All posts by csb10.top

“Its not going to be this easy next Thursday, Dale!” chided a spectator with a digicam as Dale Steyn walked by with his training kit. “Hah,” was the fast bowler’s reply. “It may just be easier.” Ashwell Prince wasn’t as forthcoming of his assessment of the South Africans’ dominant position at the end of day one against Middlesex at Uxbridge – and of their easy adjustment to England so far – but it was hard not to see the confidence of the touring team. South Africa are buoyant with less than a week before the first Test at Lord’s, make no mistake, despite the fact that their captain is the only one without any real form going into the first of four games this summer.”We’re confident heading to Lord’s next week, because most of the top order has got runs so far,” said Prince, whose unbeaten 104 was a crucial role in the South Africans’ total of 339 for 4 on another day of flat-track domination. “We’ve played well there before and we’re confident it will come together again.You need to grab whatever opportunity presents itself and Hashim [Amla] and myself did that today.”That they did. Both batsmen smoothed over the cracks created by the double loss of Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis just after lunch, and their 190-run partnership was a South African touring record against Middlesex.Prince said he didn’t have major issues with the track – evident by the manner in which he fluently clipped the spinners and pushed the quicker bowlers into the off-side gaps. “It seemed like it was going around a bit early on with the new ball,” said Prince.”But it’s quite a good pitch, and in the afternoon it was a little bit easier – and we took advantage.”South Africa have won their last three Tests at Lord’s and Smith would have fond memories of batting there – his 259 set up an innings-and-92-run win in 2003. Smith’s first innings of the tour – he didn’t play in Taunton as he was recovering from a torn hamstring – was a plucky 35, but even if it his only one before Lord’s Prince felt it was satisfactory. “He [Smith] batted for more than two hours out there, and the ball did go around a little bit this morning,” he said. “He hasn’t batted for a while. But those two hours – and some more in the second innings, we hope – I’m sure that will be enough time in terms of preparation for the Test.”It’s much better to get time in the middle than in the nets – and I’m sure he’d like to have another go in the second innings.”The only cricket Smith has played recent times has been in the Indian Premier League, and Prince felt it was understandable that he wasn’t off the blocks immediately. “He conscientiously took his time … He probably could have been a bit more aggressive,” he said. “But I think he probably opted to play the way he did, because he hasn’t had much time in the middle – and the last time he was batting it was in Twenty20. He wanted time at the crease and to get used to playing cricket with a red ball, the IPL being the last time he batted.”Smith may not be in the runs yet, but the rest of the South African outfit has cashed in on their pre-Test practice.

Australia’s captain Steve Waugh admits he struggled to find pleasure in his side’s crushing win over a young and fragile Pakistan in Sharjah on Saturday.Australia’s first Test match in the Middle East resulted in one of the most emphatic victories in Test history – the win coming well inside two days after Pakistan was bowled out for 59 and 53.Australia made 310 for a winning margin of an innings and 198 runs, with Matthew Hayden (119) scoring more on his own than Pakistan did in two innings.Only three other teams have recorded a lower match tally than the 112 Pakistan scrounged together here and it’s the lowest match aggregate in 56 years.It’s also only the second time in 50 years a Test match has finished inside two days, with England’s win over the West Indies at Headlingley two years ago the other.That game lasted 156.5 overs whereas Australia needed only 148.5 overs to win.”It does a feel a little hollow,” Waugh said of the win.”You expect to have to fight a bit harder than that to win a Test match.”It’s actually hard to comprehend the game’s over at this stage.”Waugh said he had some worries about the state of cricket generally following such a win.”When a team gets bowled out for 50-odd twice and they’re supposed to be one of better sides going around it probably is a bit of a concern … we want to see Test matches being tough.”Waugh said Australia’s bowling display was one of the best of he’d seen under his leadership.”It’s the best we’ve bowled for a long while – you never it expect it to be quite that easy but we did put a lot of pressure on the Pakistan batsmen.”Pakistan captain Waqar Younis said his team’s inexperience was exposed by the hard-nosed Australians.”Nobody stood up,” Waqar said.”Matt Hayden played an excellent innings. He grafted hard for his runs and none of our guys did anything like that.”Pakistan, already with