fire it through flat and quick. He lost his length, and Bravo pulled him over midwicket for successive sixes in the 19th over. Sammy followed it up with another, and Ajmal’s bruised figures read 4-0-41-0.Stephan Myburgh, 63 off 29 balls
Netherlands v Ireland, First RoundChasing 190 is a daunting ask. Having to do it in 14.2 overs is ridiculous. It’s what Netherlands had to do in their last qualifying group match to get through to the Super 10s. To even dream of doing it, they needed an improbably electric start, and Myburgh gave them that.After taking two balls to get his eye in, he smote Andy McBrine’s offspin for three successive sixes. An over later, he did the same to Alex Cusack’s medium-pace, and Netherlands had wiped out 64 runs from their target in just 3.3 overs. Myburgh reached his half-century in 17 balls, sending Netherlands on their way to the biggest-ever Powerplay score – 91 – and hit seven sixes out of his team’s record total of 19.Virat Kohli, 72* off 44 balls
India v South Africa, semi-finalsChasing 173, the openers had put on 39 in 3.5 overs. It allowed Virat Kohli to ease into his innings, and that spelled trouble, in bold neon capitals, for South Africa. Kohli, being Kohli, could play well within himself, take no risks and still score briskly.The first risky shot of Kohli’s innings, a slog-swept six off Imran Tahir that just cleared a leaping deep midwicket, was the one that took him past 50. At that point he had struck two sixes and one four, and run five doubles and 25 singles. He had only faced two dot balls.Kohli had planned his innings perfectly. India needed 40 off the last four overs and had seven wickets in hand. Kohli was unstoppable by now, and with Suresh Raina accelerating their march with a series of streaky shots in the 17th over, so were India.Kohli struck three fours off Dale Steyn in his last two overs, including two trademark whips wide of mid-on, the second of which was the winning hit. It was the fifth four of his innings, and he had only hit two sixes. Astonishingly, he had only failed to score off three balls.

Ravindra Jadeja’s drop of Alastair Cook was indicative of the challenge India face in establishing a reliable cordon

Sidharth Monga at the Ageas Bowl27-Jul-2014It is early in the morning, the pitch is fresh, the ball is seaming around a little, Alastair Cook is uncertain, he pushes at a wide delivery from debutant Pankaj Singh, and the edge is taken. Yet another failure for Cook, yet another early entry for No. 3 Gary Ballance, yet another early breakthrough for India.Hold on, though. The ball has gone knee high, to Ravindra Jadeja’s left at third slip, and has spilled out of his hands. Cook, who was only 15, goes on to score 95, India take only two wickets in the day, and you are left to wonder how the day would have panned out had India taken that catch.This is not the first time a catch has been dropped in the slips, nor is this the first time the reprieved batsman has made a team pay, but India have now dropped eight in the slip in their last seven matches. And that’s only off the fast bowlers. Spinners have suffered too. Losing four big batsmen around two years ago, almost all in one go, was a big challenge for India. This new breed of batsmen has been impressive with the bat, but that slip cordon still looks bare.It has been 19 Tests since Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman retired. India have tried five different first slips over that period, which means the cordon has been rejigged at least five times in 19 Tests. Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin, M Vijay and now Shikhar Dhawan have spent time at first slip. That they are being changed so often is clear indication there is something wrong.It will obviously take some time for those who are not natural slip catchers to get used to fielding there, but there haven’t been clear signs of improvement. There have been some really good catches taken: Ashwin almost turned 90 degrees to adjust to a late swerving catch at the Wanderers, Dhawan dived to his right to send back James Anderson in Nottingham, but there have been some glaring errors.Kohli failed to stay down for long enough when at leg slip to spin at Trent Bridge. When MS Dhoni chose to not go for one between him and first slip at Lord’s, Dhawan made no effort either. It was the keeper’s catch all right, but good slip fielders are always diving behind the keeper on these occasions to be there, just in case. Pujara once stood there with shin pads on, and couldn’t get to a low offering from Cook in Kolkata. Cook then scored 190. Jadeja, who got up too early today, will be thankful he got Cook out for half that score.There is no fixed right way to go about slip catching, it is mostly about what you are comfortable with, but there are wrong ways. One of the wrong ways is to have legs too far apart in your stance. Mark Taylor says shoulders’ width is ideal with the knees pointing in, almost like a skier. Jadeja’s stance is at least twice as wide, which makes moving difficult. Another wrong way is to get your hands too far between your legs because than they can get stuck in your knees when you are going for a catch to your side. Jadeja does that. And, obviously, the India slip fielders are getting up too early.India’s slip cordon are mostly excellent athletes and thus very good outfielders. Slip catching, though, is completely different, and much more crucial. You want your bowler to feel confident when running in that all he has to do is just produce the edge. Right now the India quicks can’t be confident of that.The challenge for Trevor Penney, the fielding coach, is huge. The Dhoni-Dhawan no-go is a clear sign of a raw cordon, which is still feeling its way in. They practise really hard during training sessions and take a lot of catches almost every day. They take some sensational catches too. However, it is different when someone is throwing full tosses at Duncan Fletcher from 10 yards and he is opening the face towards the fielders.We don’t know whether India have locked in on a combination now or if there will be a change soon. We don’t know if India think they are headed the right way. We don’t know if the fielding coach is happy with the cordon’s technique and their positioning vis-à-vis each other or if he is struggling to get it right. India don’t like to, or are not allowed to, discuss these things. Bullishly Joe Dawes, the bowling coach, said he is happy with the progress, and that Taylor and Mark Waugh used to drop catches occasionally.What India wouldn’t give for a couple of slips men who are half as good as Taylor and Waugh, even at their current age.