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Like Mohammad Ali, the boxing legend who used to spend hours painstakingly scrawling out his spidery autograph, Glenn McGrath has reproduced his signature deliveries for almost 15 years

Cricinfo staff30-Apr-2008

Yo Mahesh is a stripling in the shade of a giant sequoia, but on Wednesday night he actually conceded one run less than Glenn McGrath from his four overs. For most of the 90 minutes though, he and pretty much every other pace bowler playing in this competition would have been
absorbing a masterclass in the art of limited-overs bowling. Like his old mate in baggy green, Shane Warne, McGrath has been out of the game for a year, but you wouldn’t have known it if you’ve flown back from Mars and watched him bowl at the Feroz Shah Kotla.Like Mohammad Ali, the boxing legend who used to spend hours painstakingly scrawling out his spidery autograph, McGrath has reproduced his signature deliveries for almost 15 years. Not for him the beguiling variety of a Wasim Akram or the hair-raising pace of Brett Lee. The McGrath method has always been about perfect calibration, of pinpointing the centimetres outside off stump where the batsman is most vulnerable.From the minute he landed the first ball of the innings in the McGrath corridor, the Bangalore Royal Challengers would have known what they were up against. “They had to come out and play shots,” he said later, referring to the security of the 191 runs. Even then though, there was little
fiddling with the tried and tested. Praveen Kumar, a worthwhile experiment at the top of the order, did thump one over cover, but as he has done so many times over the past decade, McGrath had the last word.Ross Taylor, whose explosive strokeplay will surely be missed now that he’s off to join New Zealand’s tour of England, also attempted to disrupt the McGrath rhythm with a powerful shot or two, but then ruefully discovered the dangers of going cross-batted against a man whose
reputation was based as much on the ability to extract bounce as it was on the accuracy.Wasim Jaffer was next, with steepling bounce again doing the trick. The speed gun never went past 130 kph, and the obsession with it was put into perspective by McGrath’s uncanny knack of landing the ball in what every bowler now refers to ‘the right areas’.His last act was the finest though. Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid, a combination perfectly equipped to bat through a full day in a Test match, had shown that quality can prevail in any form of the game with a superb 87-run partnership. Though the asking rate was still steep, Bangalore had seven wickets in hand to mount a late charge.Virender Sehwag, whose bowling changes and composure impressed yet again, then played his ace, throwing the ball to McGrath for the 16th over. A slower one and a yorker kept Kallis to one run from the first two balls, and when Dravid then gave himself some room for the big loft, McGrath calmly slipped the ball outside off. “Have a go”, he seemed to say. Dravid did, miscued it, and Sehwag made no mistake running across to mid-off.McGrath wasn’t the only ANZAC hero out there though. Daniel Vettori will play no further part in the tournament, but his farewell spell had Bangalore in a bind. Dravid spoke later of the overs from Vettori and Yo Mahesh that effectively settled the contest, and Sehwag too was gushing
in his praise of a man he called one of the greatest T20 bowlers.While Sehwag answered questions in Hindi, a relaxed McGrath sat and grinned, with an “I agree” quip after one Sehwag reply inducing peals of mirth. “I’m a happily married man. I don’t look at girls anymore,” he said with a big grin when asked about the missing cheerleaders. “For an old
bloke, I’ve enjoyed every single minute of it [the IPL].”When asked about his team’s travails, Dravid spoke of the missing X-factor. On Wednesday night, it wasn’t missing, it was on the other side. A familiar face, a nemesis from another time and place. Like Ol Man River, McGrath just keeps rollin’ along.

Brydon Coverdale presents the plays of the day from day one in Durban

Brydon Coverdale in Durban06-Mar-2009

Nerves? What nerves?
The nineties didn’t prove nervous for Phillip Hughes in his second Test match. He started an over from Paul Harris on 89 and finished it on 105. First came a lofted drive over mid-on for four that took him into the nineties and after three dot balls, Hughes let loose. The fifth ball of the over was a brave drive over long-on for six that took him to 99. He couldn’t repeat it and bring up his first Test century with a six … could he? O ye of little faith. Hughes planted his foot down the pitch and slammed Harris onto the grass embankment at wide long-on to move to 105 and become the youngest Australian to score a Test century in 43 years.A tasty Morne morsel
Hughes had already enjoyed an even more prolific over in the first session when he helped take 21 off Morne Morkel’s second over. To make it even more remarkable, the over began with two dot balls. Then came a terrific off-drive, another one straight down the ground, a clip to leg and a drive through midwicket, all of which reached the boundary. To make matters worse, one of the deliveries was a no-ball and in amongst the carnage there were also four byes when Morkel dropped one too short and the ball flew over the head of the wicketkeeper Mark Boucher. Morkel was promptly removed from the attack with the unflattering figures of 0 for 25 from two overs.Leg-bye … off the bat
South Africa had a horror day with the referral system once again and their first mistake came when Hughes tried to sweep Harris and there was a loud lbw shout. The batsmen took a run, which Asad Rauf called as a leg-bye, and the South Africans were convinced that it was worth
going to Steve Bucknor for another look at the appeal. The review showed there had been a big under-edge onto the pad, so Hughes was not lbw, but for the next over the leg-bye stood. Finally his score was adjusted to avoid the ridiculous situation of him being not out because he hit it but not credited with a run off the bat.Hot flash
Hot Spot’s first appearance in the third umpire’s box brought a lukewarm response. The South Africans were convinced Simon Katich inside edged behind off Morkel and when Billy Bowden disagreed, they wanted Bucknor’s opinion. There was no way to tell using the raw replays, so Hot Spot was employed to shed light on the situation. The infrared camera didn’t pick up any impact between bat and ball – although there was a lightning-like flash down the length of the bat that caused some confusion – and Katich was reprieved.Sneaky snicko
To add to the drama, at the tea break the broadcasters showed the Katich referral using snickometer, which is not regarded as scientifically proven and therefore is not used by the third umpire. Snicko suggested there was an edge. South Africa’s coach Mickey Arthur said after stumps that his players had seen the snicko verdict and it confirmed what they thought. “Our guys – every one of them is totally convinced he nicked the ball,” Arthur said, before clarifying that with the evidence available to the TV umpire the correct decision had been made. Arthur had a laugh when asked about Hot Spot’s non-verdict on a warm Durban day. He said: “I think Hot Spot didn’t work today because it was too hot.”Disappointing Durban
For the first day of such an important match, the small crowd that trickled into Kingsmead was disappointing. If not for dozens of school groups, some of whom ended up playing their own games of cricket on the grass embankment, the stadium would have been inexcusably empty.