experienced batsmen Yousuf Youhana and Inzamam-Ul-Haq out with injury, also lost all-rounder Abdur Razzaq today when Brett Lee broke his wrist.Waugh praised Hayden’s innings, which was 75 runs better than any other player’s contribution.”Matt Hayden’s innings was crucial to set up a big first-innings lead and after that it was always going to be hard for them to bat again,’ Waugh said.Hayden’s innings was an act of will power against the intense heat. The air temperature was around 40 degrees but on the ground inside the stadium, 51 degrees was recorded.Waugh said it was the hottest Test he has played in since the famous tied Test against India in Madras in 1987.Hayden batted for a shade over seven hours for his ninth Test century – his eight in the past 18 months.The century continued a remarkable spell in recent Tests for the strapping Queenslander, who was the heftiest run-scorer in the game last year.Since the start of the series against India last year, which marked his emergence as a world class player, he has been scoring centuries at a rate of one every second Test.And he seems to thrive on adverse conditions, with this century on a par with the double-century he made in Madras last year in the third Test against India where heat and humidity were the equal of blazing sun here.In Madras, he batted for nearly eight hours and was last man out while here he batted for seven hours and 13 minutes, facing 255 balls of which nine went to the boundary and another over the rope for six.That swat over long-on into the empty stands brought up his century but the stadium was so deserted and quiet, it took Hayden a few seconds to register the fact he’d reached three figures.After winning the first Test by 41 runs, victory in the series will go a long way towards ensuring Mark Waugh lasts another Test match after back-to-back to failures in his past two innings.Waugh, like his brother and captain, has been under immense pressure to score runs but as long as Australia is winning the twins will be forgiven their shortcomings, which amounted to dismissals in successive balls on the first day here.On a positive note, Mark Waugh’s catching was back to its best and he took three excellent catches in Pakistan’s second innings to make up for the three he dropped in the second innings of the first Test.

There comes a time when every trend is bucked. Stock markets that are crashing take an upswing. Drought-ridden, parched regions are blessed with rain. In keeping with this truism, at Jodhpur, the run glut in this one-day series came to an end as India leveled the series in a low-scoring game. After knocking the visitors over for a paltry 201, the hosts clinched the game by three wickets with as many overs to spare.When stand-in skipper Rahul Dravid won the toss in the morning, he did not think twice before putting West Indies in to bat. But even he would not have expected to roll the men from the Caribbean over for as low as 201. It was a combination of Dravid’s midas touch ­- this win makes it three in three as captain for the Karnataka man -­ and some intelligent bowling that saw India come out on top.There have been two surprise packages for India in this series -­ Sanjay Bangar and Murali Kartik. While Bangar has blossomed into a hard-hitting batsman in the shorter version of the game, Kartik has shown that he is a left-arm spinner with more than a few tricks in the bag. On the day, the two came good, backed up by the mercurial Ajit Agarkar and India practically strolled to victory.It all began when Ajit Agarkar got rid of Wavell Hinds with just 34 runs on the board in the tenth over. Hinds, who had crawled along to one from 28 balls, fell in an attempt to break the shackles that only resulted in an easy catch for Dinesh Mongia at deep midwicket. The man who had crashed his way to a 61-ball 80 just days ago, had barely been able to get the ball off the square during his painstaking stay at the batting crease.Kartik began by trapping Chris Gayle (27) in front of the stumps with a little help from umpire Asoka de Silva. The Railways left-arm spinner grew in confidence after claiming that scalp.He stepped in smartly and made life miserable for batsmen who were new to the wicket. Tossing the ball up well while cutting down on his pace, Kartik got the ball to grip the surface and turn and jump. He was helped by the fact that although by no means a difficult wicket to bat on, this Barkatullah Khan stadium strip was the first one where the ball did not come onto the bat readily to be thumped.After giving the ball an exaggerated tweak to lull the batsmen into thinking there were demons in the wicket, Kartik sent down two perfect arm balls that clean bowled both Marlon Samuels (3) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (14) and reduced the West Indies to 74/4 in the 25th over.The Guyanese pair of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Carl Hooper were left topick up the pieces and to some extent they staged a