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It was strange to watch Matthew Hayden become overwhelmed and a little teary at the launch of his second eponymous cookbook

Peter English07-Nov-2006

Hungry for runs © Getty Images
Matthew Hayden’s reputation is as tough as his favourite chopping board. Scyld Berry, the perceptive English writer, noted before the previous Ashes tour Hayden “opens the batting and the sledging” and his hulking size and forceful approach has caused many bowlers – and fielders – to feel like breaking down.So it was strange to watch Hayden become overwhelmed and a little teary at the launch of his second eponymous cookbook. He had just started to thank his wife and two children when his eyes reddened and his words stopped. “Whenever I talk about my family I can’t breathe,” he says. “So I better move on.”In the audience Noela Wilson, whose chicken pie recipe appeared in the first collection, shouted “don’t worry, Matt, real men do cry”. It was an example of Hayden’s contradictions. A strong man on the field, he’s a muscular Christian, cuddly daddy and dedicated chef off it.Like his batting, Hayden has tunnel vision in the kitchen. While he swirled the ingredients for a pad thai, he was supposed to be commentating for the audience of about 100. Jamie Oliver’s television shows aren’t in danger yet as the apron-less host’s speech again struggled to emerge with the smells of the dish, but the food was produced quickly and with complementary spicy, sweet and prawn flavours.The bondas – fried balls of mashed potato, chick pea flour and chillis – were popular with the prawn rice rolls as nibbles and Hayden also helped pre-prepare salmon quiche and melting moments. Michael Kasprowicz, Hayden’s long-time Queensland team-mate, reckoned it was the first time he had cooked for him.Hayden’s batting approach might not be subtle, but his cooking touch is delicate and his variety impressive. “I’m really happy with this cookbook,” he says. “I really enjoyed the first book and this one is more about the outside, fishing, friends and family. This is a great passion for me and the book is full of things I love doing. Skating with the kids, surfing in South Africa, being in India, playing games in the dressing room. It’s my life.”Having tested Hayden’s recipes, it doesn’t take much longer to boil an egg (too simple to be included in either book) than to realise the publication is not just a gimmick. While Glenn McGrath produced a sponsor-dominated advertisement for barbecues and sauces before last Christmas, Hayden has searched for his ingredients and found tips and tastes from the Scottish highlands to New Zealand, where he baked pizzas for the one-day team in a takeaway van.

Cricketer-cum-cook © ABC Books
The well-presented recipes fill about half the book – he says the best meal is the wok-fried snapper – and the rest of the text is taken up with stories of how he discovered them and tales of cricket, friends and family. Filling a lifestyle-biographical genre, he covers the game, surfing, India on a houseboat, making lemonade scones for the doctor who diagnosed his pneumonia and his personal outlook. “On my surfboard it says ‘Endless Progression’,” he writes. “I try to apply this philosophy to everything I do.”Hayden also gives insights into the mouths and stomachs of the Australian team. Ricky Ponting is a roast pork man, Adam Gilchrist likes penne arrabbiata, Shane Watson eats anything and Stuart MacGill’s palette enjoys grass-fed Riverina beef fillet with truffled mash. And his opening partner Justin Langer? “The boys reckon that Alfie is such a ‘brown nose’ that he’d say his favourite food is anything that I cook.”On their last night in England after the 2005 Ashes loss Hayden and Damien Martyn were heading out for dinner when they were told Ricky Ponting had booked them a ride in a Rolls-Royce Phantom and a table at one of London’s swankiest restaurants. Both players’ Test spots were in danger and it reads like a moving thank you from their captain. At the Japanese eatery Ainsley Harriott, the host of , was the pair’s first celebrity spot before most of the jubilant England team entered after their triumphant Trafalgar Square parade.Hayden says he shouted a beer for Matthew Hoggard and Michael Vaughan, who was involved in regular verbal exchanges with Hayden during the series. “In the heat of battle no one likes to get too close to their opposition,” he says. “It’s certainly hard for me to think someone is a great bloke and then have to go out the next day and belt his self-esteem and ego to billy-o! On that night we couldn’t avoid facing up to our loss, with the England team celebrating right before our eyes.” It didn’t make him cry.

Lara and Richards in partnership, eight runs off one ball, youngest to a five-for, and tons against Australia

Steven Lynch24-Sep-2007The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket:Did Brian Lara and Viv Richards ever bat together in an international match? asked Amit Baishya from the United States