New Zealand’s second-highest Test wicket-taker has just gone past 300, and it’s been a hard, lonely row he’s had to plough

Jamie Alter27-Aug-2009On the afternoon before this Test, as the local media personnel gathered their recorders and microphones from the table on stage, Daniel Vettori turned to the two touring New Zealand journalists and poked one in the elbow. “I can’t believe you didn’t mention me going past Derek Underwood,” he said with a smile, referring to his 298th wicket, which he had taken in Galle.It was a poignant moment, for it almost encapsulated Vettori’s Test career. Slowly and steadily, without the panache, menace and unflappability of the three leading contemporary spin-bowling greats he studied so closely, Vettori has crossed three significant milestones as a New Zealand spinner. His contributions have not always been matched by his numbers. He has had more barren runs than hot streaks. He is unlikely to inspire a generation to turn their left arms over.And yet a day later here he was, the most powerful captain in the world, New Zealand’s leading wicket-taker and run-scorer on tour – in Galle he scored the most runs and took the most wickets – having gone past 300 Test wickets. The first New Zealand spinner to do so.You can’t blame Vettori for wanting to tap you on the shoulder. The last two times he turned over a century landmark it was overshadowed seemingly by more important issues. When he took his 100th Test wicket in Auckland in 2000, the press lapped up how Shane Warne had ended Dennis Lillee’s 16-year reign as Australia’s leading wicket-taker. When Vettori went past 200, in his 63rd Test, in Harare in 2005, those following the match bemoaned the future of Zimbabwean cricket.Yesterday you could sense the anticipation as Vettori brought himself on for the 11th over. The PA announcer reminded the smattering of a crowd that the New Zealand captain was on 298. Vettori struck second ball, drifting one in marginally to Tharanaga Paranavitana, who poked to slip. Wicket no. 299.Vettori had to wait until lunch, in his 16th over, to pass the milestone. When Jacob Oram took a catch off a Kumar Sangakkara slog-sweep, Vettori allowed himself a pump of the fists and a smile. He had spoken of his eagerness to cross his proudest individual achievement: “There’s nothing worse than lingering around milestones.”Vettori’s achievement is remarkable, considering its historical context – before him there had only been one Zealand spinner to take 100 Test wickets, John Bracewell. Vettori admitted to two ambitions early in his career, first 100 wickets and then 100 Tests. He has knocked one of them over by some way. The second is just six games away. Along the way he endured massive drops of form and two seasons with severe back stress-fractures. The puffy red cheeks turned slimmer, the hairstyles changed, there was even a beard. The focus has stayed constant.A good thing too, for he has had to battle the odds. Spin bowlers need support, but Vettori has not always had it. His accuracy has been unwavering, but a lack of back-up has hampered his variety and penetration. He has rarely had enough runs to work with to showcase his true worth, and New Zealand’s fast bowlers have all too often failed to strike at the top, forcing him into defence instead of attack. Despite being gifted with an innate understanding of his fields, Vettori has had to persist in bowling line and length instead of taking risks such as tossing the ball up and experimenting with catchers.

Too many times he’s had to rely on the stock spinner and arm ball. Instead of running through lower orders he has frequently had to wear them down. Too often he has had to attack with a nugget instead of a rock