recovery. Chanderpaul, in his no-nonsense manner picked the ones and twos, putting away the odd loose delivery. Hooper was his classy elegant self, despite being troubled by a knee injury. At the end of the day, however, both fell trying to force the pace of the game – Chanderpaul for 58 and Hooper for 38.None of the other West Indian batsmen did enough to be of significant help to their team’s cause. Oh yes, Ricardo Powell swatted the bowling around for hiscustomary run-a-ball 29 but that was a case of too little too late.When Ridley Jacobs was run out, and the players walked off the field with West Indies being all out for 201 in 46.3 overs, Dravid was a happy man. His bowlers had done the job effectively. Kartik had 3/36, Agarkar 3/24 and Bangar a tidy 2/39.At this stage, the game was already safely in India’s pocket, barring the odd minor miracle that strikes the game. None struck on the day.The Indians got off to a bad start, in their response, losing both openers with just 26 runs on the board. Dinesh Mongia (5), unimpressive in his comeback, edged Vasbert Drakes to the keeper while Virender Sehwag obliged the same bowler by patting a half-volley down Samuels’ throat at short cover. There was more trouble soon after as VVS Laxman fell for just seven as India were reduced to 38/3.At this time Hooper would certainly have wished that he had another 50 runs on the board. Maybe, just maybe, he would have been able to apply some pressure on the batsmen if that was the case.As it turned out, Dravid and Yuvraj Singh strung together a partnership that all but settled the issue. While Dravid pressed on with his good form, Yuvraj took the opportunity to spend some quality time out in the middle. There was enough in the West Indian bowling -­ especially from Gayle -­ to score off, and the two made good.Off the back foot both players were in control, punching with panache to send the ball scurrying into the gaps and to the fence. Deft dabs and delicate cuts were the order of the day rather than big hits. In a 99-run stand for the fourth wicket, the pair took India within striking distance of the West Indian total. Yuvraj (54) perished flicking a full delivery from Corey Collymore to Powell at square leg. Dravid (58) followed his companion back to the pavilion soon after, finding midwicket as he tried to clear the infield.A mini-collapse soon after ensured that no one left the stadium in haste but did nothing to alter the course of the game. Reetinder Sodhi mindlessly slogged the third ball he faced straight up in the air while Mohammad Kaif (15) fell playing a lazy stroke.A cool Bangar, however, was still out in the middle. Carving three boundaries in a 38-ball 32, Bangar stroked the winning runs with more than three overs to spare.The series is leveled, the honours even. The one-day circus now moves to Vijayawada where the teams come head-to-head to determine the winner of this seven-match series. Back to square one, some would say. The glory of the one-day game, others would retort. Either way, as the cliché goes, there’s everything to play for in the final game.

Leicestershire won the toss and batted first on a wicket that gave the spinners some assistance. Disciplined bowling restricted Leicestershire to 212-7 in their 50 overs with Dawkins, 3-42 gaining the most reward for his 10 overs of tidy leg-spin.The third-wicket stand of 81 between Wright (72) and Brandy (44) provided the backbone of the visitors’ innings.Minor Counties collapsed to 67-7 off 17 overs before a stand of 89 between Hall(66) and Stephens (41) raised hopes of victory.The ninth wicket fell at 175 with 38 runs needed off the last 4 overs. Stephens was bowled by Grove for a brave 41 giving Leicestershire victory by 36 runs.

At the end of four days of fascinating cricket at Bath, Somerset had to settle for a draw from their championship match against Hampshire.Chasing a total of 190 to win off a minimum of 61 overs, the Somerset ninth wicket pair of Keith Dutch(15) and Matt Bulbeck (13) batted out the last seven overs to see the Cidermen hold out for a draw.Earlier in the day Hampshire had been bowled out for 98 runs with Richard Johnson having a dream return by taking 7 for 43 to set up an intriguing target for Somerset to chase.With the score on 118 for 4 after 40 overs the target looked achievable, but when three quick wickets fell shortly afterwards the situation changed and in the end they batted out for the draw and 7 points from the match.After the close of play Kevin Shine told me: "It certainly has been a very interesting day today and a draw was a fair outcome. We fought our way back into the game and were pushing hard for a result all the way, but once Rob Turner was out we decided to shut up shop, which `Dutchy’ and `Bully’ did well for us."He continued: "`Johnno’ bowled really well for us, and it’s just a shame that we couldn’t force the result, but the team spirit is high and we are all looking forward to tomorrows NUL game against Leicestershire."

