Where Art Thy Bowler?

India and Sri Lanka. Two very similar sub-continental teams, both going through the same problems. If you look carefully, both these teams in the test arena especially were built around these key ingredients:

1. One quality spin doctor.

© Getty Images, AFP

2. One quality left arm quick.

© Getty Images, AFP

3. One seriously flat deck.

© Getty Images, AFP

The bowling recipe quite literally went as far as this save for a few dopey missed selections (Mendis, Zoysa, M.Kartik) and some early unwanted retirements (Malinga). Hampering the situation are those who didn’t retire when they should (Harbhajan), flash-in-the-pan players (Sreesanth,  Fernando) and an assortment of other rubbish (Agarkar). Inevitably, the whole job was left to the number one spin man and his able deputy. And so the game plan became quite literally:

• Post 500+
• Take the game to the fifth day.
• Toss the ball to the spinner.
• Bring out the champagne.

Of course this didn’t work very well overseas, but lately they at least manage to secure drawn results and push their way up the rankings.
But times have changed! Injuries to Zaheer, the retirements of Kumble and Murali, and the ignorance of Vaas have turned the tables. England and Australia have begun to expose this, showing us all that once the ageing batting machines misfire, there is almost nothing left to save the day. As I write, Sri Lanka are on the verge of a series loss to Australia at home, and India are going through a series in England without a single victory.
Why? Because these teams owed so much to the lion-hearted efforts of these four. Manfully they would toil away on dead pitches single handedly, without regret and often with less credit than they deserve. Especially Kumble, he was just as important as any Tendulkar or Dravid. And now that they are gone, the blind optimism that the backup bowlers could take over the mantle is being shown for the ridiculous notion it is. They have neither the mettle nor the skill.
To what do we owe this? The batting tracks don’t help for once, neither does the rise of Twenty 20 cricket and the IPL. Nobody seems to want to grow up and be a quality bowler from these two nations, and the results are beginning to show. Cricket is a simple game, there is a team consisting of batsmen, bowlers, and a wicket-keeper. If you go in with no bowlers, expect to lose.This is a salute to the heroes who didn’t get their due credit. At The Cricket Musings, you are gone but not forgotten, remember the only guarantees in life are death, taxes and a Chris Martin duck.

Contributed by : Varun Prasad
Original Post : The Cricket Musings

England vs India: Player Ratings for the series (Part 2)

England’s side of the ratings, which were a lot easier to do. If only I could rate them by the quality of their tweets.

9.5 – Stuart Broad (182 runs @60.66 and 25 wickets @13.84): Close to being dropped. Fuller lengths. Vital lower-order runs. Near-perfect series. Next Botham. Yawn, you know the whole story because everyone’s already harped about it. It’s a fairy tale all right, and Stuey is the princess.

"Did you take my glass slipper, mate?"

9.0 – Kevin Pietersen (533 runs @106.6): Found his best form almost immediately, capitalising on Zaheer’s absence in the first Test to score a double hundred. He was pretty much unstoppable from that point on, notching up another hundred and a couple more fifties.

"He attacked me, took his mojo back, and then took mine too.."

8.5 – Ian Bell (504 runs @84): Batted beautifully all series (even during his solitary duck), and looked more deserving of the Zaltzman-coined nickname “Sledgehammer of Eternal Justice” than “the Sherminator“. His best innings came at #3, but he’s no slouch at #5 either, and his Test average is now almost 50 (who’da thunk it). Points off for lack of brain cells – you know what I’m talking about.

8.5 – Tim Bresnan (154 runs @77 and 16 wickets @16.31): It took an injury to Chris Tremlett for him to even get into the side, and he grabbed the chance with the strength of a man who knows his way around a plate of fish and chips (what?). And why doesn’t he have an American Pie-inspired nickname like Belly does? It seems more appropriate.

8.5 – James Anderson (21 wickets @25.71): Bowled well enough to get other people to call him the best quick in the world, conveniently making them forget Dale Steyn in the process. The phrase “has the ball on a string” was used plenty of times, planting in my head images of him bowling with a yo-yo. Either way, he troubled every batsman except probably Praveen Kumar, who has no knowledge of the concept, or any concepts, when he bats.

The first search result for James Anderson in Google Images.

8.0 – Matt Prior (271 runs @67.75): Did almost nothing wrong in the series – great keeping, quick scoring (SR of 85), and is now regarded as the best keeper-batsman in the world. That is, in Tests – there are somewhere between 3 and 7.2 million keeper-batsmen in England’s limited-overs teams. They have come a long way since Geraint Jones and Chris Read.