Viv Richards and Brian Lara played only one international match together © Getty Images
That’s an interesting one, and the answer is, it happened once – not in a Test match (Viv Richards and Brian Lara never appeared together in the same side), but in a one-day international. It was against England at Lord’s in 1991 – it was the only one in which they both played – and, as the scorecard shows, they batted briefly together, adding 20 for the fourth wicket before Lara was out. I don’t suppose anyone thought it was particularly significant at the time.How many centuries have been scored against Australia in the World Cup? asked Richard Weatherill from Portsmouth
There have been a total of eight centuries against Australia in the World Cup, two of them in finals, Clive Lloyd’s memorable 102 in the first one, at Lord’s in 1975, and Aravinda de Silva’s 107 not out in Sri Lanka’s upset victory in 1995-96. The identity of the highest World Cup scorer against Australia might win you a few quiz prizes: it’s Zimbabwe’s Neil Johnson, who made 132 not out at Lord’s in 1999. The other century makers are Chris Harris (130 in 1995-96), Kevin Pietersen (104 in 2006-07), Herschelle Gibbs (101 in 1999), Martin Crowe (100 not out in 1991-92) and Ajay Jadeja (100 not out in 1999).What is the most runs off a single ball in Test cricket? I recall Kevin Pietersen giving away a seven last year, but do I remember either John Wright or Geoff Howarth managing an eight at Melbourne in 1980-81? asked Stean Hainsworth from Australia
Charlie Wat’s exhaustive book Test Cricket Lists gives three instances of eight runs being scored off one ball in a Test match. The first one was at Brisbane (the Exhibition ground, not the Gabba) in Don Bradman’s first Test match in 1928-29, when England’s Patsy Hendren collected four overthrows after an all-run four. The instance you mention happened at Melbourne in 1980-81: this time it was John Wright who benefited from four overthrows (by Rod Marsh, who collected a fielder’s return and shied at the stumps) after an all-run four. Test cricket’s third eight occurred at Port-of-Spain in 2004-05, when Brian Lara glanced a ball from South Africa’s Nicky Boje for three. The wicketkeeper, Mark Boucher, ran after the ball and threw it back in, but it hit a fielder’s helmet on the ground, so he incurred five penalty runs. These would previously have been credited to Lara, but after a recent rule change they went down as penalty extras. Lara might have cursed the law-makers – he was out later for 196.Who is the youngest bowler to get a five-wicket haul? asked Marvin Chester from Guyana
The youngest man to do this in a Test was the Pakistan left-arm spinner Nasim-ul-Ghani, who was only 16 years 303 days old at the start of a match in which he took 5 for 116 against West Indies at Georgetown in 1957-58. For a full list for Tests, click here. The youngest to achieve the feat in an ODI was another Pakistani, Wasim Akram, who was 18 years 266 days old when he took 5 for 21 against Australia at Melbourne in 1984-85. For a full list for ODIs, click here.

Thomas Odoyo is the only player from a non-Test-playing country to take 100 ODI wickets © AFP
Has anyone from a non-Test country taken 100 wickets in ODIs? asked Peter Carrick from Liverpool
The only one who has managed this is Kenya’s Thomas Odoyo, who has currently taken 102 wickets in ODIs (98 for Kenya and four for the Africa XI). Odoyo’s team-mate and long-time captain Steve Tikolo comes next, with 69.I was interested to read last week’s question about the Test player born at the SCG. I remember that my late father had a friend who said he was born in the pavilion at Edgbaston, and later played for Warwickshire. Who was he? asked Tom Fenwick from Coventry
This was Len Bates, whose father was the groundsman at Edgbaston: he went on to play 444 matches for Warwickshire as a right-hand batsman between 1919 and 1935, scoring nearly 20,000 runs with 21 centuries, the highest 211 at Gloucester in 1932. His highest score at his birthplace was 200, against Worcestershire at Edgbaston in 1928. Bates died in 1971 and his birthplace is confirmed in his Wisden obituary.And there’s a final thought about cricketers’ appropriate birthplaces, from Andrew Dunsford in New Zealand:
“Further to your questions last week regarding cricketers born at Test grounds, Jackie Mills, who scored a century on debut against England in New Zealand’s second-ever Test match [at Wellington in 1929-30], was born at the Carisbrook Ground, Dunedin, where his father was groundsman.”

Stats highlights from the fourth match of the CB Series between Australia and India in Melbourne

S Rajesh and HR Gopalakrishna10-Feb-2008
Andrew Symonds was one of the batsmen who fell cheaply as Australia lost their first ODI against India in Melbourne since January 31, 1986 © Getty Images
India’s five-wicket win is only their seventh against Australia in Australia, and their third since 1990. It was their first win against Australia at the MCG since January 31, 1986. They have a 5-6 win-loss record at this ground against the home team, but before today’s win, they had lost five in a row. (Click here for the list of Australia-India ODIs at the MCG.) Only three times have Australia been bowled out for less than 159 when batting first in an ODI at home. The last time that happened, though, was 15 years ago, when West Indies bundled them out for 147 at the same ground. In fact, their four lowest all-out totals in first innings at home have all been at the MCG. Australia’s innings lasted less than 45 overs, which is even more unusual for them when batting first in ODIs. It has only happened ten times in all. The last time it happened at home was 22 years ago, against the same opponents at the same venue, when they fell for 161 and lost by eight wickets. That, though, was a 45-overs-a-side match; to get the last instance of Australia being bowled out in less than 45 overs in a 50-over game at home when batting first, you’ll have to go back to January 10, 1982, when they collapsed to 146 against West Indies. The other unusual aspect of the Australian innings was the number of times the ball went past the boundary ropes – there were just 11 fours struck. Only three times have they scored fewer boundaries when batting first in a home game against India, and all those games were in the mid-1980s. Australia slumped to 6 for 92 in this match, which is only the fifth time they’ve lost six wickets with less than 100 on the board in an ODI against India. Three of those instances have been in Melbourne. This was India’s 675th ODI, which is the highest by any team. Pakistan are next with 674. Mahendra Singh Dhoni had five dismissals in the Australian innings, making it only the sixth occasion when a wicketkeeper has taken five against them. This was Dhoni’s third instance of five or more dismissals in an innings; among Indian wicketkeepers only Nayan Mongia has achieved this feat. Rudi Koertzen’s decision to uphold Sreesanth’s lbw appeal meant Adam Gilchrist fell for his 17th duck in ODIs. Among openers, only Sanath Jayasuriya, with 24, has been dismissed without scoring more often. Sachin Tendulkar achieved a couple of firsts during his innings of 44: he became the only batsman to play 400 innings, and the only player to aggregate 2500 runs against one team. He also became the first Indian batsman to score 1000 ODI runs in Australia. Brett Lee has taken 43 wickets against India, which equals Steve Waugh’s record for most number of wickets against them.