Pakistan were seeing light at the other end of the tunnel after Mother Nature came to their rescue and curtailed fourth day’s play to just 32 overs in the Asian Test Championship final against Sri Lanka at the Gaddafi Stadium Saturday.Nearly 323 minutes were lost due to intermittent drizzle as Pakistan progressed from an overnight score of 193 for five to 248 without any further damage. The reigning champions still require 46 runs to avoid the ignominy of an innings defeat.The home team can take heart from meteorological department’s forecast for thunderstorm late Saturday evening. In case there is no rain Pakistani batsmen will have to battle out for the remaining 97 overs scheduled to be bowled on the final day.Not that Sri Lanka didn’t had their chance to end the match in the 32 overs that were bowled on the penultimate day. They got the opportunity as early as in the 15th ball of the day but Mahela Jayawardene failed to hold a regulation catch off Shoaib Malik in the first slip off Muttiah Muralitharan.That was the only blemish by the Sri Lankans in the match but may now cost them the lone possession of the Asian championship title.Pakistan’s hopes of escaping with a draw rest on the broad shoulders of experienced Inzamam-ul-Haq who was holding the fort brilliantly and batting with great deal of patience and responsibility.The big man, starting the day at 38, was unbeaten at 72, his first half century in five innings. But more importantly, he has been occupying the crease for 268 minutes. His innings is laced with three boundaries.”My spirits are high and I am geared up to play out tomorrow’s day. I know a big responsibility lies on my shoulders and I am prepared to take up the challenge,” the 30-year vice-captain said.Inzamam, who threw away his first turn to a poor shot, has looked compact and a model of concentration. He has kept his head down, hasn’t disturbed the ball outside the off stumps and countered the dangerous Muralitharan with great care.”The objective is to take bulk of the strike and save the partner from being exposed. I don’t suspect the potentials of my remaining partners. It’s just the need of the hour since I am the only frontline and specialist batsman left,” he said.Inzamam has not only played excellently, he has taken Shoaib Malik under his wing and has carried him along nicely. Shoaib, whose selection ahead of Saqlain Mushtaq as a specialist spinner sparked a controversy, was showing a lot of patience, guts and skills with the wood.The youngster has been occupying the crease for little over two hours and has evaded 151 deliveries while scoring just 19. But his job to prove a better Test batsman than Saqlain is not even half over. A full day remains ahead and he needs to stay there for as much time possible.There were three stoppages in the day’s play. The early start was delayed by two minutes but the play was halted after only 29 balls. The game resumed 35 minutes after lunch and stopped again after 35 minutes.The proceedings finally got going at 4.50pm. Pakistan safely negotiated the 18 overs and in the meantime reached the eventual score after resuming at 218 for five.In Rashid Latif, Pakistan has a batsman on whom they can still trust. Rashid, since his comeback last year, has proved that he is not a rabbit with the bat when he hammered a magnificent 150 and 47 against West Indies. Prior to that, he scored 94 against Bangladesh.An intriguing last day’s play is in store and if Pakistan manage to hold the Sri Lankans, that would be the most satisfying result for them after being outplayed in every facet of the game by a more professional and committed performance by the tourists.

South African fast bowler David Terbrugge will be given the once over byphysiotherapist Craig Smith on Thursday to ensure that he is fit enough to play in the third and final Castle Lager/MTN Test match against Australia starting at Kingsmead on Friday.Terbrugge finished the Highveld Strikers’ SuperSport Shield match against North West at the weekend with painful shins, and although a scan has revealed no injury and Terbrugge was able to bowl on Wednesday morning, Smith will have a look at him in Durban.”I’ve spoken to David and his doctor on the phone and they both soundedconfident that he’d be OK to play,” said Smith. “But because he only gets into Durban on Wednesday night, I haven’t had a chance to look at him myself. It seems that it’s just a bit of soreness which we can sort out with massage.”Following a spate of injuries, retirements and withdrawals, South Africa canill-afford to have their preparations disrupted again, even if the series isalready dead. Terbrugge, too, will be anxious to make his Test match comeback after last playing against the West Indies three years ago.