6.5 – Chris Tremlett (4 wickets @31): Bowled well enough in his only game to take 4 wickets, but his injury was probably a good thing for England. It’s going to be tough for him to get back into the side, with his limited batting abilities.

5.0 – Graeme Swann (13 wickets @40.69): It was turning out to be a horrific series for him – the #1 spinner had been the weak link in England’s attack for the first three Tests. Even after his match-winning nine-wicket haul, those aren’t great numbers, which should give you a fair idea of how bad he was initially. If I was a bad comic, I’d even say that he was “the ugly duckling” for three games before he became Swann. Thankfully, I’m not.

5.0 – Alistair Cook (348 runs @58): Very ordinary series for Cook, especially after his Ashes purple patch. Praveen Kumar and Ishant had him hopping around for most of the series, with just the one monumental 294 to prop him up. Sort of like a kid who spends all his money on one eyeliner.

5.0 – Ravi Bopara (51 runs @51): Barely got a chance to show everyone what he’s all about. He could be getting Morgan’s spot soon, though.

4.5 – Eoin Morgan (194 runs @32.33): Just doesn’t look like a Test batsman. Managed a hundred and a fifty, to his credit, but better bowling attacks (and any other spinners, really) will have his number. But if Raina can play Tests, why not this guy?

4.0 – Andrew Strauss (229 runs @38.16): Waning powers and all. Looked willing (amidst great discomfort) to battle it out to stick around, but needed more runs, especially considering the firepower that lay in the middle order. When you’re in trouble against Sreesanth, you know you’re in a rut.

4.0 – Jonathan Trott (98 runs @24.5): Decent 70 to start off the series, followed by injury and withdrawal. Sometimes a summary of events is enough.

Contributed by DHCF Rishabh Bablani
Rishabh’s personal blog

No Need For Duck-Worth Lewis at the Rosebowl

Until around 18:00 on Tuesday 6th September at a sodden Rosebowl in Southampton, the highlight of my day was getting Sunil Gavaskar to hold my duck. Now this isn’t some crude or inappropriate euphemism, I’d probably better explain.

My best friends father Mike, who is sadly no longer with us, took a cuddly duck with him to Australia for the 2006 Ashes series. Quite apt given the way the Aussies ripped through England’s batting order that year.

Anyway the Duck became an icon, sharing photo opportunities with the likes of Sir Ian Botham, Mike Atherton, and Merv Hughes, and now we can add to that fine list one of India’s greats. Childish I know, but Gavaskar was a great sport for humouring me at least!

Tuesday was one of those days where grown men acted like children in the face of unavoidable, unrelenting boredom. Some Indian fans led a group containing 2 father Christmases around the ground singing and banging Tabla’s, whilst others played hand cricket with vaguely round objects.

At 16:00, around the time various forecasts had predicted a change in the weather, the heavens opened again and everyone ran for cover under the impressive new West Stand at the Rosebowl. At that stage, some people cut their losses and left. My dad was faltering but I encouraged him to stay just a little longer. The latest a match could start was 7pm, so we still had some time for a little cricket.

At 17:30 the unthinkable happened; the rain stopped, and for more than a few minutes this time too. The magnificent ground staff, who had worked hard all day, leapt back into action soaking up the rain and preparing the wicket for a match.

A chilly Rosebowl - Tuesday 6th September 2011

The umpires, captains and coaches then did a little inspection after which the officials finally declared a game of sorts was on. 23 overs-a-side (that idea might catch on you know?)

The two sides then came out for their warm-ups and I watched with interest recalling Andrew Flintoff’s comments earlier this summer. Flintoff described an amateurish approach by the Indian players and he had a point. England came out and did some well coordinated stretches and fielding drills while India’s bowlers threw a few pies leisurely down a practice strip before doing a little catching practice. All very improvised.

There was a stark difference in the intensity between the two sides if nothing else; real purpose and intent from England, whilst India looked like a team just going through the motions. No wonder England look so much fitter.

A lonely Nick Knight

All these drills were overseen by a lonely looking Nick Knight, Sky Sports junior cricket commentator. He was out in the middle for what seemed an age, desperately looking for someone to talk to. A cameraman or an official would have sufficed, but no one was interested. You could imagine Bumble and Atherton back in the Sky commentary box having a little chuckle at the ex-Warwickshire openers expense!
Finally the toss took place and Cook called correctly and put India in to bat. They did okay, scoring 187-7 from 23 overs, but it always seemed a little shy on a flat wicket and with a limited bowling attack at their disposal. The home side always looked in control and reached the target with 5 balls to spare. Cook deserved the man of the match award for an impressive 80 not out, leading his side to victory.

