A look at the best batting and bowling performances from IPL 2013

S Rajesh28-May-2013When Chris Gayle scored that 175 not out against Pune Warriors on April 23, in the 31st match of IPL 2013, it was unanimously believed that no batting display would come close to equalling this performance over the entire tournament. Gayle did retain the top position in terms of best batting performance, according to ESPNcricinfo’s performance analysis study, but David Miller’s stunning 101 not out off 38 almost stole Gayle’s thunder, finishing only marginally behind Gayle in this analysis. Averaging out all performances by each batsman, Miller’s average is actually a tad higher than Gayle’s.Among the bowlers, James Faulkner stood out. His 28 wickets was the second-highest of the tournament, behind Dwayne Bravo’s 32, but Faulkner took two of the three five-fors in the tournament. His two five-fors, both against Sunrisers Hyderabad – 5 for 16 in Hyderabad, and 5 for 20 in Jaipur – occupy the top two slots in the best bowling performances of the tournament, while the average of all his performances is also the highest among all bowlers.Among the individual batting performances, the innings by Gayle and Miller are well clear of the rest of the efforts in the tournament. Gayle scored 74.86 points for his 175, while Miller tallied 73.44 for his incredible effort, which came in a high run-chase after Kings XI, requiring 191, had lost four wickets for 64 in the 10th over. Thanks to Miller’s effort, Kings XI ended up winning the match with two overs to spare.The next-best effort was Shane Watson’s 98 off 53 against Sunrisers, which fetched him a tally of 60.70, almost 13 fewer than Miller’s score. Keiron Pollard features twice in the top six, for innings which completely changed the momentum of the games. Against Sunrisers, he came in after Mumbai Indians had slipped to 99 for 3 in the 14th over chasing 179 – he proceeded to smash 66 from 27 to take his team home with three balls to spare. His knock in the final got an even higher rating because of the low-scoring game, and because it was a final: in a high-pressure match, Pollard came in at 52 for 4 in the tenth, and scored an unbeaten 60 off 32, even as wickets kept falling at the other end. That effort won him a score of 58.16 points.The only sub-50 effort in the top 15 is MS Dhoni’s 45 off 16 against Pune Warriors, which lifted Super Kings to a match-winning total of 164. Dhoni also has two other entries, making him the only batsman with three appearances in the top 15. Suresh Raina’s 100 off 53 against Kings XI is in tenth place, while the only other century in the tournament, Shane Watson’s 101 off 61 in a losing cause against Super Kings, is in 18th place.

Among the bowlers, Faulkner is the clear leader with three appearances in the top 15, including the top two performances. Jaydev Unadkat’s 5 for 25 is third, not only because of the number of wickets he took, but also because he dismissed the top three batsmen in the Daredevil’s line-up, and took four of the top six. Similarly, Zaheer Khan finds a place at No.6 for his 4 for 17 in the rain-curtailed match against Super Kings. He went at 8.50 per over, but it was a game in which the average run-rate was almost 12 per over, and the batsmen he dismissed were top names – Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja.Most of the bowlers in the list below are seamers, but among the spinners are Amit Mishra, for his spell of 2 for 8 against Royals, and Sunil Narine, for figures of 3 for 17 against Mumbai Indians, in which he dismissed Dwayne Smith, Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma.

Averaging out the performances of each batsman over the tournament, it emerges that Miller’s average is marginally ahead of Gayle’s, with Michael Hussey, the tournament top-scorer, in third place. There’s very little to separate the top five players, with Dhoni in fifth place with an average of 20.27.

Among the bowlers, Faulkner is clearly on top, with Johnson and Narine closely bunched together in second and third place. Similarly, there’s little to separate Mohit and Bravo, in fourth and fifth.The most prominent bowler missing from the list is Dale Steyn. He had an excellent tournament, taking 19 wickets at an economy rate of 5.66, but he doesn’t find a place in the top ten for a couple of reasons. Though he was often outstanding with the new ball, he couldn’t convert that into wickets, often beating the bat without getting the edge: of the 19 wickets he took, only five were of the top five batsmen. Eight of his victims were batsmen batting at Nos.6 and 7, and six of them were those who batted between Nos.8 and 11. Fifteen of his 19 wickets came in the last five overs of an innings.Also, the matches that Steyn played in were generally low-scoring, which dampened his economy rate of 5.66. In the matches involving Steyn, the average economy rates of all bowlers was 6.90; in matches involving Vinay Kumar, the average was 8.15.