When Dhoni was asked about Zaheer’s mastery of reverse-swing after theMohali victory, he immediately spoke of the example that he’s set foreveryone else

Cricinfo staff21-Oct-2008
Australian hopes went the way of Brad Haddin’s splayed stumps © Getty Images
Four years ago, Zaheer Khan walked off the turf at the Vidharbha CricketAssociation Stadium with Australian whoops of joy ringing in his ears. Afour-match series of which so much had been expected had ended inside fourdays on a green-tinged pitch that had brought smiles and smirks toAustralian faces. The final game in Mumbai, which should have been amarquee occasion, instead became an irrelevant dead rubber on a dustbowl.Zaheer took 6 for 159 in Nagpur, perfectly respectable for a pace bowlerin Indian conditions. But Glenn McGrath had 5 for 106 and Jason Gillespie,the eye-popping return of 9 for 80 as Australia romped to a 342-runvictory, India’s heaviest Test defeat in terms of runs. It was enough to tell you howmuch Zaheer still had to do. He was good, but he certainly wasn’t special,not in the way that Australia’s legends were.Fast forward four years, and his three wickets in four balls ensured thatRicky Ponting’s side would crash to their most humiliating defeat inyears. Not since Curtly Ambrose, Patrick Patterson, Malcolm Marshall andCourtney Walsh sent Allan Border’s side stumbling to a 343-run defeat atthe Kensington Oval, in April 1991, has an Australian team been so comprehensively outplayed. That was to be Vivian Richards’ final series as captain and though West Indies won comfortably enough, there was a feeling that the end of an era was imminent.The once-were-warriors headlines will be rehashed with some force afterthis Australian defeat, and speculation over why they were so poor overthe five days threatens to overshadow the real story of the match andseries so far – India’s magnificent pace bowling. The 20-year-old IshantSharma, who has troubled Ponting like few others have, is the leadingwicket-taker in the series, and jokes about the “hairodynamic” advantagehe possesses won’t sound funny to Australians for much longer if hecontinued to bowl with such pace, accuracy and control of swing.Whisper it softly, but India havethe more accomplished pace attack in this series, and especially in theseconditions. And in the man whose months out of the charmed circle made himrealise the value of what he had squandered, they have the perfect leaderof the pack Ishant is still learning though, and his story certainly doesn’t have theelements of wilderness and redemption that Indians tend to be so fond of.For that, you have to look more closely at his new-ball partner. When hecame on the scene in 2000, Zaheer was such an exciting prospect that thecomparisons with Wasim Akram weren’t even forced. Within a couple of yearsthough, they sounded ridiculous. It wasn’t that Zaheer wasn’t capable ofgood spells, it was just that he was incapable of stringing a few together. Comparisons with the man Mike Selvey referred to as the Left Hand of God were as premature and silly as the anointing of Monty Panesar as the new Bedi.By the time Zaheer was eased out of the squad after India’s embarrassing 341-run defeat in Karachi, he had taken 121 wickets from 42 Tests at an average of 36.34. Allan Davidson he was not, and there were few complaints as a new group of pace bowlers was entrusted with lifting Indian cricket’s stocks.Within the year though, Zaheer was back, having turned in one eye-catchingdisplay after another in domestic cricket to book a seat on the flight toSouth Africa. With the wet weather having forced the team indoors, hefronted up to the media inside a university gymnasium in Cape Town. In asoft voice and earnest tone, he spoke repeatedly of the time on thesidelines and how it had made him realise how much playing for India meantto him. And though he was outbowled by Sreesanth in the Test series, hisattitude throughout was that of a man who had seen the error of his waysand was determined to make every millisecond count.When Dhoni was asked about Zaheer’s mastery of reverse-swing after theMohali victory, he immediately spoke of the example that he’s set foreveryone else. “He’s bowling at his best. His commitment is great, he’sfit and he bowls his heart out, even in conditions where the bowlers arenot getting much help. His form is brilliant right now.”He suggested that Venkatesh Prasad would be better equipped to comment onthe work that goes on in the nets, but Ponting was emphatic in hisassessment that reverse had played a huge part in India’s victory. “Intheir first innings, it took us 70 to 80 overs to get the reverse-swinggoing. Their guys were doing it within six to eight overs. That’s a bigdifference.”They didn’t just get the reverse going though. They controlled itbeautifully. Zaheer certainly has done it before. In England in the summer of 2007, he saved his best for Trent Bridge, especially after a puerile English prank that involved jellybeans on the pitch. He swung the ball both ways, and was lethal from round thestumps too as India clinched the victory that would seal the series.
Most Indian bowlers speak of the benefits they have had from working with Venkatesh Prasad © AFP
That was with the Duke ball. Earlier this year, he got tremendous shapewith the Kookaburra in Sri Lanka. In conditions that offered next tonothing for the pace bowlers, Zaheer’s figures were unremarkable, butthere was certainly no stinting on effort. If India’s slow bowlers hadn’tbeen so below the standards set by Ajantha Mendis and MuttiahMuralitharan, India might have done better than a 2-1 defeat.Now armed with the SG, he’s even more dangerous than he was in his Duke ofHazard phase. He’s shut down Matthew Hayden three times in four innings,and devastated the tail twice. The lower order simply has no answer todeliveries that shape in like a boomerang, and the look of bemusement onBrad Haddin’s face after Australian hopes went the way of his splayedstumps was worth framing.Just as they were in the 2005 Ashes, Australia’s pace bowlers have beenstymied by a ball that’s different to the Kookaburra that they use athome, and their inability to get the right length and shape going. TroyCooley, who played first-class cricket for Tasmania, became a big nameafter that English win, but as someone pointed out, India have a bowlingcoach who was actually an international-class bowler.Venkatesh Prasad doesn’t have a feature written about him every other day,but most of the bowlers speak of the benefits they have had fromworking with him. On tours of England (1996) and South Africa (a fewmonths later), Prasad bowled as well as any Indian swing bowler has everdone. Reverse-swing wasn’t quite his forte though, and beforeZaheer, only Manoj Prabhakar among the Indians had truly mastered pacebowling’s most mysterious art.In his second phase of his career, which has now encompassed 16 Tests,Zaheer has taken 67 wickets at 28.80. Not quite a McGrath, you mightthink, until you notice that a lot of those matches were on pitches asresponsive as a mannequin on Red Bull. Whisper it softly, but India havethe more accomplished pace attack in this series, and especially in theseconditions. And in the man whose months out of the charmed circle made himrealise the value of what he had squandered, they have the perfect leaderof the pack.