The ability to land the ball on a dime is perhaps the fundamental attribute Test cricket’s best wicket-takers share, and Vettori, though gifted in that area, is far from great. Circumstances have forced him to bowl with the weight of the world seemingly on shoulders. That he as captain has won New Zealand just one Test with the ball – against Bangladesh – is indicative of the lack of depth in the team’s attack.Too many times he’s had to rely on the stock spinner and arm ball. Instead of running through lower orders he has frequently had to wear them down. Too often he has had to attack with a nugget instead of a rock. A higher trajectory has often tempted batsmen to hit him straight. There were injuries that necessitated a change in action, which resulted in a loss of form and confidence. He has gone through lean spells, most notably three years without a five-wicket haul, and there have been occasions on which he has failed to cash in on tailormade surfaces. That helps explain why the bowling average isn’t so hot.Vettori has been a more destructive force in limited-overs cricket, where the spells are far shorter and he has not had to carry the attack over one or two days. In fact, he was one of the leaders, after Sri Lanka’s array of spinners, in proving that spin had a role in 50-over cricket. He has mastered the art of varying his pace and length in the one-day game, and has repeatedly been able to staunch runs in the middle overs, while taking wickets. Vettori himself has admitted he gets more chances in ODIs for wickets, with fielders in spots where he wouldn’t have them in Tests. He is New Zealand’s leading one-day bowler, with 233 wickets. In Twenty20 internationals he is third on the world wicket-takers’ list, with 25 from 16 games at an economy of 5.50 and strike-rate of 15.30.Vettori is one of the few captains in the current game saddled with the pressure of contributing with bat and ball. But he’s fine with that. “It’s my role to deliver as a bowler, but also to try and chip in other ways,” he said. Rankled by his batting stats in Tests, he went back to the nets and slogged; the result was a string of consistent scores that upped his average. “I think five or six years ago I was pretty embarrassed about my Test batting record. I wanted to rectify it,” he said. “I enjoy it and take a lot of fun out of batting in the middle order and being successful at it. I have to select and lead the team and the runs I contribute are a bonus.”Ah yes, selection. After the radical developments of last Sunday, Vettori has become the most powerful captain around. Martin Crowe has expressed concern Vettori will suffer burnout in his new role, but the man himself didn’t see it that way. “It’s a role that I’ve been performing anyway, so I don’t think it adds to my workload,” he said. “I have to deliver my thoughts and argue them and they’ll have a lot more merit. I’m looking forward to it.”The man ahead of him on New Zealand’s bowling list, Sir Richard Hadlee, with 431 wickets, was a workhorse who lifted his side to unprecedented feats in Test cricket and had a knighthood bestowed upon him for services to the game. Asked in England last summer if 432 was an ambition, Vettori reckoned that going at his current rate he’d have to play 130 or 140 Tests and that he had other things he wanted to tick first.He’s ticked a massive one, and undoubtedly wants to tick a drawn series over the next four days. Maybe this time he will find a helping hand.

Football, tennis, baseball on screen, and some cricket – there’s a welter of games on offer in England in the summer

Nagraj Gollapudi17-Jun-2009May 27

Warming up has never done any harm. Off to London a week before the main event. Players like to talk about acclimatising in foreign environs. Press people can do it too.Reach the airport about two hours before the flight, brooding about events at the Stadio Olimpico, the venue for the 2009 Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona. Didn’t expect TVs at Mumbai airport to telecast the game. Minutes later, am proved wrong. As luck would have it, even get to watch that slippery Cameroon cat Samuel Eto’o sneak through porous Manchester United and open the account with a neat finish. Cristiano Ronaldo stares glumly, chewing gum. Sometimes you are in the right place, at the right time. It just takes effort. And, of course, luck. Isn’t that what sport is all about – making luck?May 28
Newspapers on the tube scream “Barcelona 2-0”. (I missed Lionel Messi’s stunning header).Something doesn’t seem right: after a tube ride lasting a football game, which needs me to change lines three times (there are more train lines here than fingers on both hands) I’m yet to see a sign, placard, poster, advertisement, something, anything, that will tell me that the world’s best cricketers will be here to play in the World Twenty20. The ICC turns 100 in less than a month’s time, but it is truly behind the times when it comes to marketing such a high-profile event.May 29
“Vegetarian – Indian word for ‘lousy hunter’ ” reads a black t-shirt worn by a big, burly, Englishman. I can’t help but agree and smile. Wait for my London office colleagues to pick me up. Turns out one of them is meeting Fidel Edwards. I go along, and once there I ask Fidel to do his John Cena celebration. He obliges without much fuss.May 30
One of the advantages of attending team training sessions is being able to watch and listen to the players have a nice time. The Indian squad, which arrived the previous evening, is still in IPL mode. Dhoni and Co. stream around, taking catches hit by their fielding coach, Robin Singh. Robin hits one past the ring and Ishant Sharma takes off in chase. RP Singh, part of the victorious Deccan Chargers, says to him, “Your fate is bad even here, just like your team’s [Kolkata Knight Riders].” When RP’s Hyderabad team-mate Rohit Sharma scampers to take a high catch, Dhoni chants the Deccan theme song, “Go, Chargers, go, Chargers, go.”Murali Kartik, Ishant’s Kolkata team-mate, who plays for Middlesex, pays the team a visit. Yuvraj Singh, on a high after his two hat-tricks in the IPL, playfully instructs Kartik on how to bowl perfect left-arm spin, and more importantly, how to take a hat-trick.May 31
A day filled with the captains’ press conferences (11 in all). The best moment comes courtesy the cool dude from Jamaica, Chris Gayle. At the end of the press briefing the captains are supposed to pose with the trophy for pictures. As Gayle poses, he says: “Controversy! West Indies beat India.”June 1
On the sidelines of India’s first game, a warm-up against New Zealand which they lose, Lalit Modi blows his trumpet once again. This one to announce a charity game at Lord’s on July 6 between inaugural IPL champions Rajasthan Royals and England’s domestic Twenty20 Cup winners Middlesex. The game is also being marketed as Shane Warne’s final appearance at Lord’s. Former England and Middlesex spinner John Emburey, too, is around, looking dejected after the virtual fall of the ICL, for whom he was a coach. He says he is looking for a job, but before that he plans to go on a sailing trip. Nice.Now you see him, now you don’t: Fidel Edwards does his John Cena impression•Nagraj Gollapudi/ESPNcricinfo LtdJune 2
Travel to Southgate, one of the training grounds for Middlesex, to watch a Pakistan training session. An old English couple are enjoying the sight of Shahid Afridi and gang hit the ball into the car park. The rest of the car owners rush up to check if their bonnets have dents. The husband, who could easily pass for an older, bigger version of Laurel from Laurel and Hardy, reminisces about a certain Glenn McGrath, who “never could do much on his own without the support of Shane Warne”. The Ashes are coming.June 3
Pakistan are handed a nine-wicket defeat by Dhoni’s men. Younis Khan had this to say on the eve of the game “Will it make a difference if we win or they lose?”June 4
Andrew Symonds is back in the news. He is apparently being sent back by Cricket Australia for breaching his customised code of conduct. All plans for the day go for a toss as I set off on a wild goose chase to Heathrow. The most significant piece of information after a six-hour wait comes from a tabloid photographer, who tells a couple of the other media men that this is the second time in the week he has got the airport beat; the first one was snapping Dannii Minogue. June 5