Salient points about the performance analysis methodology

• Each batting and bowling performance by every player in the IPL gets a score based on the runs scored and the strike rate, or the wickets taken and the economy rate.
• The batting position is factored in, since it’s easier for a top-order batsman to score more runs in a limited-overs format.
• The batting strike rate is weighed against the scoring rate in the match. Thus, runs scored in a high-scoring match counts for less than the same runs scored in a low-scoring game. A similar logic holds for the economy rates for bowlers. However, extra points are given for runs made when batting second in a high run-chase.
• For bowlers, top-order wickets count for more than tail-end wickets.
• Bowlers who bowl their full quota of four overs get full value for their performance, compared to those who bowl only a fraction of their four-over quota.

England’s brand of cricket was not always admired during the Ashes but they able to seize the moment and produce periods of exhilarating play

George Dobell26-Aug-2013It is remarkable how demands change. A decade ago, any Ashes victory would have been celebrated as a stunning achievement. It is not so long ago it warranted an open-top bus parade through the streets of London and MBEs all round.Now, it seems, the bar has been raised. Victory is not enough. England are not expected just to win, but to win with style and flair and grace. Despite the 3-0 result, they have been criticised for their perceived negativity, their perceived gamesmanship and their perceived limitations. They are judged by far harsher criteria than they used to be. They are the victims of their own success.It was probably fitting that the series should end with a controversial umpiring decision. Issues associated with the DRS and umpiring errors have dogged the series with wearying regularity and overshadowed other on-field matters. The farce with bad light just showed, once again, how far the game’s administrators have allowed the rules to stray from the necessity to respect spectators. Common sense is anything but common at the ICC.It was also probably fitting that England’s moment of success was mitigated by another negative news story. Reports that England players may have urinated on The Oval pitch after the game will serve not just to diminish the standing of the winning team, but deflect attention from Australia’s lacklustre display. Australia may have lost the series, but they continue to win the propaganda war.That is not to condone the actions of England’s players. They sound both bizarre and uncouth. But there is a theme here: after almost every game, a story has emerged that has been designed to denigrate and demean the most successful Test team England have produced for many, many years. Whether it has been about England players smoking, England players not walking, the perceived deficiencies of England’s captain compared to Australia’s, or the latest ‘slashes’ story, all too often the narrative of this series has been manipulated to divert attention from Australia’s failings.England set out to win this series. They did not set out to entertain, to revive the spirit of the sport, to win 5-0, or to win Tests in three or four days. They set out to win. So this result can only be judged an unmitigated success. Many England supporters – particularly those who remember how grim things used to be – will find the margin entertainment enough.

Panesar available for Ashes tour

Simon Kerrigan

He’s ok. I would imagine he feels very proud to have been part of a Test win [sic]. He’s a good young man, obviously a good bowler, with a good first-class record, but he had a tough time. I think he’ll come through that well, he’s under a good man up at Lancashire. Hopefully he’s learned a lot from the experience and I hope he comes back and has a successful career both with Lancashire and England. I think he’s a good young man, he’s a strong young man and I hope people get behind him and support him.

Chris Woakes

I thought he went ok. His pace was good. He’s actually a swing bowler but he didn’t get as much swing in this game as we would have liked. He can swing it both ways; he’s quite skilful with the ball. I thought he showed a good technique and a calm mind when he batted. I thought he did really well.

Monty Panesar

He is available for the winter tours. It’s not as if it [the incident with the bouncers] didn’t happen, because it did happen. But there’s got to be a cut-off time at which time he is available for selection and we didn’t feel it would be right to pick him in this fifth Test match but the Ashes away is a few months away and I would imagine, all being well, he’ll be available for selection by that time.

Tim Bresnan

He has a scan on Tuesday, but the results will only come out at the end of the week so we’ll have a better idea then. Even in the worst case scenario, I wouldn’t expect him to be ruled out of the entire tour, but he might not be able to play some of the early games.

Bad light

“It was a very tricky situation, because it was so close to a conclusion and the responsibility to entertain the people that were in the ground and watching on TV has to be taken seriously. So it was a tricky situation and I do sympathise with the umpires. Did they get it right? Ask them. We have spoken to the ICC a number of times over the years, but the description in the regulations of how they judge bad light is, I think, poorly written. The emphasis is on safety and very rarely is there a safety issue out in the middle. In my personal opinion it should be either a very strict reading on the light metre and there is a universal reading they could adhere to or it should be about the fairness of the balance of the contest between bat and ball.”