Highlights of the fourht round of the Ranji Trophy’s Super League and Plate matches

Cricinfo staff27-Nov-2008
Ramesh Powar, the offspinner, did the job with the bat this time to save Mumbai from a humiliating defeat against Saurashtra© AFP
Drama at the lovely beach town
J Arunkumar, former India A and Karnataka captain and the current vice-captain of Goa, has made himself unavailable for selection for the rest of the season. It’s learnt that Goa administrators weren’t too keen on continuing with “foreign” players. It will be interesting to see what Ryan Ninan, the offspinner who switched from Karnataka earlier this season, will do. Goa is coached by former Karnataka player Dodda Ganesh, who is expected to continue.All out for 60
Punjab were shot out for 60 in the first innings in Bhubaneswar as Basanth Mohanty, playing his seventh first-class game, grabbed 7 for 27. Only Pankaj Dharmani made it to double figures and Orissa went on to clinch their first win of the season. Double joy for Orissa as Shiv Sundar Das, the captain, reached the 10,000 run-mark in first class cricket during the game.The threat of Muralitharan and Dada
In the new format the top three teams from each division of the Super League will join the top two teams from Plate league in the quarter-final. Simple eh? But a few teams are wondering whether it’s a good idea to finish on top in the Super League. Reason? They fear Bengal might be one of the Plate teams and they might unleash Muttiah Muralitharan and Sourav Ganguly for the quarterfinal clash. Ah well.The run machine
Cheteshwar Pujara has accumulated 675 runs at 168.75 from four games. The run orgy came from only 798 balls and includes three hundreds with a highest of 302*. Is he thinking about national selection? Pujara just wants to concentrate on scoring runs and runs. And more runs. “I will try not to think too much about selection,” Pujara said. He might have to wait a little while, though, because England have postponed the ODI series and are yet to take a decision on Test series after the terror attacks in Mumbai.Superstitious debutant and an umpire under fire
Yogesh Nagar, the 18-year old debutant for Delhi, fought hard to give his team the first-innings lead against Gujarat in Valsad but was thwarted by umpiring errors. Delhi were struggling at 162 for 6, chasing Gujarat’s 350 but Nagar added 108 runs for the seventh wicket with Sumit Narhwal. Nagar wore the same pair of sweat-stained whites that he had on the previous day but the luck finally ran out as the fatal finger of the umpire intervened. Narhwal was given out lbw despite an inside edge and Nagar (79) was adjudged caught behind. Umpire Sameer Bandekar, the man who made both decisions, apologised later. But Delhi were not satisfied. Sunil Dev, the DDCA sports secretary, said: “I will write a strong letter against Bandekar, he has a special dislike for Delhi. This kind of umpiring has taken away the spirit of the game.”Push me out if you can
Sunil Joshi grabbed a six-wicket haul to bowl Karnataka to ten-wicket victory against Baroda in Bangalore and move to the top of the points table in Group B. And it was Joshi’s 28th five-for in first-class cricket. The Karnataka bowling machine refuses to come to a halt. His figures in the second innings read 33.2-12-48-6. Oh, and he hit a breezy 55 in the first innings as well. “The young spinners have to push me out,” Joshi said. No one has managed so far. KP Appanna had a good first season but disappointed in his second season last year. Sunil Raju has started off well in his first season this year.Powar play rescues Mumbai
Saurashtra piled up 643 for 4 declared but Mumbai capitulated in the first innings for 214 as the debutant left-arm medium-pacer Balachandra Jadeja picked up four wickets in Rajkot. Jadeja struck again in the second innings to reduce Mumbai to 89 for 5 but Ramesh Powar proved a killjoy. The gritty Powar, who had played a bad shot in the first innings to get out, stuck adhesively to the crease to hit an unbeaten 171-ball 23. Debu Mitra, the coach, was thrilled with Jadeja. “The four wickets on the third day are worth much more than a hundred on this track. It is flat track but that was an excellent spell of swing bowling and it opened the game.” Powar was over the moon about his effort. “When I came in to bat we couldn’t have afforded to lose one more wicket. The only option I had was to keep my head down and spend as much time as possible.” But he said Mumbai have learnt the lesson. “It was an eye-opener for us. We took the opposition lightly and paid for it.”<!–Blast from the past
V Ramnarayan writes in his blog about a story involving Sunil Gavaskar and Ashok Mankad during ML Jaisimha’s benefit match. “Sunil Gavaskar had pulled a long hop from me straight into Mankad’s hands at deep square leg, and one of the guests, a police official, who was generally inflicting his company on the celebrity cricketers at the party, now reminded Kaka about that. “Mr Mankad,” he said, wagging a naughty finger at Kaka, “is there an old rivalry between you and Mr Gavaskar?” Not satisfied with Kaka’s firm reply in the negative, he said, “Then why did he fling his bat in the dressing room after getting out and mutter, ‘Sala, drops catches in Test matches, holds mine in a benefit match’?”Mankad’s riposte was a classic, but one he was quick to stress was just a joke. He said, “Reddy Saab, catch me dropping Sunil Gavaskar! Wake me up at midnight and I will hold his catches!”–>

By picking up his first five-wicket haul against Australia, James Anderson has the opportunity to erase his awkward past and stride forward with confidence