The crowd, and in particular the Indian contingent was superb. I have seen England versus Australia in ODI’s at the Rosebowl in the past and in many ways I preferred this game. There is such huge support for Indian cricket in this country that matches like this are always well attended and fiercely supported – I wish we played India more often to be honest. It keeps the interest up when other tours can sometimes peter out.

With the vociferous support at the Rosebowl came unfortunately the odd bigoted moron expressing xenophobic views. These clowns were completely in the minority though thankfully.

And so miraculously we had a decent game after all that wind, rain and coldness. India batted well but bowled averagely while England executed both disciplines with distinction. The good news is that with the likes of Parthiv Patel and Suresh Raina coming through India has some promise in the batting department. Their bowling unit however is a different story.

Still, at least India won’t return home with too many more ducks…

Tom Huelin for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Tom on Twitter @tomhue1

Sourav Ganguly – Master of the Art of Riposte

As England toppled India to become the numero uno in test match cricket, one man saw all the mayhem unfold in front of his own eyes albeit from the other side of the boundary line this time. He was the man who was once responsible for making this team what it is today—A team full of match winners, a team worthy of beating the best in their own backyard. As a captain, he was pivotal in setting the foundation for India’s resurgence as a top cricket team and now as a commentator, the passion in his presentation is visible and his technical view points on game situations leaves you wanting for more. He must have felt immense pain while watching India lose to England but this time, there was little that he could do. Yes, I am talking about the ‘’Prince of Kolkata’’– Sourav Ganguly. Ever since his retirement, India has well and truly struggled to find a player to fill in that no 6 spot. His absence was felt in this tour to say the least. So, today let us try and relive those golden memories of the past via this tribute to my role-model; Sourav Ganguly.

22nd June 1996, India was playing at Mecca of world cricket—The Lord’s against the English and it was the third day of the second test match in the test series. The scenic beauty of the Lord’s with the cool London breeze blowing around was there to be admired but what was more pleasant to the eyes was the presence of a slim, young and handsome player in the middle who was making his debut in international test cricket. He was driving the English bowlers all around the park with his classy off drives and soon got his name etched in the history books by scoring a magnificent hundred on debut. This man who with his extraordinary cricketing talent took the entire cricketing fraternity by storm was none other than our very own Sourav Chandidas Ganguly aka Dada.

Some felt he couldn’t play the bouncers, others swore that he was GOD on off-side, some laughed at his lack of athleticism, others took pride in the way he led his band of men to glory. Apart from Sachin Tendulkar, no other Indian batsman till date has inspired such amazing devotion. Sourav’s ability to polarize opinions led to the making of one of the most entertaining dramas in international cricket–An era which well and truly belonged to the man who took Indian cricket to new heights. It goes without saying that he was India’s most successful test captain–A captain who forged a winning side from a bunch of players who always had the talent but no one to channelize it. Sourav not only instilled that missing killer instinct in them but also taught them the ‘ART OF WINNING’–An art which was missing in Indian cricket for long. Inspite of being a batsman who made stroke making look utterly easy, his career came to a standstill in the early 1990s after it was revived courtesy a scintillating hundred against England at Lord’s. It was a path-breaking moment in his career as that innings opened the doors of team India for Sourav Ganguly. And then came the turning point in his career–a moment which was going to change Indian cricket and Sourav’s life forever. In the year 2000, Mohammad Azharuddin, the former Indian captain and one of the world’s finest batsman was banned for life from the sports owing to match fixing allegations.This incident took the entire cricketing fraternity by storm and suddenly team India found itself in a jeopardy–With no Azhar around, who will lead the team?