England play hard, pragmatic cricket. They have developed not just a belief in their ability to win, but a hatred of losing. Those are excellent qualities and they have served the side well. They are now unbeaten in 13 Tests and have won seven of those, including five out of seven this summer. Not since 1977 have Australia contested an Ashes series without a single victory.England went a long way to winning this series in the planning. They reasoned, long before the first ball was bowled, that the key difference between the sides was in the strength of spin bowling. They reasoned that the Australian seam attack was dangerous, that the Australian spin attack was modest and that the best chance of negating the former without incurring risk from the latter was by preparing slow, dry surfaces. That would take the sting out of the Australian seamers and highlight the greater potency of Graeme Swann over his Australian rivals.It worked, too. While Swann claimed 26 wickets in the series – the most by any bowler on either side – the four spinners utilised by Australia claimed 15 between them. Andy Flower, who not only planned this strategy but persuaded the groundstaff to implement it, is, unquestionably, one of the key reasons in England’s success.So, too, is Ian Bell. While the rest of the England top-order endured disappointing series, Bell three times produced centuries when his team most required them. Each one has led to England winning. After a tough year or so, Bell has bounced back with the series that may well define his career. Mature, calm and possessing the confidence to defend for long periods without allowing himself to lose patience or composure, this was the style of batting that Bell’s talent always suggested he could play.The downside – such as there is one – in England’s choice of pitch for this series was contested on relatively slow surfaces. That did nothing to encourage positive, attractive cricket and rendered much of the series attritional. It was, at times, even mediocre, compared to the high-standards of previous Ashes encounters.There is a theory – a theory expounded by those who peddle Australian propaganda mainly – that England will not like the quicker pace of Australian pitches. While it is true that Swann may find less assistance, the top-orders and seam attacks of both sides will probably prefer such surfaces. It may well result in a more entertaining series.But it is simplistic to admonish England for their tactics. Apart from truly outstanding teams, the likes of West Indies of the ’80s or the Australia team that followed, Test cricket has often been as much about patience and discipline as flair and adventure. England have been successful playing a brand of cricket that, in the T20 world, may appear somewhat sedate, but it would be wrong to underestimate its value.Besides, after long passages of careful cricket, England were able to seize the moment and produce periods of exhilarating play. They were behind on first innings in four of the five Tests but, whether it was Swann or Bell or Stuart Broad or James Anderson, they invariably produced outstanding individual performances to define games.Australia might do well to learn from England, not mock them. Certainly James Faulkner, a man without a Test victory to his name, lecturing Flower and co. on tactics at the end of the third day of the final Tests was incongruous. It was like a mouse telling a lion how to roar.There are a few clouds in the distance. Two or three of this England team – and its main coach – are rather closer to the end of their careers than the start and there is no sign of a replacement for Swann. He may be appreciated more after he has gone. His contribution has been immense.But such issues can wait. England have retained the Ashes. They have retained them without losing a game and without playing at their best.English cricket is not perfect, but it is much better than it used to be. And it better than Australia’s. In a landscape where victories between the two nations remain the benchmark by which they are judged, the current team deserve rather more than the begrudging praise they are receiving.

The Queensland wicketkeeper Chris Hartley spoke to ESPNcricinfo to discuss Darren Lehmann’s mentoring style and the successful approach he used at Queensland over the past two years