Andrew Miller at Edgbaston31-Jul-2009Match by match, session by session, James Anderson is shedding his diffidence and emerging as a serious contender. His shaky start in Cardiff is rapidly fading from memory, and instead keynote contributions in the first innings of consecutive Tests – 4 for 55 at Lord’s, and now 5 for 80 at Edgbaston – have launched him to the top of the series wicket-taking charts, and confirmed the suspicion that he could yet be the man who separates the sides in the final analysis.At Lord’s, Anderson’s first-innings haul was arguably the decisive contribution of the match, more so even than Andrew Flintoff’s stable-door slamming on the final morning, dramatic and emphatic though that effort proved to be. The most remarkable aspect of that match, after all, was not that Australia floundered in pursuit of 522, but that they were so comprehensively outplayed in the first half of the game. The match was won and lost on the second day when they slumped to 156 for 8, having posted a massive 674 for 6 only six days earlier in Cardiff.And the secret of England’s success on both occasions (and the reason for their failure at Cardiff) was lateral movement, or lack thereof. “I think we bowled consistently well with a swinging ball today, and if the ball is swinging and you bowl well, most teams in the world are going to have to bat very well to cope with it,” Anderson said. “I know exactly what I want to do with the ball, and though it doesn’t always go where you want, I’m fairly confident, especially when it’s swinging like today, which way it’s going to go and what I’m trying to do with it, and that’s coming off at the moment.”On Thursday evening, in a brief but ill-directed first foray, England failed to locate a length to trouble Australia’s batsmen, and gifted them a flying start of 126 for 1. Today, the team took their cue from the exemplary Graham Onions, whose two wickets in two balls set the agenda superbly, leaving Anderson to show how irresistible his assets can be when everything clicks. Like the girl with the curl from the nursery rhyme, who veered from very, very good to horrid in the space of two verses, Anderson’s mood swings are unpredictable as his inswing. But he’s maturing with every match, and by claiming his first five-wicket haul against Australia, he confirmed in his own mind just how far his development has progressed.”They are No. 1 in the world,” Anderson said, “so to perform against the best team in the world is a good way to see where you’re at. I know I’ve been bowling well, and a good ball is going to get a good batsman out in any form of cricket, but consistency is a problem I’ve always had. We had that as a unit yesterday as well, but it’s something we corrected today, and getting wickets against this top team is making me think I’m a decent bowler.”If Anderson was being honest with himself, and he deserves to on current form, he has been a decent bowler for a long while now. Year Zero of his Test career deserved to be traced back to March 13, 2008, when – having been familiarly overlooked for the opening match of England’s tour of New Zealand – he was recalled for the second Test in Wellington in one of the team’s most momentous selectorial heists of recent times. The stalwarts, Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard, were jettisoned after a limp display in a humiliating defeat, and Anderson’s response was a first-innings haul of 5 for 73 that looked, at times, unplayable.Admittedly, breaching the defences of Matthew Bell and Mathew Sinclair is not the most taxing prospect for a swing bowler of his calibre, but nevertheless, Anderson’s pre- and post-Wellington statistics confirm the impression that he is finally finding comfort in his own skin. Anderson has played 20 Tests in the 16 months since that recall, which is exactly the same number that he had previously been permitted in the five years since his debut in 2003. His Test figures going into Wellington were an indifferent 62 wickets at 39.20; since then, he’s managed 77 at 29.10, including four of his seven five-wicket hauls.The latest is undoubtedly the most prized. It famously took Graham Gooch a full decade to register his first Ashes century, at The Oval in 1985, having bagged a pair right here at Edgbaston ten years earlier, and with the odd hiatus, he didn’t fare too badly thereafter. Likewise, by picking up his first five-wicket haul against the Old Enemy, six-and-a-half years after his first involvement in Anglo-Australian cricket, Anderson has the opportunity to erase his awkward past and stride forward with confidence into the prime of his athletic lifespan.Nevertheless, even when you’re bending the ball as prodigiously as Anderson managed today, it doesn’t hurt to be reminded to keep things straight and simple. In that respect, Andrew Strauss’s decision to hand the opening over of the day to Onions was not merely a masterstroke in hindsight. Though Anderson’s stunning mid-innings spell of 4 for 4 in 14 balls derailed Australia to dramatic effect, he had already waited a full 15 overs to make that first breakthrough, as he swung the ball first this way, then that, but forgot to concentrate on hitting the right line and length.Onions, on the other hand, bustled in from close to the stumps, pitched it full and let his length ask the questions that had been left hanging in the air the previous evening. “It was a good decision,” said Anderson, who denied he was put out by the perceived snub. “Graham likes to bowl long spells, it’s what he does for Durham because it gets him into a good rhythm, and giving him the first over gave him a good chance to do that. The big thing this morning was setting the tone, and that first over was very special.”In 2005, England’s ability to dominate Australia stemmed once again from the lateral movement they extracted from the conditions, but on that occasion, reverse swing was all the rage. This time, Anderson confirmed, it was nothing but conventional swing on offer, but it was every bit as effective. “I think the amount of rain we’ve had has probably taken reverse swing out of the equation, certainly for this game,” he said. “The fact that we’ve got a dampish outfield is going to keep the ball quite damp and moist, and make it swing more.”By the close, England had capitalised on the efforts of their seamers, with Andrew Strauss leading once again from the front, and only rain seems likely to deny them a chance to push on. “Obviously we’re in a very good position, but we’ve got to kick on with the bat, and bat really well,” said Anderson. “With three days left, we’ve got to look to bat for a good part of two of those. If we can bat well and bat once, we’ve got a great chance in this match.”