Say hello to Dirk Nannes, who is on his way to Lord’s for the tournament opener. Three hours later he will be seen dancing around with his Dutch mates after pulling the rug out from under England’s feet at the home of cricket.June 6
The view from the press box for the print media at The Oval, located in the Jack Hobbs Stand, is diagonal with respect to the main pitch. So you don’t get a clear picture of the live action and rely on the TV, or go upstairs into the stands, where the views are much better and one is also kept alive by the buzz of the crowds. Scyld Berry, the ‘s cricket writer and current editor of the , informs that Edgbaston has the best press box in England.June 7
Once upon a time, before Facebook and Twitter, in the days when the mind was free, June 7 was marked in the memory as Anna Kournikova’s birthday. She may have had the ability to unleash lethal groundstrokes, but she became more famous as the world’s favourite pin-up. To this day she has the sort of fan following people like Gordon Brown would die for. Anyway, it was Roger Federer I missed seeing as he scripted his 14th Grand Slam while I watched Pakistan lose their way against England. I still have some time left in England. Who knows, I may just run into the genteel Swiss somewhere round the corner.June 8
No games in London, my base, so I go to see this lovely film called , the story of an aspiring baseball star from the Dominican Republic who travels to the USA, where his family wants him to be, though it isn’t what he himself really wants. Life is sometimes about following what one’s heart says. At least that’s what I got out of the movie. Check it out.Tendulkar has a DNA sample taken•Nagraj Gollapudi/ESPNcricinfo LtdJune 9
Am brought face to face with Lord’s notorious etiquette book. Andrew Hall, the former South Africa cricketer, who played in the ICL and will be playing for Worcestershire, is hanging around below the dressing room, waiting for his former mates to board the bus. The stewards politely ask him, and the rest of us, to vacate the area for safety reasons. Hall puts his head down and walks away without a word.June 11

Turn up at a gig where Sachin Tendulkar is promoting a forthcoming book on himself that will weigh more than an airline’s permitted baggage limit (30kg) and will cost a price (3000 pounds) that you could buy a Nano, the world’s cheapest car, with and still have some left over. The book, a collector’s item, has a first to its credit: it will have Tendulkar’s DNA profile mapped and then reproduced in a diagram. Tendulkar recently unveiled a waxwork of him on display in Madame Tussauds, and now this – a perfect immortal.June 12
One image that will always stay from Gideon Haigh’s – his magnificent account of how Kerry Packer changed the face of cricket in the 1970s – is of Ian Chappell’s first meeting with Packer. Chappell arrives in jeans and a country-and-western singer’s shirt. Packer’s first words: “What are you, a f***ing cowboy? Well, who do you want in this team of yours?” Chappell reminds Packer he is no longer captain of Australia. “What do you think this is, son, a f***ing democracy? You’re the f***ing captain.” To this day Chappelli, as Chappell is popularly known, remains a master storyteller himself. I overhear him telling Colin Craft, the menacing former West Indies fast bowler, about who Keith Miller thought was the best batsman in the world. Don Bradman, of course.June 13
A not-so-amused Daniel Vettori, after his team’s defeat to Pakistan at The Oval, wonders how Umar Gul, the match-winner, who lit up the evening with record bowling figures, could get reverse swing as early as the 12th over. He repeats the statement thrice. It is impossible to ignore. Surely, this is not the end of the matter.June 15

Tours are mini adventures. There are bound to be occasional clutch-your-head moments. Mine arrived today. Distracted as I speak to the New Zealand media manager on the mobile phone about Vettori approaching the match officials after the Pakistan game, I get off a train on my way to the game. Little do I realise I’ve left my bag on the train. The rest of the afternoon is spent in futile attempts at getting it back. I’m holding Vettori responsible.