Brydon Coverdale24-Jun-2013Darren is often described as an “old-school” coach. What do people mean by that?
Chris Hartley: To me it’s a ‘keeping it simple’ philosophy that he believes in. He’s very much about the idea that the game is about doing the basics very well – that’s your basic batting, bowling and fielding skills. In saying that, he absolutely believes there’s a role for those extra one-percenters, your homework off the field in terms of your analysis of opposition, all that preparation. He strongly believes in all of that. But at the end of the day it comes down to how you perform out on the field. I think in this generation of professional era of cricket, players are given a lot of information. Sometimes when someone comes along and gives a nice simple clear direction it makes things a lot easier.Presumably he’s the sort of coach you’d be more likely to see giving players verbal advice in the nets rather than sitting at his laptop?
He’s probably more a hands-on guy who’ll work with you in the nets. There’s certainly a place for video analysis and that sort of stuff. Certain players respond to that very well and in that case he’d encourage them to do it. His philosophy is all about teaching the players how to play the game. The best way he believes to do that is to be out there performing the skills. The better players become in terms of understanding their own game, they don’t need to be coached as much. John Buchanan used to say that his role as a coach was to become obsolete. That’s something that Darren would probably agree with. If he’s doing the right things, the players start to know their own game and that coaching side of things will become a lot easier.Is his approach one that has become less common among coaches in the modern era?
I’ve come through in Australian cricket systems in this era when it’s not just about being a cricketer, it’s about fitness programmes and the mental side of things. That’s very common. But as a player sometimes it’s very refreshing to break it all back down into the fundamentals of what the game of cricket is all about, batting, bowling and fielding. That’s something that has never changed over the years and never will. Of course you need to evolve with and use all the different resources available to you but Boof (Lehmann) very much believes it comes down to the contest between bat and ball out on the field.How has he handled the disciplinary side of coaching?
He’s very clear in his directions and very clear in what his expectations are of you as a player and a person and what your role is. When you’re clear on those things, the players then make their own choices and know exactly where they stand. From a formal point of view, our side operated with team rules and team standards that both Darren and the playing group put together. If any player stepped outside that they got penalised. In the Australian side it’s probably going to be a harder thing to keep within the team but if everyone is heading in the right direction you’re hoping that those transgressions aren’t going to be significant anyway. We found that at our level. All of a sudden the transgressions we had were few and far between and were very minor anyway.Have there been times when he has had to pull players back into line?
Yes, there have been a number of occasions. There have been things as simple as the things that got discussed at the Australian level [in India], like wearing the right uniforms or being on time, small things like that, right down to personal issues with players in regard to attitude. But if you’re clear with your players and support staff on what your expectations are and if everyone buys in to that, then all of a sudden everyone is heading in the same direction and a lot of those issues disappear.Chris Hartley: ‘A big key for Boof is having fun and that’s on and off the field. The players in the Queensland side were very clear on what having a good time on and off the field meant’•Getty ImagesHow much of the onus did he place on the senior players to lead by example off field?
Darren spoke with senior players about their role as a senior member of the squad. Part of that was the responsibility to educate other players and direct them and show them what’s an acceptable set of standards. We do have a leadership group that Boof helped to form. It was a peer-voted group, so it was something that everyone bought into straight away. That group is a voice for the players, so if they’ve got an issue with something and they don’t go directly to the coach they can go through the leadership group. The standards that the group wanted to play and train by were very clear and simple from the start.Is it fair to say he was also keen to instill a sense of fun in the playing group?
A big key for Boof is having fun and that’s on and off the field. The players in the Queensland side were very clear on what having a good time on and off the field meant, both to them and to him. It meant that players didn’t feel like they needed to do anything behind closed doors or sneak off and do anything that might go against the team. Everyone understood what was expected and that’s on and off the field. In doing that, some of that intensity or pressure that comes along with playing elite cricket relaxes a little bit. It’s no secret that when players are happy and relaxed they’ll be playing their best cricket.Managing egos is always part of a coach’s job, but will it be tougher for him at international level than at state level?
The fundamentals of that are the same. You get competitive men playing the game who have all got their own opinions, all got their own goals and ideas on what’s the best way for them to go forward. To try to bring everyone together in one direction while you’ve got individuals doing that is a difficult thing. But he has definitely been able to do that in the Queensland squad. He gets to know the players and what makes them tick and then manages them accordingly. One person might need more discipline than another person who manages themselves strictly anyway. That’s always going to be the challenge in any team, it doesn’t matter if that’s at state level or international level.He has been named national coach 16 days before the Ashes – is he the kind of person who can get to know the players well enough in that time?
Because of his position in the game as a player he’s going to have enormous respect from the players immediately. That’s going to help to speed up that process of bringing together a squad. I don’t think he’s necessarily going to be able to perform miracles over the course of one or two weeks. But if he’s given the right amount of time to put in place the things he believes in, I have no doubt he’ll be able to get the Australian team operating as a cohesive unit, and that seems to be something that people from the outside are commenting on, that it seems a little bit disjointed at the moment. That’s one thing he does very well. He’s an excellent communicator and develops the group in a way that brings everyone together. That can only be a good thing for this Australian team.

Plays of the day from the Champions League match between Rajasthan Royals and Lions in Jaipur