The fall to No. 4, injuries to key bowlers, Ponting’s return to mortality: Australia’s 2009 was mostly filled with gloom

Peter English05-Jan-2010So this is how the rest of the world feels most of the time. For as long as under-25 Australian fans can remember, their team has been the best in the globe at the end of the year, but as the new decade began, Ricky Ponting’s Test and Twenty20 outfits were in the also-ran category, having been overrun by countries with more A-list quality. Only in the one-day rankings do Australia lead, but there is not much kudos in that, as it is the format with the smallest pay cheques and the most doubts over its lifespan.It wasn’t all gloom in 2009, but it was the year when the empire was flattened so badly that when the Ashes were handed over at The Oval, Australia were rated No. 4. As if losing to England wasn’t bad enough, the world champions were sitting in mid-table mediocrity, beaten by a side that had a half-fit Andrew Flintoff and was often missing Kevin Pietersen. Ponting’s young team, the one that had wooed the selectors during a 2-1 win over the mighty South Africa at home, had flapped limply in England. Players, administrators and selectors looked at the series statistics and felt they were hard done by, believing it was the mistakes during the big moments that had let them down. It was a cringe-worthy post-mortem from an outfit that had forgotten how to win.Ponting rightfully kept his job – it’s too soon for Michael Clarke, Simon Katich or Marcus North to jostle for the post in the medium term – but was under extreme pressure after becoming the first man since Billy Murdoch to lose two series in England, and the first to do it back to back. Ponting is a fading force as an elite batsman – this was his third season in a row when he averaged less than 50 – but he remains an essential part of the reconstruction. That he still wants to lead a group of unsure, reasonably talented and enthusiastic players is fabulous for Australian cricket. He should have the role for as long as his body allows, although that won’t be long if he repeats his awkward duck to West Indies’ Kemar Roach, which left him with a bruised elbow in Perth and forced the first retired-hurt of his career.As if pretending the Ashes had never happened, Australia returned to world-beating status in the one-day arena, taking care of Scotland before beating England 6-1, picking up the Champions Trophy in South Africa and then toppling India 4-2 away. It was an old-fashioned streak from Ponting’s team and it inflated confidence, which was soon dented by the No. 8-ranked West Indies in the opening Test series of the summer. Australia won 2-0, but after the Brisbane Test, which they collected in three days, life was much tougher as the bowlers struggled to get the 20 wickets that had been a certainty for so long under Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.

Ponting’s young team had flapped limply in England. Players, administrators and selectors looked at the series statistics and felt they were hard done by, believing it was the mistakes during the big moments that had let them down. It was a cringe-worthy post-mortem from an outfit that had forgotten how to win

Mitchell Johnson was the nominal attack leader, but the ease at which the side operated depended on which Johnson turned up. In South Africa he had been immense, breaking Graeme Smith’s bones, just as he had in the opening Test of the year in Sydney. When he scored a Test century as well there were comparisons with Ian Botham, but his bowling was soon being likened to drains in England. He feared he was going to be dropped as his form suffered, while his mother was telling papers back home about his family life. For Johnson, soon to be named the ICC Cricketer of the Year, England was a write-off (Peter Siddle was also hit-and-miss, while Ben Hilfenhaus was the most impressive). Johnson recovered to lead the global wicket list for 2009 with 63 at 27.42, a huge number for an inconsistent performer.Hilfenhaus ended the year with a knee injury, which came during his Man-of-the-Match performance against West Indies at the Gabba. It was a horrible conclusion for the bowlers, with Brett Lee (elbow), Stuart Clark (back) and Nathan Bracken (knee) unavailable, while Siddle and Hauritz were also struggling under the weight of games. Ponting knew he needed more time to dismiss opposition sides and more patience with his new men, and his early declaration in the first innings against Pakistan at the MCG paid off when the win was secured early in the second session of the final day.The batting was more solid against the minor teams towards the end of the year, but had failed at crucial times during the Ashes. Simon Katich led the run list with 1111 and Michael Clarke (1042, with three hundreds) was the most valuable performer, stepping up at important times, while Shane Watson surged once he replaced Phillip Hughes. After a comedy run of mishaps between 50 and 100, Watson finally got to three figures in Australia’s final batting innings of the year, via a dropped catch and a single from the misfield. It was that sort of period for Australia, who did well in patches, folded spectacularly at others, and finished in the unfamiliar position of looking up at the best teams in the Test world.New kid on the block
The partners of Katich were the freshest faces. First it was Phillip Hughes, who stunned and starred in South Africa, scoring twin centuries in his second Test. However, after a couple of Ashes games he was dropped due to his problems with the short ball and Flintoff. Watson came in for the Birmingham game and finished the year as the in-form batsman, scoring six fifties and a century in seven games.Mitchell Johnson: surprisingly the leading wicket-taker of the year despite a miserable Ashes•Getty ImagesFading star
Brett Lee started the year having ankle and foot surgery, recovering in time to be picked for England, where he suffered a side injury the week before the opening Test. That problem ruled him out of the first three Tests and he wasn’t considered for the final two. After a strong campaign in the following limited-overs affairs, he was looking forward to a big home summer, but he sustained a sore elbow in India that led to more doubt and, eventually, more surgery. He may still have a role in green and gold, but his Test career is probably over after 76 matches and 310 wickets.High point
The tour to South Africa was the summer romance for Australia, whose young bowlers roughed up some of the best batsmen in the world on the way to a 2-1 victory. It was such an impressive performance that they forgot the innings loss in the third game. The instant revival didn’t last, but this team will always have Johannesburg and Durban.Low point
Two trips to London provided the troughs. At Lord’s, Australia lost their first Test at cricket’s home since 1934 and a month later at The Oval they handed over the urn for the second time in a row. Upset by Stuart Broad, and without Nathan Hauritz on a subcontinental surface, they were ground down by England and then drowned in a sea of celebratory bunting.