Eating out, getting sick, waiting at airports, trying to understand team-mates’ choice of music – all part of a touring cricketer’s life

Nicky Shaw26-Feb-2010Right, it’s game on now. We are in Visakhapatnam, having lost the third match by a big margin. But we are optimistic about levelling the series yet again.The night before the second game we went out to Hard Rock Café in Bangalore. The next day, unfortunately, I missed the match because of an upset stomach. Watching the match go to the final over from my hotel room was nerve-wracking. It was great to get the three-run win. After the game we sang our team song – Take That’s “Never Forget” – and reviewed our performance.The journey to Visakhapatnam – for games three and four – was okay, apart from the early start. Airports involve a lot of waiting – though this time we didn’t have to hang around a lot – and we usually spend the time listening to music, reading magazines or having a look around the shops. Of course there’s always someone from the team sleeping as well.We all have different tastes in music and you’d think Ebony Rainford-Brent has the best collection, considering the way she bobs her head and dances in her seat on the bus when she has her iPod on. But Katherine [Brunt] has some “interesting tunes”, a mixture of rock, pop and country and western.We carry quite a bit of luggage because of our cricket kits, but outside of that, I’d have to say Charlotte Edwards’ bags would be the heaviest, for all the toiletries she packs in!The weather here is more humid than in Bangalore. The third game was disappointing but we are ready to bounce back.On an aside, the MCC women, who will be touring West Indies, will play with pink balls during the series. We trialled pink balls against Australia in the summer in 2009 and we were all very positive about it. It tends to keep its colour better than the white ball.

All the game’s greats started – or end up – at local clubs alongside local players. So what is it like sharing your home dressing room with a legend?

Josh Burrows09-Sep-2010When Shane Warne retired from international cricket in 2007 with 1001 wickets, his reputation as the game’s greatest bowler was confirmed. But in 1992 that same cocky Victorian was not deemed good enough to deserve a second season at Accrington CC. At 20 Warne had played a summer with the Lancashire League side as an overseas player – one of several cricketing giants who have spent time picking up cheap runs and wickets in English club cricket.Warne was picked up only at late notice when the club’s first-choice overseas player was injured. Accrington’s Peter Barratt remembers how it took Warne only two days to fax back the contract he was offered before turning up a few weeks later with his cricket gear and a reputation for giving it a bit of a rip.”He was a good friend for the five months he was with us,” recalls Barratt. “Yes, he misbehaved and he was a bit over the top sometimes but he wasn’t bad at all. He was 20 years old and wanted to be one of the boys. He had to be told a couple of times that the club professional had to keep himself fit. Whenever he was in any difficulties he’d always call me up. That included things like boils on his bum or car breakdowns.”Despite taking 79 wickets that season and attracting the interest of Australian selectors, Warne could not keep his place at Thorneyholme Road. “He was popular with spectators but the committee decided that he didn’t get enough runs,” recalls Barratt disbelievingly.At Lansdown CC in Bath the members would have been only too happy to have their overseas player of 1973 come back for a second term. But the old-timers at Combe Park are happy enough to be able to tell stories about the one year they played alongside their own legend – Viv Richards.He was a 21-year-old West Indian prodigy when his love affair with the West Country began. Len Creed, then chairman of Lansdown and a Somerset committee member, had spotted him while on holiday in Antigua a few months earlier and Richards had jumped at his offer of a season in England.While he was at Lansdown Richards lodged with the third-team captain, Alan Bees – a thoroughly mediocre cricketer who became a very close friend. It was Bees who introduced his new mate to jazz and cider, and in return the big Antiguan spent a season thrashing length deliveries through midwicket.”There was Accrington’s Peter Barratt

Viv Richards, West Indies
121 Tests, 8540 runs, Avg 50.23, HS 291
187 ODIs, 6721 runs, Avg 47.00, HS 189*
Lansdown’s Martin Veal

Wasim Akram, Pakistan
104 Tests, 414 wickets, Avg 23.62, Best 11-110
356 ODIs, 502 wickets, Avg 23.52, Best 5-15
Smethwick’s Gordon McKenzie

Allan Donald, South Africa
72 Tests, 330 wickets, Avg 22.25, Best 12-139
164 ODIs, 272 wickets, Avg 21.78, Best 6-23
Knowle and Dorridge’s Ian Maddocks

Adam Gilchrist, Australia
96 Tests, 5570 runs, 47.60, HS 204*
416 dismissals, 287 ODIs, 9619 runs, Avg 35.89, HS 172, 472 dismissals
Richmond’s Chris Goldie

“He was an absolute gentleman but, believe you me, he was flipping fast,” says the club secretary, Gordon McKenzie. “He didn’t take that long a run-up and he never held back. He was the quickest thing I’ve ever seen at Broomfield.”One poor batsman got one that rose off just short of a length and broke his jaw. If it had been anyone else’s short ball the lad could have got out the way but Wasim was that quick that it just hit him.”After Akram left, the respite for Birmingham League batsmen was only brief. Three years later Allan Donald turned up to play for Knowle and Dorridge a few weeks after retiring from Tests with 330 wickets and a reputation as one of the game’s fiercest competitors. Anyone expecting “White Lightning” to take things easy on a
Saturday afternoon was to be disappointed.”As soon as he walked across that line on to the pitch he wanted to win. It didn’t matter whether he was playing for South Africa, Warwickshire or Knowle and Dorridge. It was a game of cricket and he didn’t like to lose it,” recalls K&D’s Ian Maddocks.”There were one or two batsmen who thought they were better than they actually were and decided to have a little chat with him. That didn’t go down very well and, if you were stood at slip, you took a couple of paces backwards because you knew what was coming.”Donald’s season at K&D was curtailed by injury but like Akram, Richards and Warne he greatly enjoyed his time out of the international spotlight. No player, however, has maintained his association with a club as keenly as Richmond CC’s illustrious adopted son – a lad named Adam Gilchrist, sent over in 1989 aged 17 with a note from his dad explaining that he had been looking in quite good touch.”What stood out about him was his willingness to tuck in and score big hundreds,” says Chris Goldie, captain of the 1st XI in a summer during which Gilchrist scored more than 2,700 runs in all competitions. “I said that season that I thought he could go all the way. It sounds prophetic but it was just obvious that he was going to become an international opening batter.”More than 20 years later and having reached the pinnacle of international cricket, Gilchrist came back to Richmond’s Old Deer Park in June to play a Middlesex-Glamorgan Twenty20. He hammered 51 on the pitch where he first started breaking English hearts as a club cricketer and then strolled into the bar as if he had never been away.”It’s a mark of the lad that he volunteered himself to play at Richmond,” Goldie says. “I think it was an emotional time for him, going back and playing on a ground that he has very fond memories of.”Two decades previously, despite studying by correspondence while living in the pavilion at nearby Twickenham CC, the young Gilchrist was every bit the model first-team professional – though he was a technically minded accumulator rather than the batting tornado he became. His dedication has continued and he now helps run a scholarship that gives a young Australian a chance to spend a season with the West London club. Each player comes with a similar recommendation from Gilchrist’s dad, Stan.Warne may have been more fun off the field, Richards more laid back, Akram and Donald more vicious on the pitch but in Adam Gilchrist Richmond CC got particularly lucky. “He’s a genuine Richmond man and a special guy,” says Goldie. “We’re all very proud of him.”