Devashish Fuloria25-Sep-2013The bat
Off the last ball of the 12th over, Shane Watson attempted his trademark hoick over long-on off a length delivery, but the low bounce meant that the ball hit the inside half of the bat. Watson immediately looked at his blade to check if there was any damage. But all doubts on the state of the bat were dispensed with as he muscled two sixes and a four in his next four deliveries.The luck
Sanju Samson had scored a half-century in Royals’ win against Mumbai Indians, an innings that was replete with unconvincing shots and numerous edges. That was a good day. Samson brought the same form to this match but only brought half the luck. In his brief stay, he edged one through gully, then edged one to first slip to be dropped by Alviro Petersen, and ultimately ran out of luck, edging an angled delivery from Lonwabo Tsotsobe to the wicketkeeper.The comeback
Sohail Tanvir was the leading wicket-taker in the first season of the IPL when he was part of the title-winning Rajasthan Royals squad and the way he bowled his first three overs today, it felt like he had never left Jaipur. He mixed up the lengths, varied pace, changed angles and kept the Royals batsmen guessing. His last over though undid his good work. Brad Hodge slogged the second and third deliveries to the boundary, then went one better as he smashed two sixes in the remaining three balls, ruining Tanvir’s figures to 4-0-36-1.The drop
Rahul Dravid may have taken more catches than anyone in his Test career, but in his last season of active cricket, that is one area in which he has struggled to maintain standards. He took a simple chance at mid-on when Rassie van der Dussen mistimed a slog, but made a mess of the second that came his way. He had stationed himself at long-on and when Hardus Viljoen chipped one to his right, he ran a few paces to his right, settled into a good position, but dropped the dolly.

Plays of the Day from the second ODI between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, in Hambantota

Andrew Fidel Fernando12-Nov-2013The interruption
Rain proved not to be the tropical monsoon’s only disciple in its ongoing war against cricket in Sri Lanka, as a less mundane meteorological phenomenon stopped play and prompted the players’ exit in Hambantota. Dark clouds had gathered over the venue before the match had begun, but around the 20th over, lightning began to strike the forest to the east, about 1.5km from the venue. Spotting a particularly menacing fork, the umpires conferred and led the players off the field, citing concern for their safety. Lightning has also been known to stop play both in Johannesburg and Florida, where lightning detection systems force evacuation from open fields.The shot
Colin Munro’s reputation as a hard-hitter would have preceded him to Sri Lanka, but his opposition might not have guessed at the power he could generate even with his weak arm. Offspinner Sachithra Senanayake bowled with a packed offside field to Munro in the ninth over, and to counter this, on the fourth ball, Munro switched his stance and his grip and slog-swept a length delivery over what should have been deep point for a 75-metre six. He played the shot again two balls later and got four on the bounce.The twice-declined surrender
Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara have been difficult to part when they come together in ODIs over the past two years, and even when Dilshan had seemingly made peace with losing his wicket, New Zealand could not break the partnership. Dilshan had struggled to time the ball after Sri Lanka resumed their innings, after the long break, and when he missed a short ball off Andrew Ellis in the last over, he ran some way down the pitch, calling his partner through. But Sangakkara refused the run, leaving Dilshan stranded. Spotting the wicketkeeper’s under-arm throw at the stumps, Dilshan seemingly gave up trying to reclaim his ground, and when the keeper’s throw missed, Ellis ran forward to attempt a dive-throw of his own, which was also wide of the stumps, despite Dilshan’s indifference to getting back into his crease.The double-strike
Nuwan Kulasekara’s inswingers have gained considerable malice in 2013, and despite having to contend with a wet ball, he swung it big again to terrorise New Zealand at the top of the innings. Left-hand batsman Anton Devcich had seen Kulasekara’s first ball swing hard and late away from him, but with the required rate so high, he chased the next one and edged through to the keeper. Perhaps seeing this movement, new man Rob Nicol, a right-hand batsman, waltzed down the pitch hoping to counter it, only for Kulasekara to see him coming and deliver another back-of-a-length inswinger that drew his edge as well.

Bangladesh batting coach Corey Richards wants his batsmen to cut out reckless shots and play percentage cricket at the same time