Yorkshire have a lot of work to do if they are to avoid another defeat at Guildford at the hands of the Championship leaders. Surrey took a first-innings lead of 210 after Rikki Clarke (56), Saqlain Mushtaq (44) and James Ormond (39) ensured another impressive performance by the tail. Chris Silverwood and Ryan Sidebottom ended with three wickets apiece. Half centuries from Victor Craven (56), Darren Lehmann (55*) and Michael Lumb (68*) have taken Yorkshire to a slender lead of 44 at the close, with seven wickets remaining.An unbeaten opening partnership of 151 between Trevor Ward and Iain Sutcliffe has put Leicestershire back into their game with Kent after yesterday’s poor start at Grace Road. Matt Whiley took three for 60 as Kent were eventually bowled out for 339 today, before Sutcliffe (74*) and Ward (66*) came within 57 runs of wiping off the arrears.Nick Knight duly completed his double century, finishing unbeaten on 245 as Warwickshire were bowled out for 493 by Sussex at Edgbaston. Jason Lewry (four for 151) and Kevin Innes (three for 106) were the main wicket-takers. An unbeaten 105 from Tony Cottey was then at the core of the visitors’ reply, which had reached 237 for four at stumps, still 256 runs behind.Chris Tremlett (five for 68) and Shaun Udal (four for 25) made it a poor first day for Lancashire at The Rose Bowl. The visitors were dismissed for just 183, with an innings of 66 from Alec Swann the only substantial contribution from the visitors.In Division Two, Glamorgan hammered an incredible 499 runs in a day of drama for both sides at Chelmsford. James Foster, playing in only his third match of the season, broke his left thumb and is now expected to be out of action for six to eight weeks. It was much brighter for Glamorgan, though, as their batsmen steered them into a comfortable lead of 274. Steve James dominated throughout, recording his highest score of the season with an unbeaten 235. With Matthew Maynard (76) he added 156 for the fifth wicket as the Essex bowling fell apart. Glamorgan closed on 505 for six.Durham made a woeful reply to Nottinghamshire’s total of 362 at the Riverside. Greg Smith (four for 24) and Richard Logan (three for 36) were the pick of the bowlers as the home side were forced to follow on after being bowled out for just 116 in their first innings. Jonathan Lewis (70) and Bradley Hodge (42*) led the fight back with a second-wicket stand of 112, but Durham still need 62 runs to make the visitors bat again.Middlesex need a miracle if they are to avoid the follow-on against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham. The home side were eventually dismissed for 494 after Alex Gidman (94) fell narrowly short of a maiden Championship century. Middlesex started positively in reply, with Andrew Strauss (49) leading from the front. However wickets then fell at regular intervals, and despite another impressive performance by in-form Owais Shah (65), the visitors, on 218 for six at stumps, still trail by 276 runs.Derbyshire suffered a late collapse at Northampton, as they were dismissed for 388 after losing their last seven wickets for 58 runs. Earlier, opener Andrew Gait had produced a superlative batting display, with a career-best 175 to put his side in the driving seat. He put on 156 with Chris Bassano for the second wicket before off-spinner Graeme Swann claimed six quick wickets, including Gait and Dominic Cork (released from England duty) for a duck.

The touring England under-19s were left with little to cheer after the first day’s play in the warm-up match against South Zone under-19s, played at Guru Nanak College Ground, Chennai on Monday. The touring party took this opportunity to play some of their squad players, but for most of the day, the bowling was pedestrian and the fielding was a let down. Dropped catches and fielding lapses might be a cause of worry for The Management, given the fact that they have their second ‘Test’ against India this weekend. South Zone colts also did not give good account of themselves; their batting never really bloomed on a harmless track.The setting was perfect, clear blue skies, brilliant sunshine and a pretty, tree-lined ground. Electing to bat first after winning the toss South Zone opening batsman Tirumal Setti Suman took 10 runs off the very first over bowled by Chris Tremlett; two boundaries flying over the slip fielders into the third-man fence. Suman did no favour to Nadeem Malik either, smashing him for three boundaries in the fourth over of the day. The fifth over brought some joy for the English colts, when Tremlett had Shashank Nag caught behind by Mark Wallace for just two runs: 31-1.Malik’s third over also saw Suman striking three boundaries, an explosive start indeed. Kyle Hogg was brought in from the pavilion end to replace the expensive Malik and immediately found his rhythm. Monty Panesar dropped Suman off the bowling of Hogg, but the batsman could not make the most of it. Hogg soon had Suman caught and bowled, the ball bouncing more than the batsman expected and all he could do was to pop the ball back for an easy catch. Suman’s entertaining innings of 42 came off just 34 balls, which included 9 strokes past the ropes.The fall of Suman brought Deepak Chougule to the crease. Chougule was the toast of the day for South Zone scoring 97 runs off 179 balls. Chougule, who does not have the height of many of the English players, stood tall on a day when South Zone batsman failed to apply themselves. The batting was ineffective on a docile pitch, which had nothing to offer to the bowlers.Chougule holds the junior world record for the maximum runs scored in a day, 400 not out against Goa in the 1996/97 season, playing