The heat was sapping, the wind was nearly non-existent, but the home fans finally had reason to cheer

Dylan Copeland18-Dec-2010Choice of game
Nothing draws a crowd to the WACA ground like an Ashes Test. We joined the milling mob as they descended upon the WACA like ants returning to the nest. Despite the large number of people the line through the bag search area progressed quickly and smoothly and we were seated just in time for the start of the day’s play.Although the forecast maximum was only to be 33 degrees Celsius, the day was already hot by the start time of 10:30am. The lack of wind meant that there was no relief from the bright Australian sun. Despite the conditions, or perhaps unbelievably, because of them, many spectators had removed their shirts.Crowd meter
Judging by the respective cheering, it seemed that a large proportion of the crowd was made up of England supporters. The Australians outnumbered them slightly (at least in volume) but such equality is rare at international fixtures.The English certainly had more cause to make themselves heard at the beginning of play. Having dismissed Australia the day before for the seemingly low total of 268, each run scored by Cook and Strauss was warmly applauded.Each run disheartened the Australian fans, mindful not only of the lack of English wickets in the first two Tests, but also keenly aware that if England got away in the morning session then they would take with them any hope that Australia had of regaining the Ashes.Key performer
The heat was such that I was keenly watching the flags on top of the scoreboard for any indication that the sea breeze – known locally as the Fremantle Doctor – was coming in. The few gusts of wind there were, however, were coming from the complete opposite direction.Face-off I relished
With the conditions remaining still, Cook and Strauss scored at a brisk rate. The introduction of Mitchell Johnson into the attack did nothing to unsettle England initially. But then the flags stiffened in the breeze, not the much desired Doctor, but from the north-east. From the end which Johnson was bowling, the wind was blowing from left to right, helping Johnson move the ball away from the left-handed Cook and swing it into the right-handers, Trott, Pietersen, and Collingwood.Wow moment
Cook’s dismissal was met by cautious optimism but a couple of overs later with Trott and Pietersen back in the shed, the crowd could barely stay in their seats.Aye for UDRS
There has been much said about the decision review system but for a jubilant crowd the excitement and tension of watching a decision review on the big screens around the ground is an exquisitely involving experience. Everyone stands and cranes their neck, watching every piece of footage intently, cheering or otherwise in anticipation of official confirmation when they see something conclusive.Overall
Whether it was the heat, or a big first day, or simply because the day belonged to Australia, at any rate the famed Barmy Army were noticeably quiet, so much so that we saw no sign of them until the last session. Even then their singing was sporadic and short-lived.The second day at the WACA was action-packed, which, given the way the first two Tests unfolded, was much appreciated by the large crowd. The standout performance of the day was Mitchell Johnson’s six wickets. But runs also flowed and the highlight was the large number of hooks and pulls played, however unconvincingly. The crowd was good-natured and both sets of fans had plenty to cheer.

S Badrinath and Yusuf Pathan had a golden opportunity to cement their spots in the ODI side in the series against West Indies. Sadly, both have failed so far