Mohammad Isam13-Feb-2014Bangladesh are slowly mastering the Twenty20 approach to batting but as Wednesday night showed, they are still prone to getting their calculations wrong. Unlike Sri Lanka, who found a way back in Chittagong after losing their way in the middle overs, Bangladesh usually go down quickly when they face a good spell of bowling, which in Twenty20s, can also be a single over.Tamim Iqbal fell to a superb Angelo Mathews catch while Shakib Al Hasan and Nasir Hossain fell at critical times in the 169-run chase – in the 14th and 17th overs. Tamim failed at the pull, Shakib at the slog and Nasir at clearing the straight field.Bangladesh’s batting coach Corey Richards said that aggressive strokeplay should be complemented by caution at all times. Bangladesh batsmen have the habit of waiting for boundary balls in all formats, cutting out other options like an aggressively run single or two.”Our philosophy is to promote aggressive but responsible batting, and by that allowing the players to express themselves but with a common sense approach,” Richards said. “Sometimes if you play aggressively without responsibility then that is when you can become reckless, which is what we have been guilty of in the past and what we are trying to rectify within the players’ mentality. It is important to have an aggressive mindset, but to play percentage cricket at the same time.”For Marvan Atapattu, Sri Lanka’s assistant coach, batting in Twenty20s is all about keeping the mind uncluttered, especially if those in the middle have enough confidence. “It is about picking the right guys to perform at this format,” Atapattu said. “You (need to) have people who are in the right frame of mind and who have the right mental capacity to try and execute skills under pressure.”The game moves so quickly, you should be able to express yourself freely. Whoever is willing to do that, they can be successful,” he said.It is slightly more challenging for Richards, who has to correct the wrong habits that players have developed, and make sure they don’t come back even in the nets. “Good habits come from practicing with intent, being specific and under match simulation.”From a coaching side of things, one has to continually communicate with the player on what they are trying to do regarding the plans,” he said.Richards believes that by bringing in Sabbir Rahman in the batting line-up, Bangladesh can have two attacking batsmen in the end overs, instead of just Nasir.”I think that someone like Sabbir Rahman has shown at domestic level that he is a good finisher and if those two [Sabbir and Nasir] are in at the death then it will be good to watch.”It is important that the tail has the ability to clear the ropes and with [Farhad] Reza, [Sohag] Gazi and Mashrafe, we have three of those guys if required,” he said.Coaches will talk about plans and how they ought to be executed, and it can sometimes be mind-numbing. But for a team like Bangladesh, gaining a lot of information about themselves gives them confidence. Atapattu’s batsmen can bank on that given their quality and volume of experience, but it is one game at a time for Richards’ batsmen.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the second T20 between West Indies and England

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Mar-2014Recall of the dayKrishmar Santokie played the second T20 against Ireland, taking 1 for 12 as West Indies defended 96, but could not make the cut for the first game of this series. However, with Sunil Narine ruled out he got his chance to stake a claim for a starting place in the World T20 and took it with both hands. In his first over he removed Michael Lumb, then in his second a beautiful slower ball deceived Moeen Ali. At the death, after a rain break, he ensured England could not cut loose when he removed the well-set Jos Buttler and added Ravi Bopara.Kick-start of the dayEngland were not going anywhere very quickly, but Buttler and Alex Hales had to try and rebuild the innings from 26 for 3. Then, in the 12th over, Buttler unfurled his scoop shot against Darren Sammy – after two earlier boundaries in the over – and connected so cleanly that it cleared fine leg for six. That over cost 17 and the next cost 16 as England at least found a foothold in the match.Shot of the dayIt does not matter whether you clear the boundary by six inches or find the road outside the ground, the batsman can’t score more than six. Chris Gayle, though, often goes for the latter option and one of his four sixes, when he advanced at James Tredwell, went clear over the roof of the stands at wide long-on and may have come down somewhere in the harbour. The local sages in the press box suggested it was the biggest ever seen at the ground, bigger than when Joel Garner deposited one into the nearby petrol station.Comparison of the dayThe tale of two Powerplays: after six overs England were 30 for 3 while West Indies were 58 for 1. That head start meant that even when their chase was clawed back that enough was in the tank to get over the line. The tactics were opposite too. West Indies used pace off the ball for all six overs, from Santokie and Samuel Badree, whereas England used three overs pace, which cost 34, before turning to Tredwell.