for Karnataka Under-13. He kept working hard as batsmen at the other end kept falling. South Zone lost two more wickets before lunch. Ian Pattison removed captain Arjun Yadav for 10 caught brilliantly by Kadeer Ali at point. The next ball saw the new batsman ASK Varma dropped by John Sadler at slip. Pattison had reasons to rejoice his second wicket when Robert Ferley took a good catch in the covers to dismiss Varma for just one.The English colts were in a strong position after reducing the hosts to 62/4. The new batsman, Vijay Sai Suri, was distinctly lucky early on to survive a vociferous appeal for lbw off the bowling of Pattison, without offering a stroke. The visitors let the game drift on for a while and the lunchtime score was 129/4 in 38 overs. Chougule took his time and was unbeaten on 50.The post lunch session started on a sad note for the visitors. Chougule was dropped twice on 52; Gordon Muchall dropped him at point and John Sadler floored a chance in the slips. Chougule and Suri put on 134 for the fifth wicket as English colts relied on medium pacers. The 22nd over after lunch saw the introduction of the left-arm spin of Ferley. Success followed immediately as he dismissed Suri, caught by Nicky Peng running to leg-slip from first slip as the batsman top edged a sweep shot. Suri made 44 off 136 balls with five boundaries. A little before the tea break Chougule was deceived by the guiles of Panesar, drawing the batsman forward and getting the ball to turn and kiss the edge of the bat, Peng gleefully accepted the catch at first slip. Chougule was at the crease for 238 minutes facing 179 balls, striking 12 boundaries in his innings of 97.From 211 for 6 at tea, England failed to force the initiative. Ferley, who impressed with his spin bowling, had Mohammed Faiq caught by Kadeer Ali at silly point for 23 in the 82nd over. The second new ball was taken in the 83rd over and Malik, who had a miserable spell with the first new ball, came back with the second, picking up the wicket of Taher Hussain caught by substitute fielder Justin Bishop for 26. At close of play South Zone were 275/8 with Steve Lazarus and Shankara Rao on 15 and 5 respectively. Pattison and Ferley shared the bowling honours with a couple of wickets apiece.

Despite the dreadful early spring weather, the CricInfo Championship has started well for the batsmen. Just two days into the summer, nine centuries have been scored. Still, one would have to travel up and down the country throughout the rest of the year to see a better knock than today’s innings from Neil Fairbrother.The diminutive left-hander made a breathtaking 179, including a partnership of 98 with an injured Gary Keedy who batted with a runner throughout.Fairbrother’s knock was an innings that had everything. He combined skilful running between the wickets with deft turns to the leg side, and added a collection of hearty Lancashire thumps.Now into his 20th season as a first-class cricketer, Fairbrother began his knock cautiously. Timing the ball sweetly throughout, he got underway with some tidy flicks to leg. A partnership with Joe Scuderi blossomed, and Fairbrother began stroking the ball to the fence, turning the ball expertly to fine-leg and hitting powerfully behind square on the off side.The innings looked in danger of falling away when a mini-collapse left the visitors 280-9. There were doubts as to whether Gary Keedy would bat after badly injuring his back on the opening day. Keedy did his duty however, and walked gingerly to the crease with Ryan Driver to run for him.Fairbrother was unbeaten on 93 at the fall of the ninth wicket. At first, he was content to pick up singles toward the end of the over, leaving Keedy to face as few balls as possible. When he reached his century, Fairbrother was given a warm ovation from a reasonable crowd at the County Ground. The applause was to become more grudging, if still appreciative, as the next hour progressed.Fairbrother changed his attitude once he had completed his century.Determined to get his county a match-winning lead, he was content to launch the ball to all parts. His footwork had been solid from the outset, moving way across towards off stump. As he progressed, his feet started to dance down the wicket, crashing the ball through the infield at will.There was a sense that Fairbrother’s efforts could come to an end at any time. His partner, rendered almost immobile, batted like a boy forced into a school match. With no backlift and little footwork, Keedy blocked bravely, and sneered as the increasingly desperate Somerset attack strayed wide.Most of the time, Keedy was left to graze rigidly at square-leg, with Driver putting in a fine effort as runner. Fairbrother has always been fast, but it defies logic that a 37-year-old is able to scamper and turn with such ferocity. He called loudly and definitely, startling poor Driver who may have hoped for an afternoon nap. If he was still in the England team, Fairbrother would be amongst the fittest.Toward the end of his knock, the boundaries began to flow. He blasted Joe Tucker over long on for six, and went onto the back foot and pulled with such venom that the two men on the leg side boundary were barely able to move before the ball struck the fence. Sauntering down the track, he also belted the ball through the covers with skill.After reaching his century from 138 balls, he added a further 79 from 62 balls, striking 27 fours and a six. Keedy eventually fell, and the County Ground rose in appreciation of a marvellous knock from one of the most valuable county cricketers. Fairbrother is a fine exponent of the county game, and this innings was a wonderful advert for the CricInfo Championship.