Sriram Veera in Antigua15-Jun-2011It’s easy to like Yusuf Pathan. It’s easy to grow to like S Badrinath. Yusuf can thrill you with his big hits; he appeals with his primal spirit and gives you instant gratification. Badrinath, with his years of hard toil in domestic cricket, can make you sympathetic to his cause. However, both are guilty of throwing away the great opportunity presented to them in the ongoing ODI series in the West Indies. Especially Badrinath, who is yet to prove that he belongs on the international stage.It wasn’t that long ago when Dale Steyn made Badrinath look out of his depth in a Test in India. Here, in the West Indies, Andre Russell, nowhere close to Steyn in class or pace, made Badrinath hop and jump awkwardly on a docile pitch. Badrinath is not a very wristy player; his strokeplay is all arms. Under pressure, those hands start gripping the bat tighter, the arms start stabbing, and the ball doesn’t seem to move off the turf. It looks like a struggle, it feels like a struggle and perhaps, it is a struggle.He arrived here on the back of a very good domestic season and an impressive showing in the IPL. This series was supposed to be his carpe diem opportunity. Instead, it’s turning into a nightmare. He was given a chance to bat at No. 4, ahead of both Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma – except in the rain-shortened second ODI – but has averaged just 13.33 in four games so far, with a high score of 17. His critics are having a field day: ‘oh he is just a domestic batsman and is a misfit. He can’t rotate the strike if the bowling is accurate and he will eventually be eaten up by the pressure,’ is their line of thought.It’s not that Badrinath is not mentally tough: if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t have survived the years of rejection and continued reaping runs in domestic cricket to the extent that the selectors were almost forced to pick him. The real question though, and one he has so failed to answer is whether he is international class? This is the same Badrinath who handled the short balls well in South Africa during the second season of the IPL; constantly side stepping to upper cut them. Those deliveries had more pace and bounce than the ones he faced in Antigua. But the pressure of playing international cricket is vastly different from the IPL and it does strange things. Badrinath is a very intense man and by his own admission feels he has to learn to go easy on himself . He has one more game before the Test series to get it right. Will he be able to produce a knock of real substance?Yusuf, too, is mentally a tough nut. Everyone knows his weakness against pacy bouncers. Batsmen with this problem tend to start expecting it off every ball. They are likely to hang on the back foot or hop and get caught out by the full deliveries. Yusuf isn’t one of them; even as he would deal awkwardly with the short deliveries, he has rarely let a full delivery in his arc go unpunished. However, his career is threatening to spin out of control after his showing in this series so far. He has lasted only 17 deliveries in his three knocks. He gave a tame return catch in the first, lapped to short midwicket in the second and was brilliantly pouched by Lendl Simmons, and threw his wicket in the third, slugging to long-off. Each time, he stood there almost in disbelief at what he had done.Again, like Badrinath, each game had presented Yusuf with a great opportunity. There were lots of overs left, there was no pressure from the run-rate, and he could have played himself in. He didn’t. Was it adrenalin kicking in to counterattack and impose himself or were they shots played under pressure? Was it overconfidence or nerves? The former can be easier to correct; the latter indicates vulnerability and is difficult to overcome. Only Yusuf knows the truth.When the biggies return, both Yusuf and Badrinath will rarely get chances like this. Five ODIs on featherbeds against a team struggling to paper its cracks and compete. Five chances to resuscitate your career and cement your spot. Now both have just one final shot at redemption. They will have to take it. Else, there might not be a second chance. Especially for Badrinath. Yusuf, with his brutal knocks against South Africa in South Africa not long ago coupled with his bowling, is likely to get more chances in the future. If Badrinath fails on Thursday, this could be the last time he plays in coloured clothes. Even his Test chances might be in jeopardy. The stakes are that high.

Plays of the day from the match between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings in Jaipur

Siddarth Ravindran09-May-2011Three strikes
Suresh Raina and M Vijay were timing the ball beautifully during their half-century stand, and with their kamikaze running, a run-out seemed Rajasthan Royals’ best chance to break through. In the 14th over, Vijay glanced the ball to fine leg and was zipping back for the second when he realised Raina didn’t want the second. The throw missed, and he survived. Two balls later, he was haring for a single which Raina didn’t want. Again the throw missed, and he survived. In the next over, Vijay toe-ended the ball towards backward point and jogged through for a single, looking back to see where the ball was. Johan Botha fielded and unleashed a slide-rule throw which caught the dallying Vijay just short.Dwayne Bravo checks in
It took a marathon journey, including four stopovers, to transport Dwayne Bravo from the Caribbean to Jaipur. He was so tired that he was the only member of the Chennai squad to be given a business-class ticket for the final leg of his flight, from Mumbai to Jaipur. If he was feeling any effects of the exhausting voyage, he didn’t show it during the match. In the second over of Rajasthan’s chase, he almost pulled off a stunning bit of fielding. He swooped on the ball from point, and under-armed it at the stumps as he fell over. He would have got the big wicket of Shane Watson if the throw had hit. It narrowly missed, and Watson batted on.How not to catch
Shadab Jakati doesn’t have the reputation of being the most sure-fingered of fielders, and he showed why in Jaipur. When Watson top-edged a sweep, the ball swirled towards Jakati, who settled under it but nearly fumbled. The ball popped out of his hands two times, and a relieved Jakati clasped it on the third attempt. In the 12th over, another top edge looped towards him at mid-off. He got under the ball early and attempted to take it Australian-style but he overbalanced and the ball bobbled out of his hands, and on to the ground.How to catch
Suresh Raina is among the finest fielders in India, and he showed why in Jaipur. Rajasthan’s challenge was just about being kept alive by a dashing half-century from Ajinkya Rahane. In the 15th over, Rahane tried to club Bravo over long-on. It was a flat, brutal hit that seemed headed for the crowd, but Raina intercepted it with a well-timed leap to pluck the ball overhead, landing just a couple of yards inside the rope.A double take
There have been plenty of surprises from the bowlers this season. There have been several double-bouncers, and Vinay Kumar has shown off a Lasith Malinga-style sidearm delivery. Add to that list the Jakati two-timer. On the final delivery of the 11th over, he walked up to bowl, and half-rolled his arm over without actually releasing the ball. He went through with his bowling action once more, and the second time he did fire the ball in towards the unsettled batsman, Johan Botha, who chipped it to mid-on. Umpire Simon Taufel quickly walked over to Jakati and warned him not to repeat the trick, as it constituted unfair play.Keeping his feet on the ground
Doug Bollinger has always been termed a trier, someone who gives it everything when he’s on the field. Bollinger found himself on the floor early during the Rajasthan chase, when he fell over after attempting a pacy bouncer. Even in the penultimate over, with the match safely in Chennai’s bag, there was no shortage of enthusiasm. He slipped in another short ball, which Botha top-edged. The ball soared high and was going to land just behind the stumps. Bollinger called early for the catch, and sprinted to pouch it. He got there in time, and hung on to it. Once again he couldn’t balance himself, though, and tumbled over clumsily.