The answer was -Sourav Ganguly. In 2000, when he took over as the skipper, he inherited Indian cricket in the midst of confusion and crisis that was triggered by the match fixing controversy. There was no clarity of thought, no game plan, no strategies. In a nutshell India was going nowhere. It was time to bring about a change but it was certainly going to be a herculean task from every stretch of imagination. Come 2001, and Sourav played the role of a shrewd tactician to perfection and stopped the winning juggernaut of the Aussies in the Eden test at Kolkata which has got imprinted in the minds of millions and millions of die hard cricket fans. It was indeed a historic victory and gifted back team India it’s long lost self-belief. Personally for Sourav, it was a huge moment in his cricketing career. Rest as they say is history–Team India under Ganguly’s leadership soared to new heights –The team started winning away matches as well. The victories against Australia and Pakistan in their own backyard stand apart. In 2002, the bare-chested Ganguly stunt on the Lord’s balcony was to become the defining moment of his captaincy. There was no place for decorum and norms. It did not matter it was the Lord’s –-the holiest of cricketing hollies. It was India’s first one-day tournament victory after having lost nine in a row, six of them under Ganguly. India also made it to the finals of 2003 cricket world cup under Ganguly’s captaincy but unfortunately faltered in the final frontier. After having spent close to 5 years at the helm, it seemed as if he had cemented his place in the hearts of his hardcore fans and in the team as a skipper–But the phase after 2005 turned out to be a nightmare for the southpaw. He was not only axed as the skipper but was also shown the doors from the team. But those who say that Sourav is the “KING OF COME-BACKS” don’t say it without any reason. He justified this tag as he capped a fairytale comeback with the South Africa series and went on to put on some superlative displays in England and then in the home series against Pakistan. But the end seemed to be imminent. And finally after the Kanpur test against Australia in 2008, Sourav called it quits.This brought the end to an amazing career which spanned for more than a decade and it won’t be an exaggeration if one claims that it was a fitting end to a legendary player’s career. Sourav Ganguly always had the supreme gift of timing and his exit from the game was truly an endorsement of his magical sense of timing.

There is no denial to the fact that throughout his career, he has toyed with his fate, tempting it to turn its back on him so that once again he could surprise us with a stunning come-back. Something in him always rebelled against the mundane and orthodox styles of cricket. He has enjoyed life at the zenith of success and has smelled the barren soil as well. He fought fire with fire and taught the same to his team. He well and truly is one of the leading architects of this world champion team India.To end with, Ganguly is a born fighter–a man who fought against all odds, who stood by his team when it needed him the most and a great batsman who served Indian cricket with distinction and left when Indian cricket was in a much better state than he found it.

SOURAV GANGULY – The man who taught us to look in the eye of the enemy and not blink!

The man who injected steel, the man who galvanised the team.

We miss you DADA!!!

Avi for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Avi on Twitter @KnightsDen

Ireland v England – The Alternative View

Nothing like playing up to a stereotype

“I’m supporting my two home teams” chirped one South African-come-Irishman as Craig Kieswetter and Jonathan Trott strolled out to bat at Clontarf. Very good, I thought. You can’t fault him for accuracy, although some questions remain over his relationship with his Irish chum next to him with a Leprechaun on his head.

Next to me is another local who appears to know his stuff; at least as far as being able to identify the counties to which some of England’s debutants are from. But there is little shrift for the notion that the visitors’ two South African openers are being skippered by a Dublin lad… “farce” I believe is a term I heard being used.

A braver soul than I might’ve raised Boyd Rankin’s exploits with England Lions, but let’s roll this back to the beginning. To Stansted Airport. And to a lovely pint of Magners enjoyed in the Wetherspoons. It is quite a shock how quiet Ryanair’s holding pen is during normal hours. Everyone else left at 5am for Malaga I guess.

By using the toilet on the flight over, I appeared to have sold my soul to Satan. Or Merv Hughes. My punishment was to think nothing ill of visiting the Temple Bar and being a tourist. If Ireland says it has paid back the UK’s loans in full, the pint and a half of Guinness in Temple Bar will tell you where those funds came from.

I had looked to @tomdotcom1 for some restraint, but I think he considers a man who, by 11pm, had been wearing flip-flops and a straw hat for approx 20 hours to be beyond such help. Fortunately, sleepytime called. I wouldn’t have let a lack of sleep ruin the following day’s play; we had the rain for that…

For the past fortnight, the forecast had been a changeable-yet-complete arse. The only constant was rain. This is Ireland, after all. But we had sunshine to start and threatening clouds were skirting the ground as we arrived. My aims were clear – get a free t-shirt, a free poncho and something with 4/6 on it to wave maniacally.

The rain did come before the start of play, but I was prepared. With the flip-flops on, I would avoid the annoyance of having wet shoes and socks. Meanwhile, with the poncho deployed to cover my seat, I wouldn’t get a wet that way. The hat can do the rest… it’s a hat, it has magic powers like that.