Sri Lanka’s marks out of ten, for the Test series against England

Andrew Fidel Fernando at Headingley25-Jun-20149Angelo Mathews (306 runs at 76.50, 4 wickets at 24.75)
Angelo Mathews’ 160 at Headingley was the stuff of legend•AFPA fighting hundred and a stony rearguard at Lord’s, then the innings of his career at Headingley His 160 is the stuff of legend – the kind of knock that transformed Sri Lanka’s position in the game and lurched them towards their first series win against a top-eight team outside Asia, since 1995. Two other Sri Lanka batsmen have made great hundreds in England – Sidath Wettimuny in 1984 and Mahela Jayawardene in 2006 – but if this series win can kickstart a Sri Lanka resurgence in Tests, Mathews’ innings may be seen as the best of the lot. His bowling was useful as well, and though his captaincy is still a work in progress, there were signs of improvement, particularly at Headingley.8Kumar Sangakkara (342 runs at 85.50)
If ever a Sri Lanka batsman deserves to be called a run machine, it is Sangakkara. In the last few years, his cricket has achieved a clinical excellence that few have managed. He was desperate to have his name on the Lord’s honours board, and was uncompromising with his focus in that innings. He did his part to draw that Test, in the second innings, then hit two fifties to help out at Headingley. Having redressed his poor record in England, he is now undoubtedly on the level of Ponting, Tendulkar, Lara and Kallis. Anyone who argues otherwise is not paying attention.7Shaminda Eranga (11 wickets at 32.45)
Had a poor outing at Lord’s, perhaps thanks to three-month gap between competitive matches, but recovered beautifully to bowl Sri Lanka’s spell of the match in the second innings, one that delayed the England declaration and effectively helped save the game. His unerring second-day toil may be overlooked in years to come, but make no mistake – that is where the match turned for Sri Lanka. They need a long-term pace spearhead. Eranga seems to be the man for the job.Mahela Jayawardene (174 runs at 43.50)
His returns here are too modest to improve his overall away record, but his two fifties came in trying times for Sri Lanka, and as ever, his runs are worth more than most. He was tried with the short ball throughout the series, and often, he took the field and the bowling on. Mathews may be captain on paper, but Jayawardene remains the most obvious on-field marshal. He has also completed more Test catches now than all but two other players.5Kaushal Silva (146 runs at 36.5)
Twin fifties at Lord’s helped further embed Silva in the side, though more would definitely have been expected at Headingley. He left on length as well as line, and played the tightest of all Sri Lanka batsmen in the series. Importantly, as a short opening batsman, he also proved he can handle the bouncer barrages he will no doubt face at this level, all through his career. Sri Lanka will give him a long stint atop the order.Dimuth Karunaratne (127 runs at 31.75)
It is easy to remark that Karunaratne rarely makes high scores or that he has a strange technique for an opening batsman, but 31.75 is hardly an awful average for a rookie Sri Lanka opening batsman, in early-season England. His technique has some way to go, as does his temperament as he approaches a personal landmark, but given he and Silva have combined to give Sri Lanka better starts than they have had in years, Karunaratne deserves a few more series.Shaminda Eranga looks the man to lead Sri Lanka’s pace attack into the foreseeable future•Getty ImagesRangana Herath (8 wickets at 43.87)
Was less impactful on this tour than expected, despite the moderately helpful conditions at Headingley. He was perhaps unlucky not to take a few more wickets, given he beat the edge regularly. Had his best haul in the second innings at Lord’s and smothered the batsmen under pressure while quicker men attacked at the other end. His 47 at Headingley was one of the best knocks by a Sri Lanka tailender in years.4Nuwan Pradeep (6 wickets at 50.83)
His career bowling average of 72.78 continues to provide comic relief, but it is clear he is a much better bowler than that number suggests. Had his best outing on the first day at Lord’s, when he took three wickets, but was guilty of leaking runs at other occasions. Took the crucial wicket of Joe Root on the final day at Headingley, which swung Sri Lanka’s door open just as England’s sixth-wicket pair looked like closing it. His five-ball defiance to seal the draw at Lord’s is already part of cricketing lore.1Lahiru Thirimanne (4 runs at 1)
At times on tour, it seemed like Thirimanne would spontaneously combust if James Anderson shot him a sideways glance. He was out twice to Anderson at Lord’s and made a pair at Headingley. Three of the four balls that dismissed him were terrific deliveries, but Thirimanne will know he cannot use that as an excuse for long. Good Test batsmen see out good balls. He will hope to bounce back strongly against South Africa.One Test7Dhammika Prasad (6 wickets at 20.83)
Few would ever have imagined a five-wicket haul from Prasad would seal a famous victory in England, but his fourth-evening spell was pure mayhem. Prasad bowled with the pace and intensity he had been picked for and offered a hit-the-deck option for the attack. He will also have earned a place in the squads for Sri Lanka’s home Tests.5Dinesh Chandimal (52 runs at 26, 4 catches)
Kept well until the late stages of the Headingley Test, and had good energy throughout the toilsome second day in the field. His 47 hinted at his ability against fast bowling, on bouncy pitches, but falling to the leg trap on day four was a low point.4Prasanna Jayawardene (14 runs at 7, 4 catches)
Had a poor Test behind the stumps at Lord’s, but many keepers do. Was out to a good catch in the first innings and dug in admirably alongside Mathews in the second, broken finger and all.3 Nuwan Kulasekara (2 wickets at 74)
Threatened at Lord’s with the new ball, but was largely toothless when conditions were flat. Could have supported the wicket-takers at the other end with tighter spells, as well.