While Michael Clarke has looked the part of leader of his team in the series so far, Tillakaratne Dilshan seems to be finding it hard to cope with the complex demands of captaining Sri Lanka

Daniel Brettig in Pallekele08-Sep-2011Michael Clarke became Australia’s Test captain after at least three years of waiting for Ricky Ponting to grant him the privilege. Tillakaratne Dilshan inherited Sri Lanka’s crown only once all his contemporaries had taken their turn. This difference was as striking as the Pallekele sunshine on the first day of the second Test, in a series that is rapidly becoming a mismatch between a natural leader and one who looks anything but.Those wishing to be critical of Clarke often point out, among other caustic observations, that he has never led his state side, New South Wales. The job was shared among Brad Haddin, Simon Katich and Stuart Clark in the years following Steve Waugh’s retirement. But this lack of domestic experience in leadership reflected Clarke’s progress as a player, rather than shortcomings as an on-field marshall. He debuted for Australia at 21 (23 in Tests) and was spending more time outside the NSW XI than in it by the time he may have been considered for the captaincy. He led many representative teams during his teenage years, and has always appeared to think like a captain on the field, irrespective of his official status.Such alertness has been writ large across his first series as Australia’s fully-fledged leader. Clarke wants to make things happen in Sri Lanka, and so far he has done so. Bowling changes have regularly brought wickets, seldom has an edge flown where a slip fielder was not posted, and the bowlers have followed through on his plans with a thoroughness that suggests they want to do their best for him as well as themselves. While the success in Galle had an element of “critical toss” providence about it, Clarke’s leadership on the first day in Pallekele, when both captains regarded the pitch with far less suspicion, was expert.The early life offered by Pallekele’s pitch and altitude was used with almost as much precision as England had managed against Australia on the first day of the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval last year. That track, much like this one, promised to flatten out into a pristine batting strip once the first hour’s life had been negotiated. Here, Clarke kept Ryan Harris and Trent Copeland in partnership to provide the early breakthroughs, then gambled with his deputy Shane Watson as the first change bowler, instead of Mitchell Johnson, to see if any more conventional swing could be extracted.He introduced Nathan Lyon in the penultimate over before lunch and was rewarded when Prasanna Jayawardene swung at the bowler’s teasing loop once too often, Sri Lanka losing half their side in the morning session. But Clarke’s most inspired moment would arrive at the day’s midpoint, just as Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews threatened to build a hefty partnership. Most would have handed the ball to a frontline bowler; some might have handed it to the captain himself. Instead, Clarke opted for the slow mediums of Michael Hussey, and third ball was outrageously rewarded with the wicket of Sangakkara, pouched at short extra cover. One of the great Richie Benaudisms on captaincy says it is “90% luck and 10% skill, but don’t try it without the 10%”. In this instance, the share of luck went with the bowler, but the skill fully belonged to Australia’s captain. How his counterpart Dilshan must have cussed.Captaining Sri Lanka is complex and requires taking on all manner of responsibilities, duties and pressures that Clarke and his Australia predecessors could scarcely contemplate. Where in Australia it is said in jest that the national cricket captain holds the second most important job in the nation, in Sri Lanka there are times where such a label can seem entirely justified. Mahela Jayawardene, summed up the role for ESPNcricinfo: “It is not like in other countries. In Sri Lanka leading the team for a year is like you’ve done it for two or three years – it is a lot of responsibility and a lot of things happen around you. Controlling those variables drains a lot out of you.”The strains of the role wore through Jayawardene and Sangakkara in the space of five years, and when the latter exited the job was thrust into Dilshan’s hands. Subtract the final session of the Cardiff Test in England and his first series in charge was a creditable effort by the new captain and his team. But, so far, the home matches against Australia have been little short of disastrous, and leave ugly questions for the team to contemplate. Their lack of a fulltime coach since the exit of Trevor Bayliss after the World Cup cannot have helped, for Dilshan appears to need a stronger guiding hand at the back-room tiller than he seems to be getting.The morning of this Test brought with it several problems for Dilshan to negotiate. Chanaka Welegedara passed a fitness test after a knee problem, but an injured finger for Rangana Herath and back trouble for Ajantha Mendis robbed the captain of his two most likely sources of wickets. The last minute reshuffle contrasted with an Australia XI that was known two days prior to the toss.Dilshan is not a natural tactician, and his flighty batting cannot be expected to set an example for all to follow. He tried to play the long game in Pallekele, having swatted ignobly in Galle, but was undone by Copeland’s suffocating line and the movement readily available off a fresh pitch. The decision to leave a rather straight ball was a possible reflection of mental fatigue.With the exceptions of Sangakkara and Mathews the rest of the batsmen folded all too readily and, by day’s end, the series was galloping away from the hosts. At this point it does not appear as though the side fiercely wants to play for Dilshan, and that the captain is being pulled in more directions than his skill and character can handle. He looks very much, as the Sri Lankan cricket establishment decided long ago, the third choice.