Rankin? Number One Test Team apparently

After the rain, play starts more or less on time. And Ireland – with something of a point to prove after the World Cup – begin well on a greeeeeeeeen surface. Yep, that’s how green it is. Rankin seems to me to have a tendency to stray onto leg a little too often, but Trott and Kieswetter aren’t setting the world alight with false shots and tickles.

By the time of the next rain interruption, England are two down and going along at a less-than-brisk 3-point-something an over. Eoin Morgan is, however, at the crease and you already sense there’s a key wicket here. But we’ll have to wait and see, because my feet are getting wet and the bar’s now open for Beamish. Nice.

The break gives one a chance to reflect; mainly at how many spectators were up in arms for catches taken off one bounce. This is serious cricket, not one bounce one hand rules. But with the unpredictability of the ICC, perhaps such a format is but months away from being introduced to keep the Associates off their case.

And it also at this point you get to admire the torrent of purple that has washed in over each of the stands at Clontarf CC. It’s very much Poncho o’Clock and the speed at which some have gone from ‘bagged poncho’ to ‘bagged in a poncho’ is amazing. The €5 cost of Beamish, meanwhile, is almost welcome after last night.

See. Blue sky. Just over there...

The restart is preceded by a crackly PA announcement about England going to a 4-4-f**king-2 formation, or something. I knew Andy Flower was absent, but did he have to send Mike Bassett? Turns out I was wrong anyway…. the game had been reduced to 42 overs. And Morgan was off, swinging momentum to the Englishsouthafricanirishmen.

Ireland’s policy of containment throughout the innings and into the sunshine at the latter stages almost kept England to under 200. Tail end bat throwing helped the visitors cause, but it had left Ireland with a challenging enough chase on that surface. But you would probably argue that the hosts had done their job.

Textbook

The interval brought with it kids onto the pitch with a Kwik Cricket set and a desire to bump off a few people in the stands. Some of the batting on display would put my best efforts to shame; two shots cleared the stand and a third spent the rest of the day bouncing along the top of the Portaloos in the corner where fancy dress lived.

Did I mention the kid bowling off a full run up? One for England to nick perhaps.

After the fun in the sun came the pain in the rain. Ireland’s start mirrored that of their guests – slow scoring and two early wickets. In fact, the Irish became rather bogged down (no pun intended) before the rain break. But they were on an equal footing going into the rain delay. If clouds could talk, these ones were swearing.

The rainbow. It's holding up the sky!

It was a much-longer rain delay and the wind whipped up to create an autumnal feel to the afternoon. The flip flops suddenly seemed a bit foolish. There were at least some moments of sunshine, but ICC rules categorically state that you have to wait for more rain to come after a rain break before you can attempt to get the action re-started.

A revised target of quite a lot from not very many left Ireland with a tough task to pull off the victory. I retain the opinion that Jack Duckworth has done nothing to help the game of cricket with the method he devised with Morse’s sidekick. Yes, I know Eoin Morgan transformed England’s innings, but duh, Kevin O’Brien?!

Wickets started falling, Ireland started getting behind the required rate. Kev got two meaty sixes away but eventually yorked himself against Dernbach… and the earlier rain had pretty much washed away any lingering hopes. There was some defiant resistance down the order, but six-an-over ain’t enough when needing 12.

The final margin of victory was 11 runs and Eoin Morgan was named Man Of The Match… it was cricket’s way of telling Ireland “let’s see what you could have won” and gave England newbies a nice champagne spraying session to enjoy. It didn’t rain again that day, y’know…

That night, the flip-flops were dispensed with. Sleeping aside, they’d seen around 30 hours of action in two days – that’s 1,797 minutes more than Ravi Bopara had batted and 1,800 more than Tom Cleverley has managed for the England football team. I don’t think any winners have come out of that particular perspective.

Lost in Dublin...

As an addendum, you can rest assured that the flip-flops were given the Friday to recuperate as the Guinness Storehouse became the “place to be”. It slightly irks a former barman of little repute like me that any old fecker can get a certificate for pulling a pint there, but I suppose we’re all equals in the eyes of dear old Arthur.

Then again, maybe it was my shamrock that set me apart from the rest. Certainly apart from Tommy, who was too busy making a mess by leaving the tap running. But he’s from Barnet and has flippers for hands. I know my triumphs. And now I have a certificate to prove one of ‘em… some things transcend cricket, y’know.

Pete Hayman for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Pete on Twitter @petehayman

The Doppelgangers – Part V

Nasser Hussain and Putin