Plays of the day from the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals

Devashish Fuloria29-Apr-2014The over
Rajasthan Royals had made slow progress to be 25 for 1 at the end of five overs before receiving a boost in the sixth – the last over of the Powerplay – as Morne Morkel leaked 20 runs. But apart from a wide delivery that cost his team three runs, he didn’t do much wrong. Morkel’s second delivery was slogged through mid-on by Sanju Samson without much timing, the third went to the fine-leg boundary off the inside half of the bat, the fifth was top-edged to fine-leg boundary again and the last teased the fielder to the midwicket boundary.The replacement
Shakib Al Hasan was included over Chris Lynn for his value as a wily bowler and he bowled an economical spell of 4-0-23-1. But fielding is where Knight Riders would have missed Lynn. The other night, he took a screamer at the boundary to win them a match. A similar chance flew off Ajinkya Rahane’s bat towards Shakib at deep midwicket. Unfortunately, Shakib misjudged it completely, first running in, then, only managing to get a hand. Had he jumped, he could have taken the catch. The shot went for six runs.The boundary
Hitting a four is a non-event for most top-order batsmen. But not if you are Gautam Gambhir. Since April 4, he had played five matches – four of them in this IPL – and had just a single run. The wait for a boundary – for any runs really – must have been excruciating for Gambhir. He came close to getting there in the first over of the Knight Riders’ innings as he pulled Stuart Binny to deep square leg and made it eventually in the second over, to his relief, punching one through point. The first one was followed by a confident one in the third over – a one-bounce four through midwicket – and finally the monkey was off his back.The referral
Jacques Kallis quickly put his bat under his shoulder and walked off after getting a faint inside edge to the wicketkeeper off a Shane Watson delivery. He didn’t wait for the umpire to raise his finger. Fortunately for him, he got immediate return on his ‘being honest’ policy as the replays showed the bowler had overstepped.The knock
In an age where the fielders and bowlers appeal for anything close, it was strange to hear silence follow a loud woody knock as the ball flew past the outside edge of Kallis’ bat. The wicketkeeper had his hands on his head, the slip fielder had the same expression and the bowler too had despair writ on his face. The sound was heard loud and clear in the replays too with the only thing being close to the ball being the bat.

Andrew Flintoff deserves a chance to try and find out if he can still hack it, for his body was broken in the service of England

George Dobell31-May-2014It would be easy to be cynical about the return of Andrew Flintoff. It would be easy to dismiss his comeback as a publicity stunt, or the symptom of a mid-life crisis. It would be easy, and probably quite legitimate, to point out that his return will displace a younger man in the Lancashire team who might have been working towards this opportunity his whole career.But none of that stuff matters. Not really. Not in the grand scheme of things.The purpose of the relaunched NatWest T20 Blast is to fill grounds and inspire new supporters and players. And the fact is that Flintoff, even aged 36 and nearly five years into retirement, remains one of very few Englishmen to have broken out of the confines of cricket to become something approaching a household name.His return will guarantee wider media coverage for the tournament and should help bring more people to games. In the context of an event fighting for limelight amid a football World Cup and myriad other rivals, Flintoff’s return is cause for celebration.There is a lesson here, though. Flintoff’s fame was cemented by his Man-of-the-Series winning performance in the Ashes of 2005; a series in which he bowled with pace and skill, batted with bravado and skill and showed the sort of grace in victory that portrayed the game in a flattering light.But crucially, that Ashes series was the last shown on free to air TV in the UK. So while other players since have had periods of outstanding form, none have quite gone on to make the crossover from cricket to mainstream media personality. Flintoff’s all-round excellence was one reason for his popularity and fame, but that fact that he had a larger stage and a bigger audience was also relevant.The fear has to be that, for all the benefits of the finance pumped into the game by selling TV rights to one subscription broadcaster, it is almost impossible to replace the reach of a free to air coverage.It is almost impossible the recapture the public imagination in the same way as it was in the summer of 2005. And for that reason, the English game is still looking for new heroes to replace those that have retired.The interest generated by Flintoff’s return only underlines the difficulty the modern game has in appealing to a new audience and remaining relevant. It also underlines the need the game has to exploit the stars it has; the failure of the ECB to fully utilise Kevin Pietersen this way remains a regret.Who knows if Flintoff’s body can handle the demands of a return? Who knows if his batting – so modest towards the end of his career – can prove destructive or his bowling rediscover the pace it once had? But, had his body not failed him, Flintoff would have been a T20 specialist long ago.He deserves a chance to try and find out if he can still hack it, for his body was broken in the service of England. It was broken when bowling 40 overs in an innings against South Africa at Headingley in 2008; when bowling 68.3 overs in a match against Sri Lanka at Lord’s in 2006. It was broken in finding one more spell, again and again, on the flattest of pitches and with the softest of balls, in helping England back to respectability after years of mediocrity.He deserves a bit more credit than he is sometimes given. And, if there were times when he had to let off steam… well, all that bowling must have been thirsty work.