Paul Harris’ outside-leg-stump line was perfect in the context of the game, as none of the Indian batsmen figured out how to score runs against him

S Rajesh09-Feb-2010As a template for the perfect Test, this was about as good as it could get for South Africa. Apart from the first one hour, they comprehensively dominated the rest of the four days, losing only six wickets to India’s 20 and yet scoring six more runs. They averaged 93 runs per wicket to India’s 27.60, which indicates the gulf between the two teams in this match. This is South Africa’s fifth win in India, which makes them the only team to win more than they’ve lost in India in the last 15 years. Pakistan have won three and lost as many, but the other sides all have a win-loss ratio of less than one.South Africa deserved the win which ends India’s streak of not losing a Test under MS Dhoni, and it was quite fitting that Dale Steyn provided the final blow of the match, breaching Amit Mishra’s defences to finish with match figures of 10 for 108. It’s his fourth ten-wicket haul, but the first by a South African bowler in India: the previous-best figures in India was also by Steyn – 8 for 114 in Ahmedabad in 2008, in a match which also resulted in an innings win. It was India’s third such defeat in the last 25 years, and they’ve all been inflicted by South Africa.Steyn was the bowling star for South Africa, but on the fourth day Paul Harris did plenty to lift his stocks, which had been dwindling since a poor home series against England, when his 11 wickets came at a cost of more than 40 apiece. In Nagpur, however, the situation was tailor-made for Harris – the batsmen gave him more than enough runs to bowl with, and Steyn’s first-innings burst meant South Africa had plenty of time and were in no rush to force a win. That allowed Harris to frustrate the Indian batsmen with his over-the-wicket, outside-leg-stump line. With the batsmen mostly loathe to play the sweep with any conviction, the runs were choked, and Harris ended with three important second-innings wickets.As the table below shows, Harris bowled 85% of his deliveries from over the stumps, with most of them pitching well outside leg. Of the 194 deliveries he bowled from that angle, the Indian batsmen scored from just 34, which allowed him to stem the runs and build up pressure.

Harris over and round the wicket in India’s second innings

BallsRunsWicketsAverageEcon rateDot ballsOver the wicket19467322.332.07160Round the wicket3490-1.5830Clearly, going into the second Test India need to formulate a strategy to play Harris. They were mostly defensive, which was understandable given the match situation, but their inability to work out options to get him away for runs is something the team will probably work on over the next four days. They tried the sweep shot 30 times, but scored only 38 runs and lost two wickets – those of Murali Vijay and Sachin Tendulkar – in the process. Wriddhiman Saha executed it better than anyone else, scoring 15 runs from seven deliveries, while Tendulkar scored eight from nine such strokes.

How the Indian batsmen played Harris’ over-the-wicket line

StrokeBallsRunsWicketsNo shot/ padded away7500Forward defence5201Sweep/ paddle30382Apart from Harbhajan Singh, who swung freely against him, none of the batsmen got runs at a brisk pace against Harris. Dhoni and S Badrinath were the most becalmed – Dhoni scored three in 36 balls, while Badrinath managed a solitary run in 19 deliveries.

Indian batsmen versus Harris

BatsmanBallsRunsDot ballsMurali Vijay16613Sachin Tendulkar782465S Badrinath19118MS Dhoni36333Wriddhiman Saha471738Harbhajan Singh8181Zaheer Khan24722The only saving grace for India in the second innings was Tendulkar’s 91st international century. It was only his fourth hundred in 38 Test innings against them, and his first in 16 innings against them at home. This was his third hundred in successive Tests, and it continues a superb run for him: since 2007 he averages 57.31 in 31 Tests. During this period he has scored 11 hundreds, with the only blip coming during a barren three-Test series in Sri Lanka.

There is no way India can have thrown Yuvraj out of their World Cup plans, but if a message was to be sent it had to be sent early enough

Sidharth Monga07-Jun-2010His sweet timing has earned him most of his paycheques, but it seems to have gone off during what has somehow become the worst phase of his career.A night before he was dropped for the first time from the one-day side since cementing his place, news channels had Yuvraj Singh dancing with a pop star. Now that picture and video are all over, on channels, channels’ websites, and other websites. As if dancing is a crime. That, however, goes with the image we have of him: an irresponsible brat not serious about his game. Convenient, but often unfair.A night before he was dropped, Star Cricket ran the highlights of the Lord’s final from 2002 when this 20-year-old, along with Mohammad Kaif, was providing Indian limited-overs cricket with the final missing pieces. He flew across at point to almost pull off the most outrageous of catches. He dropped the ball at his feet and ran. With Kaif he took an overthrow off a soft ricochet from Alec Stewart’s gloves. He looked lithe.He now has a dodgy shoulder and knee; the latter needs surgery, which he has been putting off since 2006. Still, he has managed to remain a single-handed match-winner in one-day cricket. Add some canny left-arm spin, and he’s been MS Dhoni’s go-to man until recently. Yuvraj didn’t disappoint either. What he brought to the side is not taught in coaching clinics, the ability to run away with matches before you can spell momentum. In as late as 2008, he was put under pressure when not picked for Irani Cup, with youngsters – Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli – breathing down his neck. He turned it around spectacularly, walloping England and continuing that form until the Champions Trophy last year.Since then he has had to pull out of three series. He perhaps rushed back from a wrist injury to play in the IPL: he had missed the ODI series against South Africa barely a week before that. The Yuvraj that came back looked bulkier around the waist. He has played 11 innings for an average of 24.7 since that Champions Trophy; not in itself a statistic that warrants a drop, which is what makes this an interesting choice.The selectors, as usual, won’t even say if they have dropped him or if he is injured. However, since the BCCI release gives a reason for resting Sachin Tendulkar and not Yuvraj, it is pretty clear the latter has been dropped. “I’m not going to speak about any individual player,” said the ever-mysterious chairman of selectors, K Srikkanth. “A lot of stress was given on the fitness of a player. Fitness and fielding are very important. In recent past, we lost some matches or struggled in some matches because of poor fielding. So the selectors put lot of stress on fielding.”Yuvraj the batsman still has more quality than Raina, Kohli and Rohit. There is no way India can have thrown him out of their World Cup plans, but if a message was to be sent it had to be sent early enough. Ideally India will want to start zoning in on a XV by the time Australia visit for an ODI series in November.If the selectors thought his fitness was bringing the rest of the team down, there were two ways to go about it: keep him in the side and put him through a tough regime, or go for the old kick up the backside. Perhaps the selectors felt they had tried the first and it didn’t work. It is a move that can be debated, but can also be understood. Srikkanth has known Yuvraj from his Under-19 days, and one can hope he knows best how to rescue this match-winner.For Yuvraj, though, it must come as a harsh indictment. To be dropped for the first time, and that too on fitness issues. And at the age of 28. There is already a school of thought that a batsman of his talent should have worked harder and made himself a Test career. Only last week he said in an interview that he hoped his average run didn’t continue into Tests. Now even his ODI place is not certain.Yuvraj the batsman is not known to fight his way through a slump. He either hits out of it or gets out. He lives by aggression, dies by it, which is part of his charm. Now, though, is time for Yuvraj the athlete to slog it out, because there is no easy way out. There is every chance India will come back to him at least once before the World Cup. How ready he is then, and after that, might just define his career.

Fellow inmates beat him up in jail, creditors seek to regain their investments, and the ECB quietly expunges him and his wretched helicopter from any annals and annuals at Lord’s. Yet there is one significant individual who claims he should return to his

Ivo Tennant03-Feb-2011Fellow inmates beat him up in jail, creditors seek to regain their investments, and the ECB quietly expunges him and his wretched helicopter from any annals and annuals at Lord’s. Yet there is one significant individual who claims he should return to his own ground in Antigua. Allen Stanford, according to his general manager, will always be welcomed back at the Sticky Wicket.The nomenclature of the restaurant that dominates the once manicured ground on which England played out their $20million “20/20 for 20” challenge match in 2008 is ironically appropriate. Stanford has been on a sticky wicket ever since. There are those in Antigua who will defend him – most notably Sir Viv Richards – but few who feel he will ever return. One who does is Alex Browne, his general manager.The entrance sign adjacent to the airport still pronounces that this is the Stanford Cricket Ground. The reality is that it has been seized by the government and leased to a consortium of Antiguans, who, even though there is nothing happening in the middle, employ Browne to keep Sticky Wicket, burgers and all, ticking over. And to prepare the venue for its future use: inter-island football.The SCG, as it also ironically known, inevitably has a tired appearance after the property was seized in the wake of Stanford’s arrest in 2009, not least because of non-payment of bills. No cricket has been played there since then and the immaculate outfield of old is now more akin to an undulating public park. The clock in the stand where Stanford once back-slapped Richards and Sir Everton Weekes, another of his so-called legends, depicts the wrong hour, as if time has not moved on since his departure. And what would the brash Texan make of Virgin Atlantic using Sticky Wicket as a departure lounge?Yet the floodlights and electronic scoreboard still work. The seats on which Stanford bounced England WAGs up and down on his knee are still in place. So, too, are the expensive wines in his other restaurant, The Pavilion, which has not reopened, the head chef having been scattered to the four winds along with the helicopter and the crate of fake dollar notes.Anyone who enters Sticky Wicket, which was closed for seven months, will still espy photographs of Stanford, Richards (who occasionally eats there) and the other legends, even the saintly Wes Hall. There are still bats on display in the cabinet in the bar. One Antiguan came in recently and asked for a “bankruptcy burger”. Another, who was too late in withdrawing his savings from Stanford International Bank, was given a consoling glass of rum by Browne. “At least I’ve got something back,” he told him. No-one has tried to smash the place down, although eight television sets were stolen.For Richards, as with another of the legends, Sir Garry Sobers, Stanford will remain innocent until proven guilty. The Caribbean Twenty20 tournament last month, involving Hampshire and Somerset, probably would have been played at Stanford’s ground rather than the Viv Richards Stadium had it been in proper condition, but there is no sense of competitiveness from Antigua’s greatest cricketer, only sympathy. “I have had no contact at all with him,” he said. “But one thing I think you can say is that he did a lot of good for the island.”The SCG will be reseeded and it is hoped cricket will be played again come August. Before that, it will be a home for inter-island Under-17 qualifying football fixtures and Antigua Barracuders F.C. Are they any good? “They’re coming,” said Browne. There is talk about bringing Twenty20 cricket back to the ground, but it remains just that, talk. Music festivals are more probable events. “Obviously there is a stigma attached to the name,” said Browne. “So I now call Sticky Wicket ‘Second Innings’. The first innings was declared when Stanford left.”Browne started working for Stanford in 2004 and would have him back tomorrow. “I don’t really foresee that happening, as he faces 21 charges, but he is the best boss I have ever had. He was demanding, set high standards and made the working environment very comfortable.” His girlfriend, Andrea Stoelker, whom he had a spat with on the night of the challenge match, is still in talks with the government. She has a police guard, is attractive and could have walked away, so she is one brave woman. Viv Richards was shocked when he was arrested.”Andrea’s meetings are interminable but she goes back and forth to Texas to see Allen,” added Browne. “He has quite a few other assets on the island and a law was passed in parliament stating that the receivers had to deal with the government. Curtly Ambrose bought one of his houses, in Cedar Valley, by a golf course. There was no time for Allen to say farewell and he is paranoid about making any communication with us, but he did pass on a message that he would return for another innings if he could.”Sir Viv Richards was speaking in his capacity as ambassador for the Antigua Tourist Board, promoting Blue Waters Hotel www. bluewaters.net and Carlisle Bay Hotel www.elegant resorts.co.uk